Latest Technology News

Free WiFi is more prevalent than ever and the popularity of mobile devices means that more and more of us are connecting to these free networks using laptops, tablets and mobiles. In these situations, using their own computer, most people would not give a second thought to security.

But if you’re using your MacBook, iPhone or iPad in a public place with free Internet, such as a coffee shop, it is possible for someone to tap into your connection and steal your private data. Cloak is a security tool for Apple fans that makes securing these connections quick and easy.

The busy folks at Pen Drive Linux have updated their handy Universal USB Installer tool to support four more distros. Which means it can now convert live CDs of Deepin Linux, LinHES Linux, Trisquel Linux and Satux Linux to run on USB keys.

And that’s not bad at all, as the tool already supported all the usual big name distros (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE and more, each in multiple versions), as well as a lengthy list of Linux-based utilities: Gparted, System Rescue CD, and antivirus rescue CDs from AVG, Avira, BitDefender, F-Secure and Kaspersky, amongst others.

The average end user has no idea what goes into developing software. All they see is whether the software works or not, whether it looks good or whether it is easy to use. But for developers it is a totally different story. They are overwhelmed with new technologies every day and programming, rather than getting easier, at times becomes more and more challenging.

Programmers often are at the mercy of those who create the development tools they use. Drag and drop, IntelliSense, XAML, code editors replaced by Studio environments, debuggers, OOP and more OOP. Now we have Metro, WinRT and a totally new world of Windows development. Has programming really become easier and easier, with all the choices we have today? Or has programming lost its way?

Whether you share your computer or not, you should probably think about encrypting some of your private documents. Files relating to your finances, work and personal life can reveal a great deal of information about you, and it is not just a matter of wanting to maintain personal privacy. Identity theft is a serious problem, and if your personal details fall into the wrong hands, there is no way of knowing just how it will be used.

CryptBox 2012 is an immensely powerful encryption tool that can be used to secure your data and you can grab yourself a free copy in today’s giveaway.

The Ponemon Institute, sponsored by security software company Symantec, released on Tuesday its seventh annual Cost of Data Breach Report, which analyzes and quantifies the financial impact of data breach incidents around the world.

This year, the Institute looked at the security data from 49 companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, India and Italy, and interviews with over 400 individuals from these companies were conducted over nine months in 2011.

The new iPad is a hot seller, according to Apple. It also may be a bit too hot to handle based on several tests of the device. At least two separate ones find that new iPad runs at least 10 degrees hotter than iPad 2. Not surprisingly, users are complaining on Apple support forums.

The first tests performed by Dutch tech site Tweakers.net earlier this week put new iPad's temperature at 92.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or 9.5 degrees hotter than the 83-degree Fahrenheit temperature measured on the iPad 2. Consumer Reports chimes in, today, finding new iPad reaches a temperature of 113 degrees Fahrenheit, and 116 degrees while plugged in. A lap burner for sure.

Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS dominate the smartphone market with hoards of fans willing to fight tooth and nail for their platform of choice. What is it really like moving from one to the other? I found out.

I made the move from Android to an iPhone 4S over the weekend and reactions have, as expected, been mixed ranging from the disparaging “a downgrade” to “welcome to the club, you won’t regret it”.

When it comes to keeping your hard drive defragged, Windows built-in tools do an okay job, but if you’re looking to push the performance envelope further you want a trusted, reliable third-party solution like Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro 4.

Also available as a cut-down free version, Auslogics Disk Defrag optimizes your hard drive in a myriad of different ways, and the great news is you can order a copy of the full Pro version for just $9.95, a saving of 67 percent on its retail price.

Market research firm IDC and mobile platform services company Appcelerator have released the results of a developer survey that examined the attitudes, ideas, and plans of mobile application developers in the first quarter of 2012.

Principal among the survey items was developer interest in platforms. Unsurprisingly, iOS remained the top platform for developers, followed by Android (phone). Third place, beating out Android tablets, and indeed all the remaining mobile platforms, was HTML5 Mobile Web.

The standard Windows solution for automating a PC function is Windows Task Scheduler. And that’s fine if, say, you just need to run some program once a week, but if you need to trigger a task by something other than the passage of time then life gets a little more complicated.

Mayhem has a different philosophy. Originally devised by Microsoft, and now open source, this interesting tool aims to take Task Scheduler to the next level, providing many more automation possibilities, while still being easy enough for absolutely anyone to use.

PC shipments slogged along during 2011 and will continue to do so this year. IDC says growth was a paltry 1.8 percent last year and will be a tepid 5 percent in 2012 -- tepid considering the year-over-year comparison is weak. Bob O'Donnell, IDC's veep of Clients and Displays at IDC cites the oh-so obvious reason: "Many consumers are holding off making PC purchases at the moment because tablet devices like Apple's iPad are proving to be a powerful distraction".

But he qualifies: "End user surveys tell us that few people consider media tablets as replacements for their PCs, so later this year when there is a new Microsoft operating system, available in sleek new PC form factors, we believe consumer interest in PCs will begin to rebound". Do you believe him? Pardon my skepticism. I don't.

Disgraced playwright Mike Daisey has support from a somewhat unexpected source: Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. In an interview with CNET on Monday, Wozniak says that he saw "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" last year and believes that Daisey is not anti-Apple. Woz also claims he said this to Steve Jobs before he passed away last October.

"A lot of performing arts...what actors do is to try to dramatize issues and events that are real", Woz says. "When you're watching Stephen Colbert and 'The Daily Show' not everything they say is factual but what they're presenting is real. It's a method of presentation that brings issues and ideas more to your awareness".

When you need to build a website quickly and easily, then there are plenty of tools that promise they can help. But their reality is often disappointment: low quality templates, inflexible layouts and a general lack of customization options can make it very difficult to build anything credible at all.

Xara Web Designer, fortunately, has always been very different.

We gave you the weekend to ponder the significance to your business. Now it's time to ask: Will you deploy Office 365 (or additional seats), following last week's price cuts? Are you now more likely to adopt cloud-based productivity apps?

Four days ago, Microsoft cut Office 365 prices by up to 20 percent, depending on the plan and number of seats. It's a hefty cut coming at a time of increased Google Apps acceptance among enterprises. Microsoft's calling card is familiarity -- cloud apps connecting to Office on the desktop while providing anytime, anywhere access.

Today, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to bring business process software to Azure. Kirill Tatarinov, president of the company's Business Solutions group, promises that Dynamics NAV 2013 and Dynamics GP 2013, which are separately set to be available in calendar fourth quarter, "will run on Windows Azure in an elastic Microsoft cloud". Dynamics AX 2012 R2 is on track for similar release.

Dynamics NAV and GP are designed for small-to-midsize organizations. SMBs looking for an early taste of NAV 2013 will get their chance when a beta becomes available in May, says Tatarinov, during Microsoft Convergence 2012. The next AX version, which looks to be v2014, will evolve into an enterprise cloud service.