sincity

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Samsung/TizenHandset/TizenHandset-01-470-75.jpgSamsung's self-made Tizen operating system for smartphones isn't looking too hot with repeated delays and now Huawei is saying no to the indie platform Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer business group, called Tizen a hopeless platform with "no chance to be successful" in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Yu went on to explain that it's difficult even for the Chinese smartphone maker to turn a profit with Windows Phone devices. The Huawei executive cited it's hard to market Windows Phone devices and the company already lost money trying to push these handsets for two years. Huawei, once one of Tizen's original supporters, now joins the slowly growing group of phone manufacturers and networks turning away the independent platform including the Japanese telecomm network, NTT Docomo. Meanwhile, it there are still a healthy number of other companies – including Intel, LG and Vodafone - still holding on to the hope that the Android-alternative will release one day. Android armadaThe biggest problem Tizen faces is the fact that there aren't enough apps on the platform compared to the extensive software libraries developed for Android and iOS. Previously, Yu has also explained why Firefox's mobile OS may not be everything it's cracked up to be. It's for these same reasons Yu said Huawei is not developing its own OS. With this in mind it seems the mobile world will always be split between these two titans while Microsoft also sits by the sidelines. "We have worries about Android being the only option, but we have no choice." Yu remarked. If this is truly the sentiment in the smartphone world it's no wonder Samsung and its many Tizen supporter want to a break out platform of their own. According to Yu, Huawei has supposedly fully invested itself into building an interface over Android with a software team of roughly 2,000 people that's growing by a significant percentage every year. The Chinese device manufacturer also claims to have sold 52 million smartphones worldwide last year and expects to exceed a projected 80 million handsets this year. It does not run Tizen but the Samsung Galaxy S5 is one heck of an Android phonehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dd7b8ae/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157093998/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd7b8ae/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157093998/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd7b8ae/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157093998/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd7b8ae/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157093998/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd7b8ae/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/206157093998/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd7b8ae/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/NL0h2mNNvDI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/features/Fibre%20broadband%20Aug%202013/fibre_optic-470-75.jpgDell and VMware have expanded their product integrations to help improve production within VMware's virtualization environments. The new tools, Dell Engineered Solutions for VMware EVO: RAIL and Dell Storage for VMware, are designed to simplify IT operations and help IT professionals manage virtualization costs. Dell Engineered Solutions for VMware EVO: RAIL enable users to create virtual infrastructures, virtual desktop infrastructures (VDI), and private cloud workloads within a virtual environment. By using Dell servers with VMware EVO: RAIL software, Dell and VMware are offering what they call a "scalable" and "manageable" tool that can handle rapid deployments of virtual infrastructures. Within the VMware EVO product line, Dell has launched a Virtual Infrastructure Edition for general workloads, and a VMware Horizon 6 product for VDI-specific workloads. Virtual Infrastructure Edition will be available in September, and VMware Horizon 6 will be available later this year. New Dell Storage for VMwareThe two companies also unveiled Dell Storage and VMware integrations designed to simplify data management within VMware solutions. New products include the Dell Storage PS and SC Series that offer support for VMware vCenter Operations Manager (vC Ops). Dell also launched the FS8600 NAS appliance. The tool will offer Dell storage users access to VMware's vSphere Storage APIs, which are designed to speed up VMware operations with Dell's file system solutions. The product will be available during the first quarter of 2015. Dell's shiftDell cut more than 15,000 jobs earlier this year as part of a restructuring effort aimed at addressing its place in the ailing PC market. The decision reduced Dell's workforce by 15%. In order to reposition itself as an enterprise technology and services provider, Dell has begun focusing on cloud and virtualization. Partnering with VMware, a company that continues to increase revenue and income, offers Dell access to a client base that is on the leading edge of enterprise technology adoption. The top four database management solutions on the markethttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dd6cf60/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366886284/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd6cf60/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366886284/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd6cf60/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366886284/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd6cf60/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366886284/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd6cf60/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366886284/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd6cf60/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/pJKBI-z4XJc

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/iTunes%20alternatives/spotify-470-75.JPGIntroductionIf you've ever used one of Apple's smartphones, tablets or Macs, you'll likely have come across iTunes, its software for playing music, videos and transferring media onto devices. Many people have a love/hate relationship with iTunes as it used to be the only program that could sync music to iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices. It's also been criticised for its slow loading times (especially in Windows), lack of features and non-existent support for a number of popular file formats, leading many to seek out an alternative. Apple's rivals caught on, and it's now possible to perform many of the actions previously tied to the program - such as synching media to iOS devices - using other media players. We've picked out five of the best to tickle your music fancy. It should be noted that while the following Windows programs are free, they will attempt to install third-party add-ons that aren't necessary for the programs to run. As such, you might want to manually opt out during the installation process. 1. Spotifyhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Spotify has quickly risen to become one of, if not the most popular music player around. It has a huge library of songs stored in the cloud that you can stream over the internet from your computer, smartphone or other mobile device. With new music being added all the time, Spotify has put an end to the days of ripping your CD collection to store in programs like Windows Media Player. The company has struck numerous deals with many large and "indie" record labels alike, meaning it has one of the most eclectic online song libraries around. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/iTunes%20alternatives/spotify-420-100.JPG You can also add your own computer's music to a Local Library to sit alongside music in the cloud. In addition to creating and sharing playlists, Spotify allows you to "follow" artists and other users, queue up songs (handy for parties) and listen to tons of internet radio stations. Better yet, you can sync music from your library Apple devices, making it a potential iTunes replacement even for die-hard Apple enthusiasts. 2. MediaMonkeyhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg MediaMonkey is the music player of choice for the discerning music organiser. If you've previously filed hundreds of vinyls and CDs in cardboard boxes by genre, alphabetically or some other way, it will allow you to tame your collation obsession. The first time you load it up it will speedily scan your computer to find audio and video files, allowing you to then tag and sort them into columns - including by artist name, album, genre, composer, year, publisher, rating and so on. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/iTunes%20alternatives/mediamonkey-420-100.JPG Where other media managers top out after a certain limit, MediaMonkey lets you add a massive 100,000 tracks. It's compatible with a wide range of formats - including MP3, WMA, W4A and M4P - and like iTunes, you can sync your library with iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices. Visually, the program isn't a million miles away from iTunes, and if you don't like it you can change its appearance by downloading "skins". 3. Google Chrome (MP3 Player add-on)http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Through extensions, Google's Chrome browser can perform many tasks usually undertaken on the desktop - and that includes sorting and playing media files. Through one particularly nifty extension imaginatively called MP3 Player, you can listen to music stored on your computer within Chrome, saving you from having to duck out to your music player. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/iTunes%20alternatives/chrome-mp3-420-100.JPG It comes with a few other features, including the retrieval of song lyrics, YouTube clips, relevant information about the artist playing and links to their Wikipedia page. On the negative side, it only supports MP3 and OGG formats, and it's not much of a looker. If you value convenience over aesthetics, MP3 Player could be for you. 4. Winamphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Venerable media player Winamp has been through some tough times since launching 18 years ago (including being killed off before being resurrected in 2014), but it's held its own against newer, fresher rivals surprisingly well. In a similar vein to MediaMonkey, it allows masses of music to be loaded into a central library, tagged and sorted to your heart's content. Additional functionality is provided through a rich database of plug-ins that let you do anything from installing jazzy visualisations to burning DVDs. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/iTunes%20alternatives/winamp-420-100.JPG Winamp is unashamedly retro and may be a better fit in its original form for anyone still on Windows XP or Vista. That said, a chance to blend the old with the new came when the makers of Spotify released Spotiamp, a lightweight media player that streams Spotify's extensive database of music in Winamp's original skin. If you're feeling nostalgic for Winamp's original look but don't want to leave your vast cloud-based music collection behind, Spotiamp is the answer to your prayers. 5. RealPlayerhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Launched back in 1995, RealPlayer is a golden oldie. The program has matured into a slick multimedia tool that supports of a wide range of video formats - including proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo (RA, RM, RV and RMVB), in addition to MP3, MPEG, Windows Media Player and Flash Video (FLV). http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/iTunes%20alternatives/realplayer-420-100.JPG By acting as a central repository for all of your media files, RealPlayer lets you make playlists, bookmark videos on webpages, burn CDs, DVDs, stream videos and more. Recent versions have improved mobile support, and you can now transfer music from your smartphone to your PC, and visa versa. There's also support for Google's Chromecast streaming dongle, which means you can now plug one into your HDMI-equipped TV and download the RealPlayer app (on iOS or Android) to take advantage of a myriad of services - from Netflix and YouTube to BBC iPlayer. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dd625a1/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884792/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a1/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884792/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a1/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884792/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a1/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884792/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a1/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366884792/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a1/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/heImkIqbLV8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Generic/future-data-centre-470-75.jpgThe software-defined networking (SDN) market will increase 733% from $960 million (about £578 million, $1.03 billion) to more than $8 billion (about £4.82 billion, AU$8.60 billion) by 2018, according to a report from IDC. The use cases driving SDN spend include web scaling for cloud providers, cloud deployments, network programming and security applications. IDC defines SDN as “an innovative architectural model that is capable of delivering automated provisioning, network virtualization, and network programmability to datacenter and enterprise networks.” The SDN market is being driven by mainstream adoption of cloud applications and servers, and an increased demand for the network flexibility to support the technologies that enable mobility, Big Data and Internet of Things applications, the report says. SDN in the newsAlthough IDC is bullish on SDN, a survey conducted by eWeek earlier this year revealed only about 30% of companies had deployed, or were planning to deploy, SDN. To throw additional cold water on SDN’s potential, IBM is reportedly looking to sell its SDN product line for as much as $1 billion (£607 million, AU$1.14 billion). The top four database management solutions on the markethttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dd625a9/sc/46/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884791/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a9/sc/46/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884791/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a9/sc/46/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884791/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a9/sc/46/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366884791/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a9/sc/46/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366884791/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd625a9/sc/46/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/2QTGURovNgc

