musich

The PC market is slipping and, despite being launched with much fanfare, Windows 8 doesn't seem to be the shining beacon of recovery for the market as predicted. According to analysts, Windows 8 may do well to keep the PC industry running, but isn't enough to restore it to its former glory. According to Pund-IT Analyst Charles King, "Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Windows 8 will be enough to turn around PC sales." In addition to that, King added, "At the end of the day, IT sales depend as much on customer confidence as they do on vendor innovation. Vendors can occasionally nudge a market in one direction or another, a bit like a tugboat guides a far larger ship. But no single company can drag broader markets along in its wake." The weight of the sluggish world economy has brought down the PC industry and so has a growing consumer infatuation with products like the iPad and other tablets. A lot of analysts have said that some enterprises have been hold...

Consumers lining up to get their hands on the all new, low-priced Samsung Chromebook may want to wait. Google  announced today  that a new Acer Chromebook will be released tomorrow for the new low price of $199. This comes a little over a month after Google released the new Samsung Chromebook, at a then-low-price of $249. The move by Google is an unexpected but pleasant one. Releasing a brand new Chromebook by a different manufacturing partner a month after the release of the Samsung Chromebook begs the question as to why the two were not released at the same time? Regardless of the timing, Google is now looking to make this Acer Chromebook the first truly mainstream Chromebook laptop. Some of the new features, or to put it better, differences between the Acer and Samsung Chromebooks include storage and battery life.  The display of the Acer is the same as the Samsung Chromebook, an 11.6 in. display with a resolution of 1,366x768. The Acer Chromebook also comes with ...

The wait is finally over, Microsoft Windows 8 is officially here. The newest iteration of the world's most popular computer operating system was released today after months of demos and commercials showcasing it. Microsoft has said that over  1.24 billion hours of testing  went into the new operating system and is in many ways hedging the future of the company on the new release. Because of the increased pressure from Apple and Google, Microsoft wants to assure consumers that they are still relevant in today's world. Windows 8 marks a radical change for Microsoft in terms of the layout of their operating system. Gone is the traditional start menu, replaced by an entirely new start interface with "live tiles" and an array of downloadable applications from the all new Windows Store. Current windows users will notice a drastic change from Windows 7 to Windows 8. While the traditional "desktop" is still there, it is no longer the center of the computer's pro...

One day after suddenly pulling the latest version of its popular web browser off of their website, Mozilla has re-released Firefox 16 for download. Mozilla pulled the latest version of Firefox from their install page as a result of a discovered security flaw. The security flaw apparently allowed harmful and malicious websites to track and identify which websites the user had visited. This flaw was discovered by security researcher Gareth Heyes, who then  publicly disclosed the vulnerability . While Mozilla has stated that there is no evidence of this flaw "in the wild", Mozilla on Wednesday recommended that users who upgraded to version 16 downgrade back to 15.0.1. By noon Thursday, however, a new version, 16.0.1, was available for download and according to Mozilla, is now safe to download and use. Anyone that had already downloaded version 16 was upgraded to this newer version, along with an update for the Android version released Wednesday night. The good news for Mozilla i...

Recent news on PCs have been mostly negative with most people in the tech industry saying that the PC is dead, due in large part to the incredible rise of the tablet PC. Many people have been saying that tablets are killing the PC business and that it is only a matter of time before tablets completely make PCs obsolete. However, recent reports are suggesting that tablets may actually be boosting the rate at which consumers appreciate their PCs. Personal computer satisfaction increased by 2.6% this year, giving it a record high score of 80 on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI). According to the index, the reason for this satisfaction increase is probably due to rise in tablet use among consumers. When you think about it, this seems a little contradictory, though ASCI founder Claes Fornell has a theory. Fornell's theory is that when unsatisfied PC users move to Apple and other tablet makers, only the most loyal and happy users are left using traditional PCs, such as Dell...

