Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » décembre 2011

Leading PC chipmaker Intel announced this week that its third generation Atom mobile processor, formerly code-named "Cedar Trail" is now available, and that systems using the platform will be available in early 2012.

Though Intel is concentrating on "ultrabooks" (i.e. thin and light notebooks with at least a 10" screen) as the latest growth platform for PCs, the company is not letting netbooks disappear just yet; and these Atom chips are smaller and less power consumptive.

With an estimated 20 percent reduction in power consumption, Intel says this series of Atom processor offers up to 10 hours of active battery life, and "weeks" of standby. With this quality, netbooks can be permanently left on like media tablets are.

Intel's usual partners (Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba) will be debuting netbooks based on the Cedar Trail platform early in the year, and we expect to see some, if not all of them at the Consumer Electronics Show beginning on January 10.

But the thing we're most anxious for is Intel's "Medfield" processor family, which may or may not be displayed at CES this year.

The hardware platform is meant to push Intel and the X86 architecture into the mobile realm, and earlier this year Intel announced it would be developing mobile communications devices running Android. We're scheduled to sit down with Intel for a chat at CES, so we're going to find out all we can about this.

The Windows event logs can be a mine of useful information about the state of your PC, and understanding what they contain is often key to troubleshooting any problems you might have.

And so it’s a shame that the standard Windows Event Viewer makes accessing this data so awkward: it’s a bulky applet, horribly slow and with an intimidating interface that means even expert users can take a while to find the information they need. There are simpler alternatives around, though, and the Windows Inspection Tool Set includes a particularly appealing example.

Launch the program, click Windows Event Log, and the program will extract the contents of your logs. There’s a lot to examine so this will take a while, although it should still be far quicker than the regular Event Viewer (it was more than 4x faster on our test PC).

The information you get is presented in a single list, too, sorted chronologically, with the most recent at the top. So if you want to know what’s happened on your system in the last hour or two, then it’s available immediately, at a glance, no need to go clicking through the various individual logs. (You can also filter by logs, sources, error codes and more if you like, and there’s support for regular expressions, too.)

And conveniently, the display will continue to be refreshed regularly, so if something happens while you’re working then any new events will pop up at the top of the screen (they’re even highlighted in green for a while, just to be sure you won’t miss them).

The Windows Event Viewer is far more sophisticated, then, with powerful viewing options which allow you to zoom in precisely on whatever you need. But if you just want a quick way to view the most recent events, then the Windows Inspection Tool Set is a whole lot easier to use.

And as a bonus, the program also has an Event Monitor of its own which can track your system resources, process starts and exits, driver loads and unloads, network connections, Windows services, disk space and more. All of which can be logged to file, or displayed in an “always on top” window, which again may be useful for troubleshooting purposes.

The Windows Inspection Tool Set also includes a few other system information modules, which can for example display details on running processes, Windows services, loaded modules, installed drivers and so on. These are rather weak, though – forget Process Explorer, they’re not even up to Task Manager standards -- and so if you install the suite, we suspect the Event Monitor and Event Log is where you’ll spend most of your time.

Today is unofficially "Dump Go Daddy Day", as people across the Internet express their outrage at the registrar's open support (retracted six days ago) for proposed legislation Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. I still contend there's hysteria here, by singling out Go Daddy and ignoring other SOPA supporters. But the registrar is easy target, in part because people can so easily protest SOPA by moving their domains, and there is founder Bob Parsons' lingering public image problems -- if for no other reason than the "elephant incident".

My decision has little to do with the anti-Go Daddy mob but several considerations, SOPA being just one. While Go Daddy customer service has been good, I never liked the idea of moving my domains there. The garish website and other attributes about the business bothered me. But Go Daddy offered cheap domains compared to Network Solutions. Then came Parsons' elephant hunting video in March, and that really bugged me. SOPA support added to my displeasure. Finally, after calling NSI yesterday, I got an acceptable transfer deal that makes good economic sense right now.

What Irony

I want to address something before telling my domain transfer story: There's a strange irony to Go Daddy's SOPA support -- or perhaps not. The registrar is fighting off several copyright infringement lawsuits, including one from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Infringement would make Go Daddy liable to all kinds of nastiness if SOPA became law.

House representatives introduced SOPA in late October, following Senate bill PROTECT IP ACT, or PIPA, introduced in May (Review the bills for yourself: PROTECT IP. SOPA.). Either bill would give the government broad powers to take down websites, seize domains and compel search engines from indexing these properties. Little more than a request from copyright holders is necessary. It's essentially guilty-until-proven-innocent legislation that would punish the many for the sins of the few, while disrupting the fundamental attributes that made the Internet so successful and empowered so many individuals or businesses to accomplish so much.

Go Daddy is a potentially big infringement target, since it registers and hosts domains. Perhaps executives hoped to mitigate problems with entertainment industry infringement lawsuits or to influence SOPA's refinement, potentially limiting liability should it, or PIPA, become law. Whatever the motivation, Go Daddy stopped supporting SOPA on December 23.

Be Gone Daddy

I initiated transfer of 25 domains, from Go Daddy to Network Solutions, late yesterday afternoon. I had forgotten Tucows is a registrar and would have contacted them otherwise. Melbourne IT ranked high on my list of choices, but from past experience the time difference between Australia and the United States is a problem when support is needed. I have 34 domains with Go Daddy, the majority transferred there from NSI over the last two years. The nine left behind mostly represent those ineligible for the deal offered (.tv, for example) and a few domains I don't care about keeping. Network Solutions charged me $6.99 per domain and $6 per private registration. Other registrars offer better deals, but I wanted to go back to NSI. The transfer keeps existing time I have for each of the domains and adds 12 months to it. Private registration is for 12 months only.

My budget is tight after Christmas, but my father-in-law generously gave cash, which, coincidentally, just covers the cost of the domain transfers. By the way, domain name prices go up in mid January everywhere. I got 12 months more for each of mine, with private registration, at a bargain price -- well compared to what Go Daddy and Network Solutions typically charge -- and locked in before price increases. From that perspective, the economics made enough sense for me to spend now.

I often make decisions based on intuition. I had felt antsy about Go Daddy for a long time, well before this SOPA business started. Transferring back to NSI felt good, despite the $350-plus spent doing so. I acted yesterday because, coincidentally, two domains expire today.

Transferring domains isn't difficult, certainly nothing like when I got my first in August 1995. I called Network Solutions to begin the process over the phone, while unlocking them in the Go Daddy control panel at the same time. If you don't unlock the domains, and they should be locked otherwise, the transfer will be denied. Later I went through each of the domains in Go Daddy's control panel requesting activation code for each; these were emailed. Then I waited on NSI to send me email for accepting terms and service for each domain, after which I went to "Transfer Status" in the domain manager to enter the codes sent by Go Daddy. This process begins the official transfer request.

Overnight, Go Daddy denied all 25.

Turns out Go Daddy requires that private registration be removed from all domains before transfer. I've never seen this before. Certainly I didn't need to turn off private registration when moving domains from NSI to Go Daddy. It's a little spite -- kick in the ass -- as you go out Go Daddy's door and defeats the purpose of having private registration in the first place.

If you have a domain and don't use private registration, you really should. Otherwise your information goes into the public WHOIS database. For me, it's not a privacy issue. I like the concept of an open database of domains. But spammers like the concept even more. Spammers mine WHOIS for personal information. Within four months after I first used private registration, the volume of spam going to the primary email address declined by over 95 percent. So I'm pissed at Go Daddy compelling me to put the info into the clear.

Go Daddy uses a separate operation to manage private registration, but I couldn't log in. So I called support for assistance (and reset the password). I really, really, really felt sorry for the guy on the other end of the line. Typically when I've called Go Daddy in the past, service reps were friendly and jovial. This guy was polite but clearly haggard. He understood that I must be turning off private registration to transfer domains. He asked if I knew that Go Daddy had changed its stance on SOPA. I panged with guilt, realizing it can't be a good time to be working for Go Daddy, at least in his role. I then called Network Solutions, to make sure the transfer requests had been re-initiated. They're now pending ICANN registry approval.

Viewpoints

Yesterday I asked: "Who's dumping Go Daddy to protest SOPA?" Dora Smith is "dumping Go Daddy! I don't want to do business with any company in that much of a hurry to empower the government to dump my website, with no due process and no recourse, should I become the target of a copyright dispute, which are commonplace on the Internet. Copyright law is often misunderstood and often abused. It was meant to be civil law and needs to stay that way".

Johnny91:

Go Daddy no longer supports SOPA or PIP or any of the things the crowd doesnt want them to support. But the crowd is leaving anyway. Good message to send the rest of the SOPA supporters. Back down and we will still boycott your company. Might as well stick with SOPA because changing your stance doesnt matter to the boycotters. The boycotters are like bad blackmailers. They blackmail someone and the person pays. Then they release the blackmail material anyway.

Yeti McMellenstein: "The migration away from GoDaddy is still ongoing but should be complete for all of the domains I manage by tomorrow. For me, Go Daddy's support for SOPA (now tacit if not explicit support) is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Initially attracted to them by price, I have been increasingly put off by their escalating sexist marketing, unconscionable video of elephant slaughter, just to name a few issues".

"I don't care about 'the principle'", sapphir8 comments. "I am happy with their service and if they decide to backtrack and support another SOPA thing, oh well. Doesn't bother me".

Photo Credit: Rikke/Shutterstock

In both the home and work environment, there are numerous uses for remote access tools. For home users, the ability to not only access the files stored on a computer housed in another room but also take full control of it as if you sit in front of it can save a great deal of legwork reviewing a document you need to read or checking the status of a download, all without having to run up and down stairs. Used for work, the possibilities are almost limitless. Network administrators can control their entire network from almost anywhere -- homeworking becomes a possibility for a far larger number of people; the list just goes on and on. There are a number of remote access tools available for iOS, LogMeIn is not only one of the best known, it is also one of the best. And the great news is that it is now completely free of charge.

The app was previously available for $30, and while many people could see the benefits of using such a powerful and useful tool, the price was a little off-putting. With the launch of a free version of the app, which is mercifully light in the restrictions department, the world of VPN has opened up to a whole new audience who are now able to take advantage of remote access from a well-known name without having to part with any cash.

The free version of LogMeIn is a universal app, and while the app can be installed on both iPhones and iPad, tablet owners are in for a treat with a version of the software that has been optimized for use on a larger screen. This is obviously a great advantage when remotely connecting to a computer as it is likely to have a display that is at least 17 inches in size. This is not to say that LogMeIn is not a good app when used on an iPhone; the interface has been designed in such a way that navigations and remote use are perfectly usable on the smaller screen.

The app can be used to take remote control of your Mac or PC, assuming that you have installed the necessary client software and your computer is switched on. Working with an iPhone, after logging into your account, you can see a small portion of your desktop at any one time, unless you adjust the zoom level, and you can then pan around using a fixed mouse cursor and onscreen mouse buttons. This system takes a little getting used to, but after a few minutes you will find that it work well and allows for easy navigation of your files and desktop.

Remote Desktop Access

Whether you are using an iPhone or an iPad, an onscreen keyboard is available that can be used to type in remote apps so you really can use your remote computer as if you were sitting in front of it. Things do get a little cramped on the iPhone’s screen when the keyboard is activated, but it’s hard to see how this could be avoided. The extra screen space available to iPad users means that the remote access experience is even more pleasing. The larger screen means that your remote desktop can be viewed at a larger size and the virtual mouse cursor can be moved around the screen rather than having to move a desktop aperture as on the iPhone. When the keyboard is activated, a larger section of your desktop remains visible, which is a great help.

The app can be used to access both Macs and PCs, and although this free app does not include an integrated way to transfer files from one device to another, the overall experience is very good. Some additional features are available if you decide to upgrade to a LogMeIn Pro account, and these can be unlocked via an in-app purchase should you decide that you need them. Paid-for features include the ability to stream audio and HD video as well as support for printing to AirPrint compatible printers. There are also additional file management options, such as the ability to transfer photos and other files to and from your iPhone or iPad, as well as the My Cloud Bank feature taht provides access to cloud storage services.

While these are features that are going to be useful, or even essential, to some people, they are features that the majority of potential remote computer users could live without. Even if you find that you cannot possibly do without the ability to transfer photos from your iPhone to your computer, for example, there are ways around these minor limitations if you still do not feel inclined to part with any money. You could simply email files from your phone to an email address that you can remotely access on your computer and you can then save the image to that computer, where you are free to work with it in whatever way you want.

The slightly more basic feature set of the free version of LogMeIn exceeds that found in other similar tools and provides the quality and reliability that we have come to expect from LogMeIn.

The possibilities for remote computing are wide and varied. Whether you want to be able to access your files when you are on the move or would like to be able to provide remote assistance more easily, the fact that there is now a free version of LogMeIn available means that there has never been a better time to implement such as system for yourself.  Grab yourself a copy of LogMeIn Free for iOS from the App Store to see what all the fuss is about.

Leading online retailer Amazon.com has never been forthcoming with exact sales figures for its Kindle e-reader platform. Instead, the company uses ambiguities like "the current generation Kindle is selling twice as many units as the previous generation," or that the current generation is the fastest-selling model yet.

For the first time, Amazon has given a more concrete idea about how many Kindles are selling. In a roundup of its 2011 holiday season sales, the company said it was selling "well over" one million Kindle devices per week in the month of December, and that the best-selling, most gifted, and most wish-listed product across all of Amazon's product listings is the low-cost Kindle Fire tablet.

Amazon said its three newest devices: Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch and fourth-generation Kindle held the top three best selling spots. Last Christmas, that top three list included Kindle (Wi-Fi), Kindle 3G; and Apple iPod touch 8GB.

Unfortunately, though, Amazon doesn't break down sales into a specific device-by-device mix, and the retailer's Kindle Device page actually includes every version of Kindle all the way back to the first generation model that sells for just $45 used. It is entirely possible that the 4+ million Kindles sold in December included a lot of older models.

Still, this figure provides a general foundation for industry watchers who believe the Kindle Fire will be the second-best selling media tablet behind the iPad by using a cost leadership strategy.

Hardware aside, Amazon still leads the e-book market. In late November, Juniper Research estimated $3.2 billion worth of e-books would sell this year, and that the market would be worth $9.7 billion globally by 2016. Today, Amazon said e-book sales were up 175% between Black Friday and Christmas Day, and that Christmas Day was the company's all-time best single day for Kindle book downloads.

Amazon's principal competitors in the e-book space: Barnes and Noble, Apple, and Google, have not yet released holiday e-book download figures.

It's only fair. When iPhone 4S customers complained about poor battery life, I raked Apple for ongoing design problems. Now that I'm having problems with Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and AT&T, the Android camp deserves its due. Perhaps with different AT&T customer service you wouldn't see this post at all.

There's a problem with the Skyrocket I purchased on November 8 from AT&T. Battery life sucks. But it wasn't always that way. During the first 3.5 weeks, battery life was exceptional -- on par with what I had with iPhone 4. Then something dramatically changed, quite suddenly, like someone cutting the electric lights and replacing them with candles. My experience went from bright to dim, and I don't like living in the darkened room.

I posted to Google+ on December 12:

Say do you have Galaxy S II Skyrocket? How's your battery life? Mine dramatically changed about a week ago -- from 24 -40 hours between charges to, ugh, much less. I'm 9 hours and 50 min on current charge. Battery is 14 percent, after setting idle overnight.

It's likely local issue. Cell reception sucks in my apartment building and could be sucking dry the battery. But this is iPhone 4S-like drainage on a handset with stellar battery life just a week ago. So, while troubleshooting before writing about it, I'd like to see how anyone else is doing with their Skyrocket.

Looks like I was right about the antenna sucking the battery dry, just wrong about the reason. But I didn't know that until last night.

Troubled Troubleshooting

Occam's Razor suggested software problem, which I investigated. I hadn't installed anything new in the days before battery life started draining fast -- most shockingly just setting idle. For example, the phone had 71 percent charge went I crawled into bed about Midnight last night. At 4 am PT, Skyrocket woke me with the chime for low charge. It was dead when I got up 90 minutes later; it's charging now.

That's not just bad, it's terrible. Worse, my wife uses Skyrocket now. This battery thing isn't good for the relationship. I may have to move her back to Google Nexus S. She inherited the S2 phone after I purchased Google Galaxy Nexus 14 days ago from Verizon. We waited until Christmas week, when I ordered her a new phone case, before switching handsets. In process, I restored Skyrocket to factory settings, assuming still some errant app was cause. Nothing changed; charge still drained fast.

I moved next to the battery. Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S II Skyrocket use the same 1850 mAh battery. I bought a charger and spare from Amazon and swapped in the new battery. Nothing changed, and that really surprised me. I was so sure bum battery had to be the problem. This had become a matter to take up with AT&T. I've been busy here at BetaNews and couldn't get to the AT&T corporate store until last night, where, like troubleshooting the Samsung smartphone, things didn't go as I expected.

AT&T Disappoints

Perhaps Apple customer service spoiled me. Apple Store has always stood by its products, at least with me, with amazing tenacity. Most recent example: In March, my 11.6-inch MacBook Air failed. This is a computer I purchased in November 2010, so the hardware failed after about four months. How did the Apple Store resolve this problem? I walked out with a brand new MacBook Air. Now that's customer service! Surely AT&T would replace my smartphone, which I purchased less than 2 months earlier.

Fat chance of that. A store rep, and later the manager, told me there is no replacement after 30 days -- that is at their store. AT&T has a service center, which conveniently is located about half-a-mile away, that could swap phones. The rep called to make sure the service shop was open (this was around 7:15 pm before 8 pm closing) and whether there was a Skyrocket replacement on hand. Open, yes; replacement, no. I would have to get one by mail order. "Say, what?"

So I asked to speak to the manager about getting in-store replacement after the service center determined the Samsung smartphone was in fact defective. Absolutely not, he said. I scolded him: "You make me regret not buying iPhone. Apple would have replaced it already".

Busted Antenna

I trucked off to the AT&T Service Center, where Skyrocket was examined. But first, while waiting my turn, I noticed something really, really odd. LTE occasionally showed up under the 4G in the upper right-hand screen. LTE!!! San Diego isn't supposed to have the service yet. So I installed SpeedTest.net app and readied for mind-blowing results, which I got but at the wrong end of the scale. Cough. Cough. 678kbps.

My turn came. The tech did some quick diagnostics and then we talked about the troubleshooting I had already done. He honed on the antenna. The signal indicator danced around dramatically, something I hadn't paid much attention to before. He also noticed LTE lighting up, and told me the going from one to five bars to LTE and variations in-between was abnormal and indicated that something was wrong with the antenna. Before he explained further, I understood. The phone gobbles up heap loads of charge as it constantly looks for a signal across the networks, 3G, HSPA+ and LTE. He said that being a LTE phone that's the network Skyrocket would look for first.

The phone needs to be replaced. Wrinkle: I would have to take a remanufactured (e.g., refurbished) Skyrocket, sent by mail, the tech told me. Like hell! I have a practically new phone that has been properly cared for -- never dropped or otherwise mishandled. The problem started suddenly, within 30 days of purchase. But that's failure I must take responsibility for, not rushing down to the AT&T store.

I took the phone home. The tech made notes in the account, and I will call AT&T customer service later today in a last ditch effort to get a new phone. I had expected more from AT&T and perhaps too much, having been spoiled by Apple.

The AT&T employees were friendly and helpful, but their corporate procedures left this customer dissatisfied. When Apple replaced my MacBook Air after four months, I wrote about it here at BetaNews, as I likely would have done about getting a new Skyrocket. Instead, it's a story the Apple Fanclub and those folks hating AT&T will delight in. The point: Customer satisfaction should be the only goal to any transaction. It's one reason Apple's brand is so popular -- satisfied customers leaving the Genius Bar. AT&T needs to raise its customer service IQ. Perhaps I'll have to settle for less, but I won't forget when it comes time to renew cellular contracts.

Update: I contacted AT&T customer service, and spent 45 minutes on the phone. The initial rep kicked me up to a "customer retention" specialist after I asked what the termination fee would be for my existing lines. He attempted to assist but claimed AT&T's system wouldn't allow any other option but remanufactured phone under warranty.

Since so many blogs and news outlets today reported the Grey Lady's email system had been infiltrated by hackers, a story correcting the record is appropriate (since you won't likely read it as a headline at many of the sites misreporting the incident).

The reported hacking also is another sign that news gathering has gone all to hell in this era of posting first and checking facts later on. What people will remember is the headline about the New York Times being hacked. Hence, I decided to go with opposite headline for that reason. What I find funny: Many of the headlines I originally saw that read something like or exactly "The New York Times was hacked" now have question marks. Another is "[Updated]" and adds "possibly". Unless the Times is lying, which I doubt, there was no hack.

At 1:07 pm ET today, I received a strange email from the New York Times:

Dear Home Delivery Subscriber,

Our records indicate that you recently requested to cancel your home delivery subscription. Please keep in mind when your delivery service ends, you will no longer have unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps.

We do hope you’ll reconsider.

As a valued Times reader we invite you to continue your current subscription at an exclusive rate of 50% off for 16 weeks. This is a limited-time offer and will no longer be valid once your current subscription ends.

Continue your subscription and you’ll keep your free, unlimited digital access, a benefit available only for our home delivery subscribers. You’ll receive unlimited access to NYTimes.com on any device, full access to our smartphone and iPad® apps, plus you can now share your unlimited access with a family member.

To continue your subscription call 1-877-698-0025 and mention code 38H9H (Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. E.D.T.).

I hadn't recently called to cancel the Sunday Times, but whenever I do, the customer service rep offers half price for six months. We've been doing this little song and dance for years. So the half-price offer was believable to me.

About 90 minutes ago, I checked Feedly and started seeing the "hacked" headlines. If turned around, perhaps they should read something like "Bloggers and reporters are hacks", something many news media haters would relish.

But in defense of my peers, The Times made the hack theory plausible by tweeting: "If you received an email today about canceling your NYT subscription, ignore it. It's not from us". Well, if "it's not from us", it must be from someone else, right? What's juicer than a hacked story on a slow news week, hence the frenzy started. Once a few places reported the hacking, the piranhas circled, chewed up the facts and pooped out the hacked stories.

At 4:17 pm ET came followup email from the Grey Lady:

Dear New York Times Reader,

You may have received an email today from The New York Times with the subject line 'Important information regarding your subscription'.

This email was sent by us in error. Please disregard the message. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Sincerely,

The New York Times

Eleven minutes later, Amy Chozick updated The Times' own Media Decoder blog, which also had some, ah, misleading information now lost in the update (or so it looks to me):

The New York Times said it accidentally sent emails on Wednesday to more than eight million people who had shared their information with the company, erroneously informing them they had canceled home delivery of the newspaper.

The Times Company, which initially mischaracterized the mishap as spam, apologized for sending the emails. The 8.6 million readers who received the emails represent a wide cross-section of readers who had given their emails to the newspaper in the past, said a Times Company spokeswoman, Eileen Murphy.

Whew, there's no hack -- not that I'm left with any confidence that IT staff knows what the hell is going on with their email system. Spam? Pleaseeee! That's reason I guess to excuse -- in part, anyway -- all the misreporting since The Times didn't exactly give out the best information.

Now 8.6 million subscribers know The Times' dirty, little secret. If they cancel home delivery, they can keep the paper for half price. Now that's something to write about.

Photo Credit: Archipoch/Shutterstock

This week, an estimated 8,000 employees at LG Display's Nanjing, China production facility went on strike due to inequality in year-end bonus compensation. The protesters, all Chinese employees, complained that their bonuses were one-sixth the size of those received by South Korean workers.

The strike began on Monday with an employee walk out. According to China Labor Watch, employees in LG Display's number four facility walked out, and were then followed by employees in all four facilities, bringing production to a halt on a number of lines.

The protest has been mostly peaceful, but some minor disruptions occured at the onset as employees flipped tables in the dining hall and toppled the company's Christmas tree. The video we've embedded below claims to show the results of these actions, as well as the scale of the protest.

Striking employees complained that Korean workers had received an annual bonus that was equal to about six months' wages, while Chinese employees received a bonus that was equal to about one month's wages. LG Display attributed the reduction in year-end bonuses to poor performance in the LCD sector this year.

LG Display spokespeople confirmed that some production has been affected by the protest, and that labor negotiations are taking place.

Most people could benefit from working at the Windows command prompt, if only occasionally. But it’s also an area that many PC users will do their best to avoid, because it’s just so uncomfortable to use: even apparently simple tasks like copying text from the command window to the clipboard turn out not to work exactly as you might expect.

You don’t have to live with these inconveniences, though. ColorConsole is a free, portable tool that extends the default Windows command line in a variety of useful ways, and could save you a considerable amount of time and hassle.

Take navigation, for instance. Changing to a deeply nested folder would normally involve you manually entering the full path. But here there’s a Chdir folder that allows you to select any folder, on any drive on your system; press [F2] and ColorConsole then automatically enters the appropriate commands for you.

A Commands menu means you can also access commonly-used commands at a click. And in theory this can be extended, so for example you can save the appropriate IP address for use with a command, without having to look it up each time. (We say “in theory” because the mechanism for making this happen is a little clumsy, and on our first attempt we seemed to corrupt the default menu entirely. If something similar happens to you, just close the program, delete ColorConsole.ini, and when you restart the initial settings will be restored.)

Editing within a ColorConsole window now works just like any other application. If you want to copy and paste a command you entered earlier, for instance, just scroll back, select it with the mouse, right-click and choose Copy: it’s all very easy.

The program supports tabbed command line windows, too. So if you’re working in two or three folders during the same session, say, there’s no need to keep entering CD commands to change from one to the other. Just open as many tabs as you need, set each one to a different folder, then switch from one to the other at a click.

There’s also built-in printing support, complete with a Print Preview window (this is a beta feature, but it worked perfectly for us).

As the ColorConsole name suggests, it’s easy to change the window background and text colors, along with other visual settings such as the text style.

And most convenient of all, ColorConsole delivers all this functionality in a tiny (200KB) portable file, so it’s easy to run on any nearby PC. (And the author claims it’ll run on anything from Windows Me/ NT upwards, so compatibility probably isn’t going to be an issue.)

ColorConsole does also have a few issues and deficiencies. The mechanism for extending the Commands menu is awkward, for instance. The Chdir menu tree always indicates that a folder has subfolders, even when it doesn’t. Some tooltips are missing. And tab handling is basic (we’d expect to be able to close a tab by right-clicking, for instance, but all you get are cryptic “+20 (cx)” and “-20 (cx)” options).

Still, there’s nothing we can’t live with; the author issues updates regularly so we’d hope the program will continue to improve over time; and even right now, the pluses outweigh any problems by a considerable margin. And so if you’d like to simplify your command line work then we’d recommend you give ColorConsole a try.

Malwarebytes Corporation has squeezed out a major update to its popular, and effective, malware scan-and-remove tool before the New Year chimes in. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.60, which is designed to add additional protection to computers already running security software, debuts Chameleon technology, which the developer claims will allow the program to run even when a malware infection attempts to block it.

Version 1.60 also adds incremental updates and password-protected program settings for the paid-for Pro version as well as a number of additional improvements and bug fixes.

Malwabytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) has developed a deserved reputation for being able to spot, and remove, infections missed by other tools, making it a useful security tool for all PC users. There’s a free version that only provides scan-and-removal tools, plus requires updating manually. Upgrading to the Pro version adds real-time protection (which won’t conflict with existing security software) and automatic updating for maximum protection.

Version 1.60 adds a number of improvements that make it an essential update for all MBAM users, and that helps give it an additional edge against malware. The new Chameleon technology  masks MBAM’s presence when launched, thus helping it bypass attempts by malware to stop it running.

Malwarebytes also promises improvements to the malware detection and removal engine, including the Delete On Reboot component for those files that can’t be removed normally. It also claims a faster, more efficient and reliable update process, more user-friendly logs and error messages and a slew of more minor changes, such as the ability to save protection logs in custom locations.

Paid-for versions also get incremental updates, meaning the software gets updated faster and quicker, plus the ability to password-protect the program settings for security purposes.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.60 is available as a freeware download for PCs running Windows 2000 or later. The Professional version costs $24.95 and adds real-time and heuristic zero-day protection, plus blocks access to malicious content stored on websites.

Photo Credit: Sebastian Duda/Shutterstock

Tomorrow is "Dump Go Daddy Day", not that many of you waited, based on your comments. For those considering to show their outrage at the registrar for active SOPA support (since withdrawn), it might be helpful to see what others are doing, where they're taking domains and exact reasoning for kicking Go Daddy down the hill.

But first, I must say that negative response to yesterday's Go Daddy/SOPA post surprised me. My some of you really are outraged. What I don't understand: Why focus all that anger on Go Daddy, or any other SOPA supporter, when legislators in the House and Senate who proposed the Stop Online Piracy Act, and sibling PROTECT IP ACT (PIPA), have the power to pass a bill into law? Wouldn't boycotting them make more sense? Or letting President Obama know how you would feel about him signing rather than vetoing the legislation? We are entering a big election year in just a few days, after all.

BetaNews reader Mark Haus shares similar sentiment: "Moving from GoDaddy won't change whether the legislation passes. It seems to me our energy could be better used fighting sopa itself. Registrar changes can be made anytime. Focus, people". Jeremy Brownstein disagrees: "The all mighty dollar on ether side of the road has more of an impact than any vote or the current democratic system".

I can't speak for BetaNews, but I personally oppose both PROTECT IP and SOPA, based on reading the proposed legislation. (Review the bills for yourself: PROTECT IP. SOPA.) By the way, Go Daddy is not BetaNews's registrar, something I should have checked for yesterday's story.

Recap, before looking at the Go Daddy dumpers: House representatives introduced SOPA in late October, following Senate bill PROTECT IP introduced in May. Either bill would give the government broad powers to take down websites, seize domains and compel search engines from indexing these properties. Little more than a request from copyright holders is necessary. It's essentially guilty-until-proven-innocent legislation that would punish the many for the sins of the few, while disrupting the fundamental attributes that made the Internet so successful and empowered so many individuals or businesses to accomplish so much.

Go Daddy came out supporting SOPA, almost immediately. I pulled the updated statement on December 23, hours before Go Daddy removed it (you can read it here). That same day, the registrar retracted its support for SOPA, which, as many people have observed, isn't the same as opposing it. I've said the same all along, that I don't support SOPA. That's not the same as saying I oppose it, which is why I deliberately affirm so today. To be clear.

One more thing, before looking at the dump Go Daddy SOPA protesters: Kaspersky Lab came out against the legislation relatively early on, by ending its membership with Business Software Alliance, a big SOPA supporter. BSA members include Adobe, Apple and Microsoft. Three weeks ago, in a commentary for BetaNews, Eugene Kaspersky gave his reasons for opposing SOPA and dumping BSA.

Dumping Go Daddy

"I'll move my domains on the 29th unequivocally", Eric Gillette writes. "I never hosted with them in the first place, since their hosting platform is weak in comparison to what's available, but now that I've found out about their actual support of SOPA (that's nuts), I'm done. Whether they re-canted or not, the damage is done". Yeti McMellenstein: "I own about 20 domains, most with Go Daddy. I manage about 300 others for clients. I am in the process of switching them all now".

"GoDaddy is looking out for Hollywood's inerest and is giving its customers the big F U", Ray Lloyd asserts. "There are other other host providers who arte looking out for our interest. I will move my solitary domain to someone else who chooses to fight that which hurt us rather than stay with someone who embraces the enemy".

Susan Jones: "If GD isn't supportive of it's clients I see no reason why we should continue to support them. In the process of transferring a bunch of domain names to namecheap.com. Picked them because of an article that listed the top 5 registrars -- Namecheap was at the top of the list. Fingers crossed the transition goes smoothly!"

Namecheap consistently appears in BetaNews comments as registrar of choice moving from Go Daddy. The company aggressively promotes December 29 as "Move Your Domain Day -- exercise your right and unite against SOPA and their supporters". That reads like shameless commercial exploitation to me.

Starry Gordon:

I am probably not going to move my accounts from GoDaddy on the 29th, but if they continue to support the likes of SOPA and PIPA I will when renewal time comes around. The problems with SOPA and PIPA are not in the controversy of IP rights, but in the complete surrender of the Internet to corporate power and greed. Even if the insane expansion of copyright of recent years were defensible, the arbitrary punishment of the accused and anyone standing around in the vicinity without any sort of due process is unacceptable -- and unconstitutional.

"There are 3 possible positions here: Support, Neutral (neither support nor oppose), Oppose", Alejandro Rodriguez comments. "I am moving my 30+ domains away from GoDaddy precise because Go Daddy does not oppose SOPA.

Ryan Gart Gartrell: "I pulled my websites off of Godaddy because of the stance they took in the beginning. Just because they publicly say they now are neutral on the issue does not mean that is how the executives really feel. If they did really feel neutral they would have been that way the whole time".

Viewpoints

"GoDaddy deserves their boycott, but it needs to step up to a new level", symbolset comments. "GoDaddy is one of Google's registrar partners. I'm a big fan of Google, but this is not OK. I would like to hear from Google what they're doing about this". Yes, what about Google, which strongly opposes SOPA, and its registrar for Blogger domains?

Reuben Rova:

Market pressure like this is important. It sends a positive message to the business community. That message is we are not going to buy their services if they are going to use the profits to pass bad legislation. Or go on big game killing sprees in Africa for that matter. Stop wasting your money and move your domains to a registrar that doesn't believe in trashing our rights and killing elephants in Africa. I am web design student and when I choose a registrar I do some searching of news articles and websites for pertinent information. I considered Go Daddy but searches revealed the CEO's penchant for killing elephants and I very wisely did business elsewhere.

"So we have a bunch of dishonorable people who pirate all sorts of intellectual property and are complaining when the rightful owners are asserting their rights. Copyright infringement is a criminal act", Bob Kelly comments. "I can't see anything wrong with SOPA and Godaddy's support. I have no dog in this fight, but I don’t steal and I want people who do steal to be stopped and punished. This is just good for society".

Chris Carmichael: "Controlling piracy is an understandable goal, but the lawmakers need to understand technology better before pushing something through that far surpasses the original intent due to special interest group funding and a lack of techie knowledge".

Joshsisk:

I co-own a hosting company and domain name registration service -- a small one. Part of the reason Go Daddy supports SOPA is that it reduces the safe harbor we have been operating under related to content. This means companies in my field will have to have employees monitoring our customers content. Big companies like Go Daddy can afford to do this, but us small fish? Less so. Many small companies will go under, or be forced to raise prices. Which will be good for Go Daddy. That's why they support this, in my opinion.

Will you or have you moved your domains? If so, where? For how much? Other readers will want to know.

Photo Credit: Dirk Ercken/Shutterstock

Most people begin the process of freeing up hard drive space by clearing away leftover temporary files. And that’s sensible enough: tools like CCleaner make the process quick and easy, and can recover a surprising amount of real estate. This is just the start, though. If you’ve not checked your system recently then it might also be worth scanning it  for duplicate files, which may also be wasting a great deal of space. And Dup Scout makes this very easy indeed.

You get started just by choosing the folders you’d like to scan (which Dup Scout calls “Input Directories”). If you just want to scan your system drive, say, you might choose C:\ , and the program would check the files in this folder and all of its subfolders. Clicking Duplicates > Search then kicks the scanning process off, and you can simply sit back and watch as the list of duplicates appears.

And this may be where you notice Dup Scout’s first big advantage: its speed. Carrying out byte-by-byte comparisons on thousands of files is never going to be quick, but in our initial tests the program was noticeably faster than most of the competition. Other tools typically take around 45 minutes to scan the 2TB of data on our NAS, for instance (that’s over a Gigabit connection), but Dup Scout had finished in 33 minutes, around a 26 percent saving.

The final report then highlights all your duplicate files, with those wasting the most space at the top of the list. But there are many other options available: you can sort the list by file type, say, viewing only duplicate music or movie files; by file size, extension, access, modification or creation time, and more

And best of all, there are a whole host of options available for processing the duplicates. So you can delete some, replace others with links, compress them, move them all to a folder somewhere, and so on.

There are, of course, risks involved with using this kind of tool. Sometimes duplicate executable files (DLLs and so on) are necessary for Windows and your applications to run properly, and if you delete some of these then you can cripple your PC. Dup Scout tries to reduce the risk of harm by excluding your \Windows and \Program Files folders from its scans, but you may still have some critical executables stored elsewhere.

You shouldn’t try to delete all the duplicates, then -- that’s way too dangerous. Better to simply focus on the few which are consuming the most amount of space, especially file types which you know aren’t vital (videos or MP3 files, say). And if you’re in any doubt about the safety of removing a particular duplicate, just leave it alone: freeing up a few megabytes of data isn’t worth the risk of breaking an application (or your entire system).

Please note, this free version of Dup Scout can scan a maximum of 500,000 files and 2TB of storage space. If you need more, the commercial Pro and Ultimate versions of the program extend these limits considerably, and add a host of other features. Prices start at $10 and you can read more at the DupScout site.

Photo Credit: S.john/Shutterstock

Late December is traditionally the time of year to snap up a bargain in the post-Christmas sales, and there is no shortage of special deals to be found in the Downloadcrew Software Store. Take a browse through the store and you will find everything from security software to video editing tools -- there really is something for everyone. With huge savings of up to 83 percent off some of the best software available, you’d better hurry because these offers expire on December 31, 2011.

For anyone looking to watch videos on their computer, CyberLink PowerDVD 11 Ultra is a versatile media player with support for a huge range of video formats and discs, including 3D formats. You can save 45 percent off the MSRP when you buy the software for just $45. Also from CyberLink is CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Ultra which you can buy for just $69.95, saving 30 percent off the MSRP. This powerful program can be used to edit video, including 3D formats, and it comes bundled with a free copy of CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 worth $39.95.

From the same company comes CyberLink PhotoDirector 2011, which you can buy for just $44.95 -- a saving of $55 or55 percent. This is a high-end photo correction and image editing tool that includes most of the features found in the likes of Adobe Photoshop. You can buy the 2011 version of the software now and you will receive a free update to PhotoDirector 2012 -- release ETA February 2012. If you’re feeling creative, you may also be interested in CyberLink Video & Photo Collection 1.0, which you can buy for $99.95, saving 33 percent.

Low-cost Security

We all know how important it is to keep our computers secure and with a massive 83 percent saving off AVG Anti-Virus 2012 [1-PC, 1-Year] which you can buy for just $6.95. AVG is a company famous for its security software and there are more titles available in the store. AVG Family Safety 2012 [3-PC, 1-Year] can be used to place restrictions on computer use to keep your children safe, and you can save 60 percent when you buy the software for just $7.95. Another security tool from the same company is AVG Internet Security 2012 [4-PC, 1-Year] which you can buy for just $19.95 (a saving of 64 percent off the normal MSRP). AVG isn’t just about security. AVG PC Tuneup 2012 [1-PC, 1-Year] is available for just $11.99 (saving you 66 percent off the usual price of $34.99) and can be used to boost the performance of your computer in a few easy steps.

If performance boosting is what you’re after, you can save 62 percent off the MSRP of TuneUp Utilities 2012 [3-PC, 1-Year] when you buy it for just $18.95. The program lets you optimize, and customize your computer as well as freeing up space and fixing problems for you -- and it can be installed on up to three computers. If you need to improve the performance of more computers, look no further than TuneUp Utilities Business Edition 2012 [5-PC, 1-Year] which you can buy for just $34.95, saving you 58 percent off the MSRP.

The Downloadcrew Software Store is home to even more system tweaking tools, including IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 [1-PC, 1-Year], which is available at the discounted price of $7.95 - a saving of 60 percent. This app can be used to take care of your registry, improve your computer’s boot time and much, much more. You may also be interested in Auslogics Boostspeed 5 [3-PC, 1-Year]which can be used to boost startup times, remove the junk from your hard drives, improve security and more. You can save a massive 70% when you buy the software for just $35. Other performance improving software worth checking out includes O&O Defrag 15 Professional which is available for just $14.50 (that’s half price!). From the same company there is also O&O DiskImage 6 Professional which can be used to create a comprehensive backup of your computer and is available at 50% of the MSRP for just $14.50.

More Discounts Through December

Returning to the security theme, you can keep your computer free from unwanted infections using Emsisoft Anti-Malware 6 [1-PC, 1-Year]. This powerful antivirus and anti-spyware tool is available for just $9.95, saving you a colossal 75 percent off the MSRP. Emsisoft also produce Emsisoft Online Armor Premium Firewall 5 [1-PC, 1-Year]and you can also save 75 percent off this program when you buy it for just $9.95. If you’re looking for a security suite, you may be interested in Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 [3-PC, 1-Year]which can be used to protect up to three computers and is available for just $29.95, saving you 63 percent off the MSRP. If you just want an antivirus tool, look no further than Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 [1-PC, 1-Year] which will keep your computer safe for just $19.95, saving you 60 percent off the MSRP.

Continuing the discounts on security software, you can save a gigantic 74 percent off  Bitdefender Internet Security 2012 [1-PC, 1-Year] when you buy the powerful suite for just $12.99. Also available is Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012 [1-PC, 1-Year] which can be used to keep your computer free from viruses for the ultra-low price of $6.95 -- this is a huge 72 percent saving when compared to the usual selling price of £24.95.

Rounding off the highlighted discounted are a series of programs from MAGIX, starting with MAGIX Xara Web Designer 7 Premium. You can save 10 percent off the MSRP when you buy the software for $44.99, and you are then ready to set about creating a professional looking web site without the need to type a single line of HTML. Other creative ventures can be tackled in MAGIX Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7, which is available at a 50 percent discount for just $44.50 and includes everything you need to not only editing your photos, but also create vector images and illustrations from scratch. If you want to get a little musical, you can save $40, or 40 percent off MAGIX Music Maker MX Premiumwhen you purchase this powerful music creation tool for just $59.99. Also from MAGIX is MAGIX Movie Edit Pro MX Plus which is available at the discounted price of $59.99, saving your 10 percent.

Don’t forget that these prices are only valid until the end of December, days away, so grab them while you can. These are just some of the highlights to be found on special offer -- to browse through other bargains, pay a visit to the Downloadcrew Software Store.

Photo Credit: Semisatch/Shutterstock

Do you remember in September, when HP practically gave away TouchPads, for 99 bucks? We tried to get two, and thought we failed, but they eventually came. We saved them up for one of several end-of-year contests. It's our way of saying thanks to you for being a part of the BetaNews community.

Today we start out with the first of the two TouchPads. We'll give away the other tomorrow and two other gadgets -- that many of you will like loads more -- through New Years Day. Your challenge is simple: Write a caption to this photo of Steve Ballmer. Microsoft's CEO will deliver his last Consumer Electronics Show keynote in about a dozen days. We'll pick the best and let chance choose the winner. You have until 11:59:59 pm ET today -- that's December 28, 2011 -- to submit your caption, either in comments or by emailing joe at betanews dot com.

The Ballmer pic is not from CES, but is a keynote, nevertheless. It matches a set Microsoft has posted from CeBIT 2008, but I can't definitively say who shot it. If SOPA, Stop Online Piracy Act, was law, we might be in trouble. Given the amount of debate about SOPA right now, I purposely chose a photo with uncertain origins. BetaNews' normal policy is to credit photos or at least use uncredited ones for which we have rights or they are in public domain.

With that introduction, make us laugh!

New Years is nearly upon us and it's around this time that many of us start to think about trying to shed a few pounds. The arrival of a new year is a good reason to get back into shape after over-indulging, and with today’s giveaway you can also help to get your hard drive back into good shape by recovering files you may have accidentally deleted. We’re giving away a free copy of Auslogics File Recovery 3 worth an amazing $49.95 and this can be used to recover all manner of files -- not only hard drives but also memory cards.

The application is compatible with all 32- and 64-bit version of Windows from XP and upwards, and it can be installed on up to three PCs -- great for households with more than one computer. It does not matter what format you have used for your drive -- FAT32, FAT16, NTFS and other formats are all supported -- you can scour your hard drives for recoverable files in a number of ways. If you would like to check to find out just what could be recovered, you can opt to perform a scan to reveal all files that could possibly be recovered.

But if you are looking for a specific file that you have accidentally deleted, you can speed things up by performing a search with a range of filters in place. When it comes to recovering files you can do so on a file-by-file basis, or you can select entire folders or even all files of a particular type; this is a great option if you are recovering photos from a camera card that has been accidentally formatted. If you can’t remember the name of a file you are looking for, file previews are available for a number of files type to help you to identify what you are looking for.

Recover or Wipe

Enabling you to get back valuable files that you may have thought lost forever makes this an incredibly useful tool. Auslogics File Recovery 3 can also be used to securely delete files that you would rather no one else was able to see. The Disk Wiper tool can be used to wipe and overwrite previously deleted files so they cannot be recovered, while the file shredder component makes it possible to quickly and securely delete files you are sure you do not need and also do not want anyone else to be able to recover.

So whether you have lost some valuable data and need to get it back, or want to ensure that sensitive documents do not fall into the wrong hands, Auslogics File Recovery 3 is a powerful utility that could be just what you have been looking for.

To take advantage of this special giveaway, go to the Downloadcrew Giveaway site, log in (or create a free account if you don’t have one already), grab your copy of the program and get a free serial code -- but act fast, the offer is for December 28th only, and expires at 23:59 Central European Time.

Photo Credit: Sergey Mironov/Shutterstock

Can’t wait for the next major release of VLC Media Player? Desperate to squash an annoying bug? Not afraid of installing untested, pre-release software on your computer? Willing to become a guinea pig ? If the answer to all of these questions is “yes”, then VLC Media Player Nightly might be for you.

As its name suggests, this is the latest, untested version of VideoLAN’s popular cross-platform, opens-source audio and video player to roll off the presses. That means it’s untested, which makes it unstable, and as likely to throw up new bugs as old ones get squashed. If that doesn’t put you off, read on.

VLC Media Player Nightly will install over the top of your existing stable installation (currently version 1.1.12), so unlike the likes of Firefox  and Firefox Aurora, you won’t be running it side-by-side with your everyday, stable build. Thankfully it’s not a major deal: you can easily roll back simply by uninstalling this build and reinstalling the latest stable version.

Version 1.3.0 comes with no support at all -- VideoLAN makes this clear on its Nightly builds page when it states, “WARNING: The nightly builds are UNSTABLE and may not work at all. There is absolutely NO SUPPORT for it from the VideoLAN Team”.

That said, you can still post your findings in the VideoLAN forums, which will help the developers spot bugs and hopefully produce fixes that appear within a short period of time. And you can quickly see if your glitch has been fixed by regularly checking for updates within the program itself via the Help > Check for Updates… menu.

At the present time, there’s not an awful lot to glean about version 1.3, codenamed “Rincewind” after the wizard of Discworld fame. That’s because VideoLAN is currently putting the finishing touches to version 1.2 (codenamed “Twoflower”) ahead of its official, stable release, so the focus is naturally on that. What you will get by installing the Nightly build is an early look at the much-documented features coming in version 1.2.

These include partial support for unencrypted Blu-ray discs and better support for newer DVDs, adaptive streaming, sharper subtitles rendering, support for video output to iOS, Direct2D and Android formats and much more besides. For a full description of what’s coming in version 1.2, courtesy of  one of the app’s lead developers (Jean-Baptise Kempf), see here and here.

If you want the latest, bleeding-edge (and unstable) version of VLC Media Player, download VLC Media Player Nightly 1.3.0 for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Photo Credit: Leigh Prather/

There were quite a few new iPods and iPhones under the Christmas tree this year, so that makes a new phishing scam making the rounds this week all the more dangerous. Security firm Intego says that it is receiving reports of faked Apple emails asking users to update their billing information. They started around Christmas Day.

The message comes with the grammatically incorrect title "Apple update your Billing Information". The email itself though looks almost identical to a genuine message from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company, complete with a grey page-like background with the Apple logo in the upper right hand corner. The email warns that the user's billing information is out of date and needs to be updated, also with uncharacteristic bad grammar.

"Failure to update your records will result in billing termination", the faked message warns. The link provided is a numerical address, and not from apple.com like it should be. Intego says clicking on the link will take the user to a page that looks like a sign-in for Apple, and after signing in the page asks for updated account information, including credit card numbers.

Obviously, filling this out will not only compromise your iTunes account, but your credit card information as well. "We hope you’ll be careful if you’re new to Macs and Apple products", Intego writes in a blog post from Monday.

As with any email requesting account information, always take all steps to verify that it is legitimate. Links should point to a website on the company's server, and the security certificate should be assigned to the company in question. Many modern browsers -- including Firefox and Chrome -- already check for this, and will warn of possible issues or known phishing sites.

Do you need a new photo for your Twitter or Facebook profile? Finding the right shot can be a challenge. And especially at this time of year, when festive overindulgences could mean you’re not exactly looking your best.

You could retouch any image with a photo editor, of course, but that’s a lot of work for often unspectacular results. So it might be easier to try Perfect365, an interesting tool that can give an in-depth makeover to the faces in almost any image, with a single click.

To get started, all you have to do is open your photo, choose one of the “Instant Look” options, and Perfect365 will apply a host of tweaks all at once. Click “Natural”, say, and the program will remove blemishes, soften skin and whiten teeth. Or choosing the “Pure” option will additionally whiten skin and brighten the eyes.

Other looks focus on particular areas. So “Smoky Eyes” adds eye liner, extends eye lashes, emphasises eye colour and more.

And some options begin to stray into the area of virtual plastic surgery. Clicking “Honey”, for instance, slims the face and enhances the nose, amongst many other changes.

There are 21 “Instant Looks” to choose from. If these don’t quite suit your needs, though, you can always tweak their individual settings in the right-hand pane. So if you’re not happy with the “Slim Face” effect, say, you might adjust its intensity with a slider. And it’s just as easy to enlarge or brighten eyes, remove shine from skin, deepen a smile, apply lipstick, and more.

These generally work very well, as Perfect365 automatically detects the eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth in up to 20 faces within any photo. If you find the effects aren’t delivering the results you were expecting, though, it’s possible that the program has made a mistake or two. Clicking the “Adjust Key Points” button will show you the data it’s using for all detected faces, and by tweaking these points manually you may be able to get working it properly again.

Once you’ve finished, the revamped photo can be saved as a graphics file, or shared directly on Twitter, Facebook or Flickr. This free version of Perfect365 will only save images of up to 600 x 600 pixels, however, fine for social networking profiles but otherwise a little small. If this is a problem, then moving to the commercial version will eliminate the restriction: the price is $29.99, and you can upgrade from within the program.

There's a strange irony to the sudden, seemingly grassroots campaign against Go Daddy. The domain registrar supported SOPA, Stop Online Piracy Act, that many people say will curtail free speech on the Internet. Now there's mass call for a Go Daddy boycott, but it has taken on mass peer-pressure hysteria -- that by association you are somehow evil if you don't transfer domains from Go Daddy. Stated differently, Go Daddy protesters block peoples' right to choose, too, by pressuring them to leave the registrar. They're guilty now of what they accuse the government would do in the future -- suppressing freedom on the Internet.

The full force of realization hit this morning while scanning my newsfeed. I use Feedly on my Motorola XOOM LTE to check Google Reader, where I saw a TechCrunch post missed yesterday about site ByeDaddy. You can go there and see what domains use Go Daddy. Something like this exists for one reason, to extend the Go Daddy boycott to others -- to force them to give up the registrar. But there is plenty of pressure to switch elsewhere, as December 29, "Dump Go Daddy Day", approaches.

I have decided not to move my domains, 34 of them, from Go Daddy back to Network Solutions (or to another registrar). I do so in protest of Go Daddy protesters. Two of my domains coincidentally expire on December 29. I may move those solely for keeping Go Daddy honest about its stated position to stop supporting SOPA. But I won't move my domains because of the Internet mob. Others won't easily feel so free. If you do business on the Internet, where your brand is everything, what can you do? Stand up to the anti-Go Daddy rabble when word spreads across the InterWebs about which registrar you use? When your competitor switches and boasts about it, for positive brand image gain, will you just sit aside and watch?

Then there are circles of association, when your friends start rallying against Go Daddy. Will you stand against them or stand with them, so as not to be ostracized by the crowd? I would stand apart, but I've never cared much about what others think of me. If you do, standing with the mob is easier than being socially crushed by it.

Mob rules Wikipedia

The worst offenders here are businesses or organizations that use situations like this for public image gain. Others might be doing this and bowing before the anti-Go Daddy mob. I'm talking Wikipedia, which depends on the goodwill of volunteers to edit entries and generosity of donators to survive. Wikipedia is currently conducting a fundraising campaign. Perception that the organization supports Go Daddy, despite already taking a strong position against SOPA, could hurt Wikipedia at a crucial time. So it's no surprise, perhaps, Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales tweeted last week that the organization would leave Go Daddy.

Four days ago, reddit user benbread posted: "Wikipedia.org is with Go Daddy -- Jimmy if you're listening please transfer wikimedia domains away from Go Daddy to show you're serious about opposing SOPA". User neilk responded:

Hi guys. Wikimedia Foundation software engineer here. Our staff is tiny, so this means I sit in the same room as the people who can deal with this. I'm not speaking for that team, but I'm going to suggest you all be patient.

We have a rule to never make big changes to the website on Friday unless it's an emergency. This probably goes double for DNS changes, which as any techie will tell you, often go wrong. And this is the Christmas weekend, so already much of the tech staff is traveling or taking a vacation day.

That said, I know that a number of Wikimedia Foundation people moved some personal domains from Go Daddy the other day, including myself. The Foundation has already publicly stated that SOPA will hurt the free web and Wikipedia, and the English Wikipedia community is seriously considering a form of sitewide blackout as protest, sometime in January.

The answer is defensive and shows the power peer pressure has over Wikipedia. On December 23, Wales tweeted: "I am proud to announce that the Wikipedia domain names will move away from GoDaddy. Their position on #sopa is unacceptable to us".

What position is that, Jimmy? Go Daddy withdrew its support for SOPA around the time of your announcement: "Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the 'Stop Online Piracy Act' currently working its way through US Congress". The registrar has changed its position, so why pull the domains in protest for something that no longer needs protesting -- except perhaps for Wikipedia's image, for perception reasons, and for the influence the anti-Go Daddy mob wields right now.

Go Daddy's SOPA support goes back to at least October, when the bill was introduced in Congress. The registrar's original position can be found in this PDF" of information I pulled from its site hours before Go Daddy removed it on December 23. My question for Jimmy Wales: Are you responding to the mob or Go Daddy, seeing as the registrar's support for SOPA goes back two months and warranted response long before talk of boycott? The announcement's timing instead comes after call for boycott and during crucial Wikipedia fundraising effort when negative public perceptions -- guilt by Go Daddy association -- could close purses and wallets.

