RetroUI Pro: Run Windows 8 Store Apps on the desktop
If you do not like the Windows 8 Start screen, you can bypass it easily with a few simple modifications or by installing a program that handles that for you. If you miss the Start menu on the desktop, you can get that back as well by installing a program like Start8 or Classic Shell that also handle the redirecting and mapping of shortcuts keys for you if you want.
RetroUI Pro is another Start menu program for Windows 8. It looks different than the others as you can see from the photo, but on first glance, it is just another Start menu for the operating system.
Norton Mobile Security now supports both Android and iOS
Symantec today released Norton Mobile Security 3.2, the latest version of the flagship Norton security software for Android and iOS devices.
It's been just about a year since we last looked at Norton Mobile Security, and in that time, a number of new features have been added.
It still contains the remote lock and wipe, call and SMS blocking, SD card scanning, and remote geolocation features it included previously, but now it also includes multi-device (cross platform) support with a single license, contact list backup and restore, a "scream alarm" for finding a lost phone, and web-based management.
Firefox for Android update supports older devices
Parent company Mozilla announced that Firefox for Android now supports older green droid devices using ARM v6 architecture. The latest update allows the open-source browser to run on smartphones such as HTC Status, Motorola Fire XT or Samsung Galaxy Ace, but also looks to the present with improvements for newer versions of Android.
Mozilla claims that limiting Firefox for Android to run solely on the ARM v7 architecture would eliminate "roughly half of the nearly 500 million Android phones", obviously making a dent in its market share and popularity among green droid users. The minimum hardware requirements now involve an 800MHz ARM v6 processor accompanied by 512MB of RAM. What about less "ancient" devices?
HP CEO Meg Whitman explains alleged Autonomy accounting fraud
Hewlett-Packard's $8.8 billion fiscal fourth-quarter write-down, and reasons for it, shine a stunning spotlight on Meg Whitman and predecessor Léo Apotheker's lingering legacy. HP ousted Apotheker in September 2011, less than a month after he brokered the Autonomy acquisition. Today, during the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings conference call, chief executive Whitman had to answer for mistakes she inherited.
While expressing "we remain 100-percent committed to Autonomy and its industry-leading technology", she also acknowledges alleged fraudulent accounting that only recently came to HP's attention. Regarding the $8.8 billion, "the majority of this impairment charge is linked to serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations that occurred prior to HP's acquisition of Autonomy and the associated impact on the expected financial performance of the business over the long term. The balance of the impairment charge is linked to the recent trading value of HP stock".
Opera 12.11 fixes bugs, improves stability and security
Firefox 17 FINAL isn't the only browser news of the day. Opera 12.11 also is available. This minor release is a maintenance one, promising better security and stability through the implementation of a number of bug fixes, and follows on just two weeks from the more notable launch of version 12.10.
Opera 12.11 is available as a freeware download for PC, Mac and Linux. A separate 64-bit build is also available for Windows users.
Firefox 17 releases, features click-to-play blocklisting
Mozilla has launched Firefox 17 FINAL, the latest stable release of its open-source, cross-platform web browser. Version 17 has one major new feature -- click-to-play blocklisting, which prevents vulnerable plugins from running without the user’s permission.
Other changes include a slight tweak to the Awesome Bar, additional developer tools and web standards, plus fixes and performance improvements. The new release comes on the same day that rival browser Opera 12.11 gets a minor update.
Google Nexus 4 Toolkit is available for modding enthusiasts
Last week Google launched its new flagship smartphone -- the Nexus 4. Shortly after, Android developers bestowed the LG-made device with root, but for hassle-free modding there is an all-in-one toolkit available as well.
Manual modding operations offer more control over the process, but take more time to perform. The Nexus 4 Toolkit is designed to automate a considerable number of tasks ranging from rooting Android 4.2 Jelly Bean to setting file permissions on Google's flagship smartphone. Users can also lock/unlock the bootloader, perform a full-system backup using ADB, install BusyBox, download the factory image, flash a custom or stock recovery and much more.
Panorama9 adds Mac patch management to new cloud IT service
Cloud IT management platform Panorama9 on Tuesday introduced Mac patch management to its pay-as-you-go solution, unifying Windows and Mac OS patch deployment in its IT dashboard.
