Latest Technology News

I have been testing Windows 8 Release Preview 64-bit for over 10 days now. I have installed it onto a second partition on two computers: Lenovo ThinkPad T61 and desktop clone computer. On both PCs, Windows 7 is also installed as an alternative OS. I set up dual boot using free tool Easy BCD.

My conclusion so far: this is an operating system one can live with, but that hardly justifies upgrading from Windows 7. That is unless you have got a tablet computer and like the new Metro UI. Since I haven't got one, the new Metro UI for me is just a bother -- simply a hindrance for efficient work. Except for this new user interface there is actually hardly anything new, while on the other hand, not one single awkward or archaic concept has been replaced by something new.

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Email newsletters are about a half of a step above spam. If you purchase something online, install some piece of software, or sign up for some service and thoughtlessly breeze past the checkbox that says "Keep me informed about (product)!" you can very easily find yourself getting monthly, weekly, or in the case of the most egregious mailers (like Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Victoria's Secret) daily newsletters or circulars, and those things add up quickly.

Or, if you are a systems administrator of one sort or another, and you receive automatic server notifications in your inbox, you can go from inbox zero to a deluge of semi-important messages in no time at all.

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Not all of Apple’s new and upgraded products were even mentioned in Monday’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote. I was especially interested in Apple’s tower computer, the Mac Pro, which was both upgraded and killed at the same time.

The Mac Pro is Apple’s machine for media professionals. With up to 12 CPU cores, 64 gigs of RAM and eight terabytes of disk storage, it is a very powerful machine aimed at video editors, DNA sequencers, and anyone else who needs a supercomputer under their desk. And on Monday Apple upgraded the Mac Pro for the first time in two years, adding faster processors, better GPU options (it has, remember four PCI Express slots), and interesting SSD options. But what Apple didn’t upgrade was the Mac Pro’s USB ports to USB 3.0.

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Security software company AVG has taken an active role in providing security apps for the popular mobile platforms like iOS and Android, and has garnered approximately 114 million active users across them all.

Today, AVG has released its free alternative Web browser AVG Family Safety for Windows Phone, following yesterday's update to the software for iOS.

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When managing a PC you’ll normally want software updates to be installed just as soon as they become available. But there may be occasional exceptions.

If you’re working on a slow and expensive mobile internet connection, say, or you’re going to make a really important presentation tomorrow and want to be sure your PC behaves exactly as it does today, then you may want to disable updates, just temporarily. And Update Freezer is a compact, portable and free utility which makes that very straightforward.

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Most security companies don’t seem to place much value in parental controls, usually demoting them to an underpowered module in the darkest recesses of their security suite. But maybe that’s about to change. Bitdefender has just made available the first public beta of its standalone Parental Control package, and at first glance it looks really quite impressive.

You can of course use the program to prevent particular actions. In just a few clicks it’s possible to filter inappropriate web content, for instance. You’re able to restrict the use of particular applications, block instant messages from anyone other than a list of allowed contacts, and ensure the child can only use the internet at the times you define.

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I find it humorous to read a press release from a large telecom in regards to cellular service plans. They use powers of the telecom heavens to make their calling and data plans "easier" for simple, dumb mortals. Carriers play it up like they have come down from Olympus to give us fire. All so we can build temples to them faster.

Of the top-three of the pantheon of cellphone carriers, Verizon is the biggest of them all -- the Zeus of wireless, who can screw anyone in any form. It's pretty simple for them. They have the biggest lightning bolts if you didn't know. It's clearly in their commercials for the "lightening" fast 4G LTE data speeds. So when they have something they think is "game changing" they send their fastest messenger.

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I ask because one of my colleagues already has ordered one (shipping time is a couple weeks), and I got into an interesting Google+ debate about display technologies earlier today.

Apple announced the new laptop yesterday during its Worldwide Developer conference. The new MBP is thinner and lighter, which are nice-to-have features but nothing remarkable. The 2880 x 1800-resolution, IPS screen is really what sets the portable apart from other notebooks, whether Macs or Windows PCs. Apple has raised the standard of art, but the technology isn't gamechanging, as some bloggers or reporters claim. Apple is a laggard with respect to high-res displays, which on Windows PCs have outclassed Macs for years.

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Cloud computing is one of the most hyped (some would say overhyped) concepts in IT right now. But data from research firm Strategy Analytics suggests that real-world application of the cloud is now beginning to match that hype.

SaaS is experiencing significant growth, as it is perhaps the easiest cloud technology for enterprises to adopt and deploy. Some 64 percent of the 1,750 organizations surveyed across the US, UK, France, Germany, China, India and Brazil report increased spending year over year. Other cloud technologies are seeing growth, but nowhere near to the degree of SaaS.

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Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) has reached the one trillion mark in number of objects stored. For some perspective, that's 142 objects for every person on the planet, or counted one per second, it would take you 31,170 years to count them all.

The feat shows that Amazon's cloud business growth continues to accelerate. In a blog post announcing the event, web services evangelist Jeff Barr notes object growth reached an astronomical 3.5 billion per day, or about 40,000 every second. There doesn't appear to be any end to it either as more and more large scale customers hop onto S3.

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Amazon Cloud Player, a service that lets Amazon users stream their cloud-stored music collection to their mobile device over a regular data connection, has been available on Android for more than a year. Tuesday, Amazon finally released the iPhone and iPod touch version of the Cloud Player App.

Just like the Android version, users can stream their music, download songs, or manage their music in the cloud, with the included ability to share playlists created in iTunes with the user's cloud library.

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Conventional antivirus tools are fine when they’re pitted against established threats, well-known malware with a match in their signature database. If you’ve been hit by something new, though, you may need to go hunting for the culprit manually – and FreeFixer is an excellent tool to help you along the way.

Launch a scan with the program and it’ll examine 39 key areas that may contain signs of malware. These include Browser Help Objects, your HOSTS file, AppInit_DLLs, Windows services, Namespace service providers, shell extensions, running processes, Winlogon modules, Firefox extensions, and more.

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Berlin-based O&O Software has announced a major update to its Windows back-up and restore tool. O&O DiskImage 6.8.1 Professional, also available in 64-bit, boasts full Windows 8 support, plus promises faster performance in key areas.

Version 6.8.1 also takes into account third-party power settings, ensuring it stays on for the whole backup process, plus streamlines and simplifies key parts of the program in response to customer and partner feedback.

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Viewing a digital photo’s EXIF metadata can provide all kinds of useful information, including the date and time the original image was taken, the camera used to take it, exposure and ISO settings, shutter speed, metering mode and a whole lot more. And seeing some of this can be as simple as clicking on the image in Explorer (the bar at the bottom of the window will show you a few key tags).

Displaying more EXIF data can be a challenge, though, even if you try a third-party image viewer: some display only a few tags, others force you to open a new window each time to see the relevant information, and a few ignore it altogether. So if you prefer an easy life then you might be interested in Photo Data Explorer, a simple image viewer which pays particular attention to a photo’s metadata.

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When Windows dies it’s not always easy to determine just what caused the problem. Sometimes you may be lucky and find that you are shown a helpful error message that singles out the culprit, but for most BSoDs and crashes you’ll end up with an error code that is all but impossible to interpret. In many cases you will find that Windows simply restarts, giving you no opportunity to find out what has caused the problem. Install WhoCrashed and you should be able to learn so much more.

After or during crashing, Windows will generate a crash dump file that could help you to find out just what the problem is. However, finding, reading and understanding these dump files can be a problem on its own. WhoCrashed Home Edition is a free program that will automatically scan your hard drive for the presence of crash dump files and let you know which drivers are likely to be responsible.

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