By the way, according to ByeDaddy, Wikipedia is still with Go Daddy.

Give Go Daddy Day

Continued customer outrage can keep Go Daddy honest. That's reason for profile organizations like Wikipedia to stay. The future threat of leaving, and highly publicized, can do more good than any mass exodus now. The earlier call for boycott, before Go Daddy backed off SOPA, accomplished its goal. So why continue a campaign of mass-boycott?

Imagine the good people could do with the money they would spend transferring domains, by giving it elsewhere. To the homeless, to charities like the Red Cross or even to Wikipedia. Rather than "Dump Go Daddy Day" why not celebrate Internet freedom with "Give Go Daddy Day"? Celebrate the boycott's success and take some of the money you would have used moving domains from Go Daddy and putting it to some charitable use.

If I were to move my domains, my original registrar Network Solutions would be first choice. It would cost me about $30, including private registration, to move one domain. That's money I pledge to give away December 29. Maybe I'll even make a donation to Wikipedia, whether or not it switches from Go Daddy. What about you? Will you dump Go Daddy in two days time or give that money to someone who needs it more than a domain registrar?

Photo Credit: Christopher Jones/Shutterstock

I don't understand why so many people buy gel cases and similarly-designed others for their smartphones. Why would you want to protect the back when the screen is more vulnerable (perhaps with exception of iPhone 4 and 4S, which are glass front and back)? Yes, these cases help protect against shattered glass when the phone is dropped sideways. But surely something better than your bum should protect the screen, assuming the smartphone is in your pants pocket and not backpack or bag -- there it's scratch-station central, baby.

Just because Apple Store, Best Buy, cellular phone shops or mall kiosks overwhelmingly sell cases that wrap round the smartphone's back doesn't mean there aren't alternatives -- and ones that will protect the whole device not just the already well-insulated back. Styling is more traditional, and leather, too (If you're Mr. or Ms. Vegan, this post probably isn't for you). Many of these same manufacturers produce cases for tablets, so I'll briefly discuss them, too.

PDAir: Broadest Selection

I started seriously exploring phone case alternatives -- stuff outside the US mainstream -- before Apple released the first iPhone (June 2007). In April 2007, I got an Asian version of the Nokia N95, which is one of my favorite all-time handsets. The phone wouldn't go on sale stateside for another six months, and it's not like I could run down to the local cell mart for a case. Pretty much any time pre-iPhone is the dark ages of smartphone cases. There is breadth of selection today unimaginable four years ago.

I discovered Hong Kong-based PDAir, which makes cases for hundreds of handsets. In 2007, it was novelty to order a case from Hong Kong. Today, PDAir is a bigger operation, and some of its cases are even available on Amazon here in the United States.

I've since purchased PDAir cases for Nokia N96, Nokia N97, Google Nexus One, Google Nexus S and Samsung Galaxy S II. I expect to receive one for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus sometime this week. Besides the Nexus S case ordered for myself, I purchased for my wife, too. She likes a truly protective case, as seen from the red Nexus S case above.

PDAir offers a variety of stylings, including book, flip and pouch types among others. Pouch-type with belt clip is my preferred styling. They all are clearly designed with each manufacturer's handset in mind, so that headphone jack, camera and controls are duly exposed. Most PDAir phone cases sell for $29.99. Shipping is free.

Sena Cases: The Elegant Choice

Closer to home, Sena Cases is a fine choice for truly stand-out styling at reasonable prices (okay, some choices are budget busters). I bought my first Sena Case, the Laterale, about two years ago for iPhone 3GS. The company describes the case as a "simple Scandinavian rounded lateral design", which is apt. It's an understated design that suites iPhone -- also available for 4 and 4S -- and, more recently Androids. For example, Sena Cases now offers Laterale for Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket; photo below. However, the design needs refinement for non-iPhones. I find the case covers Skyrocket's headphone jack, for example.

Until second-half 2011, I found Sena Cases offered too many designs for iPhone and not enough for competing handsets, particularly Androids. But that has dramatically changed over the last few months. For example, cases are available for five different Galaxy S II variants and in breadth of styling. My wife used Sena's Magnet Flipper case, on the Google Nexus One, for more than a year. Last week, she inherited my Skyrocket. If Sena Cases offered the Magnet Flipper for the handset, she would own one now. We instead ordered, first time, from Fortte -- the dual-design case for the Rogers Galaxy S2, which styling is nearly identical to Skyrocket. The case arrives this week.

Sena has many more cases to choose from than either Fortte or PDAir, and its designs are exceptionally attractive for iPhone 4 and 4S. Apple Store started carrying Sena's cases after iPad went on sale about 18 months ago. But best selection is manufacturer direct. Prices vary depending on styling. For example, Magnet Flipper is $49.99, Laterale $39.99 and the new Sarach Flip for iPhone 4S $69.99. I'd own the Laterale today if available for Galaxy Nexus -- it's my favorite smartphone case.

Many of the leather designs from PDAir and Sena are slip-out cases. Some people will worry about dropping their phones. But if you're using a Bluetooth headset anyway, what does it matter for phone calls? Data is another matter, since you hold the phone and tap the screen. My thinking: What's the point of buying a beautiful handset like iPhone 4S if it's constantly half-encased and the screen is left unprotected all the time?

What About Tablets?

There are many case choices for tablets that look good and truly protect the screen -- that is if you own iPad or iPad 2. Options are skimpier for Androids.

I bought the original iPad in June 2010 (and sold it right before Christmas last year) and ordered Sena's ZipBook for $99.99 and later came to regret it. The enclosure is beautiful, but I found removing the tablet, which snuggly fits inside, to be troulesome. Sena sells other cases, such as the Executive Sleeve for iPad 2, which costs the same, offers plenty of protection and allows for easy tablet removal. If I owned an iPad today, my case would probably be from Sena.

But I own Motorola XOOM LTE. I spent more than a week searching online and in stores for a case. Nothing satisfied. In the end I compromised for Sena's Ultraslim, which is pricey at $59.99 for what you seemingly get. Sena describes Ultraslim as the "thinnest leather case ever designed for any mobile device. It is perfect for those who prefer zero bulk". That's seemingly zero protection, the case is so thin. The case fits super snuggly and I worried it wouldn't protect the screen, say, as well as Samsung's leather pouch for Galaxy Tab 10.1. In the end, I'm satisfied with Ultraslim's value but I'd prefer something that better protects the tablet. PDAir offers some good options -- for $100 or more -- but none really wowed me.

My daughter is reviewing Sena's Borsetta for iPad 2, a purse case for the chick set (in red). It's pricey at $149.99, but small yet roomy. There's a second compartment for makeup, money and credit cards and strap to wear the case like a designer purse. I was put off by the big zipper, but it's in-style, so who am I to judge.

Belkin, Case Logic, Incase, Otterbox and Speck, among many others, manufacture plenty of cases for smartphones and tablets -- and designer brands like Michael Kors or Kate Spade are available for Apple devices. I couldn't cover them all and decided not to try. Perhaps in the future, I'll do a broader roundup. It's worth noting that a number of Michael Kors cases are clutches or pouches that protect the whole phone, or at least the screen. But I still don't see enough of these type in stores. Do you?

Photo Credits: Joe Wilcox

My idiots of the year award almost certainly will go to Netflix and Go Daddy, which tarnished their brands through nothing more than sheer stupidity (there are still five days in the month for your organization to royally screw up and claim the honor). Both companies tried to step back from the brink, only to watch tens of thousands of customers fly over the edge into the "frak you" abyss. I can't decide which company's actions is stupider; Go Daddy's idiocy is more recent, and the damage still unfolds.

In midsummer, Netflix raised prices and later proposed splitting into two companies. Following customer outrage, which included thousands of departures, Netflix nixed the split but not the price hike. Go Daddy's situation is potentially much worse. The registrar supported the Stop Online Piracy Act, only to change position on December 23, a day after updating reasons for standing behind the proposed legislation. SOPA support is over, but customer outrage -- and defection -- is not. December 29 has been dubbed "Dump Go Daddy Day", not that many of its customers are waiting that long.

Atlantic Wire reports that reddit user selfprodigy proposed December 29; selfprodigy is "moving my small businesses 51 domains away from them, as well as my personal domains...I'm suggesting Dec 29th as move your domain away from Go Daddy day because of their support of SOPA. Who's with me?"

Unless I'm mistaken, domaincontrol.com is Go Daddy's primary domain server, with more than 32,000,000. Recent activity is heavy. Early this afternoon, domaincontrol.com is among the three most active, with 22,542 domains transferred out just today and just 30,090 new ones or transfers in. That's according to DomainTools Daily Changes. But is that unusual? I looked back randomly ("in" refers to new or transfers in):

• October 26: 54,773 in, 16,407 out
• November 26: 41,100 in, 9,738 out
• December 1: 60,966 in, 15,899 out
• December 15: 95,828 in, 12,909 out
• December 23: 53,477 in, 15,093 out

Unquestionably, the number of transfers out is up but it's not more than a nick -- customers have yet to even open a vein. It's one thing to say, "Hell, yeah, frak Go Daddy" and go elsewhere. It's another thing to do it. I've got 34 domains (mostly variants of just a few) with Go Daddy and, ironically, two expire on December 29. Changing registrars means spending money I can't afford. Surely, many other people have similar situation.

The question shouldn't be how many but whom? Go Daddy is domains on the cheap -- well compared to, say, Network Solutions, which for me, many Net longtimers, was my first registrar (back in the days when known as InterNic; I secured my first domain in August 1995). Is it the average Joe like me or people who might be affected by SOPA -- or perhaps both?

House representatives introduced SOPA in October, following Senate bill PROTECT IP introduced in May. (Review the bills: PROTECT IP. SOPA.) Either bill would give the government broad powers to take down websites, seize domains and compel search engines from indexing these properties. Little more than a request from copyright holders is necessary. It's essentially guilty-until-proven-innocent legislation that would punish the many for the sins of the few, while disrupting the fundamental attributes that made the Internet so successful and empowered so many individuals or businesses to accomplish so much.

Go Daddy had worked with Congress on the bill, last week suddenly doing a turnabout -- and like Netflix in response to customer outrage. "Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the 'Stop Online Piracy Act' currently working its way through US Congress", according to a December 23 press release. That's quite a bit different from "Go Daddy's position on SOPA", which posted to the registrar's support site a day earlier but was later replaced with: "We’ve listened to our customers. Go Daddy is no longer supporting the SOPA legislation". I saved the December 22 page as PDF for your review.

Go Daddy's turnabout doesn't satisfy some customers, as the proposed boycott shows. My question for you: Will you move your domain -- or take other business, such as web hosting -- from Go Daddy because of SOPA or PROTECT IP support? Please answer in comments and, please, give your reasons.

Based on the transfers-out data I see, Go Daddy's problem is more one of perception than meaningful customer losses. That said, domain prices go up everywhere next month. So time is right for a surge in new domain registrations or transfers, and that could work against Go Daddy. Perhaps there will be more to this story on December 30, eh?

Don Purcell/Shutterstock

It’s no secret that using passwords like “1234″, “qwerty”, “password” and any similar easily-guessable variants is a very bad idea, and one that could see your web account hacked before you can say “I guess that was my fault, really”.

Okay, so you know this, but do all the other users on your PC? What kind of password choices are they making? If you’re curious, then NirSoft’s latest release, Password Security Scanner, can help you find out.

Launch the program and it scans your system for saved passwords in all its supported application: Internet Explorer, Outlook, Windows Messenger, Windows Live Mail and Firefox (though the latter can’t be accessed if they’re protected by a master password).

And in just a second or two you’ll see whatever the program has found: the application, username, key details about the application (its length, number of numeric, lower or upper case characters, and so on), as well as a numeric measure of its strength. Which the author defines as, Very Weak: 1-7, Weak: 8-14, Medium: 15-25, Strong: 26-45, and Very Strong: 46 or over.

What you won’t see, however, is the password itself. This is good in one way, as it allows you to spot problems -- a very short password, say -- without the users in question feeling like their privacy has been too compromised. But of course it also means that users will be able to use dictionary words and very common passwords without the program picking it up, which is a definite weakness.

Still, if you’re not currently auditing the passwords stored on your PC at all, then using the Password Security Scanner will already be a very big step forward. And author Nir Sofer has also said that he’ll be adding support for accessing the passwords stored in additional applications, so we’ll be interested to see what happens in future versions.

Heck, you might score something even better.

Earlier this month, CyberLink unveiled the "I Am a PowerDirector" community site and contest to promote it. BetaNews readers get special consideration. In addition to the regular prizes, CyberLink will hold a special drawing giving away 10 copies of PowerDirector 10 to our readers who enter the contest. We told you so 24 days ago and want to remind you before it's too late to participate.

CyberLink's contest differs slightly from the one including you. "Submit your written testimony and photo, or use video to tell us why you are a Power Director", according to CyberLink. "If the work is approved, you will be rewarded with a PowerDirector cap. You will also have a chance to join a lucky draw for amazing prizes". Videos must be 30 seconds to 2 minutes long and uploaded to YouTube before filmmakers (that's you) enter the contest. CyberLink recommends 720p video. Submission period ends Jan. 15, 2012, with drawing for prize winners two days later. See complete rules for more information.

The deadline for BetaNews readers is sooner for anyone wanting to participate in the separate drawing for one of 10 copies of PowerDirector 10. CyberLink asks to receive these entries by end of the year, with drawing planned during the first few days of January; your deadline is December 31. BetaNews submissions must be videos only, no written testimonies. Please mention that you saw the promotion at BetaNews or are one of our readers when making your submission. Additionally, CyberLink asks you to email us (joe at betanews dot com) as backup. No one wants any BetaNews readers to get overlooked in the fray.

This way you get two chances to win (but only one prize). PowerDVD 11 and Olympus XZ-1 digital camera are among the prizes available in the broader contest.

As I've oft-said, enthusiasts are any company's best evangelists. CyberLink's goal here is to churn up more interest in its video production software, while certifying new evangelists. Contest participants who receive 100 or more Facebook Likes for their submissions will be certified "PowerDirector Evangelist". This kind of engagement isn't new to CyberLink, which also hosts the DirectorZone community site.

Please do not submit entries here. After uploading to YouTube, please use CyberLink's official entry form.

As for what you might win, please read our October review of CyberLink Power Director 10.

Editor's Note: This story was originally posted on Dec. 2, 2011 at 1:59 pm ET

Today we are excited to bring you a free copy of IObit Malware Fighter PRO worth $19.95 to help keep your computer protected against malware in the New Year. But you’ll need to be quick -- this free gift to you is only available for 24 hours, so make sure you head over to the Downloadcrew Giveaway site before 23:59, Central European Time, December 26th.

Malware is a serious problem for anyone that uses the Internet, and as it is not a problem that shows any signs of abating, the best thing you can do is to ensure that you are adequately protected. IObit Malware Fighter PRO is an advanced malware protection tool that weeds out spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, Trojan, spyware and all manner of other nasties that may have found their way onto your system. As well as ben able to hunt down and remove known malware, an advanced heuristics engine means that the program is able to detect new malware by looking out for signs of suspicious activity.

Cloud Protection

To ensure that you are completely protected against all of the latest threats, IObit Malware Fighter PRO uses information gathered from other users of the program and shared through the cloud to ensure that the malware definitions can be updated and disseminated as quickly as possible. While it is important to keep your computer and its data secure, no one would want this to be at the price of performance. Thankfully, IObit Malware Fighter PRO is very light on system resources so you should find that it does not impact on day to day computing.

In reality, IObit Malware Fighter PRO is more of a security suite than a security tool. It includes the regular scanning component, but there are also a number of other important utilities built in. Startup Guard ensures that no malicious processes start with Windows while Browser Guard ensures that no software makes changes to the settings of your web browser. There are also checks in place to ensure that unknown file you open do not cause any damage, that USB drives you connect to yoru computer are not carrying infected files, and that cookies are not shared without your knowledge. This really is a complete security package.

To take advantage of this special giveaway, go to the Downloadcrew Giveaway site, log in (or create a free account if you don’t have one already), grab your copy of the program and get a free serial code – but act fast, the offer is for December 26th only, and expires at 23:59 Central European Time.

Merry Christmas! And look out for more giveaway offers next week!

Almost everyone has been busy over the past week making some form of preparation for Christmas and the holiday season. But despite the general pace of the world winding down slightly, the pace of software development continues with its usual speed. Mozilla has been particularly busy this week, releasing numerous updates to its Firefox web browser. The main release branch for the browser has hit version 9. Firefox 9.0.1 FINAL includes numerous tweaks to performance as well as changes to the way add-ons are handled. Startup times have been improved as has the general performance and stability of the browser.

If you like to try out something before most people, Firefox 10.0 Beta has also been updated as has the somewhat more experimental and alpha-like Firefox Aurora 11.0a2. For anyone who wants to be right on the cutting edge of browser development, the nightly builds of Firefox have also entered a new phase. Firefox Nightly 12.0a1 (32-bit) includes a range of interface enhancements and  Firefox Nightly 12.0a1 (64-bit) brings the same experimental version of the browser to users of 64-bit systems. Even more interface changes can be found in Firefox UX 12.01 UX (32-bit). The UX branch of Firefox includes a more streamlined toolbar and a new tab page amongst other new features. 64-bit users should take a look at Firefox UX 12.01 UX (64-bit).

Continuing the Firefox theme, Waterfox 9.0 is a version of the browser designed specifically for 64-bit versions of Windows. It is based on the current stable version of Firefox so if you have become used to how this browser works but want to take advantage of 64-bit goodness, this is well worth checking out. It doesn’t end there for Mozilla. There are no more versions of Firefox for you to play with, but Mozilla Thunderbird 9.0 FINAL has been released. This is an email client and RSS reader that is evolving well over time, and if you take a liking to it, you should also check out the Mozilla Lightning 1.1 FINAL add-on that adds a calendar component to the program.

While your web browser may be one of the most used applications, when it comes to hardware your hard drive is your most important component. If you have taken the step of upgrading your drive to solid-state, Intel SSD Toolbox 3.0.2 can be used to optimize its performance. Seagate SeaTools for Windows 1.2.0.6 can be used with any type of hard drive -- and not just those produced by Seagate -- to check for problems and repair damaged sectors. If you’ve ever wished that it was possible to use your iPhone or iPod more like a removable hard drive, iExplorer 2.2.1.3 could be just what you’ve been looking for as it makes it possible to copy files to and from your device with ease.

Sticking with iOS devices, iPadian 0.2 is an interesting free tool that makes it possible to run iPad apps -- albeit a very limited selection -- on your desktop computer using an Adobe AIR app. PhotoScape 3.6 is a program for anyone looking to enhance their digital photos and is an editor that does not require a degree to use it. Despite its ease of use, this is a powerful app, but if you are a little more demanding, you may want to take a look at CyberLink PhotoDirector 3 Beta which includes not only the advantage of photo editing options but also media management tools and much more.

System Maintenance

System maintenance tools have always been popular and one particularly popular tool is CCleaner 3.14, which has improved support for cleaning up after Internet Explorer. Should you prefer to keep all of your maintenance apps available on a USB drive, there is also a portable version available in the form of CCleaner Portable. Two interesting new tools were unveiled this week. JetBoost 1.0 makes it possible to boost the performance of your computer by terminating unnecessary processes, while JetClean can be used to free up disk space, optimize memory usage and optimize your registry.

Fans of special offers should definitely check out IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 4 is an amazingly powerful system maintenance tool that you can grab completely free of charge. Originally sold for $19.95, you can grab your copy of the app free of charge from Downloadcrew.

In addition to system maintenance, system security and protection are also incredibly importance. Toolwiz TimeFreeze 1.2.0.55 is a free tool that extends the idea of Windows’ system restore facility, making it possible to freeze the state of your computer and restore it should unwanted changes be made. If you like to be involved in the process of protecting your files, look no further than Paragon Backup & Recovery 2012 Free. This immensely powerful backup tool can be used to backup data to removable media, as well as local hard drives, and you can schedule your backups so you don’t need to remember to manually create them.

System security often includes using passwords, and Password Security Scanner 1.0 can be used to check the strength of the various passwords you have stored on your computer. This is a great way to hone in on potential security holes in your system, enabling you to make the necessary changes quickly and easily. Comodo Internet Security 5.9 is a free security suite that includes antivirus and firewall protection. If you don’t want to install a complete security suite, you can install the components individually -- Comodo Antivirus 5.9 and Comodo Firewall 5.9.

Rounding off the security tools for this week are BufferZone Pro 4.0, which enables you to run your Internet tools in a sandboxed environment to avoid the risk of sharing private information or falling victim to viruses and malware. VirtualBox 4.1.8 is a system virtualization tool that can be used for the same security purposes, but it can also be used as a test bed for running alternative operating systems or running software without affecting your main OS.

Remember to keep one eye on our Downloadcrew Giveaway website over Christmas. Extra special discounts and, on Christmas Day, IObit Malware Fighter 1.2 PRO, worth $19.95, free for one day only! More free full apps available next week, too.

This is the penultimate software roundup of 2011, so all that remains is for us to wish you a Merry Christmas!

Photo Credit: Vladimir Melnikov/Shutterstock

Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is churning up increasing debate as the holidays approach. There's irony here. The very public response about SOPA is freedom the bill, or its Senate sibling PROTECT IP, could take away. Dan Bull's "SOPA Cabana" YouTube music video is example of the grassroots response to the proposed legislation. YouTube is one of the services SOPA would target, likely diminishing freedom of expression like Bull's. The headline to this post comes from his video.

To recap, Senators introduced PROTECT IP in May and House representatives did likewise with SOPA in October. Either bill would give the government broad powers to take down websites, seize domains and compel search engines from indexing these properties. Little more than a request from copyright holders is necessary. It's essentially guilty-until-proven-innocent legislation that would punish the many for the sins of the few, while disrupting the fundamental attributes that made the Internet so successful and empowered so many individuals or businesses to accomplish so much. (Review the bills: PROTECT IP. SOPA.)

BetaNews poll "US Congress is considering two new copyright bills: PROTECT IP and Stop Online Piracy Act. Do you support them?" makes your position clear. Ninety-five percent of the 3,400-plus respondents answer "No". Less than 3 percent support the bills.

Today's strangest SOPA news comes from registrar Go Daddy. I had been pondering moving all my domains off Go Daddy for its support of SOPA and writing a commentary about it (Stop Using Go Daddy Act, SUGA). But the company reversed course today, which I must assume is more about controlling PR damage than anything else.

The press release is clear enough, beginning: "Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the 'Stop Online Piracy Act' currently working its way through US Congress". That's quite a bit different from "Go Daddy's position on SOPA", which posted to the registrar's support site yesterday. But, whoops, the text has vanished being replaced by: "We’ve listened to our customers. Go Daddy is no longer supporting the SOPA legislation". By chance, I hadn't closed the browser tab opened earlier with the original statement. I saved it as PDF for your review.

If I could afford moving my domains to another registrar, I might still. But that's not a budgetary option.

Circling back, enjoy the video. If you've created something opposing, or even supporting, SOPA please link in comments.

"Why did you lose it?" is the first question to ask.

Last week AVG sent a tickler email about its newest "Lost in Transit" survey looking at what people were doing when they lost their mobiles. I waited until closer to Christmas -- time when likelihood of loss increases -- to post some of the results. AVG provided additional data not disclosed in its blog post or infographic (below).

The holidays aren't just a time for losing valuable tech, but increased security risk. Some of the most damaging hacks or malware releases occurred during the holidays. As such, some companies are extra vigilant. For example, Microsoft's Security Response Center has staff on duty in the event of cyberattack (typically through malware) against its Windows customers.

Smartphones typically contain lots of personal data that cybercriminals could use to steal your identity, or worse breach your employer's network. If you're like most people, you commingle personal and work data and log-ins on your smartphone. Your lost device could compromise the corporate network when IT staff is on holiday. That makes the mobile you casually leave for a few seconds a valuable commodity to cybercriminals.

"With roughly half of owners admitting their devices contain sensitive data (42 percent of smartphone users and 53 percent of laptop owners), losing a mobile device can mean more than simply losing a prized possession," says AVG's Tony Anscombe.

Your lost device could contain a ticking time bomb waiting for a hacker to set it off. Two nights ago, I shopped at Fashion Valley mall here in San Diego. Near the Nordstrom I passed three people looking over a smartphone. The man said to one of the two women: "My password is 'password'. That's simply outrageous, but too common practice. In June, hacktivist group LulzSec released 62,000 account combinations -- with hundreds of instances of "123456" and "password" as password.

US CERT offers advice on choosing passwords that you should take.

Many people travel during the holidays, which increases chances they'll simply leave their mobile device behind somewhere -- "41 percent of owners have them left them behind on a plane, taxi, car or train", Anscombe explains.

Keeping with the holiday security spirit, US CERT issued this alert four days ago:

As the winter holiday travel season begins, US-CERT would like to remind users to be mindful of the security risks associated with portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.

US-CERT would like to encourage users to review the following US-CERT Cyber Security Tips. Following the security practices suggested in each tip will help to keep your portable devices secure during the holiday season and throughout the year.

• Cyber Security Tip ST11-001: Holiday Traveling with Personal Internet-Enabled Devices
• Cyber Security Tip ST05-017: Cybersecurity for Electronic Devices
• Cyber Security Tip ST04-017: Protecting Portable Devices: Physical Security

Sudden surge in tablet sales, mostly iPads, adds to the security risk -- it's another device to be lost, left behind or stolen.

Circling back to the AVG survey, some interesting findings:

• 42 percent of smartphone users don't password protect their devices.
• Britons are most likely to lose a smartphone during a holiday/Christmas party (13 percent) followed by Aussies and Germans (12 percent).
• Eleven percent of Americans lost a smartphone during a holiday/Christmas party.
• Only 15 percent of the more than 5,000 survey respondents were "aware" they had lost their smartphone, when it happened.
• Canadians, Frenchmen (and women) and Italians were most aware when losing their smartphones (20 percent).
• Canadians are most likely to lose their mobiles when "loaded full of shopping" (17 percent) -- Germans least (4 percent).
• Germans and Spaniards are more likely to lose smartphones when distracted or busy -- 45 percent and 44 percent, respectively -- followed by Americans (43 percent).
• Britons are most likely to be intoxicated, and presumably at the pub, too (14 percent), followed by Kiwis (11 percent) and Aussies (10 percent).
• The French are least likely to be intoxicated when losing a smartphone (4 percent) -- or perhaps least likely to admit being so.

Have you lost a smartphone during the holidays? Please share your tragic tale in comments.

Photo Credit: Nate Bolt

Would you like your PC to be faster? A high-end industrial-strength defrag tool could be just what you need to give it an extra performance boost. And while these normally aren’t cheap, our Downloadcrew Giveaway site is today (up until 23:59, Central European Time, December 23rd) giving away the excellent O&O Defrag 12 Professional Edition, normally $29, for nothing at all.

If you like an easy life then O&O Defrag 12 is the perfect defrag tool to have installed. It can monitor your drive’s condition in the background, automatically defragmenting your drive as soon as it spots any problems, so your hard drive is always running at peak performance. And setting this up is as straightforward as running a simple wizard.

If you’re happy to take just a little more control, though, you’ll find the program supports multiple defrag strategies to help you squeeze even more speed out of your system. So O&O Defrag 12 can sort files by name, modification date or last access time; by making, say, your most recently-edited files available first you should they’re then found and loaded more quickly.

And if you need to be master of your own hard drive then you’ll love the Zone Filing scheme, which divides your hard drive into slow, medium and fast areas. O&O Defrag 12 already knows that, say, the contents of your \Windows and \Program Files folders need to be running at the maximum possible speed, while Recycle Bin files can be safely left in the slow line. But you can also fine-tune the program by adding custom rules of your own, freely deciding which files and folders need accelerating, and which are less important.

There is a consequence to all this control, of course: the very first defrag you run can feel very slow. And that’s because the program isn’t just defragmenting files, it’s also reorganizing them to your and its own performance-boosting rules. Once this is done, though, future defrags should be very speedy (and if you have background defragmentation turned on then you may never notice them at all).

If you would like more power, though, you can always upgrade later to O&O Defrag 15 Professional, which delivers faster defragmentation, specific SSD support, improved power management, an easier to use interface, and more. You can upgrade for only $14.50, a chunky 50 percent discount off the usual price, just by ordering from the Downloadcrew store, but be quick – the offer expires December 31 2011.

Your first step should be to download O&O Defrag 12 Professional Edition, though. Just head along to the Downloadcrew Giveaway site, log in (or create a free account if you don’t have one already), grab your copy of the program and get a free serial code – but do it now, the offer is for December 23rd only, and expires at 23:59 Central European Time.

Photo Credit: Raimundas/Shutterstock

This week’s high-profile hack of the US Chamber of Commerce underscores the inadequacy of today’s security policies and technologies. With the holidays quickly approaching and IT staffs stepping away from offices to spend time with family and friends, we face increased vulnerabilities and security threats. We should be more vigilant than ever, reflecting on national security policies and how we can better protect our sensitive data.

Stories like this continue to point to the fact that we need a broad, across-the-board approach. We need to collaborate and inform when breaches take place. We need diplomatic support to reduce the desire or economic benefit to steal. It is time to have a Y2K approach to cyber protection. That means investment and support from the top down.

The first step should be whitelisting all of the devices that could have accessed the Chambers’ servers. Access should have been restricted to known and trusted devices. The technology to establish trust in the endpoint is already there, with more than half a billion Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) security chips built into PCs. This simple step has worked for many industries to protect the viability of their networks and business models -- from Comcast to Verizon to Apple.

Waiting for IT to do the right thing is killing us. Perhaps they need regulation to prompt them into action. Perhaps they just need leadership. What’s very clear is that the economic growth of the United States in the future can’t wait for us to take steps to protect ourselves.

We are more vulnerable now than we have ever been, and the faster we dispel the illusion that cyber-attacks happen to someone else, the better off we’ll be. It’s nice to remember the way things used to be, but times have changed. Just because our parents never locked the car or the front door of the house does not mean that we can’t learn to lock the car and the front door. RSA, the leading provider of "door locks" lost the master key and still not everyone changed their locks.

This year’s resolution: "NO more passwords for remote access". Let’s make 2012 the year that every user logs into his device and the device logs the user into the network (the device can be a smartphone or a desktop). Auditors need to be our ground troops. There should be no access to manage servers, access databases where the application does not verify that a known machine is being used. Then we need to check on the list of known machines.

We have the technology. The economics make sense. But do we have the will to enact such a sweeping, yet simple, measure? Historians will label 2011 as the year when our IT security infrastructure failed us. The RSA and Sony breaches, attacks by Anonymous and LulzSec, even Wikileaks drove home to the broad marketplace that when it comes to data security, cyber-attackers can take down systems and steal data at will. We must be vigilant in the next ten days and beyond. Let’s learn from the mistakes of the past year and look forward to a safer, more secure 2012.

Photo Credit: Kheng Guan Toh/Shutterstock

Steven Sprague is CEO of Wave Systems. Since taking the company's helm in 2000, Sprague has played an integral role driving the industry transition to embed stronger, hardware-based security into the PC. Sprague has guided Wave to a position of market leadership in enterprise management of self-encrypting hard drives and Trusted Platform Module security chips. His expertise lies in leveraging advancements in hardware security for strong authentication, data protection, advanced password management, enterprise-wide trust management services and more. Mr. Sprague earned a BS from Cornell University in 1987.

The Firefox development merry-go-round has moved on again, with Firefox 10 Beta and Firefox 11 Aurora builds being joined by two separate versions of Firefox 12: Firefox 12 Nightly and Firefox 12 UX, the latter build representing the efforts of a team focussed on delivering improvements to the Firefox user interface.

Despite the lack of any major revamps, there’s enough new features and interface tweaks filtering through the various builds to make the next three planned versions worth looking out for. Get a head’s up on what’s coming and discover which build is best for your current needs with our updated guide to what the future holds in store for Firefox.

Firefox 9.0.1 FINAL

This is the latest stable release of Firefox, and as such is recommended for most users, although the number of interesting new features appearing in later builds coupled with the lack of new features in this latest release make it something more experienced and impatient users might be tempted to skip.

Firefox 9 contains only one change of note, and it’s an under-the-hood tweak at that. Nevertheless, support for “type inference” means web pages containing Javascript will load noticeably quicker than before. In addition, OS X Lion users will see another two features -- support for two-finger swiping when navigating, and better integration of Firefox themes -- worth checking out. Ultimately, though, version 9 won’t go down in the annals of major Firefox releases.

Firefox 10 Beta

The most significant change Firefox 10 will bring to most users is its new assumption that most add-ons are compatible with an updated build unless the developer specifically says otherwise. This should lead to a more seamless update to new versions of Firefox, and full details of how the new system works can be read at this Mozilla Wiki article.

There’s also a change to the Launch bar, with the browser forward button disappearing from view.

Web developers will be particularly pleased with Firefox 10, thanks to a number of major new tools, all accessible from the Firefox > Web Developer menu. The most notable of these is an Inspect option that allows developers to visually inspect pages with the help of a Highlighter tool that makes checking a page’s CSS and HTML code that much easier. This feature was originally planned for Firefox 4, but since its postponement has been significantly overhauled.

Firefox 11.0a2 Aurora

Aurora is an “alpha” build of Firefox, which means it’s undergone minimum testing only. As such it’s not suitable for everyday use, which is why Firefox Aurora is installed as a separate build alongside the stable or beta build, allowing you to test its features without affecting your day-to-day browsing. Settings are shared between Firefox Aurora and your other build, however, so again caution should be exercised before installing it.

Version 11 doesn’t exhibit much in the way of major features -- a number slated for inclusion in Firefox 11 according to the Features/Release Tracking page aren’t present in this first alpha build. Those that are present include support for synchronizing Add-Ons in Firefox Sync, partial support for importing data (bookmarks, history and cookies at this early stage) from Google Chrome and two new tools for developers: a Style Editor for tweaking CSS settings on the fly, and a new 3D view (Tilt) for Page Inspector.

Firefox 12.0a1 Nightly

Firefox’s Nightly channel gives users access to code hot off the press, but while you’re looking at the latest bleeding-edge version of Firefox, you’re also venturing into uncharted waters because much of this new code has had no testing at all. Nightly builds update regularly, so once installed you’ll find your build updating on a much more frequent basis than other unstable releases.

At the time of writing, Firefox Nightly exhibits no new features above and beyond that of Aurora - but there are some interesting developments in the pipeline, as revealed on the Features/Release Tracking page of the Mozilla Wiki.

These include a number of features ported across from the UX build (see below), including an integrated download manager instead of a separate pop-up window, plus full integration of Web Apps into the desktop. Also slated is renewed support for inline autocomplete, a feature ditched from version 4.

Nightly is also available as a 64-bit build for compatible versions of Windows and Linux.

We’d recommend all but developers and serious, knowledgeable enthusiasts avoid the Nightly builds of Firefox.

Firefox 12.0a1 UX

Introduced in our last update, Firefox UX (also available as a dedicated 64-bit build for Windows and Linux) provides a parallel Nightly build of Firefox that concentrates on developing a new interface for Firefox. Some of the features previewed here have finally made the transition to the Aurora channel, meaning they will soon appear in the version of Firefox most people have installed on their machines.

Other changes remain exclusive to UX for now, including the integrated download manager widget that appears in the top right-hand corner of the window, a rather rudimentary looking New Tab page, and some other more minor tweaks like the removal of Address and Search bars when running a Web App such as twitter.com via its own button.

For an idea of what else UX may see appearing in the near future, check out this Mozilla UX presentation from August.

In Summary

Which version of Firefox should you try? Stick to the most stable version you feel comfortable with, although there are a number of new features filtering through versions 10, 11 and 12 to tempt even the most casual user into taking a sneak peek into the future and install a less stable build. And despite the lack of new features in version 12 of Firefox UX, if you’ve not yet previewed some of the changes to the Firefox user interface being developed, it still represents a tantalising glimpse into the future.

Back up if you plan to try out Beta or Aurora builds of Firefox. And If you do decide to give the Nightly or UX builds a try, consider using a non-critical machine or virtual setup (try VirtualBox) instead of your main computer, just in case…

It’s annoying when a personal PC won’t start, and you can’t get online or check your emails. When a corporate PC fails, though, the consequences are often much worse. Employees can’t do their jobs, customers may be impacted, and in some cases there could be knock-on effects right across the business. It’s vital to get the problem solved immediately, then -- and O&O Software’s BlueCon 9, released this week, could be just the tool to help.

The program comes in the form of a bootable Windows PE-based recovery environment. Launch this from a CD or USB flash drive and you’ll find a familiar Windows desktop, which has been enhanced by a host of troubleshooting and diagnostic tools.

So there are programs to repair file system errors, for instance. To recover some critical accidentally deleted file, or restore an entire lost partition. Or maybe the system won’t start because a faulty driver or service? BlueCon can help there, too.

Bundled user management tools can assist if a user has forgotten their password, or perhaps their user profile has become corrupted. There’s an option to recover from a faulty Windows update. And the SRP Manager can use Windows XP system restore points to wind back the system to a previous state.

And as well as these and other task-specific tools, BlueCon provides a raft of general accessories to help you manually address more complex issues. So you can investigate the stricken system’s event logs, for instance, or edit its Registry. You’re able to manually tweak the PC’s service, driver and user account settings. A simple file manager makes it easy to locate files on the target PC’s hard drive (and copy them elsewhere, if necessary). You can work at a command line; accessories like Notepad and a calculator aim to make your life easier; and there’s even a bundled copy of Firefox, so you can research an issue online or perhaps download any additional files you might need.

The price for all this is $1,090, which may leave your eyes watering if you’re a home user. This is a one-off fee, though; if you manage a large business network, and BlueCon can help you get broken systems working again more quickly then it won’t take long to realize return on your investment. But if it’s just too much, then O&O does offer alternatives; their EasyLicensing SMB scheme, for instance, means you can have BlueCon for a monthly subscription from as little as $29.

If this might work for you, then we’d recommend you give BlueCon a look: it’s easy to set up and use, yet is also a very powerful disaster recovery toolkit, with everything you need to solve all the most common PC problems (and quite a few of the unusual ones, too).

Earlier this week I sold my Fujifilm FinePix X100, one of the best digital cameras I've owned, since buying my first in 1997. I gave up the delightful X100 for two reasons: I needed cash to pay for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus and because the Google phone is digicam enough for me. I'm not alone, based on survey data NPD released today.

NPD reports a 10 point increase in photos taken with smartphones and nearly corresponding number taken with digital cameras -- that 17 percent to 27 percent and from 52 percent to 44 percent, respectively, year over year. The data is for the United States. What about the nearly 30 percent remaining? Is film still that popular? I asked NPD. Nope. Camcorders and dumb phones account for the remainder. Well, tell that to Lomography!

"There is no doubt that the smartphone is becoming 'good enough' much of the time; but thanks to mobile phones, more pictures are being taken than ever before", Liz Cutting, NPD executive director, says. "Consumers who use their mobile phones to take pictures and video were more likely to do so instead of their camera when capturing spontaneous moments".

Photo above, Santa filling his plate at Hometown Buffet, is one of those "spontaneous moments". I took it December 11, 2010, using iPhone 4. As I've oft said, the camera with you is better than none at all. The smartphone camera is more likely to be with me than any other.

Cutting brings up "good enough", a term analysts like to throw around when comparing products -- and rightly so. Often the measure of successful products, particularly when replacing something else, isn't better or best but good enough. It cuts both ways, when Product B replaces Product A or when Product B meets most peoples' needs such that they don't want Product C or D.

Good example of the first scenario: MP3s are inferior to music CDs, because of bitrate and compression. But audio fidelity reached a point where it was good enough for most people and the convenience of downloading right away, instead of going to the store, or choosing singles over full albums made MP3s better in some ways.

That's where I am today with smartphone versus digital camera. The images produced are good enough, or better, in most situations and other capabilities are better, such as location tagging, ability to set focus by dragging finger across touchscreen and instant upload to photo-sharing or social-networking sites. Photos can be edited on the smartphone, too, making it a portable digital studio. Galaxy Nexus offers instant-shutter response. True, there is no telephoto, large CMOS sensor or advanced features. But I don't need them most of the time. Probably you don't either.

Not surprisingly, smartphones are chewing away the low-end of the digital imaging market. Retail unit sales of point-and-shoot cameras fell 17 percent, while revenue sank 18 percent -- that's during the first 11 months of the year. Meanwhile, pocket camcorder sales fell 13 percent in units and 27 percent in revenue. Flash camcorders declined 8 percent and 10 percent, in units and revenue, respectively.

As tidy a size the X00 is, I'm not likely to take it everywhere, while Galaxy Nexus is with most of the time. So I've given up digital cameras for now. The smartphone is good enough and surely will get better. It's the way of innovation. Chris Consumer can produce photos using a camera or smartphone automatically that only pros could do a decade ago. The software processing is that good.

That said, good enough doesn't mean always enough. "For important events, single-purpose cameras or camcorders are still largely the device of choice", Cutting says. Sales of cameras with detachable lenses -- mirrorless models like Sony's NEX series or micro-four thirds cameras made by Olympus and Panasonic; or dSLRs like Nikon D90 -- rose 12 percent in units and 11 percent in revenue, from January to November. Average selling price: $863. Meanwhile, sales of pocket cameras with long zoom ranges -- 10X or more -- rose by 16 percent; 10 percent in revenue. ASP: $247.

Is your smartphone camera good enough most of the time? Please link to your best photo taken with a smartphone. If I get enough of them, we'll put them together into a slideshow. Linking the photo here assumes your permission to use the image solely for the slideshow, if there is one.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday approved the first database of all the unused wireless frequencies known as "white spaces" in the United States and has given the green light to the first hardware that will use them.

White space, or the wireless spectrum that was freed from the transition from analog to digital television, would be available to use without requiring a wireless license, similar to the way wi-fi works today. The problem, of course, is that the wireless frequencies that fall in this white space varies from market to market. This is why the database was required.

The database was collected by Spectrum Bridge Inc, who the FCC and Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) appointed in the beginning of 2011.

"With today’s approval of the first TV white spaces database and device, we are taking an important step towards enabling a new wave of wireless innovation," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement on Thursday. "Unleashing white spaces spectrum has the potential to exceed even the many billions of dollars in economic benefit from Wi-Fi, the last significant release of unlicensed spectrum, and drive private investment and job creation."

To utilize the white space in a particular area, devices must query this database to find out which channels are unoccupied by authorized radio services, and the first official White Space test deployment will be Wilmington North Carolina, the city which three years ago became the first digital television "transition" market.

The hardware used in this market will be supplied by KTS Wireless, whose KTS TV bands device is the first approved for white space broadband data applications.

Despite having its own mobile platform to support, Microsoft is still understandably keen to keep its fingers in other pies, particularly those tasty iOS desserts. As such it should come as no surprise that there is an app that can be used to access the files you have chosen to store in the cloud in your SkyDrive from your iPhone, iPod or iPad. There is now no shortage of online storage services to choose from, but from the offset this is one that will prove popular with anyone looking to not only store files online, but to benefit from integration with other Microsoft services such as Hotmail.

SkyDrive itself is not all that new a service, but the iOS app is. This means that it is now possible to interact with your SkyDrive account in two ways. Not only can you access the files that you have already uploaded, you can also upload files whilst you are out and about. Ultimately this makes it possible to take photos with your iPhone camera and rather than having to email to yourself or sync with your computer, you can upload the images so that they can be accessed from any computer. This is also a great way to share images with others, but this can also be achieved by attaching them to an email from within the app.

While the SkyDrive app is certainly useful, it is not without its problems. If you want to upload more than one image or file, you are likely to become frustrated by the fact that each one will need to be uploaded individually. The inability to transfer multiple files simultaneously is a strange oversight, but hopefully something that will be addressed in future versions. There are also limitations on the types of file that can be previewed within the app and it would have been nice to be able to edit your files online. Again, this is something to add to the wish list for future releases.

Where SkyDrive falls down when compared to the likes of DropBox is in the lack of OS integration. The app really is standalone that is handy for viewing your files, and provides you with the option of sharing them, but if you want to actually do anything with your files, you’re out of luck. There is no option to open files in a different app, so while you can view the images you have uploaded to your SkyDrive, you are not able to load them into the iOS version of Photoshop for a little editing, and if you have an office suite installed, these can also not be used.

This lack of support for third party apps works both ways. There is no way to create a document in an app you have installed and then upload it to SkyDrive. The only options you have are to upload photos and videos that you already have stored on your device. These are limitations that need to be remembered before investing too much time in the app -- if you intend to work primarily with photos and video, it may be just what you have been looking for.

When working with photos, the images you have uploaded are previewed in a well-presented form. The ability to create folders from within the app makes it easy to organize pictures and other files. Unfortunately, it is not possible to create files directly in your SkyDrive. The fact that the service comes complete with 25GB of free storage is obviously a major draw, and the ability to access files on the move is definitely useful.

It is shame to see that the app is, while handy, is not something that could be described as essential. There are too many little niggles that get in the way of this being a great app. With a few tweaks here and there, there is plenty of potential for this to develop into something special, but at the moment, it is not really all that impressive.

You can grab yourself a free copy of the app by paying a visit to the SkyDrive page.

Christmastime is coming soon, Santa's on his way. As jolly old St. Nick makes his rounds of Silicon Valley this weekend, which tech CEOs will be on his "Naughty" and "Nice" lists this year? We here at BetaNews are secret elves, and we'd like to help out the man in red by giving our opinion on who should get what they asked for, and who needs a big lump of coal.

Some of our picks are pretty obvious, while others may surprise you. Our list is intended to make you think and to spur some discussion on the trends in tech during 2011. Either way, we want to hear from you on who you think deserves to be on this list. We'll follow up Friday with your responses.

On The "Naughty" List

Leo Apotheker, former HP CEO: Oh, Leo. You came in with blazing glory to replace shamed CEO Mark Hurd. But I gotta say, you left with about as much shame but for different reasons. You attempted to ditch your company's signature consumer PC business, and tossed out TouchPad before it even had a chance to establish itself. This all while HP found itself missing sales targets. Not a way to get on Santa's good side, eh?

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazardis, co-CEOs of RIM: Before I start, is it too much to ask for a single CEO at RIM? Two of them certainly aren't cutting it. RIM as a company is failing, with trouble in meeting deadlines for its BlackBerry 10 OS, and an inability to produce compelling devices. Its flirtation with the tablet market has been a disaster, and so has its stock price, which is down a staggering 80% percent from its February high. It's time to face the music here...

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft: Everyone knows we love to pick on Mr. Ballmer here at BetaNews in our commentaries, but it's well deserved. As CEO of your company, you're expected to perform. Ballmer's record isn't too stellar. Since he took the helm of Microsoft in 2000, the company has had few successes. Look at its stock price, too: essentially stagnant at or around $25 for the past decade. What other chief executive would be able to get away with such crappy share performance?

Reed Hastings, Netflix: No CEO is more deserving of being on our naughty list this year than Mr. Hastings. First he and his company jacked up the rate for keeping both DVDs by mail and streaming by 60 percent. Then Hastings decides to spin off the DVD business into something called Qwikster, but quickly takes that back. That's not it: after all this he goes on YouTube and admits he really screwed up. This while customers begin to second guess their Netflix subscriptions. Not building a good case for a big gift there, Reed!

Steve Jobs, late CEO of Apple: We are saddened to give Mr. Jobs this distinction posthumously. But it's deserved. Why? Apple's relentless patent attacks against competitors licensing Android. Take this quote from his biography: "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this". All these patent lawsuits aren't play-nice behavior. How could Santa approve?

On The "Nice" List

Meg Whitman, HP CEO: Color us surprised. Fresh off her not too successful run for governor of California, we think Santa's happy with Meg this year. She's hit the ground running with HP, making the right decision in keeping the company's consumer PC business in house, and at least giving WebOS a chance by spinning it off into open source. Her hints at a possible WebOS tablet again in 2013 make us think that she's ready to completely repudiate Apotheker's leadership.

Jack Dorsey, Square CEO: Mr. Dorsey deserves Santa's attention just for what his company has done to credit card processing. Once a luxury of big business, now anyone can process credit cards and at a reasonable rate. Offering features like next-day deposits makes it all the better. There's no wonder that Square now processes some $4 million in transactions per day in less than a year in existence.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon: To his shareholders, Mr. Bezos couldn't be anything but nice. He understands that it's just not the product itself, but the ecosystem around it. This is why Kindle Fire will be so successful, and Amazon likely will soon be the de-facto Android device manufacturer. While Kindle Fire is certainly getting a little bit of pushback over some growing pains and quality issues, Amazon as a whole is doing extraordinarily well for its first entry into the tablet sector. Besides, we've heard from unnamed sources, Mrs. Claus bought a Kindle Fire for Santa's stocking.

We'd love to publish a second list from you. Please tell us which tech CEOs you think were naughty or nice this year, in comments.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

When you’re looking to optimize a PC’s performance, then defragmenting its hard drive and reorganizing the file layout is generally a very good place to start: it’s easy to do, typically delivers great results, and doesn’t have to cost you anything as there are plenty of excellent freeware defrag utilities around.

Auslogics Disk Defrag 3, for instance, has always been one of our favorite PC freebies. A clean interface makes it easy to use, defragging is fast and the program can rearrange your files to noticeably improve performance. It’s a great product, so when we heard the company would enhance it to produce a commercial version, Disk Defrag Professional 4 ($29.95), we were very interested to see exactly what features might be added.

And so when a very complete, near-finished beta version arrived, we installed it to take a closer look.

Interface

The program itself remains compact, with a 3MB installer, and a 12MB disk footprint. The interface has undergone a major revamp, though, and while you generally operate it in a similar way, there’s much more to explore.

Click the Analyze button to check the condition of a drive, for instance, and as usual you’ll see the percentage of fragmented files, as well as the usual mosaic-style drive map.

There’s also a “Files” tab listing every fragmented file.

Detailed statistics on offer include figures for free space fragmentation, the maximum free space block and more, and the program uses all this data to produce a figure estimating the impact on your system performance.

Perhaps most significantly, though, these reports aren’t just isolated one-offs any more. A Statistics tab records your Performance, Fragmentation, Free Space Fragmentation and Fragmented Files figures, then plots these on graphs allowing you to see how they’ve changed over hours, days and weeks. So if some change in your system is resulting in more file fragmentation, then this will be quickly highlighted, so you can dig deeper and try to uncover the cause.

Defrag strategies

One of the most important features of any defrag tool is the number of methods it provides to optimize your drive, and Disk Defrag 4 Professional doesn’t disappoint here: it’s packed with useful options.

In a click or two you can choose to defragment an individual file, a folder, a single drive, or all your local drives, for instance.

You can decide to organize your files by their last access or modification time, so for, example, a file you changed yesterday might be moved to the fastest area of your hard drive, while one you’ve not touched since 1997 may be safely exiled to somewhere less speedy.

There’s an option to take more advanced control of this, and define exactly what should go in the faster or slower areas of your hard drive. By default, for instance, folders, system files, frequently accessed documents and Registry files are optimized for speed, while temporary files, large and multimedia files, archives and temporary files are assumed they can be moved to the slow lane, but if this doesn’t suit your needs then it’s all up for change.

Interestingly, Disk Defrag Professional 4 can also use Windows' own prefetch data to optimize your file layout. Windows already uses this to determine which files need to be loaded when your PC boots and applications start, so having your defrag tool relocate those files to a faster area of the drive makes a lot of sense.

And there are all kinds of other useful tweaks on offer here. You can set up the program to delete temporary files before it begins defragging, for instance. You might instruct it not to bother defragmenting particular file types at all. There are options to reduce future fragmentation by leaving a small amount of free space after specified file types, for instance, and the list goes on.

But don’t think this means the program has become bloated, or complex.

At its simplest, you can set up the appropriate actions through a Defrag Wizard, which just asks you a few basic questions, chooses the appropriate settings and schedules a defrag job for you.

And even if you want to exploit every possible option on offer, it’s still relatively straightforward. Once you’ve combined your preferred settings into a custom profile, this can be set as your default, and Disk Defrag Professional will then carry out your wishes at a click, nothing else to worry about.

Resource Management

You’ll often want a defrag job to finish just as fast as it possibly can. We’ll tell you more about Disk Defrag Professional’s performance when we review it, but our first impressions are that it’s every bit as fast as previous editions, and the way you can configure its scans also suggests there’s plenty of opportunity to optimize the program for speed.

It’s often better if a defrag tool can simply minimize its impact on your system resources, though, so it continues to run in the background, but without you really noticing. And Disk Defrag Professional includes a new resource management scheme to make this happen.

These allow you to define, say, the maximum percentage load the defrag job is able to create on your CPU.

You’re able to limit the amount of traffic it causes on your hard drive.

If you’re using Disk Defrag Professional on a laptop, then you can reduce its impact on battery life by only allowing defrags when you’re connected to the mains.

And an excellent Applications section enables you to define programs that you really don’t want interrupted, at all. So if you launch some heavy-duty game, say, then any active defrag job will be postponed until it’s closed.

Configure a profile to suit your needs and you can greatly reduce the impact Disk Defrag Professional has on your PC, then. Although of course the other factor to consider here is the scheduler, and that, too, has many useful options. In particular, the program’s Auto Defragmentation feature can step in to defrag your drive whenever the system is idle. And of course you can also schedule defrags to run unattended at particular times, or when your PC boots, allowing the program to defragment system files which would otherwise be locked.

Pro vs Free

We’ve covered the Disk Defrag Professional 4 basics, then, but there’s actually much to the program: it has considerable depth.

After analyzing a disk it displays a standard-looking drive map, for instance, but this isn’t just a static chart -- it’s actually a dynamic clusters inspector. Click one of the squares and you’re able to view the disk clusters and files it contains, very handy when you’re trying to understand what’s causing fragmentation in the first place.

There are special algorithms and support for VSS (shadow copy)-enabled and SSD drives, too. The latter, Auslogics say, is particularly useful as it can prevent extra shadow copies being taken due to file movement, as well as reducing the chance of overwriting previous VSS snapshots.

And once you’re happy that all this power delivers exactly what you need then you can even have Disk Defrag Professional 4 fully integrate with Windows, and replace the standard defrag tool. (The old executable remains there if you should ever need it, this just means that if you choose the Defrag option from Explorer, Auslogics Disk Defrag Professional 4 is the program which will appear.)

