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Android 4.3 allegedly caught on Google Play Galaxy S4

  Google's next version of Android may have taken its latest bow courtesy of a batch of leaked screenshots. Images obtained and posted by Sammobile purport to reveal an early Android 4.3 build running on the Google Play Edition Galaxy S4. The screenshots clearly display the Android version number as 4.3, while the model number of GT-i9505G refers to Google's new "pure" version of the Galaxy S4. Another screenshot shows that Google is apparently sticking with the Jelly Bean moniker for Android 4.3. This isn't the first time Android 4.3 has surfaced in the wild. In May, photos found on the xdadevelopers forum allegedly showed a Nexus 4 phone equipped with the next Android OS update. So when should Android users expect a dose of 4.3? Earlier rumors claimed Google might announce the latest update at its I/O conference on May 15. But the conference came and went without any such unveiling. The latest reports from several Android blog sites now say Android 4.3 could pop up in July. &nb

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Uh-oh: BlackBerry shipped just 2.7M BB10 devices last quarter

BlackBerry sold a humbling 2.7 million BlackBerry 10 devices in its fiscal first quarter. The company disclosed on a conference call Friday that 40 percent of the 6.8 million total BlackBerrys it sold in the period, which ended June 1, ran on its much-ballyhooed next-generation platform.   That's a number that most on Wall Street regarded as disappointing. Sanford Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu, for instance, had expected sales of 3 million units. The sales figure likely represents the number of units sold to carriers, or the "ship in" figure. It's unclear what the "sell through" figure was -- that is, how many units were actually sold to consumers. BlackBerry did not break out sales between the touch screen-equipped BlackBerry Z10 and Q10, which comes with the physical keyboard the company's phones have long been known for. The results are just part of an overall disappointing quarter for BlackBerry, which during the conference call elicited many pointed questions about its sta

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Microsoft promises IE11 on Windows 7

 Microsoft today confirmed that Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) will be ported to Windows 7, but declined to name a release date. The announcement, made during a Wednesday session at the company's BUILD developers conference, was first reported by Engadget.       Full Read Here: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9240416/Microsoft_promises_IE11_on_Windows_7

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15 free Google Reader alternatives

Don't get left in the dark when Google Reader shuts its doors on July 1. Check out this list of free alternatives that will let you continue to keep tabs on the news you need.   Full Read Here: http://www.computerworld.com/slideshow/detail/107793/15-free-Google-Reader-alternatives    

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FingerQ adds fingerprint sensor to Android phones

The FingerQ PrivacQ Case for the Samsung Galaxy S3 adds a fingerprint sensor to the phone.   FingerQ, a company based in Hong Kong, has made a series of Android cases that come with biometric fingerprint sensors for added security. The sensors don't replace the built-in security features of your Android phone (unlocking your smartphone still uses the passcode or pattern unlock), but adds another layer of protection for chats and applications. The FingerQ system will be available as an accessory called the PrivacQ case and caters to phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, and Note 2, as well as the HTC One. The fingerprint sensor is just one part of the equation, as the company's software also needs to be installed on the handset for the system to work.   Read here.

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PayPal says outer space is its next frontier

Astronaut Eugene Cernan on the moon from 1972. If tourists are next, how will they pay?   Space architect John Spencer has a grand vision for the future of space travel -- one with luxury space yachts and hotels, and dune buggy racing on the moon. It's all going to happen in the "not too distant future," the founder of the Space Tourism Society told CNET recently. "The more people who go, the more diversity, the more things you can do -- the more they need to buy goods and services," he said. "It's limited to what they can do now because of the cost and limited time onboard the space system, but that's going to grow as we have more facilities and more people." Travel to the final frontier has heated up in the last decade and everybody wants a piece of the action. Billionaires like Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Telsa CEO Elon Musk are pouring their resources into space tourism (most of these guys are also sponsoring the Space Tourism Society to hel

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Microsoft waves goodbye to backward compatibility

By John C. Dvorak, 26 June, 2013 ITProPortal.com   Microsoft thinks Windows 8.1 will fix everything. Ha! What it fails to recognize is that Windows 8 was never the problem. I’m more and more convinced that PC sales continue to plummet because people have learned from Windows 7 that Microsoft has given up on backward compatibility. My Olympus PEN camera will not connect to my Windows 7 machine for whatever reason and I’m getting tired of the incompatibilities. It all began with my Epson RX700 printer, a perfectly good all-in-one printer. Too bad I had to scrap it because it will not work with Windows 7. I don’t like my new printer, an Epson Artisan 810, nearly as much. In fact, it’s so clunky that I’m looking to replace it as soon as possible. But this is not a review of printers. Suffice it to say, Windows’ backward compatibility has taken a back seat at the company. After the printer fiasco and with no new drivers on the horizon, the reliable RX700 is an orphan. Then comes my t

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Does it still make sense to buy a Nook HD?

