Windows 8 on tablets explained by Microsoft
Microsoft has spilled the beans on just how Windows 8 will run on mobile devices with ARM chips in them. In short: pretty much like your PC.
ARM processors have a simpler architecture than traditional PC processors so they can operate at much lower power, making them more suitable for tablets and phones. We've known for a while now that the latest version of its desktop operating system will have a version compatible with touchscreen gadgets, but now Microsoft's own Steven Sinofsky has explained over at the MSDN blog more about the experience we'll be getting. Continue reading...
Saudi journalist deported for controversial tweet
Police have confirmed to the BBC that Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari has been deported from Malaysia. He has been accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a tweet.
Kashgari will be sent back to Saudi Arabia despite protests from human rights groups. His tweet last week prompted over 30,000 responses, including complaints and several death threats. This coincides with a Twitter trial in the UK, in which a man is appealing to the High Court to overturn a conviction he received because of a joke he tweeted about threatening to blow up Robin Hood airport in Doncaster. Continue reading...
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Google: Wallet safer than cards, but don't root your phone
Google Wallet is safer than using a credit card, Google claims. But with one quite major proviso: that you don't root your phone.
The big G is on the defensive after its wireless payments system (which isn't available in the UK yet, but is rumoured to launch before this summer's Olympics) was was hacked this week. Continue reading...
Apple tries to ban Ice Cream Sandwich
Apple has rolled out its most powerful legal guns and is taking aim at Google's biggest target. The iPhone maker filed another lawsuit against Samsung and its Galaxy Nexus, though it's not the hardware that's irked Cupertino. Rather, it's the Android Ice Cream Sandwich software.
Apple has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to ban the Nexus because of a batch of software patents it claims Google has infringed, The Verge reports. These are wide-ranging, including such intricacies as clicking a phone number to call, and sliding across the screen to unlock. And if successful, it could put the brakes on the Ice Cream Sandwich rollout lots of other companies are trying to get going. Uh oh. Continue reading...
Lady Gaga social network is for little monsters' eyes only
Move over Facebook, stand aside Google+: there's a new social juggernaut in town -- and it's snarling and holding aloft a bunch of bent fingers.
Lady Gaga, the poker-faced megastar with a penchant for meat dresses and a Twitter following the size of Florida, has launched her own social network, CNN reports. Continue reading...
Obama shares Spotify playlist, likes Noah and the Whale
It's a risky one, sharing your Spotify playlist -- especially if you're one the most important statesmen in the world, but Barack Obama has taken the plunge and shared his official 2012 campaign playlist.
And he goes down a little in our estimation, if we're being honest. REO Speedwagon? Fine for Alan Partridge maybe, but for the leader of the free world? Continue reading...
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Why apps could make Windows Phone the dominant mobile OS
Windows Phone hasn't made much of an impact since its launch in 2010. For all the praise from reviewers, it's still trailing miserably behind Android and iOS. But with Windows Phone 8 just around the corner, I reckon its fortunes are about to change.
Calling Microsoft an underdog feels about as ridiculous as calling Jupiter a mere asteroid, but that's exactly what Windows Phone is. Next to the goliaths of Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems, WP is a drop in the ocean and appeared on just over 1 per cent of smart phones at the end of 2011. Continue reading...
Windows 8 beta could star at preview event on 29 February
29 February only comes round every four years, but new operating systems from Microsoft are becoming more frequent than our intercalary correction mechanism. This year on our extra day, Microsoft is planning a consumer preview for Windows 8, its new desktop OS, which could well signal the start of the public beta.
Being in beta means Windows 8 will be pretty much ready to use as your main OS, without many bugs. You can't expect a total absence of niggles, and we'd advise against installing it unless you're happy with the prospect of reinstalling your OS from scratch. Continue reading...
Google Drive rumoured to be Dropbox rival
When we heard Google was set to launch a cloud-based system called Drive, our pulses began to race at the prospect of its driverless car concept taking to the skies. Alas, that fantasy (also starring Ryan Gosling) will have to stay in our heads for now, as Drive is said to be Google's planned Dropbox-alike cloud storage feature.
The search giant is revving up to launch its own free cloud
system for storing your pictures, videos and files remotely, rather than
on your computer's hard drive, making them accessible to your mobile
devices, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Continue reading...
