Showing 61 - 70 of 74
So where do smartphones go from here?
Life, James Hein, Published on 27/03/2013
» No, the upcoming release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 will not be the last of the smartphones but it does raise an interesting issue _ where do they go from here? At five inches the screen size is maxed out as far as being a comfortable handheld device and even at this size some people are already using the word Phablet to describe the cross between a phone and a tablet.
XP phases out as robots start to heal themselves
Life, James Hein, Published on 20/03/2013
» Any organisation still using Windows XP should write down this date: April 8, 2014. After this point there will be no updates, no security fixes and no support. Office 2003 users will be in the same boat. To put that in perspective is it estimated that about 40% of desktops still use XP with Windows 7 finally passing them at 44%. Of those 40%, many have not considered their upgrade path as yet and while the OS will continue to work for a long time it will become more and more vulnerable. Hackers love XP as it is so well known to them and is often used as a springboard into organisational systems.
Stupid is as stupid does
Life, James Hein, Published on 20/02/2013
» Microsoft, or at least someone there, is stupid. Let me explain why I think so. Windows 8 is their latest and greatest operating system. It is provided on just about every new PC sold, including on the ultrabook my parents recently purchased. They were going away on an archaeological training dig in Cambodia and about an hour before they left tried out a new 2TB Western Digital Passport external drive to be used as one of two for backing up data they were going to collect.
Children at risk of exposure to internet's dark side
Life, James Hein, Published on 13/02/2013
» It wasn't that long ago that you would ask a young teenager about computer stuff, but these days it's even younger. According to NSPCC, a charity organisation in the UK, children as young as five should be taught about safety online.
Household names that just can't keep a secret
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/02/2013
» So which companies do you trust? Every year for the past seven, independent research group the Ponemon Institute has published a report on the Most Trusted Companies for Privacy. This US-based survey asks 100,000 adults to rate the larger organisations out there. This year, AmEx, HP, Amazon and IBM made the top four. Microsoft and eBay also got into the top 20, but Apple and Google didn't _ for the first time in several years. The problem is that people these days no longer trust IT organisations, believing that they have precious little regard for users' privacy. In fact, the prevailing opinion is that these firms collect users' personal info and profit from it, either by using it themselves or by selling the data to others.
Fiddling with photos is now a lot more fun
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/01/2013
» This is definitely the age of the digital camera. What many people don't understand when they take digital snaps, however, is that the results can be a lot better with a bit of processing. In the old days the best way to do that was with Apple software and there are those who will maintain this view until they die. The PC started to come into its own about 20 years ago when Adobe released its first Windows version of Photoshop and about 10 years ago support started for RAW camera images. Then, in 2007, out came Lightroom, a product designed exclusively for the digital camera user.
Flexible electronics may bring sci-fi within reach
Life, James Hein, Published on 19/12/2012
» HP is still the biggest seller of PCs, but it's not much of a player in other computer markets such as the portable realm. In terms of total devices shipped, Samsung is now the market leader growing nearly 100% to take top spot with a solid 21.8% of the market. Apple is next on 15.1%. Lenovo is a surprising third at 7%, with HP now down to 4.6 from a previous 7.4%. HP doesn't have a smartphone and its tablet range is sparse so it makes it hard to compete in the smart-connected space. And things won't get much better since the pundits are expecting another 100% jump in smartphone and tablet sales, rising to an overall 70% share of the market. I'm not convinced, though, that tablet sales are going to increase all that much more in what may already be a saturated market; any new entrants will probably get in with the less expensive Chinese products.
A pattern of patent complaints
Life, James Hein, Published on 07/11/2012
» In what should come as no surprise to anyone, moments after Windows 8 was released someone claimed they put boring coloured squares on a screen first. The claimant is SurfCast and they say they did the equivalent of Live Tiles, what Microsoft is calling a coloured square you can click on or touch activate, first. Their patent from 2004 is for a "system and method for simultaneous display of multiple information sources". If for example you look up a screen shot of Xerox's Windows equivalent that appeared before Windows 1.0 you will see what looks a lot like a Windows 8 screen that was designed a long time before the year 2000.
Great e-book reader with built-in light
Life, James Hein, Published on 31/10/2012
» Well it has arrived, my new Paperwhite Kindle. It is small, light, and the text is clear. It is very easy to use with sensible touch areas. The built-in light is great for darker reading areas and the battery technology will allow me to keep it on the whole time and still get a long reading life from the unit. I bought the Wi-Fi version because that is all I need to access my Amazon account. This model does not have any extras like the ability to play music or audio books, so if you need this stick with the earlier models for the time being. For the person who wants to replace their book reading with an electronic device that can be used in the dark then this is perfect and exactly what I want.
Backtracking Apple allows ad tracking
Life, James Hein, Published on 24/10/2012
» So you have your new iPhone 5 and you love it; good for you! The first time you access iTunes you'll need to provide a payment gateway of some kind. Unlike with Android-based devices, you'll need to give Apple financial access in order to be able to get to the free stuff. My advice, especially if you have children, is to use a debit card with a low ceiling on spending, or something similar, so that when your children use your phone and inadvertently start paying for stuff, your liability will be kept within acceptable limits.