Latest Technology News

VideoLAN’s VLC, the hugely popular open source cross-platform media player, has finally been released for Android. Before you get too excited though, this is a beta version ported from iOS, so will only run on devices with an ARMv7 CPU and NEON. It has a rather basic UI and some performance issues too. In fact, according to VLC, "It might kill your kitten, destroy your house and start the Mayan apocalypse. Use it at your own risk".

If the limitations don’t put you off, and you have no qualms about potentially initiating the end of the world, the app offers the ability to play most local audio and video files (stored in its media library or any folders on your device), as well as network streams. It supports auto-rotation, aspect ratio adjustments, volume gestures, multi-track audio and subtitles.

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IT news comes in fast. Sometimes it takes us a while to process it all. In the blur of competing headlines, critical trends become obscured, and seemingly disconnected events -- when viewed through the prism of a few days rest and a good cup of tea -- can suddenly seem interrelated.

Consider the past two weeks. First, Microsoft drops the Surface bombshell, including news that only one of the devices -- the Windows RT version -- will be ready in time for the holidays. Then, on the heels of much hand wringing over Google’s Nexus 7 and its impact on the BYOD movement, PC stalwart Hewlett Packard reveals that it won’t be shipping any Windows RT tablets, at least not in the short term. Again, seemingly disconnected events -- yet when you pull them all together they lead to one inexorable conclusion: Microsoft hates BYOD.

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Security is a key concern for all users of Windows, but coming a close second is a desire to get the best possible performance. IObit Advanced SystemCare with Antivirus 2013 is an all-in-one suite that has both the security and performance bases covered along with a fair smattering of maintenance thrown in for good measure. The program is divided up into five main sections and in all there are dozens of tools on hand to help you to take care of your computer.

The antivirus component of the suite offers real-time protection against all manner of threats, but you also have the option of running manual scans, both quick and full, whenever you feel the need. Any files you receive via email are automatically scanned for signs of infection as are any files you download while browsing the Internet. Everything you would expect to find in an AV tool is available here -- scanning whenever you need it, quarantined of suspicious files, automatic updates and whitelisting of trusted files.

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Passwords are supposed to protect files from unauthorised access, but the sad fact is that just about any password can eventually be cracked. That’s bad news if you’re looking for bulletproof protection, but should you suddenly forget a password you might be grateful that your file isn’t as secure as you might have thought.

Password-recovery tools are plentiful, but freebies are thin on the ground. Many of these don’t even work, but one that does -- within certain limits of file format and password length -- is Free Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard 2.09.

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Paragon Software has released Drive Backup 11 ($95.95 for Workstation), the latest edition of its business-oriented tool. And the headline improvement this time is new sector-level incremental disk imaging, which, Paragon says, has boosted the efficiency of this backup type by 200%.

Elsewhere, file-based backups can now be encrypted by a password. There’s the option to back up your data to an FTP/ SFTP server. Support for working with virtual disks has now been improved, and new asynchronous data transfer means backup performance has considerably improved.

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Fourth in a series. To commemorate iPhone's fifth-anniversary, we present several stories looking at its debut and colorful history -- so far. This one is different from the others, as it's a work of fiction, looking at a possible, alternative timeline.

Apple, the trendsetter of design and function has made good on their WWDC 2012 promise. Today marks their release of what they dub the very first smart phone, the iPhone. But the big question: Are they a little too late to the game now? The new phone marks a 180-degree turn from the past statements of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, who asserted Apple is, or was, a computer, media and services company first.

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We’ve reached the beginning of July but shouldn't forget June, which ended with a swatch of updates and releases.

Security is always a priority like these: avast! Free Antivirus 7.0.1451 is the free version of the AV tool, with avast! Pro Antivirus 7.0.1451 also featuring the same new Emergency Updater and improvements to sandboxing. Also available is avast! Internet Security 7.0.1451 which includes not only virus protection, but also a firewall, web filtering and more. Another free firewall is available in the form of the newly updated ZoneAlarm Free 10.2.64.0 and if you want virus protection as well, you might want to take a look at ZoneAalarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 10.2.

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Last week, Google introduced its first branded tablet during the I/O developer conference. You can preorder one now, for delivery in a few weeks: $199 (8GB) or $249 (16GB). Maybe you're wondering if you should get one. I'd like to help that decision-making process, having the privilege of using Nexus 7 since June 27.

Nexus 7 is the most important Android device released to date. The tablet represents a culmination of disparate product and cloud services development coming suddenly together -- hardware, Jelly Bean, Chrome, curated content, seamless sync and personal assistant Google Now, among others. The tablet is first and foremost for anyone living the Google lifestyle. If you use more than a handful of Google services, this device, or Galaxy Nexus, is for you. Well, with caveats. Those aside, if you don't want this tablet, you really should.

