sincity

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/People/russinovich-teched-470-75.jpgWhen Microsoft and Docker first announced that the next version of Windows Server would support the increasingly popular containerisation technology, there wasn't a lot of technical detail about what it will take to make that work, with questions raised about how native Docker could really be. "The Docker engine for Windows Server will have effective feature parity with the Linux side," Docker vice president David Messsina told us. "There will be no difference in using a container, other than the OS inside the container. The APIs and everything else application developers need to rely on will be the same." But on Linux, the Docker engine (that runs the containers and is separate from the Docker client you use to manage them) uses kernel features like namespaces and C groups. Will Windows Server have that, along with a registry, service hosting and Access Control Lists for each container? "We'll do all that," Azure CTO Mark Russinovich confirmed to TechRadar Pro at TechEd Europe, "there wouldn't be much point if we didn't." The more interesting question is how this fits in with the Windows Server application model, and how it can take advantage of some types of virtualisation Microsoft has already put into its operating system for backwards compatibility. Different approachDocker containers take a very different approach from putting an entire OS and one or more applications in a virtual machine, and running that as a single system that might or might not communicate with other virtual machines across a virtual network. Docker is about building a workload up from microservices, with one service per container. "Those containers can be distributed," Messina explained, "there can be multiple copies of each of those services distributed across the environment." Docker is about splitting things up into containers and then plugging them together like Lego blocks to make the system you need. But how does that fit with Windows Server? "One of the key questions is how far we can take app compatibility with this," Russinovich pointed out. "When you look at the Windows app ecosystem it's very complex, and the applications are very complex in terms of their dependencies and the different services the server makes available to them. We're figuring out which services can be virtualised and which need to be virtualised so we can present that per container view of services. The easiest apps to handle are fully isolated, so they're not taking advantage of Windows Service Control Manager services." Each to their ownEach container is going to need its own Registry as well, so applications can write into it, but that's something that has been in Windows for several years, as part of the move to stop users having to log in as administrators to install desktop applications. "What we're doing there is more sophisticated but we're leveraging the file system virtualisation and registry virtualisation we've done, as well as network virtualisation." Getting the way services are virtualised right is the key to bringing Docker to Windows, Russinovich explained, and namespaces are part of making that work. "There are some things that are unique when it comes to these containers. The virtualisation you typically see on Windows is all one level, but the Docker model is stacked virtualisation." That means that one Docker image might be just a reference to another image, plus some extra code. "You start with a base image that's a virtual file system, then you layer on top another image with its own virtual file system and that composes on top [of the first image]. You can compose a number of these different layers together – that's the value of Docker packing format. "You pull down an image from the Docker hub and activate that container, then you can inject code, using say a package manager, and create another image from that. And that image I'm creating doesn't copy the base image – it just references it. "And then I can take that layer I just created and post it into the Docker hub… When somebody else pulls down that image, it has a reference to the base image – the Docker engine says 'this image from Mark that you're pulling down references Ubuntu's image and that's not already present on the host', so it goes and gets it. So you need that layered namespace virtualisation for those references to work. "The other aspect is resource controls. We're strengthening the resource isolation to provide the level and the types of controls C groups do on Linux." Drawbridge lessonsAnd yes, Microsoft is using what it learned from building its Drawbridge research operating system to build in Docker support, just as it's taking advantage of having already done file and registry virtualisation in the Windows client. But what you'll get isn't the same as the Drawbridge library OS containers. "Drawbridge was one layer again; it didn't have this stacking concept," explains Russinovich. "In some senses we have the pieces we've developed over time in different places, and we're putting them together and packing them up to create this Windows container concept that can work well with the Docker APIs." Russinovich also confirmed that Azure and Windows Server will have the same Docker support. The Windows Server team are building the Docker support, as they build everything in Windows Server (which Azure runs on). "We're working closely with the Windows team, giving them the requirements – they're implementing them in the next version of Windows Server and Azure is their primary customer. It's a combined effort." Speedy deploymentAzure is the natural home for Docker containers because the cloud gives you much faster deployment. The real advantage of Docker is "incredible portability and much faster development cycles," claims Messina. Instead of taking months to get changes to a system approved, being able to show that the change doesn't affect anything except the container speeds up getting it approved. And you can start building new code far more quickly because you can use stacked reference images. At the BBC, Docker has taken the process of starting a new piece of code "from a day of wasted time to minutes through automation," according to Messina. "You can have apps iterating dozens or hundreds of times a day, because of the portability and the focus on fast differential change." http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/4103f267/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612277931/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/4103f267/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612277931/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/4103f267/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612277931/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/4103f267/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612277931/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/4103f267/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612277931/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/4103f267/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/V3bzW9RuoL8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/techradar/Cyber%20Monday/CyberMonday-470-75.jpgCyber Monday 2014 UKCyber Monday 2014 is the lesser known cousin of Black Friday but don't underestimate its potency when it comes to bringing the best UK deals on the web. Last year the Cyber Monday UK deals were just as good as the Black Friday ones, with some great deals on TVs, home electronics, phones, tablets, games consoles and more. If you didn't know, Cyber Monday came about as an attempt by online retailers to replicate the success of Black Friday on the highstreet, but as we saw last week - Black Friday has a life of its own. And now the internet has two big days of deals! We'll be scanning the web all day long to pick out the very best Cyber Monday 2014 deals for UK shoppers so do keep checking back with us for the biggest bargains! http://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/other/best_tech_v3-100-100.jpg Top Cyber Monday Deals 2014Games: Check out Game's Cyber Monday gaming deals Save up to £150 on iPhones and Android smartphones at Very £30 off iPad Air 2: New Apple iPad Air 2 both 16GB and 64GB discounted at John Lewis Headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre Solo HD On-Ear Headphones - was £169, now just £69 at Amazon. 42-inch TV: Sony Bravia KDL-42W829 - one of our favourite TVs of the year, now just £529 at Currys 4K 40-inch TV: Panasonic TX-40AX630B 4K Ultra HD for just £699 at Very, saving £300 Magazines: Get up to 69% off magazine subscriptions at mymavouritemagazines.co.uk with the code XMAS20 Bluetooth speaker: KitSound BoomBar now available on Amazon for just £23.95. Computing: Raspberry Pi B+ Starter Kit just £35.50 at Amazon. iPad mini 2: Pick up an Apple iPad mini 2 - 16 GB, Silver for just £209 at Currys. Camera: Canon EOS 100D 18 Megapixel with EF-S 18-55mm Lens with FREE Canon Starter Bundle just £389 at Very. Xbox One: Buy an Xbox One console on its own for £269 at Amazon. TV: LG 42LB561V 42" LED TV with NOW TV HD Smart TV Box - just £279 at Currys! Jason Bourne: Get all 4 Jason Bourne movies on Blu-ray today for just £8.80 at Amazon - perfect Cyber Monday Christmas present! Android tablet: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, 10.1" Tablet, 16GB, WiFi for just £179. TV: Sony KDL42W706 42 Inch Full HD Smart LED TV just £399 at Argos, saving £119. Laptops and printers: 20% off of HP laptops and printers at Very Cameras: Up to 50% off of Cameras at Very Monitor: LG 25UM65-P 25 inch 16:9 monitor just £169.99 at Amazon, saving £55. Android tablet: The ASUS MeMO Pad 7-inch tablet is currently just £79 at Very - excellent deal for Cyber Monday. Android tablet: Lenovo Yoga 10 at Very for just £159. Google Chromecast currently just £18 on Amazon - comes with 90 days free Google Play Music All Access streaming! Google Chromecast: also currently £18 at both Currys and Tesco. Amazon Fire TV: Pick up Amazon's new internet streaming box for just £69 while stocks last! Headphones: Beats by Dre Solo for just £119.99 at Very. Headphones: Aiaiai TMA-1 ''Fool's Gold'' Limited Edition just £84.95 at Amazon. Tablet: Lenovo Yoga 10 at Very for just £159. Breaking Bad: Here's a great Cyber Monday deal - get every episode on DVD for just £35 at Amazon. Portable hard drive: WD My Passport 2TB Portable Hard Drive for £59.99 at Argos. Cheap games: GAME is running hourly deals on its website, you can see them all here. Home applicances: Numatic John Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner at John Lewis for £79.95. Portable charger: Intocircuit 11200mAh Power Castle Series External Battery Charger for Apple - now jsut £22.99 at Amazon. Hi-Fi: Save £199 on the Bose Acoustimass 3 Stereo Speaker System with Free Pioneer X-HM51-K this Cyber Monday - now just £319.99 at Amazon. SSD: SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD 240GB - just £79.99 at Amazon. USB stick: SanDisk 64GB USB 3.0 stick - just £15.99 at Amazon. http://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/televisions/Best%20TV%20main/tv_best-100-100.jpg Cyber Monday TV Deals 2014Mini hub: Cyber Monday TV Deals 2014 32-inch TV: Samsung UE32H5500 LED HD 1080p - now just £279 at John Lewis 42-inch TV: LG 42LB561V 42" LED TV with NOW TV HD Smart TV Box - just £279 at Currys! 42-inch TV: Sony Bravia KDL-42W829 - one of our favourite TVs of the year, now just £529 at Currys 42-inch TV: Sony KDL42W706 42 Inch Full HD Smart LED TV just £399 at Argos, saving £119. 40-inch TV: Sony KDL40R483 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p - just £279 at Amazon, saving £190 4K 40-inch TV: Panasonic TX-40AX630B 4K Ultra HD for just £699 at Very, saving £300 4K 49-inch TV: LG 49UB850V 49 inch 4K Ultra HD - now just £999 at Very, saving £1000 4K 50-inch: SAMSUNG UE50HU6900 Smart 4k Ultra HD just £749 at Currys 50-inch TV: LG 50LB580V 50 inch Full HD Freeview HD - now just £599 at Very, saving £500. 50-inch TV: Panasonic TX-50AS500B now just £515 at Amazon 4K 55-inch TV: LG 55UB850V 55 inch 4K Ultra HD - just £1299 at Very, saving £1000 4K 55-inch TV: Panasonic TX-55AX630B Ultra HD TV - just £1199, saving £400 http://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/games_consoles/Xbox%20One/Xbox%20One%20-%20one%20year%20on/XboxOneMain-100-100.jpg Cyber Monday Xbox One deals 2014Xbox One: Pick up an Xbox One with a copy of FIFA 15 direct from Microsoft for £299. Xbox One: Get an Xbox One Console with Assassin's Creed: Unity and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag downloads at Game for just £299.99. Xbox One: Buy an Xbox One console on its own for £269 with the code TDX-KPMG. Xbox One: Buy an Xbox One console with two controllers for £289 at Amazon. Xbox One: Get the console with Forza 5 and LEGO Super Heros at GAME for £309.99. Xbox One games: Battlefield 4 for £15.97Xbox One games: The Evil Within for £30Xbox One games: Need for Speed: Rivals for £17.97Xbox One games: Shadow of Mordor for £24.99.http://cdn1.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/games_consoles/PlayStation%204/PS4%20A%20Year%20In%20Review%20Grabs/whitePS4-100-100.jpg Cyber Monday PS4 Deals 2014Mini hub: Cyber Monday PS4 deals 2014 Sony PS4: PS4 with Little Big Planet 3 & Minecraft - now £299 at Argos with a special offer Sony PS4: White PS4 + TLOU - now just £289 on Amazon Sony PS4: PS4 Console in Glacier White - available for £289.97 at Gamestop Sony PS4: PlayStation 4 500GB Console + Driveclub - £299.00 at Asda Sony PS4: PS4 with Little Big Planet 3 & a game for £20 - £319.99 at Argos Sony PS4: PlayStation 4 with GTA V and The Last of Us Remastered - £349.99 at GAME Turtle Beach P12 PS4 Headset - £32 PS4 games: Destiny - £29.99PS4 games: Assassin's Creed: Black Flag - £19.99PS4 games: Need for Speed Rivals - £17.97PS4 games: Shadow of Mordor - £24.99PS4 games: Battlefield 4 - £15.97PS4 games: The Evil Within - £30http://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/12th%20Nov%2014/wd-100-100.jpg Cyber Monday Storage dealsMini hub: Cyber Monday storage deals 2014 External HDD: Seagate Expansion 3Tb External Desktop Hard Drive - £90 at Very SSD: SANDISK Ultra II 2.5" Internal SSD - 120 GB - £39.99 at Currys USB Stick: SANDISK 8GB Cruzer Edge USB Memory Stick - £2.99 at PC World External HDD: WD My Passport 2TB Portable Hard Drive - £59.99 at Argos External HDD: WD Elements Desktop 3TB - £99 at Very. SSD: SanDisk Extreme PRO 240 GB SATA III 2.5 Inch Internal SSD - £79.99 at Argos USB HDD: Toshiba 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive - £40 at Tesco External HDD: SEAGATE Expansion STBX2000401 Portable Hard Drive - 2TB - £59.99 at Currys USB HDD: Samsung M3 1TB USB 3.0 Slimline Portable Hard Drive - £45.99 at Amazon USB HDD: 1TB Intenso Portable External Hard Drive - £41.99 at eBuyer External HDD: Samsung 3TB D3 Station External Desktop Hard Drive - £74.98 at Amazon Cyber Monday Audio deals UK 2014Mini hub: Cyber Monday audio deals 2014 Bluetooth speaker: KitSound BoomBar now available on Amazing for just £20. Headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre Solo HD On-Ear Headphones - was £169, now just £69 at Amazon. Dock: Beats By Dr. Dre: Beatbox Speaker Dock - now just £99.99 at Zavvi Soundbar: Yamaha YSP1400 now on Richer Sounds for £179 Headphones: AKG K240 MKII Semi-Open Circumaural Studio Headphones now just £69 at Amazon Speaker: IWANTIT Wireless speaker, was £119.99 now just £79.99 at Currys Magazine Offers Magazine subscriptions: With the voucher code XMAS20 you can save an additional 20% on all magazine deals at MyFavouriteMagazines. Up to 62% off T3 subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 60% off MacFormat subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 57% off PC Format subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 63% off Linux Format subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 61% off net Magazine subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 61% off Digital Camera subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 69% off Total Film subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 61% off Edge subscriptions with code XMAS20Up to 60% off PC Gamer subscriptions with code XMAS20More magazine deals here: MyFavouriteMagazines - remember to use the code XMAS20More Cyber Monday 2014 deals on the way! What is Cyber Monday?Cyber Monday is the Monday immediately after Black Friday, and it was invented in 2005 in an attempt to create an online equivalent of Black Friday. What this has resulted in now, is an entire 4-day weekend of hot deals both in store and online. When is Cyber Monday?Cyber Monday is always the first monday after Thanksgiving in the US, and also the first Monday after the Black Friday weekend. How did Cyber Monday get its name?It's a pretty obvious attempt to reformat Black Friday for the online retailers. It comes from the term 'cyberspace' which was an early nickname for the online domain. Is Cyber Monday as big a deal as it seems?Yes it is. Black Friday this year was a lot bigger than anyone really expected, with millions being spent, retail websites crashing all over the places and more violence on the highstreet. Hopefully Cyber Monday will be a more civilised occasion! What's TechRadar doing for Cyber Monday?No one likes a tech bargain more than TechRadar! And we don't want to keep them all to ourselves. So we'll be beavering away tirelessly all day to constantly bring you the hottest deals as they go live online. You'll need to keep your wits about you though, because many deals only last for an hour or until stocks run out. So you need to be quick off the mark - and we'll be on hand to make it as easy for you as possible.

