Latest Technology News

The non-profit VideoLAN Organization has announced the release of VLC 2.0 FINAL. VLC is a popular cross-platform, open-source video player capable of handling most media formats, and version 2.0 represents the first landmark update since its first official release in June 2009.

The most radical changes in VLC 2.0 will be found on the Mac platform, with support for Blu-ray playback being overshadowed by a radical overhaul of the user interface. This major step forward has divided the VLC community since it first emerged, with some decrying the loss of version 1’s minimalist approach to video playback.

Continue reading →

There has been a great deal of activity in the security software department this week, starting with the release of Avast! 7 Free (beta2), a preview of what to expect from the upcoming antivirus tool. Interesting features such as the Reputation Service to check the safety of files and websites, and Remote Assistance for remote problem fixing, mean that this is worthy of your attention. From the same company comes another beta tool in the form of Avast! Internet Security 7 (beta2) which takes the security of your computer even more seriously.

Norton is a well-known name in the security arena and Norton 360 v6 FINAL is a complete suite of tools including a firewall, password manager and phishing protection as well as handy bonus features such as backup and system optimization.

Continue reading →

There's something poetic about Microsoft changing Windows' logo during the centennial anniversary of Titanic's tragic sinking. Many people involved in the great streamliner's design and building -- and surely those buying into publicity about it -- regarded Titanic as unsinkable. There's similar pervasive view about Windows, that nothing can sink its market leadership. Uh-oh, someone only put the watertight doors as high as E deck.

Microsoft's flagship operating system will sail on its maiden voyage, so to speak, with the Consumer Preview coming in less than two weeks (if not sooner). Windows 8 will take a northerly course through ice-infested waters as Microsoft "re-imagines" the platform in ways that will stress customers', developers' and other partners' commitments. Execution will be key, and every detail planning the course matters. That's right down to the logo, which significance is much bigger than Windows.

Continue reading →

I was surprised Apple announced the developer preview of OS X 10.8 yesterday. There is something curiously odd how they went about this, and I believe it has everything to do with the company everyone loves to hate on -- Microsoft.

Anyone following Apple for any length of time should know they are the king of secrecy. Products are announced when they're ready (there are few public betas), usually during invite-only media events. But not this time. Apple claims they did not want to overdo the whole "announcement event" especially having just hosted the iBooks event. That sounds like a pile of crock to me.

Continue reading →

A few days ago, the new Windows 8 "Metro-style" logo leaked out to blogs. Today, the Windows team has come forward to discuss the fundamental change to the iconic four-color Windows logo that has been in place since Windows 3.1 twenty years ago.

Designed by Paula Scher from the Pentagram Design Agency, whose other notable works include the Citi logo and the packaging for artificial sweetener Truvia, the new logo is a devolution of the wavy "Windows flag" we've all grown accustomed to.

Continue reading →

Microsoft Sysinternals has released a new version of its excellent system monitoring tool, Process Explorer 15.13, which this time gains a useful new Background priority setting.

As before, if you’re faced with a runaway program and would like to reduce its impact on your system, without closing it entirely, then you can right-click the process, browse to Set Priority, and choose something like Below Normal or Idle. Windows will then give the process a lower priority when it comes to allocating CPU time, which may help your other programs to run more normally.

Continue reading →

Are you shocked that Google is back in the news again for behaving badly? This latest "evil" is hard to excuse as being accidental. Several online advertising outfits, including Google, ignored the privacy settings of iPhone users and embedded tracking code in mobile advertisements, the Wall Street Journal finds. The code allowed Google and others to track browsing behavior across many different websites. Supposedly Google stopped the practice after being contacted by the Journal.

The browser breach raises important questions about the search and information giant's commitment to user privacy, and more importantly the lengths the company will go to build its advertising business. Considering that the Mountain View, Calif.-based company made such a big deal in its early years that "you can make money without doing evil", each successive report of Google acting just like any other company is ever more disturbing.

Continue reading →

Over the past year, we've witnessed a convergence of social, mobile and cloud computing prompting organizations around the globe to evaluate how they embrace the growing social business market. "Social" has become essential for organizations that want to remain competitive.

Reflecting on the clients I've met across 66 countries, five things surprised me about companies embarking on the social business journey.

Continue reading →

Microsoft Outlook is a large and complex application, so if your copy starts misbehaving then it may not always be obvious where to start looking for a solution. But don’t worry, help is finally at hand. Two Microsoft engineers with more than 30 years of combined experience in supporting Office, Outlook and Exchange Server have produced the Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool (OCAT), a useful program that will scan your Outlook 2007/ 2010 profile for common issues and report on anything it finds.

OCAT isn’t portable, unfortunately, so you’ll need to install it first. But with that done, it’s easy enough to use: make sure Outlook is running, launch the program, click Start a scan > Start scanning, and around 20 seconds later (if our test PC is typical) you’ll be looking at a detailed report.

Continue reading →

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC acquired cloud services provider Dashwire in August for approximately $18.5 million with the outward intention of integrating the company's cloud services into its still-in-beta HTCSense.com mobile backup, storage, and content management service.

For over four years, Dashwire has run a service that allowed mobile users of various operating systems to back up their photos, videos, contacts, settings, and messages to the Dashwire cloud.

Continue reading →

[portfolio_slideshow id=59150]

On February 16, Apple unexpectedly released the OS X 10.8 developer preview and announced the software's availability some time in "late summer". Apple highlights 10 new features in Mountain Lion, the majority of which inherit capabilities from iOS 5 on iPad: AirPlay Mirroring, Game Center, Gatekeeper, iCloud, Messages, Notes, Notification Center, Reminders, Share Sheets and Twitter.

Continue reading →

In early summer 2011, Nature Publishing Group's Educational branch debuted its "born digital" textbook Principles of Biology, which would cost the student only $49 and contribute to the movement to democratize higher education with technology. Nature's approach was so different that it basically destroyed the old business model of publishing and rebuilt it for the digital age.

Today, Nature Education has made the Principles of Biology available to the education world at large. The e-textbook is available either as a one-time purchase of $49 for individual students (which includes lifetime updates,) or it is available to learning institutions as a site license, which gives on-site access to all students coming from the school's IP address.

Continue reading →

If you’ve ever tried to figure out your PC’s NTFS folder permissions with the standard Explorer tools then you’ll know it can take a while. The basic details are a few clicks away, even the advanced tools don’t tell you everything you need to know, and if you need to check several folders then you’ll have to right-click each one of them individually: very tedious.

Fortunately there is now an interesting alternative, though, in the NTFS Permissions Reporter.

Continue reading →

It has taken rather a long time, but the stalwart of file compression,WinZip, has finally released a version of their famous archive handling tool for iPhone and iPad. Available completely free of charge, the app can be used to open compressed files and preview their contents, and while the restrictions of iOS mean that this is not as complete a compression tool as many people would hope, WinZip for iOS is still a welcome addition to the App Store.

Where the app proves particularly useful is in the way it enables you to view zip files that have been emailed to you. Whether you are working with the email accounts you have configured in the mail app, or you are using a web based service such as Gmail or Hotmail, the app can be used to view the contents of zip file attachments. It does not matter if the zip files you want to view are encrypted; providing you have the necessary password, these can be opened as well.

Continue reading →

Protecting yourself from web-borne malware can often be something of a hassle. Especially if the process involves browser toolbars, which can slow you down and make your system more unstable.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. And the new Mirage Anti-Bot is a great example of a simpler, more lightweight approach.

Continue reading →