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Popular media player VLC has been updated to version 2.0.2 and despite the minor version number increase, the changes should be immediately noticeable. The big news here is addition of support for Retina display so if you have invested in a new MacBook Pro, this is one app that will enable you to take full advantage of the enhanced screen.

Retina display support means that not only can video itself be seen in much better quality, but also that subtitles and any other overlays for a particular file can be displayed at a much higher resolution. This is clearly a release that will be of most interest to OS X users, and in addition to the new display option, a number of known problems have also been addressed. Blu-ray playback has been improved and issues that users had experienced with rotating, cropping and zooming with video have also been fixed.

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File synchronization services like Dropbox have really taken off in recent time. They basically allow you to sync files between devices using cloud storage as buffer. Depending on the service, you get web access, document editing options, photo galleries, media streaming and more on top of that.

All services have in common that they encrypt the connection between your computer and the cloud host to protect the data from third parties that try to intercept or record what is being transferred. Each service has implemented its own scheme, and it is often difficult and sometimes even impossible to find out how the data is protected by the service.

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I'm ashamed of Apple, and myself for giving anything to iPhone today. To celebrate iPhone's fifth anniversary, I asked BetaNews writers to offer missives based on their experience using the handset. We published Wayne Williams' story on Wednesday, another by Chris Wright early day and my own this afternoon. Two other stories are in the queue. We'll run them over the weekend, however, instead of today. There's no longer any sense of birthday celebration in these halls.

Today, US District Judge Lucy Koh gave Apple a great gift for iPhone's fifth, that I see as anything but. Apple's preliminary injunction against the Samsung-manufactured, Google-branded Galaxy Nexus is an outrage and demonstrates how far fallen is Steve Jobs' company from the innovative spirit that brought iPhone to market. The original set the smartphone market ablaze and brought Apple to unimagined success as seen from 2007. There was a time when Apple innovated rather than litigated and up-ended so-called copycats by making bold, breath-taking successor products. But that Apple is gone, buried with Jobs, who sadly left this world last year.

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Apple's ridiculous patent assault against Samsung finally hits Google, which suddenly looks genius for choosing Asus to manufacture the Nexus 7 tablet. On Friday, US District Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction against Galaxy Nexus, which is Google's flagship, stock Android smartphone. Days earlier she barred Galaxy Tab 10.1. For the preliminary injunction to go into effect, Apple must first put up $96 million.

What timing. To preview Android 4.1 Jellybean, the company gave one to each of more than 5,000 developers during Google I/O earlier this week. The new OS releases to Motorola XOOM tablets and Galaxy Nexus in mid-July, making the smartphone the first to get the important upgrade. The preliminary injunction would somewhat stymie Jellybean distribution ahead of iO6, which Apple is months from releasing. New features include voice response, that in BetaNews testing smoke Apple's Siri. If you're thinking about buying Galaxy Nexus, don't wait!

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It’s relentless. Just when my psyche was beginning to recover from the Nexus 7 bombshell, here comes the Nexus 10. A rumored upsized-version of Google’s recently announced reference platform, the Nexus 10 will be to the iPad what the Nexus 7 is to the Kindle: An immediate, existential threat pounding on the gates of Fort Cupertino.

To Apple, the thought of an ultra-cheap (think sub-$300), 10-inch iPad fighter must send chills down CEO Tim Cook’s spine. But to me, the Nexus 10 represents something much worse: Three extra inches of BYOD hell for enterprise IT shops.

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Third in a series. Editor's note: To commemorate iPhone's fifth-anniversary, we present several stories looking at its debut and colorful history -- so far.

iPhone is five years old today, and what a half-decade it has been. Apple launched the handset on June 29, 2007, marking its first foray into the cellular device market and with a single carrier: AT&T, which was Cingular before the launch. There were risks all around: Apple leapt into a market of sharks -- Nokia and Research in Motion, namely; AT&T bet the brand on the one device; and iPhone sold, locked and unsubsidized for $499 and $599 -- who would pay unlocked-mobile prices for a device that wasn't? One million people through early September 2007. For these early buyers, and perhaps for bazillion more who followed, iPhone isn't a phone but a cultural phenomenon.

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Damn, what an extraordinary month.

Let’s recap. First, we saw a spate of exciting new Ultrabook announcements, along with some x86- and ARM-based Windows 8 tablets at Computex. Then Apple introduced new spins of iOS and OS X for tablets and PCs, respectively, at its developer gathering. Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8 at the Windows Phone Summit -- and let's not forget the Surface tablet. And this week, Google rolled out new products and concepts buckshot-style at Google I/O, showcasing its first branded tablet, the Nexus 7, and Android 4.1, just to name a few.

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