Latest Technology News

In my previous post, I explain how to install Windows 8 on VMware Workstation. But some of you may not have a license to the software and would choose VMware Player instead.

Either option should be preferred by anyone not ready to put Windows 8 into production. Virtualization offers many advantages for testing the new operating system, while minimizing effects on your primary PC.

Windows 8 released to manufacturing earlier in this month (wow, it seems longer ago) and the Enterprise version is available for download as a 90-day trial directly from Microsoft. If you want to test the new operating system before the October 26 public release you can download and install the ISO.

Virtual machine is another option, and one less likely to disturb your workflow or upset the comfort of your current Windows settings. We suggest using VMware Workstation and provide here this how-to guide.

The outcome of the recent Apple vs Samsung trial isn’t particularly surprising -- the American company was always going to benefit from home-court advantage -- but the comprehensiveness of the victory shocked a lot of people, and at a stroke changed the smart devices industry for good. Yes, Samsung will appeal, and might succeed in overturning some of the findings or reduce the amount owed Apple (although, equally, the South Korean company might end up paying even more as the wilfull infringement finding is very damning). But there’s no question the result, as it stands, has repercussions not just for Samsung but for several of Apple’s other rivals.

My colleague Mihaita Bamburic claims that the ruling is bad for everyone, and while his position has merit, I view things differently. I see the result as having a positive impact in the long term, and here’s why.

Mac OS virtualization software company Parallels on Tuesday revealed a new crowdsourced project called the "Apple-in-the-Workplace Barometer", which lets users fill out a questionnaire about their workplace to create an overall view of how the business world is changing in terms of Mac adoption, acceptance of personal devices ("BYOD"), and of course, use of desktop virtualization.

The project tracks responses from IT professionals, managers, and knowledge workers, and plots their responses on an X-Y axis of Apple Support (current mobile policies) over Apple Adoption (opportunities for expansion). It is broken into four quadrants, "Players" versus "Laggards" and "Leaders" versus "Rookies." Obviously because it's a project from Parallels, it is primarily interested in creating a clearer picture of Apple's place in enterprise today.

Making a USB key bootable sounds like it should be a reasonably straightforward task, but the reality can be very different. There are a lot of variables to consider, and in some cases it can take a very long time to figure out how things should work on your particular system.

If you’re having difficulties, though, one way to improve your chances of success is to ensure you’re using a program that gives you plenty of options, and there are few tools quite as versatile as RMPrepUSB.

I can't win. Just when I think I've finally cooked-up the perfect post-PC computing recipe, along comes some killjoy to spoil all the fun. This time around it's Apple. The Cupertino goon squad is on a mission to stomp out all unauthorized uses of lowercase letter "i" (among other things), and my latest pet project -- moving my entire computing life to a non-PC device -- is about to fall victim to their litigious ways.

You see, I made the unforgivable decision to deviate from Apple's proscribed post-PC formula (i.e. iPhone/iPad) and instead embrace the ways of the rebel Android Army. After several weeks of tweaking and tuning, I've finally achieved a level of PC-independence I never thought possible. But given last week's Apple-Samsung jury decision, I fear it may have all been for naught. That's because the reverberations from such a landmark case will no doubt spread far beyond its principle defendant (you didn't really think this was about hardware, did you?) to strike at the very heart of Google's OS strategy.

Mozilla has quietly placed major new versions of its open-source, cross-platform web browser and email client onto its download servers ahead of an official release.

Firefox 15 FINAL benefits largely from behind-the-scenes performance tweaks, while Thunderbird 15 FINAL introduces a few new features, including a new curvy user interface.

After Qualcomm spilled the beans, LG officially announced the Optimus G, the world's first quad-core smartphone based on the Snapdragon S4 Pro processor to also include LTE connectivity. The LG Optimus G will be rolled out in September in Korea with global availability to follow after. Look out Samsung Galaxy S III, there is a new flagship smartphone in town...

