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Home Archives for September 2013

Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2014 Review

In a world where free anti-virus software is commonplace for pretty much every platform, the likes of Trend Micro need to offer comprehensive coverage if they want consumers to fork out money for a similar service.
The latest refresh of Trend Micro's Titanium Maximum Security suite has done just that, combining a series of both preventative and post infection measures to keep not only your PC or Mac virus safe, but also your Android device.

Android in 2020: the future of Google's mobile OS explored

Cast your mind back to late 2008, when the first Android-powered handset saw the light of day. Obama won his first Presidential election, Apple launched its App Store (the iPhone had appeared the year before), Google announced its own Chrome browser and we got our first look at the company's new mobile OS on the T-Mobile G1.

HP Chromebook 14 Is The First Chromebook With Intel Haswell

Say hello to the new HP Chromebook 14: Hewlett Packard’s new laptop is the first of the Chromebook series with an Intel Haswell processor.The UK model will only have 3G, but there is a 4G version available in US markets. Selected deals in the US can get consumers up to 200MB of data per month for two years on a T-Mobile contract. On making enquiries to HP as to whether there will be a similar sort of deal with a 4G network here in Britain and the currently there isn’t.

Why Intel's Bay Trail is the next big thing in mobile computing

Intel's Atom processor was always a good idea. Shrink the power profile associated with the full-power x86 instruction to ultra-mobile proportions.
Or rather, it was a good idea ahead of its time. In fairness, Intel probably had to get the Atom project rolling when it did, back in 2009.

That's because mobile is such an epically important market. Intel not only had to be seen to be doing something, even if manufacturing technology wasn't quite ready to do x86 justice in ultra-mobile form factors like phones and tablets.

Why Valve wants Steam to be the Android of gaming

The second of Valve's trio of announcements this week has landed - Steam machines: hardware from a wide range of manufacturers that runs SteamOS.

"Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world," the company said in its announcement. "We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines."
It works like this: Valve makes its new SteamOS software available for free, then anyone in the world (including you) can build a machine that runs it and sell it to someone else.
The manufacturer (or you) profits by selling the hardware, Valve profits by selling games on the platform, the person who buys it profits by trading some useless numbers in their bank account for some entertaining videogames. Everyone's happy.

How to optimise your LAN and WAN in a small business

Small businesses now rely heavily on the networks that they have created. These were initially Local Area Networks (LANs) that connected their on-site servers to the computers and other devices in their businesses.

Today with the rise of bring your own device (BYOD) and the need for more flexibility, companies are building Wide Area Networks (WANs) that give them the flexibility they need.
Andrew Ferguson, Editor at thinkbroadband.com, says: "The distinction between LAN and WAN has gone full circle in some ways. The speed of internet connectivity means many businesses are now using the cloud to store data, making it easier for staff working from home or off-site to access data. So in some ways the modern LAN is just an extension of the WAN."

Sony SmartWatch 2 arrives in Europe to battle Samsung Galaxy Gear

It's a smartwatch battle and Apple is nowhere to be seen

Unconvinced by the Samsung Galaxy Gear, but still want a wrist accoutrement to work in tandem with your smartphone? Well, Sony's SmartWatch 2 can now be strapped on in the U.K. and parts of Europe.
The Android-based device, announced in June this year, is now on sale for £149 (about US$240, AU$258) with a rubber wristband or £169 (around US$272, AU$292) with a fancy metal strap.
The release of the touchscreen device also sees the launch of a new accompanying smartphone app from the Google Play Store.
The SmartWatch 2 SW application, which is a free download, will enable the wearable accessory to play nice with other Android smartphones via Bluetooth.
Waiting for an iWatch

Microsoft cleverly sets Windows 8 and 8.1 app roaming limit to 81

Windows Store apps under one account could be accessed by 81 devices

Microsoft picked a really odd number for the total machines on which Windows users can install their apps, but 81 makes sense when you realize Windows 8.1 is just around the corner.
This new limit means that the company made good on its Build 2013 promise to increase the roaming app ceiling that's currently cutting off Windows 8 users at just five devices.
"We heard growing feedback from many developers and from our most enthusiastic customers that the limit of five was not enough for their needs," wrote the Windows Apps Team in an official blog post today.
"Developers asked for more flexibility in implementing their business models, and customers wanted to run those apps on the variety of tablets, laptops and desktops they owned."
It'll be a win-win situation for both Windows app developers and users starting on Oct. 9.
Scratching the Surface

Tokina Makes Rain Dispersion Filter

One of the major problems with videography is the unpredictability of the weather. Wet weather can mean extra cost for production due to the fact that the majority of the day is spent trying to wipe the camera lens clean. Eventually the cloth stops working as it’s saturated with rain water and all that’s left are unusable, rain smeared shots. Crew and cast get more and more fed up as the day goes on and the whole project can seem like a drag. Now though, the Japanese lens manufacturer Tokina is bringing the first rain dispersion filter to the market to put an end to drippy frames once and for all.