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/Fitness_tech/Microsoft%20Fitness%20Band/Microsoft%20Band-470-75.jpgIntroduction and Microsoft HealthThe wearables market is hotting up right now, entering a phase of massive growth as "smartwatch" and "fitness band" become terms recognised, and used, by everyday consumers. Apple has the Apple Watch, set to be released in 2015 as an extension of the iPhone. Motorola has the Moto 360, a sleekly designed circular watch running Android Wear. LG has the clumsily named, but practical, G Watch R, Nike has the FuelBand, and Microsoft has the recently unveiled Microsoft Band, a $199 (around £125, AU$235) fitness band which comes with a set of new, and exciting, cloud services. Previously, almost every manufacturer of fitness or smartwatch software – aside from Google's Android Wear – has been proprietary and locked into a single manufacturer, leading to a massive array of competing operating systems, all needing a specific device. Microsoft has seen this problem and devised a solution, creating a cloud-based all-encompassing framework that links a myriad of different products into a single place which can be accessed by a consumer. Microsoft HealthJust as Apple has done with HealthKit, the software that comes with the Microsoft Band, called Microsoft Health, syncs with various apps and wearables to create a centralised hub for all your health-related data. Unlike HealthKit, Microsoft Health works with a massive range of different health solutions and, most importantly, smartphone operating systems and hardware fitness bands. For the first time, there is a truly universal way to combine health data from different services. And it was created by Microsoft. As Benedict Evans, an analyst looking at mobile working for the investment firm a16z, noted in his weekly newsletter, Microsoft has "gone for relevancy" over profit, opening up Office for iPad to all customers for free, pledging to bring Office to Android, and generally moving towards a reconnection with everyday customers who have forgotten what Microsoft has to offer. While the Microsoft Band is no Apple Watch (and, in fairness to Microsoft, neither does it profess to be), for a first-generation piece of hardware it looks good and can only improve over time as consumer feedback is taken into account. In terms of software, The Verge claimed that it is "zippy and smooth," offering a Windows Phone-style tiled interface, with the Band's 10 different sensors relaying information back to Microsoft Health for analysis later on. While some fitness tracking devices try and offer information on-the-go, the Band is meant to simply be left on your wrist, quietly relaying information and allowing the user to track their progress and, above all else, chart their health. Conduit companyWhat is far more interesting than the practical applications of the Band and Health are the implications for Microsoft going forward – one of the 'four horsemen' is suddenly willing to work with the other three, and anybody else who creates software to work with Microsoft. Just as with Windows, and by extension Office, Microsoft is positioning itself as a conduit company, open to all. Whether this strategy will work in practice is still up for discussion. Apple's strategy of only working with itself works because, well, it's with itself. HealthKit is designed to work with the iPhone and Apple Watch whereas Microsoft is having to work with people who have previously been at odds with the giant. The muscle that Microsoft could employ to shift the Microsoft Band is enormous, fuelled by revenue for totally unrelated fields. A smaller company, such as Fitbit, doesn't have these kind of resources and so could be looking askew at Microsoft, wondering if any of the monopolising ways of the 1990s version of the company still remain, happy to squeeze out competitors and drive down prices. Nadella's influenceLuckily for these smaller companies a different CEO is now controlling the company. No longer is Bill Gates – cool, determined and willing to trample over competitors – running Microsoft, instead replaced by Satya Nadella, a man who instructed his executive team to read "Nonviolent Communication," a book about the "improve[ment] of compassionate connection to others." By all accounts, Nadella is a far more reasonable adversary to companies that are equal to, or smaller than, Microsoft. Of course, actions speak louder than words and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Nadella plays nice. On the eve of the Office for iPad announcement, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, tweeted "Welcome to the #iPad and @AppStore! @satyanadella and Office for iPad" to which Nadella replied "Thanks @tim_cook, excited to bring the magic of @Office to iPad customers." While this could be seen as a PR exercise, the newfound open-mindedness of Microsoft towards Apple – and others – is clearly a by-product of Nadella's style and points to the direction of Microsoft going forward. The long gameAs a company that likes to play the 'long game' – with varying success – Microsoft should be settling down for a battle, except this time the company is actively encouraging others to win alongside them. Instead of needing to crush IBM or Apple as they did in the PC market, Microsoft can now work together with other companies to better their own product. Just as they have done with Windows 10, which has been opened up to one million "helpers" who are feeding back on the product, helping shape the end result. The above metaphor also leads onto the interesting question of whether the Microsoft Band is a 'tester' device for a fully-fledged smartwatch, to compete with the Moto 360 or Apple Watch. I have written before that Microsoft's entrance into the wearables market would be a defining moment in the company's relentless march towards relevance and, by extension, profits. While profits may be some way off – Microsoft Health currently carries no monetisation, or obvious path to monetisation – working with a wide range of companies is a good way to earn back relevancy, and leaping upon a quickly growing industry is just how to do this. The smartphone and tablet races are over, and Microsoft lost. But going forward Microsoft appears to be adverse to the same faults, leaving the company stronger and better than ever. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/41032c33/sc/5/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612288341/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41032c33/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612288341/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41032c33/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612288341/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41032c33/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612288341/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41032c33/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612288341/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41032c33/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/2wF12ZmCoRE

