Lenovo's Superfish fiasco has badly damaged consumer trust
Stories about potentially malicious software emerge practically every day, but it’s not often that a high-profile PC manufacturer admits to deliberately installing harmful files on consumer devices. However, that’s exactly what happened last week, when Lenovo was found to be pre-installing adware on its devices without the owner’s permission.
Superfish, as the adware has been dubbed, is reported to affect Lenovo units purchased between the latter half of 2014 and January this year. While its ability to insert third-party advertisements into Internet Explorer and Google Chrome searches is annoying, the way that it installs its own security certificate is invasive and possibly harmful.
Lenovo redeems itself with open source Superfish removal tool
What do you do when you are facing scrutiny in the media? Damage control. You see it all the time with celebrities. A famous actor or musician does something wacky or stupid and ends up crying to Oprah, or going to rehab.
If you are a respected computer manufacturer, what do you do to fix a tarnished image? Open source. Nothing makes computer nerds more giddy than hearing that software is open source and the source code is available to investigate. Today, Lenovo releases an official open source Superfish removal tool under the Mozilla Public License.
Microsoft is like Aquaman -- uses Windows Defender super powers to kill evil Superfish
Lenovo is not having a good time right now, and rightfully so. Its inclusion of the Superfish adware on some of its consumer products has caused outrage and shock in the tech community. It is important to remember that Lenovo is not the super-villain in this story, Superfish is. In other words, the manufacturer was not intentionally malicious, but most likely misguided.
Today, Microsoft is a super hero -- Aquaman if you will -- and its super power is Windows Defender. Yes, Aquaman is destroying the Superfish villain, leaving Lenovo as the now-saved damsel in distress.
Lenovo loads dangerous Superfish adware onto new computers -- this fish stinks
Buying a new Windows computer can be a really fun moment. When you say goodbye to your aging and slow machine, and start fresh with a new model, everything seems faster and peppier. Unfortunately, many manufacturers pre-load unwanted software on these computers, causing headaches and wasted time for the consumer. It can take hours to uninstall all of the stuff you do not want.
Sadly, Lenovo has crossed a line when it comes to this practice. Along with all the the usual added software (bloatware), was a piece of adware called Superfish. From a security standpoint, it could potentially put customer data at risk with man in the middle attacks, which in turn threatens the manufacturer's reputation.
Motorola claims more mindshare than market share
Motorola is getting lots of attention from the media. With smartphones as good as Moto G and Moto X, it's easy to understand why. Because of this, you might think that Motorola is selling lots of devices. After all, if it's so popular then that's a given, right? Well, that's not the case, at least not yet.
In reality, Motorola claims more mindshare than market share. According to parent company Lenovo, the long-lasting smartphone vendor only shipped a tad over 10 million units in the last quarter of 2014. That puts it on the same level as Microsoft, which, Strategy Analytics says, is only at three percent market share. Motorola is far, far away from leading players in this regard.
Lenovo updates the ThinkPad for 2015 and introduces ThinkPad Stack accessory system
At the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show, Lenovo celebrated shipping 100 million units of the ThinkPad, and updated its portfolio for 2015, which includes the third generation X1 Carbon.
The Chinese tech giant also introduced ThinkVision X24, a 7.5mm thin IPS 23.8 inch monitor with DisplayPort and HDMI connectivity, and ThinkPad Stack, a power bank that offers mix and match interlocking accessories.
Microsoft's year-end sale delivers big savings on PCs, tablets, and more
If you’re thinking of treating yourself to a new PC or a Windows tablet, then Microsoft has some special deals that might be of interest. Its end of year sale offers some decent savings on PCs and tablets from the likes of Lenovo, Acer, HP and ASUS.
You can also pick up the HP Stream 7 Signature Edition Tablet for just $99, which is even more of a bargain than it first seems as it comes with Office 365 Personal, which by itself is worth $69.99.
Lenovo Edge 15: A great laptop, just in time for Christmas [Review]
If you need a laptop, there are generally two routes you can go -- desktop replacement or desktop companion. In other words, a svelte 11 inch laptop is cute and light, but hardly something you would want to use full-time. Such a small screen can be tedious for doing a lot of work. Sure, you can connect it to a larger monitor for enhanced productivity, but that is an additional purchase, and requires a dedicated work area in the home. What about those of us that want a machine that can be used comfortably anywhere -- including a kitchen table -- with a large screen and full keyboard? Not everyone is just surfing the web on their laptops as the Chromebook crowd would have you think. Some of us need an honest-to-goodness desktop replacement for getting work done.
Luckily, this demographic is not ignored, and good ol' fashioned laptops still exist, even if they don't get the same "oohs" and "ahs" as their tiny cousins. I became quite intrigued by the Lenovo Edge 15, because first of all, it is Lenovo -- a durable and dependable brand. More importantly though, it has a 15 inch screen, and a full keyboard...including a number pad! The fact that it is a 2-in-1 partial-convertible, is just icing on the cake. While everything looked good on paper, the question became, did the real-world experience match up? With a desire to find this out on my own, I obtained one for review.