Microsoft has just released what it is calling "Fix It" software that was designed to protect Windows users from a critical hole in Internet Explorer that was being exploited by hackers. While this is all well and good, it isn't the big fix that everybody has been waiting for. Instead, this is merely a temporary fix until Microsoft releases a cumulative update for Internet Explorer. According to Trustworthy Computer Director for Microsoft Yunsun Wee, the Fix It tool "is an easy, one-click solution that will help protect your computer right away. It will not affect your ability to browse the web, and it does not require a reboot of your computer. This will not only reinforce the issue that the Fix It addressed, but cover other issues as well, including four other critical remote code execution issues." This isn't some minor hole, however. In fact, the vulnerability is so severe that the German government and security experts have been advising people to avoid...

According to the security firm Sophos, who seems to be on top of every single major spam attack that happens on the internet these days, a widespread spam attack that links to malware has weaseled its way onto Twitter. The tweets that are trying to lure unsuspecting users in include things like: "It's you on photo?" or "It's about you?" In addition to that, the tweets and URLs typically include a user's Twitter handle. Many of the links that Sophos has discovered include a .RU domain name. According to Head of Sophos' U.S. Labs Richard Wang, "The attack itself is very simple, relying on people's natural curiosity about anything they think mentions them. Including the target's Twitter username in the link is an added hook to reel people in." Twitter added through a spokesman's email saying, "We're aware of the issue and we're working to resolve it." The links in the tweets themselves lead to a Trojan that ultima...

Yahoo recently announced that it has fixed the vulnerability in its system that led to the unauthorized release of more than 450,000 email passwords from users of Yahoo Voices. According to a blog post by Yahoo, "We have taken swift action and have now fixed this vulnerability, deployed additional security measures for affected Yahoo! users, enhanced our underlying security controls and are in the process of notifying affected users. In addition, we will continue to take significant measures to protect our users and their data." The released data only affected those users who joined Associated Content before May 2010, the same time Yahoo acquired the company. According to Yahoo, "This compromised file was a standalone file that was not used to grant access to Yahoo systems and services." The next time the affected users sign into their Yahoo account, they will be asked to answer a series of authentication questions to change and validate account details, according t...

According to a recent blog post by LinkedIn, Twitter has decided to end a two and a half year partnership with the website. The partnership allowed users of the social networking site for business professionals to publish tweets directly to their LinkedIn profiles. Consumer Product Chief for Twitter Michael Sippey recently wrote a post on the site's developer blog that the changes were part of a move to "deliver a core Twitter consumption experience through a consistent set of products and tools." This isn't too surprising as Twitter has been slowly trying to push out partners who show tweets on their websites. However, those efforts have also been primarily focused on mobile clients, the same place Twitter has been emphasizing its own offerings. LinkedIn and Twitter users will still be able to post updates on LinkedIn and broadcast them to Twitter, though the content sharing will not go the other way. This actually goes along with what Twitter's overall strategy ...

ARM has just created a brand new, entry level version of its Mali graphics processor that, if incorporated, could expand the market of low cost Android tablets. Known as the Mali-450, this GPU is designed to help manufacturers build tablets that are less expensive than the ones currently leading the markets, like Apple's iPad which runs $399. However, these manufacturers still want good enough graphics performance to keep most users satisfied. Touchscreens and HD video are pretty standard when it comes to tablets these days, with the GPUs in these devices accounting for a big share of the price you pay. In addition to that, more powerful GPUs take up more space on the CPU, which could also increase costs. A lot of manufacturers are looking for cheaper parts that offer decent graphics performance while also occupying less space. This is where the Mali-450 fits in. The new GPU is offered with as many as eight cores and offers double the performance of its predecessor the Mali-400. Th...

How many people actually use Bing? I mean, I'm sure there are people who use it religiously, I just prefer Google. But what I think doesn't matter right now because Bing users can rejoice (or cringe) because if you head over to Bing right now, you will find that the service has an all new layout. That's right, the search engine has slapped on a fresh coat of paint and added some new things to test on the Bing community. The Bing Team just announced that the latest version of the search engine is now available for every single Bing user in the United States. Microsoft had announced a couple of weeks ago that Bing would be getting an update, promising to deliver it to the entire U.S. "in due time". For once, a company has actually made a promise and made good on it. Is this the dawn of a new era of company trust and customer loyalty? Probably not, but it's still nice. The new face of Bing is definitely a noticeable difference from the old look. Users will now fi...