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/DOWNLOADS/security/Malwarebytes/Dotd-003-Malwarebytes-470-75.jpgMalwarebytes helps you eradicate worms, trojans, spyware and more with some mercilessly high powered malware crushing tools. Why you need itWhen it comes to removing malware and other nasties from your computer, solutions don't get much better – or simpler – than Malwarebytes. Simply install, set up a scan and watch as it snares spyware, adware, worms, trojans and other nuisances that its security rivals often miss. The latest version (2.0) packs a powerful rootkit detector, and important addition which can find malicious software that cloaks its own residence on your computer. Malwarebytes 2.0 also features a new user interface and simpler layout, moving many options and utilities to the Settings tab while moving common and useful options front and centre. The premium version of the software contains even more malware-zapping tools and utilities, including malicious website blocking, real-time protection and Chameleon mode, which prevents unwanted programs from shutting down Malwarebytes before it can shut them down. But even if you stick with the free version, you can rest assured that you're getting one of the best malware smashers available today. Key featuresWorks on: PCVersions: Free, premium (£17.95 p/a), AndroidDestroy malware: Scans for malware and other harmful files on your computer that antivirus programs can missAnti-rootkit: New feature to detect rootkits and remove themPremium features: Much more in the premium version, including malicious website blocking, real-time protection, Chameleon mode, scan scheduling and moreYou'll also likeAntiVir – Avira Free Antivirusavast! Free AntivirusAVG Anti-Virus FreeComodo Internet SecurityMicrosoft Security Essentialshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/41023edb/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612272244/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41023edb/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612272244/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41023edb/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612272244/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41023edb/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612272244/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41023edb/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612272244/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/41023edb/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/1vIrabIIwws

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Software/Microsoft/Windows%2010/windows-10-security-470-75.jpgIntroductionThink Windows 8 was a big step forward in security? So did Microsoft – at the time. Looking back though, Chris Hallum, who manages the security features in Windows and Windows Phone, now thinks it had incremental improvements tackling a subset of the problem. That's not helped by the fact that PC makers didn't start putting the same kind of touch sensor fingerprint readers as seen on the iPhone on their devices the way he'd hoped they would. He's still hoping to see fingerprint sensors become common, but he's also bullish about what's coming next. "In Windows 10," he says confidently, "you'll see we actually decisively address entire classifications of issues with solutions that maybe in some ways can eradicate the issue in its entirely." Password crisisThe first issue to tackle is passwords. "We're no longer thinking about passwords as a problem," he admits freely. "Passwords are actually a real-time crisis. You have to move to something better." And that would be the 'next-generation credential'. It's going to use two-factor authentication, with the second factor being either the Trusted Platform Module security chip which is in many modern PCs and will be in every single Windows device in 2015, or your phone (where the equivalent of the TPM is "pretty close to pervasive") – or, he suggests mysteriously, "devices we're not talking about yet". When you first make your account, your PC will create a key that's stored in a secure container, protected by the TPM – you might have one key for your personal account, another for your online bank and another for your work account that has a longer PIN. "The user unlocks their Windows container with an unlock gesture, which could be a PIN or a password or biometrics, and they get access to it," says Hallum. That PIN isn't the usual four digits – it can be up to 20 characters long and it can include numbers, symbols, spaces and upper and lower case letters. Finger printing goodOr you could use a fingerprint. Hallum expects readers that can tell whether your finger is a real finger and whether it's still alive, looking not just at the pattern but "the 3D image with the peaks and valleys" which flatten out on dead fingers and fake fingerprints. He'd like to see a 9mm sensor that doesn't have a big chrome border around it so you can just press your whole fingertip on it once instead of multiple times like the iPhone, but OEMs may pick smaller, cheaper sensors. "We're going to get the cost down to where it can go mainstream," he says with cautious optimism. "We have an OEM signalling – not committing but signalling – that they may put it across their entire consumer range. Although I hope I don't get burned again because I talked about this for Windows 8…" With or without fingerprint readers, the new password-replacing credentials are coming – not just from Microsoft but from fellow FIDO Alliance members like Google. Google's similar secure key proposal has already been ratified and Hallum says Microsoft is committed to getting its own system ratified by FIDO too. Flexibility firstHallum believes the flexibility of the Windows 10 credential is an advantage. "The differentiator for us is you will be able to use existing devices to authenticate for this; you can use your PC or your phone. "That means your phone – including Windows Phone, Android, an iPhone with its fingerprint reader and maybe one day a BlackBerry – could store your credentials and pair to your PC via Bluetooth to sign you in. That means two-factor authentication will become ubiquitous, without people needing multiple fobs and physical tokens." He's confident the credentials will be adopted by a range of services, and says Microsoft is evangelising it to both business and consumer services. "This is going to succeed. You're going to see a lot of consumer services like Netflix. They see how important this is for banking, for content, for consumer services." Business apps that you log into with a Windows username and password today will just work with them too. "Every app should be able to take advantage of it, unless you've done something that is not best practice." Getting past Pass the HashSigning in with one of these next-generation credentials "unlocks the Windows container" because Windows 10 is made up of multiple containers. Windows is in one container, but the security token from Active Directory that lets you access resources on your company network and the LSA authentication service that issues it are in another, running on top of Hyper-V virtualisation in what Microsoft calls a Virtual Secure Mode. Those tokens are what many attackers have been targeting when they break into companies using a technique known as Pass the Hash. "Once attackers have that token they have your identity, it's as good as having your username and password. They gain admin privileges and run a tool to extract the token and take it, and then they can move around the network and access all these servers without ever being asked for a password," explains Hallum. "We've taken these tokens which were being protected by Windows in a software store which was susceptible to malware or to applications with a high level of privilege and we're putting them inside a container. Even the kernel doesn't have access to take information out of that container if it's compromised." That container is the VSM. "The VSM is basically a mini OS. Think of it as a Windows core OS – it's a very small OS that will require about 1GB of memory and has just enough capability to run the LSA service that's used for all our authentication brokering." It won't affect the performance of your PC, he says, but you will need to have Windows 10 on your PC, a CPU that supports hardware virtualisation and the next version of Windows Server on your Active Directory domain controller. That means even if you are infected by a rootkit or bootkit that takes over the Windows kernel, your tokens would still be safe. No cast iron guaranteeHowever, Hallum warns: "We can't promise Pass the Hash is not possible, there could be bugs in our implementation. But it is an architectural solution designed to prevent [this threat] rather than what we've done in the past which was just a defence that made it a little bit harder. It is one of the strongest mitigations we can do. "We think this will be very decisive in dealing with that threat. I don't want to say we've solved identity but this is so substantial compared to anything we've done in the past. Virtual smartcards in 8 were incremental; this is virtual smart cards for the entire world." VSMs can be used for other security features – if you run Windows 10 in a virtual machine, it can use a VSM as a virtual TPM. And if PC makers adopt the Windows 10 Enterprise Lockdown idea, the Windows code integrity service will live in another container, so even a compromised kernel can't turn off checks on the code that's allowed to run. And that code will be limited to Windows and applications that have been signed by Microsoft, apps from the Windows Store and software signed by either software vendors vetted by Microsoft or your own business (using certificates from a Certificate Authority Microsoft will run itself). Those signed applications can be distributed through the Windows Store and there will be a way for businesses to sign apps they trust but didn't write (so you can sign software if the vendor has gone out of business and you can't be forced to upgrade to a new, signed version if you're happy with the version you have). Trusted app ecosystemHallum calls it an attempt to "create a trusted app ecosystem" for PCs that protects them the way the App Store protects iOS devices, but is more suited to the way enterprises work. Enterprise lockdown will only work with Windows Enterprise and with PCs preconfigured to support it by locking their UEFI boot systems "because if you can configure Windows for signed only [software], malware can configure it to not require signing." Microsoft is recommending that OEMs make this an option for all their business PCs and suggesting the premium they charge for it should be low, but it remains to be seen how well they'll support it. Hallum certainly believes it can be extremely effective: "Assuming the person who owns signing applications in your business is trustworthy, we think we can all but eliminate malware." He also suggests it would have stopped the kind of PoS breaches that have happened in the last year. File containersEncrypted files on Windows 10 will also be stored in containers, but unlike mobile devices where all business documents are in one container – and are only protected if you choose to save them there – each file will be in its own container. "Our container is different," Hallum explains. "It's a container at the file level so every single file – every document, any content item, the files for your app – they will be protected with an encryption container and then Windows becomes a broker of access control between them." Windows 10 will also work out which files to encrypt, based on where the file comes from or what app you create or open it with, using policies you set. "You'll be able to set locations on the network and say 'we consider these to be corporate – this is the corporate mail server, these are the corporate file servers on these IP address ranges, using these DNS addresses. "When content comes from those locations, the system knows where it comes from and we can say 'let's go ahead and encrypt that at the file level'. In real time, as you're bringing content to your device, Windows knows what's corporate and what's personal, but it happens transparently behind the scenes and you don't have to think about it." You can set policy to mark apps as business apps and all files created with them will be encrypted. You can use policy to mark some apps as personal and they won't be able to open encrypted business files. "We want to make sure apps that shouldn't have access to corporate networks can be gated," says Hallum. "These are the apps on the device I trust and will allow to connect to my VPN." And for apps like Office that are used for both, there will be an option in the Save dialog to say whether a file saved on your PC is a business document that should be encrypted or a personal document that shouldn't. Containers not constrainersHe suggests that's more convenient than the style of containers used in Samsung Knox or Good Technologies, which he calls 'constrainers'. "I'm constrained – I have to move to a secure place to access content. I need to use a specific application, maybe not the one I use on my PC, to access email. A container that contains the apps that contain the data is very effective at securing things but I have to change my behaviour, I have to stop using apps like Office. "When we move the technology down the stack into the platform itself rather than building a protective solution that sits on top of the platform, as the others are, we can do a lot of the heavy lifting behind the scenes, where we don't have to interfere with the user experience to the same degree." And yes, encrypted files will be usable on other devices. Hallum says OS X, iOS and Android will all be supported, either through Office or using readers. You'll be able to manage this with any MDM, not just Microsoft management tools like System Center. There are other Windows 10 security features still in development and Hallum thinks security will make Windows 10 a compelling upgrade. "Every previous release of Windows has delivered defence in depth, but we've just made it harder. If you didn't deploy a release, you always had the excuse of plausible deniability; you could say 'it just made it harder, it wasn't the solution'. Once there's an OS available that you can deploy that will eliminate most of these attacks, there are no more excuses. You're making a choice to be vulnerable." You might also want to read our Windows 10 hands on review.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40f8bfa6/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612226020/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f8bfa6/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612226020/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f8bfa6/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612226020/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f8bfa6/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612226020/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f8bfa6/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612226020/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f8bfa6/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/rSaRlpqb_mU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/headphones/Samsung%20Level%20Over/10-470-75.jpgBlack Friday is in full swing so there's never been a better time to buy a new set headphones. John Lewis have got some particularly striking deals on high-end Sennheisers and a range of other cans from Skullcandy and Yurbuds. For a significant step up from the freebie buds that come with your phone, but one that won't break the bank, it's hard to go wrong with a set of Sennheiser CX300ii ear buds. A true bargain on a TechRadar 5-star rated product at £21.99. Black Friday headphone deals 2014:AKG K452: High-Performance On-Ear Headphones for £54 at Amazon. Sennheiser CX 300 II: Excellent earphones! Save £23 by picking them up at Amazon for £21.99. Philips SHB6017: Bluetooth wireless sports earphones on Amazon for just £39.99. Beats Solo 2: Get these Beats by Dre for just £135 at Tesco! Sennheiser Over ear: Save £60.99 on the Sennheiser Momentum Closed headphones - now just £199 at Amazon Sennheiser MM 30i: Ear-Canal Headset, now £29.95 on Amazon. Sennheiser HD419: Sleek closed back headphones, save £15 - now £39.95 on Amazon. Sennheiser HD201: Closed dynamic stereo headphones, now just £17.98 on Amazon. AKG K550: High performance headphones, save £150.99 - now just £99 on Amazon More headphones deals: Lots more black friday deals on headphones at John Lewis - check them out!

