This is the bubble as we know it
Over the last eighteen months, there has been a lot of public concern about whether we're in the midst of another tech bubble. People outside of Silicon Valley saw the billion-dollar exit for a consumer Internet company that was around for less than two years (Instagram), and couldn't believe such easy money was being made.
Golly Gee Whiz, it must be 1995 all over again!
Android malware woes look a lot like Windows'
McAfee says that Android malware is taking a worrisome turn, with cybercriminals mimicking popular strategies used against Windows. The latest attacks tap IRC bots, where the malware gets further operating instructions from an Internet chatroom.
Called Android/Multi.dr, the attack masks itself as the game Madden NFL 12. Multi.dr is comprised of three separate components, including a root exploit, an IRC bot, and SMS Trojan.
Need rich photo editing without the bloat? Try Pixelitor
If, like us, you’ve tried more than your share of image editors, then you’ll know many of them are depressingly similar. Especially when it comes to filters. All too many developers seem to think they can get by with a simple sharpen, blur, emboss and so on, when most users now expect far, far more.
Fortunately there are also plenty of image editors that manage to deliver plenty of filtering power, though -- and the Java-based Pixelitor is a particularly interesting example. Its compact size (the entire program is contained within a single 1.04MB JAR file) suggested we shouldn’t expect too much, but the reality proved very different, it’s packed with essential filtering functionality.
Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10.1 advances, leaves Windows 2000 behind
The jump to version x.1 of a program may not seem like particularly big news, but with the release of Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10.1 there is a surprising amount to take in. For anyone who has taken the security step of installing more than one antivirus tool, you should now find that, which Norton and AVG at least, Ad-Aware no longer produces a BSOD, but there have also been more important changes to the engine of this antivirus and firewall tool.
A major concern with any antivirus tool is the impact it has on your system and in the latest release there have been tweak made to the scanning engine that mean that schedule scans are performed faster than in the past. The program has already undergone something of a makeover but there have now been additional improvements made so the app as a whole feels generally snappier – this is in addition to faster scan completion.
Apache releases big OpenOffice upgrade -- get it now!
The Apache Software Foundation announced the release of Apache OpenOffice 3.4, the first new build of OpenOffice since it was handed to the ASF by Oracle after development stalled when many contributors defected across to The Document Foundation’s LibreOffice, which is also based on OpenOffice.
Version 3.4’s major features can be found under the hood -- vastly improved startup times, improved OLEObject handling, better chart rendering and support for scalable vector graphics are the most notable changes in this new release. Also implemented is ODF 1.2 encryption, while the suite is now licensed under the Apache License 2 engine.
Fire all the lawyers
Could it be true? Are the courts finally tired of the never-ending patent disputes in Silicon Valley? If the statements made by two judges over the past week are an indication, yes.
This frustration was on display Monday in a Seattle court room as Federal Judge James Robart accused both Microsoft and Motorola of "hubris" and "arrogance" in their ongoing patent dispute, and using the courts to gain the upper hand in licensing negotiations, according to GeekWire's Todd Bishop, who was on hand for the proceedings.
The personal cloud is all about context
Gartner is back thumping about how the cloud will replace the PC as personal hub by 2014, and, whoa, that's not exactly so far away. I wrote the "ding dong, the PC's dead" last month. After identifying five trends then, the analyst firm today highlights three things cloud vendors had better watch out for.
Simply stated: "Mobility and location"; "platform independence"; and "seamless synchronization". That aptly describes what the cloud-connected -- oh, post-PC, if you insist -- era is all about: Personal computing anytime, anywhere on anything. However, many cloud offerings fall short of that definition and the three must-have characteristics Gartner defines.
Nokia fragments Windows Phone Marketplace with more exclusive apps
At a relatively quiet opening day of the CTIA Wireless International 2012 convention on Tuesday, mobile phone maker Nokia announced its Lumia Windows Phones will receive a handful of exclusive applications that other Windows Phones will not, including apps from ESPN, AOL, and Groupon.