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/people/rossmason-470-75.jpgOne of the best parts of my job is working with companies on their API strategy. You learn a lot about them that way. Opening up services with an API is more than an engineering project. For most, it’s a new way of thinking about their business. And having seen these projects close up, I can tell you that certain approaches to APIs work, and others work, let’s say, less well. Even experienced developers tend to fall into a short-term mentality when building APIs. It usually goes like this. They work backward from the application to arrive at the spec. They start a whirlwind of coding, check the boxes on features and functionality and bring in the project, hopefully on time and on budget. Well done and off to the pub, right? Not quite. What could possibly go wrong?This isn’t Field of Dreams. Just because you build an API, that doesn’t mean anyone will use it. If you’re not designing your API to delight your consumers - in this case, your developer community and even your own team - you’re setting yourself up for failure. It’s as true with an API as it is with a smartphone. The most successful API projects take what I call a “design-first” approach. Fundamentally, design-first is about creating an experience that delights your audience. Before writing any code, think about the people who will use your API. Ask yourself: “Am I creating an experience that will attract a community, inspire engagement and provide value?” Most of all, “Would I want to develop with this API?” Here’s how to make sure you can answer yes to those questions. Design for consistencyPlanning too little is dangerous. But so is planning too much. This isn’t a science experiment to find the ideal design. Perfection isn’t the goal: consistency is. Do your users a favor and settle on well-defined patterns and common design elements you’ll use again and again as your application evolves. If you have two teams building two APIs for your software, users shouldn’t be able to detect any difference. Security should behave the same way. Versioning, URL schemes, API keys and error codes should look and work the same in all parts of your API. The same goes for querying and receiving data. These might seem like the basics, but they’re so rarely followed in practice—and so powerful when they are. Planning out your API with a modeling language like RAML can help you stick to best practices. If you need another incentive to be consistent, remember that you’re doing yourself a favor too. All the work you’re doing on your API right now, you’re going to do again someday. Maybe at the moment you’re building a native mobile app. Over time, you’ll want to add features. You might want to support different platforms. When you do, the last thing you want is to spend time rearchitecting your API. A clear, consistent design will serve you in good stead over the lifetime of your application. Design for scaleYour API needs to be built to last, but planning for growth can be tricky. You can’t invest too much in scalability until you generate the traffic. But you need to invest enough to grow without affecting your users. It’s a delicate balance. The easiest solution is to publish your APIs on a cloud platform, where scalability is built in. That way, if you get spikes in activity, your service won’t crumble under the load. You also need to choose your API management platform carefully. It can’t be an afterthought. It’s a powerful tool to ensure that all your users have a good experience. It allows you to prescribe in great detail how you API will be accessed. It provides a safe, secure experience for end users, and gives you visibility into how the API is being accessed. It’s Mission Control for your API, and you can’t neglect it. Design for people Having said all that, developers are the single most important factor that determines the success or failure of an API. No matter how elegant your code, it won’t be enough to make people engage. People don’t want to think too much. Software design practices can get wrapped up in the quagmire of edge cases; the litany of possible things a random developer might do one day. Define what you can do with the API and what you can’t; leave the kitchen sink in the kitchen. The process of design should direct focus. It’s better to start narrow and broaden over time. It’s also critical to explicitly define the boundaries of your v1.0 API so developers have context of what to expect. You need to be thinking about the engagement experience of your API up front. Once you’ve launched, you need to help developers discover your API and succeed with it through documentation and tutorials. You need to promote it, gather feedback, involve the community in improving it. An API needs to evolve, just like the businesses it supports. Want some good examples? Take a cue from companies like Stripe and Twilio, where their API is the product. If they don’t attract a community, their business goes under. You can bet they’re getting engagement right. In summaryCreating a strong API strategy is a challenging, exhilarating experience. It forces you to think not just about what your application is like now but what it will be in the future. If you keep your focus on user experience through good design up front and plan for the long term, you’ll have an architecture that can support your digital business for years to come. Ross Mason is Founder and VP of Product Strategy at MuleSoft.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dd49338/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366865613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd49338/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366865613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd49338/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366865613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd49338/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366865613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd49338/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366865613/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dd49338/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/9rODs9Cu9B4

