sincity

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/cloud_services/Perzo/perzo-safelock-470-75.JPGGovernment-backed hackers are targeting major news organisations and journalists, according to two Google researchers. Speaking at the Black Hat hacker's conference in Singapore, Shane Huntley and Morgan Marquis-Boire said that 21 of the top 25 news organizations in the world have been hit, news agency Reuters reports. The attacks bear all the fingerprints of state-backed hacking and are apparently the actions of foreign governments seeking information. Accessing dataSeveral countries around the world, including the US, China, and Russia, are believed to be engaging in hacking to gain information. This is because journalists often keep data on top company personalities and information. Huntley and Marquis-Boire warned that many journalists and news organizations were clueless when it came to the threat. Huntley said there was a case where Chinese hackers gained access to a news outlet by sending a fake questionnaire over email to journalists. Most hacks on journalists come through email, the researchers said. Google monitors state-sponsored attacks and immediately warns those who might have fallen victim to a hacking attempt. VIA The Independent Now read how Google is using a sneaky tactic to kill off price comparison siteshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38d18915/sc/1/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769307/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18915/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769307/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18915/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769307/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18915/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769307/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18915/sc/1/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360769307/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18915/sc/1/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/kw8R6xpwgTk

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/internet/Cables/Virus_synapse-470-75.jpgResearch conducted by McAfee has unveiled confusion among security professionals when it comes to dealing with Advanced Evasion Techniques (AETs). A study conducted by Vanson Bourne surveyed 800 CIOs and security managers from Europe, the US and Africa. It uncovered highly prevalent misunderstanding and misinterpretation of AETs among those responsible for protecting sensitive data. Using an AET, a hacker can disguise malicious attacks for far longer than usual, allowing them to penetrate further into a company's network before delivering its payload. Wake up callMore than one in five survey respondents admitted that their company's security had been breached. 40 per cent of those breached also believed that AETs played a key role in those attacks. The average cost of attacks on respondents' networks was around $1 million (£600,000, AU$1.1 million). Nearly 40 per cent of respondents felt that they did not have the methods to properly detect and track AET malware within their network. Almost 70 per cent said that the biggest challenge was convincing their boards that AETs were a serious threat. "Many organizations are so intent in identifying new malware that they are falling asleep at the wheel toward advanced evasion techniques that can enable malware to circumvent their security defences," said Jon Oltsik, senior principal analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "AETs pose a great threat because most security solutions can't detect or stop them. Security professionals and executive managers need to wake up as this is a real and growing threat." Hackers hit ATMs with SMS malwarehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38d18916/sc/1/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769306/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18916/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769306/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18916/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769306/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18916/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360769306/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18916/sc/1/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360769306/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d18916/sc/1/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/mORDcI0bvIE

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/features/Best%20browser%202013/chromewindows-470-75.jpgBest browser: which should you be using?Back in the old days there was just one browser, and everyone was happy. Okay, maybe not happy, but it was certainly easier to decide which browser to run when the answer was always Netscape. Now, though, it's much more complicated - not least because the big browsers appear to be updated every fourteen minutes and boast more options than the world's most complicated Swiss Army Knife. So which browser is best for you? Is it the same answer on Windows 8 as Windows XP? Should Mac owners stick with the Apple option or go Google? There's only one way to find out, and that's to put the big browsers head to head and see where they shine or struggle. We're comparing moving targets, of course: for example, while Firefox 28 is pretty great the incoming Firefox 29, which introduces the new Australis interface, is already available as a beta. To keep our comparisons fair, though, we're sticking with the most recent final releases. On Windows that means Internet Explorer 11, Firefox 28, Chrome 33, Opera 20 and Safari 5.1.7, all available on Windows 8.1. Best browser for speedBrowsers don't generally feel sluggish any more, but there are still crucial differences in the way they do things, especially web apps. The venerable Sunspider benchmark is a good indication of how well a browser performs under pressure, and the lower the score the faster the browser. At the risk of sounding like an Upworthy headline here: we tested all the major browsers in Sunspider. Their scores may surprise you. Safari 197.9msOpera 174.4msChrome165.2msFirefox 157.9msInternet Explorer (desktop)94.7ms Internet Explorer (modern)93.1msAs you can see, Internet Explorer (both the desktop and modern incarnations) isn't just ahead, but ahead by a significant amount. