AMBER alerts are the emergency bulletins that announce when a child has been abducted, they sometimes interrupt radio and television broadcasts or flash across variable message signs (aka matrix signs) on the highway. Today, Google announced it has teamed up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to bring location-based AMBER alerts to Google Search and Maps, both mobile and desktop.

These AMBER Alerts provide information about the abducted child, and any other details about the case and the alleged abductor, including name, identifying traits, and make and model of car. The feature was actually suggested to Google by a user in the Google search forum in early 2011, but it is unclear if the user's suggestion was the origin of this development.

If your digital photo collection is something of a mess, leaving you rarely able to find the images you need, then you’re not alone. The standard Windows tools just aren’t up to the task of managing large numbers of photos, leaving many people looking for third-party tools to help them restore order.

There are at least plenty of free photo managers competing for your attention, though, and the latest contender is Lunarship Software’s Phototheca, an interesting tool with a range of useful features.

Most people probably didn't turn a glance at Microsoft's other big recent release, Windows Server 2012. Server operating systems rarely get much attention, and appropriately so; their appeal and importance really only extends to the rank and file of server administrators and other similar decision makers. And plus, with Windows 8 and Surface making the public rounds, there's plenty of fanfare to go around.

But there's something most obviously missing from the latest Server 2012 lineup, and that is a subsequent Small Business Server release.  Redmond Channel Partner magazine first brought this to my attention. Not only did SBS get the axe, but Microsoft also went on to kill off Windows Home Server as well. The last public version of WHS was version 2011, which happened to be the second and final release in this platform's short lived history.

Microsoft's online version of Office has really reached maturity and, no, I am not talking Office Web Apps for SkyDrive here, although that has become a solid free option. Office 365, the more powerful big brother of Office Web Apps, which is geared more towards corporate customers, has been scoring some big contracts as of late with companies, universities and government agencies. Today the Redmond, Washington-based company announced its latest win, a contract to bring Office 365 to the Environmental Protection Agency.

This morning, Lockheed Martin and Microsoft announced the new $9.8 million deal with the EPA. The agency will begin transitioning approximately 25,000 employees to the cloud-based version of Office. "Lockheed Martin has supported the IT needs of the EPA for more than 35 years," stated Frank Armijo, who is the vice president of Lockheed Martin Energy Solutions. "By providing cloud-based tools that facilitate collaboration, communication and cost savings across the agency, our team is dedicated to the EPA’s mission."

For years I've accused Apple of carefully using product leaks and announcements to benefit its share price. Among the posts, three years ago ahead of iPad's announcement: "Are Apple stock gains the reason for recent tablet rumors?". Rumors often give shares a lift, and bad news sometimes comes when damage can be least. In January 2011, for example, Apple announced that cofounder Steve Jobs would take indefinite medical leave -- during a US holiday when stock markets were closed.

Suddenly, I'm having déjà vu regarding another major Apple management shakeup. On Monday, when stock markets closed because of Hurricane Sandy and announced to remain so yesterday, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company revealed that Scott Forstall will leave next year. I puzzled over the timing. Why now? But I was too busy with other stuff: Google unveiled new Nexus devices and Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8. Busy news day. Only this morning, when Apple shares fell following the market's reopening did the reason hit me like a club. Apple sought to minimize share price damage.

In the district court of Maine yesterday, a small, privately owned company called Surfcast Inc. filed a patent infringement complaint against Microsoft for its famous live tile interface, now common among both the Windows and Windows Phone operating system families.

Surfcast was granted a patent back in 2004 (#6,724,403) for a "System and Method For Simultaneous Display of Multiple Information Sources," which bears a strong resemblance to Microsoft's live tile interface.

Even after cancelling the October 29 event due to Hurricane Sandy, Google still announced its new Nexus lineup. UK carrier O2 has taken interest in the Nexus 4 and listed it as "coming soon" on its website. And so has Carphone Warehouse.

The Nexus-branded smartphone will be available starting November 13 on Google Play in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. The UK carrier also lists November as the release date, but doesn't provided a specific day when customers will be able to purchase the smartphone. But if O2 is not your flavor, Carphone Warehouse also lists Nexus 4, but only on contract at the moment.

Just about every photo editor includes a simple “sharpen” function, which analyses the pixels of an image in an attempt to reduce blur and recover a little detail. But although the standard sharpening technology is fast and easy to use, it only really works with mild blurring; if your image is seriously blurry then you’ll probably get nowhere at all.

The solution? Forget basic sharpening, to deal with significant blurring you need a far more powerful tool. And SmartDeblur is an excellent free candidate.