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Apps/ios_dnd-470-75.jpgiOS 8 tips and tricks: 1-10Apple's mobile department has finally got its house in order with the release of iOS 8.1.1. Issues like battery drain and sluggish performance on older devices have been resolved, so it's now safer than ever to pull the trigger on that iOS 8 download you've been putting off. Once you've updated, you'll get to enjoy features like interactive notifications and camera time-lapse mode. But there's a whole lot else going on in iOS 8 that you might not know about, which is why we've put together these 20 tips for you to get the most out of your souped-up device. Before your update, back up your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to iCloud or iTunes like this: with your device attached to your computer, hit the check for update button in the version tab of iTunes, or simply tap into settings > general > software update on the device in question, then we'll meet you back here with twenty of the top tips and tricks for iOS 8. 1. Hey SiriWhen your device is plugged in and charging, you can invoke Siri by voice alone without going near the home button. Just say 'Hey Siri' and the personal assistant will ding in response, and you can ask your question as normal. Siri's constant listening for the command means the mic has to be active at all times, so it stands to reason that it won't work when your device is running on battery. 2. Private web searchesSafari now supports privacy search engine DuckDuckGo, notable for its policy of never tracking search terms or logging users. To bypass Google and use it as your default engine, choose to settings > Safari > search engine > DuckDuckGo. 3. Customise Notification CentreOpen the Notification Centre by dragging down from the top of the screen and scroll down to the edit button at the bottom of the today view. Using this option you can choose whether or not to display traffic conditions, calendar, reminders, and more besides. Check back whenever you install apps that add their own widgets to the list. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/20%20iOS8%20tips/ios8_1-420-90.jpg 4. Do not disturbYou can now mute specific message threads on a single device in the messages app. Open it up, select the conversation that irks you, tap on details and slide do not disturb to on. When you're feeling a little more sociable, remember to turn the option back off or you won't hear from that conversation thread on this device again. 5. Hide select photosNot too proud of a photo on your device but reluctant to delete it? There's an option for that. Open the photos app, find the photo in question, tap on it and hold. Tap hide in the pop-up menu that appears and the photo will vanish from your collection, moments and years galleries. (Shhh! It's now tucked away in the album named hidden.) 6. What song is this?Shazam has linked up with Siri so that you can now ask the personal assistant to identify what music is currently playing: simply activate Siri and ask, 'what song is this?' and you'll be treated to an answer, as well as a link to the iTunes Store should you want to purchase the track. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/20%20iOS8%20tips/ios8_2-420-90.jpg 7. New favourite sitesApple has turned bookmarks into favourites on iPhones running iOS 8. To add a site to your favourites, tap the Safari's search bar and pull down to access the option add to favourites. Now you'll be able to find the that website in the same drop down whenever you tap the address bar. 8. Delete iCloud Safari tabsYou can now get rid of Safari browser tabs open on any device linked to your Apple ID – not only the device you're using. Simply tap the + option in the bottom right of Safari's interface and scroll to the bottom to find all currently open tabs listed by device; slide a finger left across any open tab and select delete to close it remotely. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/20%20iOS8%20tips/ios8_3-420-90.jpg 9. Camera focus and exposureThe camera app has been tweaked to enable you to choose a manual exposure level as you snap. Open the camera app and tap on the screen to choose a focus in the frame, then simply slide your finger up or down to the right of the focus square to increase/decrease the exposure level. Get more from your iPhone 6's cameraiOS 8 tips and tricks: 10-2010. Quick Contacts accessDouble-click the home button to bring up the multi-tasking screen and you'll notice a row of circular icons along the top of your open apps. These are your recent contacts, and tapping on one will reveal the following options: call mobile, call home, message and FaceTime. To have favourite contacts appear when you swipe to the right on this screen, open the Phones app, select favourites and tap the + icon to add contacts. 11. Email notificationsBeing notified of every email you receive gets annoying after a while. Happily, in iOS 8 you can opt to be notified about specific email threads only. Open the email in question, tap the flag icon and select notify me, confirm the selection and you're done. To turn off notifications, simply repeat the process and choose stop notifying. 12. Hide QuickType predictionsQuickType's suggestions are cool if you like that sort of thing. If you don't, feel free to hide them. Swipe down on the grey suggestion boxes and they collapse out of sight into a slim grey bar. If you miss them, just swipe up to get your suggestions back. To get rid of QuickType completely, go to settings > general, select keyboard, and swipe the toggle beside predictive to the white position. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/20%20iOS8%20tips/ios8_4-420-90.jpg 13. Reopen closed Safari tabsDid you just close a tab by accident? Don't fret. You can now reopen closed tabs by tapping the tabs button, bottom right of Safari's interface, and tap-holding the + symbol. Tap the tab you wish to re-open from the recently closed tabs list that appears. 14. Use Desktop sitesOccasionally you'll find the mobile version of your favourite website is a functionless shell of the one you're used to browsing from your desktop. A great touch in iOS 8 is that you can tap on the URL and swipe down to choose the new option request desktop site. 15. Straighten a photoIf you snapped a picture that's a bit off kilter, you can quickly correct it in iOS 8. Open the photo, tap the crop symbol and a dial appears below the image. Turn it until the overlay lines up horizontally with your picture and tap done. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/20%20iOS8%20tips/ios8_5-420-90.jpg 16. Undelete a photoDid you delete a photo you wished you hadn't? No problem - images can be undeleted up to 30 days after they were banished. Simply go to the recently deleted folder in the photos app, select the image and tap recover. 17. Minimise an emailYou can now temporarily hide an email you're composing by dragging down from the top of the new message window. This is handy if you need to check another email but don't want to close the one you've just started. To return to the new message, simply tap the bar at the bottom of the screen and it reappears. 18. Reclaim battery lifeWe mentioned battery drain at the beginning of this article. If you're still suffering symptoms, go to settings > general > usage and select battery usage. You can now browse which apps are guilty of sucking away the most battery life, and you may even receive suggestions about how you can save more battery power. Keep your iPhone battery powered for longer with these tips and trickshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/20%20iOS8%20tips/ios8_6-420-90.jpg 19. Send an audio messageSending snappy audio clips to friends is simple. In the messages app, touch and hold the microphone symbol alongside the text box. Record your clip, and swipe up when you're done - the audio is now being sent. 20. More tipsDip into the extras folder and you'll find a light bulb app in there. Open it to discover even more tips for using iOS 8, curated by Apple and updated weekly. As usual you can't delete Apple's app, but at least you can turn off notifications from it by going to settings > notifications > tips. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40f407ec/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612192741/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f407ec/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612192741/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f407ec/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612192741/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f407ec/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612192741/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f407ec/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612192741/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f407ec/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/3rFpAQQGnWM

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/features/Fighting%20Talk/Twitter_office_logo-470-75.jpgTwitter announced yet another way it wants to try to make us hate it more than Facebook this week, revealing a plan to make the mobile app more invasive than ever. From the company that brought you Scan And Upload My Address Book we now have a weird app-monitoring system that promises to rifle through our mobiles to see what apps we've got on them, then serve us stuff related to our app collections. By which it means the "app graph" facility will be looking to see if you've got a Batman game installed on your phone, so it can hammer you with ads for similar mainstream entertainment products in your timeline, therefore making yet more money out of its users by better tailoring the ads it serves. Obviously there was an uproar from tech-aware consumers over this move, with the sort of people who actually pay attention to app permissions claiming this invasion of privacy is roughly equal to the NSA installing a camera behind their bedroom mirrors so it can have them arrested in the night should they have looks on their faces that hint at some sort of troublemaking. But what do you expect? By signing up to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any of the modern social networks, what you're basically doing is agreeing to generate content for them for free, work for free, and waive all rights to any sort of say in what happens and how they manage you. That's what you are. You're a free labourer, churning out the pages, generating the opinions and photographs that fill the internet, for free, often on your own work time, so someone else can make money out of your words and photos for their shareholders. You clicked a thing saying everything about this arrangement is completely OK with you when creating the account, so their arses are covered. Your time is their money. It's not really a shock that these social media moguls are looking to tweak the process so it suits them better. That's just them doing their job. And you desperately spamming out first-draft opinions in the hope of gathering retweets and magicking more page impressions out of nowhere for your corporate overlords is your (unpaid intern) job. Checkboxes for free How much is your Twitter account worth to you? If they said you had to wear a camera on your head in order to keep your hard-won 272 followers, would you? Would you pay £1 a month for it? Probably not, so they've got to make enough money to pay for the cat photo hosting somehow. You've got to give them something back in return for having the luxury of free stuff that works. Facebook has built a network that means you don't have to phone your mum as often as you used to. It's invaluable. Twitter entertains you and fills you with news, while also perhaps offering the chance to briefly interact with a famous person should you suck up to them well enough, collecting RTs and favourites as your mum once collected autographs from men subsequently convicted of historic sex offences. Without the social networks and their various money harvesting systems, the internet would be boring. You could quit your Twitter account in disgust over it wanting to look at your phone in the manner of a suspicious partner, but then what would you do? Bookmark your favourite accounts and read them manually? Just shrug and carry on. Say yes to everything. It's only the awkward people who say "no" that go on the surveillance programmes. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40f3e36d/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612204966/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f3e36d/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612204966/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f3e36d/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612204966/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f3e36d/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612204966/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f3e36d/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612204966/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40f3e36d/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/zBPaidbL72M