When the Lumia line of Nokia Windows Phones launched, Nokia provided a few solid exclusives, including Maps, Drive, and Music to improve usability and desirability of the devices. These apps are still not available on other Windows Phones in the Marketplace.
Plex Server 0.9.6.1 supports DLNA, eliminates need for app
If you’re looking for a gorgeous, easy-to-use solution to the problem of sharing and streaming media from your PC or Mac, then Plex will appeal. And with the release of Plex Server 0.9.6.1, it adds another major string to its bow: support for DLNA.
That’s right, from this current release, Plex Server can stream video, photos and music to a host of DLNA-certified devices, from games consoles and media streamers like the WD TV Live to other computers and mobile devices running DNLA media software.
Oracle's fight with Google over Android: still no clear winner
In late 2010, information technology company Oracle sued Google for unlawfully using Java to power the Android mobile operating system. Oracle claimed the popular operating system violated seven of its fundamental Java patents, and the two companies began a long courtroom battle which yesterday came to a crossroads over copyrights.
Jurors sitting in on the trial in the District Court of the Northern District of California rendered a partial verdict on Monday, agreeing that Oracle had successfully proven Google's infringement upon the overall structure, sequence and organization of its Java copyrights.
Android rises over fallen iPhone
I must really be asleep at the wheel. How could I have possibly missed this nearly week-old sales data: iPhone's fourth-quarter sales surge against Android was a blip on the screen. Chock it up to iPhone 4S launch combined with the saddest of sales motivators: Rock star's death halo, where album sales soar following an artist's death, or in this case iPhone following Apple cofounder Steve Jobs' tragic passing. Perhaps you have another reason. Regardless, sales don't lie.
Android smartphone OS market share, as measured in actual sales to people (and not shipments to stores), reached 61 percent during Q1 compared to a measly 29 percent for iOS/iPhone. That's a dramatic turnabout from fourth quarter when Android led by a narrower margin -- 48 percent to 43 percent. Still, like fourth quarter, the top-three selling smartphones were iPhone, iPhone and iPhone, as in 4S, 4 and 3GS in that order.
Kindle Fire sales are still hot
Wow, what a swirl of good-news/bad-news last week for the media tablets aimed at the ereader market. As it turns out, the roller-coaster ride continues this week.
comScore reported that the Kindle Fire from Amazon generated far more Internet activity in February than any other Android media tablet. Then a few days later, Microsoft dumped $300 million into a Barnes & Noble ebook venture, a move spurred in part by the success of the bookseller’s media tablet, the Nook Tablet.
Do you need to capture a webpage bigger than your screen? Try wpic
Capturing an image of a small webpage is easy. Open it in a browser, press Alt+PrtSc, paste the results into your graphics tool of choice, edit and save the results: it’s all over in a moment. Of course, if the page is too large to view on your display then all that scrolling means capturing it all becomes a little more challenging. But wpic, a new tool from woanware, may be able to help.
We say “may” because wpic is a console tool, with no concessions whatsoever to interactivity. If you launch the program then it won’t ask you for a URL or output file; instead you must specify them on the command line, very precisely (make the slightest error and it’ll complain with an unhelpful message), something like this.
EaseUS ToDo Backup 4.5 Free supports Windows 8
Chengdu, China software developer EaseUS has updated its Windows all-in-one backup tool, EaseUS ToDo Backup 4.5 Free. The software, which is free for personal use only (paid-for editions are also available), combines both data and image-based backup within a single application.
Version 4.5 introduces a revamped backup management interface, designed to simplify the task of editing and deleting backups. It also adds support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview as well as interconverting backup tasks with plans (and vice versa).
Bitdefender Total Security 2013 beta brings flashy, new interface
Bitdefender has released the first public beta of its Total Security 2013 suite. And while the “New Features” list this time doesn’t exactly reveal much in the way of innovation (you’ll probably have some across many similar ideas before), there are still some welcome additions to what’s becoming a very powerful security suite.
Safepay, for instance, is an isolated browser that runs in a secure desktop, with a virtual keyboard. It automatically launches when it detects you’re visiting banking, payment or other sensitive sites to help ensure your transaction details stay safe.
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