Carbon Nanotube Computer Technology Breakthrough

Researchers at the Stanford University announced on Wednesday that they have created the first-ever working carbon nanotube computer.

They published their discovery in this week’s edition of Nature. The researchers, led by professors Subhasish and H.S Philip Wong call it “CEDRIC”, which they say loosely stands for carbon nanotube digital integrated circuit.

The reason for the excitement over this advancement comes as current silicon transistor computing is soon reaching its limit as the transistors can not get much smaller due to quantum effects. The new carbon nanotube transistors are the way forward because they can conduct electricity better than silicon and on a smaller scale.

Put into practical terms, carbon nanotube-based computers will be faster and more energy-efficient, which is always a challenge for manufacturers every time there is a new generation of processor.

The future is not problem free however. This technology is still new but the Stanford researchers have been able to solve some of the problems surrounding error connection. The system they have developed can switch off defective carbon nanotubes and come up with an algorithm which addresses misaligned carbon nanotubes that can short-circuit the system.

“People have been talking about a new era of carbon nanotube electronics moving beyond silicon,” Mitra said in a statement. “But there have been few demonstrations of complete digital systems using this exciting technology. Here is the proof.”

Although this is a key breakthrough for the technology, CEDRIC is still not able to carry out complex computations like a normal PC but the future looks promising. No doubt carbon-nanotube computers will be what our children use in the coming years.

Welcome Back To Life, Simplenote!

Simplenote has been dubbed as the “first great notes app“, and in spite of a rocky recent history, it seems that its fans have not lost enthusiasm for the app. The notes app scene has not been idle, with many apps coming into the picture, but with Simplenote’s comeback, the classic app might just be the talk of the town again.

If you think about it, Simplenote may not be up to par with all the other notes app out there, especially with developers making sure their new apps can do practically everything. On the other hand, Simplenote does what it says on the tin: keep notes on a day-to-day basis. Simple. Plus syncing with the cloud.

Apple Releases New IMac With Iris Pro

Following the release of the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, Apple has given its iMac a small revamp. The new release brings Haswell cores from Intel, new NVIDIA Corp. GPUs, improved Fusion drives and more ports.

Last October Apple made major changes to the iMac line, which included a new 5-mm thick aluminum frame. This time round the changes are more subtle but nonetheless contribute to making Apple’s all-in-one (AIO) personal computer a serious contender in the bid for the best value in the market.

Currently Lenovo dominate the AIO PC market after over-taking Apple. So what does the new iMac have to offer? Well the revamped model comes with 8 GB (upgradable two 32 GB for 27-inch, 16 GB for 21.5-inch) of 1600 MHz DDR3 and a 1 terabyte “Fusion” drive, a mostly hard disk hybrid drive with an undisclosed amount of NAND flash onboard (upgradable to 3 TB traditional HDD, a 256 GB SSD, or a 512 GB SSD).

James The Robot Bartender Knows When You Want A Drink

James The Robot Bartender will chat, serve and recognize when you want drinks thanks to the partnership of a team of professors from Germany, Scotland and Greece.

The birth of robot bar tenders isn’t particularly newsworthy as there have been other attempts before James. However James, the Joint Action in Multimodal Embodied Systems robot is different to its predecessors due to his social skills.

People are Messy

While it’s been proven that robots are more than adept at mixing a whole host of drinks, the reality of them functioning as well as a human bar tender in a real life situation has always been unlikely. As a rule, robots like clean orderly situations. The chaotic atmosphere of the average pub serves to confuse robots. Robot bartenders in the past have only been able to mix drinks for patrons that have expressly ordered the drinks via a smart device. In reality though, patrons don’t like to use devices to order drinks, they prefer to use the traditional signals to indicate that they want a drink.

The Dish On YouTube’s Offline Videos

There is no arguing that YouTube is the site to go to for video content. Whether it’s music, how-tos, or simply stupid, fun videos, YouTube has got something for everyone. And while there are some people who would not touch the site with a 12-foot pole, YouTube’s stats show that they have the upper hand.

