Latest Technology News

Everybody loves a bargain, and if you’re on the lookout for software at a great price, look no further than the Downloadcrew Software Store where you’ll find something to suit every taste and budget throughout the month of March.

Perhaps you need to squeeze the last ounce of performance out of your computer; there are a number of applications that can help you out, starting with Auslogics BoostSpeed 4. For just $9.95, a saving of 80 percent off the MSRP of $49.95, you can speed up your start times, clean out the clutter from your hard drive and more. When taking care of your drives, Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro 4 provides a complete defragmentation solution, and it is currently available for 67 percent off the MSRP of $29.95 at just $9.95. Other performance enhancing tools worth taking a look at include TuneUp Utilities 2012 [3-PC non-expiring lifetime licence] which can be installed on up to three computers and costs just $14.99 (70 percent off the MSRP of $49.95) and IObit Advanced SystemCare 5 PRO [3-PC], which is also discounted by 70 percent from $39.95 to $11.95.

If you need to investigate the inner workings of an SWF applet then there are plenty of great free tools around that can help (Flashbug being particularly useful). It seems these are now going to have some major and official competition, though, as Adobe Labs have just released a major inspection tool of their own in the new SWF Investigator.

Open the SWF file of your choice -- either locally, or online -- and the program will tell you much more about it. The SWF Info tab displays its tags, exported classes and header information; the Disassembler works with ActionScript 2.0 or 3.0 content to give you an idea of the original code; the Hex Viewer allows you to view and edit the raw SWF bytes, and the Strings pane displays any embedded strings within ActionScript 3.0 content.

Codeweavers has announced the launch of CrossOver XI, its commercial port of the open-source Wine application that allows Linux and Mac users to run Windows applications without having to install Windows itself.

CrossOver XI sees the two previously available separate editions of CrossOver, Games and Pro, incorporated into a single application, and includes numerous platform updates and improvements. It also promises support for a wider range of applications than before, including Microsoft Office 2010.

Wow, it's like magic. Apple frequently uses that word or some extension, right? Calling iPad "magical". Well something magical happened to an iPhone 4S one of my family members owns. Upgrading to iOS 5.1, which Apple released today, changed that cute signal indicator from 3G to 4G. What an upgrade! All for free, too.

But wait! My speed test isn't any faster. It's still slow mo as ever. I conducted three speed tests in a row from my apartment. Ah, cough, cough -- .16Mbps, .94Mbps and .60Mps downstream. Woohoo! Gimme some of that 4G, AT&T!

During today's media event, where Apple debuted new iPad and new Apple TV, software also took the stage, including the new iPhoto for iOS and updates to GarageBand and iMovie. All three apps are available for $4.99 each. Apple also released new iWork apps -- Keynote, Numbers and Pages -- and they sell for $9.99 a piece.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company updated the apps in part to support the new iPad's 2048 x 1536 resolution "Retina" display. Yesterday I answered "Why does iPad need a HD display?".

Apple's latest version of the iPad, announced on Wednesday is an incremental upgrade to the fantastically popular mobile tablet computer that adds a higher resolution screen, 4G LTE mobile wireless connectivity, higher resolution cameras, and a handful of other new features.

But these combined upgrades have taken a slight toll on the chassis of the device, making it slightly thicker and heavier to accommodate the bigger battery, which has been increased in capacity to provide Apple's now standard "10-hour/9-hour" battery life promises.

Well, the price cut isn't as much as I predicted, but Apple today lowered iPad 2 pricing to $399 -- that's for the 16GB WiFi model. The WiFi plus 3G model is now $529. The price cuts came during a media event launching the "new iPad", which goes on sale March 16.

Essentially, Apple is keeping the older model available, much as it does with iPhone 3GS and 4 for lower selling price, potentially opening sales to buyers who wouldn't or couldn't pay $499 or $629 -- the starting prices for the new iPad WiFi and WiFi plus 4G models.

Apple on Wednesday debuted the new iPad, the third generation of the bestselling tablet with few surprises. While the name is missing the HD that everyone expected, it does include the Retina Display that has been rumored for months. Resolution comes in at 2048 x 1536, which is equivalent to 3.1 million pixels.

