Smartphone operating systems and their related app stores effectively cut the mobile network operator out of the value chain, but mobile browsers are giving carriers a foot in the door.

Mobile carriers continue to attempt their own branded app stores to break into the app store goldrush. Just today, Japanese network operator NEC Biglobe launched Andronavi in the United States, saying that it's a better app store than Google's Android Market because it provides reviews and detailed information specifically from the Japanese audience.

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System Restore is good when you're in a tight spot, allowing you to roll back your computer's key programs and system files to earlier versions in an attempt to fix a problem. But it's not foolproof, and because it doesn't roll back everything, it can't be relied on to always solve your problems.

Comodo Time Machine offers a free, all-encompassing alternative: instead of just rolling back certain files, it allows you to roll back all the files on your Windows drive, sending you almost literally back in time to the point where your chosen snapshot was taken. It's not just good for fixing problems (and we include virus infections in that), it's also great for those who have to install lots of software on their PC for testing purposes, helping keep the PC running without the need for a regular Windows reinstall every six months or so.

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It's a reasonable question to ask, now that, after today, Apple will no longer sell Xserve rack-mount servers. Apple is a far different company in 2011 than it was when Xserve launched about nine years ago. Xserve's ending foreshadows another: The sun setting on immobile Macintosh. Desktop be gone.

During Apple's fiscal 2011 first quarter, iOS devices accounted for about two-thirds of revenue. In the same quarter six years earlier Macs accounted for 45 percent of Apple revenue. In Q1 2007: 34 percent. A year ago: 28 percent. Q1 2011: 20 percent. The Macintosh isn't as important to Apple's bottom line as it once was.

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Today is the last day for Xserve, Apple's nine-year old line of rackmount servers designed for enterprise use.

As the company announced last November, no orders for the server hardware will be accepted beyond January 31.

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Must everything be partisan? In the US Congress, Democrats and Republicans spilt over nearly every issue. Today's strangest debate isn't political, but analytical -- sides supporting or opposing Apple and bloggers and journalists parlaying games of oneupmanship. It's all about how much tablet market share Samsung snatched from Apple during calendar fourth quarter, if any. The debate is simply pointless.

Earlier today, Bloomberg reported on data from Strategy Analytics stating that Android tablets captured 22 percent market share in Q4, based on 2.1 million shipments, essentially punching market leader iPad smack in the touchscreen. By Strategy Analytics' reckoning, iPad's market share dropped from 95 percent to 75 percent in a single quarter.

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Last week, we looked at LogMeIn Ignition, just one of an increasing number of remote access tools available for iOS. Another remote access app that has received a great deal of attention recently is Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad; we thought we would take a look at the app to see how the two compare. Just as with LogMeIn Ignition, Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad can be used to control your PC or Mac from your iPad once the necessary desktop software has been installed.

From a functionality point of view, there is little difference between the two apps. Configuration is kept to a minimum thanks to the fact that computers that are on the same network as an iPad running Splashtop Remote Desktop are automatically detected. Providing the desktop software is installed, you need simply enter the password that was configured during the initial setup and a connection can be immediately established.

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An application's move to a whole new version number is normally accompanied by much publicity, as the authors boast about the many exciting new features they've included. Popular photo sharing package Jalbum 9.0 appears to be a rare exception, though, with the release slipping out so quietly that it didn't even rate a mention on the company blog.

That's a pity, because while this isn't as nearly as revolutionary an update as the move to Jalbum 8.0, the latest version does include some useful enhancements that will make a real difference to anyone who uses the program.

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Here's the rub: you want to upgrade your hard drive to a bigger model, but you don't want to go through the rigmarole of setting everything up from scratch on your new drive. Or maybe you've suddenly found that Windows has badly corrupted and will no longer load -- your data is safe on the drive, but inaccessible. What you need to do is back up the drive somewhere safe, then restore Windows before recovering your precious data.

In both scenarios, there are plenty of tools, many of them free like Macrium Reflect Free, for disk cloning and backup purposes. Unfortunately, they all work from within Windows, so what to do? Thankfully, there's a free solution that can be run directly from a bootable CD in the form of HDClone 4 Free Edition.