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/winRAR%20alternatives/chrome-470-75.JPGThe ability to compress (or "zip") files has become a necessity over the years due to the growing volumes of data stored on computers and devices. Whether you need to archive a set of holiday photos or backup your music collection, the need for a stable, reliable and most of all fast compression tool is a must. A good compression tool makes it possible to reduce the size of both individual and groups of files, making it easier to transfer them onto removable storage or over the internet. Some go further by adding features such as encryption and use faster compression techniques. Windows 8.1 has built-in compression support, but it offers little functionality beyond the basic unzipping and compressing of files. If you're on an older operating system, or you're looking for more functionality, there are a number of third-party options out there. One of the most well-known file compression tools is WinRAR, by RARLab, which can self-extract files, split archives into multiple volumes and even repair damaged files. WinRAR is a popular choice, but it's far from the only one out there. We've served up five alternatives to save you looking, and it's worth nothing that while the following Windows programs are free, they will attempt to install third-party add-ons that aren't necessary for them to function properly. As such, we recommend that you opt out of installing them when asked. If you have any suggestions for alternatives to WinRAR that aren't in our list, make your suggestion in the comments below. 1. 7-Ziphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg 7-Zip is an open-source compression program that that sports a minimal user interface and makes use of space-saving file compression algorithms. It's easy to use and supports a wide range of archive formats - including ZIP, GZ and TAR. Where it really shines, however, it when it's used to compress or unzip files in its own official format, .7z. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/winRAR%20alternatives/7-zip-420-90.JPG Though it isn't as widely used as ZIP, using its .7z format, 7-Zip can pack files even tighter to save even more space, shrinking batches of files more than 30% compared to WinZip in our tests. The program also comes with a command line module, making it as useful to experts as it is novices. If you're looking for a minimal yet fast and free alternative to WinRAR and WinZIP, 7-Zip is no slouch. 2. TrueCrypthttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg TrueCrypt isn't a direct replacement for WinRAR as it's not a straightforward zip and compression tool. However, if you're looking for an alternative program to encrypt files with a high level of security (in a similar manner to making an encrypted .zip file), TrueCrypt is one of the best. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/winRAR%20alternatives/truecrypt-420-90.JPG Instead of creating an ordinary .zip file and encrypting it, TrueCrypt turns them into virtual drives, meaning that each time you open a file inside a .zip archive, it's decompressed and decrypted into a temporary folder on your hard drive. Where a program like 7-Zip would simply delete the file after you've closed it (which can be recovered by those with the right tools), using TrueCrypt prevents it from being traced as the program temporarily stores the .zip's files in RAM, rather than on your hard drive. 3. Winziphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg WinZIP is a true classic and the program that most people associate with when talking about file compression. It's been around since the early days of Windows and has recently been refreshed with a slicker interface and support for social media websites - including Facebook and Twitter. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/winRAR%20alternatives/winzip-420-90.JPG Recentl releases have also added the ability to manage ZIP archives on cloud storage services like Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive. You can also shrink images, convert files into PDFs and apply watermarks to them. Many basic functions - such as compressing files into archives and unzipping them - are free, but you'll have to buy a license to unlock some of its more complicated functions. 4. Chrome (Zip Extractor add-on)http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg ZIP Extractor is a useful tool that lets you decompress .zip files to Google Drive, Google's cloud storage service, directly within the Chrome browser. This is especially useful if you have a large amount of ZIP files on your desktop that need unzipping and uploading to the Google Drive Cloud, saving you from clicking on each one to extract and upload the contents manually, which can become a slow and laborious process. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/winRAR%20alternatives/chrome-420-90.JPG Because it's a Chrome extension, there are no files to download as everything is integrated into the browser. It also has the handy ability of allowing you to unzip individual files to extract them from archives, whereas many compression tools make you unzip the whole lot in one go. 5. Daemon Tools Litehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg As with TrueCrypt, Daemon Tools Lite isn't a direct replacement for WinRAR but instead provides an alterantive way of archiving files that you may have stored in encrypted zip files. Daemon Tools Lite lets you add virtual drives to your machine, meaning that instead of archiving files on physical discs - such as CDs or DVD ROMs - you can compress them and keep them stored in an ISO image format on your hard drive until you want to retrieve them. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/winRAR%20alternatives/daemon-tools-lite-420-90.JPG Daemon Tools Lite works with most ISO image formats and comes with a simple graphical user interface that makes creating virual drives and mounting images on them a breeze. If you don't like the idea of archiving data in .zip files or intend to eventually burn it to physical media then backing it up to an ISO image using Daemon Tools Lite would be a quick, simple and effective option. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dcf2611/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366903773/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf2611/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366903773/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf2611/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366903773/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf2611/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366903773/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf2611/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366903773/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf2611/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/KmWgbcPZvaQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Onetimers/Twitter%20Mobile%20Ad-470-75.jpgIt's been rumored for years that Twitter would let users buy products from within tweets, and now that dream may finally be coming true. Before you break out the champagne, note that this report is unsubstantiated at this time, but Re/code heard from "multiple industry sources" that Twitter has finally partnered with payments startup Stripe to make it happen. This is the same company that was rumored to have been negotiating with Twitter all the way back in January 2014, and they've reportedly reached an agreement. Businesses who want to let Twitter users buy their products directly from tweets will need to sign up with Stripe, these sources said, but users won't have to leave the Twitter app to finish a transaction. Oh good, more ways to shopCurrently Stripe is believed to be Twitter's only partner in this initiative, but Re/code notes that that might change in the long run. Users will be able to purchase goods and services by simply clicking or tapping on a "buy" button (or something similar) within a tweet. They can then enter payment and/or shipping information, or - one can imagine - confirm information that's already been stored with Stripe or Twitter. Twitter users on Android reported in early August that a "payments and shipping" option had appeared in their settings, although tapping on it had no effect. And in June a "buy now" button appeared in some tweets, linking to the website Fancy. It looks like buying from Tweets is really happening, and given that assumption it seems likely that it will launch in time for the holidays. Who wouldn't want to do their holiday shopping and their tweeting at the same time? Another weird Twitter experiment is treating favourites like retweetshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dcf5197/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366854059/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf5197/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366854059/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf5197/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366854059/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf5197/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366854059/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf5197/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366854059/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dcf5197/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/emp7JbM49JA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/techradar/BOT/BOT0-470-75.jpgHow Dolby is bringing Atmos into the homehttp://cdn2.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/broadcast/Movies/Gravity/Gravity%20-%20Still%202-200-100.jpg Atmos is homeward bound Since Dolby Atmos arrived on the cinema scene in 2012, the technology has set a precedent for movie sound. The intricate but sparse sonic landscape of Gravity, Godzilla's guttural roar, the rain-soaked urban jungle of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes... all of these have benefitted from the Dolby Atmos Cinema Processor and its support of up to 128 discrete audio tracks. Given its use of over 60 speakers in the cinema, particularly overhead ones, it was a surprise when Atmos technology was announced for the home back in June. But Dolby's engineers believe they have created the right atmosphere for Atmos to work in a home environment. How Dolby is bringing Atmos into the home Build your first gaming PC: 5 tips from a first-time builderhttp://cdn2.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/features/Build%20gaming%20PC%20tips/Post%20cable%20management/buildagamingpcfinal-2-200-100.jpg Experts often overlook these tips for building a gaming PC "Hey everyone, my name is Joe, Reviews Editor for TechRadar, and I've never built a PC. Until now. Yes, I work for a technology media outlet and have never tangled my fingers in SATA cables. This is my shame. But recently all that changed." Continue reading... Why live TV and sports in 4K will not work over the internethttp://cdn0.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/televisions/May%20on%204K/4K%20trials/4K%20TV%20trials22-200-100.jpg Netflix needs 15.6Mbps but live TV is another matter Netflix has described 4K as "the format for the Internet" and with precious few other outlets for Ultra HD it's pretty easy to agree. Slowly but surely, the SVoD giant is adding UHD content to its line-up, most recently a couple of movies and box-set poster boy Breaking Bad. However, the BBC's recent live Ultra HD trials during the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games have highlighted an inconvenient truth: live sports coverage is a bandwidthosaurus. Read all about it... You'll be able to charge your car wirelessly from 2017http://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/car%20tech/Qualcomm/Halo/Demo-FormulaE/Halo-01-200-100.JPG Say no to cable constraints Electric cars certainly have potential, but it's a pain having to plug them in to charge - give it three years though and you'll be able to ditch those annoying cables. Wireless car charging technology is already up and running on the safety cars of the new Formula E championship - the world's first fully electric racing series - and from 2015 even the race cars will charge wirelessly. Continue reading... The world's 1000 must have gadgetshttp://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/other/best_tech_v3-200-100.jpg It's our mission at TechRadar to help you find the tech products that are best for you. That's why we review the specific products we do, while offering a veritable smorgasbord of helpful buying guides and product round-ups to help you find the cool gadgets, perfect play things and workplace wonders. Whether it be an ideal camera phone for your mum or a kick-ass Blu-ray player to pair with your new TV, we've got the experts on hand to offer the very best buying advice on the internet. Here you'll find a comprehensive repository of all that expert knowledge. With buying advice and specific product recommendations, look no further for your best chance of finding all the cool gadgets available today. Read: Cool Gadgets Best TVs 2014: choose the right TV for youhttp://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/televisions/Best%20TV%20main/tv_best-200-100.jpg Buying Guide There has never been a better time to buy a new TV. Gone are the days when 32-inch TVs weighed 16 tonnes and cost £1,500. These days you can pick up a 50-inch LCD TV for closer to £300. LCD panel technology has well and truly matured, and while brands like Sony and Panasonic push the boundaries of performance, you'll also find names like Toshiba doing very exciting things in the budget TV sector. The practical upshot of this is that no matter what you're after, how big you want to go or how large your budget is, there's a perfect TV out there for you. TV Buying Guide Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini reviewhttp://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/Samsung/Galaxy%20S5%20mini/HandsOn/S5Mini-HandsOn-13-200-100.JPG Smaller isn't always better If you're taken with the Galaxy S5's design, fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor, but can't afford its lofty price tag - or want a handset that's more manageable in the hand - then the Galaxy S5 Mini is a strong replacement. Shop around a little more though and the likes of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, HTC One Mini 2, iPhone 5C or OnePlus One make for some tough competition. Samsung may have created this sector of the mobile market with the Galaxy S3 Mini, but it no longer rules the roost and unless you're wedded to the firm's ecosystem there are better options available at this price point. Read: Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini review HTC One E8 reviewhttp://cdn0.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/HTC/HTC_OneE8/Hands%20on/HTC_One_E8_review%20(6)-200-100.jpg The plastic twin to the all-conquering M8 I always say: buy the best phone you can afford, as you'll be thankful in a year's time when you've still got 12 months left to run. With this handset, if you can, jump up to the full-fat One M8 to get the best experience, both aesthetically and spec-wise. This is a phone that's in the weird situation of being bettered by a device that came out months before. That said, if you can't (or don't want to) afford that, then the One E8 is a really great entry point into the higher echelons of the HTC ecosystem. Read: HTC One E8 review Sharp Aquos Crystal reviewhttp://cdn1.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/Sharp/Aquos%20Crystal/Hands%20on/sharpaquoscrystal-hero-200-100.jpg A sophisticated budget smartphone – from a distance At first glance, Sharp has made, well, a sharp smartphone for its first entry into the US market. The Aquos Crystal, borrowing the naming convention of the Japanese vendor's HDTVs, isn't your everyday mid-range handset. Sporting a nearly bezel-less, 5-inch display, the Aquos Crystal looks like it would fit right in next to the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3 and other flagship Android phones, at least from a distance. When holding one of these in your hand, it becomes almost immediately clear that this is a budget-friendly device, albeit a greatly upscaled one. Hands on: Sharp Aquos Crystal review HTC One M8 for Windows Phone reviewhttp://cdn1.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/HTC/HTC%20One%20M8%20for%20Windows%20Phone/Official/m8-windows-200-100.jpg A familiar phone with a totally different twist How does the HTC One M8 for Windows Phone feel in the hand? Well, exactly like its Android counterpart. It's the same phone. Same dimensions, same cameras, same internal parts, same everything. The only difference is Windows Phone 8.1. It's a beautiful piece of hardware. HTC took great care in making sure the design gives a seamless experience in handling the phone. It's weighty, that's for sure, but not so heavy that it would annoy you when it's in your pocket or purse. Hands on: HTC One M8 for Windows Phone review