Now that Barnes & Noble is getting out of the color tablet business, these fire-sale prices could drop even lower.   I suppose the writing was on the tablet. Back in May, ostensibly in honor of Mother's Day, Barnes & Noble whipped out some pretty hefty discounts on its Nook HD and Nook HD+. Then, earlier this month, the cuts went even deeper for Father's Day, with the 7-inch and 8.9-inch slates selling for $129 and $149, respectively. But even after the holiday came and went, the discounted prices remained -- and now we know why: B&N is getting out of the color-tablet business. Bummer. The company produced good hardware from the get-go, and although this was probably the inevitable outcome of competition from the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Google, I'll miss the Nooks' sleek designs, high-def displays, and expansion-friendly microSD slots (a feature that has so far eluded each of the aforementioned competitors). R.I.P., color Nooks.   Of course, bargain hunters a

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Apple iTunes store outage cuts off 20 percent of users

  Many users of Apple's iTunes store are being prevented from accessing the site Wednesday evening by a sizable outage. The iTunes store is experiencing a service disruption that is preventing 20 percent of its users from making purchases on the company's music pages, according to Apple's system status page. No other Apple services appear to be affected by disruption.   CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more. The issue occurs close on the heels of another outage that affected the company's online stores in the U.S., U.K., and Germany. Monday's outage prevented several images and page elements from rendering in those countries.   According to a 9to5Mac report, that partial outage was due to a Content Delivery Network error that nixed Apple's many design elements and left only the page's text.     Source : Cnet

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra: one phablet to rule them all (hands-on)

Sony's latest smartphone, an LTE-capable phablet rocking a massive 6.44-inch screen, is a powerful addition to the Xperia family. It's not only the first smartphone from Sony Mobile to pack Qualcomm's top-of-the-line Snapdragon 800 processor, it's also the biggest handset from the company.   Outlook It looks like Samsung will have to do a lot more to make its upcoming Galaxy Note 3 stand out from the crowd, given that Sony has set a very high benchmark with the Xperia Z Ultra. Else the Korean chaebol may risk losing its leadership position in the phablet space which has become increasingly competitive in the recent months. The Xperia Z Ultra is expected to launch globally in Q3. It will available in three colors: black, white and purple.   Read here.

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Microsoft's pitch for hybrids: Tablets alone don't cut it

Steve Ballmer flourishes a Lenovo ThinkPad Helix hybrid tablet-laptop at the Build Conference Wednesday. He mocked the dedicated tablet as unusable and/or inefficient.   Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer pitched upcoming "2-in-1" devices hard Wednesday at the Build Conference. Part of the pitch included mocking the dedicated tablet experience. Here's what Ballmer said. How many of us have gone to a meeting with somebody who brought a tablet and then when it comes time to actually take notes, writes them down on pencil and paper. Or can't get at the spreadsheet...or try to use it in terminal emulator mode...or take [a long time] to set up and turn their tablet into something that approximates a PC.That statement -- a familiar refrain -- encapsulates the sales pitch for Windows 8/8.1 hybrids, aka 2-in-1 devices, convertibles, and detachables. You only need one hybrid device, not both a tablet and a laptop. That, ostensibly, is the salient advantage Windows 8.1 (and past Windows 😎

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Windows 8.1 fixes problems, adds new features, but touch screen is still the focus (hands-on)

Today, during the keynote for the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco, the company announced the preview version for Windows 8.1 (download the preview here). As a point upgrade to Windows 8, there are few sweeping changes to the operating system, but Microsoft has thankfully made some tweaks to the interface, along with upgraded apps and other enhancements that users will appreciate. But it's important to note that if you were hoping for a return to a Windows 7 layout, you're going to be disappointed; Microsoft is sticking to its guns on the Modern UI (the tiled Start screen interface), and you'll still be using it as your main launching point. With that said, Microsoft has added a few features that make it a bit more palatable to keyboard-and-mouse Windows desktop users.   In developing Windows 8.1, Microsoft says it listened to feedback from users and tried to solve the problems people were having with the new interface. In our time with the updated OS, we think the comp

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Motorola logo gets a makeover -- and a 'Google company' tagline

