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Bing and Facebook up in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 9:32pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

Way back in 2007, Microsoft purchased a fraction of Facebook. The social network returned the favor in February by buying Atlas. The two tech goliaths are still smitten with one another, and today we learn that Microsoft search engine Bing gets closer to your friends.

Now the search engine is integrating Facebook comments directly into the sidebar that appears to the right side of search results. "Starting today, you will see comments on a relevant Facebook post within sidebar, as well as the ability add your own, all without having to leave Bing. You can also Like a post directly from Bing. Now you can see what your friends might know about what you’re searching for and engage with them directly without leaving the search page", Nektarios Ioannides, program manager for Bing, explains.

What does this mean? Say you are searching for an artist's ticket information. If your friend has posted this data in a Facebook post or comment, it will now be visible within those search results. "I comment directly to her post letting her know that I’d love to join her for the concert. I’ve gone from simply browsing to attending a concert in just a few easy steps – all thanks to Bing", Ioannides says.

To make this work for yourself, simply go to www.bing.com and in the top, right corner of the page connect your Facebook account to Bing. Microsoft promises to honor your account security settings, at least until the next security vulnerability is discovered.

Photo Credit: DL Pohl/Shutterstock
Financial Times comes to Flipboard [Q&A]

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 9:13pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

May 9 was a big day for Flipboard. The personal news app launched a new version on Android, bringing feature parity with iOS, and the Financial Times debuted as a content provider. FT is unique among magazine news publications, by making people pay. Free rides are short lived; the newspaper lets registered users view a limited number of stories per month. More than that, requires a subscription.

Many people look at Flipboard as a pretty news aggregator -- a smorgasbord of valuable content served up for free; eat as much as you like. Financial Times brings the pay model with it. You still need a FT account. Registered users are limited to blogs and video, while subscribers get access to everything. I wonder if personal paper apps like Flipboard aren't the future news, with some -- even more -- content behind the paywall.

Charl Porter, group product manager, graciously took time to answer questions about the Financial Times' business model and how Flipboard fits into the overall strategy. Remember, FT is among the rare publications for which people pay.

BN: As a journalist, I am rather mortified by what the Google economy does to news. Free content supported by advertising, particularly when there is too much ad space to fill, isn't tenable. How is it Financial Times succeeds by making people pay?

CP: The FT's business is based on dual revenue streams (content and advertising), and more people than ever in our 125-year history are readers and subscribers of FT content.

We provide premium and essential news, commentary and analysis to an audience of over 600,000 paid subscribers (print and digital), who believe that FT content is worth paying for. Our successful channel-neutral strategy offers readers flexibility in how they choose to receive our content, and at its core is the metered access model we pioneered in 2007. Thanks to our digital access model, we now have deep knowledge of our audience and can apply data analytics for smarter marketing.

BN: Why Flipboard?

CP: We recognized early on that the continued success of our business depends on our ability to adapt to changing reader habits, and launching on a leading mobile app like Flipboard is a natural development for the Financial Times.

Mobile continues to drive growth and now accounts for a third of all FT.com page views, driving 15 percent of digital subscriptions.

Social media has changed the way people interact with brands, consume content and connect with each other. This is particularly true of the media industry and the way consumers discover and share news. At the FT, this deeper engagement with our audiences helps drive growth, and in 2012 the volume of visits to FT.com driven by social media grew by 35 percent.

BN: Why Flipboard now -- and not sooner?

CP: We have been in discussions with Fliboard for a couple of years now to make sure that our proposition would work for both parties and across platforms, given we want to offer readers a multi-channel subscription with a single login. This launch has combined the FT’s award-winning journalism with a personalized reading experience on Flipboard. It also strengthens our presence on Android.

BN: How do you see apps like Flipboard, or even Google Currents, changing how people consume news?

CP: I see it as an opportunity for publishers like the FT to engage readers across multiple channels and devices. Our partnership with Flipboard allows reader to consume FT content in a new format using the same login as they would on FT.com or the FT web app. It’s a great way to get our brand out there without compromising our business model. We are still able to retain a direct relationship with our readers, which is key to our strategy.

BN: To be honest, I used to be a Financial Times subscriber but the Android tablet app just couldn’t satisfy. How would you compare the Flipboard experience?

CP: Flipboard provides an engaging leanback experience, and the app has successfully replicated the 'browsability' of a magazine. Our partnership with Flipboard does extend our presence on Android but we are working on enhancing the overall FT experience on Android. Our award-winning HTML5 FT web app now has more than 3.8 million users and was recently redesigned. The app is currently available on iOS now cleaner and easier to use, with more personalization and a choice of a static morning edition or a dynamically updating version.