Microsoft had a nifty back to school special last year that awarded customers a brand new Xbox 360 with the purchase of any new Windows PC. Well, it seems as though the promotion was a success, enough of one at least to make the company want to do it again this year as well. Starting on Sunday, May 20, U.S. students who buy a new Windows 7 PC will also receive a free Xbox 360 as well. The deal doesn't just apply to U.S. students, however, as Canadian students also qualify for the deal which started on the 18th. In order to be eligible you will have to be a high school or college student with proof of status, like a campus ID or an email address that ends in .edu. If you qualify, you will receive a 4GB Xbox 360 with the purchase of a Windows PC for $699 or more. If you're a Canadian student, you only have to buy a $599 PC. The Xbox that students will receive is Microsoft's current $199 console, which is the lowest priced model the company offers and the one that doesn't ...

The FBI has warned hundreds of thousands of people that they could lose their internet connections in July. That is, of course, if they don't take steps to diagnose and disinfect their computers. The problem that these individuals are facing is related to malware known as DNSChanger, which was first discovered in 2007 and has since infected millions of computers around the world. Basically, what this malware does is that whenever you type a web address into your browser, your computer contacts DNS servers to discover the numerical IP address of the site you are looking for and then takes you there. The DNSChanger malware messes with an infected computer's settings and directs it to a rogue server set up by an internet crime ring. According to an Attorney General for the United States in an FBI press release, these criminals "were intentional cyberbandits who hijacked millions of computers at will and rerouted them to Internet Web sites and advertisements of their own choos...

A report surfaced recently about a vulnerability in Facebook that allowed people to access someone else's account. The report initially stated that this vulnerability only affected people on a jailbroken iPhone, however, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore as two new reports are stating that it isn't only jailbroken phones that are at risk. Gareth Wright, an app developer from the U.K., along with The Next Web have each confirmed, separately, that this new vulnerability affects any and all iPhones, not just jailbroken ones. In addition to that, it has been discovered that the vulnerability originated in Facebook's iPhone app. Wright released his report earlier in the week and claimed that the iPhone Facebook app includes a vulnerability that fails to encrypt log-on credentials whenever you get on Facebook on your iPhone via the app. Wright also said that he also discovered a Facebook access token in the Draw Something game. Wright copied the token, used the Faceboo...

In recent news it has been discovered that AOL has decommissioned nearly 10,000 servers, saving the company almost $5 million on its way to winning a competition that highlights the cost of running inefficient or underutilized IT equipment. Nobody really realizes how much underutilized or inefficient servers can cost until they see the numbers. Decommissioning a 1U rack server could potentially save you $500 a year in energy costs, $500 a year in operating system licenses and $1,500 a year in hardware maintenance, and that's just one server! Uptime Institute is behind the competition, which it is calling the Server Roundup Contest. Companies that participate could move workloads to newer, virtualized equipment or even into the cloud. In addition to that, each company had to provide paperwork to verify what they had done, which included work requests and recycling receipts and even photographs. AOL decommissioned 9,484 servers over the past year, which accounted for nearly 1.4 of it...

Mozilla just announced that it is about to begin supporting the H.264 video codec, a move the company has said goes against its better judgment. Mozilla suggested that it had been forced into this decision, which is patent laden, and also assured users and developers that it would continue to offer its software free of charge as it currently does. According to a blog post by Mitchell Baker, Chair of the Mozilla Foundation, "Mozilla is on the cusp of changing our policy about our use of video codecs and making use of a format known as 'H.264'. We have tried to avoid this for a number of years, as H.264 is encumbered by patents. The state of video on the web today and in mobile devices in particular is pushing us to change our policy." Baker also added that Mozilla resisted the move to H.264 support because it wants to build products that people "love". He also added that using standards that are laden with patents is not supportive of this goal. "We'...