In with the new ...   Google has made a lot of changes at Motorola since it acquired the company a year ago. The Web giant, which bought Motorola in May 2012 for $12.5 billion, sold the Motorola Home set-top business for $2.35 billion, settled a massive lawsuit with TiVo, and laid off thousands of employees in a reorganization that called for the closure of a third of the company's 94 offices.   Perhaps in an effort to highlight the company's new character, Motorola has dumped the decades-old red button "M" logo for something more colorfully in line with its new owners' tastes. The new logo, which was first spotted by The Verge earlier Wednesday, sports a rainbow of colors encircling the familiar "M."   ... and out with the old.   The new logo also ditches the bold italic, capped "Motorola" for a lowercase company name in a thinner, softer font. And in case you forgot who was in charge, the Web giant also added a tagline that reads "a Google company." The logo rep

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Mozilla adds easy download monitoring to Firefox for OS X

If you are a Firefox user, you may have noticed that yesterday Mozilla released an updated version of the browser. This new update includes a number of security updates and graphics optimizations, but in addition OS X users are now able to monitor downloads directly in the Dock. When you download a file in Safari or prior versions of Firefox, the download process can be followed by going to a special Downloads window, where you can monitor overall and individual download progress; however, this requires you to keep such a window open. Even though Safari's downloads toolbar menu will show an overall progress bar, this still requires the menu to be visible on screen.   With Firefox 22, Mozilla has added a download progress bar to the Application's Dock icon, which will give you a quick overview of your active downloads without needing a Firefox downloads or browser window open in front of you. The progress bar does not represent individual downloads, but instead shows a the cumulati

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Hands-on with Lenovo's rugged ThinkPad Helix

When it was first introduced at CES 2013, Lenovo described the Helix hybrid laptop-tablet as a "flip and rip" system, which sounded like the usually staid company was trying to add a little sizzle to the normally conservative ThinkPad lineup. In person, this detachable screen hybrid still has a very ThinkPad-like look and feel, and from a distance, looks nearly identical to the army of ThinkPads on office and cubicle desks around the world. The flipping and ripping comes into play when you activate the small hinge-based latch for removing the display from the rest of the body. In this case, the screen pops off much like any other hybrid's, but then can reattach after being rotated 180 degrees, leaving the screen facing out from the back of the system. That makes for a good presentation mode, which I sometimes call a kiosk setup. Of course, you can also use the Helix screen by itself as a Windows 8 slate.   A crowded 11-inch field But, as an 11-inch laptop, the Helix is in the mid

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Facebook makes a play for more mobile ads with instant setup

Facebook said Wednesday that it has sped up the process for creating mobile app install ads, the unit developers can buy to promote their own iOS and Android applications. App makers can now create and run mobile app install ads by simply entering a link to their apps in Apple's App Store or Google Play -- rather than first registering their apps with Facebook, a company spokesperson told CNET. Developers then need only set their target audience and budget to get the ad unit in the wild.   Essentially, with the change, all it takes to advertise your app is a little copy-and-paste know-how.   The simplified process, though relatively minor news, could actually make a significant impact on Facebook's bottom line. By removing friction from the creation process, Facebook should be able to entice more developers to purchase social network distribution for their iOS and Android applications. In the first quarter of this year, Facebook made 30 percent of its advertising revenue from

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HTC One Google Play Edition review: Stunning design, pristine Android, nothing fancy

Though the HTC One is a stellar phone just as it is, I know that many Android purists would prefer that it shipped with Google’s stock OS while forsaking all of the fancy tricks and glitzy software that HTC layered upon it. Fortunately, with the new $599 HTC One Google Play Edition, that day is here. Using the same hardware and design as the 32GB GSM HTC One model, this unlocked handset runs pure, sweet Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the freshest version available. Even better, Google has pledged that the HTC One Google Play Edition qualifies as a true Nexus device, so it will be first in line for future updates. It all sounds like a dream come true, but there are trade-offs for pushing HTC Sense aside. For example you can kiss goodbye all of the standard HTC One’s slick camera features, such as Zoe Share, TV remote control, and BlinkFeed. If that’s a price you’re willing to pay for Android purity, though, besides a lot of cash up front, then this phone is worth a look.   Read here. &n

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Microsoft's Windows Blue downloadable after online leak

http://static.itpro.co.uk/sites/itpro/files/styles/article_main_image/public/windowsbluescreenshots-_play.jpgOS update will feature IE 11, as well as upgrades to the Charms Menu and Live Tiles.Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Blue update was made available on file sharing sites on CEO Steve Ballmer’s 57th birthday in what has become the latest high-profile leak. Build 9364 is thought to be an early version of the update Microsoft has been working on, but does include some of the key features that are expected to make the final release. Screenshots of the changes have been posted on Winforum. They appear to show that Windows Blue will be pre-loaded with Internet Explorer 11 - although we are yet to see what benefits this will bring to users.   Full Article   TH