BN: Flipboard lets users create custom magazines, of sorts. How does Financial Times sees this, and other mechanisms like it, fitting into broader editorial content and revenue-generating strategies?

CP: The social aspect of Flipboard’s custom magazines is exciting and we hope to play a part in that by allowing readers to use FT content within custom magazines while also experimenting with FT branded magazines.

We also have a dedicated iPad app for our award-winning How To Spend It magazine, which aesthetically matches its printed counterpart whilst offering the dynamism and immediacy of the web. The revenue on our HTSI platforms (tablet and desktop) more than doubled year on year.
Best Windows 8 apps this week

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 7:02pm CEST par Martin Brinkmann

Twenty-eighth in a series. Several popular apps received updates this week. A new version of the ESPN app was uploaded to the store adding tennis coverage to it and fixing a couple of bugs related to the live scoring tile feature and the display of select sports when they are snapped on to the side of the screen.

Toolbox, an app offering access to custom tools that you can display next to each other on the screen received its first commercial in-app upgrade. Users can add a Twitter client to the app for a one-time payment of $4.99.

The overall app growth increased this week crossing the important 2,000 new apps per week mark. The total number of apps in the U.S. Windows Store is 48,517, up 2,374 apps over last week.

Free apps increased by 1,627 to 37,791 and paid ones by 747 to 10,726 crossing the 10,000 paid apps mark. This is the largest paid apps increase by far in the last ten weeks.

App of the Week

The Harvest ($6.99)

The Harvest, originally created for Windows Phone 7 by Microsoft Studios, has been ported to Windows 8. The game, which is currently not available as a trial version, is is an action game with roleplaying elements that you can play alone or in multiplayer with friends.

The game is entirely controlled with the mouse. You click anywhere on the map to move your character to that position and attack enemies if you click on them.

You can select one out of five different characters at the beginning of the game, which act surprisingly different from each other. From agile but fragile characters to a tank like character that can shrug off most attacks easily.

The game walks you through the controls in a tutorial before you are on your own. Your character gains experience and levels which you can invest in the attributes strength, endurance and agility.

You may also find items throughout the levels which you can equip your character with.

The game is rather slow paced for an action game, which makes for a more relaxed experience but may disappoint gamers expecting a Diablo 3 like game pace.

Still, it is one of the few games that is only available for Windows 8 and not for iOS or Android operating systems. If you are looking for an entertaining game that you can play alone or with friends, then check this one out, it is well worth the money.

Other Apps

World News! Lite

The free version of the World News! application provides you with access to the news sections of 14 newspapers or news channels. Included here are the BBC, Fox News, New York Times, Washington Post and NBC.

All channels are listed on the left and it is up to you to select one of them to get started. The next thing you need to do is right-click and select Sync from the appearing bottom toolbar to retrieve the latest news. A click on an article here opens it in full on the right side.

A click on RSS Links in the bottom toolbar displays a list of news sections that you are subscribed to. Here you can remove those that you are not interested in to filter them out during synchronization.

The ads in the free version are displayed in the middle of the screen and only hidden when an article is displayed. The commercial ad-free version is available for $2.99 in Windows Store as well.

PixAnimator

The app adds animation to photos that you select. Just pick one of the available free animations from the apps' start page. You can preview it on the next screen and browse through all other animations as well.

Once you have selected a photo from your local drive, it is time to combine the animation with the photo. A small area of the animation is always transparent, and it is here that you add your photo to. This usually means that only part of your photo is shown here though and the only options that you have to modify that are the zoom-out and zoom-in tools.

The app processes the animation and displays it to you afterwards. You can save it as an mp4 file to your local hard drive in the end or start over to adjust it.

Tournaphrase

This is a game of hangman that you can play to compete with other players over the Internet. The app may display your real name on the leaderboard so keep that in mind before you start to play it.

Hangman puzzles are displayed to you that you need to solve in a certain amount of time. Use the clue and letters that are already displayed to fill the blanks. You lose a life if you pick a letter that is not in the phrase and if you are out of them you are automatically taken to the next puzzle provided that you still have time left.

It is a neat little game that may be difficult to play for non-native speakers.

Dungeon Stalker 2

While you should not expect this to be a Legend of Grimrock copy for Windows 8, it highlights the potential of the platform. Dungeon Stalker 2 is a first person action game that plays in a medieval setting.

You move your character around with the mouse and keyboard, or if you have access to a touchscreen, using touch controls. Animations are choppy though, especially when you look around.

What's more problematic than that are the ads that are displayed in the top right corner of the screen. Not only are they animated as well, they also refresh quite often and break the whole gaming experience in a big way.