Did you know that more than 1 billion users – unique! – visit YouTube each month? Even more mind blowing is the fact that more than 6 billion hours of video are watched each month. That equates to almost an hour for every single person on Earth! And according to Nielsen, YouTube bests any cable network in the US, reaching more US adults in the age range 18-34. (Source)
So what’s up with YouTube? There’s the saying that you should not fix it if it ain’t broke. Why are they making some considerable changes?
Well, it’s not exactly NOT broke. Or, at the very least, there are certain things that needed improvement, and that’s what the YouTube team has done with recent updates.
I don’t know about you, but where I come from, mobile Internet still has a lot of room for improvement. While things have really looked up in recent years, there are still times when I want to curse my telco for being so dumb. And that’s where the ability to watch YouTube videos even without a net connection comes in very handy.
In a blog entry last week, YouTube announced that they are going to soon launch a feature that will allow viewers to watch offline videos. There are some important details to know about this upcoming feature:
The YouTube mobile app is necessary to take advantage of this feature. Ads included.
The offline videos are time sensitive. You only have 48 hours to watch them without an Internet connection.
This feature does not cover movies and TV shows YouTube offers for rent/purchase.
If you’re a content producer, then you also need to know that this will be the default setting, so if you do not want your content to be available offline, you have to manually change the settings.

Valve Announce SteamOS, The Operating System For Living Room Gaming

Valve has revealed its very own Linux-based operating system called SteamOS, which is designed for living room gaming PCs. This is the first step towards it achieving its vision for an open video game console, which it has named Steam Box.

“It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines,” said the company.

This Is What People Are Doing With Their Cell Phones In 2013

Cell phones have gone a long, long way since the days when they were too bulky to carry around. Back in the day, it was such an uncommon sight to see people staring intensely at a small (or rather huge) block of plastic, pressing buttons, or doing whatever it is they did on their mobile phones. Today, cell phones are more ubiquitous than sliced bread, and they can do practically everything – from sending text messages to taking pictures to browsing the Internet to playing games. But what do we really use cell phones for?

Respected research entity, Pew Internet, has released the results of a study, which takes a look at just how Americans use their cell phones in 2013. The results are not exactly intuitive, with sending and receiving text messages topping the list.

Record Your Dreams With ‘Shadow’ App

How many dreams can you remember these days? How familiar is the feeling that you’ve had an extraordinary dream but the more you focus on it the faster it slips away? The new mobile application titled ‘Shadow’ aims to change all of that by enabling you to track and record your dreams.

There has always been an interest in finding out just exactly what goes on in our brains when we’re not thinking about it. It seems that the ‘Shadow’ app will help us to find out exactly what sneaky our subconscious mind is trying to tell us, or hide from us during our sleep.

Voyager Officially Leaves Solar System

In 1977, two unmanned space crafts were launched to explore space and report back to NASA with information about the major planets: Voyager 1 and 2. Within the first 12 years of launching, both Voyagers returned information about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Now though, after 36 years of being in space, NASA is extremely proud to announce that Voyager 1 has left the solar system.

Delayed Response

In actual fact, although NASA announced the Voyager’s departure from the solar system quite recently on September 12th 2013, it appears the leaving date itself was way back in 2012 – August 25th to be precise. So why the big delay on the celebrations?

Google Working On Cookie Alternative

Google is working on an alternative ad tracking system that could potentially replace cookies.

Cookies are used by advertisers and web sites to track your web history, so that they can tailor adverts based on your possible shopping interests.

Google Cookies with Sesame Street Cookie Monster
Google is working on a system called “AdID”, which would allow them to abandon the cookie system completely. It is currently the only browser that allows all cookies as the default setting.

Rival companies to Google’s Chrome have all taken a stand against cookies, with Microsoft’s default setting in Internet Explorer being “do not track” and Apple’s Safari browser blocking third-party cookies altogether.

For browser makers, maintaing a robust cookie environment offers little financial reward, whereas keeping users happy yields better financial incentives.

If Google can prove that its new AdID system is more useful for advertisers and more private for users than cookies, then Google could be on to a winner.

Apple has its own cookie alternative called the “identifier for advertisers” or IDFA. AdID could be the thing that helps Google compete not just with Apple but with all its rivals.

How Do You Make The Thinnest Pane Of Glass? By Accident!

On face value, it appears to be a scientist’s version of a ‘knock knock’ joke. In actual fact though, graduate student Pinshane Huang and Professor David Muller of Cornell and Germany’s University of Ulm were laughing all the way to the Guiness Book of world records with the thinnest pane of glass in the world.

A Happy Accident

The two scientists were originally trying to form graphene, which is a two dimensional form of carbon. While they were at work on the project, they discovered a mark of some kind on the graphene. As they examined the unwanted blemish on their desired graphene, the electron microscope picked up a silicon/oxygen composition which was the same as glass.

