In March 2008, I wrote at Microsoft Watch: "Synchronization is today's killer application. It's either kill or be killed. If Microsoft doesn't strike the deadly blow first, Google will". Google got sync right first, but sometimes latecomers are the talk of the party, as Apple is today with the release of iCloud.

I'm not sure how many people get what iCloud is -- and more importantly what it is not. The service isn't an online storage space like DropBox. iCloud is fundamentally a synchronization service -- more importantly a push sync service. It's the feature many iOS device users will find they can't do without, and it's every company's dream product: Something that locks users into a broader platform, as Microsoft did with file formats and Office during the 1980s and 1990s.

Continue reading →

Sony's PlayStation Network is once again the target of hackers as Sony disclosed late Tuesday that it had disabled some 93,000 PSN and Sony Online Entertainment accounts. According to the company these accounts had been "tested" by hackers, although a majority of the login attempts failed.

The data was said to be obtained from "one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources," although chief information security officer Phillip Reitinger said it was likely that the data did not come from Sony itself.

Continue reading →

Research in Motion's BlackBerry services are now out of commission for their third day in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia.

"We know that many of you are still experiencing service problems. The resolution of this service issue is our Number One priority right now and we are working night and day to restore all BlackBerry services to normal levels. We will continue to keep this page updated," a service update from RIM on Wednesday said.

Continue reading →

Today, Apple releases iCloud and iOS 5, two days before iPhone 4S launches in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States. The new operating system is a significant upgrade that can be installed on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. iOS 5 works in tandem with iCloud, which is Apple's Internet-enabled synchronization service; it replaces iTunes as the company's major sync hub.

We're crowdsoucing our initial reviews, and I ask for your first take ahead of anything that we might do. If you've got something to say about either iCloud or iOS 5 -- or both -- we'd like to get it right away. If you've tested either or both before their release, we request your full or mini-review even sooner.

Continue reading →

Smartphones and tablet devices are increasingly becoming a more common way to access the Internet, says a new study from analytics firm comScore. As of August, 6.8 percent of all Internet traffic came from those devices, with about two-thirds of it coming from mobile phones.

comScore found some interesting trends, such as the increased use of mobile phones over a WiFi connection. About 37.2 percent of all digital traffic came from phones using WiFi, up three percent over the past three months. On the flipside tablets using mobile broadband are also on the rise, with 10 percent of tablet traffic coming from that type of connection.

Continue reading →

The attention of Apple fans has been focused on the imminent release of iPhone 4S on October 14, but before that there is iCloud and iOS 5 -- tomorrow. To make the most of both, a new version of iTunes is needed.  iTunes 10.5 includes iCloud support as well as a number of other important additions.

iTunes in the Cloud is part of the new level of connectivity that is to be found in iOS 5, and it means that any music or video purchases you make are synced online and can be accessed from any of your computers or iOS devices. Tied into this idea are automatic downloads; when you purchase music from iTunes Store, it will automatically sync to your other computers and iOS devices.

Continue reading →

National wireless carrier AT&T on Tuesday simultaneously announced five new Android smartphones, none of which are flagship devices for the carrier, but each of which answers the needs of a specific type of phone user.

For the Power User: Motorola Atrix 2

Continue reading →

If you’ve ever tried CyberLink’s PowerDirector then you’ll know it’s one of the fastest and most feature-packed consumer video editors around. So you may not be surprised to learn that PowerDirector 10, released today, carries on this proud tradition by adding plenty of essential new functionality, and some very worthwhile speedups.

The program is now a very capable video editor, for instance. PowerDirector 10 can open many native 3D videos (MVC, dual stream AVI, side-by-side, over-under) and some 3D image formats (MPO, JPS); or, if you don’t have any of these, then you can always convert 2D videos and photos to 3D with CyberLink’s TrueTheater 3D.  These can be then be enhanced with many 3D effects, titles and menu templates, and once you’re done may be exported as 3D videos (including the anaglyph format, so anyone with a pair of standard 3D glasses can view them).