If you can look past that, you get an action game that shows lots of promise. You can level your character up, find better weapons and inventory and explore the world in the process.

Night Stand HD 2

The application displays the current time, day, month and weather conditions to you. It supports four different themes that you can switch between to change the look and feel of the clock.

Alarms can be configured with a right-click and the selection of the option in the toolbar that opens up. Here you can set one-time alarms or alarms that repeat regularly.

Batch Music Converter

You can use the application to convert music files that may not be supported by Windows out of the box, say Flac or OGG, into formats that are supported.

The free version is limited to 100 conversions per run. You need to point it to a folder containing music files to get started. Select an output folder, desired audio format afterwards and hit the convert button to start the conversion.

I recommend you uncheck the "convert only when the original file is not compatible with Windows" option as it may block some conversions otherwise.

Bitcoin Miner

Bitcoin mining may not be profitable right now, at least not for individuals who run the mining client on their home PC. Still, if you want to give it a try, you can now do so under Windows RT and Windows 8.

Select one of the available mining pools and enter your worker name to get started. Once signed in, it displays information about the performance of your system right on its screen.

Star Trek App

The official Star Trek app for Windows 8 keeps you information about all things Start Trek. One would think that it has been designed to promote the new Star Trek movie but that is only partially true. While it certainly offers information about the movie, it also provides you with information about the TV shows and previous movies.

You can take missions in the app to earn points. These points increase your rank, starting from a cadet of the space academy to captain and beyond.
Meet Nokia Lumia 928 Windows Phone

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 6:19pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

On Friday, Nokia ended days of teases, officially taking the wraps off the Lumia 928 Windows Phone 8 smartphone. The handset, which will be available exclusively at US mobile operator Verizon, showcases a departure in design from current flagship, Lumia 920, while delivering similar hardware and software specifications.

The Lumia 928 packs a 4.5-inch OLED display with a resolution of 768 by 1280 and 334 pixels per inch, protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass. The screen can be operated using gloves or long fingernails (women should love this). Power comes from a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 2000 mAh battery. The 32 GB internal storage is non-expandable.

The smartphone features a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera capable of 720p video recording. On the back there is an 8.7 MP PureView shooter with Carl Zeiss Tessar f/2.0 lens, 1.4 sensor, OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) that is capable of 1080p video recording. The Lumia 928 uses a Xenon flash to take still photos and an LED flash for videos.

Nokia says that users will experience "high-amplitude audio capture" while shooting videos thanks to three built-in microphones, which can "record sound naturally and distortion-free, up to 140db". The company also touts a better speaker, which is located on the back of the device and delivers sound at "one to two Decibels higher than anything else out there" -- so Nokia claims. That should please those listening to music using the built-in speaker in public, while annoying passersby.

Just like Lumia 920, the Lumia 928 ships with built-in Qi wireless charging support and works with Nokia's current accessories for the job, like the Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy (basically a wireless charging plate with a nicely designed fabric cover on top) and the JBL PlayUP speakers (which feature wireless charging support).

In the connectivity department the smartphone delivers support for 4G LTE networks; Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR; microUSB 2.0; A-GPS with Glonass support; NFC (Near Field Communication) and the usual array of sensors including accelerometer, magnetometer and ambient light sensor, among others.

In the software department, Lumia 928 provides access to Nokia's exclusive app collection for Windows Phone 8, which includes the complete HERE suite (HERE City Lens, HERE Drive+ Beta, HERE Maps and HERE Transit), Nokia Music, Nokia Express, Burton and MICHELIN Travel, among others.

The Lumia 928 measures 5.24 x 2.71 x 0.44 inches and weighs 5.7 ounces (133 x 68.8 x 11.1 mm and 161.59 grams), which means that it is taller, narrower, thicker and lighter than the 920 (130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7 mm and 185 grams). The Lumia 928 still has a generous footprint compared to its older brother.

The Lumia 928 arrives in black or white, starting May 16, on Verizon's online and brick-and-mortar stores. On a two-year contract, the smartphone runs for $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. Early adopters, however, "for a limited time", will receive a $25 credit that can be used to purchase Windows Phone apps and games.
Adobe security failure of the DAY: 160K SSNs exposed

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 5:58pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

Yesterday I wrote about Adobe's latest security nightmare, this time involving web development environment ColdFusion. I also stressed that while aware of the problem, the company didn't plan a fix until May 14, during its next monthly patch release. For the Washington state court, this is not soon enough.

A ColdFusion vulnerability exposed 160,000 Social Security numbers and the driver’s license numbers and names of a million people. Before hitting the panic button, realize that if you have had no legal issues then you are likely safe.