Xiaomi is the third-largest smartphone maker
For a manufacturer that has only been selling smartphones for a couple of years now, Xiaomi is doing better than expected. The Chinese company, founded in 2012, became the third-largest smartphone vendor in Q3 2013, surpassing the likes of Lenovo, LG and Huawei. Xiaomi is also closing in fast on Apple, which has enjoyed a comfortable lead, in volumes, over its immediate competition.
Xiaomi's shipments have increased by 211.3 percent year-over-year, to 17.3 million units in the past quarter from just 5.6 million units in Q3 2013. That is more than eight times higher than the market average, of 25.2 percent. Meanwhile, Apple's shipments only grew by a mere 16.1 percent, which is well below the market average, to 39.3 million units from 33.8 million units.
Bye bye, Moto: Lenovo takes Motorola Mobility from Google's hands
Way back in January, Google announced plans to sell Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion. Today that deal has completed. The acquisition sees control of Moto X, Moto G, Moto E and the DROID product ranges moving out of Google's hands as Motorola operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary under Lenovo. Google's CEO is happy with the outcome: "Motorola is in great hands with Lenovo, a company that's all-in on making great devices".
Lenovo takes a total of 3,500 employees under its wing, and becomes the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. Practically speaking, at least in the immediate future, little should change. Motorola will remain headquartered in Chicago, and Rick Osterloh will stay on as COO.
Lenovo unveils the 13-inch Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows
Lenovo makes some great computers; its laptop build-quality is legendary. While its tablet offerings have been average, the newest line of tablets is sure to change that. You see, the Yoga Tablet 2 line, has quite the impressive specs, which consumers should notice.
Earlier this month, the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro was the star of the show, when Lenovo unveiled the new line. The "Pro" tablet stood out, as it has a 13-inch screen, coupled with an impressive audio package, including a subwoofer. Unfortunately, the 13-inch tablet only came with Android, leaving Windows fans in despair. Fear not though, Lenovo has decided to right that wrong, and announces the 13-inch Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows.
Lenovo unveils Yoga 3 Pro, ThinkPad YOGA 14, Yoga Tablet 2 and Tablet 2 Pro
There are quite a few computer manufacturers nowadays, and many of them release products of varying quality. However, there is one that seems to consistently produce computers that are extremely well-built and functional -- Lenovo. Not only do the manufacturer's laptops and tablets have great build-quality, but the designs seem well thought-out and innovative.
One of my favorite product lines from Lenovo is Yoga -- multi-mode computers that can be transformed into different form factors. Today, the company unveils the Yoga 3 Pro, ThinkPad YOGA 14, Yoga Tablet 2 and Yoga Tablet 2 Pro.
Rise of Macs: Apple is the fifth-largest PC maker
The PC market is not what it once used to be. Both shipments and sales are in the proverbial toilet. Old devices are still adequate years down the road, and more than capable of running newer versions of Windows, if users wish to upgrade -- many don't. Other types of devices, like tablets, can do the basic tasks just as well, if not better than the PC, and, for many in emerging markets, smartphones are what they buy these days to connect them to the Internet.
There are other changes afoot as well. Thanks to the increasing popularity of its Macs, Apple, once known as a niche vendor with a limited appeal, now ranks as the fifth-largest PC maker worldwide, according to a new report from research firm IDC. How did it get here? Well, blame the lower prices, among other things.
IFA 2014: Lenovo unveils 8-inch TAB S8 tablet, touchscreen Y70 Touch, and ERAZER X315 gaming rig
It's the first day of IFA2014 in Berlin, and Lenovo is getting all touchy feely. Rather than waiting until later in the consumer trade show, Lenovo has opted to display all of its wares right from that start by taking the wraps off three new devices, two of which feature touchscreens. As one of the devices is an Android powered tablet, this one is a given, but there's also a touchscreen laptop, and high-powered gaming rig to splash your hard-earned cash on. Priced at just $199, you may well be tempted to throw your money at the 8-inch TAB S8 with its sleek good looks and pretty impressive specs.
The display is a 1920 x 1200 affair boasting an ultra-thin bezel, and the whole unit weighs in at 299g. By way of illustrating the tablet's svelte dimensions, Lenovo has chosen to liken its thinness to that of a "standard pencil". Powered by a quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 processor running at up to 1.86GHz, the tablet also packs 2GB RAM, and 16GB of storage -- sadly not complemented with a microSD slot. The 4290mAh offers a claimed run time of up to seven hours and there are 1.6MP and 8MP cameras to take care of photos and videos. KitKat 4.4 comes pre-installed and there's an LTE option.
Lenovo introduces the EMC-based VNX5150 Storage Array
Lenovo hopes to put a smile on the face of penny-pinching small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) through a new storage area network (SAN) solution based on EMC's VNX unified storage family.
The Lenovo|EMC VNX5150 Storage Array is a dual-processor SAN that offers full redundancy for all major components as well as dual paths of connectivity throughout for a price that SMBs will be able to afford.
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