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/televisions/Panasonic/Panasonic%20TX-32as600/TV_panasonic-470-75.jpgIf you're looking to grab a bargain on a TV then today's the day to do it - it's Black Friday, after all! With Black Friday deals hotting up across all the major retailers there are some serious savings to be had on a whole range of screen sizes. We've picked some of our favourites so far to save you the effort so, whether it's a cheap second set for your bedroom or a 60-inch 3D beast, check out our list below. If you want our advice, the deal on the 40-inch Samsung H6400 TV at £379 is superb value, and this Panasonic AS500 299.99 deal is brilliant too! And of course you can skip to our massive deals hub for bargains on all sorts of items. Black Friday 4K TV dealsPanasonic TX-40AX630B: 4K Ultra HD 40-inch TV, save £300 - now just £699 at Very. Panasonic TX-48AX630B: 4K Ultra HD 48-inch TV, save £400 - now just £899 at Very. LG 49UB850V: 49-inch 4K Ultra HD TV, save £1000 - just £999 at Very. Samsung UE40HU6900: 40-inch4K Ultra HD TV, save £400 - now just £599 at Very. More Black Friday TV dealsLG 55-inch Smart 4K LED for £799 (with voucher code black200) Samsung 40-inch LED TV for £269 LG 49-inch LED TV for £329 Samsung 40" UE40H6400 LED 3D Smart TV for £379 Panasonic 39-inch LED for 299.99 Sony 40-inch TV for £299.99 Luxor 42inch Full HD TV for £279 Samsung UE22H5000 22-inch for £129 LG 49UB820V Smart 4k Ultra HD 49-inch for £749 John Lewis LED HD 1080p 3D 60-inch for £999 JMB 32-inch HD ready TV for £159

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/DOWNLOADS/audio/SharePod/Dotd-002-SharePod-470-75.jpgSharePod is a brilliantly simple solution if you're having trouble syncing between your iPhone/iPod and your computer, or if you just don't want to use iTunes. Why you need itA few weeks ago I bought a new computer, and iTunes was not happy at all. Because I'd synced my iPhone with my old laptop, iTunes refused to play ball with my new one – instead of syncing as normal, it tried to copy all my music across again, on top of the music that was already on my iPhone, which of course there wasn't space for. What I desperately needed was SharePod. This handy program allows you to quickly and easily transfer files between your computer and your iPhone or iPod, bypassing iTunes and any syncing issues that come with it. You can transfer your music, videos and playlists, and it even backs up your database, so you can quickly right any wrongs that may occur during transfer. And if you need more, SharePod allows you to play music, edit tags and delete album art, playlists, music and videos. If it does throw up any errors during transfer, these won't ruin the whole process; instead, SharePod quickly logs any problems encountered, before continuing. If iTunes and your computer are dancing to different tunes, SharePod will be music to your ears. Key featuresWorks on: PC, MacVersions: Trial, full ($20)Transfer music: Move your music, videos, playlists and podcasts from iTunes to your iPhone or iPod and vice versaCopy or share playlists: SharePod allows you to copy your playlists to your computer, allowing you to back them up or share them with othersRecover music: If your computer has crashed or you've started using a new one, SharePod can recover your music and rebuild your playlistsYou'll also likeMP3GainAudacityCDexWinampMp3taghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40e899c3/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/hHTBrcefSWw

It's Thanksgiving! A day to be thankful for all the great things we've been blessed with (or just another rainy Thursday in November if you're not in the US, but stick with me here). So we here at TechRadar thought it would be the perfect opportunity to round up five free programs we're truly thankful for. These are some of our favourite apps, the best free software we reckon is available today. They've enriched our lives, made work easier and saved us when we thought all hope was lost. So today, after you've gorged yourself on turkey and pumpkin pie, spare a minute or two to say thanks for these brilliant programs. Got a favourite that we haven't mentioned? Tell us about it in the comments below. GIMPWho needs Photoshop? Seriously, when you start using GIMP you won't need any other image editor. It may be free, but the guys and gals behind this superb piece of kit have spared no expenses in making it as powerful as possible. With layers, scripts, advanced manipulation tools, tons of brushes and a whole heap more, GIMP gives you more goodies than Santa on a particularly good day (hold on there, still a month to go...). The high king of free software, GIMP proves that you don't need to spend big to get huge results. With enough firepower to put paid alternatives to shame, getting this much for free feels almost...wrong. But it's so, so right – GIMP is open source and developed by volunteers dedicated to keeping it as free and as awesome as possible, and if that's not something to praise, we don't know what is. RecuvaIf there's ever software to be thankful for, it's recovery software, and Recuva is one of the best in its class. It's an absolute life saver for anyone who has emptied the recycle bin, only to realise there was something important lurking in there. Similarly, it can recover damaged, corrupted or even unsaved data, providing a lifeline just when you thought your precious files were gone for all eternity. And if that wasn't enough to prompt tears of joy, it's free! Yes, all the heartache of accidentally deleting your marriage photos banished forever, and not a penny spent to do it. No matter whether you deliberately deleted the files and then changed your mind, or if you were blighted by a catastrophic computer crash, Recuva should be your first port of call when it comes to bringing your files back from the dead. avast! Free AntivirusWhen it comes to something as important as keeping your computer safe and secure, you want to know you're getting the best that money can buy. Except in this case, because with avast! Free Antivirus, you get all the essential protection you need without having to pay a penny. With a robust antivirus and anti-malware scan, home network checking and a useful browser cleanup tool, the free version has all you need to stay safe from online nasties. And if you do decide you upgrade, avast! offers you a ton of useful features to keep the worst the internet has to offer at bay. From blocking out spam and phishing sites to running a silent firewall and protecting your online banking, upgrading is perfect if you're looking for all-round internet protection from one of the most trusted names in the biz. LibreOfficeNo roundup like this would be complete without mentioning LibreOffice, an office productivity suite that proves that the best things in life really are free. Borne of the OpenOffice project, LibreOffice contains a range of programs that anyone familiar with Microsoft Office will recognise; from word processors to spreadsheets to databases, they're all in here, full of features and ready to solve your office woes. Everything is laid out in a similar way to its Microsoft cousin, so there's no steep learning curve to negotiate, while LibreOffice can read Microsoft file types and save to them too, so there are no compatibility issues to fret over either. With extra apps like a database creator and a drawing suite, LibreOffice goes where office software fears to tread – and emerges unscathed and with its head held high. SkypeThere was a time when free calls were a hacker's fantasy. Nowadays, they're a solid reality, thanks in no small part to Skype. This fantastic program connects users to each other over the internet, allowing people to make free calls to anywhere in the world, provided the recipient is also using Skype. For those times when you need to call a landline, Skype also offers reasonable rates as part of a dedicated call package. Install it on your phone and call another Skype user and you won't have to worry about eating into your contracted minutes either (though you will use up data). You can use it to make conference calls, stay in touch with long distance friends or use it as an instant messenger. It's bringing people a little closer together for free, and surely that's something to be thankful for. So that's it, five great free programs to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Got one you want to share? Let us know in the comments. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40e7bcba/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612137790/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e7bcba/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612137790/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e7bcba/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612137790/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e7bcba/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612137790/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e7bcba/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612137790/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e7bcba/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/UEjWdpZUQhY

