• 26
    Apr 12

    8 things Microsoft needs to do to save Windows 8

      Posted by robseo
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    Our home media PC is getting a little long in the tooth. It’s always been a bit of a problem because we bought a horizontal case that would look pretty in our media room, rather than one optimized for holding PC hardware. Right now, the machine is just about three years old, hasn’t had a Windows reinstall in all that time, and has developed its own set of quirks.

    It’s getting near that time. It’s getting near that time when either a Windows reinstall is necessary, or its general crotchetiness will give us an excuse to build a spiffy, new machine. And that has had me thinking about whether we’ll just put our trusty copy of 64-bit Windows 7 on it, or hold out for Windows 8.

    That has had me thinking about whether I even want to run Windows 8, and that got me thinking about what it would take to make Windows 8 a real, acknowledged, indisputable success in the marketplace.

    Here, then, are eight things Microsoft needs to do to save Windows 8:

    1. Clearly overcome Windows 8’s WTF problem

    Windows 8 suffers from WTFitis. Most of us, when presented with news of Windows 8’s various changes — from the weird start environment to Metro to Windows RT, to the apparent push for Windows on tablets — look at Windows 8 and simply ask, “WTF?”

    In other words, why is Microsoft doing this to us? Why can’t Windows 8 just be Windows, only better? That’s all most of us want, anyway. Just Windows, but better.

    Microsoft seems to have iPad envy, and the company looks like it’s willing to sell all us desktop and notebook users down the river, just so it can have a nice tablet interface, even though most tablet users will still just buy an iPad.

    So, the first major thing Microsoft has to do is make it clear that they understand that there’s a future desktop and notebook market, and that they don’t consider all of us who have to do real work with Windows 8 the ugly step-children of the beautiful people who use tablets and want a PLAYSKOOL interface so they can fling Angry Birds.

    See also: Why Windows 8 matters for real work, and so will Windows 9

    2. Rename the tablet version of Windows to “Windows for Tablets”

    This is a corollary to #1 above. There’s a version of Windows 8 being designed for OEMs who are building tablets on Arm processors (the most popular mobile processor). This is a fundamentally different Windows than most of us will run on our PCs, and it’s not even available to the general public.

    But Microsoft’s early Windows 8 marketing has been problematic, because Microsoft hasn’t made it clear that PC version is completely different from the tablet version. Even now, things aren’t completely clear. Microsoft has been encouraging developers to move to RT as a development library, saying that it’s the future of Windows applications.

    But Windows 8 RT is just the version of Windows for Arm devices (yes, the name of the tablet product is “RT”, not something — you know — like “tablet”). So it’s not clear to developers that if they start coding RT applications, whether or not those applications will only run on Windows RT or Windows for PCs.

    Clarity is essential here.

    3. Build an install option to install Windows 8 in “classic” mode with a Start button

    There is no doubt that the Metro interface has the potential to be pretty — on small displays. But there’s also no doubt that all the jumping back and forth into and out of Metro to simply launch desktop programs is completely untenable — especially, again, for those of us doing real work.

    Clearly, there are now two approaches to the Windows interface — the old-style desktop and the optimized-for-tiny-displays Metro.

    To avoid truly pissing off Microsoft’s very loyal (and very busy) desktop user-base, they need to create an option for a “classic” interface install, including a Start button and the desktop as the primary environment.

    4. Start promoting the “getting real work done” benefits of upgrading to Windows 8

    As it turns out, other than the whole Metro nightmare, Windows 8 is a pretty slick desktop OS upgrade. It adds a ton of helpful new features that will make using Windows more productive.

    These include being able to manage what items boot from the Task Manager, without having to MSCONFIG or hack a registry, faster booting, the ability to do a clean Windows reinstall without wiping your data or settings, the ability to sync your settings across PCs, and a lot more.

    These individual feature tweaks are what will make us active users (you could also call us “recommenders”) decide to upgrade to Windows 8.

    Microsoft needs to go out of its way to explain these benefits, not just rely on us in the trade press to discover them and point them out as afterthoughts.

    5. Remove artificial performance limitations from all Windows 8 versions

    Windows 7 has a bunch of artificial performance limitations, designed to force customers to buy different packages just to get better performance from their computers. For example, Windows Home doesn’t allow you to use all your RAM, if you have a boatload of RAM.

