Launch Windows apps along the Radian
Radian is an app launcher to replace the Start menu that operates in quite a unique way. Rather than relying on a the usual system of menus and sub-menus, this launcher takes the form of a segmented circle whose sections can be customised to house shortcuts to the programs and documents you use most frequently.
Just like the Start menu, Radian can be accessed from any app, and it can be called up using either the mouse or keyboard shortcuts. The segmented circle is divided into four main sections -- upper, lower, left and right, and these different sections can be used to keep different types of shortcuts grouped together.
Symantec finds targeted cyber attacks skyrocket 93% in 2010
Antivirus software maker Symantec said Tuesday that attacks increased some 93 percent from 2009 to 2010, with a staggering 286 million new threats reported last year alone. An increase in the number of attacks on enterprise systems was noted, as well as the use of social networks as an attack vector.
The firm also noted that there was an increase in attacks using vulnerabilities within the Java framework, as well as the beginning of a shift towards exploits aimed at mobile devices. While many of these attacks come in the form of malicious apps aimed at stealing personal information, Symantec said attackers were beginning to find and exploit security vulnerabilities.
Texas Instruments is 'King of Analog' with National Semiconductor acquisition
Texas Instruments Monday announced it will be acquiring National Semiconductor in an all-cash transaction totaling about $6.5 billion.
National, once called "The King of Analog" has faced declining sales for four years, and had to significantly scale back its production during the recent recession, which meant closing down chipmaking facilities in both China and the United States, and shifting production to its three remaining plants.
'Apple's lead will be very difficult to beat'
Today, Gartner piped in on the fierce debate about media tablet platforms, by giving huge nod to Apple. Uh-oh, so much for Android 3.0 "Honeycomb." The message is intended for CIOs, whom the analyst firm also encouraged to begin supporting media tablets now.
"Fundamentally, the market battle will not hinge on features and specifications; on the fit and finish of a given device; or even on a device at all," David Willis, Gartner research director, says in a statement. "The platform that will prevail will have a strong supporting ecosystem of developers producing a wide range of applications. And in this area, Apple is far ahead of any competition."
Can you give up Google?
I'm going to try. Would you like to join me?
Google has come under increased scrutiny for being a monopolist -- heck, I've lobbed accusations, too. In December, the European Commission opened an "antitrust investigation into allegations that Google Inc. has abused a dominant position in online search." Google sure seems to offer lots of necessary services that businesses or consumers seemingly can't do without. Or can they?
Net neutrality challenges by Verizon, MetroPCS dismissed on technicality
Lawsuits filed against the Federal Communications Commission by both Verizon and MetroPCS earlier this year over its new net neutrality rules were dismissed by an appeals court on Monday. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the lawsuits had been filed too early.
Both wireless companies seemingly had hoped to make the issue about protection of rights to its respective spectrum holdings, but judges appeared to lean on rules surrounding how FCC regulations can be challenged. Legal action can only be filed in the 30 days following the publishing of the policies in the Federal Register.
Windows 8 builds show new welcome screen, Ribbon UI in Explorer
Microsoft's ribbon interface was considered a pretty drastic change when it debuted as part of Office 2007 five years ago. Its inclusion helped to bring more of the program's features into the forefront however, many of which users apparently didn't even know existed.
This same concept is about to make it into the Windows 8 Explorer interface, according to pre-beta builds seen by Windows bloggers Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera. The ribbon appears set to become a Windows UI staple if Microsoft decides to move forward.
Make your DesktopOK
You can back up just about every aspect of your computing life, but what about the positioning and layout of your desktop icons? If you have everything neatly laid out exactly the way you want, it can be frustrating finding that the layout has changed. This typically occurs when temporarily lowering the desktop resolution (such as when entering Safe mode).
If this behaviour irks you, or you want to be able to switch between different layouts (perhaps you share your computer with a friend who has a nasty habit of moving desktops around the screen), then the answer to your problem lies with a handy little freeware tool called DesktopOK.
AT&T makes you pay even more for iPhone
The rumors are true. AT&T has raised iPhone prices by 50 bucks for people who don't yet qualify for subsidized pricing. It's foreshadowing. Just wait until AT&T gets its grubby, greedy hands on T-Mobile subscribers. Can you say "price hikes" post merger?
OK, so the news really is much worse. The price increases apply to other smartphones, too. But I specifically checked on iPhone using my AT&T Wireless account manager this morning. Sure enough, the 32GB iPhone 4 is now $549, up from $499, for example. There's also $150-more pricing when opting for one-year contracts on some smartphones.
Google puts $900M bid on Canada's 'national treasure' Nortel patents
Bankrupt Canadian telecommunications company Nortel Networks Corp. has selected Google as the stalking horse bidder in the auction for the company's vast and highly valuable patent portfolio.
Nortel first went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2009 and has been selling off its assets since that time. In 2009, the company sold off its Enterprise Solutions Business and shares of Nortel Government Solutions and DiamondWare to Avaya for $900 million; and its CDMA and LTE Access businesses went to Ericsson for $1.13 billion.
There's a new sheriff at Google
Today Google cofounder Larry Page officially resumes the role of chief executive, a position he abdicated to Eric Schmidt 10 years ago. The elder technologist will remain as chairman, in part as Google's ambassador and as grandaddy to Page and other cofounder Sergey Brin. The question: What next for Google?
It's a question I've been asking during the transition phase, which started with the January 20th announcement. Something certainly is different at Google. Two recent Android pullbacks are evidence of that, and I can't help but wonder how much they reflect Page's influence, because of timing.
Can Android be stopped?
It's the question I'm asking after reviewing ComScore's most recent mobile market share data. One in three American smartphone users have Android -- that was at the end of February. It's April now, so the numbers are surely higher, based on the three-month trend. Holy Moly.
Two months ago, ComScore disclosed data for the three months ending in December. For that period, Android market share rose 7.3 points; 7 points during the more recent three-month period. Since the end of September, then, Android market share rose from 21.4 percent to 33 percent. To be clear: This is actual subscriber share, meaning the install base of U.S. cellular users, not units shipped over three months.
ACDSeePro4: Pro photo-editing and premium pricing
ACDSee Systems has released ACDSee Pro 4, a comprehensive graphics package that can help you import, manage, view, fix, edit and share your digital photos.
New features this time around include improved metadata handling. A separate metadata panel makes it easy to edit IPTC metadata for individual images, or an entire batch, and you can even save frequently used metadata as presets, then apply them to a group of images in a single operation.
Simplify Windows searches with Listray 3
There comes a time when we all forget where we have stored a particular files, or need to track down a series of files that have a particular name. Windows' own search tool is useful to a certain extent, but it can also be somewhat slow and limited. This is where the free Listary can help, making it possible to perform searches in Explorer windows as well as Open and Save dialogs.
As the program is always running in the background, there is not need to remember to launch it -- it is always there for whenever you might need it. The tool can be called up using a keyboard shortcut and you can then start typing your search terms. Real-time results and autocomplete mean that it often takes little more than a few letters to find what you are looking for.
Countless thousands exposed in attack on e-mail marketing company
On Friday, email marketing and solutions company Epsilon announced its system had been hacked on March 30, and the email addresses and customer names of "a subset of Epsilon clients" were exposed. The company handles the permission-based email marketing campaigns of more than 2,500 major corporations and the list of companies involved in the breach continued to grow over the weekend.
TiVo, for example, sent a message to its subscribers on Sunday warning that the first names and email addresses of customers who opted into email updates have been exposed.
© 1998-2026 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.