Latest Technology News

Opera has released an alpha build of Opera Next 11.50. As the name implies, this new release is a separate version of the cross-platform Opera browser. It's designed to allow users to install the latest developmental version of Opera alongside the current stable version, allowing users to road-test the latest new features without risking their current, stable installation.

Aside from introducing the Opera Next browser, which is identified by a silver grey version of the traditional red "O" icon used by Opera, version 11.50 also adds support for Speed Dial extensions, allowing developers to do more with the Speed Dial shortcuts page in Opera itself, such as delivering live news feeds, page updates or animated video in place of the static web page image or site icon.

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In the light of [NAME OF NEWS EVENT] we are cautioning users to beware of Internet scams and other abuse. Be on the lookout for Facebook messages related to [NAME OF NEWS EVENT], scrutinize search engine results related to [NAME OF NEWS EVENT] and look out for new domain names using [NAME OF NEWS EVENT] to attract your attention.

Oops, sorry folks! I filed my template without filling it in first. My bad.

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RSS feeds can be used to keep abreast of news headlines and the latest blog posts, and most RSS fans will have a huge number of subscriptions. Whether you have opted to use a dedicate RSS reader or use an online RSS service such as Google Reader, you'll no doubt be aware that it is all too easy to spend a great deal of time wading through endless posts when you are only likely to be interested in posts from a small number of sites. Fresh Feed enables you to keep up to date with your most important feeds so you can focus on the stories that are likely to need your attention.

In a few moments it is possible to configure the app to check some of your most frequently read feeds on a regular basis, and you will receive an audio alert whenever a new post is made. A menu bar popup displays the headlines for your configured feeds and a preview of the associated story can be viewed in a small slide out window -- anything that particularly grabs your attention can be viewed in its entirety with a quick click.

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If you're looking for a way to keep a track of your Google accounts, Gmail Notifier Pro may well be the tool you have been looking for. Although the name of the program may suggest that its sole purpose is to provide notifications about the state of your Gmail inbox, the tool can be used to monitor Google Calendar and Google News.

There are free and paid-for versions of the application available, with the free version including support for up to two Gmail accounts and the Pro version allowing you to add as many accounts as you like. Mail can be checked using IMAP or Atom protocols and the notification area popups that appear when messages are received can be used to mark mail as read as well as composing replies and new emails without the need to visit the Gmail web site.

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Evidence seemed to build that Amazon is in the process of building an Android tablet on Tuesday as DigiTimes reported sources said electronics maker Quanta had received orders for such a device.

Amazon's tablet, which is believed to run on Android, would likely be the next-generation Kindle as opposed to a separate device. Gdgt's Peter Rojas said last week that he expected Amazon to do something similar to what Barnes & Noble has done with the new Nook.

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Should I feel special? Today I got an invitation from Amazon offering "free, instant access" to "membership-only fashion destination" MyHabit.com. Are you a "valued Amazon.com customer," who received this invite, too?

I'm a sucker for good marketing but I'm a perpetual T-Shirt, shorts and sneakers wearer. Besides I'm short and chunky. I don't look good in designer anything. I do like Amazon's branding and marketing though. MyHabit.com is truly inspired branding. Every fashionista I know, including my 16 year-old daughter, is a clothes and fashion addict.

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Android users who have been depending on free tethering are finding themselves blocked out of such apps, as most major US carriers have made moves to block access. Tests by several technology sites and blogs indicate most of these apps now fail to work, or are being made harder to find.

While the apps have not disappeared from the Android Market, attempting to download them to your device results in the message "this item is not available on your carrier." Both AT&T and T-Mobile had been blocking access to these apps for some time now, however Verizon has begun to also block such downloads.

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Paragon's Hard Disk Manager is a comprehensive collection of hard drive tools that comes in three different flavors. Hard Disk Manager Suite is powerful, but aimed at home users. The Server edition targets corporations, with its ability to optimize Windows Server installations. But the new Hard Disk Manager 11 Professional is perhaps the most interesting. It's packed with features, and Paragon say it's more of a business package, but there's also plenty here to appeal to the more advanced user, whether at home or in the office.