Social security numbers of those booked into a city or county jail in the state of Washington between September 2011 and December 2012 are compromised. Likewise are the drivers license numbers of anyone who received a DUI citation in Washington State between 1989 and 2011, had a traffic case in Washington State filed or resolved in a district or municipal court between 2011 and 2012 or had a superior court criminal case in Washington State filed against them or resolved between 2011 and 2012.

The court discovered the breaches in late February, but waited to issue a statement, warning those who may have compromised information:

Once the breach was discovered, AOC took immediate action to further secure the environment and begin investigation and analysis into the depth and severity of the breach. In addition, AOC collaborated with the Washington State Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) and the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) for internet security, who provided valuable information in determining the scope of this security breach. MS-ISAC is a focal point for cyber threat prevention, protection, response and recovery for the nation's state, local, territorial and tribal governments. The MS-ISAC 24x7 cyber security operations center provides real-time network monitoring, early cyber threat warnings and advisories, vulnerability identification, and mitigation and incident response.

The court stresses that no financial data was obtained and that it has "implemented significant security enhancements to ensure that our systems and data are secure and to prevent the potential for future compromise".

As for Adobe? The company will get around to fixing this latest problem next week, along with the PDF flaw that is being utilized in the wild to compromise your Reader app -- the one you should not be using.

Photo Credit: OleGunnarUA/Shutterstock
Samsung Galaxy S4 32GB arrives at AT&T

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 5:25pm CEST par Joe Wilcox
Today, another Galaxy S4 variant goes on sale at AT&T -- 32GB and yours for $249.99 with two-year contract. Buyers looking for commitment-freedom pay $669.99. The S4 joins HTC One as hottest smartphone of the season. Both pack gorgeous 1080p displays. The One is my choice for design; other benefits include booming front-facing speakers and low-light photography. Samsung packs in larger screen and loads more software capabilities.

For the US carrier selling more iPhones than any other, AT&T makes Galaxy S4 quite the priority, jumping ahead of competitors selling the 16GB model and carrying its larger-capacity cousin. Preorders started April 16, with the 16GB phone in stores two weeks later.

Samsung launched the S4 during a New York gala on March 14. The phone is actually a tad smaller than its predecessor but packs in larger display (5 inches). The South Korean manufacturer focuses more on software innovations than hardware for the newer handset.

Among them:
- Air Gesture lets users wave over the phone to manipulate some controls, such as choosing music or scrolling web pages. Related: Air Wave allows people to hover their fingers to manipulate the screen.
- Dual Video Call permits use of both cameras simultaneously so that the caller on the other end can see other people, say, at a party.
- Eraser removes unwanted objects (or people) from photos. Who hasn't wanted to do that?
- Group Play lets S4 users share documents, music, games and more, even combining up to eight handsets to create a speaker system (using Share Music).
- S Health tracks some personal biological functions, such as calorie burn, heart rate and pulse and pulls them together into a mini report.
- S Translate is quite futuristic. Think Star Trek's universal translator. The feature can translate 9 languages, including speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities. While the service needs a network connection for optimal use, there is basic vocabulary on device for basic translation.
- S Voice Car is a voice-activated system for using Galaxy S IV hands-free.
Galaxy S4 specs: 5-inch Super AMOLED with 1920 x 1080 resolution and 441 pixels per inch; 1.9GHz quad-core processor; 2GB of RAM; 16GB, 32GB storage (expandable up to 64GB with microSD card); 13-megapixel auto-focus rear-facing and 2MP front-facing cameras; 1080p video recording; 4G: LTE; WiFi N/AC; GPS + GLONASS; NFC; Bluetooth 4; IR LED; MHL 2; accelerometer; barometer; gyroscope; geomagnetic, gesture, proximity, RGB light and temperature & humidity sensors; 2600 mAh removable battery; and Android 4.2.2 with TouchWiz UI. Measures 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm and weighs 130 grams. AT&T's prices: $199.99 (16GB) and $249.99 (32GB).

Personally, I debated between the S4 and HTC One, and bought the latter. Storage is 32GB and 64GB, $199.99 for the small capacity or $299.99 for the larger. AT&T currently offers a trade-promotion on both handsets -- $100. Unless you have a clunker feature phone, try Craigslist first. You likely can sell an older phone for more than what the carrier offers.

Many of you are really interested in Galaxy S4. More than 3,000 people responded to our buying poll. Fifty-three percent planned to preorder or buy "as soon as available". Only 15 percent answered "No".

