Latest Technology News

Nuance Communications has acquired drag-to-type virtual keyboard maker Swype for an undisclosed amount of money believed to be more than $100 million.

The acquisition should be an obvious one to anyone who paid attention to Nuance Communications.

"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure". -- Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 17–24

One thing that struck me about the passing of Steve Jobs is the level of emotion so many people feel. The outpouring of support and genuine sense of loss for a person that most people never met reminds me a bit of when Princess Diana died tragically. The emotion expressed over Diana’s passing was easy for me to understand. Diana was a state sanctioned celebrity, a real life embodiment of the fairy tales those in Western society grow up on. That coupled with her beauty and grace and life touched by scandal made it understandable why people would feel some kind of personal connection to her. The heroine from their fairy tales had been tragically taken away.

Apple's newest smartphone -- not that you can much tell it from the old one -- is up for preorder October 7 and officially goes on sale seven days later. That's in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States. iPhone 4S will be available October 28 in 22 other countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Apple also will cut the price on older models -- free for iPhone 3GS and $99 for iPhone 4 (8GB). The 4 will be available from Sprint along with the 4S. The United States' third-largest carrier has already started taking preorders on iPhone 4. As for the newer model, pricing is much like now, but with an extra SKU: 16GB, $199; 32GB, $299; 64GB, $399. Carrier-contractual commitments (two years in the United States) apply to get that pricing. The question: Will you buy iPhone 4S?

Irony, it has many faces and comes as your best friend or worst enemy. Often, the only difference is timing. Take for, example, Apple and the Newton. The Newton was Apple’s first handheld device, and it was a colossal failure in the early 1990s. Much of Apple’s success now is because of the iPod and iPhone revolution. Timing, it’s all about timing.

Most kids these days don't know the full history of Apple, they just know Apple is cool and makes amazing mobile devices. They, may not know how political infighting within the company drove the genius behind Apple (Steve Jobs) out in 1985 or the back story they almost didn’t make it to be the world's most-valuable technology company today.

You've been told over and over again: don't text and drive. Need more reason why? A recent study conducted by Texas A&M's Texas Transportation Institute indicates texting behind the wheel doubles your reaction time.

Distracted driving accounts for about one-fifth of all fatal car crashes, with cell phones the most common source of that distraction. One out of every five drivers has admitted to texting while driving but the true number is probably considerably higher.

At its Cybersecurity Symposium in New York City on Thursday, Security company Kaspersky Lab debuted the Windows version of its Endpoint Security 8 corporate security suite. The new security product takes a twofold approach to network security: Deep anti-malware protection, and comprehensive management and control systems.

On the anti-malware side, Endpoint 8 integrates with the Kaspersky Security Network, a cloud-based reputation database that is built from data submitted by millions of Kaspersky users so new definitions are acquired quickly without having to update an ever-growing local database. Secondly, it includes application whitelisting for administrators who want to set policies against specific applications, or against entire classes of apps. Third, the "System watcher" function tracks client system behavior for anomalies, and can revert to states before the system was infected. Finally, Endpoint 8 is based on Kaspersky's improved signature-and-pattern-based antivirus engine.

While customers will not be able to get their hands on an iPhone 4S for another day, Sprint on Thursday began taking pre-orders for the iPhone 4. Like the 4S, the phone would ship out for delivery on Friday, October 14 or Saturday, October 15.

The iPhone 4 on Sprint is the same as the Verizon model that's been available for much of this year, except the capacity reduced to 8GB. It would be compatible with the carrier's 3G service, but not "4G" WiMAX.

The Nero range of disc burning tools has been updated, and there’s something for everyone in this comprehensive suite of utilities. The company’s flagship Nero Burning ROM allows for the importing of files from the updated Nero MediaBrowser while SecurDisc Surface Scans make it easy to verify burn projects, but it is in the main Nero suite that the bigger changes are to be found, and the various tools that make it up.

One common use for the Nero suite is backing up data, and there have been a number of improvements in this area. As well as support for NAS drives as a backup location, there is now support for incremental backups of your drives as well as the option of creating 1:1 file copies. Related to safeguarding your data, NeroRescue Agent can now be used to work with partitions that have not been assigned a drive letter.

Even though the developer preview of Windows 8 is publically available, there will be some people who are keen to try out the upcoming operating system without having to go to the effort of setting up a dual boot system or wiping out their existing installation. This is where transformation packs can help, and the Windows 8 Transformation Pack 2.0 and UX Pack 3.5 have just been released with a view to making the task of mimicking Windows 8 easier and more impressive than ever.

In a matter of moments, the transformation tools enable you to turn your copy of Windows XP, Vista or 7 into a very close match to the look of Windows 8. The pack makes use of genuine Windows 8 resources to give an authentic finish, and this updated version includes changes to UI fonts, as well as the very latest icons navigation buttons and other interface components.

Apple is known for its remarkable marketing. "Think Different" is one of its most memorable campaigns -- that it's not "think differently" makes the point. Good marketing is about aspiration, of making people believe that their lives will be better if they're associated with Product or Brand X, Y or Z. They also want to feel good about others -- even by association with a product or brand that does good or claims to do so. It's one reason green marketing is so successful -- doing good by association.

"Think Different" espoused the very best of human nature, of people who had another viewpoint that enabled them to be truly great, not just for themselves but for humanity. The campaign defined the Apple brand for years. Embedded here is the original "Think Different" commercial -- not the one that aired on television narrated by Richard Dreyfus but by Apple cofounder Steve Jobs himself. I prefer Jobs' version. Listen to the passion in his voice. The visionaries depicted mean something more than their use in a marketing campaign.

VMware has released a major update to its free virtualization tool. VMware Player 4.0 enables you to create virtual computers within your existing PC, allowing you to try out new operating systems or other software in a safe environment without messing up your main computer.

The main improvements in version 4.0 center around the virtual hardware provided. This is the specification of the basic computer created within the program into which you can install an operating system and other test apps. In VMWare Player 4.0, the display capabilities have been upped so that they support multiple monitors.

If you're tired of sluggish antivirus tools taking forever to scan your system, then you're not alone.

But the good news is that at least the security vendors are finally listening. Emsisoft today became the latest company to announce major performance improvements, with the claim that their new Anti-Malware 6 is now on average 450-percent faster than before. And by making smarter decisions about what it checks, the program continues to get faster with every scan.

I first met then Apple CEO Steve Jobs in May 2001, during the opening of the first Apple Store at Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Va. Jobs hosted a media gathering a few days before thousands of Mac enthusiasts gathered to be the first customers. Jobs was dynamic and captivating. He made this unbelievable pitch for Apple's Mac market share reaching 5 percent and beyond, a seemingly unattainable goal at the time, with Windows so dominant. A decade later, Apple has accomplished that and so much more.

I'm genuinely sorry to see Steve Jobs' light extinguished from this earth. I offer my condolences to his family, friends and anyone else who loved him. But those words aren't enough, so I've collected others' sentiments -- from blogs, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. The many can express what needs to be said better than can the one, meaning me.

"For the past 33 years, I've looked at myself in the mirror every morning and said if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? And whenever the answer was no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
--Steve Jobs, 2005

Steven Paul Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple Computer died on October 5, 2011 from complications related to cancer, He was 56 years old.

"Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.