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Microsoft/Windows%2010/press/windows10-04-470-75.jpgMicrosoft showed off Windows 10's desktop and mouse features when it made the enterprise-focused technical preview available to download on October 1, and as expected, it offered very little in the way of new touch functionality. According to a new report, you might not have long to wait to see Windows 10's tactile side and its consumer features. Microsoft insiders told The Verge that Redmond is planning to show them off at an event to be held in late January, which will be separate to Microsoft's appearance at CES during the middle of the month. As the report notes, Microsoft previously said that it would unveil the new operating system's consumer features in "early 2015", so a date of late January fits the bill. Windows 10 brings a number of new features, including a revamped Start Menu with Live Tiles, new options for snapping and arranging Windows and virtual desktops, a new desktop-friendly Charms bar and a new, shortcut-friendly command prompt. Why Windows 10 is a balancing acthttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40e749f1/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f1/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f1/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f1/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f1/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612186615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f1/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/XPq-n7youdU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Onetimers/UNI41.art_class-470-75.jpgSmall and medium businesses (SMB's) are the backbone of the British economy. According to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills they make up 48.1 percent of all private sector turnover, at £1,600 billion. But the majority of these businesses are facing a major technology challenge as a number of the systems and servers they rely on for day-to-day business operations are rapidly approaching the end of their supported life. Windows Server 2003 dependence It is currently estimated that there are between 2.6 million and 11 million installations of Windows Server 2003 in the market globally, a product which will reach it's end of support date in July 2015. According to a report from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), 61 percent of firms in the UK are dependent on this platform. That translates to between a quarter and a half of a million SMB's which still use Windows Server 2003 for core elements of their day-to-day IT operations. July 2015 may seem a long way off, but organisations need to start thinking about an infrastructure refresh now and decide how to use this opportunity to dramatically move their spend on IT away from 'keeping the lights on' to driving long term agility and efficiency in their business. FUD clear to seeThe fear, uncertainty and doubt surrounding inaction on this is clear for anyone to see. SMB's who fail to, or choose not to migrate from Windows Server 2003 will be putting themselves, their customers and their partners at materially increased risk. Security and supportability are crucial aspects of IT operations in any business and, if they don't migrate, these 'laggards' will be increasing their vulnerability as security patches cease from next July. For many SMB's turning to the next iteration of a solution seems like a logical step, shifting from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012 for example, might seem to makes sense. However, this misses the point that it's not just about an operating system (as good as WS 2012 is). What SMB's really need is IT that not only works, but is kept current, patched, backed up and above all is affordable and that adapts with their business needs over time. Who wants to spend?Who wants big capital expenditure on servers in this day and age? Certainly not cash strapped SMB's. Equally why perpetuate a model of delivering IT that arguably requires over 60 percent of the effort and budget devoted to just keeping the lights on. Unsurprisingly cloud computing has become one of the top choices for SMB's grappling with this dilemma. By the end of 2013, CIF reported that 69% of SMB's had adopted at least one cloud based service. The popularity of cloud based solutions has grown at an incredible rate and there's no hiding from the huge impact it's had on the way that businesses of all sizes buy, operate and manage their IT systems, to the extent that KMPG called it the 'most disruptive force in business in the past 20 years'. Alongside the onset of cloud as a viable IT deployment model there has continued to be a realisation that the market for the foreseeable future is hybrid (part on-premise/part in-cloud). Hybrid challengesOf course hybrid has its own management challenges. Larger enterprises have invested in hybrid architectures and management systems to help them harness the benefits from the opportunity. Running applications where best suited and storing data where required, with the support to navigate the complexity. For the SMB such solutions have been more elusive and as such the traditional like-for-like 'refresh' risks becomes a never ending three-six year cycle of wasted costs and opportunity. SMB's are demanding a solution that remains current, enables cloud adoption where desired and can adapt over time. On premise is not deadOn-premise technology is not dead in the age of cloud computing, but it has to be re-imagined to be the intelligent edge of the cloud, or the gateway or cloud hub if you prefer, governing access to cloud services whilst providing the local assurance desired for the storage of sensitive data. The custodian of user credentials from which single sign on can be initiated to any number of external solutions Many industry analysts are already talking about hybrid cloud as the future of IT and much of the market is already starting to reflect this. For SMB's it should also be argued that a hybrid environment creates an opportunity for IT as a whole to be delivered as a service, where a managed service provider uses cloud managed server appliances on premise alongside cloud hosted applications to deliver an efficient and effective solution that can evolve and scale to meet the customers' needs. It is easy to be cynical about the end-of-life of technology, but the fact that Windows Server 2003 has lasted the time that it has is clear testament to its popularity and capability. As such when facing the choice of what to do next businesses need to look beyond just the operating system, right down to the deployment model and how they best embrace the cloud opportunity with the hybrid model. Nick East is co-founder and CEO of UK start-up Zynstrahttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40e749f7/sc/46/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f7/sc/46/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f7/sc/46/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f7/sc/46/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612186613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f7/sc/46/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612186613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e749f7/sc/46/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/1mCGAog349o

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/27th%20Nov%2014/dealmain-470-75.jpgBlack Friday week is already into day four and we've been searching the internet for the best pre-Black Friday bargains all morning! Be sure to check in regularly on our main Black Friday page tomorrow for all the best deals, many of which will be very time sensitive. There's some pretty awesome stuff in there already. Let's start with a great deal on the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX tablet. Currently just £99 for the 16GB model which is £100 cheaper than when it came out. There's great deals on teh 32GB and 64GB versions too. Thursday's Black Friday tech deals... http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/27th%20Nov%2014/4chromecast-580-100.jpg Google Chromecast allows you to send Netflix, BBC iPlayer, BT Sport, Plex and lots more video content to your TV from your phone or tablet. The normal price is £30 but it's currently on Amazon for just £19.99. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/27th%20Nov%2014/5power-580-100.jpg Need more USB ports on your desk? Check out the Anker 5-port high speed USB hub! Ideal for charging lots of devices at once. Now just £19.99 on Amazon saving £30. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/27th%20Nov%2014/1lumsing-580-100.jpg Portable phone chargers are hot right now, and they make for great Christmas presents. The Lumsing Harmonica has a battery so juicy it'll charge any smartphone many times over so ideal for weekends away. And we've got an exclusive deal on it for you. Use the code TRBLACKF and you can pick it up at Amazon £5 off for just £16.99. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/27th%20Nov%2014/2case-580-100.jpg Just bought an iPhone 6? Better wrap it up in a nice case so it doesn't get scratched! We've got an exclusive deal on the Omaker Air Cushion case. Use our code TDBLACK5 and you'll get £2 off to make the price £5.99 at Amazon. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/27th%20Nov%2014/3omaker-580-100.jpg And while we're on the subject of phones and chargers, we've got a super deal for you on the Omaker Premium 3-way USB car charger. Turn your cigarette lighter into three USB ports! Our code TRBLACK5 will let you grab it for £7.49 at Amazon, everyone else pays £10. More Black Friday deals for Thursday PNY PowerPack Fancy rechargeble battery bank- now just £17.59 on Amazon Sennheiser CX 200 Street II - now just £13.99 on Amazon Forefront Leather Amazon Kindle Voyage Case - now just £10.49 on Amazon Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - now just £24.99 at GAME Samsung LT24D390SW/XU Smart 24 LED TV Monitor - now just £149 at Currys Crucial 240GB M500 SSD - just £65 at eBuyer! Just Dance 2015 Wii - now just £19.99 at Amazon Dualit Cream Espressivo coffee machine - just £99 at Debenhams Seagate STBV5000200 Expansaion 5TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive - £199.99 at Amazon Bosch Cordless Screwdriver - half price at Argos, now just £17.49 Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 - now just £179 at Argos Simple Audio Go Premium Compact Portable Rechargeable Bluetooth Speake - now just £38.99 at Amazon Jawbone UP Activity Tracker - now just £39 at Amazon