    Another limitation: the IIS Web server artificially throttles down the number of simultaneous Web sessions, presumably to try to force server operators to buy Windows Server.

    These artificial limitations do not encourage Windows upgrades, they simply annoy their customers. Any company that wants a fully powered server operating system will buy Windows Server, for example. But there’s no good reason why Microsoft should be pushing people to things like Apache and Linux, when their own products work quite well.

    The way to separate versions is by features, plain and simple. The Pro version of Windows 8, for example, will offer Active Directory domain management, a feature that’s almost exclusively corporate. This makes sense, but artificial limitations don’t.

    Next: Stop self-limiting Windows »

      Windows Marketplace 4 Mobile
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    How to Keep Your Smartphone Safe

      Posted by robseo
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    • Neil Rubenking
      By Neil J. Rubenking

    • April 25, 2012
    • Comments

    Keep Your Smartphone Safe


    ‘);

    Unless brazen thieves pull up to your house in a moving van with the aim of purloining all your electronic valuables, your desktop PC isn’t likely to get stolen. It’s too bulky, and a zillion cables connect it to other devices. Certainly you’re not going to simply lose a PC!

    However, your smartphone has nearly as much computing power as that PC (more, if the PC is really old), and opportunities for smartphone loss or theft are almost limitless. We’ll show you how to protect both your iPhone or Android device and the personal data it contains.

    Lock It Up
    If you haven’t set up a screen-lock passcode to protect your smartphone, pull the device out right now and set one. IPhone users can choose a simple four-digit numeric PIN or an eight-character alphanumeric passcode. The four-digit PIN is easier to enter due to the big buttons on the phone keypad, but the eight-character passcode is much more secure. To minimize the annoyance of frequent passcode re-entry, you can set the phone to auto-lock after a delay of one to five minutes.

    Android users have choices that vary by device. Using a numeric or alphanumeric passcode is one option. Some devices support unlocking with a swipe pattern, or even using facial recognition. As with the iPhone you’ll probably find it convenient to set a delay, so the phone doesn’t lock immediately when you turn it off.

    While a four-digit numeric PIN is handy on either type of device, you should know that law enforcement can crack four-digit PINs using advanced forensic software. If the lawmen can do it, chances are good the crooks can do it too.

    Don’t Break Security
    Numerous studies have shown that the built-in security in Apple’s iOS works very, very well. It’s not perfect, but it’s significantly tighter than Android’s.

    The one way to lose this protection? Jailbreak your iPhone. According to researcher Dino Dai Zovi, a jailbroken iPhone is roughly as secure as a standard Android phone. Jailbreak it and you throw away your security advantage.

    Rooting an Android phone is the equivalent of jailbreaking an iPhone. Some apps require rooting; don’t install those apps. Do note that the law-enforcment forensic software mentioned earlier can automatically root an Android phone, and some malware attacks can also root the phone.

    A few high-end Android phones automatically wipe all data when rooted. The thief will have your smartphone, but not your personal data.

    Don’t Give Permission
    Every time you install an Android app, you have to approve a laundry list of permissions. Don’t just click to allow them all. Read the entire list. If you find something illogical, like a flashlight app asking for access to your email contacts, cancel the installation. An Android app with no permissions whatever can still get a small amount of information about your phone, but if you don’t review the permissions list you may be giving an app the keys to the kingdom.

    You can only get iPhone apps from the App Store, but Android apps are available outside the Android Market. In China, the official Android Market isn’t even available. Android malware is rampant in China because there’s no Google Bouncer to suppress obviously malicious apps. Stick to the Android Market, or put your phone at risk.

    Apps for the iPhone go through a rigorous vetting by Apple. In theory, an app requiring unreasonable permissions wouldn’t get past this process, though there have been slip-ups. The main area where you have a choice involves apps that want to use your location. Check the list of apps under Location Services in the iPhone’s settings, and turn it off for any apps that don’t truly need your location. Note that if you let the camera use location settings, every photo you upload reveals exactly where you were at the time.

    Crank Up Security
    When your smartphone’s operating system gets an update, it almost always includes patches for security flaws. Don’t delay; always install updates as soon as they’re available.

    Android users can prevent certain types of hack attacks by making a few simple changes to settings. The USB Debugging feature gives hackers (or lawmen) easy access to your Android phone via a USB connection to a PC. Disable USB debugging. If your phone includes the option to use full disk encryption, enable it.