Of course, buying polls merely express intentions. What people say they will do isn't often what they do. If you're one of the people answering affirmatively to buying right away, please tell us if you actually did and which model. If so, how do you like the S4?
LinkedIn and Twitter apps come with new features on BlackBerry 10

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 4:51pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Late yesterday, Canadian manufacturer BlackBerry announced yet another range of updates for the LinkedIn and Twitter apps on BlackBerry 10. The latest iterations are designed to bring the social networking apps on par with their Android, iOS and Windows Phone counterparts and, according to BlackBerry, to "make it easier than ever to stay connected and do more with your social and professional contacts, while on the go".

Twitter is on its third noteworthy update in the past couple of months -- the first one arrived in early-March while the second released weeks later. The latest iteration sports two major improvements, the first of which is the ability to display more content while searching. Users can view photos, relevant profiles and searches as well as tweets and top tweets on the same page.

The second improvement is less important by comparison. Twitter users on BlackBery 10 can now take advantage of automatic caching, which is designed to deliver the latest updates from the feed without manually refreshing it. This feature is already available on other platforms such as Windows Phone.

By contrast, the LinkedIn app is on its second major update in the last two months, with the previous one arriving in early-March alongside Twitter. There are a couple of notable new features introduced in the latest iteration.

The first one is the ability to import address book information from BlackBerry 10 to LinkedIn, which allows users to discover their existing contacts on the business-oriented social network.

LinkedIn users on BlackBerry 10 can view more information about companies, such as their description, available job listings, news and updates, similar companies as well as connection details.

The LinkedIn app on BlackBerry 10 now sports a number of UI related changes that BlackBerry says includes "improved visual styling, better pull-down functionalities for refreshes, touch-down feedback on clicking list items, and more" and "inbox enhancements, deleting and archiving messages, people search improvements, and the ability to update your profile photo from within the app".

LinkedIn 10.0.3/10.1.3 and Twitter 10.0.3/10.1.3 are available to download from BlackBerry World.
Vikings invade Britain, again

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 4:10pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

Vikings is proving to be a hot TV show this season, since March 3rd premiere on the History channel. It has finished its nine episode season one run, but remains in demand. Now Amazon, through its LOVEFiLM service brings the famed barbarians back to jolly old England, where the Vikings landed near the end of the eighth century.

The drama portrays the world of these Dark Age raiders, traders and explorers -- not from an outsider's view, but, through the eyes of Viking society.

This time around residents have nothing to fear and folks in Germany will also be able meet Ragnar and his crew. "From May 24th, 2013, members of LOVEFiLM Instant in the UK will be able to feast on all nine episodes of the Norse action-drama at once in full high-definition" Amazon announces.

Chris Bird, Director of Film Strategy at LOVEFiLM, also points out that this release is a milestone. "As the first time a TV series has arrived on LOVEFiLM Instant before airing on traditional broadcasting platforms, this is an incredibly exciting landmark in our history", Bird says.

Residents of the United Kingdom and Germany can access LOVEFiLM Instant on PC, Mac or via Nintendo Wii and Wii U, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire, Apple iPad and a growing number of Internet-connected TV sets and Blu-ray players. Prices for content vary, but begin at £4.99.
Nokia releases Play To DLNA app for Windows Phone 8

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 3:52pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

On Friday, Finnish handset maker Nokia announced that the Play To app for Windows Phone 8 made the grade from experimental to stable version and is now publicly available to download from the Store. Previously, the DLNA app could only be installed through Nokia' Beta Labs.

According to the company, Play To brings DLNA to all of Nokia's Windows Phone 8 handsets available today like Lumia 920, 720 and 520, among others. Compared to the experimental version that I detailed little over two weeks ago, the stable Play To app ships with a number of bug fixes but without any new features onboard.

What Can It Do?

Play To can be used to share different types of multimedia content, including music, pictures and videos from a Lumia Windows Phone 8 smartphone, via Wi-Fi, to a DLNA-compatible device such as Microsoft's Xbox gaming console on certain TVs.

Nokia says that, at least at the moment, the app does not support the Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console, the "Denon AVR and some other music receivers". Judging by the comments from the app's Store reviews, it doesn't seem to work even with Microsoft's or Nokia's homebrew apps.

Mixed Feedback

Reviewer Henry, who gives the app a two-star rating, says: "Useless until it supports Xbox music or Nokia music. Two stars for effort". Another user, Timothy, says that Play To is more constrictive: "Doesn't work with most of my media", although the reviewer gave the app a three-star rating.

Others appear to enjoy the app. Anthony says: "Super easy setup. Works on my Dish Hopper. It found it right away, connected and started playing videos, pics". "A little buggy but my God this awesome. Please keep developing and improving this!", says another reviewer.

Nokia encourages users to continue to provide feedback via a Beta Labs forum for Play To. Within the last 24 hours, a large part of the topics created by users are related to compatibility issues with various devices.