Put this all together and Auslogics have created a very impressive high-end defrag tool, highly configurable and packed with professional options: we’re already looking forward to reviewing the finished version, to see how it performs in real life tests.

If there’s no way you’re going to buy a defrag utility, though, don’t worry, there will be still be a free version. It’ll have lots of limitations, leaving out most of the defragmentation strategies, with far weaker reporting and scheduling options, and very limited resource management, amongst other issues. But it also looks to us like it’ll be better than the free Disk Defrag 3, and of course we’ll also tell you more about that, including a detailed review, when it’s released in January.

Open-source software engineering group Linaro has pushed out a build of Android Ice Cream Sandwich for low-cost development boards from Samsung and ST-Ericsson. The build supports hardware acceleration for Systems on a Chip utililzing ARM's Mali-400 graphics processor.

Linaro is a year-old nonprofit group that focuses on optimizing open-source software for the ARM architecture; and besides ARM, its due-paying members include Freescale, IBM, Samsung, ST-Ericsson, and Texas Instruments. It creates ARM hardware-optimized middleware upon which developers and OEMs can build their own Android or Ubuntu distributions.

Today, the company rolled out Linaro 11.12, which supports the Samsung Origen development board and ST-Ericcson Snowball development boards in addition to the Texas Instruments PandaBoard and Freescale i.MX53 Quick Start board.

On Origen and Snowball, support for ARM's Mali-400 hardware accelerated graphics has been added, and some early graphical performance tests can be seen in the videos we've embedded below.

Additionally, this new build of the Linaro Toolchain uses the latest GNU Compiler Collection (GCC 4.6) to build Android, and the company says it gives developers early access to the performance improvements Linaro has been developing for the next release of GCC, including features that allow software to manually or automatically parallelize compute tasks across the multiple cores in the chips.

But in a broader sense, this middleware puts Android and Ubuntu development on a relatively level playing field...or at least in the same general league, a place Canonical said Ubuntu belongs.

Linaro 11.12 is available now, and the next get-together for the Linux-on-ARM community will take place in San Fransisco on February 6-10.

The New Year is almost upon us and for many people this means it’s time to think about making New Year’s resolutions. Whether you subscribe to the idea of setting yourself such goals or not, the arrival of a new year is as good a time as any to consider the security of your computer. And with Christmas only just around the corner, you could head on over to the BetaNews Downloadcrew Software Store to buy a present for yourself and your computer -- you’ll find all manner of essential security tools available at heavily discounted prices.

If there is one piece of security software that everyone should have installed it is an antivirus tool. It is possible that you already have the free version of AVG’s virus protection tool installed, but for a mere $6.95 you could upgrade to the full commercial edition of AVG Anti-Virus 2012 -- a huge saving of 83 percent off the MSRP. Offering protection not only against viruses and malware, the program can also check links for malicious downloads, scan incoming emails and protect against identity theft. In addition to this, you can benefit from instant messaging protection, priority support and more frequent program updates.

You can take your security to the next level, take a look at AVG Internet Security 2012 [1-PC]. For just $19.95, a savings of 64 percent, you can take advantage of all of the virus protection features of AVG Anti-Virus, but also parental controls, online backup and Internet optimization. Unlike many other security titles, this is one that will not have a negative impact on system performance, thanks to a raft of software optimization that has been carried out to make the program as streamlined as possible. As increasing numbers of households have more than one computer, multi-license purchases make more sense and could mean saving even more money. There is also a four user license version of this program available; why not move up to the 4-PC 1-Yr for only $24.99 -- AVG Internet Security 2012 [4-PC, 1-YR]?

AVG Premium Security 2012 is the next step up the security ladder, and in addition to all of the tools found in AVG Internet Security there are also system performance enhancing options. In a couple of clicks you can clean up the registry, remove junk files and optimize your hard drive. There’s also the Identity Alert component which ensures that your credit card details and other private data aren’t being shared over the Internet. You can grab a copy of the app for 50 percent off the MSRP at just $34.99.

Everyone wants their children to reap the benefits of being able to access the Internet, but it is also important to keep them safe online. This is precisely how AVG Family Safety 2012 can help and you can buy a copy of this software for 60 percent off the MSRP at just $7.95. The program can be installed on up to three computers at no additional charge, and it includes tools that enable you to monitor and control how your children use the Internet. This includes blocking access to websites you deem unsuitable, preventing the use of certain programs and even monitor IM and email communication.

The security of your computer and children is very important, but you may be interested in securing your files. Using AVG LiveKive 2012 [UNLIMITED], you can store your files online with unlimited storage space, and even store multiple versions of the same files. Available for the massively discounted price of $19.95 – a 75 percent savings -- this is definitely one not to miss.

Essential Security Software

AVG is just one of the big names you can save money on. Bitdefender Internet Security 2012 [1-PC, 1-Year] is available at a 74 percent discount for just $12.99. The suite offers virus protection, spam filtering, malware blocking, file encryption and parental controls, all wrapped up in one neat interface. If you are only interested in virus protection, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012 [1-PC, 1-YR] can keep for computer safe for just $6.95 -- saving 72 percent off the MSRP.

Emsisoft Anti-Malware 6 will add an extra layer of protection to your existing security software for the bargain price of $9.95 – saving your 75 percent off the MSRP. The application includes virus and malware protection and will even warn you about the presence of suspicious software and files rather than just those that are definitely malicious. From the same company comes Emsisoft Online Armor Premium Firewall 5 which adds an important layer of protection to your Internet connection. Buy the program for just $9.95, a saving of 75 percent off the MSRP, and you can take control of the traffic to and from your computer. The rule based system makes it easy to control which if your installed programs are permitted to access the Internet.

Keeping your computer secure is very important, but everyone wants to get the best possible performance from their hardware. IObit’s Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 enables you to achieve all of this in one handy package. For just $7.95 --saving you 60 percent -- you can protect your computer against viruses and malware and use an arsenal of tools to keep your system in good shape. There’s a registry cleanup and defragmenter, a file shredder, memory optimization and much, much more.

Other security tools worth casting your eyes over when considering your purchases are Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 [1-PC, 1-YR] and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 [1-PC, 1-YR]. The former is available at a 67 percent discount for just $19.95 and provides real-time protection against viruses and malware as well as IM protection, a phishing filter, parental controls and a virtual keyboard to help avoid keyloggers. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 [1-PC, 1-YR] offers real-time and on-demand virus protection as well as email scanning and rootkit protection.

So no matter what type of protection you are looking for, the Downloadcrew Software Store has something for you. There are also plenty of other non-security related bargains to grab.

Note that many of these deals will end December 31 2011, so hurry!

Finally, keep one eye on the new Downloadcrew Giveaway. This brand new website will bring you the occasional full software giveaway, sandwiched between super-cheap further discounted products.

Photo Credit: Ye/Shutterstock

Apple's iPad leads the tablet market. It's a fact supported by extensive market research, and you'd have to split hairs to try to refute it.

However, the tablet market has matured and segmented over the last two years, and data continues to roll in showing that Amazon has effectively capitalized on that segmentation with the Kindle Fire.

Earlier in December, IHS iSuppli projected that Amazon's Kindle Fire would become the second best-selling tablet behind the iPad. Today, a poll of tablet buyers conducted by Maritz Research showed that Amazon's Kindle Fire has made its way to the top of mind for the low-end consumer segment.

Maritz Research identifies four tablet consumer segments: Single-minded buyers, tablet-committed buyers, newcomers, and low-end buyers. Each of these categories has roughly the same demographic makeup (between 54-60 percent female with average ages between 35-45 years,) and are defined by their general awareness of the tablet market and their preferences. Single-minded buyers are those who know only about the iPad and want to buy one; tablet-committed buyers are highly aware of three or more brands and would consider one among them, newcomers recognize tablet brand names but have no affinity for a single brand, and low-end buyers are focused primarily on spending less than $250.

Therefore, the introduction of the Kindle Fire in September has caused a significant jump in low-cost tablet purchases in the last three months. Cost-conscious buyers have shown a 26 percent increase in impulse tablet purchases, which is higher than the overall market (17 percent increase.)

One of the persistent Apple rumors this season has been that the company is considering a 7", lower-cost iPad to address this value-conscious buying segment. That move would be similar to the one it made with the iPod Shuffle in 2005. The iPod Shuffle, released five years into the iPod family's life, was the company's first portable music device to cost less than $100. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said the Shuffle grabbed a 58 percent share of the flash-based media player market in just six months.

It is a move sure to change the dynamics of the Consumer Electronics Show, and one the tech media may not have expected so soon. Microsoft announced Wednesday that CES 2012 is the last it will maintain a significant presence. After this January? No keynotes, no booth. Attendees won't even know the Redmond, Wash.-based company is there in 2013. If you want to gawk at a CEO Steve Ballmer CES keynote, next year's show is your ticket, and the last.

"We won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing", says Frank Shaw, head of corporate communications at Microsoft. "It feels like the right time to make this transition".

Shaw extends the typical pleasantries to the Consumer Electronics Association for their two-decade relationship and how Microsoft looks forward to working with the organization "for many years to come". But the writing is on the wall here: CES is outliving its usefulness.

Microsoft is by no means the first company to end its relationship with a conference like CES. Apple long was the signature exhibitor at IDG's Macworld Expo, as well as the keynote. Cofounder Steve Jobs and Apple used the event to launch new products, which during the company's rise made the event a must-go on many a tech journalist's calendar.

That ended in 2009, when, after Apple announced in December 2008, that year's Macworld keynote was its last. The Cliff's Notes of its reasoning? The company could do such events better on its own, and on its own terms.

Shaw seems to follow this reasoning in his own explanation of Microsoft's move. The company was essentially forced to plan its product rollouts around the CES keynote, when the tech press expects them to make major announcements. This puts unnecessary pressure on the company.

This year's keynote was a good example of this problem. It was a bore and upstaged earlier in the day by a big Microsoft announcement -- that Windows 8 would support ARM processors. If the journalists in attendance are unenthused, what do you think they're going to write?

As I said earlier, CES as an event has outlived its usefulness. In my seven years covering tech, I've been to one CES (that's in 2006). It wasn't a good experience. In the fewest words possible, it was too big, too crowded, and too confusing. But don't take my word for it -- listen to other tech journalists who have gone many more times than me.

I am hearing my own observations repeated by those long-time CES-goers. It's a problem for CES with no easy fix. And it's not going away any time soon.

The dynamics of the tech news media have changed since CES' humble beginnings. While years ago a yearly confab made sense, in these days of the 24-hour news cycle it doesn't work. Wait all year to make that big splashy (and expensive) CES announcement, and you run the risk of some blogger blowing your cover wide open. These companies can get a bigger bang out of their own events where they are the show, and the focus is on them.

I am not saying that CES is dead. But Microsoft's exit is a sign of the times and the start of a shift in how technology companies get their products out in front of the media and consumers. I can't say I blame them.

This holiday, Google has delighted searchers with Easter Egg "let it snow", which spread virally across blogs and social networks over the weekend. Type "let it snow" into a Google search box and watch the flakes fall. It's a wonderful HTML5 demo.

Snow ball fight! Microsoft couldn't let Google's demo go unanswered, offering its own, which is best for the minority of people running Windows 8 Developer Preview on a PC with touchscreen display. Rob Mauceri, Internet Explorer group product manager explains in post "Let it snow.. faster!" Say, Google, are you going to let Microsoft throw more snow?

Microsoft's response is timely and capitalizes on Google's viral success with "let it snow". Internet Explorer usage share is a falling rock, while Chrome keeps gobbling it up like Pac-Man. Internet Explorer usage share was 52.64 percent in November, according to NetApplications, down from 60.35 percent two years earlier and more than 90 percent when Firefox launched in December 2004. Meanwhile Chrome continues its relentless gains: 18.18 percent in November, up from 17.62 a month earlier and 9.5 percent in November 2010. Chrome 1.0 launched three years ago this month. That's reason enough for Microsoft to try and show up its rival.

Mauceri beats the PC-hardware acceleration drum: "Get ready for a GPU-powered snow storm", he writes. "This experience brings together hardware-accelerated HTML5 canvas, SVG, CSS, and more". I visited Microsoft's "Let It Snow" test site, where flakes fell fast and furious -- 60 per second at the default setting. It was a white-out, particularly at maximum 4,000. By comparison, flakes floated in Chrome 16. Uh-oh, 7 per second at the default setting.

Chrome does offer hardware acceleration, if you dare. I enabled "GPU compositing on all pages" and "GPU Accelerated Canvas 2D" by typing "about:flags" in the address bar. This leads to page titled: "Careful, these experiments may bite". I relaunched Chrome and returned to Microsoft's test site, where snow slowly fell still. I disabled the features and relaunched Chrome yet again.

I can't say if Microsoft's snow site is rigged or not, but IE looks pretty good to me. Something else, and I'll let the real browser experts get down and dirty in comments: Surely 64-bit matters somehow. Firefox and IE both are 64-bit. But not Chrome. Eh, so much for Google's modern browser. There's leaded gas in my unleaded tank.

Hey, what about Firefox 9? Generous snowfall, 60 flakes per second at the default setting. But, song "Let it Snow" didn't play, like the other two browsers.

I gotta admit that Google's snow demo looks pathetic compared to Microsoft's. But I couldn't test the good stuff, not having a touchscreen PC running Windows 8.

"On Windows Developer Preview with support for multi-touch in IE10, you can reach out and brush the snow off the sign and reveal a holiday message -- or just use your mouse", Mauceri writes.

That's okay, I bought "A Charlie Brown Christmas" for my Android tablet, Motorola XOOM LTE, and can get my touch-the-snow fix there. Hey, I live in Southern California now. That's about the best winter-like experience I'm going to get here.

So-o-o-o-o, I'm trying to get into the holiday spirit here at BetaNews, which explains posting the Team CoCo video mocking Amazon Kindle Fire. That's one for all you iPad lovers and Apple fans. Retrevo has redone two classic Christmas carols, and, it only seems fair after giving iPad idolaters a present the Android army should get one, too.

Sing along for Android "our newfound king". Given Android's recent market share rise against iOS, that's no idle claim.

Lyrics:

Glory to our new found king
Mobile users, far and wide
iPhones now, have been defiled

Joyful all ye Androids rise
Join the triumph of the skies
Samsung’s here, for me and you,
Galaxy, Though art, S Two
Hark the herald, Androids sing
Glory to our new found king

There's also "I'm Dreaming of a New iPad", but it just didn't grab me as much.

I promise not to post too much of this fluff stuff, but, hey, let's spread some holiday cheer!

Verizon 4G customers are experiencing issues with connectivity for the second time this month as the carrier struggles to restore the network. Issues are being reported throughout the company's nationwide 4G LTE network, although the cause is not immediately known.

"Verizon Wireless 4G LTE service is returning to normal this morning, after company engineers worked to resolve an issue with the 4G network during the early morning hours today", the company says. "Throughout this time, 4G LTE customers were able to make voice calls and send and receive text messages. The 3G data network operated normally".

Wednesday morning's downtime follows another incident two weeks ago where LTE customers also were blocked from using data, although voice and texting remained operational. It is not immediately clear whether the two incidents are related, but it certainly gives a black eye to the carrier that prides itself on its coverage and service through its advertising.

In both cases, the entire network did not fail. The issue appeared to be extensive though, with posters to Verizon Wireless' support forums reporting outages in places such as Cleveland, Denver, New York City, Minneapolis, Raleigh-Durham, NC, and Washington, DC among other places.

More recent posts indicate that the network is slowly returning, but some remained out as of midday Wednesday. "Still down in OKC", poster SeaJohn reports. "My dissatisfaction with Verizon is sadly growing greater with each week".

If you ever wondered what tablet comedian Conan O'Brien uses, perhaps this video about Amazon Kindle Fire will tell you. One commenter to the comedic segment asked: "I wonder how much Apple paid TBS for this one?" I wouldn't go that far.

You will laugh. Surely iPad fans will chuckle most.

Paragon Software has debuted the latest version of its excellent free-for-personal-use drive imaging tool, Backup & Recovery 2012 Free. The program is essentially a maintenance release, but there is one immediately obvious addition in the Express Launcher, a front-end menu which enables you to launch Backup & Recovery’s easy-to-use backup or restore wizards with a click.

Other minor interface reorganizations help to further improve ease of use. And the program uses the very latest version of Paragon’s core backup engine, so you’ll benefit from any bug fixes and performance tweaks taat have been applied over the last year.

But the key to the program’s success remains its strong set of core drive imaging features. So you can run complete or differential drive backups, optionally excluding particular file types to improve performance. Your archive can be saved to local or network drives, or split across DVD or Blu-ray discs. There’s control over compression, archive integrity checking, and DVD/ Blu-ray burning options; password-protection helps keep your archives secure; it’s easy to restore a single file from a backup, or an entire image; and a bootable recovery environment means you’ll be able to restore your last backup even if Windows has been corrupted and refuses to start.

Yet most of this functionality remains hidden in the background, unless you go looking for it, with simple wizards making it easy to set up backup jobs or restore data in the event of problems.

Backup & Recovery 2012 Free doesn’t have the most compelling of “new feature” list, but given what the program does already that’s probably no great surprise. It remains our pick of the free drive imaging tools, and the new build is available now.

That's 700,000 a day, 21 million a month or 63 million per quarter. What about iOS? Apple won't likely reveal numbers until January, when announcing holiday quarter results. Don't expect them to be anywhere near as high, but not trailing way far behind, either. Android activations are lopsided, mostly from smartphones, while iOS sees traction on handsets and media tablets.

Android head honcho Andy Rubin revealed the activations last night in a Google+ post: "There are now over 700,000 Android devices activated every day". He later qualified, and this is important: "For those wondering, we count each device only once (ie, we don't count re-sold devices), and 'activations' means you go into a store, buy a device, put it on the network by subscribing to a wireless service".

My immediate reaction: "Say what? Subscribing to a wireless service, not first sign-in with a Google account? If so, the 700,000 per day number could understate real world sales by, for example, not counting WiFi tablets and other devices, such as Google TV. Other people reading Rubin's posts wondered the same thing. "So this means you don't count wi-fi only devices?" John Nichols asked. Rubins hasn't answered.

At the least, Rubin's qualification means that Google isn't overstating the numbers and that activations more closely reflect actual sales.

So what about Apple? I've seen several financial analysts modeling 30 million iPhones for the holiday quarter, and there Apple appears to be getting a big boost at the low end from older models: iPhone 3GS for free and 4 for 99 bucks. Then last week, based on weeks-old survey data, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty raised her estimates to 31 million to 36 million unit shipments. That's into the channel and not necessarily units sold, but still a big number. She estimates 190 million next year.

Then there is iPad, for which I've seen 13 million to 14 million units. Being generous to Apple, and looking at the upper-end estimate, that's 50 million iPhones and iPads -- and ignores iPod touch. I don't see any way iOS can match Android during the quarter, but it won't be light years behind either. Assuming only 50 million, that's more than 555,555 per day or 385 per minute. That's no shabby number. Again, those figures ignore iPod touch and represent shipments, which assumes some number in inventory. Android activations presumably represent sales.

Platform Wars

As I wrote on June 30: "Android is unstoppable", which in part explains Apple's patent bullying major Android competitors HTC and Samsung. Apple sunk to new patent troll lows this week, by going after Samsung smartphone and tablet cases -- not legal ones but the skins you put your devices in. The company is trying to win through legal intimidation what it loses in the market place.

Android versus iOS is a platform war -- plain, pure and simple. It's one Google and its partners largely engage by competition but where Apple uses competition, intimidation and litigation. True HTC and Samsung are fighting back with their own patent claims, but Apple started the patent war. Surely Apple top brass see what's at stake. Markets like the United States are rapidly saturating -- there aren't many more big smartphone sales cycles left. Emerging markets like China will belong to whomever gains share fastest and builds out a supporting ecosystem.

I don't often quote other journalists, saving that distinction for analysts and others, but Mat Honan's Gizmodo post "If Apple wins, we all lose" caught my attention, in part because it's the kind of headline I would write. Honan opines:

I don't think it's so clear that it would ultimately be good for Apple to kill Android in the courts. And it certainly won't help consumers...I'm all for seeing Apple defend its intellectual property. But Android is a healthy force in the marketplace. If Apple can destroy it there, more power to Tim Cook and company. But if Apple beats Android in the courts rather than the marketplace -- if it out-segs Google instead of out-innovating it—that may be great for Apple, but it will be bad for society, bad for technology, and ultimately bad for Apple.

And of course, the great irony is that so much of the amazing innovation that Apple pulled off over the past three decades can be traced back to its willingness to swipe ideas from Xerox. Steve jobs was fond of quoting Picasso, saying 'good artists copy, great artists steal'. If Apple does succeed in crushing Android in the courts, where will it get its next great idea? My guess is that it won't come from a lawyer.

From early 1999 until this summer, I primarily was an Apple user. I switched to Android and Windows for three main reasons. Disgust at Apple patent bullying was one of them. I hope Android and iOS both succeed. There's plenty of room for 1 million activations/sales per day of both, and we should all benefit from innovation that competition spurs.

It's no secret that Mozilla needs Google. The Mountain View, Calif. search company provides a significant source of revenue for the software company, as it is the default search in Firefox. That deal has been extended an additional three years, the two companies announced on Tuesday.

"Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come", Google's search chief Alan Eustace says. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it may be safe to assume that it will contribute somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million yearly to Mozilla's bottom line.

In 2010, the Google partnership accounted for 84 percent of Mozilla's $123 million in revenues or about $103 million. Losing such a lucrative partnership would spell trouble for the company considering its weakening position in the browser market.

Google's Chrome is making significant inroads in terms of market share, quickly growing to near parity with Firefox according to recent surveys. With Chrome quickly closing in, now is not the time for Mozilla to rock the boat.

Putting it simply: Google pulls out, and Mozilla collapses. That said it still poses an interesting dichotomy, where Mozilla's biggest benefactor is also now its biggest competitor. How much longer does Google let Firefox stick around, or better yet -- how much longer does Mozilla depend on Google for its well-being?

Photo Credit: Gorilla/Shutterstock

In August, I called Apple a "patent bully". Whoa, was I wrong. Apple is a patent troll of the worst kind, if reports from Australia are true. Apple is filing a claim alleging that Samsung violates 10 patents for smartphone and tablet cases. Right, not legal cases but the skins you wrap your devices in.

Have you seen Samsung's device cases? It's one thing to assert Galaxy Tab looks like iPad 2, but Samsung device cases are petty generic, and I've got pictures to prove it. Wow, what amazing innovations are Apple trying to protect? Has Apple invented some new stitching technique? Developed leather that won't offend vegans? Wrapped iPhone in Bumpers that diminish an antenna design flaw? (It's yes to the last one.)

Apple's renewed Samsung attack comes after an appeals court overturned a preliminary injunction barring sales Of Galaxy Tab 10.1. There's something seemingly spiteful, if not desperate, about a case against cases. There was an incident this past summer about an iPad 2 Apple Smart Cover knock-off made for Tab 10.1. But Samsung didn't produce the case and says it never authorized it. From a July statement:

As a general practice, Samsung Electronics reviews and approves all accessories produced by partners before they are given the "Designed for Samsung Mobile" mark. In this case, approval was not given to Anymode for the accessory to feature this official designation. We are working with Anymode to address this oversight and the product has already been removed from the Anymode sales website. The product has not been sold.

So that leaves the cases Samsung actually sells. For Galaxy Tab 10.1 there are but two, a book cover case and pouch. Neither looks anything like Smart Cover, which is the only Apple-branded case currently for sale. Samsung sells 23 smartphone cases or shells, all but one for older generation Galaxy S phones. There is a pouch for Galaxy Nexus, which looks nothing like Apple Bumper.

Suing over generic device cases like Samsung's is simply laughable. Apple CEO Tim Cook should be embarrassed by his lawyers Down Under, and here in the States. Eleven days ago, Jason Kincaid, writing for TechCrunch revealed: "Apple Made A Deal With The Devil (No, Worse: A Patent Troll)". TechCrunch caught Apple transferring patents, through a third party, to Digital Innovations, presumably to sue other companies. That way, Digital Innovations does the dirty legal work, thus protecting Apple's image. Virginia-based DI has been called a patent troll by many.

Which is? "Patent troll is a pejorative term used for a person or company who buys and enforces patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered by the target or observers as unduly aggressive or opportunistic, often with no intention to further develop, manufacture or market the patented invention", according to Wikipedia, and it's a good description. Digital Innovations' business is about collecting patents, presumably to sue and not to invent anything.

What about Apple? The Cupertino, Calif.-based company makes lots of things. Device cases haven't been a high priority -- that's gravy for third-party partners. Where Apple has made cases, they look nothing like the generic stuff Samsung sells. From the alleged infringing products to the extent of innovations (hey, we're not talking A5 chips here but leather and lace) to the timing (after Apple's butt whacking down under) to the likelihood Apple will ever produce generic black, leather cases for its products, the company meets the definition of patent troll.

You tell me, do the Samsung cases below look any different from thousands offered by other vendors or anything like so-called Apple innovations? Comments await your answers.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 book cover case

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 pouch

 

Galaxy Nexus pouch

Art Credit: Memo Angeles/Shutterstock

With details emerging on what exactly T-Mobile USA gets as a result of the dissolution of the merger between it and AT&T, it appears in at least the short term the struggling carrier will receive a much needed boost. AT&T is entering in to a seven year roaming agreement with T-Mobile that dramatically increases the carrier's coverage area.

"Coverage will be extended to many regions of the U.S. in which T-Mobile USA previously had neither its own high-speed mobile communications network nor the associated roaming agreements", Deutsche Telekom says. AT&T will award T-Mobile USA a significant amount of AWS spectrum, which will help T-Mobile USA dramatically accelerate its 4G deployment.

That spectrum is in 128 different markets, and in 12 of the top 20 markets in the country. This includes Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Baltimore and Seattle, according to the company.

With additional spectrum and a generous roaming agreement, the real winner is the T-Mobile customer. Long-time customers know of the carrier's struggles, whether it be poor rural service or lack of spectrum (especially in major metropolitan areas). Access to AT&T's robust network could also make T-Mobile more competitive in the end, as consumers will need to worry less about coverage concerns than they had to before the roaming agreements.

All of this is in addition to a $3 billion breakup fee that AT&T is now forced to pay Deutsche Telekom, one of the highest payments for a termination of a merger in history.

That said, the German telecommunications company seems grateful for the work AT&T did in trying to salvage the difficult deal, even though it ended up being for naught.

"Deutsche Telekom would like to express its gratitude to AT&T and to Randall Stephenson and his team for the positive cooperation over the past few months", DT says. "Our working relationship was characterized by fairness and respect at all times".

Owners of Samsung's Galaxy line of tablets and smartphones won't wait long for Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich", according to an announcement the company made today. Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note will receive ICS in the first quarter of next year, followed by other Galaxy devices throughout 2012.

The new version of Android's operating system is a significant upgrade over previous releases, including enhancements such as "face unlock", improved multitasking and notifications support, and a updated user interface.

Other Galaxy devices eligible for the upgrade include the Galaxy R Phone, as well as all current iterations of the Galaxy Tab, including the 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9, and 10.1. In each market, Samsung says it will make a separate announcement alerting customers to when it expects to make the update available.

However, Samsung will not update the original Galaxy Tab tablet or Galaxy S smartphone.

Samsung was the first manufacturer to announce an Ice Cream Sandwich device when it debuted the Galaxy Nexus back in October. The device did not ship in the United States until this past week, however. It is available through Verizon Wireless for $299.99 with a two year contract.

Comodo Internet Security has been upgraded to version 5.9, in what the company unexcitingly calls a “minor maintenance release”. Don’t fall asleep just yet, though. It may not be packed with new features, but this build does have a few very interesting additions.

Top of  list is the new Smart Scan, which the company claims is “one of the smartest quick scans in the world”. And it proved very speedy on our test system, scanning more than 41,000 objects in a mere 83 seconds. Time will tell how useful this really is -- not scanning things is easy, making sure you can still identify all malware is the real problem -- but the new technology is off to a good start.

You also now get easy integration with your Comodo TrustConnect account, if you have one. Internet Security 5.9 will detect unsecured wireless connections and offer to protect you with TrustConnect, effectively providing a VPN on demand. (If you don’t have a TrustConnect account, prices range from $3.99 per 24 hours to an annual subscription of $99.95; there’s more at the Comodo site.)

Elsewhere, malware removal has been improved; installation now includes an option to download the latest version of Comodo’s secure Dragon browser; and there are the obligatory interface tweaks. Nothing too major, just reorganizing a few settings and preferences to make them generally easier to find.

And of course there’s still everything that was included in the previous version: strong antivirus, cloud-based behavioral analysis, a powerful firewall, comprehensive sandbox, and more. As before, the suite is available in Pro, Complete and Plus versions with a range of extras, but if you’re looking to keep costs down then Comodo Internet Security Premium 5.9 remains one of the best free suites around, and has been further improved with this new release: downloads are available now.

Photo Credit: Ye/Shutterstock

From all the buzz about iPad, or Android tablets, you'd never know that Windows slates are available and that they offer many unique benefits. I recently bought the ExoPC from Microsoft Store. It is a Microsoft Signature Series PC selling for $399 and running Windows 7 Home Edition.

The company says this about Signature Series PC: "Microsoft engineers carefully tune your PC to help it achieve maximum performance, and include software that really makes it fly. Add world-class antivirus security software with no renewal fees along with 90 days of technical support directly from Microsoft. That gives you a PC that's the best it can be, made that way with Microsoft Signature". The computer, or in this case tablet, isn't loaded up with performance-sapping, third-party software.

Out of the Box

I felt good; about ExoPC before opening the box, which is well-made (and looks good, too), giving the impression of a quality product. Inside I found the tablet, external charger and Microsoft Signature booklet. You should connect the tablet to the charger when first starting it up, since the battery may not be fully charged. Mine wasn't.

This is my first tablet PC, so I won't compare it to others. My first impression: it's a bit heavy. ExoPC is definitely not a "one-hand" held style of tablet, but requires two hands to hold it properly. The slate weighs just over 2 pounds. iPad 2, which doesn't have the benefit of a full desktop OS, weighs less: 1.3 pounds. That said, I showed ExoPC to a friend who has been using an Android tablet for awhile, and he commented that it felt light for its size. He actually liked the size of the screen too. At 2.09 lbs it is lighter than a Netbook, but heavier than iPad.

The tablet feels very solid and well built, not flimsy by any means -- it's built to last. There is a good size border around the display (bottom edge in landscape is slightly wider than the other three sides) so there is plenty of room for holding it with your fingers, without covering the display, which measures 11.6 inches. By that measure, ExoPC is more notebook than iPad or Android tablet.

ExoPC specs: 11.6-inch display (1366 x 768 resolution) with fingerprint-resistant coating; 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450 processor; 2 GB DDR2 memory at 667 MHz; 64 GB SSD; Intel GMA 3150 graphics; 1.3-megapixel webcam; Realtek High Definition Audio with 2 built-in 1.5-watt speakers; mini-HDMI port; two USB 2 ports; microphone input; headphone output; WiFi N; Bluetooth; and Windows 7 Home Premium. Measures 11.6 x 7.7 x 0.55 inches and weighs 2.09 pounds.

The display is very pleasing. The resolution is really about the lowest one would want to use for a Windows tablet (1366 x 768). This is the same resolution that Microsoft used on tablets when demoing Windows 8 at the BUILD conference, so my impression is that it may become the defacto standard for a Windows tablet (unless it is a 4:3 display of course). The viewing angle vertically (in landscape mode) is not as good as I would have hoped (actually a little poor), so you really need to face it straight on. The horizontal viewing angle though (in landscape) is very good, so someone to your side can see quite well. The touchscreen is very responsive and after calibrating it very accurate.

The 16:9 display ratio appears better suited to landscape mode than portrait, but the resolution is very good so portrait mode should be acceptable to those who use tablets for an ereader. I am a Windows software developer, so landscape will most likely be the prefered mode for me. Still, the 11.6-inch display is a delight -- if you plan on doing a lot of work with ExoPC, rather than simply use it for the typical content consumption (viewing content rather than creating it), like many tablet users do. Size of display is one of the reasons I chose this tablet.

What About Documentation?

There are no buttons on the front of the tablet (power button is on the back), but the light sensor at the top-left corner can be used when the tablet requires keyboard input at times when the operating system is not yet running (i.e., boot menu when two operating systems have been installed). If you move your finger over the light sensor it acts like an arrow key and if you hold your finger over it for 3 seconds it acts like an Enter key. I had to go to the manufacturer's website and their online forums to find this out, so I could properly navigate the boot menu after I later installed Windows 8. Hidden usability features like these are delightful when discovered and create good feeling about the tablet.

But my having to go to user forums to find out about hidden features reveals an annoyance: The ExoPC documentation isn't good enough and could be a lot better. The Microsoft Signature booklet is more about setting up Windows (account user name and password, for example) and that sort of thing. There are no references to such things as using the external power supply when first starting up or even how to back up the operating system.

I went to the manufacturer's website to their community forums to find out how to properly backup the operating system, which is done using a utility that is installed in the Windows system folder (startgen.exe). I later found this utility is also listed on the start menu in the ExoPC folder. This utility requires a 4 gig USB flash drive to backup the operating system. You can't backup up to an extermal USB DVD drive with this utility. It will create a complete restore image for the original data found on the tablet. If you want a backup of all your user data later, then you can use the Windows 7 backup utility to do this.

Easy Setup

If you have not used a Windows tablet before, you may initially be confused when the setup initially starts (when first booting up) and requests you type in user account descriptions (to create your first user account). There is no obvious way to type in the text and the Windows 7 touch screen keyboard which can later be accessed via the left side of the screen (touch left side to show it) is not yet available. How you enter text is to simply touch the text field (box) where you want to enter text and a keyboard will automatically display itself. Once I figured this out, the rest was easy.

Even setting up the WiFi for my DSL router was just a matter of selecting it by name and entering the security password. WiFi worked very well. I connected to the Internet and watched some online videos and did it in another room from where the WiFi access point was located.

I would recommend (as with any Windows tablet PC) you connect to the Internet first thing and let Automatic Update do its thing. The ExoPC also comes with Microsoft Security Essentials installed rather than the common McAfee or Norton AntiVirus software, which was nice to see. Security Essentials is more light weight (less bloated) than others so it's well appreciated. Make sure Security Essentials updates AV signature, too.

The tablet felt a little warm and the fan ran quite a bit when I first started it up, which concerned me at first until I went to the ExoPC online forums to get some information about this. It appears WiFi is the big power eater, so when you are online watching videos or downloading a lot, expect the fan to run a bit. ExoPC doesn't get any warmer than any Netbook I have so this appears normal. The fan, even when running full speed, is still very quiet compared to some laptops so it isn't distracting.

Decent Performance

The specifications for this tablet are decent for a Windows tablet PC. The Atom CPU (N450) is not a powerhouse compared to some other processors, but I guess ExoPC chose this CPU to compensate for the extra power a larger screen may use. A dual core CPU would have made this tablet exceptional, but the Atom N450 does the job well enough. The 1.66GHz Atom N450 CPU is slightly faster (see: CPU Benchmarks) than the 2.5GHz Celeron CPU in my primary desktop computer (8 year-old Windows XP computer), so considering the form factor of a tablet this is not all that bad. A dual-core CPU would have been nice though.

Despite much of the critism about Windows 7 not being touch friendly, this is the furthest thing from the truth. The real issue is that Windows has long been a desktop operating system and most software was written for the desktop, so, yes, when you use desktop software it can be a challenge. In reality, Windows 7 already supports the key low level features for touch that are also in Windows 8. The difference between Windows 8 and Windows 7 is two fold:

1. Metro UI is very touch oriented and Metro applications are designed specifically for the tablet form factor.

2. The Windows 8 touchscreen keyboard is much better designed than with Windows 7. It works fine on Windows 7, but on Windows 8 it is a much, much better experience.

ExoPC is just the right size for a tablet so that one can use desktop applications that were not specifically written for a touchscreen reasonably well.

ExoPC actually makes the desktop style applications much easier to use for two reasons:

1. Screen size. The 1366 x 768 resolution and 11.6-inch display (DPI settings are set to 125 percent by default, which is just right) really makes up for a lot when it comes to using desktop applications with touch.

2. It also has its own unique ExoPC UI that is well suited to touch and a tablet. The ExoPC UI is an alternate front end menuing system meant to make Windows 7 more touch friendly. The user interface is so good that ExoPC has even licensed it to other companies for their tablets. So until Windows 8 and Metro are commercially available, the ExoPC UI is a good solution. Windows 8 and Metro, though, may make the ExoPC UI obsolete. But that is yet in the future, so for now ExoPC has an advantage over other Windows tablets.

Windows 8 Ready

To fully appreciate the ExoPC as a Windows tablet, it is important to note that the term "legacy applications" (which refers to desktop applications) that you may often see used when some talk about Windows 8 and tablets is not a valid term. Microsoft at times uses the term "desktop applications" when comparing them to Metro applications. This is really the proper terminology from what I can see. The future Windows 8 does something quite unusual. It merges the desktop and the tablet-oriented Metro into one operating system, so you get the best of both worlds. Metro does not replace the desktop (so the term legacy is incorrect) and the desktop is not exclusive from Metro.

Using a Windows tablet, like the ExoPC, is different than using an Android tablet or the iPad. For people who want the ability to do the same thing on a tablet as they do on a Windows desktop or laptop computer, the desktop experience and the ability to run any Windows application is vital. You just can't replace the Windows desktop. It is necessary. One key to a positive experience with a Windows tablet PC is the size of the screen, and the ExoPC calls it right with its large 11.6" display. Anything smaller just won't do well, from my experience, when using Windows and a touch screen.

Actually touch is quite enjoyable with Windows 7, as the screen size gets larger. Of course, you wouldn't want to go much larger than 11.6 inches for a tablet (it's just right), but with a desktop computer the larger the screen the better is touch. Having used a 22-inch touchscreen with a Windows 7 desktop computer, I can attest to how nice it is.

Is ExoPC good enough to run Windows 8, if you plan on upgrading later on? Absolutely. I have already partitioned the hard drive to create a second partition (easy to do with Windows 7, since you can shrink an existing partition to create room for another) and installed the Windows 8 Preview (32 bit) build on it. Let me say that while I like Windows 7 on this tablet, Windows 8 is even better. The large 64GB SSD of the ExoPC also provides plenty of room for installing the Windows 8 Preview alongside Windows 7, so if you are a software developer the ExoPC would be a good choice if you want to get a head start with Windows 8 on a tablet, without spending lots of money.

Photo Credits: Chris Boss

Chris Boss is an advanced Windows API programmer and developer of 10 year-old EZGUI, which is now version 5. He owns The Computer Workshop, which opened for businesses in the late 1980s. He originally developed custom software for local businesses. Now he develops programming tools for use with the PowerBasic compiler.

Facebook for iOS has been something of a staple installation for iPad and iPhone owners. The app has undergone various developments over the years, including finally getting a dedicated iPad app. As the Facebook website has evolved, so the app has changed to reflect new features and now, as the app hits version 4.1, it seems to have come of age. The most recent addition to the Facebook website is the new timeline component and this is just one of the latest features of Facebook for iOS 4.1.

Strangely, at time of writing, the timeline feature is not yet supported on iPad, but it is something that iPod and iPhone users can already take advantage of. If you have already activated your own timeline, you will need to use version 4.1 of the app in order to see it and the timelines of other people who have activated it -- you can go here to get your timeline in place before the fullscale rollout.

For some time, the Facebook app has been significantly more usable than the mobile version of the social networking website, and this has done nothing but improve over the years. Development has been such that using the iOS app no longer feels like you are missing out on any of Facebook’s features, and in many respects it is actually more enjoyable to use than the standard web site.

Speed of operation is important for any mobile app and this is something that has been gradually improved. Not only in terms of raw performance, but the way in which the interface is laid out means that is now faster than ever to navigate the site and perform common tasks such as commenting on other people’s content, uploading images and checking in to locations.

The slide out left hand navigation pane is one of the greatest changes that has been made to the app. From here it's possible to access every aspect of your Facebook profile, from your timeline and messages, friends list and groups, and much more. Perhaps most importantly, it is possible to add links to favorite sections of Facebook so you can jump to them quickly and easily -- as well as saving space by cutting out those that you do not use very often.

The ability to make use of lists is a great way to manage a large friends list, and support for apps means that working with a Facebook app need not mean missing out on the things you make use of on the main website. The search feature makes it easy to track down individual friends and the way the navigation bar works means that it is possible to break away from reading status updates and other news to upload an image or do something else with your account without losing where you got to.

This is one app that has long been described as essential and frequently tops the charts for popularity. In the past this has been as much because the app was pretty much the only specially designed way to access Facebook from your mobile, but now it is this coupled with the fact that it is also a well-developed app that finally provides an enjoyable experience.

You can grab yourself a free copy of the app by paying a visit to the Facebook for iOS page.

As we mentioned yesterday, utilities developer BlueSprig has just released JetBoost 1.0, a free PC speedup tool designed to optimize your PC by closing down unnecessary processes. If this doesn’t have enough optimization power for your needs, though, you could alternatively try the company’s new JetClean, a suite of tools with many more cleaning and repair options.

There’s a module to clean your Registry, for instance. A “Windows Clean” tool helps to free up hard drive space by locating and deleting leftover temporary files; an “Apps Clean” tool maintains your privacy by deleting your online, Windows and application histories; and the Shortcuts Clean module finds and deletes broken shortcuts.

You can choose these tools individually, or all at once, just by checking a few boxes. Click “Scan Now” and your chosen modules will examine your PC, reporting back on whatever issues they’ve found. And you can then review them, if you like, or just click “Repair” to fix them all at once.

Just in case that’s not enough functionality, the developers have also provided a Tools tab that lists a few useful extras. So you get a System Information program, for instance. An Uninstaller module helps you find and remove unwanted programs. The Performance Booster essentially provides the same functionality as JetBoost, temporarily closing down unnecessary processes to free up system resources. And a handy Portable option allows you to create a single JetClean executable with all these features, which you can then copy to a USB flash drive and use with any convenient Windows PC (the program runs on anything from 2000 to Windows 8).

Basic

JetClean has no shortage of features, then. But how do they perform?

The Hard Drive cleaner proved a little disappointing, finding only 1.25GB of files on our test PC. It was already reasonably well optimized, true, but CCleaner achieved much more, recovering 2.11GB of drive space.

JetClean did better with the Apps Clean module, though, where it was able to erase more application activity histories than CCleaner could manage. The Registry Cleaner and Shortcuts Clean modules also appeared to be reasonably thorough.

Some of the stand-alone tools are a little on the basic side. The Uninstall, for instance, just calls the standard application uninstaller. There’s no extra technology, no additional checks to make sure that every trace of an application is removed.

There’s nothing particularly clever about the Startup Optimisation module, either: it just lists the programs that are configured to launch when Windows starts, and optionally allows you to disable them at a click. There’s none of the extras you’ll get with some of the competition, such as recommendations on what to disable and what to keep.

And the program has the occasional problem, which reminds you that it’s still very new. The System Information program, for instance, reported that our RAM was running at “NULL MHz”, and our memory sticks were made by “Manufacturer00″ and “Manufacturer02″. Which isn’t quite as informative as we’d hoped.

There’s still plenty to like about JetClean, particularly for PC novices. It’s easy to use, lightweight and portable, and provides a great deal of functionality from one small download. It’s also reasonably safe, with, for example, a Rescue Center saving any deleted Registry keys, so if the cleaning goes a little too far then the program’s changes can easily be undone later.

If you’re an experienced PC user, though, and have already built up a personal collection of great freeware maintenance and cleanup tools, then JetClean won’t appeal so much: most of the individual tools just aren’t yet powerful enough to beat the best of the competition. And it doesn’t help that key functions like the ability to schedule cleaning are reserved for the commercial JetClean PRO (a subscription-based tool with prices starting from $1.66 a month; click Upgrade within JetClean to find out more).

There’s no harm in trying the suite anyway, though, just to see what you think: JetClean really is a lightweight installation, with no browser toolbars or other annoyances to weigh you down. Install a copy for yourself, and find out exactly what the program can do for you.

vision001/Shutterstock

It has been a momentous year for Mozilla and its Firefox and Thunderbird products. Last March, Mozilla released Firefox 4 as part of a new rapid-release cycle, adding Thunderbird to the same cycle shortly thereafter, which ensured a brand new version number would appear every six weeks or so.

Consequently, it will come as little surprise, that practically six weeks to the day since Firefox 8 made an appearance, Mozilla released Firefox 9 Final . Those looking for a slew of new features will be disappointed, but it does contain one major performance fillip that makes upgrading worthwhile.

The big news with Firefox 9: added support for “type inference” for Javascript code. Put simply, this technology speeds up any website that uses Javascript. Mozilla claims that the new technology has led to major benchmarks like Kraken and V8 by over 30 per cent, and will lead to noticeable performance gains on Javascript-heavy sites.

Other changes are more minor, although OS X Lion users -- who saw major improvements in compatibility with version 8 -benefit again, this time with added support for two-finger swipe navigation and improved theme support.

Other changes simply involve adding and improving support for web standards, including CSS3 and HTML5, building on previous releases. There are also a number of stability bug fixes.

A busy year

With this sixth major release of Firefox under the new rapid release schedule coinciding with the end of the year, it’s worth taking a moment to look back and see how far Mozilla’s open-source browser has come in the past eight months or so.

Firefox 4 was, of course, a major release, having been a long time in development. It debuted a new, stripped down interface that was designed to improve performance as much as it updated the Firefox look. Other new features included moving the Add-Ons Manager to its own tab as well as support for emerging standards including HTML5.

The rapid-release cycle was then put into action, but we had to wait 12 weeks for the first build to appear under this new release schedule. Firefox 5 provided a more representative view of how Firefox would change going forward: tiny, barely noticeable feature tweaks, plus a number of performance improvements.

Firefox 6 introduced the new Permissions Manager, giving users the ability to set privacy controls on a per-site basis. Again, under-the-hood improvements and tiny interface tweaks (domain names were now highlighted in the Address Bar) were the order of the day, although developers got to play with a Javascript Scratchpad for the first time.

Firefox 7 introduced a long-awaited fix for the browser’s notorious memory leaks, meaning the app no longer eats up huge amounts of memory while idling in the background. Again, other changes were more minor, with http://” disappearing from the Address Bar one of the more noticeable ones.

Firefox 8 debuted the Add-ons Compatibility Assistant, plus introduced a new option for speeding up startup on multi-tabbed setups. It also integrated the Downloads history into the History tab, while OS X Lion users got a form of full-screen support, although users have complained it’s not actually the same as OS X Lion’s native tool.

And now Firefox 9 is here, to take Firefox that little bit further forward. So where do we go from here? The answers will be revealed later this week, then the Beta, Aurora, Nightly and UX channels get updated – keep an eye on Softwarecrew for our regular, updated look into the future of Firefox.

Firefox 9 Final is a free, open-source download for Windows, Mac and Linux. Look out for updated versions of Waterfox, a 64-bit version of Firefox for Windows, and Pale Moon, another Windows-only build designed to offer a faster, more efficient version of Firefox, following hot on its heels.

AT&T ended its nine month bid to acquire T-Mobile on Monday, but not before taking parting shots at both the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice in a tersely worded statement. Those agencies' actions "do not change the realities of the US wireless industry", the company says, and do not address the biggest issue facing all carriers -- spectrum -- a problem that must be addressed "immediately".

The deal hit its first major roadblock in August, when the Justice Department said it was suing to block the merger. The FCC added fuel to the fire in November with chairman Julius Genachowski proposing hearings on the deal, and an unnamed official leaking a comment to the media saying a combined entity "would result in a massive loss of US jobs and investment".

Facing the realities of a deal gone awry, AT&T took a $4 billion charge in the current quarter to cover breakup fees due to T-Mobile late last month. It then took the unexpected step of joining with the Justice Department last week to ask for a postponement of the planned trial, a sure sign that the company was giving up.

On the subject of spectrum, AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson does not mince words. "First, in the near term, they should allow the free markets to work so that additional spectrum is available to meet the immediate needs of the U.S. wireless industry, including expeditiously approving our acquisition of unused Qualcomm spectrum currently pending before the FCC", he urges. "Second, policymakers should enact legislation to meet our nation’s longer-term spectrum needs".

Where does this leave T-Mobile? The company gets a much needed cash infusion, as well as a favorable roaming deal that answers its coverage issues. But at the same time, it may only be a temporary fix on a larger problem for T-Mobile USA and its parent company, Deutsche Telekom.

The German telecommunications company says it is not in favor of making the necessary infrastructure investments T-Mobile needs, and will likely shop around for another suitor. In the end, T-Mobile may find itself broken up into smaller bits that carriers that don't have the equity AT&T has could afford.

While a Sprint deal is still possible, the fervor with which the FCC and Justice Department have fought to prevent the combination of AT&T and T-Mobile makes that seem difficult. Many of the arguments it has made against the joining of these two companies will apply to a Sprint deal as well.

T-Mobile CEO Phillip Humm maintains a positive tone in an internal e-mail sent to company employees and obtained by the Wall Street Journal. "We have an opportunity to write our own future," he writes. "The leadership team and I will be meeting intensively in the next few weeks on our go-forward plans for the business".

What future T-Mobile USA has -- at least for the moment -- is not exactly clear.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has told an Italian newspaper that the company would release a Nexus tablet within six months. Google's sudden turnabout on releasing a signature Android tablet may reflect his confidence that regulators will approve the Motorola acquisition and concern about Amazon coming to dominate the Android tablet market.

Six months is way late in a market overrun by tablets -- more than 100 -- but with just a handful pulling meaningful sales. Apple's iPad 2 is the market leader by huge margin, according to IDC. In second quarter, iPad media tablet share, based on shipments, was 61.5 percent. Second-ranked Samsung: 5.6 percent. There's no question Google should have released a tablet -- that's past tense -- as in six months ago instead of six months from now. Year ago would have been even better.

During Consumer Electronics Show 2011, I opined: "The most important tablet is missing from CES, and it's not iPad 2". I referred to a Google tablet that would do what then two, and now three, smartphones have done for Android developers and hardware manufacturers.

During CES 2010, Google released the Nexus One. The search and information giant designed the HTC-manufactured smartphone, which ran the then newest Android version -- 2.1. Many bloggers and journalists wrongly wrote that Google charted new retail waters by selling direct. I repeatedly corrected this claim. For example, Nokia has sold phones direct for years, Many blog or news posts about the N1 also missed the point: Google wasn't going into retail sales but establishing a reference design for manufacturers and developers. From that perspective, Google executed brilliantly with N1 and continued with December release of the Samsung-made Nexus S.

Google and Samsung announced the smartphone in late October, and the HSPA+ model went on sale internationally in mid November. Verizon started selling the smartphone in the United States last week. Galaxy Nexus is more than just a reference design -- it's the mass-market Google phone.

Google should do for Android tablets what it did with smartphones: Release a branded device that is reference design for manufacturers and always has the lastest Android software for developers. Otherwise, Android tablets have little to no chance competing with iPad. The market of Android competitors is simply too fragmented.

That said, Amazon shows how one competitor can shake up the Android tablet market. But Amazon's objectives are contrary to Google's, since the online retailer, like Apple, wants to deliver a curated user experience. For example, if I type the web address to Google's Android Market into the Silk browser on my wife's Kindle Fire, Amazon's Android app store opens instead. On other Android tablets, Google's marketplace is default but there is option to sideload from other stores, like Amazon's. The retailer offers a curated experience -- apps, ebooks, music, movies and online physical goods sales -- and that's sensible for its business model.

Google needed to take leadership over the Android tablet market a year ago. Amazon is filling the vacuum, culling Android and supporting apps to its own benefit. That's good for the retailer, not necessarily for the broader Android tablet market and certainly not for Google cloud services. Google's absolute leadership failure is Amazon's opportunity.

That Schmidt finally is talking about doing something also reflects something else: Assuming that Google isn't outsourcing Nexus tablet to HTC or Samsung, Motorola likely will produce the device and is prepping now for when the merger finally goes through. Actually, Moto-built, Google-codesigned Nexus tablet would be helluva way to kickstart the new operation.

But the market can't wait six months, something that will be absolutely clear when a bazillion new tablets launch at CES next month and Apple launches record holiday iPad sales.

Unsurprisingly, they promote smartphones -- iPhone 4S and Google Nexus.

Yeah, I know, this is a bit fluffy stuff, but I'm flu-stricken today and barely able to sit up to type. Besides, these are both really great ads that stand out for creativity and how well they demonstrate product benefits. Good marketing is often about great storytelling and, with smartphones like these, communicating a single benefit watchers will remember. You'll remember both these commercials, surely.

Apple TV spots are bland, as of late. There's no creative juice. They all look the same. But the Santa commercial is standout, and the kind of clever, memorable marketing Apple is known for. It's also timely. Santa's ride is Saturday, after all. He uses Siri to navigate across the globe. See, even Saint Nick is high tech. The ad is memorable in so many ways, with iconic Santa being first among them and Siri punchline at the end being another.

Thanks to Mike Elgan, who posted a link to Santa Siri at Google+ yesterday. I might have missed it otherwise. Elgan writes: "Cute ad. The truth is that old Saint Nick would probably be met with, 'I'm sorry, Chris. I can't access the network right now'". I include this so BetaNews commenter woe will have another reason to call me anti-Apple. :)

The other TV commercial is as good, but dramatically different. It's not holiday themed, either. Last week, Galaxy Nexus finally went on sale here in the United States. Google and Verizon are both running ads, but the search and information giant's Bohemian commercial is stand out.

With no technical mumbo jumbo, the commercial communicates clear benefits using Google+ Hangouts. I described Hangouts to my teenage daughter yesterrday, and she immediately asked: "Why would you video chat with nine friends at once? Here's the answer.

The Google ad uses an iconic song -- that and the girls singing it are memorable. Okay, "Wayne's World" is more so and part of the cultural lexicon.

By the way, I posted my Verizon Galaxy Nexus first-impressions review, yesterday.

User names, passwords, credit card numbers, personal details: your PC may contain all kinds of personal data, easily accessible to malware or anyone with physical access to the system. You know this already, of course, which is why you probably protect your system with a firewall, antivirus package, maybe an encryption tool and more.

But what you maybe don’t know for sure is exactly how much data might be exposed on your system, should an attacker actually be able to penetrate your defences. And that’s where Identity Finder comes in. Tell the free version of the program to scan your system and it will immediately identify any passwords that might be stored by your browsers, for instance. You can then selectively delete all or just the most sensitive of these, and perhaps turn off password storage entirely if it seems too risky.