    Those using iPhones should check to see if backups are encrypted. If not, open iTunes, delete the old backups and set a password to encrypt new backups. You can also choose the SIM PIN option in Phone settings to ensure that a thief can’t simply eject your SIM and use it in another phone.

    Get Help
    You wouldn’t leave your PC naked, unprotected by an antivirus tool or security suite. Your smartphone, especially if it’s an Android device, can benefit from a mobile security app.

    In addition to protection against mobile malware, these tools often come with a variety of antitheft features. They’ll let you check a lost or stolen phone’s location, lock the phone remotely, wipe or encrypt personal data, even snap a photo of the thief.

    Smartphones put virtually all the power of a desktop computer in your pocket. Most of us would sooner go out without pants than without our cherished phone. Take the precautions listed here to keep your smartphone and its data as safe as possible.

      Android Market
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    Google Makes Push Into E-Commerce With New Online Store

      Posted by robseo
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    In a move it tried — and abandoned — once before, Google began selling a smartphone directly to consumers through a new online store on Tuesday.

    Consumers can now buy the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, which is manufactured by Samsung but runs on Google’s Android operating system, in the Google Play store, or what it used to call its Android Market. The phone, which costs $399, will ship “unlocked,” which means it works with multiple wireless carriers. Sprint Nextel and Verizon will subsidize half the cost of the phone for consumers who commit to a two-year contract.

    Google’s previous direct-to-consumers push was in January 2010, when it sold its Nexus One smartphone through its online store. It had helped design the phone with HTC, the manufacturer. It abandoned the effort less than six months later because of poor sales. The problem was that T-Mobile was the only carrier that subsidized its $529 price tag, and that carriers refused to sell the phone through their own retail outlets.

    “While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not,” Google wrote in a blog post in May 2010 “It’s remained a niche channel for early adopters, but it’s clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone, and they also want a wide range of service plans to chose from.”

    Google has since worked closely with carriers to make phones with its Android system available in their retail outlets. That has helped make Android the dominant smartphone operating platform with 300 million Android devices activated globally. That, experts say, helped Google lure app developers. Google had 16,000 apps in its Android market when it introduced the Nexus One in January 2010. It now boasts 500,000.

    “The Nexus One was a flop, but at least it got a lot of phones into developers’ hands,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners.

    Google’s new online store could soon feature two new devices: its much-anticipated tablet and a home entertainment device. Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, told an Italian newspaper last December that Google planned to release a tablet by June of this year. The Wall Street Journal, in a subsequent report, said Google would sell the device through its online store.

    The company is also working on a prototype for a home entertainment device, according to people inside the company who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak. While the initial purpose of the device will be for streaming music, the eventual use could be much wider, these people said.

    Analysts have largely questioned whether Google’s online sales strategy will work. “It’s won’t be a game changer,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, a Forrester analyst. To work, Ms. Rotman Epps noted, Google will have to reposition itself from a free search engine into an e-commerce company. Google has always given away its core services for free and generated its revenue from advertising. It will take an undisclosed cut of sales from its online store.

    “Google has spent the last decade training consumers to think ‘free’,” Ms. Rotman Epps added. “Now they want to change that relationship and re-brand as a company that sells stuff to consumers. That is a hard thing to do.”

      Android Market
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    New App "CamSam" Converts Smartphones Into Practical Speedcam Detectors

      Posted by robseo
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    HAMBURG, GERMANY —
    The free app CamSam is now available in iTunes App Store and in the Android market. Users get timely information over the GPS about all registered speedcams on their section of the road. Besides radar trackers, they are also informed about red lights and section controls. The warnings are not only displayed on the screen, they are also accompanied by voice messages in any of the 6 available languages.

    To keep this network of information up-to-date, it also works in the other direction. If a user wants to report a speedcam, they can use the reporting function on the smartphone to warn other fellow drivers. The current position of the speedcam is determined immediately and transmitted to the system, checked by the CamSam editor team and sent back to the community. To improve the quality of speedcam data for the users, the app also has a useful, integrated feature called “Confirm speedcam.” That means, if the user passes by a registered speedcam location, the system asks them whether the speedcam is currently there. Anyone wishing to benefit from the other useful functions, such as the Landscape mode, can download the paid version “CamSam Plus.”