"However, we want to be open and frank in the communication and some issues are such that we haven’t been able to fix in the application side and will require a future firmware update", Nokia says.

Download

Play To is available to download from the Windows Phone Store. The app only supports Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices.
Quickly turn JPGs into PDFs

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 9:45am CEST par Mike Williams

When you need to distribute a particular set of images – or perhaps reconstruct some scanned pages into a digital version of the original document – then being able to combine those JPGs into a single PDF can be very useful. There are commercial tools which will handle this for you, but if your needs are simple then there’s no need to spend big money; the free (for personal use) JPGasPDF could provide everything you need.

The program is compact (a single 572KB executable), with a basic straightforward interface. If you’re in a hurry you could just click the Add button to select your images, the Create button to save the finished PDF, and, well, that’s it -- your document will be saved right away.

JPGasPDF does have one or two tiny extras, though, which help to make the program more interesting. So if your imported images are in the wrong order, for instance, that’s no problem – you can drag and drop to rearrange them.

Better still, you can save image lists and reload them later. This means that you could create a basic document template -- a collection of images which you’d like to open and close your PDF, say -- and then add other JPGs somewhere in between.

And the program even previews each image as you click on it. The preview pane is ridiculously small, unfortunately -- around 80×60 pixels -- and so almost entirely useless for text-based pages, but if your images have distinct graphics then there’s a faint chance you might recognize something.

JPGasPDF has some room for improvement. We’d like to see it able to import images via drag and drop, for instance – right now you can only do this via the Add button.

And the program really needs a better way to let you view the contents of an individual image, even if it’s only double-clicking the file to open it in the default JPG handler (this seems the simplest option, as currently there’s no double-click action at all).

Otherwise, though, JPGasPDF does its work very well, and is also compact, easy to use, with no adware or other marketing hassles at all. If you don’t currently have anything similar then we’d grab a copy immediately.

Photo Credit: Lilya/Shutterstock
Acronis True Image Lite 2013 for local and cloud backup

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 9:11am CEST par Nick Peers

Acronis International has added a new, cut-down backup tool to its roster with the release of True Image Lite 2013 by Acronis. Roughly six months after debuting the beta version, True Image Lite 2013 gets a final release, providing users with a simple tool for protecting specified folders through regular “non-stop” backups.

True Image Lite 2013 offers users two locations for backing up: a local storage device, such as external or network hard drive, and online through the Acronis Cloud, an optional add-on providing 250GB of internet storage for an additional outlay.

The software has been specifically targeted at novices, designed to make backing up documents and other key files as simple as possible: users simply select which folders they wish to back up, choose a backup destination and then leave the program to continuously update backups as files are added, changed and deleted.

By adopting an incremental approach to backing up, True Image Lite 2013 stores multiple versions of the same file, allowing users to roll back changes to earlier versions of a file or restore accidentally deleted files from the backup archive quickly and easily should the need arise.

Should users upgrade by adding the 250GB cloud storage option, they not only get additional peace of mind with having a backup stored in a remote location, but are also able to access their files from anywhere via a web browser or free mobile app for iOS and Android.

True Image Lite 2013 by Acronis is available now as a free trial download for PCs running Windows XP SP3 or later, and the full version is available in 1-PC and 3-PC licenses with MSRPs of $29.99 and $54.99 respectively. 250GB Cloud Storage is available as a bolt-on for $4.95 a month or $49.99 a year -- one month’s free trial is provided with the program itself.

Also available is True Image 2013 by Acronis, a more fully featured imaging and backup tool, which can be purchased for the bargain price of $24.99 from the Downloadcrew Software Store, a saving of 50 per cent on the MSRP.

Photo Credit: Balandina G/Shutterstock
Use Google Fonts offline

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 8:12am CEST par Mike Williams

Google Fonts is an excellent resource for web designers, with hundreds of top quality open source fonts freely available for anyone to use.

Now, though, you can also easily access and use the same fonts on the desktop, Windows or Mac, just by installing the SkyFonts client. The program requires you to first create a fonts.com account. But with that out the way, SkyFonts adds an icon to your system tray and is ready for use.

When you need a new font, right-click the SkyFonts icon, select Choose Fonts > Google Fonts, and a webpage will open at the fonts.com site. Click “Browse Google Fonts”, use the browser to find a font you need, click SkyFonts > Add, and it’ll immediately be downloaded and installed.

The program can also synchronize your fonts with other devices, as well as automatically detecting and downloading any font updates.

And if you need to track what you’ve done, then right-click the SkyFonts icon and click Font Activity for a list of installed fonts.