This doesn't make the program difficult to use, though. Hard Disk Manager 11 Professional doesn't have the same front-end menu that you get in the Suite edition, but it's still quite straightforward to locate the functionality you need; just right-click the drive or partition you'd like to work on, or browse the menus, and the feature you need will generally be very obvious. The interface in general is much the same as it has been in previous Paragon software, so if you've ever used any of the previous suites then you'll probably feel at home right away.

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It has been something of a long time coming, but Fluid for OS X has finally been released, providing an easy way to make websites accessible in the same way as any software you have installed. As so many websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, function in much the same way as applications, it makes sense to treat them in this way -- and this is exactly what can be achieved with Fluid.

In a matter of moments it is possible to create shortcuts that can be used to open you favorite website in its own window, as well as giving you the opportunity to create shortcuts that can be placed anywhere, Fluid also makes it easier to cycle through open website "apps" as opposed to scrolling through countless tabs in your browser.

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Oracle on Tuesday updated its enterprise performance management suite, including Oracle Business Intelligence (OBI) version 11.1.1.5, OBI Applications version 7.9.6.3, and Oracle Real-Time Decisions. Among the improvements to the platform with this release, Oracle has extended online analytical processing (OLAP) and in-memory platform support, improved real-time decision management, added new certifications, and has made it all available to iPad and iPhone users out of the box.

Oracle's eleventh generation of Business Intelligence middleware has expanded in two major ways: improved mobile access and usability and improved support for new data sources.

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OneUp Industries, a company launched by the author of such notable Stardock applications as Fences and ObjectDock, has released a public beta of its first software offering. Bins 0.95 is a Windows 7-only application that allows the user to group taskbar icons into convenient folders, or "bins" (hence the title). It's based on a similar feature that's found in Mac OS X, which supports "stacking" of dock icons in a similar way.

Once installed, Bins sits unobtrusively in the background; the user simply drags one icon onto a related icon and places it in the pop-up balloon that appears above the primary icon to group them together. Additional related programs can be grouped in the same way. Icons can be rearranged by dragging and dropping: the left-most icon becomes the primary icon and, until the next beta release, only the primary icon supports jumplists.

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Apple released new, quad-core iMacs on May 3, indicating continued commitment to desktop computers, even as their sales as a percentage of revenue steadily declines.

The new models are substantial upgrades inside: Intel i5 quad-core processors across the line, switch to AMD graphics and addition of Thunderbolt i/o ports. The previous generation featured i3 dual-core processors (and one model i5 quad-core), nVidia graphics and FireWire and USB 2.0 ports (no Thunderbolt). As with previous iMacs, consumers can choose from 21.5-inch and 27-inch -- priced between $1,119 and $1,999.

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Adobe rolled out the Creative Suite 5.5 family of products on Tuesday, which focuses on development and content creation for the mobile and tablet realm, and introduces a new subscription-based pricing model for the software suite.

Though there were no major version updates to Creative Suite's flagship imaging products Photoshop and Illustrator, CS5.5 introduces new versions of InDesign, Dreamweaver, Audition, Flash Professional, Flash Catalyst, Flex Builder and Device Central. This update, therefore, is specifically targeted at Web and mobile app developers and designers above design professionals.

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You'll have to look real hard to find IE9 in NetApplications April browser user share data. IE9 doesn't even make NetApp's browser-version breakdown chart for all operating systems, although its usage share was 2.41 percent. By comparison, Firefox 4.0, which launched 7 days later, snatched 5.43 percent usage share. Both browsers debuted in March.

The kicker: Windows 7. Microsoft only released IE9 for that operating system and Windows Vista. By comparison, Firefox 4 runs on XP, which is still the majority of the Windows install base. Whoops, Firefox 4 has higher usage share there, too -- 8.40 percent to IE9's 7.46 percent. But don't cry for Microsoft. IE8 has 47.54 percent usage share.

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Sony disclosed on Monday that the continuing investigation into the hack of the PlayStation Network had turned up new problems: its Sony Online Entertainment multiplayer game service was also hacked, and credit card data and bank information obtained.

Monday's news just adds insult to injury for the Japanese company: at a press conference on Sunday PlayStation chief Kaz Hirai disclosed that the credit card details of nearly 10 million PSN users may have been compromised, and today the company admitted that the "encryption" of the credit card data it claimed existed earlier was nothing more than a weak hash algorithm.

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