    Users will derive benefit from the world’s largest database “SCDB.info” containing entries for more than 47,000 stationary speed and red light cams all over the world and the mobile real-time speedcam notifications of the steadily growing community of CamSam.

    “CamSam far exceeds our expectations. So far, almost 3 million active users have installed the mobile speedcam warners on their smartphones. Our community is growing every day and improves with every new user,” says CamSam founder Matthias Eifrig.

    www.camsam.com

    Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1962223

    © Marketwire 2012

      Android Market
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    Fitch expects new credit woes for directory makers

      Posted by robseo
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    NEW YORK (AP) — Fitch Ratings Services said Tuesday that ATT’s sale of a majority stake in its Yellow Pages business shows the credit of directory publishers is getting worse.

    Fitch said revenue and cash flows are decreasing, and directory publishers have not been part of a recent recovery in advertising spending. The firm said the industry will probably see a new round of restructuring. It said Dex One and SuperMedia may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in just a few years. Both companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 and exited in 2010.

    People have increasingly turned to online directories, web searches and smartphone apps to fulfill the role formerly dominated by Yellow Pages-style directories. That had made space in the directories less enticing — and less valuable — to advertisers.

    On Monday, ATT Inc. agreed to sell a majority stake in Yellow Pages to the private-equity firm Cerberus Capital for $950 million. Revenue from the business has fallen 30 percent over the last two years as consumers have preferred the Web to phone books.

      AppStores
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    Akdas Infotech Releases Three Free BlackBerry Smartphone Apps

      Posted by robseo
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    Cute Messenger Message Locker

    Akdas Infotech let us know about their release of three free BlackBerry smartphone apps that I think are worth mentioning. The first is a simple yet cute SMS viewer and composer that will spice up your SMS messages.The best I can describe it is as a theme for your SMS. The second two allow you to set a password on your Instant Messenger apps (Windows Live, WhatsApp, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger along with a separate one for email and SMS.

    Socio Lock Cute Messenger 2

    Check out the apps below and let us know what you think:

      AppStores
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    Apptitude: Smartphone allergy sniffers [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

      Posted by robseo
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  • 0425_euro_360x240

    Why Hasn’t the Euro Fallen More in the Crisis?

    As Europe’s sovereign debt crisis has ground on, the euro itself has remained surprisingly resilient, especially against the dollar

  AppStores
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    All EA games for PlayBook up to 50% off in BlackBerry AppWorld

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    Examiner.com is the inside source for everything local. We are powered by Examiners, the largest pool of passionate contributors in the world.

    Examiners provide unique and original content to enhance life in your local city wherever that may be. Examiners come from all walks of life and contribute original content to entertain, inform, and inspire.

      BlackBerry's App World
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  • 26
    Apr 12

    Enhanced version of Blackberry App- Personal Translator launched by CDN Mobile Solutions

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    cdnmobilePRLog (Press Release) – Apr 26, 2012 –
    CDN Mobile Solutions, India based, leading Mobile Application Development Company is glad to share the launch of its blackberry application Personal translator version 2.5.0 with the improved version, in the Blackberry app world. The application translates your written words into another language and also read it aloud.

    This language translate application translates words and phrases between various languages including Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. Personal Translator assists you with:

    •   Text to Speech feature
    •   Translate words automatically after typing in.
    •   Auto detects selected language from device settings.
    •   Save your favorite translations for quick access even when you’re offline
    •   See your translation archive even when you’re offline

    Within short span of time Personal Translator has done well and has received excellent reviews and five star ratings from users residing in different countries.

    This iPhone and Blackberry Application is useful for the travelers to communicate with the people belonging to the country traveling or get their way around in cities without language hassles. The application translates the text by using Google translate paid API.

    Personal translator also has in app purchase feature wherein a user can purchase different language kits. The user can buy all the 20 language kits with 25% discounts or even a specific language kit like Chinese, Czech, European Dutch, etc. at the available price of $1.99, by clicking on the buy now button. Consumer can also listen to the translated text in the selected destination language’s accent only if he has purchased that particular language kit.

    Adding to the features list of Personal Translator, a user can share the translated text via social networking sites (like Facebook), Email and Text Message by using this application.