At this year's South by Southwest conference Metadot Corporation unveiled their very retro keyboard known as the DasKeyboard (German for "The Keyboard"?). Basically, what this device aims to do is bring back the touch and feel of typing on one of those old IBM Selectric typewriters. In fact, Metadot Corporation wanted to let users know just how retro the DasKeyboard feels by having a few of those old IBM Selectric typewriters at their South by Southwest booth. The keys on the DasKeyboard are larger than most traditional keys with slightly concave tops. In addition to that, they make a rather enjoyable click when you press on them. The DasKeyboard also gives you some tactile feedback as well that provides you with a little assurance while typing. Metadot Corporation also makes a similar keyboard to the DasKeyboard without the clicky noise, perfect for office settings, school settings or people who talk on the phone a lot while typing. There is even another version that doe...

According to multiple reports and sources, suppliers of ultrabooks are facing a lot of issues with profitability and market. As a result, many manufacturers are expected to turn to low-cost designs to make up for it. According to an anonymous CNET source that speaks directly to ultrabook suppliers, "The ultrabook adoption during the holiday season was ugly." Before you go jumping to conclusions, this source was only talking about one ultrabook manufacturer specifically. That being said, the ultrabook market for all suppliers is still facing challenges. According to the same source, "You've got a down market on the eve of a new operating system (Windows 8, obviously) at a price point that's fairly robust (meaning high)." On top of that, Acer, one of the high-profile ultrabook vendors, stated that it is currently not making a profit on lower-end models according to a recent report in The Verge. A Tech Travel Agent can get an ultrabook rental to you within 24 ...

On Monday, March 5 Adobe announced a new service that is designed to reduce the amount of ink used when printing. It is being called LeanPrint. According to Adobe, LeanPrint will save up to 40 percent of the toner that would normally be used when printing something. It is able to do this in certain modes like “SuperSaver” and “TonerSaver.” The basic idea of LeanPrint is that it will work to squeeze more onto a page and reduce the amount of toner used on prints that use a lot of ink. This will help to not only save on ink but paper as well. Now, when you think about it, this new software seems like it would be undermining printer company’s plans to sell you a cheap printer that must be replaced with expensive toner when the ink runs out; however, Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) is the first printer maker to endorse and promote the new LeanPrint software. According to Adobe, Toshiba will be available to distribute LeanPrint to its customers across the continent. Adobe said tha...

Windows 8 will be coming soon (we hope) and the tech world is in a frenzy. Windows 7 was one of the best operating systems released by Microsoft and was a much welcomed change over its previous iteration, Windows Vista. Naturally, Microsoft will be making a few changes here and there to the operating system but one that may catch people off guard is that Microsoft may be making a change to the number of editions, or SKUs, that will be sold to the public. A couple of different files from HP's website uncovered by ZDNet blogger Stephen Chapman seem to indicate how many different versions of Windows 8 Microsoft is planning on selling to the public. Specifically, these files list the versions of Windows 8 that will be supported by drivers in an HP laptop smart card reader. Suspiciously, HP has already removed these references to the operating system from the files. Fortunately, Chapman was able to record what the files said, which offered six different versions of Windows 8: Microsoft ...

If you are one of Hewlett-Packard's Elite PC customers, then I have some good news for you. The company recently announced that it has officially expanded tech support options for its Elite PC customers who will now have the opportunity to select a single tech support official to deal with exclusively for the entire life of their computer. This basically means that Elite PC owners will have a single tech support professional that will deal with all of their computer problems. Whenever you need tech support, you will always get the same guy or gal. When this new tech support plan goes into effect, Elite PC customers will get a single number to call and a single point of contact for all of their tech support needs. In addition to that, business customers can schedule support calls whenever they chose. Other options include prioritized support and PC set-up options with the support plans extending to remote and cloud-based PC support. A lot of tech analysts are applauding HP for this ...

Google is definitely one of the most prominent and influential technology businesses in the world. I can't think of anybody who doesn't use the Google search engine on a daily basis and the features like Gmail, Google+, Google Docs and others make the site all the more accessible for everybody. Being the technological giant that it is, it isn't surprising that Google is always scouting for new talent, trying to get the very best possible employees on its team. In many cases this results in Google stealing some of the best and brightest minds in the industry away from other companies, including the almighty Apple. Apple is the most recent victim of a Google acquisition as the Cupertino company has just lost its Senior Director of Project Integrity Simon Prakash to Google. At the moment it is unclear why exactly Google wants or needs Prakash. It could be for some new intellectual property or it could be to simply weaken Apple by stealing away a great mind. VentureBeat has not...