Broadband switching to be made easier, 'slamming' curtailed
Telecoms overlord Ofcom has set out plans to make it easier and more reliable for broadband and fixed-line phone users to switch providers.
The watchdog reckons people who want to switch don't always get a smooth ride -- with one in five switchers losing their broadband service for about a week, and around 130,000 households encountering problems such as the wrong telephone line being taken over during the switching process, or when moving house before your 12-month contract is up. Continue reading...
Chrome for Android's five coolest features
Google has finally marched its Chrome browser on to Android. Don't get too excited yet, as it's Ice Cream Sandwich-only for now. It's also a beta release. But if you're lucky enough to have ICS, the Chrome app can be downloaded from the Android Market -- which bodes well for keeping abreast of future updates.
We've poked and prodded Chrome for Android -- and rounded up five of its coolest features, so read on for the full lowdown. Continue reading...
1. Tabs
PlayBook 2.0 demo hints at what's to come in BlackBerry 10
A major software update coming to BlackBerry's PlayBook tablet later this month -- PlayBook 2.0 OS -- has been demoed, with whopping great hints at what's to come later this year with BlackBerry 10.
Freshly anointed president and CEO Thorsten Heins signalled the new world order for PlayBook and gave a glimpse of the direction the company will adopt with BB10, the unified software platform for its tablet and BlackBerry smart phones. Continue reading...
Charles Dickens celebrated by Google to promote free ebooks
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. When he opened A Tale of Two Cities with this line, Charles Dickens couldn't have known he was also describing the Internet: wisdom from all that knowledge at our fingertips, and foolishness -- where to start?
Dickens is celebrated by Google today with an illustration on the home page, depicting beloved characters including Oliver Twist and Ebenezer Scrooge. And you can read his legendary works for free in digital form. Continue reading...
Skype for Windows Phone being tested, coming soon
Skype should be arriving on Windows Phone soon, as reports from The Verge suggest the app is in the testing stages.
Microsoft employees are reportedly able to download test versions of the Skype app from the Windows Phone Marketplace. The app itself will likely fit right in with the Windows Phone aesthetic, with several panes to scroll through by swiping left and right. Continue reading...
Google doodle celebrates Francois Truffaut's 80th birthday
Head over to the Google homepage this morning and you'll see a brand new doodle. It features a forlorn man in black and white gazing out to sea. So what's going on?
The doodle celebrates French filmmaker Francois Truffaut's 80th birthday. The image pays homage to the famous freeze-frame ending of Truffaut's first feature film Les Quatre Cent Coups (The 400 Blows). Continue reading...
Tweeting more tempting than alcohol, study says
It may be less harmful than a lot of other vices, but tweeting is harder to resist than alcohol and cigarettes, according to a new study.
Those taking part were more likely to give in to using social media than they were to sleep or have sex, despite having stronger urges for the latter two, the Guardian reports. Of course, there are far more opportunities to tweet, and it's a lot quicker than other activities, which may help explain the results. Continue reading...
Facebook IPO: What you need to know
Social networking juggernaut Facebook filed for a $5bn IPO yesterday. But what is an IPO anyway? And what does this cash mountain mean for normal Facebook users like you? Read on for the lowdown... Continue reading...
Windows 8 Explorer shows off new features
Microsoft has released a few bits of information on what moving files around will look like in Windows 8, and there are a few interesting treats in store, as well as a few annoyances that hopefully will be zapped.
Writing on a developer blog, lead program manager Ilana Smith has explained what users can expect to see when Windows 8 goes into public beta next month. Continue reading...
MegaUpload data could be erased this week
Data stored on MegaUpload, the website shut down by the US Justice Department for allegedly infringing copyright, could have its stored data deleted as soon as Thursday, our sister site CNET News reports.
In a letter filed last Friday, the US Attorney's Office says the companies MegaUpload uses to store data may start wiping it clean on 2 February. That's disturbing news for anyone who used the service for legitimate reasons, such as storing personal data. Continue reading...
BBC News app arrives on Android tablets
The BBC News app is now on your Android tablet. As of today, you can get your fix of licence fee-funded news and sport on tablets such as the Asus Transformer Prime, Motorola Xoom 2 and Sony Tablet S.
The BBC News app for Android phones has been downloaded more than 3 million times so far. That works on tablets with screens smaller than 7 inches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The new tablet version works on slates running Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich, the most recent versions of Android and the first versions designed with tablets in mind. Continue reading...
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