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Free antivirus tools can occasionally be short on features, a little lacking in comparison to their commercial brothers. Avast! has always been an exception, though, and the first public beta of avast! Free 6 extends the program even further with a host of useful capabilities.

The new AutoSandbox, for instance, can automatically detect a suspicious program as it's launched, and execute it in the avast! sandbox, an isolated environment where there's little chance that it can infect or damage your PC.

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Swedish telecommunications hardware maker Ericsson on Monday announced it had set the world record for multi-carrier HSPA downlink speeds using a prototype consumer device and standard commercial network equipment. The record-setting rig achieved 168 Mbps on the downlink and 24 Mbps on the uplink.

Multi-Carrier HSPA is a technology still quite a long way from being available to consumers. It is not yet included in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification for High Speed Packet Access, and only a select few carriers worldwide even offer support for its precursor, dual-carrier HSPA, the evolution of the wireless technology included in 3GPP release 8 (standardized in 2008.)

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Android's ascendency to smartphone supremacy hit a new high in fourth quarter 2010, according to research firm Canalys. Global Android smartphone shipments topped Nokia Symbian-based handsets -- 32.9 million to 31 million, respectively -- or twice iPhone (16.2 million). By another accounting, including OMS and Tapas platforms, Google ranked higher still: 33.3 million units.

Canalys' shipment data means Google is activating more than the previously disclosed 300,000 Android handsets per day. The number exceeds 350,000. During Q4, just two manufacturers, HTC and Samsung, accounted for 45 percent of "Google OS-based handset shipments," which includes OMS and Tapas.

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On Monday, Intel Corp announced it had completed the $1.4 Billion acquisition of Infineon AG's Wireless Solution business (WLS), to finally tie baseband processors into the company's CPU solutions. The WLS unit will be part of the new Intel Mobile Communications group, a standalone business unit within Intel's Architecture Group.

With the new portfolio of 2G, 3G and LTE baseband products acquired from WLS, Intel is going to move forward with a business to "serve a broader array of customers and market segments."

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Sadly, I must reaffirm my position stated during Apple CEO Steve Jobs' last medical leave, in January 2009: His health situation isn't a private matter, and, frankly, it's even less so now. The seeming suddenness of Jobs' more recent medical leave, which this time is open-ended, raises reasonably disconcerting questions about how long he can continue as chief executive and whether Apple has in place an appropriate succession plan. I didn't expect to return to this topic again, and surely Macheads will beat me aside the head with snide and accusing comments or rebuttal blog posts. So be it.

As leader of a public company, Jobs has no inherent right to privacy where his ability to act as CEO is concerned. Jobs' share in Apple was, last time I checked, well below 5 percent. He isn't principal owner of Apple, tens of thousands of shareholders are. If not Jobs, then at least Apple's board of directors has a responsibility to appraise shareholders about such an iconic CEO's realistic ability to continue in the role. Right now, Jobs has essentially abdicated the responsibility for an undetermined amount of time. In a January 17 letter, Jobs explained that he had "asked [COO] Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple's day to day operations." Not some responsibility but all.

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Responding to widespread civil unrest, the government of Egypt on Thursday evening ordered all private network operators to shut down their services, both wired and wireless.

At around 12:30am local time, Egypt's outbound connections to the Internet hit a brick wall, and fell approximately 80%. Both BGP Mon and Renesys observed similar withdrawals of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes in Egypt.

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The Web of Trust (WOT) plug-in, which delivers security and privacy ratings on websites and search engine results worldwide, has extended its support to the Opera web browser now that version 11 supports the use of third-party extensions.

WOT 0.9 works in the same way as it does on other supported browsers -- namely Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox -- to provide a traffic-light icon in the browser toolbar and next to search engine results to provide at-a-glance safety and privacy ratings for the websites in question. If a site is rated red, Web of Trust throws up a warning message making it clear it doesn't recommend the user visit the site -- this can be overruled by the user, but is not recommended.

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