Reporting rumors is a risky business, and this one is no different. Not too long ago, a device with the i9260 moniker was believed to be the next Google Nexus smartphone, and instead it's the Samsung Galaxy Premier (codename i9260).

On its Ukrainian website, the South Korean corporation announced the device, which comes with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display (indicative of a PenTile matrix) and a resolution of 1280 by 720. There is no word on the processor or amount of RAM, but it will be available with 8GB or 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. Depending on the market, the Galaxy Premier will feature 4G LTE or HSPA+ cellular connectivity. The latter will allow downloads up to 21Mbps and upload speeds up to 5.76Mbps. The real kicker is the operating system -- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Two weeks from today, Google's first 10.1-inch tablet, manufactured by Samsung, goes on sale from the Play store. If the search and information giant is smart, pre-orders will start sooner, sure to generate buzz even as Apple seeks some when iPad mini arrives November 2. The question I have to ask: Will you buy?

That's no easy answer for competitive shoppers. Thanks to Windows RT, there's no shortage of tablets to choose from this holiday season. Nexus 10 is compelling nonetheless. Screen resolution is highest -- 2560 by 1600 -- available on a tablet, and that's more than iPad 4. Price is hugely competitive. The 16GB model sells for $100 less than Apple's comparable tablet. Then there is Android 4.2, newest Jelly Bean iteration, and promise of continued updates free of vendor skins and other changes. As the expression goes: "Pure Google".

In early summer, Microsoft started offering a promotional price on Windows 8 Pro to anyone buying a PC running version 7. But there's a slip up. The $14.99 price is available to anyone willing to take advantage of the company. Several users have already tested this, ah, workaround and verified that it works. But don't expect the loophole to be open for long. However, Microsoft hasn't closed it yet, which I just verified for myself.

To get started, head over to the Windows Upgrade Offer website and click the "Continue" button to begin the rather quick process.  It's the next step where things get a bit messy for the ethically-minded. You will have to be a bit sneaky here and lie to Microsoft. The company wants to know when you purchased that Windows 7 computer you are looking to upgrade and it better have been after June 2nd. But there's no real verification that you did. Microsoft leaves open a gap for the user to fill in. Simply tell Microsoft when and where you purchased your computer. You will also need to agree to a standard terms of use, but be careful you don't agree to the Microsoft newsletter, unless of course you want it.

Today, Intel subsidiary Havok, an early Windows Phone supporter, announced its complete technology suite will be available to Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 game developers later in the year. Havok's middleware powers a tremendous number of the most popular video games.

Last June, Valve CEO Gabe Newell famously said Windows 8 would be "a catastrophe" for the PC industry, with specifically catastrophic results for the PC gaming industry. Blizzard's Executive Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo added to Newell's comment, saying Windows 8 was "not awesome for Blizzard, either." Shortly thereafter, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson expressed worry that a "locked down" Windows 8 would be "very very bad for Indie games and competition in general."

One year after launching Chrome Remote Desktop in beta form, Google today announced that the Chrome browser app is now available as a stable release. What features can users expect?

Using the "Remote Assistance" feature from Chrome Remote Desktop, users can connect to other computers to offer or receive assistance. The set up is fairly straightforward and it involves typing in a Chrome generated code to gain or provide access to one's computer. For those that want to access their own computer via remote control, "My Computers" let them do just that using solely a PIN number after activating the feature.

When it comes to Windows 8 sales, CEO Steve Ballmer obviously knows much better than I do how many copies of the new OS Microsoft is shifting. But, his claim that the company has sold four million upgrades since Friday, sounds suspect to me. Where is he getting this figure from? Is it from the Windows Upgrade Offer site? If so, then that’s great -- a phenomenal achievement.

If it’s from there and other sources, as the slide shown at BUILD 2012 suggests, well, I’m not sure. Getting those kind of sales figures from a wide range of retailers takes time and can only have been arrived at by making some phone calls to gauge response (or chasing up EPoS from selected sources), followed by a spot of calculator prodding and some guessing.

Almost a month ago Everything Everywhere announced that it will deploy 4G LTE over its existing 1800MHz spectrum, starting October 30. Today, the United Kingdom-based carrier launched both faster data services and fiber for its local customers.

EE is the first UK carrier that is allowed to offer 4G LTE, after it previously received the license from local communications regulator Ofcom. It was initially announced that the fast data services will be deployed to 10 major cities across the United Kingdom, but today the carrier upped the number by one. Fiber broadband will also be available to 11 million premises, with touted speeds up to 76 Mbps. Also launched today are 700 EE-branded stores.