The program will also scan common document formats (Office, text, PDF, HTML) in your Documents folder, looking for credit card numbers. It works, too: we added some numbers to a few text files and they were picked up right away. And once again Identity Finder offered to securely wipe or just encrypt the offending files (although the default is just to do nothing, so don’t worry, it won’t trash your documents if you’re not paying attention).

And Explorer integration provides easy access to a few handy privacy functions. So if you spot a file that you know contains sensitive data, then a quick right-click and you’ll be able to securely delete it, or store the document in an encrypted “vault”.

Identity Finder Free does just about enough to be useful, then, but unsurprisingly the really powerful features are reserved for the commercial Home and Pro versions. These can search for more details (social security numbers, bank account details, phone numbers, addresses, dates of birth); recognize more international data (Canadian SINs, UK National Insurance and NHS numbers, Australian TFNs); and can search far more widely, being able to scan all your drives, your Registry, compressed files, emails and more. And that’s just the start. Prices start at $24.99 for a 3 computer, 12 month subscription, and you can find out more at the author’s site.

Gary Paul Lewis/Shutterstock

Utilities developer BlueSprig has released the first full version of JetBoost, its free PC speedup tool, which aims to optimize system performance by temporarily closing down unnecessary processes. And while this kind of application can get a little complicated, JetBoost’s emphasis is on simplicity, with the program doing its job in just a click or two (although if you’d like to take control, then you can get more involved in exactly how JetBoost works).

At its most basic, then, you can use the program just by choosing whether you’d like to optimize your system for a work-related application, or a game, before clicking the “Start to boost” button. JetBoost will then close down surplus Windows services, clear the clipboard, activate the High Performance power plan and apply a few other tricks to free up system resources. You can run your game (or whatever) to take advantage of this, clicking the “Stop” button when you’re done to restore all your services and settings and carry on where you left off.

This kind of Windows service tuning generally won’t deliver major benefits; our test system saw an increase in free RAM of around 50MB, for instance. Still, our PC was already fairly well optimized, so you may see better results in some cases. And other options used here, like turning on the High Performance power plan, can help to make a very real difference.

If you’d like to free up even more resources, though, you can always switch JetBoost to “Custom” mode. And then you’re able to choose running processes and third-party services which you’d also like to be temporarily closed whenever you click the Boost button. You need to be careful here, of course, as closing something important could cause all kinds of PC problems. But choose wisely and JetBoost will be able to free up many more system resources, so delivering a more significant speed boost for the programs which really need it.

This is the droid you've been looking for.

There's saying "three times is a charm" and proven axiom about one of Google's biggest rivals: Microsoft gets products right the third time. Galaxy Nexus, running Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich), is the third Google phone, following the Nexus One (January 2010) and Nexus S (December 2010). If you're an Android user looking for something much better or iOS user/wannabe disappointed there is no iPhone 5 LTE, Galaxy Nexus is for you. Verizon released the long-anticipated US 4G LTE model on December 15. Galaxy Nexus is fast, furious and fun. If not for the 5-megapixel camera, which delivers better photos than I expected, the Android smartphone would be perfect, and it's certainly leaps and bounds above every other handset currently available in the United States.

Living Google

Galaxy Nexus is best for anyone living the Google lifestyle. Ice Cream Sandwich is delicious, and Google has topped the operating system with lots of tasty hooks into its existing services. I'll only highlight some of these touchpoints in this first-impressions review. For example, Gmail is better on this phone -- little things like seeing photo next to the sender, if he or she has Google profile, is nice touch.

Opening voice search/commands for first time prompts for a video tutorial, which Android 4.0 pulls down from YouTube.

Then there is the People app -- essentially a socially-aware address book -- that plays best with Google+, but nice enough with other social networks. Speaking of Google+, there's a nifty widget for keeping up real-time from the homescreen -- well one of them.

I've repeatedly asserted that sync is the killer application for the connected age. I owned two Nexus Ones and was surprised when all the Android Market apps synced on the second one -- they magically appeared. But on Nexus S, Galaxy S II and Skyrocket, only apps I purchased synced back to the device. So I was surprised to find that all my apps synced to Galaxy Nexus. There were no settings, they were just there, over 4G LTE in the hour I spent at the mall between activating the phone at Verizon Store and going home. Once there, Galaxy Nexus automatically connected to my home WiFi network, having synced the settings (a feature that worked on other Androids).

Chrome sync is another welcome feature for those people living Google. Finally, bookmarks on your PC come to the Google browser on your phone. Easily.

Obligatory iPhone 4S Comparison

Apple's smartphone is the leading handset in the United States, according to comScore, Nielsen and NPD. No Galaxy spec rundown would be complete without comparison to iPhone.

iPhone 4S: 3.5-inch multitouch display with 960 x 640 resolution (800:1 contrast ratio); 800MHz dual-core processor; 512MB RAM; 16GB, 32GB or 64GB storage; GSM/HSPA; 8MP rear-facing and VGA front-facing cameras; LED flash; image stabilization; 1080p video recording; accelerometer; ambient-light sensor; gyroscope; GPS; proximity sensor; digital compass; Bluetooth; WiFi. Measurements: 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm, 140 grams.

Galaxy Nexus: 4.65-inch multitouch display with 1280 x 720 resolution (100,000:1 contrast ratio); 1.2GHz dual-core processor; 1GB RAM; 32GB storage; CDMA/4G LTE; 5MP rear-facing and 1.3MP front-facing cameras; LED flash; zero shutter-lag; 1080p video recording; accelerometer; ambient-light sensor; barometer; gyroscope; GPS; proximity sensor; digital compass; Near-Field Communication (NFC); Bluetooth; WiFi. Measurements: 135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94 mm, 135 grams.

Galaxy Nexus leading advantages over iPhone: larger screen size, higher-resolution display, higher-clock speed processor, double the memory, faster camera shutter, NFC and barometer.

Too Long Delayed

Verizon should be scolded for taking so long to launch, which should have come sooner than 10 days before Christmas -- like Black Friday latest. Google and Samsung announced the smartphone in late October, and the HSPA+ model went on sale internationally in mid November. There is tremendous pent-up demand for Galaxy Nexus, among the Android Army anyway. My local Verizon Store started launch day with 90 phones and at 7 pm had but two left. That's not a big number by iPhone standards, but the real measure here is other Androids. I have to wonder how many more Verizon could have sold if Galaxy Nexus launched a month earlier.

I suspect that the delay was in part deliberate. Verizon has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the Droid brand. The nation's largest carrier launched Motorola Droid Razr on December 11. My local Verizon Store is loaded up with Droid Razr accessories and signage. It's clear which brand matters more, and Verizon was right to put some distance between the two smartphone launches.

Google should have chosen a better launch partner, or like Nexus S made its successor available unlocked through Best Buy. The HSPA+ model available internationally supports AT&T and T-Mobile data networks. Verizon defies Google's value-oriented philosophy (typically free). For example, AT&T offers free mobile-to-mobile calling -- that's to any carrier's phone -- on its family plans, and unused minutes roll over and are available for 12 months. Something else: Verizon charges extra for basics AT&T and T-Mobile offer standard, with Visual Voicemail good example. It's an extra $2.99 per month from Verizon -- that's strange since there are free alternatives. On the other hand, Verizon's limited-time 4GB data for the price of 2GB ($30 per month) promotion applies to Galaxy Nexus. AT&T won't give you as much.

Still, Verizon made the right choice skipping Samsung Galaxy S II and offering Google-branded, Samsung-manufactured Galaxy Nexus instead. My S2 Skyrocket is an exceptionally appealing phone. Galaxy Nexus is wonderfully better. My wife will inherit the Skyrocket. Lucky me, Verizon's LTE smartphone uses same battery as the Skyrocket, so we can swap the spare I have. The HSPA+ model's battery is different size, and slightly less powerful 1700 mAh vs 1800 mAh).

Wow, What Battery Life

Galaxy Nexus lasted more than 33 hours on its first full charge, and that was using the phone more heavily than usual. Saturday before Christmas, I talked for several hours to family and friends -- and I used data and other features more rigorously while testing the phone. I kept waiting for the battery to run down, but Galaxy Nexus kept going and going and going.

I skimmed some reviews that warn battery life disappoints. Oh, yeah, give me 24 hours-plus pain like that any day. I used Galaxy Nexus with default screen settings and LTE and WiFi on. I can't say that such battery life is sustainable long term, or yet attest to the impact of using, say, Bluetooth, Google Maps or gaming. I haven't yet set up widgets or started social networking with Google+, activities that are likely to sap the battery. Nevertheless, I'm impressed. I can say that for the first charge, from 100 percent to zero, LTE did not overly consume the battery.

Galaxy Nexus' industrial design doesn't wow me, and I had similar reaction to Nexus One. It's a handsome phone, but a bit too grey corporate for my tastes. Design nicety: GN brings back the notification light that made G1 so useful when resting. If you get new email or text message, for example, the home button will pulse white. There are no physical buttons, by the way.

My nitpicking tastes aside, the phone delivers beauty where it matters most: The screen is exceptionally appealing, and not just for its size -- 4.65 inches. This is a 720p display -- 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED. By comparison, the Galaxy S II series is Super AMOLED Plus, and that plus matters. For example, Skyrocket's screen pops -- bright and vivid colors -- more than Galaxy Nexus. That said, I easily use the pure Google phone in bright San Diego sunlight more easily than either the standard S2 or Skyrocket.

Galaxy Nexus' 720p display outclasses iPhone 4/4S in most every conceivable way, and there gets help from Ice Cream Sandwich's Roboto font, which is clear and crisp. Size matters: 4.65 inches vs 3.7 inches for iPhone 4/4S; that greater screen real estate is better with the high-res display. Something else, and I can't say why: I find texting to be much easier on Galaxy Nexus than any other smartphone touchscreen. Hell, I'm suddenly a speed demon. Oh, and the texting app is gorgeous.

How Does It Feel?

Size is a subjective preference, and I worried Galaxy Nexus would be too damn big, even moving up from Galaxy S II Skyrocket, which has 4.5-inch display. To my surprise, Galaxy Nexus fits comfortably in my modestly-sized hands, and the phone has terrific balance. It feels good. While some other reviewers complain about the plastic back panel, I find its texture creates good friction for holding the phone securely. Other people will prefer a smaller smartphone, but they might think differently after experiencing the stunning display.

Performance is excellent. Operations are fast and fluid. Ice Cream Sandwich feels more alive than does Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x), Honeycomb (Android 3.x) or iOS 5. Apple's mobile operating system looks dead by comparison. However, Windows Phone 7.5 is faster and more fluid -- and that's on single-core processor. I find Android 4.0's dark, murky appearance -- by default anyway -- to be appealing. Others might want something more cheerful, brighter.

Verizon 4G LTE performance satisfies, but it's not as good here in San Diego as subscribers in other cities get. In September, Anshel Sag did comprehensive Verizon LTE speed testing around San Diego and "attained an average speed of 16.84 Mbps down and 8.14 Mbps up with an average ping of 66.6". My best result using the SpeedTest app five times was 13.4Mbps downstream and 14.2Mbps up. That's plenty respectable. In a December 15 comment to one of my Google+ posts, Mike Dunham writes about Verizon LTE speed test: "One I have from today was 43.64 down and 17.52 up". So mileage varies.

By the way, Galaxy Nexus makes nine 4G LTE smartphones, all Androids, offered by Verizon.

A Little Bit More

American geeks who paid $700-plus for the international, HSPA+ model may be disappointed to learn that Verizon Galaxy Nexus has twice the storage -- 32GB -- which, like iPhone 4/4S but unlike Galaxy S2, isn't expanadable. There's no microSD card for you.

The camera is better than expected, in part because of how well it works. True to Google promises, there is no shutter lag and focus is damn fast. In the 5 megapixels vs 8 megapixels debate (S2 and 4S have the latter), more isn't necessarily better. For example, moving from 3MP to 12MP only doubles the resolution. For many smaller sensors, 5MP is optimum for delivering the most clarity with least artifacts or distortion. I haven't had time to test Galaxy Nexus' camera against my daughter's iPhone 4S or my wife's (soon to be) Skyrocket. Sensor size and software capabilities will matter more than megapixels.

Phone calling is exceptionally good, and Google has reduced the number of steps needed to place calls. There were simply too many period, even without comparing to iPhone, which does better. Then there is the aforementioned People app, which I haven't fully synced with my social networks. Phone audio quality is superb, by the way.

Obviously, there is much more I could and should write about Galaxy Nexus. But I've topped 1,800 words for a first-impressions review. On a Sunday. When I have the flu. I will follow up and get more into Ice Cream Sandwich, which probably deserves its own look.

Do consider Galaxy Nexus. Verizon will sell you the phone for $299.99 plus tax. Amazon Wireless has best deal I've seen. For new Verizon individual or family plan subscribers, price is unbelievable $149.99 -- but you'll wait. The smartphone is backordered. Existing individual plan members pay $199.99, and it's $249.99 for anyone else.

Photo Credits: Joe Wilcox

Most companies seem to think that offering beta versions for free is sufficient reward to encourage people to try them. CyberLink, it seems, have a different view. Or maybe they’re just being seasonally generous. Whatever the reason, if you participate in the beta program for their digital photo workflow tool, PhotoDirector 3, then you could not only receive a free copy of their media manager MediaShow 5, but you’ll also have a chance to win a shiny new Nikon D3100 DSLR camera, and could even receive a copy of the finished PhotoDirector 3 on its final release.

If you’re unfamiliar with PhotoDirector, then the current version provides an easy way to manage your images in libraries, tag them, search for the shots you need and apply a range of corrective options. And PhotoDirector 3 extends the program’s repertoire further by adding a number of very useful high-end editing tools.

If an otherwise great shot is spoiled by a person, animal or other inconvenient object, for instance, you may be able to seamlessly remove this just by drawing a line around it, choosing a replacement background area, and, well, that’s it. This doesn’t always work (the image background is crucial), but when it does, the results can be amazing.

A new People Beautifier section enables you to replace wrinkles on a face in a similar war, while also painting away skin imperfections, brightening eyes to improve portrait shots, or painting a whiter smile for your subject.

Lens correction tools allow you to compensate for fisheye distortion, vignetting and other problems.

You can now apply a few basic effects, then clean them away with a brush; you could, say, give an entire portrait shot a sepia tint, then restore the original color just to the eyes.

And a handy Watermark Designer enables you to create your own watermark templates, with your choice of lines, frames, text, images, and even information taken from the photo’s tags (camera, date or whatever). Once you’re happy, you can then apply that template to as many photos as you like, in just a click or two.

The end result is more like a cut down version of Adobe’s Lightroom than Photoshop, then; there’s no lengthy list of filters here, no painting, no layers. The new features do help to considerably improve PhotoDirector’s editing power, though, while still being very easy to use, and if you’re after this kind of photo workflow tool then the beta is a great way to sample one at no charge. (Until it expires after 90 days, at least.)

Freebies

Of course, as we mentioned, there’s more to this beta program then simply getting free use of PhotoDirector 3.

If you test the program, and complete a survey afterwards with your thoughts (or just find and submit a bug), then you’ll immediately receive CyberLink’s MediaShow 5 (a media management and slideshow tool) for free. We’re a little skeptical about these things, and wondered if this would be some massive multi-page form that would take forever to complete, but no; it contains 19 questions (including “Country”, “Age” and “Gender”), and after you’ve tried PhotoDirector should be easy to finish in just a few minutes. (Take a look.)

Submitting a bug or completing the survey will also see your name entered into a draw for a new Nikon D3100 DSLR camera.

And CyberLink are also inviting beta users to submit a “testimonial”, essentially your own personal review of PhotoDirector 3 and your experiences in using it. This will get you another entry into the Nikon draw, and if your testimonial is chosen then you’ll get a copy of both the final PhotoDirector 3 release, and PowerDirector 10.

If you’d like to check out PhotoDirector 3 then the survey does look worth your time, being quick to complete and offering a free copy of MediaShow 5 right away.  The beta is available now, and will run for 90 days after the date of installation before it expires.

Media tablet shipments missed IDC's third-quarter shipment projections. Meanwhile iPad lost market share; IDC forecasts greater declines for Q4. The culprit: Amazon Kindle Fire (with a little help from Barnes & Noble Nook). In the battle of price, and vertically-integrated content platforms, Amazon is ready to take a bite out of Apple. That brings me to the question of the day: Did you or do you plan to buy Kindle Fire, or even Nook, when previously considering iPad 2 this holiday? Please answer in comments as well as taking our buying poll.

Kindle Fire's big advantage is price -- $300 less than the cheapest iPad 2, at $199. Amazon and Apple compete head-to-head in ebooks, music and movies and curated applications stores. Both command hugely popular brands. Kindle Fire is smaller and doesn't pack a camera, but less also means lower price -- and single one at that. iPads range from $499 to $829.

Apple apologists argue the two tablets aren't comparable, which is a ridiculous assertion. Tablets are tablets, the way TVs are TVs. You can say that a 24-inch LCD isn't comparable to a 56-inch model that also connects to the Internet. But to shoppers evaluating by lots of criteria -- price being among the most important -- they absolutely are. Cost is often first consideration for most people, but not always most important, of course. Don't you typically buy the most you can afford?

Andrew Eisner, Retrevo's director of community and content, sees a potential "two-horse race between Apple and Amazon" next year in the tablet market. Price absolutely is a factor. Seventy-nine percent of respondents to a recent Retrevo survey said they "would consider buying an Android tablet with similar features over a base model $499 iPad" selling for $250 or less.

BetaNews' tablet buying poll, with more than 2,000 respondents, is revealing. I included a screen shot of the graph, because it looks like a giant middle finger coming out of $199. There's meaning to that and message to Apple and others selling tablets for more. Forty-four percent of respondents would pay $199 or less for a tablet -- 73 percent $299 or less.

"Amazon and Barnes & Noble are shaking up the media tablet market, and their success helps prove that there is an appetite for media tablets beyond Apple's iPad", Tom Mainelli, IDC research director, says. IDC expects a dramatic change in Android market share during fourth quarter, largely from Kindle Fire -- 40.3 percent, up from 32.4 percent in Q3.

The Big Picture

Media tablet shipments fell 5.8 percent below IDC's forecast, but the company affirms "strong demand" in fourth quarter, raising its forecast to 63.3 million units from 62.5 million. As for iPad, which market share fell to 61.5 percent from 63.3 percent quarter-on-quarter, IDC still expects exceptional performance. But the future is darkening somewhat.

"Apple's larger portfolio of tablet-specific apps, upcoming iPad versions, and growing physical store presence in key emerging markets like Asia/Pacific will help maintain its global leadership", Jennifer Song, IDC research analyst, says. "However, an improving Android OS experience and lower competitor pricing in an environment with worldwide economic concerns should help Android to increase its market share".

Top five tablet vendors, based on shipments during Q3:

• Apple -- 61.5 percent
• Samsung -- 5.6 percent
• HP -- 5 percent
• Barnes & Noble -- 4.5 percent
• ASUS -- 4 percent

How has Amazon Kindle Fire affected your tablet buying plans this holiday?

Amazon didn't ship any tablets in third quarter and HP got a one-time boost from the big TouchPad sell-off. Last week, HP announced the release of WebOS to open source, but "IDC does not believe the operating system will reappear in the media tablet market in any meaningful way going forward".

So circling back to where the post started, did you buy Kindle Fire instead of iPad 2? Also: If you've got an iPad already and chose to get Kindle Fire as the next tablet, please share why.

Christmas is very nearly upon us, and over the past couple of weeks we have been collecting together some of the best festive offerings available. Whether you’re looking for some seasonal games to keep the kids (or yourself) entertained, a festive app for your iPhone, or something to give your desktop a more Christmassy look, there’s something here for you. In this round up we take a look at some of the software you may have missed.

For fans of simple strategy games Christmas Troubles -- Tower Defense Game 1.0 is a great way to get into the festive spirit. With fun graphics and instant appeal, this is a game that’s suitable for all ages. If you’re more of a puzzler, Christmas Puzzle 1.0 is a festive take on the classic game Bejewelled, while Christmas Crisis 1.3.9 is a vertical scroller in which the aim is help Santa deliver his presents all over the world.

Despite the very similar name, Christmas Eve Crisis is a platform game that’s also a race against the clock, but a different game nonetheless. From the same stables comes Chicken Invaders 4.1: Ultimate Omelette Christmas Edition, which features wonderfully quirky graphics in a game that finds in a Chicken and Christmas inspired take on the classic Space Invaders; yes, it’s silly, but it’s a huge amount of fun.

Christmas is all about fun, but this doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to festive games. Desktop Christmas Tree Collection is a great way to brighten up your desktop with a series of animation Christmas trees and snow globes -- you can choose to add just one, or go over the top with a Christmas tree forest.

Another great way to customize your computer is Christmas Living 3D Fireplace Screensaver which features a stunning crackling log fire, while Christmas Icon Packs provide you with the opportunity to customize your desktop with a series of Christmas icons.

If a screensaver isn’t quite your thing, DesktopSnowOK 1.61 may be what you have been looking for. This cool utility transforms your desktop into a snow scene featuring customizable snow flakes that flutter from the top of your monitor.

To quickly transforms the look of your entire desktop, look no further that the official Microsoft Holiday Lights Theme Pack, which feature a new color scheme, desktop backgrounds and more. Anyone who fancies getting creative need not feel left out as the selection of Christmas fonts can be used to create everything from Christmas cards to name tag or posters.

You may be looking forward to getting an iPhone or iPad for Christmas, but if you already have one, there are a number of apps you might want to check out in the run up to the big day. PopOut! The Night Before Christmas 1.3 is a delightful animated book of the classic Christmas poem that will be loved by kids and anyone feeling nostalgic.

A Charlie Brown Christmas 2.0 will be loved by fans of Chuck and the gang as the famous Peanuts tale receives and receives an iOS makeover with stunning graphics, sumptuous audio and a wealth of interactive elements that will keep you entertained for hours. iOS gamers have not been forgotten. 

Piggly Christmas Edition 1.0.0 is a fun platformer in which you must help Mrs Piggly collect a variety of treats to feed her family. There is also an iPad version available in the form of Piggly Christmas Edition HD 1.0.0.

If you weren’t already excited about Christmas, there’s plenty here to get you in the mood. Have a browse through the downloads and you’re sure to find something you like.

I offer a hat tip to Gizmodo, which has put together a list of smartphones that have Carrier IQ. The company disclosed the information as part of a US Senate inquiry. Sprint subscribers are the most likely to have the spyware installed -- 26 million, or nearly half of them. Verizon: None. The information is also available in a statement from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), just not as quickly scannable.

But not all phones where Carrier IQ is installed have it active. Android developer Trevor Eckhart uncovered Carrier IQ last month, offering detailed explanation how the rootkit-like software works. I followed his instructions to see if the software was active on my Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, and it appeared not to be. Days later I installed Carrier IQ detectors from BitDefender and LookOut Labs, which found the software but didn't indicate its status. Apparently, Skyrocket is one of the phones where Carrier IQ is installed but not active. Same is true of HTC Vivid, AT&T's other LTE phone.

The problem with Carrier IQ: The tracking software that behaves every bit like a keylogger -- installed at a low-level like a rootkit would be. Carriers and Carrier IQ receive data without end user's explicit consent and, like a rootkit, is nearly impossible to remove without harming the operating system. Phone manufacturers install the software before cellular carriers receive the handsets. Carrier IQ claims it only collects information that carriers need to improve network performance and customer service.

"I'm still very troubled by what's going on", Franken says. "People have a fundamental right to control their private information. After reading the companies' responses, I'm still concerned that this right is not being respected. The average user of any device equipped with Carrier IQ software has no way of knowing that this software is running, what information it is getting, and who it is giving it to-and that's a problem".

Carrier IQ has been on the defensive since Eckhart's investigation revealed apparent keylogger, activity the company only indirectly denied. The material submitted as part of Franken's Senate investigations renews concerns keystrokes are captured and transmitted to somebody.

"It appears that Carrier IQ has been receiving the contents of a number of text messages -- even though they had told the public that they did not", Franken says. AT&T confirms this behavior, which includes SMS messages, in its letter to Franken.

"I'm also bothered by the software's ability to capture the contents of our online searches-even when users wish to encrypt them," the Minnesota senator chides. "So there are still many questions to be answered here and things that need to be fixed".

Apparently, this tracking has gone on for some time. Samsung says it has installed Carrier IQ on its phones since November 2007. The chart below lists model numbers (the Giz story gives product names; we want to praise their good work rather than aggregate or re-report it -- Jesus Diaz deserves your click through).

Other manufacturers haven't installed the software for as long as Samsung. From HTC's letter to Franken:

The Carrier IQ software was first integrated on the Hero, which became available to customers through Sprint on October 2009. Other HTC devices that use the integrated Carrier IQ software and the date of their availability in the U.S. market are listed below:

• Snap (Sprint) ± June 2009
• Touch Pro 2 (Sprint) ± September 2009
• Hero (Sprint) ± October 2009
• Evo 4G (Sprint) ± June 2010
• Evo Shift 4G (Sprint)± January 2011
• Evo 3D (Sprint) ± June 2011
• Evo Design (Sprint) ± October 2011
• Amaze 4G (T-Mobile) ± October 2011
• Vivid (AT&T) ± November 2011

Installed doesn't mean active, as aforementioned for the Vivid. HTC says Carrier IQ is active on 6.3 million of its handsets. Samsung has distributed 25 million phones with the software in the United States but didn't explicitly indicate whether or not it's active.

This drama isn't over by a long shot.

Photo Credit: fredredhat/Shutterstock

The now shuttered Winphonia.com news site

Since its announcement, I’ve been an avid fan of Windows Phone. So much that I even created a dedicated news website when it first emerged (Winphonia.com -- no longer active). This was all without ever having held a WP7 device in my hands or even seeing one in person. One of the aspects I genuinely like about Windows Phone is the fact that you can simply glance at the home screen, or the many hubs, and see all of life’s important events with just a peek.

I personally know people who’ve call it non-functional, or too simplistic, or even archaistic. But those people have not done their research. What I see is a phone that lets me tack on all of life’s significant events and priorities in a place where I’ll see it in the forefront.

Feel My Android Pain

I’ve been using an Android 2.1 device that was free with a new 2-year contact for the past year, and it has been an absolute pain to use every day. The battery habitually dies after 9 hours of very minimal use, and this is with all network connectivity (including the actual phone signal) turned off. I sometimes turn my network on to make calls or to listen to voicemail -- otherwise, my phone is used as a calendar and music players for those long commutes to work and school.

Almost everything I do on my phone requires opening a new application, and waiting a painfully long time to accomplish even little tasks, such as searching for a contact or sending a quick text message. The “glance and go” nature of Windows Phone 7 solves all of my smartphone pain-points and would make all aspects of my technologically driven life so much better. One specific component that would make my life much-improved is the Windows Phone start screen. Being able to pin what’s most relevant in my life for easy access, anytime, seems like a gift from the heavens (assuming Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is a god -- in which case, developers would clearly get special treatment).

Tasks I perform on a daily basis include constantly checking and adding to my calendar, calling specific people who are dear to me, sending out a mass text to members of my school club (The college’s Human Service Club), checking the weather in the morning, looking for directions when I’m in the city, reading text messages and checking in on social networks, reading RSS news feeds, and listening to music while riding on the subway to school and work.

I do drive, but I avoid using my cell phone for safety reasons - something WP7 would change, thanks to voice to text.

My phone plays a vital role in the daily aspects my life, but not being able to simply glance or quickly accomplish simple tasks, coupled with the sluggishness of my device, often makes staying in contact, informed, entertained, and sometimes motivated, a chore.

I want to join the "Inner Circle"

After being an avid fan for over a year, I decided to attend the Inner Circle Windows Phone event in New York. There, I finally had a chance to hold and actually play around with several Windows Phone devices. I held the Titan, Radar, Focus S, Omnia W, and even a phone made by Fujistu that isn’t being released in the U.S. -- all of them were a joy to use.

Not merely thanks to the hardware, but by and large thanks to the beautiful software that powered these devices.

It was sort of funny, I assumed I knew all the little gems I’d be treated to -- smooth transitions, beautiful Metro design and the lightning-fast speed of the OS. It was a logical assumption after spending countless hours watching WP7 videos on YouTube and keeping up with WP7-related news and reviews; even running my own news site about the OS. I suppose the really funny part, though, was that after a year of being “in the know”, I came away even more impressed after holding one in my hand.

The Hubs of My Life

The operating system was incredibly fluid, and in that moment I imagined what I’d do if this were my phone.

I realized that a Windows Phone would not only improve my productivity, it would also save valuable seconds of life thanks to this glance-and-go philosophy. Assuming I had eight tiles to work with, I’d definitely include a calendar tile. That way, I’d simply glance at my phone to see what I have to get done next and where I need to go.

I would create a group and include all my club members there, so I could send them mass text messages without the hassle of texting each person individually or going back and forth between contact windows. I’m a huge music fan, so I would definitely create a playlist of my favorite songs in Spotify, and pin that playlist to my home screen for easy “tap and go” access to my tunes during my morning and nightly commutes. Currently, I can’t even use Spotify on my Android 2.1 device because Spotify does not work on it, even though I pay a monthly subscription for access to the application.

What my Windows Phone home screen would be

The AccuWeather app would also be on my start screen; I currently have the option of using a weather widget on my Android device, but this has proven to drain the battery even faster, so I don’t use it. In comparison, WP7 has wonderful battery management, so this would not be an issue.

Of course, there would be a tile for people, emails and text messages. The fact that WP7 would allow me to manage all my dialogue with the people I care about really interests me. I may sometimes speak to a friend on Facebook, and then text him or her a week later -- completely forgetting intricate details about our Facebook conversation. The threads feature in WP7 -- seeing all my conversations exchanged with one individual, at a glance, would immediately solve that problem.

Okiedoke, so that’s 7 tiles so far; calendar, group, music playlist, weather, people, email, and texts. My last tile would be the Xbox Live tile, or maybe a pinned Evernote todo list. No, wait, Microsoft Office would be pinned. Scratch that, Runkeeper. No, the BetaNews website would likely be pinned somewhere on my start screen. Hmm, that or a pinned map of the place I need to get to at 6pm tomorrow. The possibilities are simply endless, and that is what I love about Windows Phone and Microsoft’s concept of glance and go.

An additional aspect of “glance and go” that intrigues me is the ability to switch between open applications by simply holding down the Windows button. The large still-screenshots of the open apps make life so much easier, instead of having to work with a dozen tiny icons that all look the same.

Lastly, in terms of literally being able to glance and go, Bing Scout would really come in handy when I travel to uncharted areas in the city looking to find the nearest (and most wallet-friendly) places to eat. The same with Bing music; no more searching for a lyric I heard on the radio when I can simply let my phone decipher what’s playing.

I am genuinely a fan of Windows Phone and the beauty of “glance and go,” and I look forward to the prospect of someday having one improve the “little” and “big” things in life.

Editor: Travis Brown was one of the 12 finalists in BetaNews' "Win Windows Phone" contest. If we had another phone to give away, he would be a winner.

Travis Brown is a New York-based website designer, artist and photographer. He also curates Spacedex, a site that tracks astronomical phenomena.

Italian security vendor NoVirusThanks has just made four of its previously commercial 32-bit system monitoring tools available as freeware. And while there’s nothing here to compete with the troubleshooting power of, say, Sysinternals Process Monitor, the new freebies are lightweight, portable and (for the most part) very easy to use.

Have you ever wondered what files an installation program has added to your system, for instance? The File Extension Monitor makes it very easy to find out. Simply launch the program, and it’ll run in the background, logging files as they’re created, along with the date and time, and the process that created them.

PE Dropper Monitor is a variant on the same program, which this time tracks only the creation of executable files (EXE, SYS, DLL and so on). And Deletion Extension Monitor -- well, you’ve guessed it -- records files as they’re being deleted on your system, again with the process responsible.

Each of the programs can be customized, so that for instance you’re able to choose exactly which file extensions you’d like to be tracked. And you can have them launched when Windows starts for more complete logging (which won’t drain your system resources, as typically they only require around 2MB of RAM and minimal CPU time).

The fourth option, Driver Radar Pro, is rather different, as it’s all about providing a way to control exactly which drivers may be loaded on your system (as with all of these tools, it applies to 32-bit Windows only). Secure whitelisting techniques allow you to permit some drivers, while blocking everything else, perhaps useful if you’re looking to really lock down a PC.

Unless you end up not whitelisting something particularly important, of course, which will then be blocked by Driver Radar Pro, so causing all kinds of potential problems.

The program is strictly for experienced users, then -- even the authors say that. But if you know what you’re doing then Driver Radar Pro does provide some additional controls over driver installation which you won’t find elsewhere, and for a freeware tool that’s not bad at all.

Photo Credit: Vladru/Shutterstock

The year 2011 will go down in the history books as a great year for tablets mostly for Apple’s iPad, however -- not all tablet vendors fared as well as Apple. It'’s not for lack of products that prevented Android tablets from taking any market share away from Apple this year. By our calculation, over 100 tablets were introduced since the iPad.

However, we defy even the most tech-savvy of you to name more than a few of them. What was so wrong with the competition that it failed to make any inroads in the tablet market, at least until the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook came along? I'll explain why we think Apple and Amazon will continue to dominate the market well into 2012.

Differentiate Your Tablet or Die

Data in the chart above from Google Trends supports the lack of interest in iPad competitors until the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet came to market. Most of the tablets this year from vendors like Samsung and Sony looked similar, were priced similarly and had most of the same features as the Apple iPad. With no clear differentiation it'’s no wonder that consumers rejected these alternatives in favor of the iPad (with the possible exception of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab). Amazon, and to a lesser degree Barnes & Noble, is selling more than hardware; they are selling an experience and a window into a world of content. Apple not only sells content but welcomes their customers into an entire ecosystem of tech. It'’s clear, the days of selling undifferentiated hardware have come and gone.

Is the Google/Android Tablet a Flawed Business Model?

Unlike the Android smartphone market, where carriers subsidize phones and make money on monthly fees, Android tablet makers can'’t undersell Apple because the profit they make on their hardware is all they get. Apple not only makes money on the iPad but also rakes in money selling apps and other content and services.

In the Android tablet market, Google makes the money on the apps and as far as we know doesn'’t share any of it with the tablet manufacturers. Amazon and Barnes & Noble, on the other hand, have a nice supplemental income not only from selling apps in their own private app stores but selling content like books, movies and in Amazon’s case selling goods in the Amazon.com marketplace. For that reason Amazon and Barnes & Noble can vastly undersell Apple by sacrificing profit on the hardware in return for high margins on the content and services.

Tablet Price Barriers Were Blasted Away

Although Apple has enjoyed robust sales of the iPad, through past studies, we have been aware of a large group of consumers who had been waiting for a more affordable iPad competitor. When Amazon broke the $200 price point (Barnes & Noble wasn’'t far away with $250), consumers voted with their pocketbooks and jumped into the tablet market. Amazon is able to offer a product with little or no profit margin presumably because they can reap greater rewards with things like subscriptions to their Prime service, which builds loyalty, reduces friction for buyers and adds sales volume to Amazon’s bottom line. Apple also makes money selling apps and content but they have a long legacy of commanding premium pricing for quality products.

Will Apple offer an Inexpensive iPad?

Will the popularity of a $200 tablet require Apple to rethink their price premium philosophy and lower prices? That’'s the $499 question as we move into 2012. If the price history of older iPhones is any indication, we should expect to see a price reduction of the iPad 2 as it gives way to the iPad 3, but we doubt we'’ll see anything as dramatic as a sub-$300 tablet.

That begs the second big question for 2012 which is: if Apple doesn'’t lower prices, will they be able to hang onto their market share? As long as the big tablet manufacturers can/’t make money selling software, content or other services and Amazon doesn'’t become a greater threat, it doesn'’t look like Apple will see a need to lower their prices.

Amazon May Have Legitimized the Seven-inch Tablet

We’'ve seen many other tablets smaller than the iPad'’s 9.7-inches introduced this year. Before the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet came along there were plenty of 7-inch tablets and by our calculation more than one-third of the tablets currently on the market are 7-inch versions. Despite the large number of 7-inch tablets, it took the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet to make the 7-inch tablet attractive -- however, whether the 7-inch sizes gains even more acceptance remains to be seen.

Could We see an Apple iPad “Mini” or a Kindle Fire “Maxi”

Will Apple determine that a 7-inch tablet is necessary to compete and introduce a 7-inch iPad “mini?” In a recent Gadgetology study we found many consumers were ready to “consider” a 7-inch tablet. Some respondents indicated that a 10-inch tablet was too large and heavy to comfortably hold in one hand and would prefer a 7-inch tablet.

Apple might also find that a 7-inch Retina display could offer higher yields resulting in a tablet that is much cheaper to manufacture. On the other hand, if rumors turn out to be true and using the 9-inch Kindle DX to support the argument, we could see a 10-inch Kindle Fire in 2012. If such a tablet does materialize and it'’s priced as competitively as the 7-inch Fire was, Apple could feel even more heat from Amazon.

Can This be more than a “Two-horse” Tablet Race?

If the tablet market for 2012 develops into a two-horse race between Apple and Amazon, where does that leave all the other players? Samsung, Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony and the other traditional hardware manufacturers will need to differentiate their tablets through unique designs, features, content, niche markets or even pricing. Barnes & Noble will be challenged to compete with Amazon’'s strength in content offering, marketing prowess, technology (i.e. Cloud) expertise and their ability to undersell them. Google could help bring new features to Android tablets including their recently “leaked “Prime-like” service but, perhaps Google should first concentrate on helping the Android tablet apps market grow to compete with Apple’'s much larger iPad-optimized app library and figure out a way to share content revenue with tablet manufacturers.

Microsoft'’s new Windows 8 operating system could help create more interest in a Microsoft ecosystem that might include smartphones, Xbox consoles, PCs and even tablets. Microsoft, perhaps with the help of Dell, HP and others, could also make a play for the enterprise tablet market, an area where Amazon and even Apple lack the sales and marketing prowess for those potential customers. In any case, 2012 should be an interesting year for tablet buyers.

Tablets as Accessories and More

As the Year of the Tablet carries over into 2012, we expect to see tablets continuing to appear everywhere. Not only will they be used in front of TV sets but they may provide the “smarts’ for TV sets. We expect to see tablets in the TV manufacturers'’ booths at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show used to help differentiate their televisions. We also expect to see tablets (and phones) providing an extra dimension to all kinds of devices, including TVs and appliances. Additionally, we see tablets being used as control and information devices in a cars, hospitals, hotel rooms, school rooms or just about any place you can imagine. The potential market for tablets is huge and can only getting larger.

Conclusion

Apple will almost certainly introduce a high-resolution Retina display in an iPad 3 this spring, making them more competitive with new tablets. But will Apple iPads still be priced out of range for many consumers? In 2011 we saw many tablet vendors go up against Apple with all sizes of devices, and none had much success until the Amazon Kindle came along.

Now it appears that 7 inches may be an acceptable tablet size and there also appears to be a strong market for an under-$200 tablet as long as it has something like a rich library of content and services to differentiate it. Will Apple'’s strongest competition continue to come more from book sellers Amazon and Barnes and Noble or will traditional hardware manufacturers be able to find some differentiation to capture a piece of the market as well as a way to make money in the tablet market?

Andrew Eisner is Retrevo's resident gadget enthusiast. The former PC World executive producer helped establish Ziff Davis' premiere test lab, where he led a team testing the latest high-tech gear.

A month ago today at Midnight, we ended our Windows Phone contest. Finally, after too many delays, it's time to announce the lucky winner. Why did we take so long? The entries were just too good. We argued like X-Factor judges about how best to choose the winner. In the end, we left it to chance among the top contenders.

We requested: "Please tell us why glance and go appeals to you and how you would benefit from it". "Glance and go" is Microsoft's design and marketing philosophy for Windows Phone. Conceptually, Windows Phone enables people to live better rather than spend their lives tap, tap, tapping on the touchscreen. That concept, and the task-oriented user interface behind it, makes Windows Phone remarkably different from either Android or iOS.

Our panel of arguing judges narrowed the entries down to a dozen. We used a polyhedral dice from my old Dungeons & Dragons game -- yes, there was role playing before the Internet and Xbox 360 -- to cut the contenders to nine, six and three. The process infuriated some judges, who saw what they considered to be winning entries cast aside. If I had my way, we would have picked our favorites and done rock, paper, scissors. I was overruled, but it wouldn't be the first time.

Among the final three, we have a lucky winner: Petra O'Sullivan, whom I'll email to get her mailing address soon as I post.

This is where I stop to thank Microsoft for providing the Windows Phone, Samsung Focus Flash, which will be sent overnight to Petra as soon as I get her address. Yes, Petra, there is a Santa Claus and Windows Phone under your Christmas Tree -- if you're quick responding.

Below are 11 of the 12 entries that contended for the Samsung Focus Flash. We will separately post the submission from Travis Brown, which is quite long and provocative. I want to thank everyone who participated, particularly the 12 contenders, and if I had a dozen phones to give away you'd all be winners.

Bradley Jones

Dear @Betanews Joe,
Can you please send me some 'glance and go'?

Please make my icons become I can's,
As the live-tiles show me my day's plans

The tiles are fresh and innovating,
the Mango's ripe, I'm salivating!

Sure, many entries have their reasons,
but for me my plea is all about the seasons.

I have been a WebOS apologist and user,
But as it turns out, my platform is the loser.

So maybe I just like the little guy,
Or maybe I'm just not ready for Apple-pie.

Oh, please Joe, send me a WinPho!
And Steve will owe you one...for one more user!

Chris Dorrell

The design philosophy of  "glance and go" is a logical one. Nine times out of ten when we wake up our phone we don’t need much info: what’s the time, when is my next appointment/event, should I ignore the email that just arrived? etc. Presenting as much of that data as possible without requiring interaction is a good goal.

This brings to mind Glance Armstrong. The man won the Tour de France seven consecutive times by taking quick peeks at his competitors and then going (fast). He rode a bike rather than a Windows Phone, but I suspect that was simply for personal comfort.

Johnny Kamel

Top 5 reasons of why glance and go is an amazing and beneficial concept:

1. When going to college I have to be extremely careful about the people driving around me since they're too busy unlocking their home screens, searching for apps, opening the app and then  -- oh, wait, did they just crash into someone else also using their phone?

2. It is rude enough to use your smartphone when having dinner, so if one wants to be annoying on the table let them be annoying for a shorter amount of time reduced by the glance-and-go way.

3. It is amazing how much first impressions matter and a lot of people are so consumed by their phones that they miss out on meeting new people just because they were too busy navigating through their phones to show something to someone they see every day.

4. Time is money -- enough said.

5- Well there is no such thing as top 4 reasons -- 5 sounded better. So I'm just going to use this one to say that I have always been a Microsoft fan and think that the smartphone market is looking good for them just like when they first emerged with their xbox in the gaming market.

lissack

Glance and go is the only safe way to consult your phone while driving. It's much quicker than using your voice. I am a realtor. I am driving constantly. I have been using glance and go since the moment i could get it, and I will never look back. Safe driving friends.

Kevin Mars

The premise behind Microsoft's touch and go Windows Phone interface may just be what I need to save my life and my marriage. Currently as far as my wife is concerned I'm having an affair with my phone as it's getting more attention from me than she is. And she's giving me a hard time about not noticing when my kids are demanding my attention because I'm captivated by this small device that has got me hooked like a schedule-1 substance.

I'm a very information-hungry individual. I spend a lot of time reading random things online -- whether it be world news, social news, video game news, tech journal,s etc. Back when I was using Windows Mobile 5 & 6 I was fairly limited in what I could pull down and much of it was text based so I could get the information I desired in a quick, albeit boring, format but it didn't consume so much of my time. With the iPhone I would spend too much time jumping between apps or looking for alternate sites that were more Safari friendly to get the information I desired. I hated the fact that it didn't really bring the information to me unless I looked for it.

My Samsung Fascinate does a much better job letting me setup widgets to pull down some of this info for me but it's still not quite ideal (plus all these things drain my battery and the device demands I pull the battery every so often like my work BlackBerry devices do) and it doesn't do a great job of linking the info together (especially social info) so I spend quite a bit of time jumping between items to consume the info I desire, not to mention jumping between the Android Browser, Opera and sometimes Firefox depending on the site, since I can't seem to get a consistent desirable browsing experience with any of them.

Microsoft's hubs seem to be on the right direction for what I desire. I would relish the opportunity to give it a spin and see if their device can help me get back to living and giving my family the attention they deserve. I am a mobile deviceaholic and I'm looking for a better way. Short of getting a neural-link to the 'Net, I'm very interested to see if Windows Phone can satisfy my hunger in a more efficient manner. What I've seen so far looks promising.

Chris Papadopoulos

Inner peace derives from easy data access and fast response to any given command, since all mobile devices put your temper to the limits! That will hopefully be the case with the Windows Phone and if I am uber-lucky I will be posting the awesomeness to the crowd.

PC_Tool

Benefits of "Glance & Go":

The stop-sign/stop-light quick check no longer pisses off all of the drivers behind you -- as you unlock, tap, scroll and slide to get to what you want to check. Less Road Rage saves lives.

All the info is right in front of you. Your screen stays cleaner (less swiping) and you lower your risk of carpal_thumb_syndrome. (Is that a syndrome yet? It should be.)

Shorter meetings. Instead of staring at their phones, they are staring at the presenter, and it's gonna freak him out. The faster he gets done, the faster they all stop looking at him.

And seriously? The major benefit is for those folks who use their phones mainly as a social-media content aggregator. Instead of going from app to app (launching, closing, with a trip to the home-screen/app drawer in between), it's just there. Right in front of you. No clicking, swiping, scrolling and mostly, no waiting. Well, at least, that's the idea. ;)

ShoutBits

I live in a downtown neighborhood with eight Starbucks shops within a few blocks of each other. With my clumsy Android phone, sooner or later I am going to crash into someone on the sidewalk and spill $4 worth of coffee. Maybe Glance and Go can save me and my neighbors from this.

Petra O'Sullivan

I'm the mother of a toddler. Glance and go is all I have time for in my life!

tiburoncito_2000

I promise to give up my iPhone addiction.

Jason Ward

The glance-and-go concept appeals to me because life itself is fluid. Though we often think of things in our lives in terms of origin and destination (i.e. leaving home; getting to work, going to college;getting a good job; meet Mr. or Mrs. Right; get married) the time spent between these events or destinations is also where life flows. Life doesn't start and stop in distinct iterations of events -- it flows.

Windows Phone's glance and go concept is designed to allow people -- us -- to use the Windows Phone as a tool while we continue to flow through life. Using a Windows Phone as a tool in our lives does not halt us -- forcing us into the world of the phone, but as a natural tool the glance-andgo concept fits into our world and flows with us.

In addition to this the actual fluidity of the OS  -- how the words and pages of the Hubs and applications flow smoothly and effortlessly across the screen responsively instigated by the slight and natural swipes of the user -- is a visual manifestation of the continuity of the design of the Window Phone system to flow with our lives. Glance and go -- live and flow.

I believe that the Window Phone OS is the most natural mobile OS offering the most synergistic addition to our lives.

Many modern games are all about the graphics, with the developers exploiting the very latest engines and technologies to deliver some truly cinematic experiences. Get past the eye candy, though, and there’s not always a great deal left. So if you place a higher value on compelling gameplay, then you might find considerably more entertainment in a retro-style project, something that’s based on interesting ideas rather than just pretty pixels.

OpenRA, for instance, is an open-source implementation of the Red Alert engine, which right now supports classic Westwood games like Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert. These aren’t clones of the originals, rather they’re what the developers call “reimaginings”, with “improved and rebalanced gameplay”.

If you don’t remember the originals, then these are real-time strategy classics, which helped to create the rules that many RTS games still follow today. In a skirmish, for instance, you’ll start with a single base; begin collecting resources to build up your economy; construct base defences, buildings and units; then scour the rest of the map for your enemies, turning every last one to dust with your high-tech weaponry.

You can play against the computer, but there’s also support for multiplayer games played both locally and over the Internet, and the authors are constructing a single-player campaign, too.

Graphics? They’re, well, basic. Even by 1990′s standards. We’ve always loved the Command & Conquer series, though, and OpenRA provides a fun and free way to enjoy their engrossing gameplay once more.

If OpenRA’s tiny sprites are just too basic for your tastes, though, you might prefer something like UFO:Alien Invasion. It’s based on a version of the Quake 2 engine, so still isn’t exactly what you’d call leading edge, graphically speaking, but it can look reasonably good. (Although the down side is that all these maps and visuals make for a bulkier download at more than 500MB.)

Gameplay this time is based on the old X-COM PC games, where you control a secret organization charged with protecting with world from a brutal alien invader.

Some of the game is played at a fairly high level, in Geoscape mode. You’ll build bases, research new technologies to help you in your battles, select and train soldiers, deploy and launch interceptor craft to shoot down invading UFOs.

The heart of the game, though, is Tactical Mode, where you send a hand-picked team of specialist soldiers to an area with reports of alien activity, and have them find out exactly what’s going on.

What’s really interesting here is that this works in a turn-based form. Every soldier has a certain number of “time units” to spend per turn. You might use these to move a soldier as far forward as possible across a map, for instance. But, you may find his very last step brings an alien into his sight. And so when your turn ends, the alien will be able to attack and kill him with ease.

So what you have to do instead, then, is be careful, move forward slowly, don’t rush around blind corners or into rooms unless you know what’s there and other members of the team are available to cover you. Which is, of course, actually quite what this situation would be like in real life. So although the turn-based approach seems primitive, and won’t be to everyone’s tastes, it turns out to be surprisingly good at generating tension and excitement. And if you’re looking for a free game with the depth to keep you engrossed and entertained for quite a few hours, then UFO:Alien Invasion could be a very good choice.

Microsoft is set to get a little more pushy ensuring you have an up-to-date browser and will automatically update Internet Explorer to the latest version on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 beginning in January. This will occur for those who have enabled Automatic Updates within Windows Update, the company says.

The move echoes a trend started with Google's Chrome, which automatically updates itself by default: other browsers (such as Firefox and Opera) prompt before updating. Chrome's update strategy is why a previous version loses market share quickly when a new version comes out.

For Windows XP, this means the update will deliver Interner Explorer 8, while Vista and Windows 7 browsers will get the latest version of IE9. Those who have specifically declined IE8 or IE9 in the past are opted-out.

Microsoft provides the IE8 or IE9 Automatic Update Blocker to prevent the update from occurring, an option many businesses choose to use. Microsoft plans to integrate automatic update blocking into the the browser in future versions.

"The Web overall is better – and safer – when more people run the most up-to-date browser", Internet Explorer Business and Marketing manager Ryan Gavin writes to The Windows Blog. "Our goal is to make sure that Windows customers have the most up-to-date and safest browsing experience possible, with the best protections against malicious software such as malware".

Microsoft has made a big deal about upgrading IE at the consumer level. Earlier this year it launched a public relations campaign to get users of Internet Explorer 6 -- a decade old browser -- to upgrade. At the time, some 12 percent of Web surfers still used it: that has since fallen to about eight percent according to Net Applications.

Australian and Brazilian Windows users will be the first to receive the automatic updates, which will be scaled up over time. Microsoft will not change any settings or personalization as a result of the update, it claims.

It's the question I'm asking myself, so I pose it you. After countless launch day rumors, Verizon Wireless is finally offering the Google-branded Galaxy Nexus, the first Ice Cream Sandwich Android, to us poor dodos here in the United States. Seemingly everybody else in the world got it first, like Samsung Galaxy S II before it.

Related is another question: Will you pay more now or pay less and wait? Verizon has Galaxy Nexus available right now for $299.99 -- a penny more than the comparable iPhone 4S, which is HSPA and not 4G LTE; you can walk into a store and get Galaxy Nexus into your greedy grubby hands right away. Fry's Electonics will sell you the smartphone for $219.99 online, with a 2-to-3 day wait, which just might make Christmas; I assume it's in stores today, for West Coasters seeking immediate gratification. AmazonWireless has the best price I've seen so far, $199 -- and that's with no tax. I went through the ordering process, but didn't buy, and got December 29 delivery date -- that's no Christmas for you, bud. Better pricing means waiting longer, and Verizon made you wait so long already.

There's also option of waiting even longer for the Android 4.0 smartphone to pop up on another carrier. But there might not be LTE. Verizon turned on its LTE network in more cities today, with coverage now reaching 200 million Americans. AT&T offers LTE in 15 cities, promising to reach 70 million people by end of this month. My buddies back in Washington, DC see 20Mbps downstream or more on AT&T LTE. Some BetaNews readers report speeds approaching 40Mbps. I tested Verizon's network on XOOM LTE here in San Diego last night, consistently getting close to 18Mbps downstream. Waiting might get you faster bandwidth -- or you could pay $700 or more for an international unlocked phone (I wouldn't), which supports AT&T and T-Mobile HSPA+ networks.

One question GSM phone geeks are sure to ask: "Can you do data and talk at the same time?" Since Verizon's CDMA network can't do it. I called a couple Verizon Wireless stores this morning asking that question. One customer rep answered: "For the 4G network, correct".

For people considering iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus, some specs:

iPhone 4S: 3.5-inch multitouch display with 960 x 640 resolution (800:1 contrast ratio); 800MHz dual-core processor; 512MB RAM; 16GB, 32GB or 64GB storage; GSM/HSPA; 8MP rear-facing and VGA front-facing cameras; LED flash; image stabilization; 1080p video recording; accelerometer; ambient-light sensor; gyroscope; GPS; proximity sensor; digital compass; Bluetooth; WiFi. Measurements: 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm, 140 grams.

Galaxy Nexus: 4.65-inch multitouch display with 1280 x 720 resolution (100,000:1 contrast ratio); 1.2GHz dual-core processor; 1GB RAM; 32GB storage; CDMA/4G LTE; 5MP rear-facing and 1.3MP front-facing cameras; LED flash; zero shutter-lag; 1080p video recording; accelerometer; ambient-light sensor; barometer; gyroscope; GPS; proximity sensor; digital compass; Near-Field Communication (NFC); Bluetooth; WiFi. Measurements: 135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94 mm, 135 grams.

Too Many Delays

Someone at Verizon should be fired -- and perhaps at Google, too -- for the late launch. The earliest rumors had the phone going on sale a month ago, which makes lots more sense because of iPhone 4S, Verizon skipping Galaxy S II and Christmas holidays. Somebody gave up weeks of sales on arguably one of the best, if not the very best, handsets available this holiday season.