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/ChromeOS/chromeos_store_android_apps-470-75.jpgGoogle has ported seven new Android apps over to Chrome OS, expanding their reach beyond phones and tablets without altering the apps much at all. The search company highlighted three of the new additions for the holidays in a Google+ post: Cookpad Recipes, Couchsurfing and OverDrive. These apps and four others join Evernote, Duolingo, Vine, Sight Words, and more in the Chrome OS web store's Android apps section. However this section also contains web apps, making it not the easiest list to parse through - leaving us clueless as to what the other four new apps are. Taking advantageGoogle launched Chrome OS to be a lightweight cloud-run laptop operating system, but a lack of quality apps has forced it to look toward Android. The first of what Google promised will be many Chrome OS-compatible Android apps arrived in September. Android's app ecosystem is booming, of course, though Google's rollout of Chrome OS-compatible Android apps is so slow you wouldn't know it. Check out Chrome OS's experimental Android L-like makeoverhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40e07136/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104277/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e07136/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104277/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e07136/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104277/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e07136/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104277/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e07136/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612104277/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e07136/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Zu-A8pOZ7nA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Samsung/GalaxyS5/Hands%20on/P1060941-470-75.JPGFirst Google's Nexus devices, then the LG G3 - and is the Samsung Galaxy S5 the next handset that will be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop? We can't answer that, but we can tell you this: a developer on the XDA forums has leaked a version of Lollipop for the Galaxy S5 that adventurous users can install right now. This isn't recommended, but for an unfinished version of the Galaxy S5's Lollipop to be released may indicate that the official version is about to arrive. Just can't waitThe developer warns that the software is for the Sprint version of the Galaxy S5, and that it's likely unfinished. Installing it in this form will wipe all the data from your phone, though the dev says calling, texting and other core features will remain functional. Nevertheless it's probably best to wait for the official over-the-air update from your carrier - whenever it may arrive. New video shows Samsung Galaxy S4 running Android Lollipophttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40e0713d/sc/5/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104276/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e0713d/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104276/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e0713d/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104276/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e0713d/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612104276/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e0713d/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612104276/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e0713d/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/CP6ELQEUAjI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Twitter/twitter_techradar-470-75.jpgTwitter is has announced that it's about to start paying very close attention to the apps you have installed on your phone. Why would it care? To serve you more target advertisements, of course. Why else? "To help build a more personal Twitter experience for you, we are collecting and occasionally updating the list of apps installed on your mobile device so we can deliver tailored content that you might be interested in," reads Twitter's support site. It notes that Twitter won't collect any data from within other apps, though - just lists of what those apps are. Don't worry, you can turn it offThe data Twitter collects on your installed apps might affect the "who to follow" suggestions, promoted tweets and more unsolicited items your feed shows you. Thankfully you can turn Twitter's "app graph" off in your Twitter app's settings menu, and it's off by default if you previously told the app to "limit ad tracking" or opted out of internet-based ads, depending what OS you're on. A prompt within the app will let you know if Twitter switches it on for your account, and until then the company says you have nothing to worry about. Twitter's letting you send URLs through direct messages againhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40e05516/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612117014/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e05516/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612117014/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e05516/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612117014/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e05516/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612117014/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e05516/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612117014/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40e05516/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/1g03f3JQiJU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/DOWNLOADS/utilities/CCleaner/Dotd-001-CCleaner-470-75.jpgCCleaner is a free Windows optimisation tool that blitzes clutter and unwanted files from your computer, leaving it in tip top condition and faster than ever. Why you need itIf you've ever despaired at the slow speed of your computer, it could be time for a system clean out. That's because the more you use your PC, the more clutter it accumulates. Temporary internet files, cookies and redundant files can all clog your machine up and leave it running about as fast as a sloth in slo-mo. That's where CCleaner comes in. This handy little program analyses problem areas and, with your permission, banishes files that have reduced your computer to a crawl. It's remarkably thorough and can delete gigabytes of unnecessary and unwanted files on its first run. But don't worry, it's also particularly smart. It steers well clear of important system files, and avoids cookies that look like they contain login information (unless you say otherwise), so you won't have to type out your passwords all over again. It also shows you exactly what it plans on deleting before it starts, so you know what to expect once you set it on its way. Key featuresWorks on: PC, Mac Versions: Free, Professional (£19.95 p/a), Professional Plus (£29.95 p/a limited offer, usually £69.95 p/a) Registry cleaner: Can remove unused registry entries including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts Browser cleaner: Can remove temporary internet files, history, cookies, super cookies, download history and form history, plus index.dat files from Internet Explorer Windows cleaner: Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files, Log files, Clipboard, DNS Cache, Error Reporting, Memory Dumps, Jump Lists Third party programs: Can also clean numerous third party programs, including Windows Media Player, eMule, Google Toolbar, Microsoft Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR and more You'll also likeRecuvaGlary UtilitiesTuneUp UtilitiesDefragglerGame Boosterhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40ddaada/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612105090/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40ddaada/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612105090/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40ddaada/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612105090/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40ddaada/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612105090/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40ddaada/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612105090/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40ddaada/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/sMxlwkFIyUA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Software/FFMPEG/DVDStyler-hero-470-75.jpgIntroduction and the basicsIt's the first rule of multimedia: files are never in quite the format you need. Maybe an application doesn't support a video, it won't play on your mobile, you get a picture, but no sound – there are all kinds of potential problems. You could go searching for free software to convert video, audio or image files from one format to another – but it'll take a while, and you might have to try out several packages, many of which come with a stack of annoying adware. What's more, a lot of this freeware doesn't actually carry out any conversions at all. Instead, many packages just act as a shell for the open source FFMPEG. You choose a file or two, and they get FFMPEG to do the actual work. Fortunately, there's an alternative: forget the freeware, download FFMPEG yourself and just use that directly. This won't be an option for everyone. FFMPEG is a command line tool, and it'll take a little thought and time to get it set up correctly – but don't let that put you off. Considering the complexity of what it's doing, FFMPEG has to be one of the easiest command line tools to use, and you'll be able to use many of its most important capabilities in just a few seconds. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Software/FFMPEG/Documentation-420-90.jpg Getting startedFFMPEG is available for download from the project site. There are various builds for Windows, Mac and Linux – 32 or 64-bit, static or shared – which is great if you know what you need. But if you're not sure, and just want something basic to try out on a PC, go to Zeranoe, then download and unzip the latest 32-bit static build. Later, you might try out FFMPEG by double-clicking ff-prompt.bat in the folder you've just unzipped. But first you'll need to learn a few commands, and they can be as simple as this: ffmpeg -i source.mov destination.mp4 That's the basis for video conversion, right there: FFMPEG will read the first (MOV) file name and export it as an MP4. You need an FLV instead? Just use that as the extension: ffmpeg -i source.mov destination.flv No complex command line switches are required, at least not yet – FFMPEG is smart enough to figure out the file format you need from its extension. And it supports a very wide range of formats, too, including 3GP, AVI, FLV, MPG, MKV, OGV and more (FFMPEG's online documentation has the full list). But it gets better, because the program doesn't only work with videos. FFMPEG can also convert audio files from one format to another: ffmpeg -i source.mp3 destination.ogg Again, all you need to do is provide an appropriate destination extension, like AAC, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV or WMA and FFPEG will convert to or from that format. There's support for converting images: ffmpeg -i source.jpg destination.png This works with BMP, JPG, PNG, TIFF and others (again, the official documentation has the full list). Of course you don't have to manually enter these commands every time, either. Most of our examples can be embedded in a script, making conversions as easy as a drag and drop (we'll cover a few batch file basics later). http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Software/FFMPEG/LocalHelp-420-90.jpg Video slideshowsSimple format conversion is useful, but FFMPEG really starts to get interesting when you combine format types. Here, for example, we're converting a video to an audio file: ffmpeg -i video.mov audio.mp3 It's exactly the same syntax, the same rules (use the audio extension to define your export format), only this time the program is taking the soundtrack from our movie and saving it (without re-encoding, if possible) to the destination. Another interesting option allows us to convert videos into animated GIFs: ffmpeg -i video.mov animated.gif That needs to be used with care – the GIF will be huge unless your source clip is low resolution and just a few seconds long – but it's still potentially very useful. It's not much more difficult to extract the individual frames from a video, although again we'd only do this with relatively small and short files: ffmpeg -i video.mov frame%d.jpg Here FFMPEG is saving every frame from our video as a series of JPEGs, frame1.jpg, frame.2.jpg, frame3.jpg and so on. If you'd really like to get creative, then it's even possible to create a video from scratch by using other source files. The basic principles are easy enough to understand: ffmpeg -i picture.jpg -i music.mp3 myvideo.mp4 This time we're making a video with a single still image and a soundtrack (much like those YouTube clips with a song and a picture of the artist). You can even create full video slideshows from a sequence of images. This can become a lot more complicated as you need to manually define the video details, but in principle you might use something like this: ffmpeg -framerate 1 -pattern_type glob -i '*.jpg' -c:v libx264 out.mp4 Here we're building a video slideshow from sequential images and saving it as an MP4. (There's much more to this, and advanced users should check out the FFMPEG wiki for details.) Going furtherWe've concentrated very much on the basics thus far, but that's not always powerful enough. What if we want to change the resolution of the output video? Use a different audio codec? Ignore the first few seconds of the video, maybe just convert five seconds from somewhere in the middle? None of this is any problem, but it's going to require a little more work. Resizing a video is a key first step when you'd like to play it on a mobile device, and once again FFMPEG has several tools to help. The most powerful is the scale filter: ffmpeg -i video.mpg -vf scale=720:480 squashed.mp4 Here our video file is being re-encoded at a resolution of 720 x 480. That's fine, unless of course your input video is a different aspect ratio, in which case it'll look squashed or stretched. To avoid problems, use -1 as one of the scale values, like so: ffmpeg -i video.mpg -vf scale=720:-1 aspect.mp4 This time FFMPEG sets the output width to 720 pixels, then calculates the height to match its aspect ratio, which should mean it looks just fine. Trimming unwanted footage is another way to cut file size, and it's also fairly easy: ffmpeg -ss 5 -t 30 -i video.mpg out.mp4 The -ss 5 option tells FFMPEG to start converting from around the 5 second point of the input video (this may not be exact – it depends on keyframes and other issues), and -t 30 indicates that you only want the next 30 seconds converting. This should now be producing good results, but if your mobile device can't play the video at all then it could mean you need to use another codec. Exactly what's best will depend on your hardware and the source movie, but you could start with something like one (not both) of these: ffmpeg -i test.mov -vcodec mpeg4 -acodec mp3 recoded2.mp4 ffmpeg -i test.mov -vcodec h264 -acodec aac recoded2.mp4 The first command sets our output video codec to MPEG4, and audio to MP3, very standard settings. The second creates an Apple-friendly H.264 video using AAC audio, as long as there's a suitable AAC encoder available (if there's a problem, FFMPEG will give you an alternative encoder – like libvo_aacenc – and all you have to do is use that instead of 'aac'). Both are very standard settings and should play on most modern devices. If there are still problems or further tweaks you want to make, then it's just a matter of finding those options in the official documentation, and using them in your FFMPEG command. (We've considered options individually here, just for clarity, but FFMPEG will take as many as you can fit on the command line.) Here's an all-in-one example: ffmpeg -ss 5 -i test.mov -vf scale=640:-1 -vcodec mpeg4 -b:V 2000k -acodec mp3 -b:a 128k recoded.mp4 You should now be able to see that we're trimming the first five seconds, resizing the video, setting new video and audio codecs and defining new bitrates: not bad at all for a single line. It's still not exactly convenient to enter that every time you need to do something, of course, but that can be avoided with a little work. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Software/FFMPEG/All-In-One-420-90.jpg Drag and drop conversionsFFMPEG's various options aren't difficult to understand, as we've seen. And while it's not naturally easy to use, creating a few batch files can make a real difference. To begin, add the FFMPEG BIN folder to your system's PATH, so that Windows can find it. In Explorer, right click This PC, select Properties > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables, double click "Path" in the System Variables list, and add a semi-colon and your BIN folder to the end of the current path (C:PROGRAM FILES (X86)Something would become C:PROGRAM FILES (X86)Something;C:FFMPEGbin). To test this, open a command prompt, type ffmpeg and press [Enter]: if you see help on FFMPEG syntax, rather than "ffmpeg is not recognised..." then it's worked just fine. With the preparations complete, use Notepad to create a batch file called To-MP4.bat, containing the following line: ffmpeg -i %1 %1.mp4 Now drag and drop any video onto that file and it'll launch FFMPEG with your source file as a parameter, like "ffmpeg -i c:videodragged.mov c:video.dragged.mov.mp4". Your new file will appear in the same folder as the source, with the same name, and an MP4 extension, without you having to type anything at all. Create additional batch files as required, replacing MP4 with some other extension, for whatever other conversions you need. This approach is simple, but limited, as it only converts one file at a time. To work with a group of files, use a batch file like this: for %%a in (*.avi) do ffmpeg -i "%%a" "%%a".mp4 Place this file in a folder containing your source AVIs, double click it, and just wait for any conversions to finish. There's a lot more scope for batch file trickery here, but even these core basic steps will take you a long way. Use different extensions, add extra commands, string them together to create your own scripts, maybe use Task Scheduler to run automatically, and you'll soon have the ultimate in media conversion toolkits – with no other software required. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40dd6d49/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612091558/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40dd6d49/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612091558/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40dd6d49/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612091558/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40dd6d49/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/214612091558/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40dd6d49/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/214612091558/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40dd6d49/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/oXGf_b7Bxew