While this all works very well, the interface is a little uncomfortable, particularly with the need to switch between the SkyFonts client and its web interface.

The client feels a little underpowered, too -- it can’t display a preview of any font, and we couldn’t see an integrated way to remove our chosen fonts -- yet it still grabbed more than 50MB RAM when running in the background on our test PC.

Still, if you’re looking for a simple way to find and install new fonts, particularly if you want to synchronise them across several systems, then SkyFonts could prove very useful. Check it out.

Photo Credit: Hitdelight/Shutterstock
About those Windows 8 ads...

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 6:57am CEST par Robert Johnson

There’s more than one way to advertise a product and while I am a big fan of the approach that specifically focuses on features, I understand there is a need for other approaches. Sometimes you just need to go for the pure emotional response. In the case of the ads released by Microsoft today which focus on the Asian market that seems to be what they were going for. Take a look.

I’ve been a critic in the past of Microsoft’s approach to advertising its various products. I’ve always felt they never did enough advertising and didn’t advertise at the right time (popular prime-time TV shows or big sports events) but that has changed. I’ve seen Surface, Bing, Windows Phone, Windows 8 and Outlook.com commercials during primetime, during the NBA playoffs, and even at random times on random networks on cable TV. Microsoft has definitely increased the frequency of its advertising.

However, I still have one problem. I’d still like to see more focus specifically on features of these products that make them better than the competition. Take the Surface commercials, for example. I absolutely love the way they first introduced us to the product: remember the commercial with the dancing school girls? Loved it. And now they are running a slightly different twist on that with dancing business users to introduce the Surface Pro. Almost six months on the market and all we know about the Surface is that it clicks -- and you can dance with it.

I think the general public is well aware that the Surface exists and if these commercials are primarily aimed to introduce us to it, then I believe they have so far succeeded. What we need now is not more dancers. What we need is to know why we should buy the Surface instead of an iPad. Tell us specifically in words why Surface is better.

The Amazon Example

This Amazon commercial may be one of my favorite iPad competitor commercials. In it, they focus on the displays between the two devices. They don’t say their display is better (because it isn’t from a technical perspective). Instead, they focus on the fact that the average person can’t tell the difference between retina and non-retina displays. Just as you’re about to say, “why would I buy a Kindle Fire?” they hit you with this:

See for yourself:

Why is the Fire better? Price alone is a major reason at $200 cheaper than an equivalent iPad. Amazon emphasizes the features that the general public can understand, screen and price.

Microsoft, It’s Time

Microsoft should step up and start advertising on features more. Windows Phone is doing this with the Smoked By commercials. They really should be running those around the clock in tandem with the new switcher ads. As Microsoft continues the transition into this new era of mobile, this becomes all the more important.

I heard a guy telling a story at work one day about how he used his Surface at a coffee shop and someone walked up to him and said, “Is that the tablet that clicks?” Incidents like this show that Microsoft is getting the word out. But people don’t quite know why the Surface is better. I had a conversation with a friend about Surface and why he should consider buying one, and his response was, “I already own a tablet to surf the Internet with”. When I told him why the Surface is not just a tablet, his perception completely changed.

This situation underscores the reality that people just aren’t aware what Surface actually is and how much more it is than just a tablet. If Microsoft can get this message out by focusing on features against competing devices like the iPad, people will continue to be confused. Even though Surface Pro is not even in the same computing category of an iPad, to the general user, it is.

Microsoft’s marketing is pretty good these days, but a slight change could result in a lot more sales of its mobile devices and really put it on the road towards dominating the next phase of mobile computing.
Better late than never -- Microsoft to fix Pwn2Own flaw

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 1:21am CEST par Alan Buckingham

Patch Tuesday approaches quickly. That time of the month when Microsoft deems it appropriate to fix the myriad security flaws that rear their ugly heads during the preceding time frame. As is custom, the company gives advance notice of what to expect, but no details regarding actual flaws -- a nod to not allowing (more) hackers to take advantage of the issues discovered.

May 14th is the next scheduled update of your Windows computer, and it will carry along 10 bulletins with it. A couple of these patch much publicized holes in Internet Explorer, one of which the company just released a "Fix it" tool designed to temporarily mend.

Another mends the highly publicized Pwn2Own flaw discovered and exploited at the CanSecWest conference back in March. For the record, Chrome and Firefox also went down in the competition.

The remaining critical patches will fix a denial of service hole within Windows, fix a spoofing issue in that as well as the .NET framework, patch a remote code execution bug in Lync, two remote code execution flaws and one information disclosure problem in Office, an information disclosure vulnerability in Windows Essentials, and an elevation of privilege defect in Windows. Take a deep breath now.