IPad App Mem:o For Design Lovers

I bet you’ve been very busy with your iOS device. As it usually goes when a new version of iOS hits, users are also hit with a flurry of app updates. Everyone complains, but in a good natured way. Me, I am rather miffed as my iPad seems to be forever stuck in the restore loop. Whether it’s a fluke or the device is broken, I am going to have to do without playing with this new iPad app called mem:o that I discovered the other day.

Is The IPhone 5S Getting A 64-Bit A7 Chip?

In less than two weeks, technophiles the world over will be glued to their computer (mobile device) screens, thanks to the Apple event that was announced earlier this month. Of course, the usual spate of rumors surround the event – from new iPads (or the lack of them) to iPhones.

Here’s a cool piece of rumor: the iPhone 5S might be getting a 64-bit A7 chip.
Might. Maybe. Could.

Who cares? Even if it does not come out to be true, the mere fact that there is a chance that the iPhone 5S will pack a 64-bit A7 chip is too good to be left alone.

The source of this speculation? Clayton Morris, FOX News anchor.

Okay, so maybe you’re not the biggest fan of FOX News, but hey, there might be something here. Naturally, the usual Apple suspects picked up on the tweet, and talk has been going around.

Why should users care if the 64-bit chip makes it to the new iPhone?
Speed and power, that’s all. ;)

Think about it. If the device has the power to process data at 64 bits, that means a lot of things. Fun things. If you think the iPhone 5 is fast and renders graphics wonderfully, just imagine a more powerful processor running those things. You probably wouldn’t be able to take your eyes off your phone anymore! (Not that that might just be the case at the moment!)

Whether or not the iPhone 5S gets the new chip, it seems that will be used in the near future, as Apple is said to have done tests. It’s just a matter of waiting it out.
In other news, it seems highly likely that we’ll see a gold iPhone and that the cheap iPhone might not be as bad as I fear(ed) it to be. September 10, are you here yet?

The Entire Internet Can Be Scanned In Under An Hour With ZMap

A new method has been developed by researchers from the University of Michigan, allowing the entire Internet to be scanned in under an hour.

The open-source network scanner called ZMap, has been created to expose vulnerabilites in networks, develop appropriate defense mechanisms and conduct more efficient research. Normally these tasks can take months to perform but ZMap is able to survey every IP address on the Internet in about 45 minutes, all from a single machine.
Nmap is the current method used for network scanning. It sends individual signals to each IP address and waits for a reply, whilst putting together all the information it has received from the networks contacted. Quite a long-winded process then.
ZMap sends out requests too but it also encodes the outgoing request with identifying information, so when it returns the machine can decode the requests. It doesn’t keep a list of outstanding requests, making it alot quicker. The Washington Post explains that “the lower overhead of this approach allows ZMap to send out packets more than 1,000 times faster than Nmap.”
This new method could prove vital in helping researchers in the future, as was shown when it was used to find out how many people were affected by Hurricane Sandy. During a hurricane, computers are knocked offline. ZMap was able to quickly scan how many computers were affected by Hurricane Sandy, giving real-time data.
As with any new technology the concern over privacy has been raised, but in response to this ZMap’s creators said, “It should go without saying that scan practitioners should refrain from exploiting vulnerabilities or accessing protected resources, and should comply with any special legal requirements in their jurisdictions.”

Vanish From The Internet With JustDelete.Me

Almost everything we do online remains stored somewhere and getting rid of the tracks is almost impossible. If you have old accounts you want to delete or social media sites you want erased, this new site named JustDelete.me can help.

The website, launched by designer Ed Poole and developer Robb Lewis, makes it a lot easier to ‘vanish’ from the Internet. Okay, maybe not permanently, but it is definitely the place to go if you’ve had it with your old accounts and want to start afresh.

JustDelete.me is basically a directory of links and information about how to delete specific accounts. When possible, it also lists direct links to web pages that allow you to delete your account. The website also ranks the services based on how easy or difficult it is to delete an account. The available categories are easy, medium, hard and impossible.

For instance, Google and Instagram are categorized as “easy,” since they make it very easy for the users to delete their accounts: they just have to log in and opt to delete. PayPal and IMDB are also in this category. Amazon and New York Times are listed as “hard” – Amazon users have to send a formal request to the company in order to delete their account.

And then there are websites such as Pinterest, Netflix, Craigslist, that are in the “impossible” category and seem to offer users no way to delete their accounts, even if they contact support.

JustDelete.me was launched on August 19 and had 16 services in its directory, but the number has since grown to over 130. A Google Chrome extension is also available.

Lewis said he decided to create this service after he found out how difficult it is to delete a Netflix or Skype account. And Poole explained that the popularity of their website since it was launched – over 500,000 views in the first week, is due to a growing public concern with Internet privacy, especially in light of the recent NSA spying scandal.

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