Three days ago I asked: "Are you tired of waiting for Galaxy Nexus?", wondering who among BetaNews readers had given up waiting.

"I couldn't wait and just got my iPhone yesterday, motta writes two days ago. "They dropped the ball on this one if you ask me. By the way the iPhone is ten times better than I thought it was going to be. Facetime rocks!"

"I was planning to switch to Verizon for this phone", EWilliams1914 writes. "However, after the revelation of bloatware (even if it can be disabled), the Google wallet debacle, and the ridiculous wait, I finally just ordered one from the UK".

DatBoyK: "Its gotten to the point where I've lost all my excitement for it. If I do get it it will be because there is just nothing else I wanted at the time. What a piss poor job they have done with this phone".

The wait is over. Will you buy? Or have you already? Please answer in comments, and if you got Galaxy Nexus please share your first impressions, which will matter to other prospective buyers.

Microsoft has long looked lovingly at identity, and providing the "one" that binds consumers and businesses to Windows. Users benefit by being freed from managing multiple identities and passwords across the web and, presumably, by improved privacy and security as a result. Microsoft gains by controlling a master identity system that keeps some of its core technologies relevant.

But Microsoft couldn't bring a single-identity system to market during the last decade. Privacy groups filed complaints about Passport, leading to a Federal Trade Commission investigation and later a settlement. Soon after, Microsoft settled its US antitrust case, agreeing to five years government oversight that instead went on for nearly 10. But Federal and state watchdogs left in September, and as I explained then Microsoft is freer to integrate stuff into Windows. Today, Dustin Ingalls, Windows Security & Identity, explains exactly how Windows 8 will tackle the identity problem.

Luckily for Microsoft, during its lost decade of government oversight, no single ID system emerged. OpenID isn't it, as many open-source supporters had hoped. But Apple and Google are leading candidates -- the one leveraging from iTunes/iCloud IDs and the other Gmail profiles connected to dozens of services, respectively. So Microsoft can't move fast enough to take its leading asset, Windows Live ID, and bind it to the operating system in a compelling and useful way. Ingallis rightly lays it out -- using Windows 8 and Live IDs to reduce the burden of managing identities and passwords and improving privacy and security in the process.

"Our research has shown us that the average person using a PC in the United States typically has about 25 online accounts", he explains. "That's a lot to keep track of. In fact, the data also shows that the number of unique passwords across those 25 accounts is only about six. For folks who spend time thinking about security, that's a worrisome finding".

Some of these services are really frustrating. Several I use limit passwords to eight characters and prohibit security-enhancing special characters, like % or #. My typical password, and they all vary in length, is minimum a dozen characters, unless restricted by the service provider.

"Password reuse is very useful to hackers", Ingallis rightly observes. "They know that if they can learn your password for one site, it’s highly likely that you use the same password on other sites. Even worse, an attacker can often use your sign-in information to reset the password for other accounts where the password actually is different".

He then goes to state all the different reasons why the existing password-model is deficient. Then explains:

Windows 8 simplifies the task of managing unique and complex passwords in two important ways. The first is by providing a way to automatically store and retrieve multiple account names and passwords for all the websites and applications you use, and do so in a protected manner. Internet Explorer 10 uses the credentials that we store to remember names and passwords for websites you visit (if you choose). In addition, anyone building a Metro style app can use a direct API to securely store and retrieve credentials for that app. (It is important to note that IE respects instructions from websites about saving your credentials – some websites specifically request that passwords not be saved.)...

One of the great things you get when you sign in to Windows with your Windows Live ID is the ability to sync the credentials you’ve stored to all of the Windows 8 PCs that you register as your 'Trusted PCs'. When you store credentials in conjunction with signing in to Windows with your Windows Live ID, Windows enables you to set your password for each account to something that is both complex and unique; since Windows 8 will automatically submit the credential on your behalf, you’ll never need to remember it yourself. If you need to see the actual password at some point later, you can view it in the credential manager shown here, from any of your Trusted PCs.

Google offers an optional two-factor authentication that I would use if it worked right. But Google's mechanism isn't automatic for all its services and requires special setup for applications. Simply stated: It's a pain in the ass. From that perspective, among others, I see sense in Microsoft making authentication a core part of the operating system.

That's not really new, in a sense, as Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008 support TPM -- Trusted Platform Module -- which requires supporting hardware to dynamically create encryption keys. Microsoft plans to improve Windows 8 TPM support in a variety of ways that will benefit businesses, particularly. Like Windows Live ID, there is unique benefit for developers creating Metro-style apps, which, Ingallis says, "have APIs that make it easy to automatically enroll and manage keys on your behalf".

Microsoft will take a very OS-centric approach to identity when Windows 8 ships. But as more business-to-business, business-to-consumer, business-to-employee and consumer-to-consumer transactions take place, there's reason to ask whether Windows, or any other PC operating system, really is the best identity hub. After all, more of us use cloud-connected mobile devices every day.

Photo Credit: Gunnar Pippel/Shutterstock

Verizon Wireless says that network expansion planned for tomorrow will bring 4G LTE to 200 million Americans. That's not the news we were waiting for. Google-branded, Samsung-manufactured Galaxy Nexus, a LTE phone, is rumored to be launching tomorrow. How about a peep or two about that, Verizon? Wassup with these delays?

On December 15, Verizon will flip the LTE switch in Dover, Del.; Lafayette, Ind.; Fitchburg/Leominster, Mass.; Duluth, Rochester area and St. Cloud, Minn.; Manchester/Nashua, NH; Poughkeepsie, NY; Findlay/Tiffin and Youngstown/Warren, Ohio; and Indiana, Pa. Coverage will expand here on the West Coast in San Diego and San Francisco and Eastward in Savannah, Ga.; Chicagoland, Ill.; Baltimore and Hagerstown, Md.; and Washington, DC.

"Introducing the 4G LTE network has been the fastest rollout of any next-generation network in our history. In one year and 10 days, we have brought 4G LTE to more than 200 million people", David Small, Verizon Wireless CTO, says. "That’s more than twice as fast as our 3G network rollout". In the coverage map above, the yellow-green circles denote where Verizon offers LTE service.

LTE is hugely important to the country's largest carrier, which offers eight LTE handsets, all Androids. Galaxy Nexus would make nine. Verizon also offers a handful of LTE tablets: Motorola Droid XYBOARD 8.2 and 10.1; Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1; and Moto XOOM (which is currently out of stock).

By comparison, AT&T offers just two LTE phones, the recently launched HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. The nation's second-largest carrier reaches 15 cities with its 4G service. However, AT&T promises considerably faster data throughput -- up to 70Mbps downstream compared to maximum 12Mbps for Verizon LTE.

I tested 4G speed on my recently-purchased XOOM LTE last night. My apartment gets terrible cellular and data service from AT&T. Verizon delivered 5.83Mbps downstream and 5.78Mbps upstream. I'll test tomorrow, when Verizon expands coverage here in San Diego.

LTE matters to Verizon, which assumes it matters to you. But does it? Right now, 4G LTE is only available on Androids. AT&T doesn't yet offer LTE in San Diego, but I bought the Skyrocket as investment protection when the service is available. What about you? Have you recently purchased a LTE phone or plan to buy one in the next three months? Stated differently, is 4G a must-have feature for your next smartphone? You know where to answer.

The shoe is on the other foot. I hope Apple wears it well, because I expect it's a tight fit.

Samsung is doing to Apple what the "Get a Mac" marketing campaign did to Windows a half-decade ago: Change perceptions, for the negative. Apple's ad campaign is one of the best conceived for tech products, using two actors to represent a Mac and Windows PC and convey simply complex concepts about why one is better than the other. That campaign crushed the Windows brand at a time when Microsoft delayed Windows XP's successor, which thumped on the market in late 2006 like someone flying fast and far from a trampoline. Samsung's "The Next Big Thing is Here" campaign -- squarely slamming iPhone and its idolaters -- similarly succeeds.

So says YouGov BrandIndex, which measures consumer perceptions about products like iPhone. "Samsung has just edged past the iPhone in consumer perception in the US (adults 18+), likely powered by their new set of ads bashing the Apple fanboys who camp out for hours to buy the new iPhone," Ted Marzilli, BrandIndex managing director, says.

I wrote about the first commercial the day after it aired (November 22), describing it as "among the best tech ads I've seen in years". I wrote about another in the "Next Big Thing" series on December 2; BrandIndex says it aired the day before.

"The two snarky ads, which promote the Galaxy S II, appear to be affecting the iPhone’s consumer perception, sending it into decline around the time the first ad appeared and continuing now," Marzilli says. "At the same time, Samsung’s perception has crept up gradually and just surpassed iPhone last week. The ads were released around November 22nd and December 1st".

He explains about the chart above: "iPhone’s buzz score began sinking around November 28, with a buzz score of 33 -- the current score is 25. Samsung, whose buzz score was 19 compared to the iPhone’s 29 on October 3rd, is now at 26".

As I've oft said, in business perception is everything. In branding, perception is even more. Until Samsung's snarky TV commercials, only Verizon's "Droid Does" campaign offered any real challenge to iPhone, or perceptions about it. But Verizon didn't attack iPhone, which Samsung does with the kind of oft-hand cleverness that reminds of "Get a Mac". That's all without ever mentioning Apple or iPhone, even though the fake Apple-store look-alike and iPhone geeks waiting "30 hours" in line are unmistakable.

The commercials are effective for lots of reasons. These are mine; Marzilli doesn't give anyway:

1. The TV spots are immediately familiar. iPhone fans waiting in line hours on end outside Apple Store is part of the cultural lexicon. It's a stereotype.

2. Casting is exceptional. These actors are believable iPhone idolaters. They are the stereotype.

3. Like "Get a Mac" there is delicious putdown -- many viewers will delight seeing obsessed, Apple hipsters made to look foolish.

4. Editing is exceptional, particularly the way jump cuts take the viewer down the line of people and interactions between them.

5. Samsung airs many different TV spots, and they're 15, 30 and 60 seconds long.

6. These ads get heavy rotation in prime time, like those for iPhone.

7. Each commercial, even the 15-sec spots, tell a story. There is a clearly communicated concept -- comparison between Galaxy S II and iPhone.

8. Samsung effectively communicates Galaxy S2 benefits over iPhone, while also emphasizing competitor's deficits.

9. The iPhone line waiters mainly are the ones saying the corporate brand name -- "Samsung", in an exasperated, stunned way that is more memorable than if a voice-over had done so.

10. The TV spots make you laugh -- the jokes are good.

How’s this for a Christmas present? On Monday, December 19, you can get hold of a full version of Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8, which normally retails for $49.99, completely for free, courtesy of BetaNews’s Downloadcrew. For a period of 24 hours only (from 00.00 to 23.59, Central European Time, on Dec. 19, 2011), you’ll be able to download, install and register the software, completely free.

Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8 is the first of a number of full commercial applications we have lined up for you over the next few months. Downloadcrew is launching a brand new giveaway website, which will also host exclusive discounted software that you will not find elsewhere.

Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8 is a complete tool for maintaining, optimizing and securing your system. It’s packed with features - version 8 added over 100 new ones alone -- that will help you clean up, speed up and protect your PC.

If your PC is struggling to cope with the demands being put on it -- if it’s no longer as sleek, stable and secure as it was - then Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8 will almost certainly help.

System tinkerers will love all the options and tweaks available for fine-tuning their systems, split into six clearly defined groups: Maintain system, Improve performance, Customize Windows, Analyze System, File tools, and General.

Pretty much all bases are covered, from a vastly improved defragment utility for speeding up your hard drive to a secure file wiping tool for making sure sensitive data is properly deleted from your system. There are cleanup tools, optimisation modules, the list is endless.

All of that raw power might be off-putting to some, but here’s where WinOptimizer 8 really earns its corn: just answer a few simple questions, and the program’s tuning assistant will do all the hard work for you, delivering a sleeker, more secure PC with the minimum of fuss.

There’s even a benchmarking tool built in, so you can see the effects of the program’s tweaks both before and after they’re implemented.

So what do you need to do in order to get this amazing software for free? Simple: check back again anytime on Monday December 19 to download and install the software. Register the software using the link provided and Ashampoo will email you the all-important registration code to unlock the full, unrestricted version of the software, saving you a cool $49.94 in the process.

Alternatively, you can sign up to the Downloadcrew weekly newsletter and be one of the first to be told of the new website and forthcoming planned giveaways. To sign up to the newsletter, simply head to Downloadcrew and enter your details in the newsletter module in the left column.

But remember! This freebie will be online and available for just 24 hours – from 00.00 to 23.59 (Central European Time) on Monday, December 19.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

It’s often useful to be able to grab some of the information contained in an application window.  If you need to share a complex error message with someone else, say, then being able to copy it immediately to the clipboard will save time and avoid the potential confusion that might arise if you make a typo or two while manually reentering it somewhere else.

But there’s a problem: in many cases text is presented in a way that makes it very hard to extract and use elsewhere. If you want to make a note of all 100 languages supported by a program, say, there’s no standard right-click option that will extract it from a listbox and copy raw text to the clipboard.  And so under normal circumstances you’ll have to manually read and retype the information yourself.

Fortunately there is a more straightforward alternative, though, in the shape of the tiny, free and portable GetWindowText.

The program provides a selector button, which you drag over the window or control you’d like it to examine. GetWindowText draws a thick border around whatever is currently selected, for easy confirmation. And if you release the button then the program will attempt to extract any text the control contains, before displaying it in a standard text box, where this time you can easily select whatever you need and copy it to the clipboard for use elsewhere.

Does it work? There are some oddities. We dragged and dropped the button onto the left-hand pane of an Explorer window, for instance, and retrieved the folder tree in text form. But dragging and dropping the button onto the right-hand pane revealed precisely nothing at all, for some reason.

Most of the time, though, GetWindowText worked perfectly, correctly retrieving the text from many different application and system dialogs. So if you ever have to manually record the contents of a tree view, list box or other control, don’t waste time retyping: GetWindowText can generally do it for you with a simple drag and drop.

I must make an embarrassing confession. This morning I logged into my Last.fm account for the first time since June 2008. Has it been that long? Gads! I've really got to start using the service again. Is it a question of Last.fm irrelevance? Nah. Blame iTunes, which I gave up using a few months ago, and hassles with tagging songs. When I last used Last.fm Scrobbler for the Mac -- granted years ago -- there were, ah, issues. I'm on Windows now, where Last.fm and Microsoft are hug-a-beasts.

Last.fm emailed me today about a new service, which is what got me looking around again after being so long absent. Last.fm Discover is supposed to help you better discover independent music. Hey, I'm all for that. I was a deejay in my youth, back before the Federal Communications Commission deregulated radio and jocks had to pass a test to get one of three "Class" licenses.

"Our team has grappled over the years on how to best overcome the barriers of discovering new music, whether it be finding new artists from around the globe, downloading tracks or sharing with friends. Last.fm Discover solves this problem", Matthew Hawn, Last.fm veep, says. "By working with the Microsoft innovation team we’re able to bring a huge library of independent music to new audiences. We want people to discover, listen and share new music and Last.fm Discover gives a new and engaging way of doing just that".

Working with Microsoft? Yeah. Just hop on over to Last.fm Discover using another browser but Internet Explorer 9, and you'll be prompted to download it.

"We're always looking for new and outstanding ways to bring fantastic HTML5 experiences to Internet Explorer 9 users, and this new site from Last.fm will not disappoint", Gabby Hegerty, UK IE lead, says. The site didn't disappoint in Chrome 16 either. The site is clean and fluid.

So what exactly can you discover? That perhaps depends on your definition of "independent". I tried searching for Black Keys, which has a new album, rising single ("Lonely Boy"), but isn't a top-of-charter. Last.fm Discover discovered nothing, presenting message: "You've reached the end of the Internet". My God! It's not infinite, like the universe, after all? Next up: Silversun pickups. Success! And a surprise.

Call me an idiot -- well, many BetaNews commenters already do that -- because when I hit "play" Last.fm didn't serve up Silversun Pickups but like-genre independents. First up: "Two Constellations" by And Their Sons, which, hotdamn, I liked. Now that's music discovery. The service presents options "More like this" and "Something different", for finding more good stuff.

Next up, I searched for "Oasis", now finally understanding what the service is about. I listened to seasonal "Noel on The Moon (Song of Christmas Future)" by Tiny Tide, which didn't appeal to me. Next pick from the many Oasis-like bands: "Turn & Run" by We Do Not Negotiate With Terrorists, which appealed much more. Next up, the even better "I Owe It All To You", by Rory Robinson, who I am familiar with, and "Thinking out Loud" by Modern Alarms.

What surprised me: Last.fm Discover presents no obvious way to buy the music. Beneath the tags for tracks is "More info", which links to the Last.fm band page and option to buy a ringtone -- for the five bands I checked. Shouldn't the point be to sell independent music?

I cut my teeth on independents back when Virgin Records was just a few years old and signed the Sex Pistols. Ah, yes, the late 70s, when Baby Boomer siblings rebelled against their Disco dancing brothers and sisters and when punk was a lifestyle and not the day's fashion (look at Green Day!). Can Last.fm Discover help keep the service relevant in the Spotify era? You tell me.

The standard Windows desktop clock doesn’t exactly come with many configuration options: you can set the date and time, and add a couple of extra clocks for other time zones, but that’s about it. If you need a little more versatility, then, you’ll have to look for some third-party help. And there are few options quite as configurable as DS Clock.

Initially, for instance, the program will display both the date and time in the top right-hand corner of your desktop, but you can configure this to show whatever you like. You can choose from multiple date and time formats; add the time in selected time zones; select custom separators and more, creating a format string that defines exactly what you’d like to see.

If the default look of the clock doesn’t appeal, then you can customize it with your choice of font, background and text colors, and an optional 3D border.

The clock may be positioned anywhere you like, then either locked or left movable. It can be set to display on top of application windows. And if that’s sometimes an issue then you can also make it transparent.

DS Clock includes some fabulous default sounds, including genuine Westminster chimes that play every quarter, full and half hour: very atmospheric, in a dusty, old English sort of way. But if you’d prefer something else then you can always point the program at your own MID or WAV file, or turn off the sounds altogether.

If all this seems a little, well, unnecessary, then you might have a point -- but DS Clock does have some more practical benefits, such as its synchronization features. The program knows about almost 40 Internet time servers (considerably more than Windows) and can synchronize your PC’s clock with any of them, just as often as you like.

And right-clicking the clock reveals the ability to launch a stopwatch, another tiny clock which enables you time on-screen events at a click.

Not bad for a lightweight program that, most of the time, required less than 1MB RAM on our test PC. And so if you’re looking for a desktop clock that delivers a little more than the standard Windows offering, the free DS Clock could be ideal.

Photo Credit: xc/Shutterstock

While the BBC’s iPlayer has been available to iPhone users for some time, until now it has only been through a web browser. The latest update to the iOS iPlayer app means that there is now an app that can be used to watch the programs you have missed from the BBC’s channels -- this brings the same option that has been available to iPad users who have been able to take advantage of a dedicate app for a number of months.

While most people will be happy to be able to watch programs at home using a wireless Internet connection, the new iPhone app also allows for broadcasts to be streamed over a 3G connection. Adaptive bitrates are used to ensure the best possible quality for your connection speed but the option of using a 3G connection opens up the possibility to incur hefty data charges nonetheless.

One of the key draws of iPlayer is that it enables you to browse through programming from the past seven days and watch anything that takes your fancy, but it is also possible to watch live broadcasts as well as listening to live radio. If there is a particular show you want to ensure you don’t miss out on, the app can be used to add it to a list of favorites for easy access.

Providing your iOS device - be it an iPod, iPhone or iPad -- has been updated to iOS 5, there is also support for AirPlay which means that it is now possible to stream content to your TV. But it is the 3G streaming that is the real headline grabber, as well as the fact that the app is now iPhone compatible. Similar features are promised for the Android version of the app in the near future.

You can find out more and download a free copy of the app by paying a visit to the BBC iPlayer review page.

Suddenly, Microsoft is a major developer for iOS. The software giant better known for Windows dropped three iOS apps or updates in just two days, and there are rumors of more coming (e.g. Office). But what about Android? "What about Android?" you ask, surprised. "Why should Microsoft give a hoot's fart app about Android? Google and open source are reasons enough why not Android". Yes, but Microsoft makes heaps of money from Android. Nothing from iOS.

Shouldn't Microsoft support the platform that is more personally profitable? The Redmond, Wash.-based company now has convinced most major Android developers to pay licensing fees, presumably because the open-source OS violates Microsoft patents. Perhaps threat of lawsuit is enough. It's serious money, too, $10 or more per device -- if rumors are to be believed. "Patent trolling with Microsoft" I called it in July. Microsoft makes what from iOS? Diddly.

The numbers speak for themselves. In September, Microsoft signed Samsung onto the "pay us so we don't sue you" Android licensing program. This week, the South Korean company boasted about selling 300 million handsets this year -- a big number that closes on sales numbers expected from global leader Nokia. Let's do some quick, easy math by assuming only one-third (and two-thirds wouldn't surprise me) of Samsung phones have Android and that rumors of $10 licensing fee are true. So you've got 100 million devices at 10 bucks apiece. That's a billion dollars, baby. Even if Microsoft collected just $1, it's still $100 million more than iOS generates. That's just from one Android licensee.

By my reckoning, based on IDC projections for 2015 smartphone shipments (1 billion) and Android and Windows Phone combined market share (640 million), Microsoft could conceivably generate $6 billion in licensing fees, $4 billion-plus from Android, four years from now. So I must ask again: Shouldn't Microsoft support the platform that is more personally profitable? That's Android. To hell with iOS.

Right now, Microsoft's strategy is more give-it-away than charge for apps. If Android and iOS were equally profitless, I'd say, sure, develop for iPad and iPhone. Apple is more Microsoft's friend than Google; Microsoft is a long-time, loyal Mac developer; and demographics of the buyers (age or income) are right, putting Microsoft's brand and apps in front of the right people. Then there's Apple's currently strong brand affinity, which Microsoft should want to attach to.

But the platforms aren't equally profitless. Microsoft benefits from increased Android device sales, and it's a proven axiom the platforms with the right apps succeed. There aren't many Microsoft apps on Android -- that I could find. New version of Skype released today, but that's from a company Microsoft recently acquired. Bing and Halo Waypoint are the only substantive Microsoft apps I could find on Android Market, and both are quite appealing.

It's a different world over at Apple's App Store. Yesterday, Microsoft updated OneNote to support iPad -- that for an app available on iPhone for most of 2011. Today, Microsoft released two new iOS apps -- Kinectimals and SkyDrive. There's more. I count 14 apps for iPhone. Among the others:

• Halo Waypoint, released December 10
• My Xbox Live, released December 7
• Microsoft Tag, updated December 6
• Windows Live Messenger, updated December 6
• Photosynth, updated October 11

The other apps -- odd ones like MSN Around the World and MSN Onit -- also are available for Android. We're 12 days into December, and Microsoft has released four new apps for iOS. Whoa.

Android could really use a few compelling Microsoft apps, particularly for lifting it into the enterprise. How about some support for Office, Lync, SharePoint and SkyDrive? Today, Nielsen released lists of top-15 Android apps for three age groups: 18-24, 25-34 and 35-44 year olds. QuickOffice makes all three demographics' lists -- No. 7 for the older group, eighth for the middle one. Shouldn't that be an Office app instead?

I know Microsoft wants to favor its own mobile platform with Mobile Office -- but, hey, there are license fees to collect whether Android or Windows Phone. iOS is a money pit.

Microsoft debuted two new apps for Apple's mobile platform. The new apps are iOS versions of popular Kinect game Kinectimals and Windows Live SkyDrive, its online storage service.

SkyDrive is free, although Microsoft is charging $2.99 for Kinectimals. The game is the only app that the company currently charges for. The two apps follow the release of an Xbox Live app earlier this month and OneNote for the iPad, and Lync for the iPhone.

It's not clear why Microsoft has suddenly taken such interest in the iOS platform, especially considering Android has taken a commanding lead in market share. Why hasn't Redmond started developing in earnest for that platform? That's a question Joe Wilcox asks today in post "What is Microsoft's problem with Android apps?"

The move to focus more development on mobile platforms outside of Windows Phone can be seen as an acknowledgement by Microsoft of its market position. It is already making a significant amount of money through licensing agreements with Android device manufacturers, and it might see iOS app development as a way to cash in on the still considerable number of smartphone users on Apple's platform.

Why keep those special moments to yourself, when you can share them with the people that matter most? There's Facebook, or even Google+, but what good is that when you're Skyping Claire Beauvoir in Brussels and you're in Washington, DC? Today, Skype 2.6 posted to Android Market, and its big new feature is sending photos and videos. Share and share alike. The new capability works over cellular data networks as well as WiFi.

"We've also improved battery life and video quality with Skype 2.6 for Android on devices using Nvidia's Tegra 2 chipset, which include amongst others; the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola XOOM and Acer Iconia Tablet. Now you can take full advantage of the big screen with better video quality than ever before", says Dan Chastney, Skype senior product manager.

Over Black Friday weekend, I bought the XOOOM LTE from Verizon for $199.99. Perhaps in the future I'll report on just how improved that video quality really is. But I'm short a writer today here at BetaNews, and the stories are stacked up. Or you can now in comments.

Skype 2.6 for Android also improves battery life and voicemail. It's available now from Android Market.

Carrier IQ is once again making headlines, this time over reports that it is giving information to law enforcement. Complicating matters more, the FBI denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last week asking about its own use of Carrier IQ technology, saying the release of such documents "could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings".

The FBI's admission in the letter that documents do exist raises concerns that Carrier IQ is using its technologies more than just for customer experience purposes, but actual spying as it is being accused of by many pundits. The company is moving quickly to quell this latest round of criticism.

"Just to clarify all of the media frenzy around the FBI, Carrier IQ has never provided any data to the FBI", the company says in a statement.

While some may want to jump on the Carrier IQ bashing bandwagon quickly, the company may actually be telling the truth. Are some reading too much into the FBI's denial? Here's a possible explanation.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has already launched a Congressional inquiry into the activities of Carrier IQ, asking the Federal Trade Commission to get involved. This may be the reason for the denial over "law enforcement proceedings", rather than actual use of the technology by the FBI.

The actual answer may be more convoluted, though. A Carrier IQ source told VentureBeat that any request by law enforcement is forwarded to the carriers, since they own the data and not the company. Thus, Carrier IQ may have had contact with the FBI and others, but does not deal with them directly.

"Carrier IQ’s data is not designed to address the special needs of law enforcement", the source tells VentureBeat's Jolie O'Dell. So we're essentially back at square one, still unsure if law enforcement is actually spying on us thanks to Carrier IQ.

Amid all this, the company is attempting to get on offense by publishing a 19-page document on its website detailing its technology. The document lists the metrics that Carrier IQ shares with its clients, and stresses its purpose as a network management tool.

"Carrier IQ has built software that allows Network Operators to better understand how mobile devices interact with and perform on their network", it reads in part. "Today our technology is used in two specific ways: network management and customer care".

It repeatedly points out -- often in bold text -- that the information captured are actions and not content. It states further than the log file shown by Trevor Eckhart "is a result of debug settings remaining in production devices and should be classified as vulnerability".

Carrier IQ at the beginning of the report even goes as far as to thank Eckhart for his work, someone it sent a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action to just a few short weeks ago.

Photo Credit: martan/Shutterstock

Google has announced the release of Chrome 16.0.912.63 to the Stable Channel for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame. And as you may know if you’ve been following beta developments, this release includes one particularly interesting new feature in the ability to create multiple profiles for a single instance of Chrome.

If others use your copy of Chrome, you’ll probably already know just how important this can be. Because right now, sure, Chrome is great at syncing your bookmarks, extensions, history and so on across all your other devices. But if someone adds their own bookmarks or extensions then they’ll be synced as well, which probably isn’t what you want at all.

The new solution, then, is to go to Options/ Preferences, Personal Stuff, and click "Add new user". A new instance of Chrome will appear with a badge top-left that tells you which user it belongs to, and this can be edited to whatever you like. Repeat the process to add as many profiles as your PC has users, and if someone then wants to use your copy of Chrome, all they have to do is click the badge and choose their profile from the list. Any customizations they make will then be restricted to their profile only (and synchronized with their own devices, as long as they’ve also signed in to Chrome).

A post on the Google Chrome blog makes it clear that this isn’t intended to be a security solution, at any level. Profiles aren’t password-protected, and anyone can switch to any other profile in just a couple of clicks. It’s easy to use, though, and should be a welcome addition to anyone who shares their computer with others.

Even if no-one else dares touch your PC, though, it’s still worth installing the latest release, if only for the usual selection of patches. Chrome 16 fixes some significant bugs, including several PDF-related out-of-bounds reads and buffer overflows, and upgrading will do a lot to improve your safety online.

I am a new Windows Phone user -- HTC Titan -- and I cannot be more excited about it. As a UX developer it is very apparent that Microsoft has paid some serious attention to detail in ways I have never seen before. In my opinion, Windows Phone really is the best phone people aren’t using.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of consumers make smartphone purchasing decisions and every day most of them choose Android or iPhone? Why? Because they think they're better since most sales technicians at Verizon and AT&T will push Android or iPhone over and above Windows Phone.

How I bought Windows Phone

A friend of mine and I were out looking for a phone for his wife one day so he decided to visit the Verizon store since the family already has a contract there. As we walked into the store, we were immediately greeted by a sales associate; friendly guy. My buddy asked him where the Windows Phones were. Interestingly the sales dude directed us over to the one phone Verizon had, the HTC Trophy. The associate then said, "It’s a good phone. I have one with me, and I use it for work". After looking at the phone for a few minutes my friend asked about the Motorola Razor. The associate then said, "Now that's a phone!"

Two weeks ago, I explained the problems Microsoft faces with Windows Phone and the perception people have about it. Marketing from Android and iPhone continuously put more focus on these two platforms in the minds of consumers, as being the best. It doesn’t matter that when you first set up a Windows Phone how smooth things come together. It doesn’t matter that Windows Phone has a better and more unique interface than either Android or iPhone. It doesn’t matter that Microsoft paid more attention to detail in an OS than they have ever. If Microsoft doesn’t communicate how Windows Phone stands out from the rest, why should anyone even consider it?

Cellular companies that push potential buyers towards Android and iPhone will continue to cause Microsoft to have low Windows Phone sales. That’s a sad situation considering how good this phone actually is.

Wow, What Easy Setup

Setting up my Windows Phone for the first time was pretty surprising. I already knew that Windows Phone relied heavily on a Windows Live ID and that connecting a WL account to Twitter, Facebook or a host of other online services would make the setup experience a lot easier. However, I chose not to do that just to see if the experience of setting up the phone was different.

My Windows Live account was not connected to Facebook or Twitter. However, connecting my phone to those services, including Gmail could not have been easier. Microsoft has done a fantastic job of streamlining the setup experience. Setting up an account for Twitter, Facebook or Gmail was as easy as logging into those accounts.

Joe Wilcox previously wrote about how well company's do sync will define their platforms. While I do not want to suggest that Windows Phone is perfect in this area, I would say that Microsoft is on the right track for sure. How well Windows Phone utilizes Skydrive surprised. When I navigated to the Office Hub for the first time, it automatically started downloading my office documents and OneNote files saved from Office 2010 to my SkyDrive space. Admittedly Microsoft still has some significant work it needs to do to make sync better but they are off to a great start. For instance, Live Mesh allows you to automatically sync documents between devices (PCs) but Mesh and SkyDrive are not quite fully integrated yet.

You Can Take Back Your Life

Using the HTC Titan Windows Phone is joyous. The phone is huge (4.7-inch display) but somehow not overly big. Windows Phone has lots to like about it. As an iOS user since the original iPod touch and current iPad 2 owner, I think Apple has traditionally been known as the company that pays strict attention to detail. iOS 5 is a slick OS, and there it not much to criticize it for. However, Windows Phone 7.5 does a much better job at putting the most basic and common tasks at the forefront.

Microsoft marketing takes a "people first", "glance-and-go" approach to Windows Phone. I am here to tell you it’s true. Windows Phone really does make people a priority. I'll explain. Phones are used to primarily interact with human beings: we text, make phone calls and interact on social networks. I had heard for the past year how Windows Phone makes interacting with people tons easier than the other platforms. Having used it in real world experiences for the first time I can actually say it’s true.

Navigating from the home screen to the People Hub gives you the ability to see what your friends are either posting to various social networks or give you the ability to message them through text or IM (whether it be on Facebook, Windows Messenger or SMS): all in one location without having to jump in and out of apps. I personally find that Android and iOS come up way short.

The other day, I visited a very busy shopping mall but could not find the mall map. I remembered Bing had announced that they had released maps of major malls across America. Assuming these were only on their online maps, I decided to take a look anyway -- to my surprise there it was: a map of the mall I was in. I clicked the map and it gave me a long list of stores; I searched for my store, clicked it and it showed me my current location within the mall and pinpointed exactly where the store was located. Now that's glance and go.

As an avid Xbox user and a huge fan of the console as well, I have to say that Microsoft has done a bang-up job integrating the Xbox experience into the phone. Going to the Xbox hub for the first time, I was surprised to see my avatar appear on the screen exactly as I had customized it. Taping the avatar, results in it doing all sorts of funny things like dancing or trying to sneak off the screen. Having my gamer information seamlessly transition from my Xbox to my phone is convenient and amazing. I like being able to send messages to my Xbox friends to play a game on Xbox Live.

Where Windows Phone Falls Short

As much as I like Windows Phone, it certainly has its issues and I think Microsoft needs to address some of these as soon as possible. I was shocked at how many borderline pornographic applications Microsoft allows at the top of the app list in the Windows Phone Marketplace. If I navigate to Entertainment apps I see "Betty’s Boobs" long before I see Netflix or IMDB! This makes no sense to me at all.

Another issue I think needs to be addressed is with the Bing Maps. Microsoft shows traffic for major highways, but as far as side roads are concerned, nothing. As a former Android user, one of the things I really liked about Android was the maps. The turn-by-turn directions proved to be very useful at times. However, I found the talking voice to be consistently annoying. With Bing, Microsoft took a different (albeit controversial) approach. Instead of hearing the voice at every turn, Windows Phone lets you know by a chime wither or not you are on the right path. Navigate outside the recommended directions and the voice chimes in and lets you know. However, as long as you remain on the right path, you get a very noticeable yet subtle chime sound on your phone. If you want to hear the voice, all you have to do is tap the screen.

Another area where Microsoft can make improvements is in the area of natural user interfaces (NUIs). There is no reason why a company that has demonstrated voice and gesture technology in the past would release one of the most successful consumer products in history in the Kinect and not figure out a way to get it into the phone. It's simply inexcusable in my mind, and CEO Steve Ballmer does not deserve his bonus this year because of this (and many other issues of course). Apple has Siri and Microsoft has TellMe. Microsoft demonstrated Siri-like feature on Windows Phone long before Apple released iPhone 4S. The future of this platform form a NUI perspective looks very promising.

Better Xbox integration is sorely needed. Last week, Microsoft released the Xbox companion for Windows Phone, but they need to do more. Xbox should be able to play any type of media on my phone: video, music and even pictures.

Almost There?

A buddy of mine recently was in the market for his first smartphone. So what did he choose? Android? Windows Phone? iPhone? He chose iPhone. I asked him why. He explained how much he liked what he saw in Windows Phone but was not ready to take the risk. Take the risk? On a Microsoft product? He would wait for Windows Phone 8. For now though, he wanted something that is much more refined and feature complete. I feel there are many more people like him who will make the same choice against Windows Phone. Microsoft has a daunting task ahead of them.

New Season of Microsoft's Life

Overall, Microsoft has paid so much attention to details in Windows Phone that the overall experience is enjoyable! This, my friend, is a key aspect of user experience design and development. As long as you give end users an enjoyable experience, they will be able to deal with and accept the shortcomings. Whether you believe it or not, it’s true. When developers design software that delight consumers, they overlook errors and inconsistencies.

Windows Phone is not perfect. However, I would definitely recommend WP to new smartphone users. It simply makes sense that if you have a PC (because of SkyDrive) and Xbox, Windows Phone is the best choice. If you are primarily a Mac user, well, you know.

Windows Phone is elegant, smooth, intuitive, practical and extremely fun to use. It’s a new season in the life of Microsoft. This company is thinking, designing, developing and executing in ways it never has before. Perhaps you should give Windows Phone some serious consideration for your next smartphone purchase. It really is the best smartphone you are not using.

Robert Johnson is a user interface developer specializing in the user experience (UX) of .NET-based web applications. He has been working in some form of web development and graphic design for 14 years. He loves technology in general, particularly that of Apple, Google and Microsoft. He is a Betanews reader.

Forrester analyst Holger Kisker seems to think it is. Today he blogs: "2012 is the year the cloud becomes mature". It's also the year we're all supposed to die, if you believe ancient Mayan predictions. But December is that time when analysts peer (should that be leer?) into their crystal balls and prognosticate about the year ahead.

Kisker offers 10 reasons, but doesn't serve meat and potatoes until No. 6: "The total cloud market (including private, virtual private, and public cloud markets) will reach about $61 billion by the end of 2012. By far, the largest individual cloud market continues to be the public SaaS market, which will hit $33 billion by the end of 2012". Those are big numbers.

If Kisker is that optimistic, perhaps he should be more so. Gartner describes public cloud as one of the "hottest topics in IT". Spending on public cloud services is growing four times faster than overall IT spending, says the firm, which forecasts $89 billion spent this year and $177 billion by 2015.

The Forrester analyst isn't alone looking to 2012. Last week, at Discover 2011 in Vienna, Austria, HP announced a series of additions to its cloud portfolio that integrate public and private cloud solutions into a single, more controlled package.

I won't recap Kisker's top-10 list. You can read it yourself. But a couple more demand calling out. Enterprises have been cloud laggards, he observes.

Microsoft's Office 365 demonstrates just how much. Two weeks ago, Kurt DelBene, president of the Office division, says that Microsoft sees "great traction with small businesses, with more than 90 percent of our early Office 365 customers coming from small businesses". If 90 percent of customers are small businesses -- with fewer than 50 employees -- only 1 in 10 is a mid-size or large business, which represent the core Office market.

The data jives with cloud adoption trends seen by Forrester. "Large enterprises spent 2011 mostly catching up, and by 2012, they will be leading in cloud adoption rates in every cloud segment compared with SMBs", Kisker says.

Something else worth highlighting: Changing virtualization trends. Cloud computing and virtualization rank near the top of hot IT trends. The year 2012 is when they finally give up cohabiting and actually marry. "A virtualized data center is not (yet) a private cloud, Kisker says. "With an increasing understanding of cloud computing, companies will shift their focus from technical virtualization projects to focus on the change management aspects required for flexible business models between IT and the line of business".

Read Kisker's list and assess his predictions as they apply to your IT organization.

Photo Credit: Alexander Kirch/Shutterstock

This week, Nielsen listed the most popular Android apps by age group -- 18-24; 25-34; 35-44. Well, well, talk about age discrimination. Perhaps people 45 or older are considered to be iPhone users? For shame! The data is interesting not for what is there but what's not. Facebook tops all three age groups, when looking at actual apps. Android Market ranks higher. Google+ -- and Twitter, for the matter -- is nowhere in sight.

For all the buzz about Google+, and I am a big fan, it's not among the top-15 apps for each age group. That's no small thing. Mobile phones are by and far the most personal devices everyone uses. They're where people connect to other people and things that are important to them. Facebook clearly matters, Google+ and Twitter do not -- as measured by most-popular apps. I suppose some people could use browsers to access the services, but why would they?

The data, for September 2011, is another proof point that perhaps a dedicated Facebook phone makes sense. I'm skeptical there will be one soon, if ever, but it's good time to speculate again, since January's Consumer Electronics Show would be excellent launch venue.

Nielsen's study shows social's importance elsewhere -- just not G+ or Twitter. "A preference for media apps with a social dimension (e.g. Words with Friends) among the 18-24 set is also reinforced by their sizable usage of music and video apps (e.g. Pandora) compared to older demographics", according to Nielsen.

There is some good news for Google: YouTube's popularity. "Google’s YouTube app gets heavy usage from Android smartphone owners 18-24: 64 percent have used it in the past 30 days, compared to 56 percent and 51 percent of 25-34 and 35-44 year olds", according to Nielsen. YouTube ranks fourth behind Facebook in all three demographic groups.

Additionally, Google Search, which is baked into Android, ranks highly -- 77 percent among 18-24 year-olds, right behind Facebook.

So let me ask: Do you use Google+ on your Android? How often? What do you or don't you like about it? Please answer in comments.

I'm scratching my head wondering. You want to answer that one? If you work for Microsoft, I'd love your anonymous response.

This afternoon, in an email sent to Microsoft employees, CEO Steve Ballmer announced that Terry Myerson would take over the Windows Phone division, replacing Andy Lees, who only assumed position of "president" 14 months ago. Lees is the second divisional leader moved out by Ballmer in about 11 months. The other: Former Server and Tools president Bob Muglia.

Lees' move sideways, into an unspecified role, could be read one of two ways -- perhaps both: He's being sidelined Japanese management-style to that position of uselessness following Windows Phone's colossal market failure; or he gained success against insurmountable odds and is being called on to take a new role vital to the future of Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox -- three pillars of Microsoft's three-screen strategy. If the latter, Lees' future Windows Phone role may be secure while on a sort-of sabbatical reporting directly to Ballmer.

Ballmer's Email

Before continuing, the text of Ballmer's email, which Microsoft publicly released:

To: All Microsoft Employees
From: Steve Ballmer
Subj: Leadership Next Steps – Windows Phone
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011

We are driving toward the end of the year with a lot of momentum and buzz, especially in the consumer arena. The new Xbox dashboard is being well received, Kinect and Xbox consoles set a record for Black Friday weekend sales, the Windows Store news from last week delighted developers and partners, Windows Phone 7.5 continues to win reviews, and the Nokia Lumia series has grabbed a ton of attention in Europe, creating anticipation for availability in other geographies next year.

As I look at where we are, what we’ve done, and what we must do in the year ahead, I’m making two leadership changes to ensure we build on our momentum. First, I have asked Andy Lees to move to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8. We have tremendous potential with Windows Phone and Windows 8, and this move sets us up to really deliver against that potential.

Second, as Andy takes on these new challenges for the company, Terry Myerson will assume Andy’s existing responsibilities for leading the Windows Phone Division. As many of you know, Terry played a key and highly successful role working with Andy by leading the engineering work on Windows Phone 7 and 7.5. Terry will now be responsible for Windows Phone development, marketing, and other business functions. Because Terry has been so integrally involved in our Windows Phone work already, I’m confident that he can make a seamless transition to this new and broader leadership responsibility.

Both these changes take place immediately.

I want to personally thank Andy for his contributions to the phone team. In the three years Andy has been leading the phone group, we’ve come a long way – we reset our strategy, built a strong team that delivered WP7 and WP7.5 and created critical new partnerships and ecosystem around Windows Phone. That is a ton of progress in a brief period of time, and I’m excited for Terry and team to keep driving forward and for Andy to dig into a new challenge.

It is amazing to pause and look back at what we’ve accomplished as a company this year, from our incredible product momentum to the formation of several powerful partnerships and the overall strength of our leadership team. And you know I’m a look-forward kind of person, so when I look forward to 2012, I see even more opportunity and potential in what we have planned.

Steve

I could interpret the email two ways. Ballmer says: "I fired his ass, but he's too high level to just show the door". Or: "I need him to help the magical to occur -- bring Windows desktop, embedded and mobile to a single code base when Windows 8 launches". Or: "He's going to help get this Nokia partnership really going, cause it ain't right now going fast enough". Or -- take your pick of whatever skunk-works project that might be "time critical".

Failure Scenario

First up, the Ballmer has moved Lees, short of sacking him scenario. In January post "Steve Ballmer finally shows who's in charge", I explained how he had ushered in a new era of accountability at Microsoft -- something long lacking at a company where jobs seemed guaranteed for life. Suddenly performance mattered where it hadn't enough before: Among Microsoft's top brass. In 2010, Ballmer sent Robbie Bach (another division president -- Entertainment and Devices) packing, along with Steve Jobs wannabe J Allard.

From a strictly execution perspective, Windows Phone 7.5's launch went well. Microsoft got updates to existing customers pretty quickly and new WP smartphones are impressive -- there has been some clever marketing, too. Microsoft has released a compelling operating system that is remarkably different from Android and iOS. Problem: Windows Phone bleeds market share, while Android and iOS suck it up like vampires. For example, at end of third quarter, in the United States, Windows Phone had 1.2 percent share among US smartphone subscribers, according to Nielsen. Hell, that's less than Symbian! By comparison, Android and iOS had 42.8 percent and 28.3 percent share, respectively. That's the measure of failure, in a really big way.

On second thought, I'm convincing myself that Lees is sidelined and as a leader, forgive me, castrated. Hell, he is no longer a Microsoft president -- and over one of the company's most strategically important product groups. As I got to writing the paragraph above, I remembered to check the AllThingsD story that others say broke the news. The first comment, from Christopher Budd, fits with my thinking -- and he should know better than me:

Having worked there 10+ years I can say this is probably the first sign that Windows Phone is failing. They never just fire someone outright at that level and on a product that is that strategically important. Read between the lines and you'll see that Lees is losing his title and (most importantly) his power: he reports directly to Balmer as an individual contributor (IC) it seems.

I wouldn't call it the "first sign that Windows Phone is failing". There are plenty of others. But it's likely the Lees era is over at the Windows Phone division. Microsoft has fallen too far behind and can't get up. In February 2010 I called Windows Phone a "lost cause", and that looks more true today than ever.

The only hope I see is a unified OS strategy, based on ARM, for PCs, tablets and mobile handsets. There Microsoft could leverage the existing Windows ecosystem and perhaps play catch up with Nokia assistance. But Samsung is destined to be the new Nokia -- in no more than two quarters, I predict -- meaning the South Korean manufacturer sells more mobiles in more places than its Finnish rival. Year today, Samsung has sold 300 million handsets, putting his run rate close to Nokia's.

If Lees is working on something like a unified OS strategy, good luck to him. Microsoft's relevance in the post-PC era may depend on such a project's success.

AT&T's deal to purchase T-Mobile appears all but dead. The carrier joined with the Justice Department to ask for a stay of a planned trial until mid January, which US District Judge Ellen Huvelle granted on Monday. The extra time allows for a "Plan B" to be considered, and for AT&T to "evaluate its options".

"AT&T is committed to working with Deutsche Telekom to find a solution that is in the best interests of our respective customers, shareholders and employees", the company says in a statement. "We are actively considering whether and how to revise our current transaction to achieve the necessary regulatory approvals so that we can deliver the capacity enhancements and improved customer service that can only be derived from combining our two companies' wireless assets".

A revised deal appears the only way that AT&T will be able to win regulatory approval, with the Federal Communications Commission actively working to stop the merger and the Justice Department suing to block it. US District Judge Ellen Huvelle had criticized AT&T last week for playing the system by withdrawing its application to the FCC for merger approval while it fights its case with the DOJ.

What form a new deal may take is unknown, but it seems certain that T-Mobile will need to maintain some sovereignty in order for regulators to allow it to happen. AT&T may opt to purchase T-Mobile's network assets, effectively making the nation's fourth biggest carrier a "mobile virtual network operator". It may also attempt to purchase a smaller portion of the carrier, but it likely will need to find another buyer to purchase the remaining assets.

MetroPCS and Leap Wireless have been named as possible participants in such a deal but it appears neither will be able to purchase the amount necessary to make it work. Hanging over AT&T's head is a large breakup fee -- the reason why the company is taking a $4 billion charge in the current quarter -- so something must happen, and quick.

AT&T and T-Mobile must file by January 12, 2012 to notify the court of their plans.

Photo Credit: JustASC/Shutterstock

New data from NPD confirms something I claimed in February: "The real reason Android tablets don't stand a chance against iPad -- onerous monthly data fees". American consumers simply aren't opting for 3G/4G, preferring WiFi for tablets instead. That's good news for Amazon Kindle Fire and Apple's iPad, particularly, but doom and gloom for Motorola Droid XYBOARD and other tablets requiring onerous, two-year data contracts from cellular carriers.

In April, NPD surveyed tablet owners about their wireless connectivity. Sixty percent said WiFi-only but 5 percent planned to add cellular broadband within six months. Fast forward to December and 65 percent are WiFi-only. So much for buying/adoption intentions.

NPD's data is a cautionary tale about something else -- surveys from ChangeWave and others measuring buying intentions. The Apple Fanclub of bloggers and journalists are giddy writing about these, because so many people say they'll buy iPad or iPhone. What people say they will do often reflects what they'd like to but not often what they do. NPD's survey data is excellent example of this. Cellular connectivity is an appealing benefit, until tablet buyers look at the real-world monthly costs and two-year commitments and weigh them against their behavior (how much the tablet will go out and about) and WiFi availability (free in coffee shops and malls).

"There are multiple reasons for greater Wi-Fi reliance", NPD's Eddie Hold says. "Concern over the high cost of cellular data plans is certainly an issue, but more consumers are finding that WiFi is available in the majority of locations where they use their tablets, providing them 'good enough' connectivity. In addition, the vast majority of tablet users already own a smartphone, which fulfills the 'must have' connectivity need".

The difference also reflects changing marketplace, moving from early adopters to the mainstream. "There is a relatively low mobile connection rate for tablet users today in light of the fact that these were early adopters, and therefore less price conscious than the mainstream", Hold says. "If there is not an ongoing need for these early adopters to be always-on, then the carriers clearly face challenges with the larger consumer audience moving forward".

Hold's analysis jives with what I asserted in February, without supporting data. I posted partly in response to uberblogger Robert's assertion: "The only thing that matters is the apps". He's wrong -- then and now. "What matters more is the price -- how much more people pay for one product compared to the other", which is the context I put extra-cost data commitments: "Apple sells iPad with or without cellular network radios. Buyers can choose WiFi only. Even if they buy a 3G model, the data plan is optional and there is no contractual or time commitments. That Verizon can sell iPad without 3G (since the radios are for AT&T), shows there is demand for the right tablet that offers just WiFi".

That said, last week, I received Motorola XOOM LTE from Verizon, putting me in the camp willing to pay monthly data fees. But an unbelievable Black Friday sale made the math work for me. I paid $199.99 for the tablet before taxes. The comparable Apple tablet, with 32GB storage, sells for $729. XOOM LTE then has, comparably, a $529.99 credit to apply against data service -- 17 months against the 24-month contractual commitment. That's by comparison.

The math works against XOOM's successor, the Droid XYBOARD, which Verizon announced days after my tablet arrived. Prices for the 10.1-inch model range from $529.99 to $729.99 -- or about $100 less each for comparable iPad 2s. However, data plan is optional for Apple's tablet, but mandatory for Moto's, putting the two-year cost for the model comparable to my XOOM at $1,449.99. Is cellular connectivity really worth that much more, when WiFi is so readily available? For many people, the answer is no.

On Saturday, I asked readers if they would spend $530 to $730 for Droid XYBOARD. Many readers' responses jive with NPD's findings. Alex Right: "Too much for a tablet, I think".

"Motorola wont be selling many of these. Havent they learned no one will give you $600 for a tablet with a contract", writes bibleverse1. "When the price is $149.99 with a 2 year contract they will fly off the shelves". I'd say $199.99, since that worked for me.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

Microsoft on Monday quietly released an iPad-specific version of Office OneNote, the note-taking application in Microsoft's Office suite.

At CES last year, Microsoft's OneNote team admitted that few people were using OneNote even though it had been part of Office for the better part of a decade. As an application class that lent itself nicely to mobile use (evinced by Evernote) its utility on a PC was less than obvious.

However, Microsoft's admission that OneNote wasn't very popular served as a prelude to a high-visibility move onto Apple's popular portable devices. Just two weeks later, OneNote for iPhone was released.

Now with an iPad-optimized version available to users, OneNote's presence on iOS is complete.

This release comes on the heels of a fresh rumor that Microsoft is actually porting its entire Office suite to the iPad alongside an updated version for OS X Lion.

But even if Office isn't bound for the iPad any time soon, OneNote is ideally suited for mobile use and presents a big-name alternative to dominant mobile note-taking app Evernote.

The European Union has stopped its review of the planned merger between Motorola Mobility and Google, a filing posted to the European Commission's website on Monday says. The EU is asking for more information, and will continue its review once it is received.

EU officials halted the merger review on December 6, according to the website. Both companies said they expect the merger to be completed in 2012, and even with this delay there should be no trouble in meeting that deadline. Google describes the request as "routine", so it seems likely that the merger will still go through without any issues.

Google sees its acquisition of Motorola Mobility as vital to fighting off increasing litigation threats from Microsoft and Apple over what they claim is infringement of patented technologies within the Android operating system. The Motorola acquisition would give Google access to about 17,000 patents.

Motorola also provides Google with a hardware business. While the Mountain View, Calif. company has remained coy on its plans for any "Google phones", Motorola certainly gains an advantage that other Android manufacturers do not have.

Photo Credit: ojka/Shutterstock

Microsoft has released the complete version of Silverlight 5, the company's latest version of its rich Web application framework. This update was first revealed nearly one year ago at Microsoft's Firestarter developer event.

Microsoft pushed out the final release on Friday, just about four months after the first release candidate, and included with it the ninth version of the Silverlight Toolkit.

Like Google is doing with Native Client advancements in Chrome, Microsoft's latest release of the Silverlight Toolkit focuses on functionality that is especially relevant to games developers.

In this version, existing 3D assets in the .xnb format can be ported seamlessly from XNA Game Studio to Silverlight 5, there are new Visual Studio templates for 3D Applications, Libraries and Effects, and new tech samples for bloom, generated geometry, particles/smoke, skinning, and simple animation.

Dowload Silverlight 5 here!

Download the Silverlight Toolkit (December 2011) here!

I sure am, and it's not even on my shopping list. Every day there's a new rumor about the US launch date. We all expected December 8 -- even Verizon Wireless stores (I spoke with a rep last night, who confirmed the date). Perhaps I should ask a different question: Could Google have bungled Galaxy Nexus launch even more?

C`mon, it's the biggest shopping period of the season. Galaxy Nexus is the first Android 4.0 smartphone, and supports fast data (Verizon 4G LTE, baby). It's a no-brainer purchase for the phone geek you love (we won't talk about self-love, but you know) who doesn't give two tits bit about iPhone 4S. Galaxy Nexus should have been ready for sale, on multiple US carriers, by Black Friday.