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/internet/Facebook/chatheads_iPhone-470-75.jpgIdeally tapping on a phone number on your iPhone will prompt a pop-up asking whether you want to place a call, but one developer says he found a dangerous vulnerability in apps that don't ask first. This security hole could let attackers force your phone to make a call when you click on a website link, potentially connecting your phone to expensive numbers without warning. Developer Andrei Neculaesei of Copenhagen company Airtame described the issue on his blog, demonstrating how he created a web page with a link that opens a phone call automatically when accessed from certain native iOS apps. It reportedly works because these apps, including Facebook Messenger, Apple's Facetime, Google+, Gmail, and others, don't issue a pop-up when users tap a phone number within them. Hello Pretty!Neculaesei says he used "some sneaky-beaky-like JavaScript" to make links embedded in websites click themselves. When those sites are accessed through apps other than Safari, the links automatically activate and the calls are placed. He imagines even more severe dangers than being charged for expensive calls, like users accessing a link through Facetime and automatically transmitting a live video feed to attackers - a tactic he's named "Hello Pretty!" "Facetime calls are instant," he writes. "Imagine you clicking a link, your phone calls my (attacker) account, I instantly pick it up and (yes) save all the frames. Now I know how your face looks like and maybe where you are. Hello pretty!" He also warns that although this applies to far more apps than the four he mentions, it's not only Apple's fault, since third-party app developers can configure their software to prompt users when a phone number is tapped. Many, including big names like Google and Facebook, simply choose not to, but that could very well change in light of this discovery. We've asked Google, Facebook and Apple for comment, and we'll update here if we hear back. Facebook forcing us to download Messenger is a brilliant move http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dc5ced7/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157017040/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dc5ced7/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157017040/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dc5ced7/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157017040/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dc5ced7/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206157017040/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dc5ced7/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/206157017040/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3dc5ced7/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/lYythA8qrdY

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/VLC%20alternatives/realplayer-470-75.JPGThe growing popularity of YouTube, DailyMotion and other video streaming websites over the years has led to the rise of the VLC player - a program that can play videos and audio files encoded in a wide range of formats. VideoLAN's VLC Media Player is one of the most popular of its kind having been downloaded more than 1.1 billion times (add 134 million to that number if you want to include OS X and other platforms). It's a functional suite, featuring impressive codec support, but you may find it too complicated (or simplified) for your needs. If you're looking for a similar alternative with a slightly different feature set - whether it's support for cloud storage, the ability to convert files or play jazzy visualisations - there's a ton of alternatives at your disposal. We've picked out five of the best so that you don't have to. It's important to note that the following programs will try to install third-party add-ons onto your machine that aren't necessary for the programs to function properly. As such, we advise that you read the instructions carefully and manually opt out of installing anything that you don't need. If you have any suggestions for alternative VLC players that haven't made it into our list, let us know in the comments section below. 1. RealPlayerhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Launched back in 1995, RealPlayer is a golden oldie. The program has matured into a slick multimedia tool that supports of a wide range of video formats - including proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo (RA, RM, RV and RMVB), in addition to MP3, MPEG, Windows Media Player and Flash Video (FLV). By acting as a central repository for all of your media files, RealPlayer lets you make playlists, bookmark videos on webpages, burn CDs, DVDs, stream videos and more. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/VLC%20alternatives/realplayer-420-90.JPG Recent versions have improved mobile support, and you can now transfer music from your smartphone to your PC, and visa versa. There's also support for Google's Chromecast streaming dongle, which means you can now plug one into your HDMI-equipped TV and download the RealPlayer app (on iOS or Android) to take advantage of a myriad of services - from Netflix and YouTube to BBC iPlayer. 2. Free FLV Converterhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Though HTML5 has been growing in popularity for some time when it coms to streaming video, many videos on the internet are still encoded in the flash format (.FLV). While the availability of browser plug-ins means that computers can easily play such files, smartphones and tablets often can't, so they have to be converted before they can be played. Free FLV Converter can convert .FLV files into more formats than you can shake a stick at, including AVI, 3GP and MP4, allowing them to be viewed on anything from an iPod to an iPhone or smartphone. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/VLC%20alternatives/flv-converter-420-90.JPG Free FLV Converter is also handy in that it lets you search video portals within the application itself to find what you're looking for, which is a much quicker and convenient way of finding (and watching) videos on certain topics than manually typing search queries into video portals. You can choose to search all supported websites or individual ones, and multiple videos can be downloaded and converted in batches. 3. Winamphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Winamp is another venerable video player having established itself in the mid 90s. The fully-featured media player stands out for being highly customisable - whether that's in terms of installing visualisations or changing its appearance through its hundreds of skins. It supports a huge range of video and audio formats, including MPG, MPEG (ES, MP3, MP4, PS, PVA, TS), MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, MTM, M2V, M3U, M4A, NSA, NST, NSV and OGG. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/VLC%20alternatives/winamp-420-90.JPG Winamp's killer feature is its extensive plug-in library, which can bolster functionality in a similar way to how browsers such as Firefox and Chrome can (through add-ons and extensions respectively). These range from installing dcodec packs for playing different file formats to adding extra functionality - such as the ability to rip DVDs. 4. iTuneshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg iTunes receives a lot of bad press from frustrated Apple gadget owners who run into trouble with the program (usually when trying to upload or download content onto their i-Devices). However, despite not offering support for as many formats as other FLV Media Players, it still stands as a solid multimedia player - particularly if you own an iPod, iPhone or iPad. iTunes supports all video content purchased from the iTunes store, in addition to QuickTime and MPEG-4 movie files that end in .MOV, .MP4 and .MV4. You can also play video podcasts, iTunes Digital Copies and iTunes Store Movie Rentals. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/VLC%20alternatives/itunes-420-90.JPG Being Apple software, one of the major boons of opting for iTunes as your video player is that you can wirelessly stream what's on your iOS device onto a big TV. AirPlay-enabled output devices such as AirPort Express and Apple TV work with iTunes to let you access your content around the home, which is something that other players can't offer. 5. FLV Playerhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Software%20download%20buttons/download_button_1-180-100.jpg Whereas RealPlayer and Winamp strive for customisation and deep functionaltity, FLV Player prefers to keep things simple. In addition to playing .FLV files, you can zoom videos to full screen, create and save playlists and play videos in slow motion. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/TRBC/Apps/Downloads/VLC%20alternatives/flv-player-420-90.JPG If you're low on hard disk drive space or simply need a minimalist program that takes a no-nonsense approach to playing flash files, FLV Player is about as straightforward as you can get. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3dcaecc1/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/laja_yge_eM

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/HTC/HTC%20One%20M8%20for%20Windows%20Phone/htc-windows-4-470-75.jpgIt's official: HTC is releasing a new version of its flagship HTC One (M8) with Windows Phone 8 onboard instead of Android. That news has been rumored for a long time, but the bigger scoop is that the WP8 version reportedly has better battery life. That wouldn't necessarily be so unusual, if not for the fact that the two versions of the HTC One (M8) have completely identical hardware. That's a pretty good indication that Windows Phone 8 inherently drains less battery power than current versions of Android. Surprising numbersThe HTC One (M8)'s 2,600mAh battery is said to last for 22 hours of talk time and 528 hours in standby with Windows Phone 8, whereas the older Android version - with otherwise identical specs - gets 20 and 496 hours respectively. These numbers come straight from HTC's official specifications for these two devices. And the times cited by Verizon - the Windows Phone 8 HTC One (M8)'s sole carrier at the moment - show an even more drastic difference: just 12 hours of usage time and 12.2 days on standby for the Android version, and 21 hours/15.5 days for the WP8 version. It appears Verizon and HTC used different criteria to evaluate the phones' batteries, which helps explain the discrepancy between what the carrier and the phone's maker claim. But regardless, they agree that the WP8 version has superior battery life. We asked both HTC and Verizon about these numbers, and spokespeople for both companies said they're looking into them. We'll update here if they're able to find anything out. Will the iPhone 6 be announced next?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3db2665d/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366735785/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db2665d/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366735785/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db2665d/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366735785/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db2665d/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366735785/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db2665d/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366735785/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db2665d/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/JZEJW6SaZl0

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Snapchat/Snapchat_iPhone-470-75.jpgAs the old saying goes, nothing in life is truly free - and roughly 27 million Snapchat users may soon this lesson learn the hard way as their favorite disappearing message app starts getting cluttered up with revenue-generating content. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that messaging service Snapchat appears to be enlisting new partnerships with advertisers and content providers in the hopes of monetizing the popular mobile app. Rumored to debut in November, the new Snapchat Discovery service would provide users with non-messaging content including news and advertisements from a dozen or more media companies, including magazines and television networks. According to unnamed sources, one of the first content providers tapped for Snapchat Discovery is MailOnline, the web presence for British newspaper The Daily Mail, who would presumably lend their brand of news coverage to the service. Mo' moneySince tossing a $3 billion (about UK£1.8B, AU$2.23B) acquisition offer from Facebook in the trash last year, Snapchat has accelerated fundraising efforts, but has yet to produce any meaningful income to show investors. With a captive audience of young, tech-savvy users, Snapchat Discovery could be the first baby steps toward such revenue, thanks to a combination of mobile ads and entertainment content. Discovery reportedly works much like photos and messages do today: User will be able to read daily news content or watch clips of movies and TV shows by holding a finger on the smartphone display, and afterwards the content would vanish into thin air. Snapchat is no stranger to promotional gimmicks, but Discovery would likely provide far more lucrative income from companies whose deep pockets are finding new ways to get the eyes of millions of upwardly mobile users viewing such paid content. Go hands on with our review of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini!http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3db22e6b/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934770/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6b/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934770/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6b/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934770/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6b/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934770/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6b/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/206156934770/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6b/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/l55hzmnTY9E