In demoing the new device, marketing chief Phil Schiller says it is the best display ever in a mobile device. In fact, it has a million more pixels than an 1080p high definition television set, which has a resolution of 1920 x 1080. At a distance of 15 inches or more, the human eye will not be able to distinguish separate pixels, the company says.

The wait is over. Today Apple officially unveiled the third-generation iPad, which is available for preorder today and will be in stores March 16, along with the new Apple TV. The company unveiled the new tablet during a highly-anticipated media event in San Francisco.

Prices are unchanged, ranging from $499 to $829, depending on storage capacity and wireless radios: 16GB WiFi, $499; 32GB WiFi, $599; 16GB WiFi and 4G, $629; 64GB WiFi, $699; 32GB WiFi and 4G, $729; 64GB WiFi and 4G, $829.

At its iPad-centric event on Wednesday, Apple announced an update to its sleeper 'post-PC' set-top box product, the Apple TV.

The device, which Apple said last January has sold in excess of 4.2 million units, has been upgraded to 1080p resolution with a new user interface to take advantage of the higher definition output. It also includes iTunes Match support and iCloud integration, Photo Stream support (most recent 1000 photos automatically appear on all iOS devices — now including Apple TV,) Genius movie recommendation, and "TV Shows the day after they air."

Apple now offers more than 550,000 mobile apps -- 200,000 specifically for iPad. CEO Tim Cook revealed the number today during a special event launching the third-generation iPad. Over the weekend, Apple's App Store reached a mighty milestone -- 25 billion downloads since opening nearly four years ago.

Yesterday, Google rebranded Android Market. What's in a name? In this case lots of foreshadowing that should give open-source developers the willies. Google Play puts the search and information giant's brand front and center, removing Android altogether. Everyone with vested interest in Android should reflect long and hard on what that means, particularly now that with the Motorola Mobility acquisition Google can build its own branded devices.

Last year's iOS device sales reached 172 million, Apple revealed today during a special media event for the third generation iPad. CEO Tim Cook said "Post-PC devices" account for 76 percent of Apple revenues.

Apple ended 2011 with 315 million cumulative iOS device sales. A week ago, Google said that cumulative Android device sales had reached 300 million, with 850,000 activations per day.

LightSquared has struggled with the issue of GPS interference for much of its existence. It is this unfixable issue which threatens the company's entire business, and has its chief backer Sprint set to yank its support as early as next week according to sources.

A March 15 deadline (with unspecified conditions) looms for LightSquared in its deal with Sprint. While the companies will not disclose the terms of the deal, it's not out of the question to expect that this had something to do with its interference issues, as well as a clear way forward. With no strategy in place, Sprint has an opportunity to cut its losses now and move on.

In advance of the SXSW Interactive festival which begins on March 9, Adobe has introduced a new product in its software lab called Adobe Shadow, a Web development tool that is meant to simplify the creation of mobile-customized sites.

Adobe Shadow Labs Release 1 is a wireless client/server tool that lets developers pair multiple smartphones and tablets with their workstation so they can view previews of their content in real-time. As the developer works on sites locally or even browses live sites, the content is simultaneously retrieved and rendered on the paired mobile devices. It also allows for remote inspection and debugging so HTML/CSS/Javascript bugs can be fixed instantly on these paired devices.

CyberLink may be a huge name in the video world, thanks to powerful applications like PowerDirector, but when it comes to photo workflow applications, they’re still relative beginners. And so it was no surprise that PhotoDirector 2011 was more about learning from the competition than leading the way. Still, the end result was a very capable budget Lightroom clone, providing plenty of features to help you organize, optimize and share your photos at a fraction of the cost of the high-end competition.

The company was clearly just getting started, though, as the latest release, PhotoDirector 3, represents a major upgrade for the product. Forget the usual minor cosmetic tweaks, the program is packed with important new features and functionality. If you’ve any interest in photo workflow tools at all then you need to give this one a closer look.