In a very sad announcement, it has been discovered that CEO and Chairman of the Board at Micron Steve Appleton died in a plane crash earlier this morning in Boise, Idaho. 51-year old Appleton was in the process of flying an experimental fixed-wing plane at the time of the accident. According to a statement from Micron regarding the loss, "Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large." Appleton had been working for Micron for 29 years since he started in 1983 and had served the company as a Production Manager, Director of Manufacturing, Vice President of Manufacturing and Chief Operating Officer. Based in Boise, the company is the largest memory chip manufacturer in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Micron has plants scattered across several states including Idaho, Utah and Virginia and also operates a joint manufacturing venture with Intel. Micron, for those who don't recogni...

It's no surprise that Apple is one of the top PC and technology makers in the world. What may be surprising is the fact that Apple has surpassed HP in computer unit sales and revenues for the first time ever, making the Cupertino giant the number one company. Apple can attribute a lot of this success to record sales of iPads and, instead of losing sales to low priced tablets, Apple said that it would continue to "innovate like crazy" in the tablet market. The company reported quarterly sales of 15.4 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs, which gave Apple more than 20 million sales of dedicated computing devices. It was reported that HP's sales for the fourth quarter of 2011 were close to 14.7 million, with Lenovo and Dell selling 12.9 million and 11.6 million units, respectively. In addition to that, Apple's figures were twice that of those reported by Microsoft for the same quarter. Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple, was asked about the impact of lower-priced tablets i...

If you are wanting to run Windows Server via Amazon's Cloud Service for free, the time has come for your wish to be granted. That's right, enterprise companies now have the ability to run Microsoft's Windows Server for as many as 750 hours in Amazon's cloud completely free using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Free Usage Tier according to a statement released by the website on Saturday. This announcement will allow enterprise companies that already run applications on Windows Server to give Amazon's cloud service a test drive completely free of charge. Enterprise users will be able to select from a wide array of pre-configured Amazon Machine Images without Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2. The Windows Server images run on a Micro instance (virtual sever) that includes 613 MB of memory as well as 32-bit or 64-bit support. The Free Usage Tier was launched back in 2010 but has only recently become available with Linux. Enterprise companies now have the opportunity to run...

Us laptop gamers here in the states have been pretty envious of our European brothers as they have had the privilege of buying the Samsung Series 7 Gamer notebook since last spring. Well, this spring (April, to be specific) that envy dies and becomes reborn as jubilation as Samsung will be shipping the Series 7 Gamer to us Yanks while giving it a nice increase in specs at the same time. The 17" gaming laptop will still have the same aesthetics, as well as the same external features, as its European counterpart, including the 2.1 speaker setup with down-firing Subwoofer, super-bright screen and that big knob thingy that switches the device between power modes, like the Gaming Mode, which clocks up the CPU turbo mode, changes the keyboard backlighting, disables the Windows key and a few other things. The only real external difference is the lack of a 3D display option and the addition of a DisplayPort output. Crack this bad boy open and you will be able to find the differences. On t...

The world's largest contract maker of notebook computers, Quanta Computer Incorporated, has filed a lawsuit against Advanced Micro Devices Incorporated (AMD) for what Quanta is calling a breach of contract. Quanta is accusing AMD of selling the company defective products and thus seeks compensation. AMD and its ATI Technologies Incorporated unit sold chips to Quanta that did not meet the company's tolerances and were unfit for particular purposes, the company noted in a federal court filing in San Jose, California. The chips Quanta purchased were used in notebooks Quanta manufactured for NEC which caused the computers to malfunction and crash according to the court filing. In a statement from Quanta that is found in the court documents says, "Quanta has suffered significant injury to prospective revenue and profits." Quanta is seeking a trial by jury as well as damages for the faulty chips. AMD, which accumulates over $6 billion in annual revenue, is the second larges...