Continue reading →

Adobe may have the solution for all those blurry photographs on your digital camera you were about to trash: a YouTube video of a presentation by the company at its annual MAX developers conference shows a prototype "deblurring" feature that may make it into a future version of Photoshop.

The so-called "blur kernel" attempts to decipher how the camera was moved in order to remove the blur from it. By doing this, it then will be able to remove the blur successfully, the YouTube video shows.

Continue reading →

CTIA Enterprise & Applications kicked off today in San Diego with a brief tribute to Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, who died last week. CTIA President Steve Largent praised Apple's move into the smartphone market, also calling it "disruptive".

Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO, then took the stage -- the first of three chief executives. He checked off wireless industry accomplishments, such as the year's many natural disasters or the Arab Spring that toppled governments across Northern Africa and the Middle East. "We make a difference in the lives of nearly every person on earth", he asserted.

Continue reading →

Comodo has launched the 2012 range of its free security products. Standalone antivirus and firewall products Comodo Antivirus and Comodo Firewall are joined by Comodo Internet Security 2012 Premium, which combines both products in one app.

The products, which sport a relatively minor version number (5.8), promise to be faster, lighter and stronger than previous releases, sporting revamped user interfaces alongside bug fixes and a handful of new options.

Continue reading →

One of the joys of Android is the fact that users are not fenced in in quite the same way that iOS users are. It  is possible to install a wider range of software on your device with fewer worries. If you want to take things to the next level, CyanogenMod is a replacement for your existing Android OS that has been stripped back and optimized to provide a balance between performance, stability and customization.

The firmware is built around Android 2.3 and while the interface is nothing flashy, the focus is on speed rather than looks -- but you still have the option to use themes. The unique tweaks and options include the ability to swipe notifications off the screen, while the built-in music player boasts the simplicity and ease of use of an iPod. Support for customizable gestures means that it is easier than ever to control playback.

Continue reading →

You'd think so after seeing all the bug reports. Ah, perhaps Facebook should have waited even longer to release the app supporting iPad. If not for how long people waited for this version, someone could accuse Facebook of rushing the new iOS app out the door. Scratch that, the app can't possibly be ready.

Less than 24 hours has passed since Facebook 4 for iOS appeared on Apple's App Store. The number of 1-star ratings and complaints about crashes and other problems is staggering. They go on and on and on. The majority are similar.

Continue reading →

This analysis is excerpted from AVG Technologies' Q3 "Community Powered Threat Report", which released Oct. 11, 2011.

Facebook is the second most popular site in the world according to Alexa's traffic rankings. The social network had explosive growth from 2008 with 100 million users to 750 million users today. This equates to about 11 percent of the world’s population or 36 percent of global Internet users; Facebook became the largest social network worldwide. The social network's popularity and its fast growth make it a prime target for cybercriminals.

Continue reading →

Bank, credit card and PayPal accounts aren't as lucrative treasures for cybercriminals -- not like they once were. New security measures make pilfering accounts more difficult than years past. So the bad guys are going after easier money and, in process, younger users. In its third-quarter "Community Powered Threat Report", released today, AVG Technologies identifies two emerging security trends: Clipjacking and Survey Scamming Facebook accounts and siphoning digital money from Bitcoin users. With both, cybercriminals tap new revenue streams, cell phone accounts for the one and pure currency for the other.

Yesterday, I spoke with Yuval Ben-Itzhak, AVG's chief technology officer, about the new report and these two trends. "There's a ridiculous number of stolen credit cards on criminal sites", Ben-Itzhak says. "The main issue is how to use these compromised credit cards, because the credit card companies have taken serious actions to prevent and minimize the damages". Auction of PayPal accounts is commonplace, too, "but this is also becoming challenging to monetize because of all the security that is in place".

Continue reading →