    Users can download this Utility application free from the blackberry app world as well as from iTunes by following the below given links:

    https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/92019/?l…

    http://itunes.apple.com/ni/app/personal-translator/id4679…

    In essence this enterprise and utility app personal translator is ideal for NRI’s, Entrepreneurs, Professionals and the persons traveling to another region.

    CDN Mobile Solutions is the mobile application development division of CDN Solutions Group, a one-stop-shop IT Services Provider Company. CDN Mobile Solutions provide Mobile Application Development Services including iPad application development, iPhone application development, Blackberry application development, Android application development, Nokia Application Development, Windows Mobile application development, Palm webOS application development and J2ME application development with more than 38000 hrs experience. CDN Mobile Solutions is an award winning company ranked as Top Mobile Application Developers, Top iPad Application Developers, Top iPhone Application Developers, Top Blackberry Application Developers by Sourcing Line and also as Best iPhone Application Development Company and Best Windows Mobile Application Development Company. With their passion in mobile application development and zeal to explore new avenues in mobile apps sphere, CDN let your imagination work ensure that their experienced team of Mobile Application developers makes it reality.

    Photo:
    http://www.prlog.org/11859541/1

      BlackBerry's App World
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  • 25
    Apr 12

    Cross-platform publisher Star Arcade brings mobile/social gamers together

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    Star Arcade is an ambitious company. Begun in 2010 by a group of friends hailing from Lagos, Finland and the UK, its aim is nothing less than to unify the global mobile and social gaming communities. The international team has spent the last two years working hard to provide a venue by which gamers from 180 countries can come together and enjoy interactive entertainment, regardless of their chosen platform.

    Developing games that work for iOS, Android, Nokia, WP7, Blackberry, Meego/Maemo, Samsung Bada and Facebook, Star Arcade offers the things it seems most mobile and social gamers are looking for: simple, addictive games with real-time chat and lots of virtual goods. As of last year, Star Arcade games had been downloaded more then 5 million times and the company’s focus on accessibility will no doubt mean an even bigger user base in the future.

    This week I caught up with Harri Myllylla, CEO of Star Arcade for a quick chat about the singular challenges facing a multi-platform mobile/social game company.

    Advertisement

    Examiner: What are the biggest challenges in creating a cross-platform social/mobile gaming platform?

    HM: The biggest challenge to create cross-platform social/mobile gaming platform is fragmentation of mobile platforms. A simple task on certain mobile OS may be difficult and time consuming to implement on another platform. Another big challenge is to handle all kinds of mobile networks, long connection times and lost connections. Also, scalability of a server system is a challenge, since real-time multiplayer gaming requires a lot of processing power and network bandwidth. Being able to serve millions of users is a huge undertaking.

    Examiner: How does Star Arcade facilitate cross-platform play?

    HM: Cross-platform play is mostly facilitated by our server system which is quite a complex cluster of software communicating between each other and games. This is where the magic happens; load balancing, redirecting, scalability, matchmaking and game session handling to name a few.

    Examiner: What’s Star Arcade’s focus? Building its own games or building relationships with external developers?

    HM: Until today Star Arcade has only been developing and publishing our own games. Given the amount of requests from 3rd party developers and publishers both large and small we are considering opening up the platform to 3rd parties

    Examiner: Social games are about bringing people together. How do you think Star Arcade will amplify this experience?

    HM: Star Arcade is an easy way to challenge your friends or connect with new people to play games. Star Arcade fills the need of gamers both casual and more hard core to beat their friends and opponents as well as to earn bragging rights.

    Examiner: Your current distribution area (according to your own information) is South America, Africa, India and the Far East. How many subscribers do you currently have?

    HM: We have users from all continents but we see a lot of opportunity in the developing parts of the world. Currently we have close to one million registered users in our community.

    Examiner: Are you planning to expand into North America? If so, when?

    HM: We already have a good number of users in North America and our largest single market is the US.

    Examiner: Star Arcade is described as mostly freemium but mentions a small fee subscription. What does the small fee mentioned on your website, get your subscribers?

    HM: The premium subscribers get the games without adds and the receive virtual currency according to their subscription. In essence they get personalization features as well as advantages in the games and rankings.

    Examiner: Thank you for your time. Best of luck to Star Arcade!

    For more information about Star Arcade games, visit the official Star Arcade website.

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