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Twitter/Vine/iphone_vine_update-470-75.jpgRecording six-second videos on the fly in Vine may have been part of the fun, but as of today the iOS app finally lets users simply import existing videos from their devices. Previously Vine users had to tap and hold on the screen for a total of six seconds, both recording their videos on the fly. Thankfully Vine's overlords at Twitter have lifted that restriction, letting Viners upload videos they've already taken using their phones' normal camera apps, with the ability to cut multiple clips into a single Vine. It may take away part of the challenge of making great Vine videos, but it will also probably lead to more content on the service. The company is currently encouraging users to mine the depths of their old videos and publish them using the hashtag #VintageVine. Slow it down, free it upThe ability to import existing videos into Vine may also make the service more attractive to those who prefer Instagram's less restrictive video feature, which lets users trim, filter and upload up to 15 seconds of footage. This Vine update also adds new editing tools, like the ability to duplicate specific sections of video or mute certain parts of the audio, and new tools for recording footage, including a grid and a level to help ensure you're shooting straight. Finally the new Vine app also lets iPhone 5S owners use the smartphone's slow motion video recording feature. Unfortunately this update is currently available only for the iOS version of the app, though Vine iOS Engineer Richard Plom wrote in a blog post that Android users should "stay tuned" for their version. "When we introduced Vine, we wanted to make it easier for people to create, share and discover short, looping videos," Plom explained. "As the community continues to grow and more and more people find and watch Vines every day, we are excited to provide people with more tools to express their creativity and make even more, and more awesome, Vines." Vine just got private with new direct messaging featurehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3db22e6d/sc/21/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934769/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6d/sc/21/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934769/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6d/sc/21/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934769/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6d/sc/21/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/206156934769/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6d/sc/21/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/206156934769/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3db22e6d/sc/21/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/rSp03e_GRQQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iPhone%205/HandsOn/iPhone5HandsOn-23-470-75.jpgAs mobile apps continue to consume more of mobile device use, many businesses are thinking carefully about their technology marketing strategies. Even small local businesses may find that frequent customers are interested in interacting with their locations through an app rather than a mobile website. Thanks to do-it-yourself app development tools, small businesses can create an informational app that gives customers the information they need without costing a fortune. But does your small business need an app? Before you begin the process of strategizing and creating one, there are a few questions you should ask to determine whether it’s the right route to take. Can you afford it?DIY tools have made it easy to create a simple app, but this still will take time away from your busy schedule. Additionally, many of the free or inexpensive app tools will allow you only to build the most basic of apps. For more interactive functionality, you’ll likely need an app developer to work on it, which will entail an hourly fee to a developer. For your money, an investment in a mobile website may be a better idea. Unless your site was designed in recent years, it may not be optimized for mobile, which means your customers are having difficulty navigating it on tablets and smartphones. If you set up your site using a template from a site like WordPress, there are now numerous responsive webpage themes that automatically adjust to fit a visitor’s screen size. Will your customers download it?One of the most compelling arguments against an app is that your customers won’t download it. Unlike a responsive website, which can be called up on the fly, an app requires your customers to locate it in the app store, download it, and open it on their devices every time they want to use it. Will your customers go to all that trouble simply to have access to your menu or your latest sales? Probably not. However, a restaurant could entice frequent customers to use an app to place orders for delivery. Domino’s Pizza’s app is the perfect example of this, giving customers the opportunity to order pizzas with just a couple of screen taps, since payment and delivery preferences are saved. You can even set up the app to list a customer’s previous orders for easy reordering. A retail location can use an app to sell products or send weekly ads to customers. Target also allows customers to pull up coupons that can be scanned directly from their smartphone screen. However, much of this functionality can also be employed through a mobile website, which means a business may be wasting its valuable time and resources developing an app that will never be used. Is it useful?If you’re going to create an app, you’d be more successful if you provide something that customers will find useful and brand it for marketing purposes. A beach destination could offer an app designed to help tourists better navigate the area. A clothing retailer could design a fun app that allows fashionistas to create looks that they can then purchase in the store. If a customer sees a use for the app that will extend beyond simply finding out your operating hours and weekly discounts, that customer will be much more likely to download it and use it regularly. Thanks to mobile web design, businesses don’t have to create an app to connect with customers on smartphones and tablets. However, an app can be useful if it is something a customer will find useful to their own lives. If your business can build in a way for loyal customers to place orders, you may have a good reason to build an app. Before investing the time and money, though, consider whether the same task can be accomplished using a mobile-friendly website. 10 best Office apps for Androidhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3daf2a89/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766758/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a89/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766758/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a89/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766758/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a89/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766758/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a89/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366766758/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a89/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/IYxV-jA0xSQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/desktop_pcs_and_macs/Intel/Intel_Galileo1-470-75.jpgMicrosoft has developed a "non-commercial version of Windows based on Windows 8.1" for developers who buy Intel Galileo boards. According to PC World, it is a "pared-down, proof-of-concept" version of the operating system that is designed to work specifically with that hardware. Given that the Galileo board runs a Quark X1000 processor, that is essentially an enhanced Pentium 400MHz CPU, it's interesting to see that Microsoft did not go down the route of Windows Embedded 8, but instead opted to customise "full-fat" Windows 8.1. You want to read our Raspberry Pi review now, don't you?That is despite both being targeted at the same embedded, connected market commonly known as the Internet of Things (IoT). A spokesperson for Microsoft commented: "The preview Windows image is another opportunity for makers and developers to create, generate new ideas and provide feedback to help Microsoft continue making Windows even better on this class of device". A number of retailers are now selling the soon-to-be-retired first generation of Intel's Galileo for under £40, which is less than twice the retail price of its arch-rival, the Raspberry Pi. Galileo was launched earlier this year as part of Intel's Arduino-certified development boards based on its ubiquitous x86 architecture. The Windows preview runs only on the Intel Galileo Gen 1 with v1.0.2 firmware and can be downloaded here. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3daf2a94/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766756/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a94/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766756/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a94/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766756/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a94/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366766756/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a94/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366766756/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3daf2a94/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/69PW6DfQqXw

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Google/photosphere_google_ios-470-75.jpgIf a picture speaks a thousand words, then a Photo Sphere must speak millions. Now iOS users can get in on the spherical photo wordplay, too. Google has released a Photo Sphere app for iPhone 5, iPhone 5S and iPads running iOS 7 and up, marking the first time the feature has been available outside of the Android ecosystem. The app creates panoramas that stitch together multiple photos spanning not just a 360-degree horizon, but also "up, down and all around," as the app's official description says. A simple custom interface guides users in taking perfect panoramas, ensuring the software will be able to effectively combine all the images. Why ever leave the house?Photo Sphere previously worked only on devices running Android 4.2 or higher, or with panoramas snapped using fancy DSLR cameras. But the app also lets users share their photo spheres over Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and email, or add them directly to Google Maps, where anyone can view them. Photo Sphere creators have been using that Google Maps compatibility to create virtual tours of businesses, landmarks and other locations since 2013. And best of all? Google's Photo Sphere app for iOS is free. Google Maps is about to make it easier than ever to explorehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3da9d2e6/sc/15/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366698508/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3da9d2e6/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366698508/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3da9d2e6/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366698508/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3da9d2e6/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366698508/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3da9d2e6/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366698508/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3da9d2e6/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/-arAYr9M7uM