The LG Optimus G has a 4.7-inch TrueHD IPS display (LCD) that sports an unusual 1280x768 resolution with a 15:9 ratio, packing a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with a quad-core 1.5GHz Krait CPU, Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with a 1.3 megapixel camera available on the front, 4G LTE connectivity, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, MHL, DLNA, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. The device weighs 145 grams and measures 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45mm. A 2,100mAh battery is powering the LG Optimus G that is running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Getting text or images into the Windows clipboard is generally very easy; pressing Ctrl+C or choosing a right-click option is probably all you need. Getting it out again can be more a hassle, though. If you’ve just pressed PrtSc to capture the current screen, for instance, then you may need to launch a graphics program, paste the screen grab there and click File > Save to get it to disc.

Fortunately there is a simpler way. Install the free-for-personal-use Paste As File and you’ll be able to save the contents of the clipboard (image or text) directly to a file with a couple of clicks.

Acronis has released True Image 2013, the latest edition of its power-packed backup tool. And while the program isn’t exactly the most revolutionary of updates, it does include some important changes.

The new edition is now fully compatible with Windows 8, for instance, good news if you’re planning to upgrade on or near release date.

Apple v. Samsung is a game of thrones. Their latest episode is far from any quarrels the two have had in the past, which now look like child's play compared to what happened in San Jose, California. If the outcome of the trial is of any indication what we're looking at is a major game changer in the smartphone and tablet industry, and not for the better.

iOS won, and Android lost. That's one simple way to look at it, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. Sadly what we're looking at is a much deeper influence that will be felt in the near future. Here are five reasons why the ruling is BAD for the industry. (Editor: See Wayne Williams' response "5 reasons the Apple-Samsung ruling is GOOD for everyone".)

Last week, I asserted that "Microsoft's new logo is branding fail". Seventy comments later, there is fierce debate among readers. But a branding expert's response catches my interest most of all.

"This is clearly a company who is afraid to take a big step forward -- be bold and innovative", Jason Cieslak, Siegel+Gale managing director, tells BetaNews. "The mark is fresher and more contemporary, yet at the same time, conservative and a bit dull".

Several big tech influencers are joining not-for-profit OASIS to standardize REST-based Open Data Protocol. OData is an open web protocol for both updating and querying data over HTTP. It can return back formatted results that can easily be displayed in both web pages and native apps using ATOM, JSON, and plain XML with included pagination, ordering, and filtering of data.

Supporters include CA Technologies, Citrix, IBM, Microsoft, Progress Software and Red Hat. Fifty-seven officers are OASIS OData Technical Committee members. They currently represent SAP AG, IBM, Perficient Inc, Northeastern University and Microsoft. In a recent meeting the current committee welcomed the new supporters to the initiative.

IBM and Kenexa Corporation on Monday jointly announced they had entered into an agreement where IBM would acquire Pennsylvania-based Kenexa for approximately $1.3 billion. The transaction was unanimously approved by Kenexa's board of directors, and it will next be subjected to a shareholder vote and regulatory approval. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Kenexa's solutions are squarely in the "big data" analysis category. They focus on recruitment, human resources, compensation, as well as knowledge, relationship, and performance management. This acquisition closely follows IBM's recent acquisitions of Varicent Software Inc. and Tealeaf.

Linux is no longer the geeky OS it used to be. Well, that might not be entirely true, but the operating system certainly has become more accessible in recent years. User friendly distributions such as Ubuntu have increased the popularity of Linux, but making the switch from Windows is still rather a daunting task for most people. If you don’t fancy the idea of wiping out Windows completely, or even going down the dual-boot route, LinuxLive USB Creator lets you make a portable version that can be run from a USB drive.

The very latest version of the program has added support for Peppermint OS Three, ArchLinux and Slitaz, but there are countless other distributions that can be used. Turning your USB drive into a portable Linux drive could hardly be simpler. If you have already download a Linux image, or you already have a distro burned to disc, you can select either of these as a source. However, you are also able to download many different varieties of Linux from within the app.