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/25th%20Nov%2014/6maindeal-470-75.jpgBlack Friday week is already into day three and TechRadar's deal monkeys have been foraging for the best bargains overnight! They've come up with a bunch of bargain exclusives for you - deals you won't find anywhere else. We'll be continuing our daily deals posts with all the latest bargains, but be sure to check in regularly on our main Black Friday page for all the best deals, many of which will be very time sensitive. Let's start with a great deal that we just added to the Black Friday page. It's the Sony KDL-48W585 48-inch LED TV, reduced just for today to just £439.99 on Amazon. If you're looking for a new TV, this could be the deal you're looking for! Black Friday tech deals...http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/25th%20Nov%2014/1lumsing-580-100.jpg Portable phone chargers are hot right now, and they make for great Christmas presents. The Lumsing Harmonica has a battery so juicy it'll charge any smartphone many times over so ideal for weekends away. And we've got an exclusive deal on it for you. Use the code TRBLACKF and you can pick it up at Amazon £5 off for just £16.99. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/25th%20Nov%2014/2case-580-100.jpg Just bought an iPhone 6? Better wrap it up in a nice case so it doesn't get scratched! We've got an exclusive deal on the Omaker Air Cushion case. Use our code TDBLACK5 and you'll get £2 off to make the price £5.99 at Amazon. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/25th%20Nov%2014/3omaker-580-100.jpg And while we're on the subject of phones and chargers, we've got a super deal for you on the Omaker Premium 3-way USB car charger. Turn your cigarette lighter into three USB ports! Our code TRBLACK5 will let you grab it for £7.49 at Amazon, everyone else pays £10. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/25th%20Nov%2014/4askg-580-100.jpg EXPIRED: And how about these AKG K452 headphones? They're currently discounted to just £25 at Amazon - great deal! http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/TechRadar%20Deals/25th%20Nov%2014/5monitor-580-100.jpg EXPIRED: Finally in our main deals section, we've found the AOC I2757FM PC monitor at a great price. It's a 27-inch screen but it costs just £150 at Amazon until the end of the day - miss it miss out! MORE BLACK FRIDAY DEALSStar Wars Darth Vader 31in Big Figure - £29.99 at Amazon Cooler Master NEPTON 280L 28030mm RADIATOR 2x 140 Jetflo Fan Liquid CPU Cooler - £59.99 at Amazon SONY WIRELESS BLUETOOTH KEYBOARD for PlayStation - £6.95 at Game Collection Asus VS239NV 23" Full HD IPS LED Monitor - £99.98 at eBuyer LEGO City 60004: Fire Station - £45 at Amazon Backtracks Box set, CD+DVD - £7.10 at Amazon Dyson DC49 Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner - £179.99 at eBuyer Samsung UE55H6240 55 Inch Freeview HD + Free Samsung HW-H355 120W Soundbar with Bluetooth & External Sub - £899 @ Tesco Direct SWEDX SuperSlim 42-inch 4K TV - £295 at Amazon

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Skype/toohappy_skype-470-75.jpgUp until now Skype's smartphone Android app has required users to actually focus on their conversations if they want to see what the person they're talking to is doing - but no more. A new Android Skype phone app update has added a picture-in-picture feature that lets you keep looking at your conversation partner's face even as you tool around in other apps. The feature was previously available only on Android tablets, which made sense back when smartphones weren't literally the same size as them. Those were the daysPicture-in-picture for the Android Skype app shows a smaller Skype window that floats above whatever other apps you're using. You can easily move it around so it isn't in the way, and the person you're supposed to be having a conversation with will never even know that they're less important to you than checking your News Feed is. The Android Skype update also adds faster loading for chats opened from notifications, Google+ style formatted text, bug fixes, and more. Microsoft adds Skype to Office Onlinehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40d6d678/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/213968888762/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d6d678/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/213968888762/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d6d678/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/213968888762/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d6d678/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/213968888762/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d6d678/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/213968888762/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d6d678/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Py4JUGevnQA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/LG/LG%20G3/Hands%20on%202/LG_G3_Review%20(5)-470-75.JPGLG's latest flagship phablet, the LG G3, is getting upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop this week - at least for users in Korea. Don't despair, though, as that means the international version of the Lollipop update is probably coming soon as well. This is more or less right on schedule with what LG has said, not to mention what we heard when the G3's Lollipop update leaked in screenshots on a Polish website at the beginning of November. The site said Lollipop improves the G3's performance, among other tweaks and changes, and soon you'll be able to test it out for yourself. A simple questionMeanwhile the LG G2 is still scheduled to get its own Lollipop update, although it's a lower priority and will arrive some time in the future. Check out TechRadar's Lollipop release date hub if you're asking yourself the question, "Lollipop: when can I get it?" Verizon's 2014 Moto X gets its Android Lollipop updatehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40d70133/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006805/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d70133/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006805/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d70133/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006805/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d70133/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006805/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d70133/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/211598006805/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d70133/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/MpqKkN7Y3zo

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/televisions/Google/Chromecast/Review/chromecast-470-75.jpgGoogle has added yet another batch of new Chromecast apps to its streaming stick's ever-growing arsenal of entertainment options. The seven new apps include something for everyone, with Comedy Central, Sesame Street Go, Nickelodeon, TuneIn, Epix, YuppTV, and Encore Play. With the holidays approaching Google is no doubt eager to continue adding value to the affordable and appealing Chromecast, and more casting apps is a great way to do so. The last batch of new Chromecast apps hit in September with Twitch, Disney and others. But this flood of apps begs the question: are there any services left that don't have Chromecast support? And why the hell not? Google Chromecast 2 is on its wayhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40d7013b/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006804/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d7013b/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006804/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d7013b/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006804/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d7013b/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211598006804/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d7013b/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/211598006804/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d7013b/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/GkSDplOv7hM

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Generics/laptop_outside-470-75.jpgBusiness continuity, quality and control eclipse cost savings as the top reasons IT professionals prefer open source to proprietary software. According to a new study by the Ponemon Institute and Zimbra, more than 75% of IT professionals agree that code transparency increases the trustworthiness of a software application. And two-thirds believe it improves security and reduces privacy risks. For "The Open Source Collaboration Study: Viewpoints on Security & Privacy in the US & EMEA", the Ponemon Institute interviewed IT and IT security practitioners about their companies' usage and perceptions of open source messaging and collaboration solutions. We caught up with Larry Ponemon, the founder and chairman of the Ponemon Institute, to find out more about the study's contents. TechRadar Pro: The average percentage of commercial open source used in EMEA is 25% and the US it's 30%. What factors are contributing to the slow adoption of open source? Larry Ponemon: The report didn't explore the reason behind the slow adoption. But we did learn that Zimbra, whose messaging and collaboration solution is open source, was deployed in 40% of US and 30% of EMEA organisations. Control over the software and ensuring business continuity are the most beneficial aspects of open source, according to the report. Security and privacy were also found to greatly benefit from open source's transparency. Overall, the perceptions of open source were more positive than those of proprietary software, and more than half of the EMEA and US organisations surveyed are planning to replace their existing solutions with open source ones over the next two years. TRP: EMEA organisations are more concerned with the privacy consequences of messaging and collaboration while US organisations focus more on security. Why are EMEA organisations more likely to enforce security and data privacy policies than their US counterparts? LP: The regulatory regimes across EMEA and the US are very different. This is largely a function of the regulatory compliance landscape in the regions, and what the legislation and mandates of each prioritise. EMEA legislation leads to strict data protection/privacy compliance, regardless of the industry vertical, and encompasses the entire citizenry. The US has a patchwork of legislation and Executive Orders, which specify industry verticals and largely ignore the implications on citizens' private information. TRP: What file sharing technologies pose the greatest risk and how are employees putting their organisations at risk? LP: The report shows that both EMEA and US respondents agree that unencrypted email and cloud file sharing are the riskiest. EMEA respondents also consider home-grown file sharing tools as very risky – more so than unencrypted email. Given the perception of risk in cloud file sharing, the usage of these solutions is very high. More than 72% and 57% of EMEA and US respondents, respectively, said public cloud file sharing applications are used in their organisation. Additionally, 66% and 37% of US and EMEA respondents, respectively, said free versions of file sharing applications are used. TRP: Despite the fact that many organisations believe that email is risky for file sharing, it is still the number one way users share files. Why are organisations not changing this behaviour? LP: Given the percentage (more than 50%) of organisations planning to replace their messaging and collaboration solutions within two years, this could change. TRP: Although this survey notes a higher awareness of the need for information security in EMEA, US respondents saw the support for encryption of data at rest and the ability to set mobile security policies as critical. What influences this gap in perception? LP: Largely the BYOD revolution has been led out of the US, as have many of the mobile security solutions. Also, there are some curious privacy implications with those solutions, i.e. if your IT wiped an entire device, including the personal information. For anything related to cryptography, the preference is likely to off-load cryptography to dedicated systems that can perform encryption and decryption, apply and verify digital signatures, and provide full life cycle management of the associated keys. TRP: What factors affect the use of messaging and collaboration technologies? LP: Both regions consider vendor support, open source, improved security and the ability to host or manage a solution in the cloud important. The US respondents also said ease of use was important, whereas the EMEA respondents consider vendor reputation as their most important factor. Interestingly, a factor just outside the top five factors for EMEA was improved privacy, which was four times more important for EMEA than the US. TRP: What are the most important features for messaging and collaboration technologies? LP: Both regions want support for third-party antispam, antivirus and two-factor authentication. Both the US and EMEA respondents consider tightly integrated file sharing and email important or very important – particularly private attachments and fine-grained access control, and permissioning of file attachments and sharing. TRP: What does the future look like for messaging and collaboration technologies? LP: Support for mobile and cloud-flexibility were important or very important to both regions, and an integrated file sharing and email solution was high on the list as well. Not to project, but those will heavily influence the direction of messaging and collaboration solutions. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40d23e9c/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/K5DI3QKGRYI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Sony%20Pictures%20Tour/P4232465-470-75.JPGSony Pictures has launched an investigation following an alleged hack on its computers in the last 24 hours. In a statement to the Register, a Sony spokeswoman said that it was "investigating an IT matter" but could not confirm the hack. Reports of a hack surfaced on Monday following an anonymous Reddit post by somebody who claimed to be an ex-Sony employee. According to that person, a current Sony employee has leaked an image that is preventing Sony Pictures staff from logging into their PCs. The image, which claims to be from a hacker group calling itself #GOP, claims to know Sony secrets and threatens to hold the division to ransom if unspecified demands are not met. It read: "Hacked by #GOP. Warning: We've already warned you, and this is just the beginning… We have obtained all your internal data including secrets and top secrets. If you don't obey us, we'll release data shown below to the world. Determine what will you do till November the 24th, 11:00 PM (GMT)." According to a Sony insider who contacted Variety, the issue could take between anything from one day to three weeks to resolve, and Sony's IT department has instructed employees to turn off computers and disable Wi-Fi on their mobile devices. Real deal?A source within Sony Pictures contacted The Next Web to verify that the hack and images that appeared inside Sony Pictures are real, and were the result of a single server being compromised. Sony was involved in a separate incident on Monday which saw hacking group DerpTrolling claim to have stolen 7m PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts and leaked more than 5,500 usernames, Windows Live and 2K Games. However, the claim was found to be false following statements sent to the Guardian by Sony and Microsoft, which said that there was no evidence that the companies respective networks had been compromised. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/40d19581/sc/5/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211597920312/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d19581/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211597920312/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d19581/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211597920312/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d19581/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/211597920312/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d19581/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/211597920312/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/40d19581/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ZVZLYMWmQk4