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/televisions/May%20on%204K/4K%20trials/4K%20TV%20trials22-470-75.jpgNetflix has described 4K as "the format for the Internet" and with precious few other outlets for Ultra HD it's pretty easy to agree. Slowly but surely, the SVoD giant is adding UHD content to its line-up, most recently a couple of movies and box-set poster boy Breaking Bad. However, the BBC's recent live Ultra HD trials during the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games have highlighted an inconvenient truth: live sports coverage is a bandwidthosaurus. During the World Cup, the BBC needed 36Mbps to stream 2160p UHD resolution at 60 frames per second. At some point in the future, an engineer speculated that this might drop to 25Mbps. That compares to just 15.6Mbps currently used by Netflix for the Ultra HD content on its nascent streaming service. Meanwhile, the UK's average broadband speed is 17.8Mbps but that Ofcom number is worked out using quoted speeds, not actual ones. A BBC spokesman told TechRadar that delivering high frame rate UHD sport is much harder to encode than library content which can be massaged to fit a smaller broadband pipe. The implications of this could be huge. While broadcasters in the UK and abroad continue to play any 4K plans close to their chest, previous form suggests that live sports will be the key driver for 4K channel plans, and it's increasingly looking like satellite will be the only way to effectively deliver high frame rate live UHD, not least because pretty much anyone can erect a dish to get it (planning permission not withstanding). 4K could flip from being the format of the Internet to the format of the dish overnight. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/televisions/May%20on%204K/sony4kcamcorder-420-90.jpg 4K capture in the homeOf course, it could equally be argued that 4K will ultimately be the format of the home videographer. I've been playing Sony's FDR-AX100 4K camcorder, and the results look so stupefyingly good, only a complete lack of film-making talent prevents me from home brewing all my own content. Admittedly, a channel consisting primarily of cats misbehaving and shrubbery may not sound overly captivating, but the amount of detail captured by the AX100 is simply mesmerising. Playback revealed details I was oblivious to when shooting; the all but invisible lace of a spider's web looked stunning, while the veined wings of a passing fly had eerie beauty. It was if I had suddenly turned into Ant-Man. The AX100 camcorder shoots 4K in XAVCS format, in 30p/35p. It can also record in XAVC S HD or AVCHD at the same time for easy file sharing, but be mindful though that UHD file sizes are reasonably hefty. A 64GB SD card will only get you 130 minutes of footage. The ability to record your own 4K content looks likely to expand rapidly, as pocket cameras begin to offer the functionality. If a system camera is more your style, then Panasonic's GH4 will shoot comparable 2160p. The GH4 encodes its UHD in h.264 MPEG-4, again with frame rates capped at 30Hz/fps. Compared, footage from both is remarkably similar in overall fidelity. On a large screen 4K panel even the most mundane sequences have depth and surprisingly beauty. And of course, being UHD you can take your home brew footage cinematically large. I ran my Sony 4K b-roll through the brand's top of the line VPL-VW1100ES 4K projector (a snip at £18,000 or thereabouts) onto a 120-inch screen. The results looked incredible. 3840 x 2160 resolution scales in a way that no consumer format has ever done before. Any bets on when You've Been Framed will get a UHD upgrade? 11 reasons why your next TV has to be an Ultra HD 4K TV

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Generics/court_gavel-470-75.jpgMicrosoft has launched the preview version of a document management and collaboration tool specifically designed for lawyers. The tool, which is integrated with Office 365, will provide legal professionals secure storage and sharing via the cloud. Think of the product, Matter Center, as OneDrive for the legal industry. Lawyers will receive 1TB of individual storage and the ability to synchronize documents between online and offline environments. Users can share files internally within their respective firms, and externally, while also tracking edits in real-time. Uses can also drag attachments from Outlook directly into the tool for later sharing of editing. Similar to other file sharing services, users can grant or restrict access to documents. Subsequent documents tagged with the same metadata will inherit the same permissions. The tool can be deployed in the cloud, in a hybrid scenario, or on-premises as part of SharePoint. OneDriveMicrosoft recently updated OneDrive by increasing the size of image and video thumbnails, and allowing users to customize covers selected for albums. It also began allowing users to post videos from OneDrive to Facebook. In January, Microsoft officially launched OneDrive as a rebrand of SkyDrive, which was launched in 2012. The best services for sharing big fileshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3d9ff602/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366697395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9ff602/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366697395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9ff602/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366697395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9ff602/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366697395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9ff602/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366697395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9ff602/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ngt4_2udi38

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry-02-470-75.jpgBlackBerry has launched a Technology Solutions group focused on embedded software, Internet of Things and BlackBerry's approximately 44,000 patents. The unit is led by former Sony-Ericsson CTO Sandeep Chennakeshu. BlackBerry Technology Solutions (BTS) comprises the QNX, Project ION, Certicom and Paratek products. BlackBerry launched Project ION in May to create a secure public application platform (PAP) to help grow a network of developers and carriers in order to enable IoT-focused partnerships. The QNX operating system, formerly known as RIM, is crucial to Project ION because it powers PAP. It is vital for BlackBerry to develop a lucrative line of business beyond traditional enterprise smartphone technology. Blackberry's smartphone market share continues to tumble, down to 0.5% compared with 2.8% last year. The platform was only shipped on 1.5 million devices this quarter, compared with 6.7 million devices during the same quarter last year. BlackBerry's rebound?BlackBerry has 7,000 employees - down from more than 17,500 in 2011. BlackBerry CEO John Chen recently said the company will make strategic acquisitions to boost future sales. BlackBerry acquired Germany enterprise mobility management firm Secusmart. Last month, BlackBerry named former LiveOps Chief Executive Officer Marty Beard Chief Operating Officer. As COO, Beard is responsible for BlackBerry's marketing, BlackBerry 10 Application Development, customer care and quality control. Chennakeshu joins the company after more than 25 years in the wireless, electronics and semiconductor industry. He most recently served as President of Ericsson Mobile Platforms and CTO of Sony-Ericsson. He also served as the Chief Development Officer of Freescale Semiconductor. 7 mobile device management solutions you should knowhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3d9f32f0/sc/46/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366654045/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9f32f0/sc/46/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366654045/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9f32f0/sc/46/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366654045/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9f32f0/sc/46/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366654045/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9f32f0/sc/46/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366654045/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9f32f0/sc/46/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/5Z7u5-nAQmk

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/tablets/Sony/XperiaZ2Tablet/HandsOn2/XperiaZ2Tablet-HandsOn-14-470-75.JPGThe fervor surrounding smaller tablets like the iPad mini and Nexus 7 appears to have mostly fallen on deaf ears in Japan, but Sony may finally be getting the message, if a brief new product mention in an unlikely place is any indication. TechTastic (via Google Translate) turned up an interesting find today while sifting through the user guide for Sony's newest Bluetooth speaker, which directly mentions compatibility with an as-yet unannounced Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact. The discovery can be clearly be spotted lurking on page four of the Bluetooth Speaker with Magnetic Charging Pad model BSC10 user guide (PDF link), which outlines which attachment to use with a variety of Xperia smartphones and tablets. The word "Compact" seems to indicate Sony could finally be taking smaller tablets seriously, and the report suggests that particular model could lean closer to an eight-inch display than the consumer electronics giant's previous 10.1-inch models. On the horizonXperia tablet fans also may not have long to wait for the release, with the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact rumored to be announced on September 3, which is only two and a half weeks away at this writing. The report prognosticates that the more diminutive tablet will arrive with internal specs largely matching those of the Xperia Z3 smartphone, although Sony will likely cheap out when it comes to the camera quality. Assuming that is indeed the case, that would put a MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 processor under the Compact's hood, along with 3GB RAM and a 1080p resolution display to top things off. Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact may not satisfy Sony lovers in the market for a seven-inch slate, but it may have to suffice for now; look for this one to pop up on the radar again sometime in the next couple of weeks. Go (virtual) hands-on with Oculus Rift in our review!http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3d9e8b4c/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366652728/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9e8b4c/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366652728/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9e8b4c/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366652728/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9e8b4c/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366652728/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9e8b4c/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366652728/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d9e8b4c/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/H1vQ4mMxjfU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Onetimers/Field%20Trip-470-75.jpgGoogle has integrated a relatively unknown app called Field Trip into its ever-improving Google Now personal assistant. The under-the-radar Field Trip app, which launched back in 2012, is a product of Google's Niantic labs and notifies smartphone users of local points of interest. Its raison d'être is to showcase cool, hidden places whenever you're in the vicinity. Field Trip runs in the background and sends users a card-based notification with information on interesting spots. Now those cards, which can include everything from historical sites to interesting architecture to the best places to shop, have been added to the Google Now experience. Travel aid"When you're traveling, you can always use a little extra help to learn more about a cool landmark, or to make sure you don't miss the most interesting local architecture or public art," Google said in the announcement. "The Field Trip app from Google's Niantic Labs was designed to allow people to discover the hidden and unique locations in the world around them - and now, when you're traveling you'll start seeing information from Field Trip in Google Now." Google Now can get you out of a jam with Waze integrationhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3d90e34a/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366632169/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d90e34a/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366632169/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d90e34a/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366632169/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d90e34a/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366632169/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d90e34a/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366632169/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d90e34a/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/_DsQGVYUq_I