Microsoft also plans to host a webcast to address customer questions on the security bulletins on May 15, 2013, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time. While all of these updates are important -- critical one might say -- the fact it took this long to fix the pwn2own flaw is a bit troubling -- Chrome and Firefox did so within days of the competition.

Photo Credit: Kheng Guan Toh/Shutterstock
The YouTube free ride is OVER

Publié: mai 10, 2013, 1:12am CEST par Joe Wilcox

YouTube opened to the public in November 2005, and Google paid $1.6 billion for the service 11 months later. The video-sharing site is the quintessential freebee. No longer. Today Google announced the launch of the first pay-for channels, which is rather strange coming from the company which business model is about profiting from valuable content given away free wrapped with search keywords and advertising. Welcome to the new Internet, with paywalls rising everywhere. To play, you must pay.

In a statement Google says there are "1 million channels generating revenue on YouTube, and one of the most frequent requests we hear from these creators behind them is for more flexibility in monetizing and distributing content". That revenue largely comes from the in-video advertisements. Now you'll pay, too -- as little as 99 cents per month. Here's something: From the sampling I made today, subscription liberates you from advertising, which is something to cheer about.

Standard Definition

YouTube lists 53 paid channels, none of which I have ever watched. Some of the programs that might interest me are available elsewhere (e.g., Netflix). Google spotlights Sesame Street and UFC in its announcement, but the kids channel isn't available from the official list. The PBS program will stream full episodes; the other channel offers classic fights. UFC is $5.99 per month. Uh-oh, I only see 480p in my browser. What the frak?

British TV is a personal fav. Acorn offers a smidgen of shows for $4.99 per month. I wouldn't pay for the current selection, which includes some programs already available as part of my Netflix subscription. But that might change as the channel adds more shows. BigStar Movies is another channel, also $4.99 a month or $34.99 per year. Neither channel is HD in my browser test.

HereTV offers some HD content, and you pay to get it: $7.99/month, or $67.99 per year. Pets.TV is a more modest $1.99 monthly, but again no HD that I see, just 480p like the first two. The channel is also available with six others for $9.99/month. PrimeZone Sports isn't available in my country. Yours? SCREAMPIX delivers horror movies for $2.99 a month -- at least the price isn't too scary. I love the sections. Who wouldn't want to watch a flick from "Students Making Bad Decisions", eh? Sigh, more 480p.

Do you know how much quality, free HD content there is on YouTube?

Bad Formats

I tried to bring up the channels on Google TV, but couldn't easily find them, which means I didn't. All the pay-fors are available as 14-day trials. What the hell, I signed up for Acorn. That put the channel in my YouTube "Subscriptions" list on Google TV, but frak me, trying to watch brought up "playback error, unsupported video format". Oh, yeah? Hey, I still have Nexus Q hanging about, so I accessed YouTube on my HTC One and tried to watch any program. Oh my. Phone displayed "error while playing the video on Nexus Q", while on the telly I saw "unsupported video format".

Well, that kind of blows my real interest in the paid channels: Cutting the cord -- ditching AT&T U-verse (cable for most people). But right now YouTube won't play paid on my TV and chokes up 480p on yea ol Chromebook. The programs do look damn good on the Android phone using the YouTube app, though. Still, I'll use the 14-day Acorn trial to watch, if nothing else, three-part program "The Norman Conquests". The trial is worth your time just for that. Based on a play that during its theater run people watched for three nights, TV adaption of "The Norman Conquests" is a riot. I can't believe Acorn carries it (Netflix doesn't).

I want to be enthusiastic about YouTube pay channels, because they represent the model I want: A la carte, pay for what you want to watch. But no-HD and no-TV are deal breakers for me. Besides, I worry that some of the best content available for free now will go pay sometime soon. If there's too much competing paid a la carte content -- from services you never heard of before -- people won't pay because it's too much trouble managing all the subscriptions.

Fierce Debate

The whole concept generated lively and long debate in our newsroom late today.

"I'm reluctant actually", Mihaita Bamburic says. "YouTube is known for providing free to watch videos. This creates a mental dilemma for me, and likely I am not the only one". As newspapers and magazines have learned, charging for something once free isn't easy. YouTube is all about free content. Will people actually pay?

"But they will still offer the other stuff, same as always", Alan Buckingham says of YouTube. Mihaita stands by his contention about confusion. I agree there.

Still, "I assume this is great news for content creators", Mihaita asserts. "Definitely a shift on how we define pay per view content, usually associated with TV channels in my mind".

I told them both: "If content is better and can replace cable, sign me up. I'd rather give money directly to content providers I choose than those the cable company picks". But YouTube paid isn't there yet.