Many people who might have bought Galaxy Nexus surely snapped up another smartphone by now -- and why not? There have been some hot deals so far. For anyone wanting real 4G, Verizon offers eight other 4G phones -- all Androids -- and AT&T has two (but nowhere near the coverage area). Are you among them? Were you planning to buy Galaxy Nexus and chose something else instead?

Google has done better in some international markets, where Galaxy Nexus has been available for weeks. But the United States is one of the two hottest smartphone markets (China is the other), and it's simply marketing suicide not to have Galaxy Nexus on sale, with only 12 days to Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is too late. Hell, yesterday was too late.

Then there is the Google Wallet fiasco, with widespread reports Verizon won't support it. But this won't be the first time Verizon has wonked some handset's feature to meet its own ends. Google should have known better when considering its US launch partners.

Google has done much worse than Microsoft, which did the absolute inconceivable when Windows Vista shipped a month after Holiday 2006. How the hell do you miss Christmas? At least Microsoft gave everyone about nine months notice that coal would be in the Christmas stocking. Google tantalizes with lots of marketing. Have you seen the bazillion banner ads here at BetaNews? Then there is the clever and compelling TV commercial. You ogle the Google phone, tense with anticipation only to meet disappointment when trying to buy it. Yeah, that's a helluva way to make people feel good about a product.

So, I'll ask again: Are you tired of waiting for Galaxy Nexus? Will you hold out for that Christmas miracle? Or have Google and Verizon killed your faith in Father Christmas -- and you bought something else? Comments wait your responses.

Photo Credit: Samsung

Leading Semiconductor company Intel lowered its fourth quarter earnings outlook on Monday, blaming global supply chain disruptions that have risen from catastrophic floods that have plagued Thailand since last July.

Even though Intel expects the sale of personal computers to be up sequentially this quarter, the severe flooding in Thailand has caused a hard disk supply shortage, which has in turn slowed the demand for processors.

As a result, Intel now expects fourth-quarter revenue to be $13.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million, a full billion dollars lower than it anticipated previously. It also adjusted its gross margin down slightly to 64.5 percent, from the previous 65 percent.

For hard drive makers, the crisis in Thailand continues.

Hard drive supplier Western Digital was hit especially hard by the flood, and its facility in Bang Pa-in was submerged under six feet of water from October 15 to November 17. WD managed to get this facility back to working conditions on November 30, and production began around December first. The company's other hard drive facilities in the Nava Nakorn Industrial park were still under two feet of water at the beginning of December, but WD expected them to be pumped dry some time this week.

Approximately 60 percent of Western Digital's hard drive manufacturing takes place in Thailand, and the company expects production to improve by March 2012.

Toshiba also manufactures hard drives in the Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate Zone, and as of December 5th, there was still approximately 70 cm (2.3 feet) of water in the factory. The company expected a complete dry-out by December 10, but has not announced when production can begin.

Intel said it expects recovery to begin in the first half of 2012.

Does your PC feel in need of a good system tune up? With the Holidays just around the corner and some potential quality time with your PC beckoning, IObit’s flagship tool Advanced SystemCare PRO 4 is just the tool you need to get to the root of your PC’s performance and stability problems with the minimum of fuss.

To celebrate the recent launch of Advanced SystemCare PRO 5, we’re giving away full, unlimited versions of ASC PrRO 4, worth $19.95, helping to deliver you the perfect present of a faster, less frustrating computer for the Holiday season.

To get your free copy of ASC PRO 4, which runs on any PC with Windows 2000 or later installed, click on this download link and follow the instructions to download the software and unlock the full version with the serial code provided. The serial code is good for a year, but hurry though, the download offer expires Dec. 31 2011.

There’s no registration involved, so you don’t have to sign up for anything -- everything you need to get and use the full PRO version of the software is provided at its Download page.

Optimize your PC

So, what can Advanced SystemCare PRO 4 do for your PC? It’s basically a collection of utilities designed to improve performance, root out problems and even detect and remove malware.

The program is split into four sections: Quick Care for those in a hurry, Deep Care for those who want to fine-tune exactly what the program does, Turbo Boost for a noticeable performance boost with just a few clicks, and Toolbox, a series of shortcuts to 20 portable utilities that can be run directly from within ASC PRO itself.

It’s all very simple to use, but because you’re potentially making fundamental changes to your system, it’s good to know that ASC PRO backs up every change you make, so if , for example, you run into problems after using the Registry cleaning portion of the program, you can quickly and easily roll back your computer to a working state.

Upgrade and Save

If you find ASC PRO 4 useful, but want even more features and an even more user-friendly interface, then consider upgrading to Advanced SystemCare PRO 5. We’re able to offer you a whopping 60 percent savings on the regular price of $19.95, so visit our store to order ASC PRO 5 for just $7.95.

Advanced SystemCare PRO 4 is a full commercial application exclusively available for download for PCs running Windows 2000, XP, Vista or 7. All the information you need to unlock the full version of the software, with its deeper scanning, automatic optimisation tools and choice of 10 user interface themes, is provided at the Download page.

Hard drive specialist O&O Software has released a free license for its labs-based SSD Migration Kit. The program is a straightforward tool that makes it easy to migrate your system partition from a regular hard drive to an SSD.

You could of course do something similar with many hard drive copying tools, but the SSD Migration Kit does have a couple of advantages. In particular, it makes sure that your partition is properly aligned on the SSD, which, the company says,  improves SSD write speed by as much as 40 percent when compared with a misaligned drive. And the program also allows you to exclude unwanted files from the copy, useful if your SSD doesn’t have the space to hold all the files on your system partition.

On its first launch, the migration kit will prompt you for a user name and licence number. O&O say that you should enter "OOLABS" in both the Name and Company fields, before pasting "JKD1-0SC3-V242-3L4H-1ZW3" into the Licence box. Which should be enough to properly licence the program.

And after that the Migration Kit essentially works much like a wizard, where you choose the source partition, then the destination drive, decide what you’d like to copy, then leave the program to do its work. So you shouldn’t find it at all difficult to use.

This is probably just as well, though, as there’s no local help provided with the program, and clicking the Help icon just opens a browser window with a "Page not found" error. It’s hard to complain when it’s free, but there’s plainly still scope for misunderstandings here, so we’d recommend you treat the migration kit with caution, and don’t carry out any operations unless you’re sure they’re reversible (for example, by making a backup copy of whatever data you might be migrating).

Photo Credit: Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock

Seven years have passed since I first strongly suggested to Microsoft product managers that they should add a software applications store to Windows. The idea didn't go over too well. Today, Apple showed Microsoft why an app store makes loads of sense inside the operating system and why Windows Store's February launch is way too late.

Apple made Mac App Store an add-on to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in January, and shipped it as part of successor Lion in July. Today, the company claimed 100 million downloads. Caveat, and this is where marketing mumbo jumbo needs closer look: The company doesn't say "unique downloads". I paid for Lion once and installed it on three Macs, as licensing terms permit. That's three downloads from one purchase. Redownloads jack up the numbers.

Unique matters, as does the number of free versus paid apps, which also ignores. The Mac Fanclub of bloggers and journalists can't have it both ways. Whenever Google struts out Android Market download numbers they rebutt: There are many more paid apps at Apple's mobile App Store, which is true. Paid vs free is legitimate question to ask here, too, particularly since Apple touts the 70 percent cut developers take.

"With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world", Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, claims. See, Macs are PCs, oh yea Apple Fanclubbers. :) Say, CNET, do you want to answer whether or not Schiller's statement is factual? How does Download.com compare?

Certainly Schiller's statement is true for app stores built into PC operating systems. There, Microsoft has got nothing but promises, and the Apple Fanclub rightly can gloat. While Microsoft last week demoed the Windows Store coming in February, Apple offers real download numbers -- and that means cash developers can put into the bank -- today. Say, developers, which matters more to you? Cash and carry now or promises of the future?

Schiller also claims that "the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry". Oh? Exactly how? See my January 6 post "Apple's Mac App Store fundamentally changes PC software usage rights" for one answer; it's too long to recap here. More broadly, key benefits:

1. Applications can be made available across multiple-sized devices -- Macs, iPads, iPhones and iPod touches.

2. Developers can now scale their applications across devices.

3. Developers can sell apps for which they are paid; the app store deters piracy.

4. Rights protection is built in so that customers aren't exposed to onerous piracy-deterring activation mechanisms.

5. The store makes applications easily available to customers and more easily searched for than scouring the Web.

Operating systems thrive on applications, and perhaps it's no coincidence the same year Apple launches its app store, Mac sales are way up.

By the way, where's the Federal Trade Commission when you need it? Isn't the agency supposed to slap around companies that make false claims about their products? Or perhaps press releases don't count like advertising does. From the PR: "Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software". The best? Say, HP, Lenovo and Sony, are you going to let that dog lie on your front porch? Apple, by what measure are Macs the best?

Commenters, since Apple likely won't respond, please give your answer.

Developerinabox has released a major update to its powerful open-source surveillance software. iSpy 3.5.0 allows Windows users to use a collection of webcams and microphones as part of a complete security system for free, although certain features, including remote access and email alerts, require a monthly subscription.

Version 3.5 promises vastly improved resource management, and adds two major new features: the ability to detect and recover from crashes and hangs, plus a built-in media browser.

iSpy 3.5.0 should run far more efficiently than previous versions, thanks to improved CPU and memory usage, which includes the ability to push the trigger for Increased Max CPU usage all the way to 100 percent.

In addition to the built-in Media Browser, iSpy has correct MIME types for JPEG images, and removed its dependency on using Windows Media codecs in favour of pure FFMPEG.

Other new features include AutoSave of objects, Overlays for cameras and microphones (which can be switched off under Settings if not required) and Plugin support for face and licence plate recognition as well as allowing the user to create their own iSpy plug-ins.

Also added to the main screen is the command browser, while a number of unspecified bug fixes and minor improvements have also been implemented in this latest release.

iSpy 3.5.0 is available as a free open-source download for PCs running Windows XP or later, although charges (from $4 a month) apply for those wanting email alerts and remote access. A 1GHz processor is recommended along with plenty of memory, while the program also requires the .NET Framework 4.0 client is installed too.

Photo Credit: sommthink/Shutterstock

I wouldn't, and I'm probably wasting time bothering to ask. Many of you won't either. But, please, do tell. Your reasons why or why not are valuable, and you can offer them up in comments.

Droid XYBOARD replaces the XOOM, and it's unclear whether the predecessor's brand disappears (I assume not) or if XYBOARD is a Verizon-exclusive brand like Droid (I assume yes). Whichever, the new tablet is all about rebranding, rather than being a worthy successor to XOOM. By the specs, there nary is anything to tell the tablets apart -- other than price, a little Battlestar Galactica-like trim to the corners and introduction of a smaller model. Now there's an 8.2-inch Moto tablet to compliment the 10.1-incher.

Over Black Friday weekend, Verizon offered an unbelievable deal on XOOM LTE -- $199.99 with two-year activation. I bought one, and it arrived this week. Looks like Verizon cleared out excess inventory in preparation for XYBOARD. Here's how they compare:

XOOM LTE: 1GHz dual-core processor; 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution; 1GB of RAM; 32GB internal storage, expandable to 64GB with MicroSD card; 5-megapixel back-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras; 720p video recording; 1080p video playback; WiFi N; Bluetooth; 4G LTE; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; 3250mAh Li-Ion battery; Android 3.2 (Honeycomb).

Droid XYBOARD 10.1: 1.2GHz dual-core processor; 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution; 1GB of RAM; 5-megapixel back-facing and 1.3-megapixel front-facing cameras; 720p video recording; 1080p video playback; HDMI and USB 2.0 ports; WiFi N; Bluetooth; 4G LTE; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; 7,000 mAh Li–Ion battery; Android 3.2 (Honeycomb). Storage: 16GB, 32GB or 64GB -- $529.99, $629.99 and $729.99, respectively.

These prices are $100 each less than comparable iPad 2s, which have slower 3G and not faster 4G radios, but don't require data plan. Verizon requires two-year data commitment with XYBOARD purchase.

Regular price on XOOM -- still heavily discounted from its release -- is $299.99, but new tablets are out of stock. Strangely, Verizon will sell you a refurb for $100 more. How fraked is that? What might really distinguish the tablets is battery -- 3250mAh for XOOM vs 7000mAh for XYBOARD, but strangely Verizon puts usage time higher for the older tablet, that's 540 minutes vs 480 minutes. Something else: There's no MicroSD port, so memory isn't expandable like it is on XOOM.

That's the apples to apples comparison -- now for some Apple to XYBOARD comparison:

iPad 2: 1GHz dual-core processor; 9.7 inch display with 1024 x 768 resolution; 512MB of RAM; 32GB internal storage (non-expandable); front-and-rear cameras; 720p video playback; WiFi N; Bluetooth; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; and iOS 5.

By the specs and price, I'd take XYBOARD over iPad 2. Commenters can debate Android vs iOS platform and applications benefits. But there's another option to consider:

Droid XYBOARD 8.2: 1.2GHz dual-core processor; 8.2-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution; 1GB of RAM; 5-megapixel back-facing and 1.3-megapixel front-facing cameras; 720p video recording; 1080p video playback; WiFi N; Bluetooth; 4G LTE; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; 3,960 mAh Li–Ion battery; Android 3.2 (Honeycomb). Storage: 16GB or 32GB -- $429.99 and $529.99 respectively.

Amazon Kindle is $199, and offers most of the same benefits -- sans camera, 4G and swapping Gingerbread for Honeycomb, for operating system.

What price would be low enough for you to buy a media tablet?

I've got three problems with XYBOARD:

• Selling prices
• Two-year data commitment (for selling price)
• Not worthy upgrade for XOOM, which packs extras XYBOARD takes away

What the hell are Motorola and Verizon product managers thinking? Surely Verizon execs see 4G LTE as differentiator enough. I'm not sure it is -- hence the pricing question this post's headline asks.

Based on BetaNews' tablet pricing poll, most of you don't want to pay even what the lowest-priced XYBOARDs sell for -- $429.99 and $529.99. Among the 1,353 respondents so far, only 5.46 percent would spend $399 or more for a tablet. The majority -- 58.98 percent: $199 or less. By that measure, XOOM was priced to sell over Black Friday weekend and XYBOARD is overpriced. The config looks pretty outdated looking at, for example, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which packs quad-core processor.

Verizon is currently taking preorders for XYBOARD, which will be in stores December 12. So the question remains: Would you pay $530 to $730 for the 10.1-inch model, or $430 to $530 for the 8.2-inch XYBOARD. You know where to answer.

It may only be the second week of December, but the Christmas feeling has already taken over. Software publishers are still releasing software throughout the festive season and we’ve collected together twenty of the biggest titles from the past seven days that you may have missed.

Whether you get a new camcorder for Christmas, or you’re using an existing camera to capture the seasonal excitement on film, CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Ultra (build 1129a) includes everything you need to edit, burn and share your footage. If your needs aren’t quite as high, you could opt for the slightly cheaper, but still powerful, CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Deluxe (build 1129a).

While there is a general trend for programs to become bigger and bigger with each release, the portable software movement aims to achieve the reverse. As well as providing powerful tools that require very little space, these tools can also run from a USB drive without the need for installation. PortableApps.com Platform 10.0.1 FINAL is a major update to the portable software suite that enables you to create your own custom USB utility drive. If you’re looking to take care of your computer, Toolwiz Care 1.0.0.118 is a free optimization tool that can be used to clean up your hard drive, manage your registry and much more.

In the same vein, Sysinternals Suite 2011.12.05 is a comprehensive suite of system utilities that can be used to control startup programs, manage running processes, check for rootkits and other malware -- there are more than sixty tools in total. Feel the urge to fee up a bit of hard drive space? IObit Uninstaller 2.1 can help you out in the this department, helping you to remove programs that would otherwise remain undeletable. While you’re keeping your system in good shape, you could turn to DriverMax 6 to make sure that you have all of the latest drivers installed for your hardware, and Norton Power Eraser 2.5 Beta returns us to the portable theme, offering you the opportunity to check your system for malware.

On the subject of security, creating a secure password for your Windows account and the various web sites you use is essential. If you are struggling to come up with something suitably secure, look no further than Awesome Password Generator 1.0.0.824 which can be used to generate hundreds of passwords in one fell swoop. Once you have created your passwords you can rest assured that your online life is safe and you can venture onto the web without worries.

When you encounter a PDF file that you would like to read, make sure that you have Foxit Reader 5.1.3 installed to enable you to do so without the need to use a slow and bloated app. You can also use the updated Evernote 4.5.2 to store notes online ad share them with others, but if all of this sounds too much like hard work, you can relax with a game of Sea Battle 3.0.

Increasing numbers of people are realizing that using the Internet need not mean using Interner Explorer or even Firefox, and Opera 11.60 FINAL with its refined look and excellent performance shows just why alternative browsers are proving so popular.

But using the Internet is about much more than just visiting web sites and sending emails. If you want to download large files, it is often more efficient and faster to use BitTorrent to do so. You could use the official client, BitTorrent 7.6 or you could use the lightweight alternative uTorrent 3.1 which now includes a built in media player in addition to a number of performance improvements.

For many people, the Internet is all about social networking and the all-new TweetDeck 1.0 FINAL sees the tweeting tool not only exiting beta but also leaving behind its days as an Adobe AIR app.

Fancy getting a little creative with your computer, take a look at Skin Pack Installer System 3.0 (32-bit). This will enable you to not only create your own themes and skin packs for Windows, but also to wrap them up in an installer so you can easily share them with others. If you are using a 64-bit version of Windows, you’ll need to install Skin Pack Installer System 3.0 (64-bit) instead.

Chances are you will take lots of photos over the coming weeks. Rather than leave them sitting on your hard drive, why not use the updated Jalbum 10.2 to create an impressive digital photo gallery. If you’d like to share your Christmas photos online -- a great option if you have friends and family overseas – Google Picasa 3.9 could be what you’re looking for. Despite the small version number increase, this is a fairly major update to Google’s photo sharing tool which adds the ability to share through Google+ as well as providing you with more photo editing options.

That’s it for this week. Join us again in seven days for another roundup and look out for a special Christmas-specific roundup next week.

Taking care of your computer means that it will serve you well and hopefully delay the need to upgrade your hardware for as long as possible. The festive season is now upon us, which  means over-indulging in the food and drink departments and generally failing to look after ourselves. But this does not mean that our computers also need to be neglected.

If you’re feeling the pinch after splashing out on Christmas presents for friends and family, our great sale prices on optimization and maintenance software means that you will still be able to keep your system in top shape. There are a number of tools to choose from, all of which are very gentle on the pocket.

TuneUp Utilities 2012 is available at the hugely discounted price of $18.95 -- that’s 62 percent off usual price of $49.95. This versatile tool can be used to not only optimize your computer by cleaning up the registry and removing unwanted software, but also to free up disk space, fix problems you may be experiencing and tweak system settings to give Windows a more personal feel. If the price sounds like a great deal, it’s about to get even better: the software can be installed on up to three PCs so you can take care of all of the computers in your household.

If you run a small business, and have more computers that need attention, TuneUp Utilities 2012 Business Edition [5-PC] may be more what you have been looking for. The software can be installed on up to five computers and you can save 58 percent off the usual selling price of $83.95 by grabbing yourself the software for just $34.95.

AVG may be a name that is more readily associated with antivirus software, but AVG PC Tuneup 2012 is a power program for tweaking your computer. It replaces the PC Analyzer module that ships with AVG Internet Security 2012 or AVG Anti-Virus with more comprehensive options for boosting the registry and taking care of your system in other ways. A single license version of the program can be purchased for just $14.99 (a saving of 57 percent off usual price of $34.99), but there is also a 2-PC license version available for just $21.49 -- a saving of 52 percent off usual price of $44.99.

IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 is a tool that can be used to not only optimize, but also protect your computer. In addition to a range of tools that can be used to boost performance and improve stability, the program can also be used to check for and remove malware. You can save a massive 60 percent off usual price of $19.95, so for $7.95 this is great value for money.

Auslogics Bootspeed 5 is also super cheap through December, with 70 percent off the usual $49.95, bringing the price down to just $14.95. This is for a 3-PC license so you can boost the performance of all your machines for less than $5 each. The program includes tools to help you to optimize your hard drive, take control of browser addons, manage startup programs and much more.

Another great bargain to snap up this month is Uniblue PowerSuite 2012. Usually available for $119, you can grab this great set of maintenance tools for a mid-blowing $19.95 -- saving a gigantic 83 percent. The suite is made up of three individual tools, DriverScanner, RegistryBooster and SpeedUpMyPC. These individual components ensure that your drivers are up to date, your registry is fully optimized and enabling you to tweak a huge number of system settings to boost performance. Everything you could possibly need can be found here from tools to control third-party apps’ use of processor time to internet connection optimization.

And as this is the season of giving, you can expect some presents to come your way courtesy of Betanews’s Downloadcrew, in addition to great savings. Later this month, we’ll be giving you some full free commercial software as part of a brand new website. More details to follow soon!

Apple's impressive streak of courtroom victories is over as the company was dealt a serious blow in its patent fight with Motorola. A German court on Friday sided with Motorola, saying Apple's cellular-enabled devices -- the iPhone and iPad -- infringe on GPRS patents held by the company. The ruling may result in an injunction that would prohibit sales of Apple's products within the country.

Since it involves GPRS -- a 2.5G technology -- this means every iPhone produced is impacted by the preliminary injunction, as are both iPad 3G models. It also may give Motoorola leverage elsewhere in the European Union to seek a broader injunction against Apple products. While the ruling is against Apple's European arm, it initially only impacts Apple products within Germany.

Motorola needs to post a $134 million bond before seeking a broader sales injunction. This is significantly less than the $2 billion Apple was looking for, but still by no means small change. The company had not posted the bond as of Friday afternoon; Apple will likely ask for a stay of the injuction pending appeal.

Motorola's statement gives little indication of the company's moves. "We are pleased with the court’s ruling. Today’s decision validates Motorola Mobility’s efforts to enforce its patents against Apple’s infringement", the company says. "We have been negotiating with Apple and offering them reasonable licensing terms and conditions since 2007, and will continue our efforts to resolve our global patent dispute as soon as practicable".

Apple did not respond to requests for comment on the ruling but tells the BBC that it plans to appeal the ruling "right away", and that "Holiday shoppers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want".

Photo Credit: Seamartini graphics/Shutterstock

Earlier this week, Google proclaimed an important milestone for Android Market: 10 billion downloads. That's still something like 8 billion behind Apple's App Store. The questions: who, what, when and where? There are answers in a handy infographic posted by Eric Chu, Android Developer Ecosystem, yesterday.

Asia rules, based on per-capita downloads -- four of the top-five are from the Pacific Rim. South Korea leads, while the United States nudges past Singapore to capture the fourth spot. European nations claim four of the next five spots, with Israel pushing between Sweden and Denmark for sixth place. Apparently, by the per-capita measure, the Americas aren't so hot for Android Market.

Downloads are greatest 9 pm Sunday. Is that local time where you live or Pacific Time, which would be about 2 pm Monday in South Korea? What is it about Sunday nights? I download apps whenever learning of new ones. What about you, do you Android Market once a week or more frequently?

"Which app was lucky number 10 billion?" Chu asks. "Photobucket Mobile. They’ll be getting a great prize package, including tickets to next year’s Google I/O developer conference".

Games are the most downloaded apps, which makes some sense of the wonky Google TV redesign. There Google puts more emphasis on apps, and clearly games are a priority. Sure, Xbox competition could be a factor, but that's like comparing cassette tapes to vinyl records. They both play music but not the same way or purpose. Apps emphasis on Google TV is more about leveraging what Android's got rather than competing with something else. That said, all of the most-popular categories compete with arcade games available from Xbox Live.

Shazam is among my most-used third-party apps. Google says singer Adele has been Shazam'd 1,789,955 times. I won't give away the whole inforgraphic, and will stop there. Look for yourself, below.

Regarding mobile app stores and platforms, some reader comments to my December 7 "Android Market is unstoppable" story fit nicely with data in the infogaphic. Kenneth Berger claims:

All you have to do is walk down the street to see that despite the numbers Google talks about you still see 10 iPhones for every Android phone..I was at a company that upgraded all 30 users from a mix of Androids and Blackberries to iPhone 4S' in the past few weeks. I do have two friends who love their Android and have no plans to change, but the[y] are clearly the exception. You simply do not hear of people upgrading to an Android phone. In the US the primary market for Android has been people on non ATT who wanted an iPhone and could not get one, or afford one. The Android wave peaked about 3 months ago in the US.

Ádám Körmendi responds:

Actually, you should really try to think globally. It is maybe the case in your neighborhood, but these are global numbers. If I look around here in Eastern Europe the situation is quite the opposite. In my family there are 5 phones: four of them have Android, the fifth has Bada, no iPhone. Among my colleagues: many feature phone, a few Android phone, and no iPhone at all.

If the salaries are lower, yet the phones costs more (mostly the high-end phones and especially iPhone) than in the States, then many will appreciate the cheaper, yet 'smart' phones. I'm not sure what would happen if one day the salaries somehow miraculously rise, but surely until then, those numbers will be true -- globally.

My question to you, if an Android user: What apps do you most use and what were the last three you downloaded? You know where to respond.

Hewlett-Packard announced on Friday that it is turning webOS software over to the open source community while still remaining a participant and investor in the project.

The future of WebOS has been uncertain since HP announced it was considering spinning off its consumer PC division to concentrate more on comprehensive cloud offerings for enterprise. Now that the company has decided to keep its PC systems division, WebOS looks like it will be going the way of the Android, except that it will be purely open source.

HP looks to be tackling one of the main problems behind the Android ecosystem, which is its fragmented nature: There is an open source branch that OEMs build on top of, and there is a branch that Google owns and controls.

“webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer in a statement on Friday. “By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices.”

HP says it will also turn over ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the community in the near future along with a plan for the remaining components of the user space.

Twitter has released the first stable release of TweetDeck 1.0, its recently acquired, multi-columned Twitter client. TweetDeck 1.0, which runs on both Mac and Windows, is the first release to be written in native code as opposed to as an Adobe AIR application.

The release has proved controversial -- many users feel let down by the loss of a number of features that were present in earlier, beta releases of the software. Users must also register separately with TweetDeck before being able to use the new app -- in previous releases, registration was optional.

TweetDeck 1.0, which is also available as a Chrome specific app and web client, has ditched Adobe AIR in favor of what appears to be a HTML5 interface wrapped up in a native shell.

It retains the well-known multi-column layout of previous releases, which are no longer available to download, but most significantly removes support for all other social networks except Twitter itself and scaled back support for Facebook.

There are significant changes to the user interface that go beyond simply replacing the old yellow TweetDeck logo with the blue Twitter one. The author of each tweet is now listed in bold at the top of the tweet, while links, hashtags and mentions are also rendered in the same blue for better readability purposes. Only the time of the tweet is displayed – both day and date have vanished.

TweetDeck also defaults to using Twitter’s own URL shortening and photo services, although the original defaults (bit.ly and YFrog respectively) can be restored via the Settings menu. Navigation moves from the bottom to the top of the screen, while all of the controls, previously visible at the bottom of each column, have disappeared -- you now need to click the Settings button at the top of the column to access them.

The Settings window has been significantly cut back to provide a cleaner experience over just four tabs, but this has come at the expense of many advanced controls, including Filter, What’s Popular and a selection of controls for individual users, such as the option for adding them to groups.

Twitter acquired Tweetdeck in May. On announcing the merger on its blog, TweetDeck firmly repositioned as a tool for the ‘power user’. “By becoming part of the official platform, TweetDeck will now fill that role for brands, influencers, the highly active and anyone that just needs ‘more power’”, the blog post claimed.

Judging by early reaction to this first release since Twitter took the reins, many TweetDeck users will dispute this claim. However, it’s possible that much of the missing functionality may reappear in later builds, while other users have publicly welcomed the cleaner, less cluttered interface.

To find out which side of the debate you sit on, TweetDeck 1.0 is available now as a freeware download for Windows and Mac.

System Restore is an excellent Windows technology, one that’s saved our PCs many times -- but it’s not exactly flexible. You can restore an entire system point, or maybe a shadow copy or two (right-click a folder, select Properties > Previous Versions), but that’s about it.

So it’s good to see System Restore Explorer offering an alternative approach. Launch the program and it’ll display a list of restore points, but when you choose one of these it’ll be mounted and displayed in an Explorer window. So you can now manually browse through the restore point, and if you locate a file which you need, then retrieval is as easy as a drag and drop.

And as a bonus, you can even delete individual restore points, which can be handy if you’re looking to free up hard drive space as Windows Disk Cleanup normally only allows you to delete all but the most recent one.

If there’s a problem here it’s that System Restore Explorer has been in beta for a very long time, so presumably still has a few bugs lurking. It ran just fine on our test Windows 7 PC, but keep its beta status in mind if you intend to use the program for any system-critical purpose.

Photo Credit: Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock

BitTorrent has released the first premium version of its compact file sharing client, uTorrent. And so, if you’re happy to accept the $24.95 annual subscription, then you, too, can unlock a pile of high-end additional features.

Integrated BitDefender-based antivirus will scan your downloads for threats. An integrated HD media player displays videos in their full high-definition glory. If the file you’ve found isn’t in a convenient format, then uTorrent Plus will quickly transcode it to something else. Initial support for the MPEG-4, H.264, Theora, and VP8 video codecs, and MP3, AAC and AC-3 audio codecs should make it easy to convert the file to something Apple, Android or just generally mobile device-friendly.

And if you’re away from home then you’ll be able to use the uTorrent Remote Web service to remotely access and download any file from your home torrent library (once you’ve set the feature up, anyway).

uTorrent has made its name by being lightweight, focused and free, so it’s hardly surprising that not everyone thinks a relatively bulky commercial version is the way to go. And to some extent we’d have to agree; uTorrent Plus does seem a little on the expensive side.

Still, uTorrent product manager Jordy Berson makes it plain in a company blog post that this isn’t just about the premium version: "At the core of µTorrent Plus is always the foundation: µTorrent. We are just as enthusiastic as ever about developing and growing the free software as well as building upon µTorrent Plus".

And sure enough, the free uTorrent 3.1 has also been released, extending its abilities with an integrated media player and drag and drop file shifting to other devices. So there are clearly spin-offs here from the Plus version, but the regular audience isn’t being ignored: the company reports, for instance, that its download performance has been optimized.

Elsewhere, the main BitTorrent clients have been updated to match the new uTorrent developments. So a new version of BitTorrent Plus has been released, with all the features mentioned in uTorrent Plus above. And BitTorrent Mainline, the free build, follows uTorrent 3.1 by including an integrated media player and drag-and-drop file shifting to other devices.

Google has updated its popular cross-platform image-viewing, editing and sharing tool, Picasa to version 3.9. Despite the minor version number, there are a significant number of new features and improvements.

Google is keen to showcase Picasa’s new Google+ sharing capabilities, but of more interest to most will be the smorgasbord selection of new photo editing effects and the ability to compare “before” and “after” images side-by-side.

There’s also a handy new feature for migrating Picasa databases to different hard drives, plus a selection of other improvements, including when restoring virtual albums after a migration or reinstall.

Picasa 3.8 boasted just nine photo-editing effects -- the new release adds 27 more to make a total of 36, split into groups of 12 over three tabs. New effects include infrared, cinemascope, Sixties, Invert Colors, Heat Map, Posterize, Duo-Tone, Vignette/Matte, Comic Book and Polaroid.

With so many effects and editing options to choose from, Picasa 3.9 also introduces a new side-by-side feature that allows two photos, including the same photo, to be displayed next to each other. By choosing the same photo, users can experiment with editing tools and effects and see how they compare to the original.

Picasa also ties itself more closely into Google+. You can now upload your photos to your Google+ stream -- at original size if required -- and share them with specific circles. You can also name-tag people people from your Google+ circles and notify them via G+, all of which can be seen as part of Google’s attempt to give its stuttering social network an extra boost.

Of value to people who need to reinstall or migrate to another computer is the ability to move your Google database to a new drive, allowing you to store it securely on a separate partition allowing it to survive a reinstall. To do this, select Tools > Experimental > Choose database location.

There are also improvements to the Face Movie maker tool. updated RAW support for pictures from newer cameras and added support for WebP files and OAuth authentication. Sync now defaults to uploading shared albums privately, and there’s improved restoration of virtual albums when uninstalling and reinstalling the software, or moving to a new computer. This is down to the fact album data along with other editing is stored in the picasa.ini file.

Picasa 3.9 is a freeware download for Windows, Mac and Linux. At time of writing, you’ll need to download and install it over the top of any existing Picasa installation, but updates should be rolled out to existing users shortly.

PortableApps.com has announced the first public release of Platform 10, a powerful framework for building a customised portable toolkit that you can carry around on a USB drive with you.

And if you’ve always liked the idea of doing something along those lines, but never quite managed to make it happen, then Platform 10 could be very useful way to make it happen.

Are you unsure what your toolkit could include, for instance? Platform 10 includes an App Store that  makes it easy to find, locate and download whatever you need -- games, browsers, media players, antivirus, Office tools and more – in just a few clicks.

If configuring all of these correctly seems like a hassle, then Platform 10 can help here, too: the setup process will install everything you need and make it available from a simple menu system.

The new build features improved app organization and more intelligent menus, so if the default settings don’t quite suit your needs then that’s not a problem, you can reconfigure the system to work in many different ways. Or use a Windows Start Menu-type search system where you just start typing and only matching apps are displayed, ideal when you need to zoom in on a particular program.

If you’d like to make Platform 10 your own then you’ll appreciate the build’s brand new theming engine, which enables you to customize your menus with a choice of 12 themes and many different color schemes.

Advanced features include support for portable fonts. So if you’ve created a presentation on your home PC, say, Platform 10 could help to ensure that the same fonts are available wherever you go, even if they’re not installed on one of your host PCs.

And an improved updater will regularly check your Platform 10 apps for upgrades, downloading and installing any that it finds.

Put it all together and Platform 10 is an excellent tool to help you build, organize and maintain a portable toolkit, then. If you’re at all interested in any of that then it’s definitely worth a closer look.

Photo Credit: Vladru/Shutterstock

Steve Ballmer won't get a Christmas card from me this year. Or next.

Microsoft's assault on BetaNews' Xbox 360 dashboard review continues. I awoke to find a take-down notice waiting in Gmail, for photos posted with the review. A few hours ago, our reviewer, a BetaNews reader, informed me that Microsoft had kicked him out of the Preview program for violating the NDA. But did he?

Here's the email he received late this morning:

As an Xbox Live Update Preview participant, you agreed to a Program Participation Agreement that included an obligation to keep the program confidential.

Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that you have directly violated this agreement by posting pictures, information and/or talking with the press about the program and its contents. As a result, the following actions will be taking place:

You have been removed from the Xbox Live Update Preview Program.

The console(s) you registered as part of the program will not be able to connect to Xbox Live until the official dashboard release date later this year. You will not be eligible for future Xbox Live Update programs.

We share your excitement about new content, but it is unfortunate you chose to not abide by the terms of the agreement and have been removed from the Xbox Live Update Preview Program. Xbox Live Team.

I take non-disclosure agreements quite seriously. You don't break them. It violates trust established with the vendor. But reality is this: Embargoes and NDAs are violated all the time. I can't even count the number of times someone working for another publication broke an embargo and got a jump on me and other competitors. The excuse is always the same: "It was a mistake!" "We screwed up time zones" or "An editor hit post to soon". Pick any other excuse you like. Does Microsoft cut off the publications? Bar them from future embargoes? I'd love to hear of an instance, because I don't know of any.

That's not meant as justification but background and to raise questions about who and who doesn't get cut slack for mistakes and whether or not Microsoft should treat our reviewer so harshly. Earlier today I wrote: "I will take it as a personal affront should Microsoft choose to ban our reader from participating in future beta programs". This is much worse. He's kicked out right now and for the future.

I deliberately do not name the review's writer, even though his name is quite visible when linking to the story. Search engines give the Internet longer memory than an elephant. I still hope to resolve this situation with our reader's wrists slapped rather than legs broken.

Series of Events

Here's the timeline as I've reconstructed it so far:

• On December 5, Microsoft made a big splashy announcement -- with press release, blog post and other marketing material -- about the dashboard update coming the next day. That after Major Nelson reminding about it weeks before. Microsoft wasn't exactly keeping secrets.
• The same day, I asked for readers to review the autumn 2011 Xbox 360 and Live updates. (Microsoft's PR agency had rejected my request for game console and Kinect loaner.) Our reader responded in comments -- that he would do it.
• On December 6, Microsoft made yet another splashy announcement about three autumn 2011 updates, coming that day to an Xbox 360 near you.
• Our reader sent the review and photos during early business hours on the same day. He shot the photos that morning.
• I initially ignored the review -- to finish up a news analysis about the Xbox news, which posted at 12:22 pm ET.
• After completing other responsibilities, I edited and posted the Xbox 360 dashboard review -- at 3:12 pm ET. It was clear that our reviewer participated in the Preview program, but Microsoft supposedly had released the update -- that's what the fanfare was about.
• However, unknown to me then, Major Nelson tweeted: "Sorry for the dash launch delay. Good news: first set of customers will be getting the Xbox LIVE update within the next few hours". I assume the 3:46 pm tweet was Pacific Time.
• That means our review went up before the Dashboard release, but after the announcement. Something else: The rejection letter our reader received today gives different timing: "official dashboard release date later this year".
• Lastly today's aforementioned events: Take-down notice and reviewer rebuked by Microsoft.

While my first inclination is to support a BetaNews reader, I would be more understanding of Microsoft's position if the updates had been kept secret. Just the opposite, the company couldn't contain corporate enthusiasm about them. The date and content was public knowledge.

An Honest Mistake

Our reviewer takes full responsibility for not being more careful about the NDA, which I asked to see but he can't access having been booted from the Preview program. He doesn't want to make a big deal out of the situation and would prefer to let it subside. I understand the sentiment. But I also think there's honest mistake here regarding this damn NDA. He most certainly never meant to violate anything. He expressed his enthusiasm for Xbox 360 and Live in a review that is extremely positive and so well-written.

I won't recap all reader comments (from this morning's story), but there is some good insight regarding why this happened. Another reader informed me that the NDA doesn't expire until the end of the year. That makes sense since Microsoft plans more content updates for the new dashboard. But unless I missed something, our reviewer stuck to what's available. So what? The NDA bars him from discussing stuff already publicly revealed by Microsoft or available to other Xbox users? That other reader writes, and I've chosen not to name him (for obvious reasons):

I would have done the same thing he did because it wasn't until I checked the Preview program site (the day of the release) that I realized MS's message to us that we were still under NDA until the end of the year because we would be testing upcoming apps.

The problem with all of this is that MS did not make it abundantly clear to us that we were still in the program. I wasted a ton of time wondering why I never got a message saying, 'You have an update!' It wasn't until I went to the Preview program site that I realized, I had been updated days ago and that I would continue in the program until year end.

He should not have been kicked out. He made an honest mistake.

BetaNews' take-down notice remains an unresolved matter. I responded to Microsoft's request asking for more clarification on how the photos violate our reviewer's NDA. I won't do anything until Microsoft responds. However, BetaNews' reader reviewer shot new photos this morning before getting booted from the Preview program. It's pointless to replace existing photos without Microsoft clarification, since the company might view the new ones to be in violation, too.

We will act appropriately and responsibly once Microsoft responds.

Photo Credit: Steve Arnold

Amazon wants you to shop on its website this Saturday. How much so? It is enticing users of Amazon Price Check with up to $15 savings on items they scan in stores and end up buying through the retailer. Users can earn up to a $5 discount per purchase (five percent) on electronics, toys, sports, music and DVDs.

The company is using those scanning to effectively spy on brick-and-mortar retailers for them by enabling a share price function in the app. Amazon says it will use this data to keep its prices competitive. To earn the discount, customers would need to use the checkout function within Price Check.

Why is Amazon giving the discount? It saves them a lot of time in doing research on the competition itself. "During the promotional period, we are offering through the Price Check by Amazon application a discount based off the Amazon Price as an introduction to sharing in-store advertised prices with us," the promotional page reads. "In-store price submission and location confirmation are optional".

It is not surprising that retailers are none too happy with Amazon's move to steal away sales right within their own stores. The Retail Industry Leaders Association calls it an unfair use of traditional retail stores as a "showroom" for Amazon.

"Central to this tactic is Amazon's continued practice of using a pre-Internet loophole to avoid state sales tax collection", the group says -- alluding to the e-retailers continuing fight against states attempting to levy sales taxes on purchases, especially if Amazon has a distribution point within the state.

The Alliance for Main Street Fairness agrees with the RILA's position, saying Amazon's "special treatment" (again, regarding sales tax) makes it hard to compete.

Photo Credit: JCREATION/Shutterstock

Google on Thursday officially launched Google Currents, a news reading application for Android and iOS-based smartphones and tablets, and publishing backend for content producers.

Similar in concept to Flipboard, Zite or any of the dozens of "iPad magazines," Google Currents lets readers subscribe to different news sites and view their Google Reader RSS feeds paginated like a magazine, instead of infinitely vertical like a website. A user's Gmail account is tied with their Currents reading list, so sharing on Google+ has been built into the service.

Another major element to Google Currents' design is the "trending" section, which automatically updates the app with the top five stories across all Google News topics. Users can pick which topics they want to follow on top of this.

The service launches with approximately 150 different content partners, but Google has launched a self-service publishing platform to let any website owner syndicate their content on Google Currents and track their metrics with Google Analytics, so plenty of content is sure to follow.

At the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar this week, Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang put on his largest "explosion event" of the last three years, utilizing microchip-controlled explosives to form incredible designs and patterns. The video we've embedded of the event is an impressive testament to how a volatile black powder explosion can be controlled and shaped by computer.

Each set of explosions was calculated to paint a different picture. One series of explosions created black smoke clouds that looked like "drops of ink splattered across the sky."

In another, 8,300 shells embedded with computer microchips exploded in a pyramid shape over the desert.

A spectator present at the event on Monday told us this particular explosion also caused an equally impressive blast of heat.

In 2001, Cai began developing a technique to use microcontrollers to more accurately time his explosions. Fireworks are typically ignited by a fuse, and the delay of the explosion is simply determined by the length of that fuse. However, this is an extremely imprecise science due to the variation in fuses and construction of fireworks.

In an interview in Japanese art blog Cool, Cai said "if you use fireworks with built-in microchips, the altitudes and timing of explosions are already calculated. For instance, it is like 2000 people who have tickets get seated exactly in their right seats. I can control the altitude and timing of the explosions of 2000 fireworks. However, there are a good thing and a bad thing about introducing microchips. The good thing is that now I can use the sky as canvas. The bad thing is that they are expensive. I feel pressured in many aspects because huge amount of money is spent on few dozens of seconds of art."

The brief but breathtaking exhibition celebrated the opening of Cai Guo-Qiang's art installation at the Arab Museum of Modern Art which will run until May 26.

All kinds of unsolicited mail pours into my inbox, and I ignore about half the stuff that probably matters -- that's if the Junk Mail filter doesn't grab it first. I'm particularly leery of messages promoting an infographic made by some organization that might have vested interest in the topic. But this one, from BusinessInsuranceQuotes, depicts such an emotionally-heated topic, I figured: "Oh, what the hell, just post the damn thing".

Feast your eyes on this little ditty about SOPA -- the Stop Online Piracy Act -- that I repeatedly mistype as "privacy", subconscious response meaning to invade it, perhaps. The infographic really lacks the drama SOPA would create if enacted as law. Little things like empowering the government to take down your site or seize your domain based on the presumption of guilt. That's the painless part. You go to jail if convicted. Perhaps Federal prisons aren't as overcrowded as California jails.

"What're you in for, bitch?" "My website linked to Lady Gaga's new album; it was pirated".

SOPA is picking up some surprising opponents -- and, yes, many of you are among them. What a strange juxtaposition, too. SOPA should, in theory, curb software piracy, so you would think major developers would back it. Some are so against the proposed legislation they've taken drastic action. This week, Kaspersky Lab ended its membership in Business Software Alliance -- the industry's anti-piracy trade group -- over SOPA. CEO Eugene Kaspersky faults BSA, which has "blindly supported SOPA while ignoring any other point of view. We had to withdraw from this association because we disagree with its decision. And this is why". He continues:

If we accept this law, hundreds of thousands of lawyers will suddenly appear out of the woodwork because almost any website can be accused of copyright infringement! This law will lead to major legalized extortion. The Internet business faces hard times -- look at those who do not want to join SOPA: eBay, Facebook, AOL, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Yahoo, Wikimedia, etc...

My position can be summed up as follows:

1. SOPA should be tossed onto the fire
2. The dinosaurs should be pensioned off
3. Content should be distributed in new ways, e.g.:

• Low quality content is free. You can take as much as you can eat (for advertising, for example)
• Medium quality content should be quick and cheap
• High (professional) quality – expensive
• There has already been movement towards the last point, for example, iTunes. Some studios are also practicing free distribution of low quality content for promotional purposes.

So far, 3,377 people have responded to BetaNews poll: "US Congress is considering two new copyright bills: PROTECT IP and Stop Online Piracy Act. Do you support them?" Nintey-five percent answer "No".

BetaNews commenter partypop: "This will stop privacy not piracy. Most hosted servers will simply relocate outside the juristiction of the US. This bill will only give more power to government to shutdown sites it doesn't like, i.e. WikiLeaks. k1jello: "Piracy laws are already in place in the USA, this is an attempt to gag and persecute people...Freedom of speech and privacy is at stake".

With that introduction, here's the infographic:

The world of academia and research thrives on organization and collaboration. And when it comes to keeping your research, notes, journals and other documents in order, Mendeley is just the service you need.

It’s cloud-based, allowing you to not just back up and sync your research library online and across multiple computers via the cross-platform Mendeley Desktop tool and Mendeley (Lite) for iPhone and iPad, but you can also collaborate with others, too, thanks to the tools it provides in conjunction with its group sharing capabilities.

The simplest way to use the service is via its own dedicated Mendeley Desktop tool for Windows, Mac or Linux. Once signed up for a free account, which gives you 1GB storage space (500MB personal, and 500MB for sharing with others), simply drag and drop documents of various types into the program for archiving and organizing as you see fit. Alternatively, you can add files and folders the old fashioned way, or select folders to watch, making it easy to add future content to your library.

You don't need to be an academic or researcher to use Mendeley.

Once in the library, you can organize documents into folders and sub-folders, assign them to groups for peer review and collaboration, and more besides. Individual documents will have metadata assigned to them, either from the original document or automatically if a match is found online at various academic indexes. All data can then be edited manually if required.

Documents can be viewed within Mendeley itself, and you can highlight passages or add notes for your own use or for others if collaborating. Additional notes about the document can also be recorded separately.

Your research library is automatically backed up and synced online, allowing you to access it from any computer, either via its own copy of Mendeley Desktop, or through your web browser at the Mendeley web portal. You can also access your research while on the move through your iPad or iPhone.

Although geared towards academics and researchers, Mendeley can be used in other environments too -- this writer found it quite useful for cataloguing articles he’s written, for example.

Mendeley Desktop is a free-for-personal-use download for Windows, Mac or Linux. Mendeley Lite runs on iPhone and iPad. A free account is required, with extra storage and features available as paid-for upgrades.

Photo Credit: Steven Chiang/Shutterstock

T-Mobile is the first stop in the United States for Nokia's Windows Phone line, as a Federal Communications Commission filing and an invite sent to the media confirm the nation's fourth largest carrier plans to bring the Lumia 710 to its network. The FCC filing can be seen here.

The 710 sports a 3.7-inch screen and 1.4 GHz Qualcomm processor with 512MB of RAM. It has 8GB of on-board storage and integrated 5-megapixel digital camera. Nokia produces GSM and WCDMA models, running Windows Phone 7.5.

The Finnish handset maker debuted the Lumia 710 along with the higher-end Lumia 800 at a press event in October. At the time, Nokia announced no US carrier partners. The 710's proposed manual filed with the FCC clearly shows a T-Mobile logo on the phone, which jives with other information uncovered this week.

Both companies are sending invitations for a joint event to be held in New York on December 14. The layout of the invite itself is reminiscent of Windows Phone's tiled interface, which suggests they are preparing to officially launch the Lumia here.

Pricing is unknown, nor whether the Lumia 800 is headed to the carrier: so far the required filings with the FCC have not yet appeared.

Acer Inc, the world's fourth-largest personal computer maker, is shifting gears slightly after nearly a full year of unprofitability.

In an interview with Dow Jones yesterday, Acer CEO J.T. Wang said the company is moving away from the low-cost strategy to one more focused on profit margins.

While this is essentially the same generic cost leadership strategy, it moves Acer's focus from the demand side to the supply side.

Acer has had a rough 2011, but expects to return to profitability in this final quarter of the year. In March, former CEO Gianfranco Lanci resigned after a clash with the company's board over growth and branding strategies. Lanci believed Hewlett-Packard should have been Acer's main rival, but the board believed the real targets should have been Apple and HTC not in the consumer PC space but in the mobile space.

Following Lanci's departure, the company had to write down $150 million in unsold inventory and announced a round of layoffs in its European facilities.

The problem has been that the demand for mini-notebooks and netbooks has been declining as media tablets have taken a more prominent role in consumer computing, and IT budgets have focused more on cloud services and virtualization.

Gartner Research last October said shipments of mini-notebooks (that is, low cost notebooks with screens 5"- 10" in size running full versions of client operating systems) were expected to decline to 22.7 million units globally in 2012, accounting for just 7% of worldwide mobile PCs. Users now acknowledge the limitations present in these devices, and vendors have shifted R&D over to media tablets and the still emerging "ultrabook" form factor (i.e. ultra thin and light notebooks.)

The Taiwanese end of the global PC industry really succeeded with mini-notebooks and netbooks, as Asus and Acer used them to grow their global PC market share. But in developed markets, it looks like the market-growing potential of these devices came to a rather abrupt end as the iPad gained popularity.

Acer's total PC shipments dropped more than 23 percent over the course of 2010-2011.

To address this, Wang said the key growth driver next year will be Ultrabooks, which command slightly higher prices than netbooks and mini-notes. This echoes statements the company made at the IFA conference in Berlin last September, when it said its new Aspire S3 Ultrabook would become the company's "star product."

Does the world really need another PC maintenance suite? Probably not, but they keep coming anyway. And at first glance, the latest, Toolwiz Care, didn’t look like it would exactly break new ground. The program includes a Registry cleaner, for instance. A module to free up a little hard drive space (though not as much as if we’d just installed CCleaner). And another to help control our Windows startup programs: it all seemed very ordinary.

When we took a closer look, though, some interesting differences emerged. So the Startup Programs module didn’t simply provide a list of applications and leave us to make the difficult decisions. It actually makes sensible recommendations about what you should disable or remove to accelerate your boot time. And provides figures to help put your boot time in context in the first place: our boot time is apparently 30-percent faster than the average of other Toolwiz Care users, which tells us it’s probably not worth expending a great deal of effort in trying to improve it further.

Similarly, the Disk Clean option initially looks poor, far below the standards of CCleaner. But by clicking on Settings, say, we can have Toolwiz Care locate redundant files by our choice of extension (*.old, *.tmp etc). The Disk Analyze feature can reveal which files and folders are using the most drive space, helping you to zoom in on the cause of the problem. And a Duplicate File Finder will also quickly identify files which may be wasting drive space.

But the real surprises appear when you select the Tools menu.

Super Explorer and Super Registry tools allow you to browse your file system and Registry without using the Windows API, for instance – perfect for bypassing rootkits or other stealthy malware, and discovering their otherwise hidden traces.

There’s also an MBR Backup and Restore tool, which even allows you to manually edit the MBR if you know what you’re doing.

And you get small tools to undelete files, generate secure passwords, encrypt confidential documents, control Internet Explorer addons, edit Windows context menus and a whole lot more.

Yet despite all this functionality, the suite remains relatively lightweight, consuming barely more than 11MB of hard drive space, and around 22MB of RAM when first launched and running in the background.

The primary Toolwiz Care options aren’t anything special, then: the Disk Cleaner isn’t a patch on the leading freeware, and Registry cleaners don’t do much anyway. Look a little further, though, and you’ll find the suite has more than enough interesting tools to deserve its place on your hard drive, and we’d recommend you give it a look.

Here's something I don't wake up to everyday -- actually never. At 7:35 am ET, BetaNews received an email demanding that we remove photos from the excellent Xbox 360 review penned by one of our readers: "Microsoft requests that you remove the photos, but not the text, of this story, because the images are copyrighted and were released in violation of an NDA".

BetaNews is investigating the matter, and I will appropriately respond. BetaNews respects copyrights and non-disclosure agreements. It's one reason you see so few rumor stories and supporting photos here. We assume that the writer took the photos and that he participated in the Xbox 360 dashboard preview program. Reviewers take photos all the time while under NDA or embargo and publish them after the restriction lifts. BetaNews posted the review (and accompanying photos) after Microsoft publicly announced and released the autumn 2011 Xbox 360 updates. We assume for now that this is a misunderstanding.

If it turns out that the writer didn't take the photos (I'm awaiting his reply to email), BetaNews will remove them, of course, or obtain rights to use them (if possible). The reviewer took the photos the day the Dashboard updated, and he has offered a fresh set taken today. Microsoft's take-down notice cites NDA violation, which perplexes me, since the review and photos posted after Microsoft started distributing the Xbox 360/Live updates.

To be clear, I deliberately do not name the review's writer, even though his name is quite visible when linking to the story. Search engines give the Internet longer memory than an elephant. Particularly since I assume this is all a misunderstanding, his name shouldn't be forever linked to this take-down request.

BetaNews stands by its readers, which is another reason you're reading a public response to Microsoft's request. I will take it as a personal affront should Microsoft choose to ban our reader from participating in future beta programs. He responded to my call for reader reviews, after Microsoft ignored repeated requests for Xbox 360 and Kinect loaner so that I could test the dashboard, Kinect and entertainment updates and write a review. In a way, I'm glad, since our reader did such exceptional work.

I've got some advice for Microsoft: Learn who your friends are. Enthusiasts are your best evangelists. We posted a 3,200-word review from an enthusiast who gave high praise to the autumn 2011 updates. He should receive gracious response from the Xbox 360/Live team rather than our getting a take-down notice for the photos.

That's friendly advice. My ultimate goal is to resolve this situation amicably.

Text of the take-down notice, with email address of the sender redacted:

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are writing to you in relation to [betanews.com]

Microsoft requests that you remove the photos, but not the text, of this story, because the images are copyrighted and were released in violation of an NDA.