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/techradar/BOT/BOT0-470-75.jpg25 Google search tips and tricks you need to knowhttp://cdn1.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/features/Google%20Tips/GoogleTipsHero-200-100.jpg Search smarter with our expert guide to Google Everybody knows Google, but not everybody knows its secrets, the little things that make finding what you want faster, that make searches more specific and that uncover entertaining Easter eggs. Here are 25 of our favourite ways to find Google's G spots Meet Slice: the Raspberry Pi-powered media player with a differencehttp://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/av_accessories/Slice%20Media%20Player/2-200-100.jpg Turn your media files into a personal Netflix library Anyone with a large digital media library will be familiar with the problem. Thousands of MP3, MKV, AVI, FLAC and MOV files sit at your beck and call, but how best to unleash their full potential instead of keeping them cooped up on a hard drive somewhere? FiveNinjas thinks it has the answer. It's a media player called Slice and it's set to be the first device to hit the shelves with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module at its heart. It's designed to transform your media library into a 1TB personal, portable Netflix, allowing you to plug into any TV via HDMI and play back any media file you have in your collection. Read all about it http://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/games_consoles/PlayStation%205/PS5/SonyPS5-580-100.png PlayStation 5: what to expect The PS5 is coming but when and in what form? The PlayStation 4 is barely out of its box in terms of a console life cycle. But with so many recent advances - PlayStation Now, pre-loading games, YouTube streaming and PlayStation TV to name but a few - we're thinking about the future of black boxes under the television. Is there one or are we just looking at Sony TVs shipping with a DualShock 4 from here on in rather than a PS5 console? A PlayStation 5 will land in some form but what's most interesting is whether it'll be the big component packed box we've grown accustomed to heating our living rooms, a palm sized streaming device or an invisible power ever present on our televisions or even iPhones and iPads. Continue reading... Another case of password theft leaves commenters feeling hacked offhttp://cdn2.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/features/Inflame/FUTUREOWNS_BN64.feat_privacy-200-100.jpg INFLAME All your passwords are belong to some Russian hacker dudes Turns out it doesn't really matter how many uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers or words about horses you have in your internet passwords, as most of them have been hacked and stolen anyway. News this week suggested that an amazing 1.2billion email addresses and passwords have been harvested by hacking group CyberVors, which poked insecure servers with a malware botnet (and perhaps bought in more stolen data from other hackers) resulting in the biggest data collection in the history of hacks. Read all about it OnePlus women-only photo contest shows we still have a long way to gohttp://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/features/OnePlus%20oped/OnePlus%20photo%20contest-200-100.jpg Really, a t-shirt? If you haven't already heard, OnePlus launched a contest to commemorate reaching 200,000 message board members in which only women – or "ladies" as we're referred to like a Tuesday night cover charge special – were asked to submit a photo of themselves with the OnePlus logo drawn on a piece of paper or themselves. The 50 photos that garnered the most "likes" on the predominately male OnePlus forums would earn the entrants a T-shirt. If there were at least 500 entries, OnePlus would do the gentlemanly thing and invite its "favorite photo" to buy a One smartphone. Reaction on Twitter was decidedly negative Android L (5.0) release date – when can I get it?http://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/events/google/Google%20IO%202012/GOOGLE%20I-O%20DAY%20ONE/P6271394-200-100.JPG Android L is now out in the open and it includes a handful of new features, a visual overhaul and numerous under-the-hood improvements to make if faster, more efficient and lighter on your battery, but while we know all about it, it's not yet available for public consumption. Even once it does launch it will be down to individual manufacturers to port it to their devices, so chances are you'll still be waiting a while to get it on your phone and tablet (unless you've gone full Nexus already) and most companies haven't yet been all that forthcoming with details of when they'll bring it to their phones and tablets. Find out when you'll get it http://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/games_consoles/Steam%20Machines/TechRadar%20Steam%20Machine/Product%20Shots/pshot-case-580-90.jpg How to build a Steam Machine for less than the price of a PS4It's not hard to see why PC gaming isn't so straightforward for the modern casual gamer. Graphics can look better on PC than on console, but most people own a laptop instead of a desktop these days and the price of high-end graphics cards is still scarier than the combined efforts of a horror film festival. But there is another way Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs Galaxy S5 Mini vs iPhone 5S vs Xperia Z1 Compacthttp://cdn2.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/Samsung/Galaxy%20Alpha/Press/GalaxyAlpha-Press-02-200-100.jpg The battle of the tiny powerhouses Apple has long argued for the merits of a smartphone you can use one-handed, that's why the iPhone 5S grew taller, but not wider. The idea of a scaled down flagship isn't alien to the big Android OEMs, but Sony is the only one so far to avoid scaling down the specs when it shrank the phone, which is why the Xperia Z1 Compact is the current king of smaller Android smartphones. But wait, what's this? A premium design in a small body with cutting edge specs? Samsung has been listening and it's trying to blow away the compact competition, including its own Galaxy S5 Mini, with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. Does it have what it takes to be the leader in the category of mini hyperphones? Let's take a look http://cdn0.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/Versus/AlphavsS5-200-100.jpg Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs Samsung Galaxy S5Samsung's new premium smartphone goes head to head with the flagship The Samsung Galaxy Alpha may not share the 'S5' moniker of the Korean firm's flagship smartphone, but this new 'premium' device certainly has several similarities to the Samsung Galaxy S5. It's fair to say that the two handsets are aimed at slightly different markets, with the Galaxy S5 one of the top all-singing, all-dancing Android smartphones on the market, while the Galaxy Alpha's approach looks to be more refined, targeted specifically at the upcoming iPhone 6. The tricky thing is, it now looks like Samsung has two top-end handsets - so which one should you choose? Read on to find out Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini reviewhttp://cdn1.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/Samsung/Galaxy%20S5%20mini/HandsOn/S5Mini-HandsOn-09-220-100.JPG The Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini was quietly announced via press release at the beginning of July, and it's now finding its way into stores around the world, so how does the pint-sized smartphone shape up? As far as design goes there's no mistaking this is a close relative to the Samsung Galaxy S5, with the S5 Mini sporting the familiar ribbed faux-metal band around its circumference and the dimpled polycarbonate rear linking it directly to its bigger brother. It's got the HTC One Mini 2, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, iPhone 5C and the LG G3 Beat in its sights, as these shrunken smartphones look to do battle a couple of tiers below their flagship brethren. Hands on: Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini review Samsung UE48H6700 reviewhttp://cdn1.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/televisions/Samsung/Samsung%20UE48H6700/SamsungUE48H6700HERO-220-100.jpg Selling for around £850 in the UK, the UE48H6700 is a great looking TV, with a rectangular aluminium desktop stand complete with a leaning tower column lending an industrial, though classy, look. The TV itself has a sleek-looking 9mm surround on three sides of the screen, which does create just enough of a floating effect for the money. On the underside of the TV is a transparent plastic rim, which nicely catches the light, though there's not much motion to get excited about; that desktop stand can't swivel even a few degrees. Does it look as good as Samsung's curved TVs? No, but it's pretty close and a fraction of the cost. Read: Samsung UE48H6700 review John Lewis 55JL9000 reviewhttp://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/televisions/John%20Lewis/John%20Lewis%2055JL9000/JohnLewisHERO1-220-100.jpg Having successfully introduced its branding to other electronics products, predominantly in the white goods arena, it makes perfect sense for respected retailer John Lewis to turn its attention to big-screen TVs. However successful John Lewis might be as a retailer, though, it isn't in a position to suddenly start building TVs from scratch. So it's had to turn to an established manufacturer for its big own-name TV debut, the 55-inch John Lewis 55JL9000. And that manufacturer is… [drum roll please] … LG Electronics. Read: John Lewis 55JL9000 review Amazon Fire Phone reviewhttp://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/mobile_phones/Amazon/Fire%20Phone%20hands%20on/fire-phone-1-220-100.jpg Don't buy the Amazon Fire Phone. It's very rare that we'll say that to kick off a verdict, but that's the bottom line with this device. We don't need wax philosophical about its implications and its competition. We don't need to talk about Amazon's strategy in depth. Do not buy this phone. First, it's expensive for what it is. If you buy this on contract, it will cost you the same as an iPhone, HTC One M8, LG G3 or Galaxy S5. If you buy it off contract, you're nearing the $700 territory, and the Fire Phone is closer to a midrange device than a high end one. Read: Amazon Fire Phone review Acer Chromebook 13 reviewhttp://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/laptops/Chromebook/Acer%2013/acerchromebook13-hero-220-100.jpg Chromebooks have come a long way since their debut just over three years ago. In their first year, Google's laptops sold to the tune of tens of thousands. This year, some firms estimate sales in the tens of millions. But even with such meteoric growth, at least one of the search giant's partners isn't sitting on its laurels. The latest leap forward in the category comes from a newcomer to the space that would be surprising if not for its rapid branching out from its bread and butter: Nvidia. Hands on: Acer Chromebook 13 review

