Latest Technology News

Today, Snapkeys announced the private beta launch of SnapKeys Si for Android. The private beta will allow select registered users to download the app and test it out, nearly a full year after the app first gained notoriety at CES.

One of the most brilliant things about touchscreens is their ability to support alternative methods of typing, Swype and Swiftkey for example have become very popular methods of text input, and they do not require the traditional screen pecking action to work.

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Great news for British Ingress players! Google released its Field Trip app in the United States several months ago, but now the company has brought the location-based tool to the United Kingdom, following closely on the heels of other Google UK debuts like Play Music and Play Magazines. Of course, Field Trip is a bit more than just an Ingress player's best friend, as it offers numerous features to help users when they are on the move.

The Android app pops up messages based on location and displays nearby points of interest, from restaurants, to historical buildings and markers, complete with images and a brief synopsis about the significance. Users can customize the app on the go by clicking the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" buttons to help it learn personal tastes.

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Apple, Google, Microsoft: everyone seems to have their own app store, these days. None of these are much help if you’re running a Windows XP, Vista or 7 system, of course, but if you’re feeling left out then there’s always Pokki, a simple framework which can help you find, install and run free apps on the Windows desktop.

The program installs quickly and easily, and is so unobtrusive you might be left wondering what’s actually changed. There should now be a Pokki icon to the right of the Start button, though. Clicking this displays the Pokki launcher, currently empty, and selecting App Store will allow you to browse its various offerings.

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In a ruling that will surprise precisely no one -- not even anyone inside Apple’s camp -- U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction against the Samsung products which were found to have infringed the Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation's patents, saying there was not enough evidence that the infringement had hurt Apple's North American sales.

In equally unsurprising news judge Koh also rejected Samsung’s request for retrial. The Korean firm had called into question the jury foreman’s impartiality after he failed to disclose he had been sued by his former employer Seagate Technology, a firm Samsung holds a stake in.

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Australian software developer Auslogics Pty Ltd has updated its flagship PC optimization product with the release of Auslogics BoostSpeed 5.5. Version 5.5, which offers a full range of PC cleaning and performance tools, boasts significant improvements to a number of key components, plus includes several Windows 8-specific enhancements.

Headline new features include support for data shredding during file cleaning, better performance finding duplicate files, more accurate Windows 8 Registry cleaning and numerous bug fixes to improve stability.

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Google’s new mapping app for iPhone was always going to be a hit. People trust Google to get them where they want to go and it’s a great product. The fact the app stormed to the top of the App Store charts less than a day after its release provided a pretty clear clue as to its popularity.

And now Google has revealed just how big a success Google Maps is on iOS, announcing via a Google+ post that the app was downloaded more than 10 million times in less than 48 hours. A staggering number. Google doesn’t usually reveal download figures for its apps, but clearly this is something of a special case. As good as that news is for Google, it’s another slice of bad news for Apple which was probably hoping people’s dislike of its mapping tool had been exaggerated by the media.

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Open-source, cross-platform VLC Media Player 2.0.5 has been released for Windows and Mac. Although a relatively minor update, it fixes a number of regressions from previous releases, plus improves overall stability and performance. Mac users also get a slightly tweaked user interface.

Also released alongside the main build is VLC Media Player 2.0.5 Portable, a standalone version for Windows users that requires no installation.

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A month has passed since I started using Nexus 10, Google's first 10.1-inch tablet, which Samsung manufactures. iPad is reason for the delay writing this review. I bought the first three generation models and sold each within two months. The appeal didn't last, in part because of the user interface's long-term limited utility. So Nexus 10 faced resistance before I opened the box and for another, compelling reason: I was (and still am) hugely satisfied with sibling Nexus 7, which form factor and feel in the hand hugely appeal. After a month of testing, just to make sure, I don't plan on selling the larger tablet; its immediate fate won't be that of iPad 1, 2 or 3.

I definitely recommend Nexus 10 to anyone considering a tablet this year in the $400-$500 range. Nexus 7 ($200-$300) is a better option for the budget conscious -- or even Kindle Fire HD ($300-$600). I don't recommend iPad 4 or mini. They cost too much ($329-$829) for the benefits, and iOS has fallen behind Google and Microsoft operating systems. My experience with Surface RT is limited, but the tablet makes a great first impression such that it's worth considering -- and easily over Apple's larger tablet.

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Nearly a month ago, I told you about Microsoft's latest Windows Phone challenge -- titled "Meet your Match". Today the company released some numbers from its latest campaign. Although much of this is speculative, at least it almost certainly went better than the recent spectacular #DroidRage failure.

