Latest Technology News

It’s hardly one of the sexiest announcements to come out of this year’s CES, but the news that Corning has improved its toughened screen glass will be welcomed by accident prone smartphone owners everywhere. As someone who drops their phone with distressing regularity, I can’t begin to tell you how much I already appreciate Gorilla Glass’s strength and scratch resistance.

Corning says changes to the atomic structure of its material means the new Gorilla Glass 3 with Native Damage Resistance boasts such improved durability that it can withstand deep scratches and cracks in the glass, so you’ll be able to keep using a damaged phone or tablet for longer. Scratches you pick up along the way will be much less visible too.

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After almost two years without a significant update, you might have been forgiven for thinking that rootkit detector GMER was on its way out. But it seems there’s some life left in the program yet. Version 2.0 has just been released, and it’s the most important GMER update for a very long time.

The new build finally provides full Windows x64 support, for instance. If you’ve not used the program for a while because of its 64-bit issues then now might be the time to reconsider. And the addition of Windows 8 support means you can now run GMER 2.0 on just about any modern PC.

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Steve Ballmer's surprise CES pre-show keynote appearance is shocking and full of symbolism. Ballmer goes from being star to minor player on one of the tech industry's most important stages. Stunned sums up my reaction, and I was sorry to see Microsoft's CEO there last night. The company officially pulled out of the Consumer Electronics Show this year, with Ballmer ceding the keynote he inherited from Bill Gates. Clean break would have been better than this.

I don't demean his time on stage, which actually livened a limping start. Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs benefited from his keynote predecessor's Windows 8 presentation. My problem is Ballmer being there at all, for what his presence represents -- and there are a couple overlapping ways to read it.

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Netgear read my mind. Hopefully not all of it, but the company is welcome to my tech thoughts at least. Just recently several of us here at BetaNews wrote about the tech we used most in 2012. In my column I mentioned that my trusty HTPC grows long in the tooth -- you think dog years are rough, try computer years. I started using a Netgear NeoTV instead. As I mentioned then, and will reiterate now, the interface is not flashy, but it works seamlessly. the hardware is robust as well.

In the end though, I admitted my plans in 2013 were to move to Google TV because of the added features -- web browser, apps, you know the routine.

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The Computer Electronics Show gathers a significant number of companies and prospective buyers alike in Las Vegas for four days starting Tuesday. However, many companies didn't wait for opening day. Which among the early birds stand out from the others?

From the plethora of pre-show announcements most are oriented towards general consumer appliances. For instance, LG's presentation emphasized 39 new driers and 72 new fridges, among super expensive OLED TVs. For a passionate technology enthusiast like myself CES is not Heaven, it's utter Hell. Still, within the literally hundreds of announcements there are some exciting products unveiled in all the pre-show madness.

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In just a few hours, the Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas with the pre-show keynote. But the event already feels days old, with all the announcements and press galas already passed. That's the insanity -- so much going on that vendors fall over themselves to get out stuff early so as not to be lost in noise. There will be plenty. Earlier today, I identified 5 things I would like to see come out of Las Vegas this week. Now it's the don't wannas.

Honestly it's tough to keep the list to five, but I do so for consistency's sake, or change much from last year. Vendors are queued up to make the same mistakes as in the past, incurring wasted marketing costs they pass onto you the buyer. With that, I present, in no particular order of importance, 5 things I really don't want to see at CES 2013.

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While the Consumer Electronics Show is mostly about gadgets for your home, there's more to it. Unfortunately, devices that are more functional, as opposed to flashy, tend to fly beneath the radar. That means that good, useful equipment, that we will actually see on the market before CES 2014, does not get the attention it deserves.

That is the case with a new LaCie network attached storage device designed for small businesses. The company today announced its 5big NAS Pro, a device that brings some new functionality to the product line. According to LaCie, the new NAS will have what it describes as "True Hybrid Cloud". This will use the company's own cloud storage, Wuala, and display both network and cloud storage in one view. This means one interface for both users and administrators, which is especially important on mobile.

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BlueStacks has been very busy lately, inking a series of deals with major partners to bring its App Player software to a much wider audience. The App Player, if you’re not familiar, virtualizes the Android environment and lets users download and run green droid apps on desktop and laptop computers. The company last year formed partnerships with Asus, MSI, and AMD, and at the end of December rolled out a beta version of its software for Macs. Today’s CES announcement is, however, easily the firm’s biggest coup to date.

China’s Lenovo, which late last year usurped HP as the world’s largest PC manufacturer, will start bundling the BlueStacks App Player on all of its Idea-branded line of consumer PCs, including Ideapad laptops and IdeaCentre desktops. A total of around 40 million systems.