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Tableau/story_points_on_the_mac-470-75.JPG BI insights, Story Points and the MacTableau Software is a data visualiastion company that was founded back in 2003 by Stanford University PhD student Chris Stolte (now the company's Chief Development Officer), his PhD supervisor at the time (and Pixar co-founder) Pat Hanrahan, and Christian Chabot, the company's CEO. Tableau's software connects data sources - like spreadsheets, big data and databases - allowing companies (or individuals) to combine them into visual representations using drag and-and-drop and point-and-click mechanisms in a bid to understand and make better decisions from data. The company recently launched Tableau v8.2, bringing the app onto the Mac for the first time along with new map designs and a feature called Story Points that allows users to assemble sheets and dashboards in a way that lets them to tell stories over time using data. We spoke to Jock Mackinlay, VP Visual Analysis at Tableau, to find out more about the company's direction and its latest release. Mackinlay, who joined Tableau in 2004 as director of Visual Analysis, was working on information visualisation long before the term even existed having graduated from Stanford in 1986 with a PhD on data visualisation that combined artificial intelligence with computer graphics and UI work. TechRadar Pro: Tableau Software is often talked about as a leader in data visualisation. What sets the company apart from the competition? Jock Mackinlay: A number of things have distinguished Tableau from the start. Pat Hanrehan was very skilled at declarative languages, so Tableau's technology was based on this declarative way of describing data visualisations which we called VizQL, which he worked on with Chris [stolte]. That led to two innovations - a simple user experience and the drag and drop interface that we're familiar with, which can lead to discovery - and the ability to connect to databases. That has completely distinguished us from the early data visualisation companies. Being able to connect to databases in a really authentic and deep way makes us much more useful, and allows regular people to work with their data. TechRadar Pro: An increasing number of organisations are claiming to be "data-driven". What do you think that means in 2014? JM: Going back to the old BI way of doing things, some people think that means that you just build a data warehouse and stuff will happen. That isn't how it works. The data is really valuable, but in the end, we have to make the decisions. We come up with intuitions and data is what we use to refine them. That's how we move forward for product direction, and I think that's how successful people who use data in data-driven organisations should use their data. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/people/jock-mackinlay-420-90.JPG TRP: Are you finding that businesses moving away from trying to build a "single version of the truth" using data from data warehouses? JM: That's the classic BI thing - to put up one form of the truth. Data is pooling up everywhere, and when you try to start answering questions using it, you discover that you need data from various sources, so you end up having to ad-hoc combine them. Sure, you can put up a data warehouse, but don't be surprised if there's multiple sources of data in your organisation that you need to combine. The richer kinds of conversations are what the Story Points feature in the latest release of Tableau are all about. That's all about explaining your findings to people and going through the logical sequences and steps to get conversations going. People might then look at the data and come back with something else along the same lines. It's not just a case of, "I collected this data and it contracts your data" - it's much more about working with the same data but with different points of view to generate that rich, healthy and useful conversation. TRP: Did you bring Tableau 8.2 to the Mac to introduce the platform's users to Story Points, or was it in response to demand? JM: We previously worked on storytelling directly and now it's a natural outcome of what we do - Tableau's core thing is to help people discover things in their data. Normally when you discover something in data, you almost always need to tell somebody about it, so the Story Points feature is a natural fit. The reason we worked on the Mac had nothing to do with that though, it's just that there's a very large and healthy platform on which people are working with data. The wonderful thing is that a lot of storytellers use Macs, so you get the synergy of the two features against each other. However, I think we only discovered the synergy now that the release has happened and people have started doing things with it, which is what happens with all of our features. TRP: How do you decide what goes into future releases? JM: Forward product direction at Tableau is about what's worked for us for years, which is both a bottom-up and top-down process. On the bottom-up side we get a lot of feedback from our customers - our sales teams are really good about communicating information like that. We get a long list of feature requests as a result. On the top-down side we know a lot about human perception, visualisation, data computation and data performance. When these two efforts meet we try and find coherent chunks that make sense to work on, make investment in R&D and then ship the features in the next release. It's part science and part art and one of the ways I think data is really useful. We often have intuitions about what features we should ship with the next release - we use bottom-up data to literally either validate our intuitions or contradict our decisions. It may cause our intuitions to shift slightly so that they become more refined. Research and future developments TRP: Can you tell us about the research teams you head and what they're working on? JM: There are two groups under me - one is a user experience design team that was started around two-and-a-half years ago. That was an investment. Then about a year ago it seemed that the company was large enough to start a higher set of people that didn't have development or UX design as their full-time job, but were more about straight-forward innovation. Altogether we hired five people - it's a natural part of growth to be able to invest in specialists. TRP: From what types of backgrounds do your hires usually come from? JM: Because Tableau came out of the research world we've had research interns and professors. One of the recent hires, Maureen Stone, has been consulting for the company. Another was a professor on sabbatical who said he wanted to stay at the right moment, which was roughly the time when Tableau Research started. The new hires have been hugely successful, so if I find more good people, I can easily justify hiring them too. We're very collaborative in our research, so we look for people who have multiple disciplines that they're skilled at as it creates a natural affinity for collaboration between them. Most of the team is skilled at data visualisation, but there's multiple people on it that do statistics, and they're all interested in our mission. They write academic papers, so they're also PhD-level people. TRP: Do you see any parallels between them and your old colleagues at Xerox Parc? JM: Back when I was at Parc there were people who were full-time research guys that wrote awesome papers but might have shifted topics from one place to another over the course of their career. It makes sense at Tableau to hire people who are on a mission as everybody will be driven to working toward the same goal - the team is driven to have impact on the product. TRP: What's on Tableau's roadmap in the next 12 months? JM: We're now a public company, and the conversations of roadmap get more vague when you're public. We've just put Tableau 8.2 to bed, and after having a week off the whole team is now pivoting to release 9 and working on various things. Some people I talk to said that it's natural to think that one vector Tableau could be on going forward is that of adding new types of visualisations. The interesting point to make there is that we try to only add visualisations that are useful. We've got a load of those in the product, but visualisation isn't just about the visual and coding of data, it's about interaction and using those visual representations in an interactive way. That'll be a major vector of innovation going forward, and there's a lot of engineering to do in that area. That's part of what's going to happen in release 9. From an engineering point of view, when you're using web browsers or mobile devices, you have to worry about client-server architectures, so we've been working on that for a couple of years. We'll make it possible for client-side devices to have rich interaction on them, and some of that will happen in 9 too, while some of it will happen after that as we start to take advantage of it http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3d8820c4/sc/4/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575505/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820c4/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575505/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820c4/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575505/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820c4/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575505/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820c4/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366575505/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820c4/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/GAJRx86kSA8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/emdoor-470-75.jpgMicrosoft originally mentioned three features that were to be rolled out in the latest update to Windows 8.1 last Tuesday but more have been found by prominent Microsoft expert, Paul Thurott. Lumped with the rest of the dozens of other compulsory and optional downloads issued was one called KB2975719, which turns out to be a 171MB update formerly known as Windows 8.1 Update 2. Other than the three confirmed ones (Precision touchpad improvements, Miracast Receive APIs and fewer login prompts for Sharepoint Online), Microsoft detailed four other minor ones (settings changes for "Update and recovery", the addition of the Russian currency, Ruble, blocking out-of-date Active X and video capture metadata for MP4 APIs). All that you need to know about Windows 9Last Tuesday saw a deluge of update with a number of security related ones for Internet Explorer, Windows and .Net as well plus updates to Microsoft Office 2013 and Lync 2013. Windows 8.1 Update 2 was supposed to be the last big update to Windows 8.1 (and Windows 8) before Microsoft's next flagship OS, Windows 9 (or Threshold) launched in roughly next year. Latest rumours mention that Microsoft may kill the controversial Charms bar while adding a "virtual desktop" feature. Via: WinSupersite http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3d8820cf/sc/28/mf.gif http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575503/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820cf/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575503/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820cf/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575503/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820cf/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/204366575503/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820cf/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/204366575503/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3d8820cf/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/nVu9Uh3ysWg

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/internet/Foxtel%20Presto/Presto%20lead-470-75.jpgFoxtel has slashed the monthly subscription cost for its Presto movie streaming service to almost half - from $19.99 per month to just $9.99. The online movie streaming service launched earlier this year on iOS, Android and PCs, with an introductory price of $4.99 for the first month and $19.99 after that. However Foxtel has today announced that from August 17, Presto's monthly price will be reduced to $9.99 per month. "With Presto's vast offering of recent blockbusters and classic films, we have delivered one of the best value-for-money movie subscription streaming services anywhere," said Shaun James, Director for Presto and Video-on-Demand. New release films will remain to be charged on a pay-per-view basis, while Foxtel has previously said that it has no plans to include TV shows to the Presto service yet. Facing competitionThe price drop comes months after streaming rival Quickflix (which does also include TV shows) dropped it's monthly subscription price to $9.99 as well earlier this year. And while both services are available on Chromecast, Presto still has yet to make an appearance on the next-gen consoles. Foxtel's Presto is also facing increasing pressure with the arrival of new competition in the form of movie streaming service EzyFlix.tv, and Fetch TV becoming available through retailers. Among other rumoured local services from TV broadcasters and film distributors, US-based streaming service Netflix is also looking to launch in Australia in 2015, though it has been noted that many Aussies already access the US version of the service for less than $15 a month through the grey waters of VPN usage. Presto has however been added to the new Digital Content Guide, a list put together by content owners that provides information on where Australians can legally access digital content like movies, games and music. Check out our review of Foxtel Presto http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3d87e407/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/7kbNvQIGBEM