The images in question are:

[betanews.com]

[betanews.com]

[betanews.com]

[betanews.com]

[betanews.com]

Posting of Microsoft’s confidential information as described above is not authorized by Microsoft, any of its agents, or by law.  We request that you immediately take steps to remove this material from your website.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Please advise us regarding what actions you take.

Yours sincerely,

James Young

Internet Investigator
on behalf of Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
United States of America

I emailed this response before posting:

Good Day, James,

We currently are investigating this matter and request some additional information. What exactly about the photos violate a NDA? We posted the photos, which we assume the reviewer took (I'm awaiting email confirmation), after Microsoft publicly announced and released the autumn 2011 update.

BetaNews fully respects NDAs, but we're confused how these photos violate any non-disclosure agreement that presumably has lifted. Could you explain further, please? So that we might act appropriately and responsibly.

Appreciated,

Joe

I'll update you once Microsoft responds.

As long as you have a fast Internet connection, then nothing quite beats the convenience of online backups. There are no network issues to worry about, no discs to prepare: just set up the backup client and it’ll automatically transfer whatever files you’ve specified at the appropriate time. And better still, by backing them up offsite you’ll guarantee their survival, even if your home is hit by a disaster like a burglary, or a fire.

Of course most online backup services fully realise their advantages, and so will charge sizeable amounts of money to open an account for anything other than the most trivial amount of server space. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And if you’re looking for an online backup bargain, then we just might have one in the shape of AVG’s LiveKive 2012.

Not only does the service allows a free account that includes a chunky 5GB of online storage, more than enough to include many of your key files.

But we’ve also negotiated an excellent deal that sees you able to upgrade to LiveKive with 25GB of storage for only $14.95, a generous 70 percent off the usual$49.99 list price. Alternatively, AVG LiveKive Unlimited will give you all the space you ever need and then some. You can get unlimited storage for only $19.95, or 75% off list price! Note that unlimited storage is subject to AVG’s fair use policy. All prices are for year-long license and a one-off cost.

Whichever account you prefer, you’ll benefit from a lengthy list of features.

LiveKive can schedule your backups to run automatically, for instance, and can accelerate its performance by running incremental backups, where it saves only documents which have been changed.

The program provides an easy way to share large files with friends, family or colleagues.

And the LiveKive 2012 client can run on Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android, so you can use it to synchronize files with both your desktop and mobile devices.

Photo Credit: Tom Wang/Shutterstock

Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in 2005. The console has been around for just about 6 years, but in that timeframe, through the distribution of numerous software updates, the company has kept the console fresh and competitive. The latest major software update is now available for the 57.7 million Xbox 360 consoles that have been sold worldwide, and with it comes a brand new Metro based user-interface along with a number of fresh capabilities that not only improve the Xbox experience, but moves it several steps closer to being the jack-of-all-trades device of your living room.

In a way, the new Xbox 360 dashboard reflects Microsoft larger ambitions -- a declaration that Xbox is much more than just a games console. It's a full-blown entertainment system that not only competes with the likes of game-industry rivals Sony and Nintendo. It also contends with Apple and Google.

Design

The new Xbox 360 dash is heavy on Metro, Microsoft's design language that encompasses modernity and cleanness. It’s "all about content and typography", according to Microsoft’s basic description of the language. Following a 2007 dashboard update deemed the "New Xbox Experience", nearly all Xbox owners became accustomed to navigating around the dashboard hubs (My Xbox, Inside Xbox, Games, and Videos) vertically by pressing up and down on the Xbox 360 controller thumb stick.

In the new update, hubs are now displayed horizontally (left to right) across the top of the dashboard. Due to this, the navigation is similar to the original ‘blades’ that were introduced when the Xbox 360 first launched in 2005. The vertical text navigation and overall Metro-design of the new dashboard is similar to that of Zune, Windows Phone and Windows Media Center. The hubs present in this release of the dashboard include Bing, Social, Video, Games, Music, Apps and Settings, with Microsoft introducing Live TV to the mix later in the year.

Beneath the large categorical fonts lie several content-based tiles. These tiles are found in nearly every facet of the new dash and make it much easier to select content using Kinect hand gestures. These tiles mirror those found in Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system as well as the forthcoming Windows 8, which gives the notion that the Redmond giant won’t have much of a crisis merging select experiences on all three platforms. Correspondingly, this updated design of the Xbox dashboard is a significant step in Microsoft unifying their entire ecosystem.

There is a strong focus on Kinect throughout the new dash, as you are no longer taken to a completely separate dashboard experience when navigating with motion controls. Formerly, you could only navigate around the dashboard after waving your hands and being taken to a completely different experience. You are now able to control the same exact dashboard with either a controller or with the power of your voice or hand gestures, as the new design compliments all of these forms of control.

Hubs

Upon turning your console on, you are treated to the opening animation. After which you are taken to the Home hub. On this hub, you’ll see a number of tiles, each with the power to perform a different task. You’ll have the option of launching the game in your Xbox 360’s disc tray, viewing featured content, watching the latest video on Inside Xbox, as well as launching recently played games and apps using the brand new 'quick play' option. The Home hub, as most of the hubs on the new dashboard, also includes an advertisement on the lower right tile.

To the left of the Home hub is the Bing hub. This hub displays a giant search box encouraging you to search Xbox for games, music, movies, and apps. You can perform searches using the Xbox controller to type letters and numbers, or you can simply use your voice to articulate what you’re looking for.

To the right of the Home hub is the Social hub. Right away, you are treated with a glimpse of your virtual avatar, recent achievements, gamerscore, and the avatars of no more than 3 friends who are also online. Furthermore, tiny boxes showing what some of your friends are currently doing are displayed over the heads of your friend’s avatars every couple of seconds. This along with all the avatars performing random movements definitely helps make the dash feel more "alive".

In the social hub you also have access to your entire friends list, social apps such as Facebook and Twitter, and the ability to sign-into a different Xbox user profile, as well as sign-out indefinitely. Additionally, selecting your avatar takes you to a new area in the dash that enables you to change your console theme, read messages, see your achievements and customize your avatar.

As with all the other content specific hubs (such as Music, Social, and Games), the Video hub displays a carrousel of featured video content that switches between three images every 3 seconds. Alongside with that, you have access to all your downloaded video apps and a dedicated tile for the Zune video marketplace.

Next up is the Games hub. Here you can view a list of all the games you’ve ever played or downloaded, access to the game marketplace, and featured content in sliding-carrousel form.

The Music hub features an artist of the week-like tile, featured content in the form of a sliding-carrousel and easy access to the Zune music marketplace, along with access to music apps such as Last.fm.

The Apps hub grants you access to all the apps you’ve downloaded, along with a dedicated tile for the apps marketplace, where you can continue downloading apps to fulfill your heart's desires.

The Settings hub provides you access to most of the console settings. Here you can modify system settings, preferences, your profile, account, privacy, parental controls and even turn off your console via the dedicated tile existing solely for that purpose. While all of these actions can be done using Kinect, you will need to use a standard Xbox 360 controller in order to modify system settings such as display settings, audio settings, Kinect settings and Network settings, among others.

Navigation

The new dashboard is extremely responsive and can be further explored using Kinect or the standard Xbox 360 controller. In order to navigate using Kinect, you simply use your hands or voice to perform your desired action. For example, let’s say you're on the Home hub and you'd like to navigate over to the Music hub. You'd simply hold your hand out -- palm facing the Kinect sensor, and leave your hand on navigation text reading ‘Music’ for a second. An alternative to this is, of course, using your controller to switch over to the music hub, or simply saying "Xbox, Music" and the magic of Kinect will do the dirty work.

Navigating around the new dashboard is an intuitive experience that anyone could grasp. The Metro design really compliments the big screen and invites the user to explore by drilling into the tiles. With that said, the new interface is sometimes more pleasant to use with Kinect than it is with a standard 360 controller, specifically the voice control. The interface does take some getting used to, but navigating around becomes second nature once you get the hang of it.

When selecting a rectangular or square shaped tile or panel on the dashboard, you drill deeper into the content represented by the tile. For example, navigating to the Games hub and clicking on the 'Games Maketplace' tile will take you to another list of tiles that provide you with several options to find general game content. Drilling down even more, selecting 'New releases' will display a vertical list of game boxes.

There are a few instances where navigating does get a bit confusing. Let’s just say you get a good idea of just how much content is available on the Xbox Live network. For example, exploring the game marketplace for the first time may potentially make your head spin due to the 35 selectable category tiles (such as New Releases, Kinect Games, Games Showcase, etc.) within the marketplace.

It’s definitely feature-packed, but the bombardment after bombardment of tiles may feel cumbersome to some. Every hub also includes advertising. It feels as if you’re always being sold something, but on the upside, what’s usually being sold tends to relate to gaming or sandwiches.

Pressing 'Y' in any of the hubs (sans Home, Social, and Settings) will take you to a search box where you can search for content-specific media. For example, press 'Y' while in the Games hub and you will see a search box inviting you to search for game titles.

Kinect Integration 

Of all the changes that this update brings to the table, Kinect integration is one of the most compelling. As stated, you can use a standard Xbox 360 controller to navigate the dash, but the dashboard turns into something right out of Minority Report once you throw Kinect into the mix. Kinect allows you to control your console with voice or motion.

While controlling the console with your hands is admittedly pretty cool, it is not as precise or quick when compared to using a controller. On the other hand, using your voice to control the console is fantastic and mostly accurate depending on the sound of your voice.

With voice control, you can search for content by articulating what you’re looking for. For example, if you are in the music hub and see a tile for Smashing Pumpkins, saying "Xbox. Smashing Pumpkins" will take you to the Zune artist page. Similarly, saying "Xbox. Bing. Smashing Pumpkins" will use the new Bing integration to show you a list of everything on Xbox Live related to Smashing Pumpkins. Voice control takes the hassle of using the Xbox 360 pad to type your desired queries letter-by-letter.

Kinect may not always recognize what’s being uttered, and you may need to reiterate yourself from time to time, especially if you’re saying something intricate or if your voice has a strong accent. However, voice control is still a compelling feature that makes searching for content on your console much easier and even enjoyable.

New Features

This major Xbox 360 upgrade introduces several new features such as cloud storage, beacons, Bing search, Live TV, several accessibility improvements and a wider variety of apps.

Cloud saves. Cloud storage allows you to save your game-saves to the cloud. So now, there’s less of a need to carry your Xbox hard drive or a memory card when you want to continue slaying dragons at your friend's dwelling. Instead, once logged into your Xbox Live account, you'll be able to access your game saves via the cloud and continue playing Skyrim from where you last left off — wearing woman’s clothing and rolling cheese wheels down a mountain.

Microsoft gives every gold member approximately 511MB of online storage space. Generally, when you play a game for the first time, you are asked where you’d like to save the game data. Previously, the available options were the Xbox Hard Drive, the built-in storage if you have the 4GB version of the console, or a USB stick if one is formatted for use on your console. As of today, you have the option of selecting Cloud Storage as an additional save option. If you do decide to save to the cloud, this does not mean that you won’t be able to access your game save if you can’t sign in to Xbox Live.

After some experimentation, I realized that 511MB is set aside on your on-board console storage device to save back-ups of saves that have been saved on the cloud (remotely on a server). This is great for those who want to access their saves on a different Xbox or someone who lost all their saves after a hard drive freak accident involving a cat and lots of magnets.

Beacons. Ever wanted to play a game with one of your friends -- any of them, but didn't want to take all that time to send individual messages to the 50 people on your friends list? Well, Microsoft has baked in an integrated solution for you in the form of Beacons. Beacons allows you to post alerts that can be viewed on Facebook or the actual Xbox 360 dashboard. These alerts let anyone viewing their friends list know that you would like to play a game or watch a movie. Similarly, the alerts can also inform your friends on Facebook that they should log-into Xbox Live and to play a round of Halo Reach with you.

Apps. The new dashboard now features a dedicated hub for apps. These applications consist of content providers for music and/or video. Unlike what you may find in another available console, every single app is consistent with the new Metro-design of the dashboard, so you naturally already know how to navigate through each one.

Updated apps include the already established Last.fm, Hulu Plus, ESPN, and a much improved version of the Netflix app. Along with the existing apps come an assortment of newcomers such as Today, Daily Motion, SYFY, and dozens of others. New apps can easily be downloaded via the completely new apps Marketplace, with each app weighing in at about 50MB. Microsoft has stated that new apps will continue to trickle in throughout 2012, with about 40 officially confirmed including apps from big names such as HBO Go and BBC.

After using many of the new apps, I feel as if some don’t have much substance to them. For example, the SYFY app takes a good minute to download, awhile to start and load up, and doesn’t have a single full episode of any SYFY show available. It’s all just behind the scenes content and clips. I suppose this is great for fans of a specific show, but having an app just for this seems like a waste with services like Hulu already providing SYFY content. Thankfully, many of the other new apps actually provide more depth.

Live TV. Along with the various apps that will come with this update, Microsoft has made deals with service providers such as Verizon and Comcast in order to bring live television to the masses. For now, the masses consist of Verizon FIOS and Comcast customers. Everyone else will have to wait a bit as Microsoft attempts to strike deals with more providers.

Kinect Integration. The dashboard has been updated to make it much easier to navigate through the thousands of pieces of available content on Xbox Live, and you could do it whether you’re using Kinect or a game controller. Use hand-gestures and your own voice to float through menus, select options, launch games, music, movies, applications, and much more.

Bing Search. Now you can search your Xbox 360 console for games, television shows, music, and apps. You can accomplish this with the use of your controller, hand gestures, or voice. Simply navigate over to the Bing hub with your controller and type what you’re looking for in the search box. Alternatively, you can say "Xbox. Bing. Forza Motorsport" and a list of game items will appear.

Facebook Sharing. While beacons provide you with a way let your friends know you’d like to play a game, Microsoft has deeply integrated Facebook into the Xbox 360. With the new 'share' feature you can brag about your newly acquired game achievements and post in-game triumphs with instant posts.

Quick play. You can now access and launch one of 7 of your most recently played games and applications. You can find this option in the Home hub under the ‘quick play’ tile in the bottom left.

Xbox Companion. Along with the release of this update, Microsoft will release a free app for Windows Phone handsets, which allows you to control the Xbox dashboard directly on your Windows Phone. You can see recently played games, browse the Zune video marketplace, launch an app, game, TV show, or movie directly from your phone, see friend activity, and even rewind or fast forward video or music on your television -- all from your phone.

Favorite New Feature 

I’ve had a chance to play around with the new features of the dashboard for a couple of weeks now, and my favorite feature, although it’s a small one, has to be the quick play option. It’s great if you have a ton of arcade and indie games saved on your hard drive or tend to use the same apps often.

A 'Gold' Realization

After 6 years, today is the final day of my Xbox Live subscription. Coincidentally, this landed on the day that the update is slated to go live. While writing this review, I received a notification on my Xbox informing me that my subscription is no longer active and that my membership has been reduced to the free version of live. I thought "no biggie". I always knew that a Gold membership opened up a world of new capabilities in the world of Xbox, but I never got the chance to actually experience just how necessary a subscription is for an Xbox owner.

After attempting to use some of the apps on the console, I was greeted by an "Upgrade to Xbox Live Gold" message. All of the new apps require a Xbox Live Gold subscription; every single one of them. Even Zune Music, even if you’re already paying Microsoft $7.99 for a monthly Zune Pass subscription. I decided to use my Bing Rewards points to redeem an extra month of subscription for the purpose or completing this write-up. Having to pay extra to use a Microsoft service (Zune Music) that is already paid for is a little annoying. Even so, I believe paying for Live is worth the price of admission.

The Future

As stated previously, Microsoft is taking a major step forward in fusing together many of its products. As of today, Windows Phone and the Xbox 360 both share a common interface. This breed of UI is destined to become synonymous with Microsoft hardware and software products in the future, especially when the company releases Windows 8 to the world. This update also provides a glimpse of what we can expect once the next illation of the Xbox is announced -- a major focus on motion and voice control.

This update has the potential of reaching over 57.7 million of the Xbox Live connected Xbox 360’s worldwide. This will not only give these users a brand new taste of Xbox, but it will also give them a taste of Windows Phone and the forthcoming Windows 8 OS. Kinect will play a major role in the future of the Xbox as it becomes a one-stop destination for all forms of media -- whether it’s movies, music, apps, photos, or games. Microsoft is determined to dominate your living area, as this update drives them ahead and further away from the likes of Apple TV or Google TV enabled devices.

Conclusion 

The new Xbox 360 dashboard is a step up from the previous dashboard. It’s an evolution of sorts and feels like the equivalent of playing with a brand new console. It’s definitely a change for the better, but as with everything, there is always room for improvement. It’s great to navigate around with a controller, but the experience is greatly enhanced for those with a Kinect. It’s a step forward in terms of Microsoft’s goal of unifying its products, delivering compelling content, innovating with new features, and making the Xbox 360 the center of your entertainment universe. Won’t you jump in?

Travis Brown is a New York-based website designer, artist and photographer. He also curates Spacedex, a site that tracks astronomical phenomena.

EASEUS, best known for its Windows data recovery and partition management software, has ventured into the Mac market with its first new release.

MacCleaning Free 1.0.0 is a drive monitoring and cleanup tool for OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later. Not only does it give you a quick overview of your drives’ free space from the menu bar, but it also provides a “fast clean” option for clearing out certain parts of your hard drive.

By default, MacCleaning Free only empties the Trash and deletes the contents of your personal Downloads folder – select Preferences after clicking the menu bar icon, and you can also clean out up to four additional locations: system and user caches, and system and user logs.

The application, which is configured to start with your Mac, will sit unobtrusively in the menu bar, showing a bar chart revealing the overall free space on your drive. Should this dip below 10 percent, an alarm will be sounded. Clicking the menu bar icon reveals individual charts for each drive or partition connected to your Mac. Removable drives also have an eject button, allowing them to be quickly and safely unmounted from your computer.

The program’s cleaning capabilities are a little disappointing, even for a free tool. More experienced users looking for more control over which caches are deleted, or wanting even more cleanup options, should take a look at OnyX instead.

A Pro version is also available for $9.99, which allows you to set the trigger point for the low disk space alarm (from 10 per cent up to 40 per cent), plus eject all removable drives with a single click.

MacCleaning Free 1.0.0 is a freeware download for Macs running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later.

The world of smartphones and mobile media tablets may be dominated by processors based on the ARM architecture, but other instruction sets are getting their due with Android.

There is development on Android on x86, spearheaded by processor makers AMD and Intel; and this week, MIPS Technologies announced the availability of the first mobile tablet running Android 4.0 on the MIPS architecture.

MIPS Technologies promised an open source release of Ice Cream Sandwich on MIPS sometime in mid-December, and this device gives us the first look at the progress the company has made.

So before that official open source launch takes place, the company has announced the availability of the Ainol Electronics Novo7, a low-cost, low-energy consuming mobile media tablet.

Running a 1GHz Ingenic Semiconductor JZ4770 Xburst applications processor with a 444Mhz Vivante GC860 graphics core capable of 1080p video output, the Novo7 has a 7" touchscreen, 802.11 b/g/n, USB 2.0, HDMI 1.3, microSD, dual cameras, and a suggested retail price of only $99.

"The openness of Android is enabling a new level of connectedness and interaction between devices and between people across the globe. We are excited to be a part of the Android ecosystem delivering on that vision. We applaud Ingenic's accomplishment in developing this new high-performance, feature-rich Android 4.0 tablet, and offering it at a price point that makes it widely accessible. We look forward to teaming with Ingenic as it continues to develop MIPS-Based mobile innovations," said Sandeep Vij, president and CEO, MIPS Technologies in a statement on Monday.

Opera Software has announced the release of Opera 11.60 Final. Despite the relatively minor version number, Opera 11.60 boasts three major new features, including revamped Address Bar, browser engine and mail client.

Opera, which runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, has long been regarded as a pioneer when it comes to the web browser -- it was the first to introduce tabbed browsing, for example, and is still the only major browser to also include a mail client.

The Address Bar has been revamped to provide an experience similar to rival browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox in providing helpful suggestions as the user starts typing into the Address field.

Version 11.60 also introduces a new shortcut, courtesy of a clickable star, to the Address Bar that makes it quick and easy to add the current web page to your Speed Dial or bookmarks menu.

Opera 11.60′s most visible new features are in the mail client’s extensive redesign, which Opera claims brings it in line with the browser’s "featherweight design aesthetic" The layout is cleaner, and messages are now grouped together by date, with options for grouping them by unread or pinned status, or not at all. Messages can also be pinned via a single click, with the pinning mapped to the IMAP \Flagged feature, ensuring compatibility with other IMAP clients, including Gmail’s Starred message status.

The Mail toolbars have been simplified and redesigned icons coupled with easier access to the settings dialog (click the new Wrench button) provide weight to Opera’s claim that this makes the client easier to navigate and more intuitive to use.

The browser engine has also been revamped -- no doubt in response to similar performance improvements across rival browsers -- and promises faster page loading times and better overall stability and compatibility, with a number of new HTML5 and CSS3 features supported. The final release also includes a large number of platform-specific fixes (including one major unspecified security hole) found during beta testing.

Opera 11.60 is available now as a freeware download for Windows, Mac and Linux. Also available for download is Opera Next, currently previewing version 12 with the promise of faster performance, built-in WebGL support and a new theme engine allowing the entire browser to be skinned. Note that Opera Next is an alpha release, and therefore not recommended for daily use.

Classic comedy "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" opens with a body collector calling: "bring out your dead!" "Here's one", replies a man carrying a geezer, who pipes in: "I'm not dead". Major Microsoft competitors -- Apple, Google and their supporters, for example -- have repeatedly tried to give up Microsoft for dead. But today's major Xbox updates clearly proclaim Microsoft isn't dead, or even dying. The Redmond, Wash.-based giant has repositioned the console and supporting cloud services as a whole entertainment package -- more than just about gaming.

If any dead deserve to be brought out, they are Apple and Google. Xbox 360 and Live trailblaze where rumor whores claim Apple TV and Google TV will go. It's pathetic that bloggers and journalists spread rumors about Apple's future TV plans -- the newest about a television coming in three sizes -- a year from now! How the frak could anyone possibly know? Instead of what might be, how about writers focus on what is? Some commenters accuse me of linkbaiting. Apple future product rumors are real prime examples. You won't read them from me.

Microsoft leverages some of its best assets with today's updates -- developer and content provider relationships, its existing cloud services, Kinect, voice commands (derived from TellMe), Bing and Mediaroom. The latter is hugely important to turning Xbox into a TV set-top box.

Apple and Google software power cheap streaming shells. Mediaroom lights up major IPTV services. It's no coincidence that in the United States, AT&T and Verizon, which use Microsoft software, are Xbox entertainment partners. Apple and Google TV have got what? I can't even use Hulu Plus on my Sony Google TV. Xbox has got it -- since May. AT&T U-verse offers more content via Xbox Live. I've got U-verse (since February 2008) but not Xbox 360/Live.

"Today, we have more than 57 million Xbox 360 consoles in homes across the world, and more than 35 million of those are connected to Xbox Live, a service which sees its members log cumulatively 2.1 billion hours a month", Marc Whitten, Xbox Live corporate veep, observes. From that install base, Microsoft will court not just game developers but those creating apps, too -- the latter a strategy underway but planned to accelerate.

The Xbox updates rolling out today come in two major forms: Redesigned console dashboard, which includes natural-user interface enhancements to go with Kinect, and new Xbox Live entertainment content and services.

Highlights:

Metro. The new dashboard takes on attributes of the tile-like, task-oriented user interface on Windows Phone and coming to Windows 8. For years, Microsoft has talked, but not delivered, on a three screen -- smartphone, PC, TV -- strategy. User interface unification across the three screens is hugely important to achieving Microsoft's broader software-and-services goal. Whether or not the motif actual works on a big screen is to be answered by you and any other Xbox 360 users. I'm skeptical but haven't had opportunity to try out.

Gaming to go. Xbox Live leverages Microsoft cloud services to save games, making them portable. Play at home or save and play at a friend's house.

Bing. As I learned from using Google TV, search transforms the viewing experience. Microsoft has copied Google a little, but it's a natural evolution.

NUI. Voice search is one of many NUI capabilities coming with today's updates, which Microsoft says are the start of many entertainment-oriented ones. Kinect gets new capabilities, controlling content services among them. U-verse has been available on Xbox since holiday 2010. Kinect becomes part of the experience with the new updates.

"Enabling U-verse TV customers to use voice and gesture controls to manage their TV experience will unleash a new wave of interaction with our service", Jeff Weber, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets vice president, says. "Xbox is a key part of AT&T's multi-screen strategy for TV entertainment, and our work with Microsoft to take full advantage of Kinect in the living room will bring more personalization, more control, and an even better TV experience to homes across the country".

Beacons. Xbox/Live will notify gamers when their friends are ready to play. It's kind of a copy-cat feature. A Nintendo Wii light flashes when there are messages from friends, like being online and ready to play.

On-demand TV. What really distinguishes Xbox 360/Live from Apple TV or Google TV: New content streaming partners, which are global. Among those available today include, according to Microsoft: EPIX, ESPN and Sky Go (in Germany). Coming later this month:

• 4 on Demand (C4). United Kingdom
• ABC iView (Australian Broadcasting Corp.). Australia
• AlloCiné. France (AlloCiné), Germany (Filmstarts), Spain (Sensacine), United Kingdom (Screenrush)
• Astral Media’s Disney XD (Astral Media). Canada
• blinkbox (Blinkbox). United Kingdom
• Crackle (Sony Pictures). Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
• Dailymotion. Available in 32 countries globally
• Demand 5 (Five). United Kingdom
• DIGI+ (CANAL+). Spain
• GolTV (Mediapro). Spain
• iHeartRadio (Clear Channel). United States
• Mediathek/ZDF (ZDF). Germany
• MSN. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom
• MSNBC.com. United States
• MUZU.TV. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
• ninemsn. Australia
• Real Sports (Maple Leaf Sports). Canada
• Rogers On Demand Online (Rogers Media). Canada
• SBS ON DEMAND.Australia
• Sky Go (SkyDE). Austria
• TMZ (Warner Bros.). Canada, United States
• TVE (RTVE.es). Spain
• UFC on Xbox LIVE (UFC). Canada, United States
• Verizon FiOS TV. United States
• VEVO. Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
• Vudu (Wal-Mart). United States

Apple TV and Google TV have got what? Microsoft today made its strongest push to turn Xbox into the most important entertainment console in the living room. Even if Microsoft fails at that lofty goal, Apple and Google have got nothing that competes for breadth of content or entertainment capabilities. Android, iOS, "bring out your dead!"

Motorola Mobility and Verizon Wireless on Tuesday introduced two new Android-powered tablets sporting the Droid brand name and 4G LTE connectivity and the promise of an Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) upgrade: The Droid Xyboard 10.1 and 8.2. The devices are the successors to the popular Motorola Xoom tablet which first debuted in early 2011.

As the names suggest, one model of the Droid Xyboard has a 10.1" touchscreen and the other has an 8.2" touchscreen. Both models have dual-core 1.2 GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, LTE radios with 8-device hotspot functionality, 5 megapixel flash cameras and 1.3 megapixel chat cameras.

Available in the next month, the Droid Xyboard 10.1 will come in three SKUs: 16 GB for $529.99, 32 GB for $629.99 and 64 GB for $729.99. The Xyboard 8.2 will be available in two models: 16 GB for $429.99 and 32 GB for $529.99. These are the subsidized prices with a two-year service agreement and Mobile Broadband data plan that starts at $30 for a 2GB data cap per month.

Unfortunately, with prices so high, it looks like Motorola has pulled a Xoom again.

BetaNews has been keeping a running tally of the public's interest in the Motorola Xoom since it was introduced last year. The reason why we've been doing this is because the device's announcement received an unprecedented amount of traffic on our site, and we received a lot of requests for more information about it.

Our audience (read: you) legitimately cared about Motorola's Honeycomb-powered Android tablet. Unfortunately, though, it was just too damn expensive.

The $800 launch price for the 3G Xoom was simply too much. Even the $600 Wi-Fi only version was too costly.

It is often said that the magic price for massive adoption of a new piece of consumer technology is $99, but the BetaNews audience (generally speaking, the knowledgable, PC-using, tech-savvy type) puts approximately a $199 value on mobile tablets.

Conveniently, this is just about how much the Xoom has been going for lately.

What price would be low enough for you to buy a media tablet?

Both Droid Xyboard tablets will be available for purchase in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online some time this month (date unspecified.)

A number of Kindle Fire users are reporting Internet connectivity issues that are preventing them from browsing the web, according to posts to Amazon's community forums. Devices connect to WiFi but not to the Internet, or speed drops dramatically.

The trouble was widely reported today and attributed to WiFi. However, based on a cursory technical review and thorough exploration of forum posts, BetaNews sees a likely different cause: Some kind of breakdown between Amazon's Silk browser, Amazon's supporting web services and local ISP connection -- relating to server caching, we suspect.

If this was a WiFi issue, Kindle Fire wouldn't connect at all. Common theme among the reports: WiFi connects, Internet doesn't. That suggests a different problem, either with the network (such as IP assignment failure) or something else.

Kindle Fire uses the cloud in order to speed up the mobile browsing process. Using what Amazon calls a "split architecture", Silk makes on-the-fly decisions about how to route incoming and outgoing traffic, whether it be in the typical fashion or through the cloud.

That dependence on the cloud to make the web work will cause the Kindle to appear as if it has limited or no connectivity in the event of a failure of one of these channels.

"We got the Kindle Fire today and have had a very hard time establishing a connection to our home Wi-Fi network", one user reports. "We have never had problems w/ other device, but the Fire will not connect -- it times out".

Even more strange? The problem comes and goes. "Mine was not working for an entire day, and the next morning, poof...working again", another user laments.

Many ISPs cache content to speed up delivery, particularly for commonly accessed pages. We suspect that for some Kindle Fires the practice interferes with Silk's cloud-dependent architecture. If a certain route Silk uses fails, the caching server will continue to have issues until that cache expires. This could explain the issue where browsing works poorly one night, and seemingly fixes itself the next morning.

Another user reports the speed issue mentioned above. "I seem to be having an issue where my Fire can connect to my router, but my internet's speed immediately plummets down to where it can only download at 1.0 kb/s", the post states. "As soon as I make my Kindle forget my network the speed jumps right back up".

A breakdown with Amazon's cloud, again focusing on ISP caching, could again explain performance problems.

BetaNews could not reproduce the issues on our in-house Kindle Fires. There's no official confirmation of the issue either: Amazon has not responded to our requests for comment.

Is there a way to fix the problem? That's not clear. Some Kindle Fire users report updating their software to the most recent versions -- 6.1 or 6.2 -- fixing the problem, while others say they must physically reset their routers. On the software updates, it is not clear whether the issue is addressed as Amazon only states that the updates "provides improvements to the operation of your Kindle Fire". Additionally, the threads in the forum show that this method has not worked for everybody.

Router reset lends some credence to the theory there is breakdown between Silk, Amazon's cloud and the ISP. When the router resets, it acquires a new IP address from the ISP, which in turn may route the path to Amazon's cloud servers differently.

User Cindy G explains how she fixed her problem by using these solutions. "What did finally work was this -- I manually downloaded/installed the 6.1 update, and then pushed the reset button on my router -- this finally made it work", she said. "Power cycling the router didn't help, I had to actually reset it".

Regardless, until Amazon speaks up its hard to say what is going on -- although the company's silence may indicate that even they are befuddled by Fire's connection issues.

If you've got Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft has Service Pack 2 fresh up on the download servers. The update is more than just bug fixes. Microsoft reaches into its goody bag and pulls out some new features.

For employees on the go, there is "mini version of Outlook Web App". Say, Microsoft, what happened to your usual acronyms -- in this case MVOOWA, which reads very Native American to me (my great-great grandma was MicMac indian). I'd prefer Outlook Mini-App or Mobile-App nomenclature, but that's just me. The browser-based service offers much of the same functionality -- calendar, contacts, email, etc. -- users expect from sibling Outlook Web Access (or is it called App now?) but tidied up for mobile devices.

Enterprises that use more than one global address list can use the new address book policies for easier setup and management. Caveat, according to Microsoft: "ABPs aren't available in Office 365. As a result, if you’re in a hybrid deployment, the entire address book will be visible to your users with cloud-based mailboxes".

For mail administrators, Microsoft "What's New?" doc reports: With Exchange 2010 SP2, you can enable a silent redirection when a Client Access server receives a client request that is better serviced by a Client Access server located in another Active Directory site. This silent redirection can also provide a single sign-on experience when forms-based authentication is enabled on each Client Access server. For more information, see Understanding Proxying and Redirection".

Before installing SP2, make sure your Exchange Server 2010 meets these prerequisites:

• Make sure that the functional level of your forest is at least Windows Server 2003, and that the schema master is running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later. For more information about the Windows functional level, see Managing Domains and Forests.
• The full installation option of Windows Server 2008 with SP2 or later or Windows Server 2008 R2 must be used for all servers running Exchange 2010 server roles or management tools.
• For all server roles other than the Edge Transport server role, you must first join the computer to the appropriate internal Active Directory forest and domain.

Additionally, Microsoft provides system requirements.

Exchange Server 2010 SP2 is available from Microsoft's Download Center.

Photo Credit: gualtiero boffi/Shutterstock

There has been a general theme of downsizing when it comes to laptops. While this has helped to make computers more easily portable than ever before, it has also exacerbated a problem long plaguing laptop users: Rogue touchpad contact. Not everyone is an adept touch typist and for many people this means looking at the keyboard whilst typing. Should the palm of your hand stray on the touchpad, you may not notice until a large portion of text has been overwritten or typed in the wrong place. This is something that Touchpad Blocker can help you with.

A laptop should is supposed to mean freedom -- to work wherever you choose. You could pop a mouse into your laptop bag so avoid the problem of working with a touchpad, but this is just something else to remember, something else to carry around, and something else to lose. Touchpad Blocker is a free app that enables you to intercept and block accidental touchpad touches to prevent them from interfering with your typing.

This makes Touchpad Blocker different to other applications that have been designed to help with the same problem. Other programs have a tendency to allow the touchpad to be completely disabled but Touchpad Blocker does a good job of only blocking it when needed. This works by disabling the touchpad whenever the keyboard is being used and for a short period of time afterwards.

You also have the option of configuring keyboard shortcuts that can be used to disable the accidental tap detection, but a shortcut can also be used to enable or disable the touchpad altogether for times when this is more appropriate. The features of the program may sound simple, but if you have ever been frustrated by the positioning of your touchpad, this is a seriously useful tool.

You can find out more and download a free copy of the tool by paying a visit to the Touchpad Blocker review page.

Photo Credit: nito/Shutterstock

Location-based social network Gowalla announced on Monday that its service is shutting down at the end of January as its team "goes to California" to join the Facebook team.

Gowalla became known as something of an also-ran against location-based social networking leader Foursquare. For a brief period of time in 2010, the two services were in close rivalry and so-called "geosocial networks" were hot topics in the startup scene.

Though the interest was high among tech early adopters, the Pew Research Center revealed that "checking in" was actually only used by 4% of the population.

Though these services have gained a little bit of traction, the Center found it was still the least popular activity among smartphone-using adults earlier this year. Because of this, many of FourSquare's competitors began to shift their focus onto different competitive areas.

Andy Miller, CEO and Co-Founder of mobile rewards card app CardStar pointed this trend out to us last February.

Miller said: "Foursquare's competitors, Brightkite, Gowalla, and so on...all those guys are pivoting, but Foursquare is staying the path, they have a long uphill battle. I mean, Facebook Places is just crushing everybody. But Foursquare, I don't think they're toast. I think they're in a pretty great niche market."

So rather than try to keep Gowalla afloat, it is shutting down entirely.

"We plan to provide an easy way to export your Passport data, your Stamp and Pin data (along with your legacy Item data), and your photos as well. Facebook is not acquiring Gowalla’s user data," said Gowalla co-founder and CEO Josh Williams.

I need your help. For weeks, I've asked Microsoft and its PR agency for Xbox 360 and Kinect loaner for review. BetaNews never reviewed Kinect, and I surely wanted to report on the big, splashy Xbox updates coming this week. Xbox 360 and Live are getting major entertainment makeovers, and I wanted to give BetaNews readers all the juicy details. New game console isn't in my budget, and I certainly wouldn't buy one just to review an update, no matter how big.

I ask the BetaNews community to chip in and offer reaction -- even to review -- the new Xbox 360 dashboard and exciting Xbox Live services -- and companion app for Windows Phone. Even if Microsoft suddenly shipped Xbox 360 and Kinect, I would still start from behind in the review process. The dashboard update comes tomorrow. Your participation is vital to getting out information to other readers, who might be debating whether to buy Xbox 360 or another console during the holidays. Please share your experiences in comments, or email joe at betanews dot com. If you'd like to write a review, email only, please.

There are several important nuances to the December 6 updates, with voice control -- even more than what Microsoft offers now -- being top of the list from a platform perspective. Microsoft is making a big push into natural user interfaces, with Kinect being front and center. But voice control also is important and comes not long after Apple captivated some iPhone 4S owners with Siri. If you've got iPhone and Xbox 360, your reaction to both would be invaluable.

I held off reviewing Google TV 2, thinking a comparison with new Xbox television features would be better. Bonus: I'm a subscriber to AT&T U-verse, which uses Microsoft's Media Room software. Google and Microsoft are both vying for the living room, as is Apple, and then there's incumbent Sony, which distributes GTV. If you've got Apple TV or Google TV and Xbox 360/Live, please offer comparative impressions -- ideally as full review rather than something in comments.

Microsoft has amassed many TV and other entertainment partners for updates rolling out this week and beyond. The United States isn't the center of the planet, which might surprise many Americans. If you live internationally, please offer review/reaction, too. Australian Broadcasting Corp., GolTV, Mediathek/ZDF and Rogers on Demand are among the content partners coming later this month to Xbox 360 and Live.

Best recap of what's coming is the letter Marc Whitten, Xbox Live corporate veep, sent to the console community and infographic prepared by Microsoft. Whitten writes:

Dear Xbox Live Members,

Today, we’re launching a new Xbox 360 experience that connects you with your favorite entertainment and games like never before and makes finding and enjoying entertainment as simple as it should be.

It’s a vision we shared at E3 and I’d like to thank you for all of your valuable feedback along this incredible ride and share a little more about what we have in store this holiday – from Beacons, cloud storage and Facebook sharing, to our latest entertainment offerings.

Building upon our great lineup of partners, we’ve teamed up with nearly 40 of the world’s leading TV & entertainment providers to bring you an array of live and on-demand TV, movies, games, sports and music experiences. The first wave of new partners rolls out today with experiences like EPIX and TODAY (MSNBC) in the US, LOVEFiLM in the UK, Sky Go in Germany, Premium Play by (MediaSet) in Italy and Telefonica España – Movistar Imagenio in Spain. And we’ll continue to roll out more entertainment content to Xbox Live in the coming months.

Beyond entertainment, you’ll find a number of features designed to make your Xbox experience more personal, social and effortless. The dashboard has an entirely new look and feel and a completely reimagined interface that makes your entertainment accessible through simple voice commands. Now, using voice search with Bing on Xbox, you can find and play the programming you want across multiple entertainment providers without having to search for a remote control. In the mood for ‘The Office?’ Just say “Xbox, Bing, ‘The Office’”, and Xbox will display all episodes available from various entertainment apps across the console.

We’re also bringing you Beacons and Facebook sharing, further integrating social into your Xbox experience. Before jumping into an episode of ‘The Office,’ you can activate a Beacon to let your friends know that you want to play, say, “Gears of War 3”. Then, sit back and relax with the Dunder Mifflin crew. The Beacon will let you know when a Live friend is available for a round of Horde in Gears. After the game, use Facebook Sharing to tout your achievements and showcase your in-game accomplishments through direct posts.

While we’re proud of our capability to connect you remotely to the global community of more than 35 million Xbox Live members, sometimes there’s nothing like being with your friends and family. And so we’ve added cloud storage so you can access game saves and your Live profile, including achievements, from your friends’ consoles as well.

Lastly, with the ever-expanding library of content available, we realize Xbox is enjoyed by all members of the family. Rest assured that our parental controls have improved in parallel with this new content. Parents can manage their child’s console activity, sharing on social networking sites as well as regulate access to games, movies, television, and music. Additionally, the update brings enhanced navigation to Xbox 360 Family Settings to better integrate with Kinect.

We strive to continually innovate and bring meaningful experiences to each and every member of the Xbox Livecommunity. Currently, our community is already enjoying 2.1 billion hours of entertainment each month. We imagine this number will only continue to grow as you discover enhanced entertainment on Xbox this holiday that is instantly searchable, easily discoverable and enjoyable in extraordinary new ways. We hope you enjoy this new chapter in the evolution of Xbox and continue to push us to write the next.

If you're an Xbox fan and would like to let everyone know what you like (or even not) about the big dashboard and services updates, once again, please comment below or email joe at betanews dot com.

Security research company and prominent antivirus software vendor Kaspersky Lab has announced its intent to withdraw from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) because of the Alliance's support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, also known as H.R. 3261).

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) are the software industry's two biggest trade groups. Since both groups have strong anti-piracy stances, neither directly opposed the Stop Online Piracy Act. Both expressed interest in working with Congress to design the law.

After the bill was introduced last October, BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman said, "As Congress continues its work on this legislation, it will be important to strike the right balance between two sets of considerations — enabling effective action against online pirates, while also ensuring the law does not impede technology innovation or the evolution of software and the Internet, which are critical engines for future economic growth. We look forward to working with Chairman Smith and his colleagues as they push this important legislation forward.”

Holleyman remained positive about the bill in a BSA blog post in late November, "The idea behind SOPA, as Chairman Smith explained at last week’s hearing, is to remove pirates’ ability to profit from their theft. We think that is the right approach as long as it is done with a fine touch."

Kaspersky Lab is a member of the BSA along with such luminaries as Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, Dell, Intel, McAfee, Symantec, Sybase and more, but it is firmly against SOPA.

"Kaspersky Lab is aware of the public controversy and debates sparked by the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Kaspersky Lab is occasionally mentioned in the discussion as a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which supports the SOPA initiative," a statement from the security company said on Monday. "Kaspersky Lab would like to clarify that the company did not participate in the elaboration or discussion of the SOPA initiative and does not support it. Moreover, the company believes that the SOPA initiative might actually be counter-productive for the public interest, and decided to discontinue its membership in the BSA as of January 1, 2012."

Kaspersky Lab will be coming forward later today with more detailed statements about its stance on SOPA and its decision to withdraw from the BSA.

Image: Iofoto/Shutterstock

Another three-month handset report is available from comScore, and BlackBerry and Windows Phone continue their relentless declines. However, new Windows Phone 7.5 handsets shipped after the analyst firm's reporting period. True test will be the next round of data.

BlackBerry is literally in free fall, with it's share of US smartphone subscribers falling 4.5 points to 17.2 percent from the three months ending in June to the same period closing in October. That's right. Three months! A year earlier, BlackBerry share was 35.8 percent. So since October 2010, the smartphone OS cut its subscriber share in half. Quick, grab some O-negative blood, BlackBerry opened an artery!

Windows Phone's share decline is more ebb than raging rapids, losing just 0.3 points during the same three-month period, ending with 5.4 percent share. However, predecessor Windows Mobile had 9.7 percent share a year earlier and 11.8 percent in July 2010. Microsoft plugged the artery but blood loss continues.

Meanwhile, Android gains are still torrential. During the three months, share rose 4.4 points to 46.3 percent. At this pace, one half of American's smartphones will run Android by end of January. A year ago, Android share was 23.5 percent and 17 percent in July 2010.

For all the buzz about iPhone 4S, Apple smartphone share continues its slow share gains. From July to October, iPhone rose 1 point to 28.1 percent share. Still that's a healthy gain -- 3.5 points -- from a year earlier. Apple released 4S during the recording period and dropped iPhone 4 to $99 and 3GS to free (a penny some places).

Still, iPhone's modest gains don't necessarily mean equally modest sales. The number of US cellular subscribers with smartphones rose by 10 percent to 90 million during the three months. The base expands rapidly. A year earlier the number was 60.7 million.

More broadly, looking at the entire US cellular handset market, Samsung maintained its leadership position, with 25.5 percent subscriber share, but flat growth. A year earlier: 24.2 percent. So despite the popular Galaxy S II product line, Samsung's growth appears to have topped out. By comparison, fourth-ranked Apple gained 1.3 points from July to October, with 10.8 percent share. Second- and third-place LG and Motorola lost share -- 0.3 and 0.5 points, respectively, to 20.6 percent and 13.6 percent.

At the end of October 234 million Americans age 13 or older owned cell phones -- unchanged from October 2010. That's a hugely important data point. The US cellular market is saturated. Rather than adding new subscribers the base converts feature phones to smartphones.

Apple and Android fanboys can debate all they want about which is superior -- iPhone being No. 1 smartphone and generating more revenue per handset, for example. But by the subscriber numbers, there will come a point where smartphone sales dramatically slow. The platform with larger install base wins the platform wars. Unless iPhone makes hugely dramatic share gains during the holidays and over the next 6 to 8 months, Android will eclipse iOS as smartphone development platform of choice, confirming my October 2009 analysis: "iPhone can't win the smartphone wars".

 

Photo Credit: olly/Shutterstock

I chuckle whenever someone in comments calls me anti-Apple. Much of what I write here derives from experience. Sometimes that works for Apple, or whatever other vendor, sometimes against it. Today, I've got a wet, smoochy kiss for iOS 5 and iPhone 4S and kick aside the head for Android and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket.

Yesterday, my daughter met up with a friend for the Toyland Parade in the North Park community of San Diego. She's a live-in-the-moment, never-think-ahead teen. (Who isn't?) So, of course, when we got in the car and I expected my girl knew the way to the meetup, she didn't. After I chided her, out came the white iPhone 4S, and she spoke: "Direction to Claire de Lune". I knew where this was going, thinking: "There's no way Siri is going to get this right".

Wrong. Within seconds, Siri's weird female robotic voice repeated the search query and Google Maps app launched showing where we were and how to get where we needed to be. I gulped, sheepishly, wondering if my Android, the aforementioned Skyrocket, could do at least as well. So, later, after dropping off my daughter and returning home, I experimented. It's really sad commentary on just how little my phone's voice-control features get used. Asking for directions brought up a Google search page with strange variations of Claire de Lune and one linking to Google Maps and another to the coffee shop website.

I repeated the experiment three times with worsening search results. Apple's Siri didn't just humble my Android's voice search capability. The natural UI technology humiliated Android. "Humiliated" is too many syllables for a headline, unfortunately. Hence, "humbled".

But the the strangest thing happened today. I repeated the exercise so I could capture a screenshot to illustrate this post. I got out the phone, tapped the microphone icon and spoke "directions to Claire de Lune". The text flashed back at me green on black (or dark grey). I tapped and got a Google Map with directions. It worked! Android got off the mat before the count reached 10 and delivered a sudden blow to Siri. Maybe, just maybe, Android voice capabilities could take on Siri.

So I asked: "What time is it in Moscow?" Google search page opened and across the top: "3:57 am Monday (MSK) - Time in Moscow, Russia". I next asked: "Where is the best price for Xbox 360?" That brought up another map and a banner ad. Map: Best Buy in Mission Valley community of San Diego. Ad: Microsoft Store, which is perhaps a kilometer farther, if that. If you count refurbished items, Best Buy has better prices than Microsoft Store. But could Android have simply picked up on "best" in the name -- and that's why I got Best Buy? So I tried: "Best price on macaroni and cheese?" That brought up a search page, where the first entry led to a mac & cheese "compare prices" page from Nextag. Cough, cough -- $70 from Neiman Marcus. Wow, everything really does cost more there.

Okay, how about: "How old is William Shatner". That popped up web page with text across top: "William Shatner age - 80 years (March 22, 1931). "What was Mark Twain's IQ?" brought up another search page with wiki.answers giving 135-140. "What was Charles Dickens' IQ?" brought up a strange selection of search results but answer nevertheless: 180. Damn, I knew he was smart. Whoa, Copernicus was only 160.

The story would be incomplete without Siri's answers. They surprised me. Firstly, I give kudos to Apple for offering the better user interface response, the robotic voice and text on screen. My daughter asked the questions. Siri spoke the correct time in Moscow but totally blew "Where is the best price for Xbox 360?" Answer: "I found 13 toy stores, 7 of them are fairly close to you. I've sorted them by rating". I skipped mac & cheese. William Shatner's age? Better than Android: "80 years 8 months 12 days".

Uh-oh. For "What was Mark Twain's IQ?" Siri brought up a comparison of movies "Mark Twain" and "IQ". Get the frak. The information filled several screens, too."IQ" released in 1994 and generated box office receipts of $26.3 million -- not exactly a blockbuster. "Mark Twain" is a 2002 film and was much longer -- 212 minutes to the other's 100 minutes.

So in the end, Android wasn't so humiliated after all. Android did at least as well, so I have to withdraw the offer for a wet, smoochy Siri kiss. But, hey, I already had written the first four graphs of the story before doing additional testing, and the headline reads so well.

We have some division here at BetaNews regarding Carrier IQ and reporting about its tracking software. On one side there's the "me-too" defense -- that software stealthy hidden on smartphones sending information back to Carrier IQ or cellular carriers is no worse than what other companies do. That it's irresponsible to report keylogging behavior based on researcher Trevor Eckhart's blog post and YouTube video. That early reporting was "sloppy" and Eckhart is suddenly "quiet". Dog poop.

Over the last couple days, Carrier IQ finally responded to the maelstrom of controversy. But the response falls short. Carrier IQ fails to address the most troubling aspect about Eckhart's demonstration: Capturing data from keystrokes, nor does it answer why so much information is collected. Carrier IQ's defense is something like: "We don't look at the naked person. Not us". It's the "if a tree falls in the forest" defense. "We didn't listen, so it didn't happen". If there's anything "sloppy" about the news reporting, it's that not enough journalists dig deep enough. There's nothing unfair here.

We're Divided

Some background: I respond here directly to a Google+ post by my colleague Ed Oswald, who I encourage to write for BetaNews a response to my commentary. That we disagree about Carrier IQ, its defensible position and reporting about it stabs to the heart the kind of privacy issues this incident raises. What reasonable expectation do you have to privacy and how much should you give away and who should inform you when your information is mined.

Ed writes: "Carrier IQ's activities are no different than the 'customer experience' surveys many of us have already opted in, and why I refused to write any type of piece that suggests there is something nefarious here. Some journalists look for drama". He's right about that refusal. I assigned Ed the second-day news story on Carrier IQ, which I had to write instead. I commend Ed's taking a stand on principles, but, unfortunately, he's picked quicksand, not bedrock.

The "me-too" defensive is ridiculous, more so because Carrier IQ software is so deeply embedded in handsets and meets just about any reasonable definition of spyware or rootkit. In comments on Google+, software developer Joe Groner rightly strips the "me-too" defense bare: "Google, for example, there is a quid pro quo involved with letting them scan your email and show you relevant ads. In the case of Carrier IQ, I get no direct benefit and I can't remove it or disable it. And I am sorry, the software doesn't need to be reading input buffers to report on dropped calls".

My colleague calls news reporting about the Carrier IQ scandal "total hysteria, mainly due to some sloppy reporting and titling of those stories". I disagree. Much of the reporting is exceptionally restrained, particularly in context of Carrier IQ's official responses. Worth your time: John Paczkowski (for AllThingsD); Matthew Schwartz (Information Week); Larry Greenemeier (Scientific American); and David Kravets (Wired).

Official Responses

Paczkowski and Kravets have official responses from Carrier IQ. Schwartz observes that Eckhart isn't the first researcher to uncover the software/service, just the first to thoroughly document it. Greememeir addresses the topic bothering me from the start: Potential exploitation by cybercriminals.

Paczkowski quotes Andrew Coward, Carrier IQ marketing veep: "The software receives a huge amount of information from the operating system. But just because it receives it doesn’t mean that it’s being used to gather intelligence about the user or passed along to the carrier". This is the aforementioned "we don't look at the naked person with spycam hidden in the room" defense (that's not a quote but quotation for emphasis). Carrier IQ installs software that records pretty much everything, but doesn't use it all -- not even most of it. The obvious question: If you don't need all that information, why record it?

Unfortunately, Paczkowski doesn't directly quote Coward about keylogging. Instead he paraphrases: "While CIQ might 'listen' to a smartphone’s keyboard, it’s listening for very specific information. Company executives insist it doesn’t log or understand keystrokes". That reads likes semantics to me. Ed links to the AllThingsD story to show that Carrier IQ is acting responsibly and that reporters covering it are not, which is why I respond to it.

Carrier IQ invited Wired to its headquarters, and Kravets shares first-hand, but again fails to directly quote Coward: "The data they vacuum to their servers from handsets is vast -- as the software also monitors app deployment, battery life, phone CPU output and data and cell-site connectivity, among other things". Coward tells Kravets that "'it's a treasure trove'" but "they are not logging every keystroke as a prominent critic suggested". Again, the unasked and so not answered question: Why is so much information collected, if it's not being mined? Then there's semantics about "every" keystroke. Not "every" doesn't mean none, and Eckhart's video clearly shows data logged as he hits the keys.

Denial, Non-Denial

I searched this morning and could find no explicit quote where Carrier IQ denies capturing keystrokes. If you've seen something, please link in comments. The company does quote Infidel research Rebecca Bace in a press release: "Having examined the Carrier IQ implementation it is my opinion that allegations of keystroke collection or other surveillance of mobile device user’s content are erroneous". But that's not the same as an explicit denial by a Carrier IQ executive. Using a third party gives Carrier IQ plausible deniability in court.

If there's sloppy reporting here it's journalists meeting with Carrier IQ failing to directly quote Coward about keylogging. So I must assume the marketing exec didn't provide usable quotation -- that he engaged in the kind of doublespeak and semantics that are common among companies' crisis responses. I've seen the behavior hundreds of times over the years and there are consistent patterns across companies, in part because of human nature and the media-response training execs receive. Either that, or the reporters failed to quote where they should have.

It's important when reporting on so controversial news to quote the executives as much as possible. Kravets writes: "Other carriers collect data that lets them drill down to the individual phone". That clearly indicates that Carrier IQ collects customer identifiable information as does: "On Carrier IQ’s end, while it might hold a vast amount of a user’s data, it does not know the names of the people whose data it controls. That data is simply linked to chip and phone identification numbers, Coward said". That actually means the collected cellular customer information absolutely is identifiable, since some carriers (I know AT&T and T-Mobile do) track smartphones' IMEI numbers as part of the process registering to them for network services. There should be direct quote on something as important as this.