Windows Phone evangelist Ben Rudolph, who launched the successful "Smoked by Windows Phone" during Consumer Electronics Show 2012, began "Meet your Match" to coincide with the release of Windows Phone 8. This time around, instead of a simple speed test, Microsoft challenged customers to see which device better fit their needs -- Windows Phone 8 or the device they currently use.

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Samsung is yet again in the spotlight with a new, potentially dangerous, security flaw. A developer revealed an exploit at kernel level that allows access to the entire physical memory on a number of popular Exynos-based devices, including the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II.

Thankfully, a developer behind the SuperSU rooting tool, came promptly to the rescue and released an app which can be used by affected users to temporarily plug the security hole.

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For more than a decade I've quipped: "In business perception is everything". For some brands, this axiom is truer than for others. Apple leads the list, much to its determent. For more than a month now, I've read speculative stories from all quarters trying to figure out why the company's stock tailspins. Some people blame the fiscal cliff, others taxes. Meanwhile, the anti-Apple crowd delights in rumors iPhone sales are slowing and the mini cannibalizes iPad 4 sales. There's an aura of doom that I can only describe as the anti-reality distortion field.

Earlier today, Apple shares briefly dipped below $500, a low not seen since around Valentine's Day. Bloggers are beside themselves posting about this catastrophe -- or so they see it. I laugh, because they are a large part of the company's falling stock price problem. All these stories contribute to negative perceptions that feed the frenzy. That's one part of the answer to how someone nicked an artery and Apple bled about $200 per share, or 27 percent decline, from September's $705.07 record high. These bloggers were, and still are, detached from reality -- like analysts covering the company. Just two months ago, the Apple Fan Club gloated about projections of $1,000 a share. Now they run around like street people holding signs "The World Ends Dec. 21!" as shares slip and analyst cut back projections.

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In its continued evolution and growth, the United States' third-largest wireless network operator Sprint announced on Monday that it will be acquiring wireless network Clearwire for a total of $2.2 billion, or $2.97 per outstanding share.

Sprint has had a long relationship with Clearwire, as the two companies were the biggest supporters of the WiMax wireless protocol. Soon after launching their respective first WiMax networks, Sprint and Clearwire joined forces in 2008.

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Modders, get your tools ready! Little short of three weeks after the team behind the popular custom Android distribution CyanogenMod introduced official builds for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, CM 10.1 nightly releases are starting to make their way onto more supported devices.

At the time of writing this article CyanogenMod 10.1 builds are available for the Samsung Galaxy S III (codename "I9300", "d2att" and "d2tmo"), Galaxy S II (codename "I9100" and "I9100G"), Galaxy S (codename "I9000" and "I9000B"), Galaxy Nexus (codename "maguro"), Google Nexus 7 (codename "grouper"), as well as ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity ("codename "tf700t"). The latest nightly release, dated December 17, is based on Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean, build number JOP40D, and delivers a significant number of features, either ported from previous iterations of the custom distribution or adapted for the new version of Android.

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The maker of the popular credit card-sized ARM GNU/Linux computer has launched an online store to enable developers to share their games, applications, and tutorials with other Raspberry Pi users. The device was originally conceived as a way of encouraging youngsters to get into programming, and the store will provide a place for them, and older developers, to share their creations and maybe make a little money at the same time.

At launch the store has 23 free titles, and a paid game (Storm in a Teacup which is priced at £1.99/$3.22). The free content includes utilities such as LibreOffice and Despotify (an open source Spotify client) and classic games including Freeciv and OpenTTD. There’s also an exclusive 3D multiplayer space combat game called Iridium Rising. Winners of the Raspberry Pi Summer Programming Contest are being encouraged to upload their entries to the store, too.

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Most of us have had mentors, and when it came to becoming a writer three of mine were the late Bill Rivers at Stanford, who taught me to think and not just report; legendary book editor Bob Loomis at Random House, who felt I might be able to stack enough of those thoughts together to fill a book; and a guy most of you know as Adam Smith, who let me copy his style.

Smith, named after the English economist and writer, helped start both New York and Institutional Investor magazines while at the same time punching out books like The Money Game and Paper Money -- huge best sellers that taught regular people how the financial system really worked. That gig explaining the inner workings was what appealed to me. So 30 years ago, having been recently fired for the second time by Steve Jobs, I went to New York and asked permission of Smith to imitate him, though applying his style to technology, not finance. Many such impersonators exist, of course, but I was apparently the first (and last) to ask permission.

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