We first looked at Panorama9 in October when the company added Mac and Linux support to its contract-free asset and compliance management platform. The service itself is still very new, and is rapidly growing its functionality in the interest of providing small and medium sized businesses affordable cloud IT services.
WinMaximumize expands desktop windows to fill available space
When you’ve several applications open on your PC desktop, organizing their windows efficiently can take a moment. You might move one window over here, drag a border over there, and so it goes on.
If you’d rather just automate the process, though, you might preferWinMaximumize, which can instantly expand your selected window to fill whatever desktop space is available.
Microsoft announces online and in-person Windows 8 developer camps
Like it or not, Windows 8 is here to stay and Microsoft wants to make sure developers are ready to provide users with all the apps they desire. To that end, the company has announced a series of online and in-person developer camps in an effort to increase the population of the Windows Store.
In an email sent out recently by Microsoft, the company brags that its new OS allows developers to "code once and have a great app experience that scales across devices from tablets to all-in-one PCs". The company attempts to further entice coders with the fact that the new Windows Store offers a "higher profit potential" than other app stores, which amounts to an 80% revenue share if you reach $25,000 USD or more in total sales. Indie software developers who oppose the new centralized Windows software distribution ecosystem are unlikely to take much comfort in that fact. Analytics firm VisionMobile recently did a survey which found the average monthly take for a centrally-distributed app was between $1,200 and $3,900 per month, depending on the platform. The new Windows Store, however, is a new frontier for this type of app store.
Ahead of the Winter Holidays, Skype introduces Gift Cards
Thanksgiving Day rapidly approaches, and the Winter Holidays are just around the corner. For the long-distance conversations usually associated with those events, popular VoIP and Video chat company Skype has introduced Skype Gift Cards.
With Skype Gift Cards, users of the popular VoIP and video chat service can access a number of premium features such as worldwide calling to landlines and mobile phones, text messaging, or Skype Wi-Fi hotspots. Starting at $10, Gift Cards are available through Skype Shop and the company's Facebook page, as well as at a number of retail locations such as Microsoft Store, Target and OfficeMax.
HP says Autonomy cooked the books, takes $8.8 billion charge
Today, HP stunned Wall Street and investors by announcing an unexpected $8.8 billion charge. The computing giant dropped the bombshell ahead of the market's opening concurrently with fiscal fourth quarter results. The amount isn't so stunning as the reason.
Official statement: "The majority of this impairment charge is linked to serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations at Autonomy Corporation plc that occurred prior to HP's acquisition of Autonomy and the associated impact of those improprieties, failures and misrepresentations on the expected future financial performance of the Autonomy business over the long-term. The balance of the impairment charge is linked to the recent trading value of HP stock".
Sysinternals Contig lets you choose which files or folders to defrag
If you’d like to optimize the performance of a game (or any other disk-intensive application) then defragmenting its key files before you start can sometimes help -- but of course that’s not usually a very practical idea. Most defrag tools will want to process your entire partition, which could take a while, and may not touch the files you’re really interested in anyway (defraggers often leave a few fragmented files behind when they’re done).
Fortunately there’s a simple alternative in the shape of Sysinternals Contig, a tiny command-line tool that defrags only the files you specify, and doesn’t “forget” any of them. Give the program a file, and it will be defragmented.
Microsoft, ditch OEM knuckleheads and make more hardware like Surface
Dell earnings announcement set off some concerns that the PC industry may not recover and as a result some are predicting Windows 8 sales may not be quite satisfying to Microsoft. Could the software giant have seen this coming a mile away?
A mobile future means that traditional PC hardware like laptops and ultrabooks will yield sales to a new generation of PC form factors like hybrids and tablets that are highly mobile, yet just as capable as laptops and ultrabooks, tablets like the Surface. Microsoft knew mobile was the future and prepped for it, here’s why.
Your mobile is no 'match' for Windows Phone
Microsoft's Ben Rudolph caused a stir during the Consumer Electronics Show back in January. He showed up with his Windows Phone and challenged speed tests -- to show people with other devices how fast the Microsoft mobile OS was. With that humble beginning the "Smoked by Windows Phone" phenomena was born.
That whole concept certainly paid off in media attention with Rudolph going on mini tours of Microsoft stores, exportation to Nokia stores in other parts of the world and a whole advertising campaign launch. In fact, Rudolph states that the company, along with Nokia, ran "over 250,000 challenges in 54 countries".
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