Circling back to that "treasure trove", let's assume Carrier IQ records but doesn't look. If data is captured, someone can get it. That's the point Scientific American's Greememeir makes. One remote-access Trojan is enough. So even if Carrier IQ really doesn't peek at the naked person with its hidden spycam, there remains the enormous amount of data collected that cybercriminals could mine, if no one else.

Unanswered Questions

Something else, and I haven't seen anywhere Coward or his colleagues address: If Carrier IQ is doing nothing unethical or illegal, meaning it has nothing to hide, then why is the software hidden and nearly impossible to remove? Reporters should always look first to a company's actions, not its words. Surely hidden means something.

These are the questions I asked Coward (I couldn't find email address so posted to Google+). If I get response(s), there will be follow-up story.

1. Does Carrier IQ software track any keystrokes?

2. If yes, how many?

3. Why does Carrier IQ collect so much data -- a "treasure trove" as Andrew Coward is quoted by Wired -- if it's not used?

4. Why is Carrier IQ software/service hidden from smartphone subscribers?

5. Does Carrier IQ provide a utility that lets smartphone users turn off the software?

6. Does Carrier IQ provide a mechanism that lets smartphone users remove the software?

7. If answer yes to questions 5 or 6, how?

8. Which carriers currently use Carrier IQ software/service?

Wrapping up, we live at a time where privacy mores are changing. People share all kinds of personal information on Facebook or their locations using services like Foursquare. Meanwhile, ATM, traffic and retail cams surveil us without permission. It's one thing to choose to disclose information or to be monitored in public. Collecting data from the most intimate device most people use, without their permission, is privacy abomination. Carrier end-user agreements that most nobody reads is no excuse for stealth tracking. You disagree?

Photo Credit: Lakhesis/Shutterstock

In the run up to Christmas the release of top-notch software shows no signs of abating. Microsoft unveiled the latest version of its free system security tool, Microsoft Security Essentials 4 Beta with a slightly redesigned interface and faster operation. This handy tool can prevent malware infections, but a side-effect of being hit by a virus could be the deletion of files. Whether this has happens to you or you have just accidentally deleted some documents, Recuva 1.42 could help you to get them back. There is also a portable version of the app available; Recuva Portable 1.42.

Prey 0.5.3 continues the security theme, offering protection for your laptop. Should you be unfortunate enough to lose your portable computer this tracking software can locate your machine via the Internet. Once you recover your laptop, you may want to install Touchpad Blocker 2.1.0.27, which enables you to temporarily disable the touchpad when you are typing to prevent accidental mouse movement.

While Ihe internet can be used to retrieve a lost or stolen laptop, it can also be used for more entertaining purposes.  Antenna 1.5 is an Adobe AIR app that can be used to listen to and record online radio station while Spotify 0.6.5 has been updated to make it even easier to stream the music of your choice to a wide range of devices. Spotify 0.8.0 Beta has also been released with support for third-party apps.

If you have fancied spinning some discs as a DJ, MAGIX Digital DJ 2 could be right up your street. The app can be used to work with your MP3 collection, mixing tracks and creating the perfect party soundtrack. Beginners can take advantage of the auto-mix feature, but more seasoned music makers can plug in their professional equipment for even greater control.

Working with music files can be fun, but videos can be a frustrating experience, particularly when it comes to battling with codecs or playing files back on different devices. Freemake Video Converter 3.0.0 is a free tool that can be used to quickly and easily convert videos between formats and optimize them for playback on a number of popular devices including iPod and PSPs.

MyPaint 1.0 is a free digital painting app that can be used to tap into your creative side. With a powerful selection of tools and a range if different brushes to choose from, you can create a masterpiece with ease. If words are more up your street, but you find that you are too easily distracted by the features, Writemonkey 2.3 is a word processor that cuts down on the clutter to leave you free to focus on your writing.  RootsMagic Essentials 5.0.0.2 is a program for budding genealogists, with the free version giving you a gentle introduction to the world of family trees.

No week would be complete without a little tweaking, and Ultimate Windows Customizer v1.0.1 is a combined tweaking and customization tool for Windows 7 and Vista. A familiar name to anyone who has used Windows for any length of time will be CCleaner 3.13, with the latest version adding an add-on manager for Internet Explorer and numerous enhancements. Fans of portable software can investigate the same tools in CCleaner Portable 3.13. The penultimate tool in this week’s roundup is Cyberduck 4.2, a FTP client that can be used to upload and download files, manage a website and more.

There’ll be another software roundup the same time next week. To make sure you don’t forget, take a look at Free Alarm Clock 2.5 so you can set yourself a reminder.

All signs point to an iPad Christmas, for many people this year. But it's a pricey gift, starting at $499, and Apple isn't giving much away. Over the past 24 hours, I stumbled onto some unexpected Android alternatives that will put more than just a shiny new tablet under the Christmas tree.

Simply put: If you're looking for a tablet but need to accessorize, iPad 2 will tighten your gifting budget. Meanwhile, competitors serve up some sweet deals that will let you give more for about the same price, or even less. If you think nothing compares to iPad 2, you're wrong.

Bundle Up Some Sony Style

Last night, a friend told me she was thinking about getting her partner an iPad. She wanted my advice. My immediate question: "Does he have an iPhone?" No. Android? Yes. I suggested the Sony S tablet instead, because it would be more suitable to his lifestyle; for example, setting up with an existing Google account syncs calendar, contacts and email. Starting price is 99 cents more than iPad 2, but SonyStyle Store has a holiday special -- I got an email about it yesterday. For the regular $499.99 price, she can get a discounted bundle, which includes: docking cradle, screen protector, spare AC adapter and free movies (up to 7), music (180 days) and ebook (limited selection).

She will get nothing free from Apple, which means shelling out extra for a case ($39 or $69 smart cover), at the least. Among the Android tablets, Sony S is by far most comparable to iPad. Slate and screen sizes are similar. Sony offers extensive entertainment options (movies, music, etc.) and good selection of accessories (although third-party products put iPad choices way ahead). The $499.99 bundle comes with the 16GB S tablet, which memory is expandable (iPad 2's is not). There's a $599.99 bundle for the 32GB tablet, which is the same 99 cents more than the comparable iPad 2.

By the specs:

Sony S: 1GHz dual-core nVidia Tegra 2 processor; 9.4-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution; 1GB of RAM; 16GB internal storage, expandable to 32GB with MicroSD card; 5-megapixel back-facing and 0.3-megapixel front-facing cameras; 720p video recording; mico-USB port; WiFi N; Bluetooth; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; Android 3.2 (Honeycomb). Rather than HDMI, S2 uses DNLA to stream content.

iPad 2: 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 processor; 9.7 inch display with 1024 x 768 resolution; 512MB of RAM; 32GB internal storage (non-expandable); front-and-rear cameras; 720p video playback; WiFi N; Bluetooth; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; and iOS 5. There is no HDMI port and external USB connector costs $29 extra.

Come on and XOOM, XOOM, XOOM a XOOM

Late Monday, I bought the XOOM LTE from Verizon for $199.99. It's a deal I wrote about here, asking if you'd spend that much on the tablet. I drank my own Kool-Aid. The tablet arrives on Monday. Arguably, XOOM LTE will be obsolete soon as Moto Mobility unveils what's next during the Consumer Electronics Show in January. But this tablet is just what I need now, and because XOOM is a "with Google" device, it will soon receive the Android 4.0 update. Verizon still offers XOOM LTE cheap -- $299.99, which is still $429.01 less than the comparable iPad 2 (with 3G, not 4G LTE).

XOOM LTE: 1GHz dual-core nVidia Tegra 2 processor; 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution; 1GB of RAM; 32GB internal storage, expandable to 64GB with MicroSD card; 5-megapixel back-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras; 720p video recording; 1080p video playback; HDMI and USB 2.0 ports; WiFi N; Bluetooth; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; Android 3.2 (Honeycomb).

I ordered accessories from Moto Mobility's Cyber Monday deals website, which I unexpectedly found while searching for something else last night: Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, $39.99; portfolio case, $19.99; and car charger, $14.99. Amazon sells the same kit, respectively: $53.99, $28 and $16.99 -- without the mouse, which is an extra $29.99. That's $84.78 from Motorola, tax and shipping, versus $128.97 from Amazon, with no tax and two-day free shipping. Moto's discount won't last the holidays -- hell, maybe not the weekend, if you've got XOOM and want to accessorize.

Samsung, like Apple, is more Scrooge than Santa. Galaxy Tab prices aren't much moving downward. Verizon offers an instant discount on Galaxy Tab 10.1 32GB -- $529.99, which is same price as 16GB model. So why not take double the storage for the same price? The tablet is 4G LTE, but $230 more than XOOM's regular price. If you want to spend the most money on a tablet this holiday, Samsung gives you an option to go alongside Apple.

Perhaps you'd like to see the future of Android tablets while shopping this weekend. GameStop has it. You can try out the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime -- yeah quad-core and Tegra 3 -- in select stores.

IT solutions leader Hewlett-Packard has been very deliberate about its belief in Hybrid cloud solutions; that is, solutions that integrate public and private cloud solutions into a single, more controlled package. It was one of the top three company priorities erstwhile CEO Leo Apotheker outlined earlier this year, for which the company has set aside $2 billion in financing.

This week at HP Discover 2011 in Vienna, Austria, HP announced a series of additions to its cloud solutions portfolio many of which utilize this hybrid architecture and integrate solutions from HP's partners, as well as logistical solutions such as consultation, education, management, testing, and training.

This is important to watch because HP is trying to assume a stronger role as an all-in-one cloud services provider, with not just hardware and software solutions at its disposal, but also services brokerage and aggregation.

According to market research firm Gartner, when the delivery model changes from an exclusive on-site implementation to a mixture of private cloud/on-premises and public cloud services, lots of the traditional services associated with installation, integration and infrastructure upgrades disappear.

So one of the major announcements from HP this week was that it had partnered with telecommunications joint venture Alcatel-Lucent to integrate the HP Converged Infrastructure with the telecommunication network assets and cloud management capabilities provided by Alcatel-Lucent. The result is an automated provisioning and management system for both IT and telecommunications network services under HP's CloudSystem.

Next, HP announced CloudSystem Matrix 7.0, an update to the company's infrastructure-as-a-service offering that was known as BladeSystem Matrix until last June. This update to the Matrix Operating Environment certifies HP's CloudSystem for cloud bursting out of the box.

Cloud bursting is a cornerstone of hybrid cloud computing where a private cloud deployment "bursts" out to the public cloud for additional compute resources when demand spikes. The first service provider to partner with HP in this capability is CenturyLink subsidiary Savvis, other partners are expected to follow.

Third, HP announced the CloudAgile Service Provider Program, which adds the important "integration" factor to HP's CloudSystem, has expanded to Europe. HP CloudAgile is a specialized program open to AllianceONE members, and it provides new ways for all types of service providers to "deliver services faster with lower capital investment." HP has expanded the program with its first European partners and with new certified hosting options that enable service providers to deliver reliable, secure private hosted clouds based on HP CloudSystem.

Finally, HP announced the comprehensive HP Cloud Protection Program. This is made up of a consultation program (strategy, roadmap, design and implementation services), reference architectures, and lab testing of proposed solutions for enterprises looking to build a secure hybrid cloud.

It's dress-down Friday here at BetaNews, and I can't resist letting Samsung dress down Apple. Yesterday, the South Korean electronics manufacturer uploaded to YouTube yet another TV commercial in "The Next Big Thing is Already Here" marketing campaign. This one answers the question I posed in late September: "What if iPhone 5 isn't LTE?" -- days before Apple revealed 4S; there was no 5 and only HSPA+.

What's the answer: Disappointment, as the commercial reveals. Apple's smartphone and standard Galaxy S II both have HSPA+, but S2 is better, offering maximum 21Mbps vs iPhone 4S' 14Mbps. The Galaxy S II Skyrocket has 4G LTE -- granted only in 9 markets. I have that phone. Absolutely hilarious: The commercial's huge gaffe that will give Apple fanboys chance to do a little dressing down of their own. The TV spot is set in Denver, which is not one of the cities where AT&T officially offers 4G LTE. Whoops! No one would have noticed or cared if the location label was Washington, DC, where there is service.

There's another problem, which is sure to delight the Apple Fanclub: When the Galaxy S2 owner holds up her phone, there's no connection of any kind. No HSPA+, no LTE, no WiFi. Nothing. That's not some fast 4G phone. It's magical, too.

However, in nice attention to detail, the phone screen shows December 1, same day the video debuted on YouTube and presumably TV.

It's helluva entertaining marketing, and Samsung's ad agency has brilliantly cut many different commercials from the same shoot. They deserve credit for nothing more than that. The editing is exceptional.

The TV spots are getting high rotation in US Prime Time. I've seen three different versions aired.

As for the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, AT&T starts selling the white model on Sunday (December 4). If you want a phone like the one in the commercial, it's available in two days.

Heck, you might score something even better.

This week, CyberLink unveiled the "I Am a PowerDirector" community site and contest to promote it. BetaNews readers get special consideration. In addition to the regular prizes, CyberLink will hold a special drawing giving away 10 copies of PowerDirector 10 to our readers who enter the contest.

CyberLink's contest differs slightly from the one including you. "Submit your written testimony and photo, or use video to tell us why you are a Power Director", according to CyberLink. "If the work is approved, you will be rewarded with a PowerDirector cap. You will also have a chance to join a lucky draw for amazing prizes". Videos must be 30 seconds to 2 minutes long and uploaded to YouTube before filmmakers (that's you) enter the contest. CyberLink recommends 720p video. Submission period ends Jan. 15, 2012, with drawing for prize winners two days later. See complete rules for more information.

The deadline for BetaNews readers is sooner for anyone wanting to participate in the separate drawing for one of 10 copies of PowerDirector 10. CyberLink asks to receive these entries by end of the year, with drawing planned during the first few days of January; your deadline is December 31. BetaNews submissions must be videos only, no written testimonies. Please mention that you saw the promotion at BetaNews or are one of our readers when making your submission. Additionally, CyberLink asks you to email us (joe at betanews dot com) as backup. No one wants any BetaNews readers to get overlooked in the fray.

This way you get two chances to win (but only one prize). PowerDVD 11 and Olympus XZ-1 digital camera are among the prizes available in the broader contest.

As I've oft-said, enthusiasts are any company's best evangelists. CyberLink's goal here is to churn up more interest in its video production software, while certifying new evangelists. Contest participants who receive 100 or more Facebook Likes for their submissions will be certified "PowerDirector Evangelist". This kind of engagement isn't new to CyberLink, which also hosts the DirectorZone community site.

Please do not submit entries here. After uploading to YouTube, please use CyberLink's official entry form.

As for what you might win, please read our October review of CyberLink Power Director 10.

When it comes to listening to the radio, the Internet means that you are no longer limited to listening to what you are able to pick up through your set’s antenna. There are a huge number of radio stations broadcasting online and while this means that there is no shortage of choice, it does mean that it can be difficult to find something you like unless you know about it in advanced. Antenna is a free Adobe AIR app that takes a new approach to internet radio.

Tracking down a new station to listen to is a wonderful interactive process that can be approached in a few ways. If you already know the name of station, you can simply perform a search for it, but if you would like to find something new, you can browse through the interactive map where pushpins are used to represent radio stations.

Alternatively, you can use the icon-driven interface to filter radio station based on the country they are broadcasting from or the language they use. Of course, there is the usual option of browsing through stations that fall into the genre of your preference, and an online chat facility is available to enable you to chat with other listeners and exchange details about your favorite stations.

If a station you like is not available through the app, you can adds its URL so you can use Antenna to listen to it in future, and the option to rate and bookmark stations provides you with additional filtering options and easy access to stations you like. Antenna also enables you to record streaming radio, although we did find that this was occasionally a bit hit and miss. Minor niggles aside, this is a great looking app that’s well worth checking out.

You can find out more and download a copy of the app by paying a visit to the Antenna review page.

So says IHS iSuppli, which released projections for fourth-quarter tablet shipments on Friday. The firm predicts Kindle Fire will take about 13.8 percent of the market after having no share in the previous quarter. Kindle Fire went on sale at the end of September, with Amazon taking preorders right away but shipping November 14.

iSuppli expects Amazon to ship about 3.9 million units during the quarter, taking second place and all but tripling Samsung tablet market share. Kindle Fire's success comes at the expense of Apple as well as Samsung, however.

While iSuppli predicts Apple will hold the top spot, its share will drop 4.1 points to 65.6 percent. Samsung also takes a considerable hit, falling three points to 4.8 percent of the market. Despite the disruption, Kindle Fire's success will contribute to an overall increase in tablet shipments of 7.7 percent during the quarter.

"Nearly two years after Apple rolled out the iPad, a competitor has finally developed an alternative which looks like it might have enough of Apple’s secret sauce to succeed", iSuppli tablet research head Rhoda Alexander says. "Initial market response strongly suggests that Amazon, with the Kindle Fire, has found the right combination of savvy pricing, astute marketing, accessible content and an appropriate business model, positioning the Kindle Fire to appeal to a brand-new set of media tablet buyers".

Indeed any competitor looking to have any success against the iPad must have exactly what Alexander says: appeal to new buyers. Apple and Samsung have some of the most loyal customers, so marketing to this set is not going to win a new entrant much.

The drop in market share is likely less consumers switching from their Galaxy Tabs and iPads to the Fire, but more so new tablet consumers entering into the market at an affordable price: $199.

Amazon's pricing creates problems for its fellow Android brethren though, Alexander argues. "Most other Android tablet makers must earn a profit based on hardware sales alone. In contrast, Amazon plans to use the Kindle Fire to drive sales of physical goods that comprise the majority of the company’s business", he explains. "As long as this strategy is successful, the company can afford to take a loss on the hardware, while its Android competitors cannot".

This willingness to be a "loss leader" puts pressure on the entire industry at large, especially now that a bargain-priced tablet is enjoying so much success at retail. Who will be the first to respond? That remains to be seen.

If you’re worried about your phone or tablet being lost or stolen then it’s generally very easy to get some help. Just check a box in your iPad settings, or install a suitable app, and if your device goes astray you may be able to track its location, send messages to the thief, even remotely lock or wipe the device to prevent anyone accessing your files.

If you’d like the same protection for your Windows laptop, though -- or, even more conveniently, want to use the same service to cover all your devices -- then the choice is considerably more limited. Although, fortunately, there is one strong contender in the Prey Project.

Prey is lightweight, and works just about everywhere, with versions available for Windows, the Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. It’s also easily installed, and offers just about everything you’d expect from this kind of recovery tool.

Once you mark a lost device as “missing” at the Prey website, the program will pick this up if your system goes online, and begin sending reports. These may include its current location (the device needs wireless support for this to work), a picture of the thief (if you have a webcam), a grab of the desktop to show how your system is being used, and more.

If you’d like to try and take control of the situation, then you can also send a message to the device, perhaps offering a reward for its safe return. You’re able to remotely secure the device, hiding emails, and deleting stored passwords. And a Lock option will prevent anyone from using the device at all until a password has been entered.

And best of all, the basic Prey account does all of this for up to three devices at no charge at all.

If you need more, though, commercial Pro accounts are also available. These enable you to get “missing” reports faster, and more frequently, can support more devices, and make it easier to deploy Prey in the first place. Prices start at $5 a month and you can read more at the Prey site.

Photo Credit: Blazej Lyjak/Shutterstock

Microsoft has a big problem. Windows Phone 7.5 is one of its best kept secrets. That's not a good thing. The operating system is fresh, remarkably different from Android and iOS and task-oriented. However, judging by US market share -- a puny 1.5 percent, according to Nielsen -- nearly no one knows about Windows Phone. In product marketing, secrets are very bad.

So, Microsoft is taking the marketing home -- to your competing handset. The Redmond, Wash.-based company has posted a live WP demo that Android and iPhone users can try in their mobile browser. I captured the screenshot right from Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket running Android 2.3.6. It's a clever marketing gimmick that also demonstrates the value of HTML5 (and JavaScript) -- after all, iPhone is an Adobe Flash-free zone.

If you've never experienced Windows Phone, please go to the demo on your Android or iPhone, try it and post your reaction in comments below. First impressions are everything, and that's all you really need share. The demo is a mockup, and while a pretty good one still not revealing enough about what Windows Phone could do for you.

I'd like the demo more, if it went further -- like selling something. Microsoft should offer option to buy Windows Phone from their carrier.

Really smart: Make gaining market share during the holidays matter more than moolah. Microsoft should offer extra carrier subsidies so that anyone who wants Windows Phone can get one even if otherwise ineligible for discounted, upgrade pricing.

Marginally related, I'll announce our Windows Phone contest winners early next week. Our panel of judges narrowed the choices with some difficulty and likely will choose the winner randomly among the best submissions. We had asked contest participants to explain what Microsoft's "glance and go" approach means to them. Microsoft graciously is providing a Samsung Focus S to the lucky winner. Everyone wins in my book, but we don't have enough prizes -- just the one.

I'm a day late, but you shouldn't have to miss out. Caught up in reporting on the Carrier IQ scandal and editing responsibilities, I missed a Microsoft holiday promotion worth calling out: Bing Magical Holiday Calendar, which started yesterday.

Christmas is all about giving and people. Microsoft features Kelly Osbourne as centerpiece for a month of winnables, supposedly inspired from her gift list. That's a much better approach than some of Microsoft's past contests, which put faceless Bing front and center.

"In the spirit of celebrating traditions new and old, we’re trying something new and -- together with Ms. Osbourne and our partners -- Bing will unveil daily surprises in our Bing Magical Holiday Calendar this December", Lisa Gurry, Bing director says. "Part of the fun is the unexpected surprise awaiting you each day, and trust me you’ll want to check it out every day to see what we have in store".

Think of the promotion as a month-long advent calendar. It's smart marketing, and Microsoft needs to do more of it. As BetaNews reader Robert Johnson observed earlier this week: "Microsoft is in trouble", based on three Thanksgiving Day experiences. The company has perception problems, which promotions like this can change.

Research in Motion sold 500,000 PlayBook tablets in its first quarter on the market, and 200,000 the next quarter. Because of these low sales figures, the company readily admitted there was a big surplus of PlayBooks, and based on some early promotions from the company, we assumed there were probably a lot of them laying around.

Today, the Canadian smartphone company confirmed this surplus and gave us a good idea about just how big it is. In the third quarter, only 150,000 PlayBooks sold through to customers, so the company is taking a $485 million markdown on its third quarter earnings because of the unsold PlayBooks in the channel.

"The Company now believes that an increase in promotional activity is required to drive sell-through to end customers," Friday's announcement said. "This is due to several factors, including recent shifts in the competitive dynamics of the tablet market and a delay in the release of the PlayBook OS 2.0 software. As a result, RIM will record a provision that reflects the current market environment and allows it to expand upon the aggressive level of promotional activity recently employed by the Company in order to drive PlayBook adoption around the world."

An additional strike RIM is taking in its third quarter earnings is the week-long global service outage that hit BlackBerry when a core switch failed and caused a cascading failure that knocked BlackBerry out for practically the entire world.

The company registered a $50 million charge against its third quarter revenue because of this failure.

Shipment of BlackBerry handsets was about the only thing that RIM managed to pull off according to quarterly guidance. The company estimates 14.1 million BlackBerry handsets shipped to retail in the quarter, but it did not say how many actually sold through to consumers.

It is entirely possible that there will be a surplus of BlackBerry handsets in the fourth quarter too, as RIM said it expects lower shipments due to "several factors including lower than expected sell-through in the third quarter."

There are two things that almost every computer owner is concerned with -- security and performance. When it comes to security there are all manner of tools that you can install from firewalls and antivirus to spyware and malware checkers, and there is certainly no shortage of tweaking tools available to help boost system performance.

Those that are more adept with computers are likely to feel comfortable with editing the registry to apply their own tweaks, but this is not a course of action that suits everyone. IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 is an advanced suite of tools that has both performance security covered.

The suite is made up of a large number of individual components, but they can all be accessed through one neatly organized interface. The Quick Care section, as the name might suggest, provides access to a number of fast, everyday options that will quickly become part of your daily or weekly maintenance routine. Here you can scan your hard drive for malware -- and, of course, remove it -- check for and fix problems with the registry and remove invalid shortcuts that may exist. The Privacy Sweep option enables you to quickly cover your tracks by wiping your activity logs for all popular web browsers as well as a number of common applications such as Microsoft Office and Windows Media Player.

Quick Care can also includes a cleanup option that enables you to free up hard drive space by deleting temporary files, log files and other unnecessary remnants of computer use. Files cannot only be deleted; you can also opt to securely delete files by overwriting them to avoid the risk of them being recovered by others. All of these tools can help to keep your computer running smoothly and eliminate problems and performance bottlenecks, but even more options are available by heading to the Deep Care section. As you might expect, here you will find more advanced tools that perform more in-depth scans of your system – this means that this is a more time-consuming section to work with, but one that will bring more noticeable results.

Performance Boosting

Performance and stability issues can be overcome by running a deep scan of the registry while the vaguely named ‘system optimization’ settings include tweaks for internet and network performance. There is also a more powerful junk file deletion tool available and to help you to make the most of your hard drive and its newly recovered space, defragmentation helps to ensure that files are organized for the fastest possible access times. Additional tools enable you to boost startup times by disabling or staggering startup programs and you can also check you drives for errors to help avoid the risk of data loss.

If you’d like to take a more hands-on approach to system maintenance, you can work your way through the Turbo Boost section. Here you can choose from pre-defined modes that will automatically apply certain tweaks, but you can also manually adjust settings for enhanced performance. There are a huge number of options to work through here including disabling animation effects and unwanted services as well as cutting back on running services and visual effects.

If all of this isn’t enough for you, IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 also includes a toolbox that is made up of a series of system utilities. Initially, it may seem as though this section has been added as almost an afterthought, but there is actually a great deal to work with here.

There are cleanup tools that can be used to optimize the registry, uninstall unwanted software and securely delete files and there are also utilities to free up memory, optimize your hard drive and fix a range of system problems. Secure deletion ensures that deleted files cannot be recovered, but there is also an undelete tool that can be used to recover files that have been deleted in the usual way, even if the Recycle Bin has been emptied. There are more advanced tools for examining and controlling running processes, meaning that you can get as involved with the optimization of your computer as you want.

The program benefits from a cloud-based database so malware definitions can be updated in an instant and all of the latest tweaks and optimum settings can be quickly disseminated to users.

IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 finds itself in something of a saturated corner of the software market, but it is a seriously comprehensive tool that gives the competition a run for its money. There are countless other tweaking tools available, including some that offer security features as well, but this is a package that is not only well balanced, but also well priced. It would be easy to imagine a similar suite of tools being sold for twice the price, but this is perfectly pitched for its target audience.

The software lists for $19.95 and runs on Windows 2000 through 7.

The furor over Carrier IQ tracking software only intensified on Thursday, as different affected parties attempted to limit public relations or potential legal damage. Apple and Verizon both essentially disavowed Carrier IQ, while Sprint acknowledged using the software/service but narrowed the scope. Meanwhile, the Carrier IQ website couldn't handle sudden traffic surges. BetaNews used a Google cached version to obtain the official statement, but later reached the site.

Android developer Trevor Eckhart instigated the Carrier IQ scandal in a blog post and YouTube video based on his investigation of a persistent process running on HTC Android phones. He uncovered Carrier IQ, which he calls a rootkit because of its stealth behavior and the amount of information/services tapped. "The application is hidden in nearly every part of our phones, including the kernel", he writes. "Carrier IQ also subverts standard operating system functionality".

What's Collected?

The video demonstrates keylogging behavior. It's quite dramatic to watch -- information captured as Eckhart types. Carrier IQ disputes this apparent capability: "We are counting and summarizing performance, not recording keystrokes or providing tracking tools. The metrics and tools we derive are not designed to deliver such information, nor do we have any intention of developing such tools".

What information Carrier IQ collects, how much or how little it transmits and who has access to what is the crux of a rapidly-developing privacy scandal. Carrier IQ might be less than it seems, a poorly designed program that like Sony's music-CD rootkit six years ago is more spyware by fault than design. Or it could be much more. The company's own press material reveals extensive data-collection capability, provided in real-time:

IQ Insight Experience Manager gives wireless carriers and mobile device manufacturers an unprecedented, objective view into what is actually happening on mobile subscribers’ devices -- including quality of service, application usage and the related experience -- as it occurs, at the point of delivery and use..IQ Insight Experience Manager uses data directly from the mobile device to give a precise view of how the services and the applications are being used, even if the phone is not communicating with the network.

Despite Eckhart's convincing presentation, questions remain about whom (carriers and handset makers) and what (devices) use Carrier IQ. The researcher demonstrated on a smartphone from Sprint, which has since acknowledged using Carrier IQ:

Carrier IQ is an integral part of the Sprint service. Sprint uses Carrier IQ to help maintain our network performance...We collect enough information to understand the customer experience with devices on our network and how to address any connection problems, but we do not and cannot look at the contents of messages, photos, videos, etc., using this tool. The information collected is not sold and we don’t provide a direct feed of this data to anyone outside of Sprint.

Not surprisingly, Carrier IQ is a hot topic on Sprint support forums. Writes one poster:

I'm a business owner that often transmits proprietary data and information using my Sprint Mobile device and I'm wondering why I was never told that every keystroke I ever made including https was being catalogued and stored by a third party software company. I want this software removed and I want to know where my data is being stored so I can make sure it is deleted from this third party's servers.

Another: "Sprint, it appears you have broken your Terms of Service agreement with us. You have unknowningly shared ALL our data with a 3rd party customer who is sending it in an insecure way. I would like you to either void my requirement to continue using your service or remove your rootkit software from MY phone".

AT&T admits, Apple disavows

AT&T wasn't as forthcoming, acknowledging use of Carrier IQ and stating it's within the company's privacy policy. That raises questions about there being an opt-in option. On Android, Eckhart writes that the "only place you can see that the application is installed on the phone is in Menu -> Settings -> Manage Applications -> All, then scroll down to IQRD". I don't see that or anything like it on my Galaxy S II Skyrocket. I don't recall whether I opted in to let AT&T collect data.

Opt-in is a point Apple makes in its statement about Carrier IQ. Yes, Apple. "Our software is embedded by device manufacturers along with other diagnostic tools and software prior to shipment", according to Carrier IQ. Based on evidence at hand, manufacturers install Carrier IQ and wireless companies decide whether or not to use it. HTC and Samsung also acknowledge providing the software on a carrier-by-carrier basis. Apple has backed off, according to the statement:

We stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update. With any diagnostic data sent to Apple, customers must actively opt-in to share this information, and if they do, the data is sent in an anonymous and encrypted form and does not include any personal information. We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so.

The statement shouldn't be misunderstood in context of Carrier IQ's official response to Eckhart's claims and to company marketing material. Apple places the software there for its carrier partners. Apple might not record "keystrokes, messages or any other personal information" but that doesn't mean someone else couldn't. Additionally, Carrier IQ is still part of iOS, which segues to another concern: Security.

Cybercriminal Christmas

All parties may be genuine in their responses, including Carrier IQ. None of them may be collecting personally identifying information, as they say. However, if Eckhart's analysis is correct, Carrier IQ pretty much records everything done on the phone, and it's embedded deeply into the operating system. Disconcerting: On Android when "Force Stop" is used, "the application continues to run".

Eckhart continues:

The very extensive list of Android security permissions granted to IQRD would raise anyone’s eyebrow, considering that it’s remotely controlled software, but some things such as reading contact data, Services that cost you money, reading/edit/sending sms, recording audio(?!??!?) and writing/changing wireless settings seem a bit excessive.

Assuming Carrier IQ collects information on everything, or even lots of processes and activities, and can't easily be turned off or disabled, it is ideally suited to exploitation by cybercriminals. Carrier IQ is potentially the keys to the kindgom -- tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of cell phones. If cracked -- and that's assuming functionality as Eckhart identifies -- Carrier IQ could be a boon to cybercriminals.

RIM, Verizon Untouched

As the drama unfolds, two parties stand above the furor -- so far. "Any report that Verizon Wireless uses Carrier IQ is patently false", says the company, which does have opt-in data collection options. "We were transparent about how customer information will be used and gave clear choices to customers about whether they want to participate in these programs. Carrier IQ is not involved in these programs".

Then there's Research in Motion:

RIM is aware of a recent claim by a security researcher that an application called 'Carrier IQ' is installed on mobile devices from multiple vendors without the knowledge or consent of the device users. RIM does not pre-install the Carrier IQ app on BlackBerry smartphones or authorize its carrier partners to install the Carrier IQ app before sales or distribution. RIM also did not develop or commission the development of the Carrier IQ application, and has no involvement in the testing, promotion, or distribution of the app. RIM will continue to investigate reports and speculation related to Carrier IQ.

Today, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) sent a letter to Carrier IQ, setting a December 14 deadline to explain itself. He says:

The revelation that the locations and other sensitive data of millions of Americans are being secretly recorded and possibly transmitted is deeply troubling. This news underscores the need for Congress to act swiftly to protect the location information and private, sensitive information of consumers. But right now, Carrier IQ has a lot of questions to answer.

But when and how? If someone hasn't filed a lawsuit, one is sure to follow. Carrier IQ's challenge: How to explain itself without risking great legal liability. Statements in its defense now could be used in court later on.

Photo Credit: Netfalls/Shutterstock

This is one of the more uncomfortable years the PC ecosystem has ever endured. It started out sluggish, and never really recovered. Early on, Intel’s CEO chided market researchers who didn’t echo his call for double-digit unit growth. (Full disclosure: so did I.) AMD’s board booted its leader in part for taking much the same stand.

Slow growth alone, though, isn’t what draped 2011 in a soot-colored hue. The industry has seen its share of ups and downs. But this year is different. Because while PC sales were under-performing, shipments of these new things, media tablets, skyrocketed. Coincidence?

Yes, actually. It’s tempting to witness the appearance of one thing and a change in fortunes of another and assume that the former caused the latter. Our ability to draw a line connecting two points in space is a trait that enables us humans to discover great things. It’s also a quality that can land us in deep trouble if we’re not careful. (Tip: taking a shot at the president will not impress Jodi Foster.)

For a time, the PC industry appeared immune to the financial calamities that cut deep into sales and profits for many businesses around the globe. PC vendors actually eked out shipments growth in 2009, the first full year of the recession -- and things got better from there.

PC shipments grew 27.4 percent and 20.7 percent in first and second quarters 2010, respectively, according to Gartner. In the following quarter, though, growth suddenly plunged to just 7.6 percent. That period also happened to be the first full quarter of iPad shipments.

The results from that quarter ignited a flurry of dire predictions for the end of the PC market at the hands of tablets. These forecasts sounded uncomfortably familiar to industry veterans. After all, it was barely 30 years ago that the PC appeared on the scene, and quickly began to push aside Big Iron, the last king of computing.

The fallacy with those ominous forecasts, though, is that they centered on the wrong inflection point. It was the fourth quarter of 2009 that marked an industry disruption, not the third quarter of 2010. Let me explain.

In the third quarter of 2009, Microsoft began shipping Windows 7. After enduring 18 months of Windows Vista, the consumer PC market was hungry for computers built around a quality OS. So people flocked to stores to buy. PC shipments climbed an impressive 22.1 percent that quarter, compared to just 0.5 percent in third quarter 2009 (again, according to Gartner). The sales fest continued for another six months.

See, it’s not that third quarter was so bad. It’s that the three prior quarters were so good.

I’ve always been a believer in the Field-of-Dreams approach to the consumer market. Every time we build it, consumers come. If we don’t, well, they don’t. Or they buy something else.

In the third quarter of 2010, Apple built the iPad. And consumers came. The PC ecosystem, meanwhile, blew through its vein of new and shiny over the preceding nine months and had nothing much exciting to offer for the second half of 2010. Ditto for this year’s selling season.

You can agree or not, obviously. One thing’s for sure: we won’t have to wait long for this forecast to prove out. See, the PC ecosystem’s next new and shiny is slated for the fourth quarter of 2012. That’s when system vendors will be pairing Windows 8 with some exciting new hardware, systems that mash the best of the PC together with the tablet’s touch interface, sexy form factor and long battery life.

Who knows, maybe a year from now the industry will buzz about the end of media tablets, as surging Windows 8 PC sales ignite another upgrade cycle.

Photo Credit: dencg/Shutterstock

Mike Feibus is principal analyst at TechKnowledge Strategies, a Scottsdale, Ariz., market research firm focusing on client technologies. You can reach him at mike at techknowledge-group dot com.

Taiwanese PC maker Asus has announced its quad-core Eee Pad Transformer Prime Android tablet will be available for order December 12th online and December 19th in physical retail stores.

The tablet is the first device to be built on Nvidia's new Tegra 3 system on a chip, and will carry a pricetag of $499 for the version with 32GB of storage, and $599 for the 64GB version. The Eee Station keyboard dock adds $149 to the total, but comes with the benefit of an additional battery that expands the life of the Transformer Prime by approximately six hours, bringing it to a total of 18 hours of battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which uses the Tegra 2 has a 9 hour battery life, by comparison.

So in terms of raw Android tablet specs, the Transformer Prime is pretty remarkable. It has a 10.1" (1280 x 800) LED backlit screen with Corning Gorilla Glass, the aforementioned Tegra 3 Quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, Android 3.1 with an update to Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) pending soon after release, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, an 8 megapixel flash camera and 1.2 megapixel chat camera, microSD slot, and a microHDMI output jack.

Asus backs up the Transformer Prime with its own cloud service platform including the unlimited cloud storage for one year, the @vibe multimedia store, MyDesktop remote desktop access, and MyNet DLNA home media sharing.

And also...the Website for the Transformer Prime is really cool, too.

The only thing the Transformer Prime will launch without is a mobile broadband version. There is a 3G/4G version expected, but its availability hasn't yet been announced.

Microsoft shouldn't break out the champagne just yet, but there's still reason to celebrate even if no trend is yet evident. Internet Explorer usage share nudged up ever so slightly in November, according to new data Network Applications released today. Meanwhile, Chrome kept its relentless march upward -- for the 13th consecutive month. Firefox is still No. 2, contrary to reports today from StatCounter. I trust NetApps data more.

Safari was by far the month's biggest loser, with usage share falling to 5 percent from 5.43 percent in October. The loss is no small matter. Safari is integral to Apple's broader digital lifestyle push, where synchronization is vital component -- and that includes Safari. Related: Apple shipped record number of Macs during third calendar quarter, launched iPhone 4S and iCloud and saw global PC share top 5 percent. By that reckoning, Safari share should be up, not down.

Mobile is perhaps the Webkit-based browser's redemption, however, or so it seems at first glance. There, Safari share is 55.03 percent, followed by Opera (20.09 percent) and Android's browser (16.36). But there's downward trend, and it's much more pronounced. Mobile Safari usage share fell from 62.03 percent, while Opera surged from 13.09 percent. That said, mobile stats are fairly inconsistent month-to-month, unlike those for desktop browsers.

There, Safari usage share consistently rose -- from 4.15 percent in January until November's sudden drop. Is this start of a new trend? Here's something to consider: Chrome, Firefox and Opera are all on fast-development tracks -- typically six weeks between major milestones. Safari is not. If anything, Safari development looks more like Internet Explorer 6 in the early Noughties. New development and introduction of new features moves at a snail's pace compared to competing browsers.

That's not surprising considering Apple's priority is nurturing its apps ecosystem from separate iOS and Mac OS X stores. Browser isn't as high priority. Something else to consider: Apple disdains Adobe Flash, which is no longer installed by default and isn't available at all on mobile. Perhaps the market sees Flash as necessary after all.

Safari's pain is Internet Explorer's gain, if ever so slightly. IE usage share was 52.64 percent in November, up .01 percent a month earlier. That's still down from two years ago, when IE usage share was 60.35 percent. Meanwhile Chrome continues its relentless gains, which are slowing. Chrome share was 18.18 percent in November, up from 17.62 a month earlier and 9.5 percent in November 2010.

Microsoft's newest shipping browser simply cannot keep pace. IE9 usage share is a meager 10.25 percent, well behind Chrome 15 (14.58 percent) and IE8 (28.2 percent). However, IE9 is on steady upward trajectory, moving up from 1.08 percent share in March.

Firefox usage share fell for the fifth consecutive month -- to 22.14 percent share from 22.52 in October. Competing data from StatCounter puts Chrome ahead of Firefox. I'm predisposed to NetApps data, so I'm calling it Firefox second place and still solid over Chrome.

But I'll add this: If not for Mozilla ramping up development cycles to match Google's, I'm convinced Chrome would have passed Firefox months ago. That said, rapid development, which also means half dozen or so new browser versions a year and fast retirement of older ones, holds back adoption for both browsers. Many larger businesses can't test and deploy current Chrome and Firefox versions before they're outdated. Internet Explorer and Safari are more stable options, from that perspective.

As for Safari, only another couple months of data will reveal whether November was a hiccup or beginning of trouble.

Reports from Chinese media this week have been talking up the impending launch of Windows Phone in China. Microsoft's mobile operating system is expected to land in China some time in the first half of 2012, and Lenovo may be the first "unofficially announced" OEM partner.

Lenovo doesn't steal headlines with unconventional and groundbreaking designs or new sexy hardware. Instead, the company makes simple, functional devices that encompass a massive part of the workforce. In short, Lenovo makes kick ass black boxes.

Since acquiring IBM's PC division back in 2005, Chinese company Lenovo has stuck closely to the black box formula with the legacy ThinkPad line in the United States, added a little shininess to it with the IdeaPad line, and branched out nicely into HTPCs with the IdeaCentre, and into Android-powered slates with the IdeaPad and ThinkPad Tablet lines.

The company's large catalog of mobile phones and smartphones, however, diverges quite a bit from the standard "black box" design. These devices have remained available mostly in China, where the company understands the demands of its consumers, and has very specific brand foci. Its S Series, for example targets females, its P Series targets businesspeople, its I series targets students, its A series targets the cost-conscious consumer, and its E Series targets (I'm not making this up) farmers.

The company has released a few flagship Android-powered phones, including the LePhone, and the newest Music Phone S2. At a press conference for the new Android phone, however, Music Phone Product Manager Yue Chen said that a Windows Phone-powered version is expected in the second half of 2012, Chinese blog iMobile reports.

Naturally, Lenovo and Microsoft work together often, and Lenovo has released Windows Mobile powered smartphones in the past, so the partnership is no surprise.

But the reason this is significant is that Windows Phone still hasn't made an entry into the profitable and booming Chinese market. Earlier this week, Chinese blog QQ reported that Microsoft had selected Suning Appliance as a potential retail partner for its official Windows 8 and Windows Phone launch in China some time next year.

Microsoft has not announced this launch yet, but Nokia has also been rumored to be planning a Windows Phone device for the Chinese market as well.

Anyone with children will know that it can be difficult to police use of the Internet. The fact that you have young children means that you are naturally concerned about web content, and many parents would love to be able to use the Internet with their offspring to ensure that they don’t stray into unwanted territory.

But in reality, this is often impractical as there are few people who have the time spare to be able to monitor their children, however much they may want to do so. AVG Family Safety is a software alternative to a parent’s watchful eye, making it possible to not only monitor but also control what your children use the Internet for.

The app comes from the company more readily associated with antivirus software, but it  has ventured into numerous other areas of life online, too. Tackling the issue of Internet access control is a tricky battle, but AVG Family Safety has a number of tools that can be used in combination to meet the needs of you and your family. You can control access to websites based on URL or content type, and place restrictions on when the Internet can be used. If there is an attempt to access blocked content, alerts can be sent out in the form of emails or SMS (in the United States).

Obviously there are problems associated with blocking websites. The first major issue: In order for a website to be blocked based on subject matter or content they must be checked and categorized - the sheer number of websites that exist mean that this is somewhat impractical. The program offers the chance to block or permit access to sites in a large number of categories, and settings can be manually configured or you can use the pre-defined age settings to speed things up. Similar age restrictions can be used to control access to online media. Industry standard age rating systems are supported so you can choose the type of music your children can listen to and the type of streaming video they can watch; it is also possible to block access to online games, but again this is dependent on ratings having been assigned to them.

AVG Family Safety can also be used to filter web searches, so you can choose to block certain keywords in a number of popular search engines including Google, Yahoo and Bing. If there are websites you are aware of that you would prefer your kids did not access, you can add them to a blacklist that will be blocked without question. Conversely, it is also possible to set up a whitelist, and anyone looking to be particularly restrictive with the Internet may want to use  this option. This is a great way to introduce younger children to the Internet as it enables you to specify a list of sites that are permitted to be accessed. Providing other settings are correctly configured, it is possible to only allow access to sites that appear in this list, and this means that children can be left to use the Internet unattended safe in the knowledge that they will not be able to venture to other sites.

Having a computer connected to the Internet means more than having to think about what is going on in a web browser; there are also chat clients and social networking clients to consider. AVG Family Safety includes the option to prevent programs of your choice from running, and this including proxy tools that could be used to bypass any restrictions you may have put in pace.  It is also worth taking a look at the iOS version of the app,  AVG Family Safety 10.1.7, which enables you to place restrictions on how the Internet is used on your iPhone or iPad.

Multiple Profiles

Many households have more than one child, and with this in mind AVG Family Safety includes the option to create multiple profiles each of which can have settings of their own. This is great for home in which there are children of different ages for whom different levels of restriction and control are needed. Another interesting option is the ability to restrict the times at which the Internet can be used.  To avoid the risk of your children changing the Windows clock to bypass this, the time restrictions are implemented using an online time server.

In terms of configuration, AVG Family Safety is hard to criticize. All of the settings you could possibly need are easily accessed, but you may find that getting things fine-tuned to your liking may take some time. As well as putting restrictions in place, the software can also be used to monitor how the Internet is being used. AVG Family Safety can log not only the websites that are visited, but also the searches that are performed, so even if you decide to give your children unfettered access to the Internet you can still keep an eye on what they’re up to online. You can also log instant messaging conversations and check logs that will reveal which programs have been used and for how long.

A very nice touch is the ability to view all of the program logs and even change application settings online. This means that you are able to monitor and control Internet usage even when you are not at home. AVG Family Safety is easy to use, even if satisfactory configuration could take a little while to complete. It is a tool that not only offers peace of mind but also helps to keep children safe without being too intrusive. The annual fee covers up to three computers making this great value for money.

AVG Family Saftey lists for $19.95 and runs on Windows XP, Vista or 7.

Photo Credit: NinaMalyna/Shutterstock

Okay, the stupidity lies with cellular carriers who let the tracking software onto their phones. Their actions will irreparably tarnish the industry's image and quite likely lead to unwanted government intervention. I'm assuming, of course, that Carrier IQ really is as bad as Android developer Trevor Eckhart claims. My God, what if it's worse?

Carrier IQ is tracking software that behaves every bit like a keylogger -- installed at a low-level like a rootkit would be. It logs all activities. That's right. Everything, even when the phone is disconnected from the network, or when using WiFi, and it continues its privacy-violating ways even after a cellular subscriber's contract has expired. Simply put: It's an abomination. It's a violation of privacy in the worst way, because cell phones are the most personal tech devices and used to maintain the most intimate relationships.

For those paranoid people worried someone is watching them, somebody is. It reminds me of Police song "Every Breath You Take", which contrary to popular convention is not a love song. Songwriter Sting says it's about stalking:

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you

Carrier IQ is watching you.

This scandal is much worse than the Sony rootkit, installed on music CDs, Mark Russinovich uncovered six years ago. That privacy invasion led to numerous lawsuits subsequent settlement in 39 states and another with the Federal Trade Commission. Sony rootkit is a single car crash, while Carrier IQ is a plane smashing into a crowded Interstate highway during rush hour.

Ongoing Facebook privacy issues, including this week's FTC settlement and agreement to 20 years oversight, pale in comparison to Carrier IQ. Because the question isn't how many people is Carrier IQ watching but how few. The number of global cellular subscribers is enormous. Severity really depends on the scope of Carrier IQ usage -- how many carriers in how many locales.

For Americans, the Carrier IQ scandal is invitation for increased government intervention to protect their privacy and security -- that of federal agencies, too. Six years ago, savvy hackers used the Sony rootkit to hide Trojans. What security problems lay in wait -- if they haven't been exploited already -- from software so deeply hidden and running at such low levels in Android and iOS, and who knows where else? Surely, any cybercriminal delights in such opportunity -- tapping into a running process that tracks everything done on hundreds of millions of handsets. "Merry Christmas!" What a present! Government has as much concern protecting its own security (and privacy) as citizens.

The tech industry has long held a hand up to government, promising to self-police, self-regulate. "We will be responsible. You can trust us". But Carrier IQ sends a different message: "You can't be trusted". Not when there is potentially so much money to be made tracking people's behavior. That has been the concern about Facebook or Google. But Carrier IQ is so much worse because it acts like a keylogger.

Carrier IQ is the perfect election-year scandal, particularly when Democrats and Republicans can't seem to agree on anything or with state attorneys general up for re-election. It's ready-made for both sides to rally behind a common cause: Protecting Americans' privacy. Surely the FTC will intervene. Capitol Hill hearings are likely. Perhaps the tech industry will come under new scrutiny -- and even new legislation -- as lawmakers and regulators realize their worst fears: That companies like Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have more control over Americans' privacy than they do. Wireless carriers make matters much worse.

Carrier IQ is an evolving scandal. The extent of tracking may increase, or decrease, as there is more investigation. It's still not 100 percent clear how many carriers use the software, which handsets are infected, the full number of operating systems affected or what exceptions there are. On the latter point, for example, it looks like pure Google devices, such as Samsung Nexus S or Motorola XOOM, are Carrier IQ-free.

I'll end simply by asking for your reaction, which you can give in comments.

Photo Credit: Arman Zhenikeyev/Shutterstock

Microsoft has released a public beta version of its Windows Security Essentials package, giving users a sneak glimpse of what to expect from future releases. There are not a huge number of changes to speak of, but the release is an important advancement for a home-user friendly security suite that has gained a large following since it debuted. Windows Security Essentials 4 beta is available right now to anyone with a Windows Live ID.

There are some minor interface tweaks to be seen in the application, but it is the improvements to performance and the detection process that are most interesting. One of the concerns with running any security software is the potential for it to impact on system performance -- and this is one reason why many people simply do not bother installing security software. Performance tweaks help to reduce the strain on your system while it is protected.

But the purpose of the program is to offer protection against a range of threats and in addition to the general performance enhancements, there are improvements made to the detection engine. No security app is able to promise 100 percent protection, but Windows Security Essentials 4 improvements bring great levels of protection to Windows users.

There is a strong focus on ease of use, and as well as the redesigned and cleaned up interface, changes have also been made to the way the app handles threats that are detected. The program now deals with a greater number of threats automatically without the need for user intervention, and there is also the ability to configure on-demand and scheduled system scans in addition to the all-important real-time protection.

You can find out more and download a free copy of the app by paying a visit to the Microsoft Security Essentials 4 Beta review page.

Photo Credit: Julien Tromeur/Shutterstock

I've got a soft spot for Windows Phone. The operating system is classy, vibrant, intuitive and refreshing -- the latter particularly compared to Android and iOS. Windows Phone also is a bleeding failure, as I predicted it would be in February 2010 -- when calling the platform a "lost cause". I grudgingly admit to being right. Ah hum. Only Nokia can save Windows Phone now. They swim for land or drown together.

Yesterday, Nielsen released US smartphone operating system share at end of third quarter. For Android and iOS: 42.8 percent and 28.3 percent, respectively. Windows Phone: 1.2 percent, which is less than Symbian (1.7 percent) -- the operating system WP will replace on Nokia handsets, which have far less visibility than does WP7 in the United States; that's sadist commentary of all. Windows Mobile share is 6.1 percent, and that's a good place for Microsoft to really target. Imagine if all those customers could convert to smartphones running the newer software.

Maybe the holidays will be good to Microsoft, which needs a little Christmas miracle to lift Windows Phone 7 from last place. The share numbers explain why Microsoft has invested so much to churn up buzz, such as erecting a six-story Windows Phone in a New York City park or touring the country showing off WP 7.5 handsets over cocktails. The advertising looks pretty good, but Microsoft needs more of it. As BetaNews reader Robert Johnson explained two days ago, "Microsoft is in trouble", because of negative perceptions or little to no visibility against Apple and Google.

The reasons I stated 21 months ago for Windows Phone's problems are little different today. Briefly recapping and expanding #2 and adding #5:

1. There is no Windows monopoly leverage to jumpstart the platform. The opposite is true. Android and iOS leverage against Microsoft's mobile OS. They're anti-Windows monopolies, with beaucoup developers, hundreds of thousands of applications, thousands of third-party distribution partners (including major carriers globally) and a hugely expanding base platform.

On the last point: Forty-four percent of US cellular subscribers have smartphones -- that's up 5 points in three months, says Nielsen. IDC predicts that global smartphone shipments will reach 1 billion units by 2015, which is larger than the current PC install base and about three times annual shipments. Good for Microsoft: That's a big pie. The bad news, at least in the United States: Androids and iPhone already have 71 percent subscriber share.

2. Windows Phone 7 doesn't have enough developer momentum. But it's better, with something like 40,000 applications available. No platform succeeds without apps. WP7 doesn't need numbers just more of the right apps.

3. Android adoption -- by manufacturers and mobile users -- is too great. You need look no further than Verizon here in the United States. The nation's largest carrier is pushing 4G LTE like the Mayan predictions are right and the world ends four days before Christmas next year. "Get real 4G before it's too late!" Verizon sells eight LTE phones, all running Android, and forthcoming Galaxy Nexus will make nine.

4. Microsoft doesn't have an end-to-end software plus hardware plus services platform. Stated differently there's no Windows Phone. But Microsoft could come close with Nokia, which has made Windows Phone its primary operating system. The first Nokia WP smartphones are shipping in major markets other than the United States. Nokia could save Windows Phone, if you believe IDC, which predicts about 20 percent market share by 2015 -- but Android more than twice that.

5. Windows Phone doesn't have global reach. While Nokia is beginning to broaden availability, WP is a long way from being available in as many geographies and from as many carriers as Androids and iPhone.

Sadly, these are pretty much the same reasons as I stated 21 months ago, just condensed from the originals. Sometimes, I really hate being right.

Still, there could be a Christmas miracle in Windows Phone's future, if you buy a handset. Will you?

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox