Woman touching a phishing concept

Gen Z most likely to fall for phishing attacks

A new survey reveals that 44 percent of all participants admit to having interacted with a phishing message in the last year. Gen Z stands out as the…

By Ian Barker -

Latest Technology News

Android Jelly Bean

How to root Android 4.2

Today Google launches Android 4.2 alongside the new Nexus lineup. Galaxy Nexus as well as Nexus 7 owners that have the ability to run apps with elevated privileges are faced with a dilemma on whether to upgrade or not. Fear not, you can still root your Nexus using the latest version of Android.

The advantages of rooting are nothing to sneeze at. I run apps with elevated privileges more than a few times a day and I had to get the root capabilities up and running after upgrading to Android 4.2. The process is fairly straightforward and should not pose any difficulty even to less experienced users. I do have to mention that this guide can apply to the Nexus 4 and 10 as well, after developers release the compatible tools.

Getting started

By Mihăiță Bamburic -
globe web laptop notebook net

Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview for Windows 7 first-impressions review

When Microsoft first announced that Internet Explorer 10 would be part of Windows 8 most users assumed that this would also mean a release of the browser for the version 7 operating system. The first version of Internet Explorer 10 was released publicly with Windows 8's Developer Preview back in 2011, and then updated whenever new versions of preview builds released. Microsoft at that time was tight lipped about the future of IE10 for Windows 7

October 2012 came and brought along Windows 8's launch. It was in the week prior to the release of Windows 8 that the company shed some light on the future of IE10 for Windows 7. A blog post indicated that Microsoft had plans to release a  preview version for Windows 7 in November 2012.

By Martin Brinkmann -
businessman laptop airport

Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview is available for Windows 7 -- get it NOW!

Microsoft has announced the availability of Internet Explorer 10 as a Release Preview edition, in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, for Windows 7. (And yes, only Windows 7 users with SP1 installed need apply. Windows Vista and XP are left out of this one.) Changes are mostly under the hood, but the upgrade does deliver some major performance improvements which you may like to try.

In our first tests, the new Release Preview installed much like any other Windows update. It downloads a few files, and whirs for a while before demanding a reboot. Which takes a little longer than usual as various core files are replaced.

By Mike Williams -
Cloud Computing

Citrix teases new Cloud.com service

You may know Citrix for collaboration and support software like GoToMeeting and GoToAssist, but the company is a lot more than just those two apps. It also is into virtualization services and has even got into the cloud business recently with services like XenServer, CloudGateway, CloudPortal and more. Back in 2011 Citrix purchased the domain Cloud.com. So far the company has quietly sat on the URL, but now it appears the company has something in mind.

The domain was created way back in 2000 and is currently registered through 2017. For now, Citrix isn't giving much information about what it has planned and the site's Twitter account has been silent since April 3rd. At that time, Citrix proclaimed: "We're hiring Ruby on Rails Ninjas for an awesome new product. Any candidates out there? Drop us a note". Citrix is tweeting through their @cloudstack address, indicating that Cloud.com may have something to do with that service.

By Alan Buckingham -
nexus

Google blows Nexus devices launch

If anyone should be able to handle online orders, other than Amazon, Google should be it. This is a cloud company, after all. But today's Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 sales debuts are a total bust, with countless processing errors. Google pissed off the wrong people. Blog and social network reports from the other launch countries boded ill for sales starting at 9 am PT today in the United States. Matters are much worse.

Even before the designated launch time, the costlier $349 Nexus 4 went out of stock, with many failed and successful buyers reporting multiple errors during the sales process. The $299 model shifted to "Notify Me" from "In Stock" minutes later. By 9:15 am PT neither smartphone was available, with lots of eager geeks frustrated by their unsuccessful attempts to buy a product in the shopping cart and purchase part-way processed. These gadget geeks are loud mouths and will rake Google for the fiasco launch.

By Joe Wilcox -
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

A closer look at Android 4.2, the latest treat in the candy jar [Review]

Today, Google launches Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Expectations run high for the latest member of the green robot family, even though it's less of a major upgrade and more of a here-and-there improvement from its predecessor. Can it live up to the excitement?

At a first glance, the second version of Jelly Bean is just that...the second version of Jelly Bean. It looks and feels very similar to its predecessor. I'm an avid Android modder, and a new operating system has to live up to pretty high expectations. So rather than write a boring review presenting some of the things that you already know, I will also assess these changes in comparison to custom distributions such as AOKP Jelly Bean Milestone 1, and CyanogenMod 10 nightly.

By Mihăiță Bamburic -
Telnames iPad iOS app

Creating mobile sites for small businesses is now as simple as buying an iPhone app

Mobile app stores and in-app purchasing functionality have revolutionized the video game industry by shrinking content into tiny doses and making their purchase and consumption effortless. Today, UK-based company Telnames announced it has taken that idea and applied it to mobile website design. With a mobile application, small businesses can buy domain names and build a mobile website in a matter of minutes without having to worry about registrars and hosting agreements. It might sound crazy at first, but it's kind of brilliant.

The idea behind Telnames Mobile Website Builder app is that it strips out all the steps that make website creation a hassle for businesses that don't have a Web developer on staff. Telnames says this is more common than you might think. More than half of all small businesses in the United States don't even have a website to speak of, much less one that is optimized for mobile devices.

By Tim Conneally -
windows-8-start-screen-customizer

Windows 8 Start Screen Customizer review

The Windows 8 Start screen is without doubt one of the prominent new features of the operating system. It is the first screen of the operating system that new users see when logging in and also the screen that the majority see every time they do so. While there are ways to bypass the Start screen to go straight to the desktop, it is unlikely that the majority of people will make use of those.

It may feel like an oversight to some users that Microsoft decided to lock down the available Start screen customization options. Instead of giving users the option to select any background image they want, the company limits the Start screen backgrounds to 20. While Windows 8 users are still free to select custom pictures as desktop backgrounds, they do not have the same option when it comes to this important part of the operating system.

By Martin Brinkmann -
Steven Sinofsky and Windows 8 Metro

Microsoft shareholders react to Steven Sinofsky departure

Microsoft's stock is off to a rocky start this morning, down 3.2 percent as I post, on news that Steven Sinofsky is out. Shares opened at $27.02, down from yesterday's $27.99 close. The stock immediately fell, to $26.75, in early trading.

Sinofsky's departure came suddenly late last night, in an announcement from the company. The high-profile divisional president is credited with salvaging Windows after the disastrous Vista release in early 2007. Successor Windows 7 launched in autumn 2009 and received reasonable reception. Team Sinofsky followed up with Windows 8, RT and Surface tablets less than three weeks ago. The suddenness of his departure, right at the start of such a big product launch, is uncharacteristic of Microsoft.

By Joe Wilcox -
mouse

FlicFlac reduces audio conversion to the click of a button

Converting audio files from one format to another can sometimes feel like rather a complicated process, where you need to browse device profiles and codecs, bit rates, encoding methods, sample rates and more. If you’re more interested in simplicity, though, you might prefer FlicFlac, which reduces most conversion processes to the click of a button and a quick drag and drop.

The program is portable, for instance, so easy to use anywhere. Just download the 896KB archive and unzip it where required. Next, choose your preferred output by clicking one of five buttons: FLAC, WAV, MP3, OGG or APE.

By Mike Williams -
Android jellybean

Android 4.2 rolls out to Galaxy Nexus, update file available for Nexus 7

The wait is finally over! Google launches Android 4.2 Jelly Bean today alongside the new Nexus lineup with a treat in store for current Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 owners as well. The latest version of Android is rolling out over the air (OTA) for the year-old smartphone, with a manual update available for the ASUS-made tablet as well.

The Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OTA update, build number JOP40C, is available for the Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ sold via Google Play (codename "takju"). The point oner comes in at a rather small 74.3MB and, besides the announced improvements, at a first glance the update delivers a new baseband (I9250XXLH1 from the previous I9250XXLF1) and kernel (dated November 2) as well.

By Mihăiță Bamburic -
nexus 4 7 10

Google Play starts selling new Nexus 4, 7 and 10 devices

Today Google released Android 4.2 and new devices -- Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 -- running the software. The Nexuses (Should I say Nexi?) are available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. Unconfirmed user reports on blogs and social networks claim sell-outs in Asia-Pacific and Europe. Sales in North America commence at 9 am PT, from Google Play, representatives confirm.

LG makes the 4.7-inch smartphone and Samsung the 10.1-inch tablet, which join the ASUS-manufactured Nexus 7. The cloud services company announced the new products on October 29.

By Joe Wilcox -
Play music app

Google updates Play Music app, announces European availability

Google Play Music launched last year, beginning its life known simply as Google Music, growing up quickly since its humble private beta beginning. The app and web service officially launched in late 2011 and have grown quickly since then. Now the latest update has just been pushed out today to Google Play. The search giant also recently announced availability of the store and also Nexus devices in Europe and Australia as well as in the United States directly from Google and T-Mobile.

First, as for the brand new Play Music update, Google has added several features that should enhance the user experience. The update rolled out quietly without any official press release or even a post to their Android blog where these announcements frequently appear. So what is new in version 4.4.811H you ask?

By Alan Buckingham -
Steven Sinofsky Surface launch

Steven Sinofsky is OUT at Microsoft!

Microsoft has a longstanding tradition of promoting executives responsible for Windows soon after a new version releases. But in a stunning turnabout, Windows & Windows Live president Steven Sinofsky is finished, gone effective immediately, according to a late-evening announcement by Microsoft. To say I'm stunned is an understatement.

Sinofsky is the architect responsible for Windows 8 and RT, which launched on October 26. The backstory here must be something. Consider the timing, less than three weeks later. There's no transition. It's typical for Microsoft senior executives to go gracefully over X number of months following an announcement like this. Yet he's gone, as if fired or departed following a power play. I have no inside scoop at the moment, but will seek answers to the question many people will ask: "What now?" Sinofsky's departure forebodes during a crucial product launch.

By Joe Wilcox -
Nexus 4

Who will buy Google Nexus 4?

Tomorrow, Google Nexus 4 goes on sale, along with the new Nexus 10 tablet. The question: Who will buy? I've got answers.

Six days ago, I posted poll "Will you buy Nexus 4?" Early responses are quite surprising. Exactly 53 percent of respondents say they will buy the smartphone "as soon as available", with another 15.4 percent planning to do so "within 3 months of release". Say, what? Yes, that's my reaction, too. But the phone has received rave reviews from those publications receiving one (we're on the wait list). The results contrast strikingly with our iPhone 5 buying poll. More than 70 percent plan to buy Nexus 4 vs 33 percent the Apple mobile.

By Joe Wilcox -

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