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Firefox OS is coming this year and we have already seen some early previews. In order to hit the ground running these days any operating system, be it desktop or mobile, needs a healthy app ecosystem. To that end, Mozilla today announced "App Days", a series of events around the world that are designed to get developers excited and moving for this upcoming release.

In the announcement, Mozilla's Mark Coggins explains that at "each App Day event, you’ll have the opportunity to learn, hack and celebrate Firefox OS, Mozilla’s open source operating system for the mobile web. Technologists and developers from Mozilla will present tools and technology built to extend and support the Web platform, including mobile Web APIs to access device hardware features such as the accelerometer".

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Tomorrow, the Consumer Electronics Show officially kicks off, not that many vendors are waiting. There already are plenty of Day 0 and -1 announcements, which make me wonder if this -- the first of two posts -- isn't already late: What I would like and not want to see during this year's big event. If early press galas are any indication, many CES participants won't hit the jackpot in Las Vegas this year. Sadly that's a trend.

Like 2012, I'm sitting out the tradeshow. The real benefit is mingling, and that's for everyone -- from journalists to manufacturers to distributors. CES really isn't about gadget geeks but everyday consumers and CE manufacturers getting goods to them. Why else would LG's press gala feature 39 new driers and 72 refrigerators coming this year? But the big noise is all about the toys today, as it will be all week.

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What's the first thing that springs to mind when you encounter the term "jailbroken"? Naturally, iPad, iPhone or iOS are among the most likely answers, but what about Windows RT? Microsoft's tablet operating system also embodies a walled garden principle, however, similar to some Apple products, a developer uncovered a method to run unsigned apps, by exploiting a kernel vulnerability.

The jailbreaking method currently available for Windows RT is aimed at more advanced users that are familiar with modifying system files, as there is no installer or one-click-to-jailbreak solution ready. Daring users have to change the minimum signing level from "8" (also known as "Microsoft" level) to "0" (also known as "Unsigned"), the latter, which is the default value for the x86 counterpart, Windows 8. Sounds easy, but the process is not.

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It's tradition. Consumer Electronics Show descends on Las Vegas. Apple doesn't attend but does something to steal some thunder. So it's no surprise that this morning the Cupertino, Calif.-based company announced 40 billion App Store downloads -- half in 2012 and 2 billion in December. That's surely impressive, but nowhere as near thunder stealing as some past years. C`mon, where are those strategically placed rumors that turn attention away from the big event?

In 2011: Mac App Store. Twice. A year earlier: iPad and in 2011, too. Who can forget iPhone in 2007, which literally stole the show. The trend is so assured, last year I asked (and answered): "Are this year's CES attendees afraid of Apple?" So far, in 2013, they have nothing to fear.

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Finding the app you want on Windows 8 -- by sight alone -- can at times feel like a really frustrating game of Where’s Wally. If your eyes are already flicking around the screen, it makes sense to use them as a control method, right? Well, that’s what Tobii thinks at least. The company is releasing a USB bar which attaches to the bottom of any monitor displaying Windows 8, and tracks your eye movements.

Due to be shown at CES, Tobii REX is described as the "world’s first Gaze interaction computer peripheral for the consumer market" and works in conjunction with touch, keyboard and mouse.

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Little more than two months after Windows 8's release, popular cloud storage service Dropbox finally offers an app through the Windows Store. However, unlike Box and SkyDrive, which both deliver a fairly competent feature set, the Dropbox app for Windows 8/RT is a half-baked affair, leaving much to be desired.

Even at first glance, the Dropbox app touts a modest feature set with no advanced functionality to speak of. It allows users to browse and preview uploaded files, edit, open and save items from "other Windows 8 apps", and share and find files using the Search Charm. Users cannot edit uploaded Dropbox files using the app, only open items, making it a glorified file browser with a few extra features. Furthermore Dropbox for Windows 8 appears to be rather unstable.

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Following on from the success of last year’s hugely popular Olympics app, BBC Sport has released a new sports app for iOS, with an Android version to follow in the coming weeks.

The new app displays the headlines from the BBC Sport website, and lets you view the latest scores and results for all of the major sports, including football (soccer), rugby, cricket, tennis, and horse racing. The Quick Links button lets you select any of your favorite sports. Choose football, for example, and you’ll be able to view live scores, results, fixtures, and more. The app will also provide live text coverage of England's cricket Test matches, rugby union's Six Nations, and the forthcoming Formula 1 season.

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