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Windows 8.1 is a winner, but PC sales will plummet, says Gartner

Microsoft is caught in the ultimate good news/bad news syndrome: Windows 8.1 will likely fix Windows 8's woes, but PC sales will still take a nose dive. So says two recent Gartner reports, and they may well be right.   Source: http://blogs.computerworld.com/windows/22379/windows-81-winner-pc-sales-will-plummet-says-gartner    

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Logitech is keeping thier Harmony remote division!!!

Just heard it being mentioned on Logitech's facebook page!

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Images: Birth of the first computer

 J. Presper Eckert and John Mauch designed ENIAC to calculate the trajectory of artillery shells. J. Presper Eckert (the man in the foreground turning a knob) served and John Mauchly (center) designed ENIAC to calculate the trajectory of artillery shells. The machine didn't debut until February 1946, after the end of World War II, but it did launch the computer revolution.     Source of articles: http://www.zdnet.com/photos/images-birth-of-the-first-computer/11161#photo   Note: other pics on this complete read of the first computer.    

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Team rebuilding world's first website

This is a very interesting read on web sites which started 20  years ago. You can view pages from 20 years at the source of this articles.   Source Here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/30/tech/web/first-website-cern/index.html           CNN) -- Twenty years ago, a team of researchers shared the Webwith the world. Now they want to show a generation that grew up onlinewhat it was like in its earliest days.  Cern  is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the date it released, for free, the technology and software needed to run a Web server. In honor of the anniversary, a team has been assembled to recreate a working version of the first website, a how-to guide hosted by the project's creators. The organization issued a statement on April 30, 1993, that announced the release ofthat Web to the public. British physicist Tim Berners-Lee created and named the Web (also commonly called "W3" for short in those days) in 1989 at CERN. Originally, it was desig

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How can I tighten up my Windows 7 machine against other machines from a connected VPN network?

the OpenVPN is a pretty solid application, it will put your traffic on a private network, and in the process encrypt the traffic going to and coming from that private network. Now, if you're worried about the machines that are also connected to the VPN, that's a different matter. First, the only thing the machines have in common with yours is that they are all on the same logical network, which means they can all access the same resources and in some cases, other machines on the same network. These machines cannot access the resources on your machine unless they have the permissions (user name and password) to do so. Next, if you want to secure your computer in general, then make use of the windows firewall. It's basic but it will get the job done. Take a 1/2 hour, comb through it and ask yourself 'do I really need this port open?' If the answer is yes (as is the case for OpenVPN), then make sure it's only open where you need it. For example, I have OpenVPN ports open on Domain, Home,

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Microsoft, Oracle join forces to stomp on cloud rivals

  Microsoft and Oracle announced a lot of piece parts with their June 24 partnership around Azure and Oracle databases and middleware. Here's your Cliff Notes version: Oracle apps are now certified to run on Windows Server, Hyper-V, and Windows Azure. Up until today, they were only certified to run on Windows Server. Oracle Linux also gets added to the list of Linux varianst supported in Azure's VMs, too. Microsoft already has been certifying its own applications on Windows Azure, including its SQL Server database. (Here's a list of which versions of various database, security and other enterprise products are certified as running on Azure's persistent virtual machines.) Now Oracle's own databases and its WebLogic middleware are added to that list.   Microsoft already has supported Java development on Windows Azure. Today, Oracle and Microsoft said they'd take Java support a step further, with Oracle certifying Java to run on Hyper-V and Windows Azure. "It's about time. We'r

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Gold Galaxy S4 sells out; gilded HTC One debuts

You missed the gold-plated Galaxy S4 already, but orders are now being taken for the HTC One + bling.   HTC and Samsung have each been hoping that their HTC One and Galaxy S4 Android flagship phones will become the gold standard for the latest generation of smartphones, but the customizers at Goldgenie are taking the notion quite literally. The British company has been selling gold- and platinum-plated iOS devices and BlackBerrys for a while now, but it seems to have decided that the HTC One and Galaxy S4 have finally presented a pair of Android phones worth the deluxe bling treatment.   Given the pace of device development and technological obsolescence, you might think that adding more than a thousand dollars to the cost of a smartphone just to slap some precious metals on it is a little silly, to say the least. But apparently there's plenty of high rollers that disagree with you: The plated version of the Galaxy S4 is already sold out after being available for just a few

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