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Best%20Browser%202014/iemodern-420-90.jpg Best browser for add-onsFirefox has long been the king of this particular category, its combination of add-ons, Pin Tabs for web apps and Greasemonkey scripts making it the power user's friend. Chrome isn't far behind, however, and its reach now extends to your desktop in the form of Chrome Desktop Apps and Google Now notifications, which began rolling out to Chrome users in late March. Opera has changed its rendering engine and now uses the same technology as Chrome, which means Chromium extensions can work on the Opera browser. Opera's extension gallery is much smaller than Google's, but it's early days and big hitters such as Evernote, Pocket and AdBlock Plus are present. It's also a very nice looking browser; to our eyes it's much, much better looking than its rivals. Internet Explorer isn't in last place here: that honour goes to Safari, whose extensions gallery is smaller than something very small indeed. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Best%20Browser%202014/firefoxaddons-420-90.jpg Best browser for Windows 8As we've already seen, for sheer speed Internet Explorer wins easily over the other browsers. Now that Firefox has dumped its touch-based Modern browser for Windows 8, IE's pretty much the only sensible choice for Windows tablets and touch screens. In desktop mode the picture is cloudier. IE has the speed but there isn't that much in it, both Firefox and Chrome are more expandable and have better synchronisation options. There's essentially nothing to choose between the two IE rivals in terms of speed, so the choice really comes down to which one has the add-ons and synchronisation options you need. Safari can't cut it in this company: the most recent version, 5.1.7, was released in 2012 and it felt pretty half-arsed then. There's absolutely no reason to consider it now: even Apple's own iCloud Control Panel eschews it in favour of Firefox and Chrome. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Best%20Browser%202014/chromestore-420-90.jpg Best browser for Windows 7It's the same story here as it was for Windows 8. Internet Explorer wins on speed, Chrome and Firefox have the edge on expandability, Opera's nicer to look at and Safari's up on bricks with the wheels removed. Best browser for Windows XP and Windows VistaInternet Explorer takes an early bath here because it only goes back as far as Windows 7. If you want a modern browser on an ageing Windows, our choice would be Chrome. It's good as far back as Windows XP SP2+ and its spec for "optimal" performance is a Pentium 4 with 100MB of disk space and 128MB of RAM. You can buy fridges that are more powerful than that. Best browser: continuedBest browser for OS XSafari on OS X hasn't suffered the same neglect as its ill-fated Windows sibling. On OS X we're currently on version 7.0.2, which offers iCloud bookmark syncing, shared links from your social media accounts and power optimisation that promises to get more life from your laptop. That doesn't mean it's necessarily the best choice for Mac users, though. On Sunspider, our copy repeatedly took ten minutes to run (benchmarks normally execute in a matter of seconds) and returned a page full of errors. Here's how the other browsers stacked up: Chrome 191.8ms Opera 190.4msFirefox 185.6msThere are other reasons to consider alternatives to Safari. We've found it often chokes when we've got lots of tabs open or when we're browsing image-heavy sites such as Tumblr, and it's no stranger to the frustrated Force-Quit when it makes the entire system unresponsive. In this company we think Chrome has a narrow lead, although if it has the extensions you need the redesigned Opera is very nice on OS X too. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Best%20Browser%202014/operamac-420-90.jpg Best browser for privacyAll the major browsers have private browsing modes to prevent your partner seeing what you've been surfing or shopping for. But if you're really serious about privacy you'll need to turn to the world of add-ons and extensions such as HTTPS Everywhere, Disconnect or AdBlock Plus. Firefox and Chrome have the edge here, possibly because the kind of people who take security and privacy seriously are the kind of people who want more than just a basic browser. Opera's new Chromium-based extensions include our three examples too. IE isn't entirely extension-free, but its rivals do have a wider selection of tools to cover your tracks. Best for HTML5The HTML5test awards up to 555 points for standards compliance: the bigger the score, the more standards compliant the browser is. Chrome is head and shoulders above the competition here, while Safari limps in in sixth and last place. Chrome 505 Firefox 448Opera 392Internet Explorer (modern) 376Internet Explorer (desktop) 372Safari 260http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Best%20Browser%202014/chromescore-420-90.jpg Best browser for AndroidIf it's sheer power you're after then Dolphin is the winner here. It's fast, very expandable, packed with features and has a deserved four-and-a-half-star rating after a million and a half user reviews. But it's not the only option. If you don't need Dolphin's many options you'll be perfectly happy with Chrome, and if you're using Firefox on the desktop then Firefox Browser for Android's syncing will keep you happy. Best browser for iPadOur answer to this one would have been very different if Apple hadn't shipped iOS 7.1. The version of Safari in the previous iOS 7 release was incredibly and frustratingly prone to crashing, the updated one is much more stable (it hasn't bumped us once despite constant daily use). Safari also has one feature rivals can't possibly offer: being the default handler for web links. While other apps have their joys - Dolphin is handy, Chrome ties in nicely with Google's other programs and services and Coast by Opera is nippy - Safari's OS integration gives it an unfair advantage. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/iOS%207%20vs%20iOS%206/ios7safari-420-90.jpg Download Google ChromeDownload FirefoxDownload Internet ExplorerDownload OperaDownload Safari for Windows and Download Safari for Machttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38cf726f/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413034/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf726f/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413034/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf726f/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413034/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf726f/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413034/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf726f/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360413034/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf726f/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/sNWMkhPSfUA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/cloud_services/Evernote/evernote-high-res-470-75.jpgGoing globalThere's been a few famous elephants over the years - from Dumbo's big-eared protagonist to the star of that 90s .California-based Evernote's logo, a grey elephant, is perhaps the most recognised trunk-toting mammal among fans of cloud-based productivity software in 2014. More than 90 million people now use the company's digital writing and archiving service, which lets you store, organise and sync text-based 'notes' and other media across desktop and mobile devices. Not bad for an elephant that's lousy at circus tricks. According to Linda Kozlowski, head of International Marketing at Evernote, the company's growth is showing no signs of slowing down and is mostly driven by "accelerated word of mouth". "We still don't do a ton of traditional advertising," she says. "It's more about how we expand on word-of-mouth by spotting patterns and letting users tell us what they're interested in so we can serve those needs." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/people/linda-kozlowski-420-100.jpg Going globalKozlowski believes that it was necessary for the company to develop a global mindset from day one as 73% of its users reside outside of the US. Doing so allowed it to focus on geographical markets, she adds, with one of the first big wins coming after the company added handwriting recognition for 31 languages, as well as Asian character support. This led to a surge in adoption in Japan and China when combined with the integration of Evernote into LiveScribe's Wifi smartpens in 2010, marking a successful foray into the hardware business. "The combination of handwriting recognition, new input devices and the ability to capture information on the go using mobile devices proved the perfect formula for us," says Kozlowski. "That merging of physical and digital is where we're going next, and it's where we'll see the innovation." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/cloud_services/Evernote/evernote-scansnap-420-100.JPG Inner beautyAs the mnemonic goes, big elephants are supposedly ugly, but Kozlowski maintains that tying Evernote to hardware is all about bringing out the beauty in devices, a practice that has gone missing in recent times. "Somehow over the last 20 years there became this artificial separation of software and hardware, which we feel is coming back together," she says. "Those experiences are very important to each other. If you have something that's beautifully designed but doesn't run well, what good is it?" The company now has a growing list of hardware partners that includes Moleskin and Fujitsu, which have released Evernote-compatible 'Smart Notebooks' and printers respectively. Evernote is also keeping a keen eye on developments in wearable technology as it treads the hardware path, outing apps for Google Glass and smartwatches, including the Samsung Galaxy Gear. The app for the latter serves up tailored features such as displaying scheduled reminders with associated notes, and the device's camera lets you upload snapped pictures and recorded audio straight into Evernote. For Kozlowski, added convenience will be the main benefit offered by wearables (as opposed to, say, taking photographs). Achieving this in a way that "makes sense" has been taken on by the company's Augmented Intelligence unit, she says, which was setup to make the process of using Evernote with products "more natural". http://cdn1.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/Watches/Samsung/Galaxy%20Gear%202/Galaxy%20Gear%202%20press/Galaxy%20Gear%202%20Neo%20black%202-420-100.jpg "It's early days, and the only way you can figure it out, the same as everything else, is to jump in at the beginning and learn how people are using them," she says. "Wearables are really interesting in that information can be served up that's relevant to you at that moment, but it has to be done in a way that's elegant and not creepy." Evernote takes a process-driven view to Augmented Intelligence, Kozlowski adds, comparing the company's strategy around products to how sports companies tap into their customers' long-term ambitions. "It's like what our Phil [Libin - Evernote's CEO] said about Evernote wanting to be 'Nike for your brain'," she says. "Nike is an example of where you buy a pair of something because you want to be fit. We want you to buy something from Evernote because you want to be smart. That's our ultimate goal." Business brainAn area the standard version of Evernote hasn't gone into is collaboration as the experience is ultimately a personal, or "inherently anti-social" one, according to Kozlowski. To introduce collaboration, the company launched a separate product, Evernote Business, in 2011. While the interface only features subtle differences, Evernote Business separates personal and business Notebooks while taking advantage of Evernote's global search capabilities to not only locate searchable data, but also suggest potentially useful related information. "As you're working on projects and typing notes, you can see which colleagues have similar search knowledge, which can save a huge amount of time," says Kozlowski. "It brings the people aspect into focus as you can start to see expertise trends in the company." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/cloud_services/Evernote/evernote-for-business-420-100.JPG Use casesAs with the regular version of Evernote, the business-flavoured option presents equal scope for innovation when it comes to putting the service to use. Kozlowski points to an Evernote Business use case in Korea, where staff at a hospital for the elderly are using iPads to share notes on anything from patients' family backgrounds to their taste in music, lighting and colour preferences - all of which she says are used to provide better care both medically and emotionally. Other use cases are perhaps less obvious. Buddhist monks in San Francisco use it to manage concepts and thoughts, and it's apparently popular among mining companies which take advantage of its offline capabilities by penning notes below the surface and synching them when hoisted back up. Additionally, a car garage in Australia gives its mechanics iPads to record videos of repairs being carried out, which are uploaded to Notebooks that are shared with owners of the vehicles in a bid to increase trust. Aside from its collaborative features, Evernote Business also includes ones not found in the standard version, including a Powerpoint-like presentation mode that displays notes full-screen. The company also partnered with Salesforce.com in 2013 to make Evernote-stored notes and information directly accessible in sales records for faster retrieval. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/cloud_services/Evernote/preso_macbook-notelinks-420-100.JPG Consumer-ledKozlowski says that the company consciously kept a simplistic, consumer-style design for the business product to let workers "do everything in an interface that's as beautifully designed as something that you would invest in for your personal life". In Kozlowski's eyes, simplicity in design, along with the flexibility afforded by the cloud, mirrors the "office of the future" where employees don't have desk phones (instead using mobiles) and aren't tied to stationary PC terminals. "I think that design will become more important in offices in the same way that it's becoming more important in software," she says. "People want a beautiful environment at work - it's inspiring and makes you think better." The idea of elegant design and cross-platform support has gained traction recently following the launch of Microsoft's well-received, albeit long-delayed Office for iPad. It also let loose a free version of OneNote for Mac, a software suite often touted as Evernote's closest competitor. It could be said that serious competition to rival Evernote is long overdue, but Kozlowski is confident that the emergence of new rivals won't keep the company's employees up at night. "We have a philosophy of not thinking about our competitors, because if we did that we'd forget about what we want to do," she says. "We kinda like the idea of not having to get up in the morning worrying about who we need to compete against." That may be the case, but keeping its trunk ahead of the competition will always be a top priority for the company. Though challenging, when you're an elephant the size of Evernote, it's far from an impossible tusk. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38d01de6/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359617995/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d01de6/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359617995/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d01de6/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359617995/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d01de6/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359617995/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d01de6/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193359617995/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38d01de6/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/zDmsVPlLApQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iOS%208/iOS8-HubPage-470-75.png iOS 8 release date, news and rumorsiOS 7.1 has only just launched but already we're itching for iOS 8 and we're not alone, as rumors of what the new version of Apple's OS might include have started circulating. Enough have dropped for us to start to get an idea of what form iOS 8 might take, so without further ado here's what we've heard so far. Release dateNew versions of iOS tend to get announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) and there's been no suggestion that iOS 8 will break the trend. As yet it's not known when WWDC 2014 will take place, but it normally happens in June. However while iOS 8 will likely be announced then it probably won't actually launch until later in the year, making its debut on the iPhone 6. Again, this is all based on Apple's past iOS launches. FutTv : n4950K8zVLF4mCut to the chase What is it? The next iteration of Apple's mobile platform When is it out? Probably sometime in September 2014 What will it cost? iOS 8 will be a free download HealthbookApple, like Samsung, seems to be pushing the health and fitness capabilities of its products and the next step of that is likely to come with iOS 8. According to unnamed sources who spoke to 9 to 5 Mac, iOS 8 will come with a new app dubbed Healthbook. Supposedly it will have a similar interface to Passbook, but will track steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned and weight loss. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iOS%208/Healthbook/healthbook_leak1-420-90.jpg So in other words it's doing the same job as stand alone fitness trackers like the FitBit Force, which makes sense since Apple already built an M7 motion co-processor into the iPhone 5S to track just those sorts of things, so it might as well make the most of it. However apparently it will also go way beyond that and track hydration levels, blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, nutrition information and respiratory rate, taking it a step beyond existing fitness trackers. 9to5mac has even recreated some images of how the app will supposedly look. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iOS%208/Healthbook/healthbookleak2-420-90.jpg Obviously no existing Apple hardware has the relevant sensors to track most of that stuff, but there's been talk recently that the iPhone 6 might have an array of new sensors, plus some of it may rely on Apple's unconfirmed iWatch. Apple MapsApple Maps has had a bit of a tough time so far. Its launch was as far from smooth as possible and while it's no longer putting train stations in the middle of the sea it still lags some way behind Google's offering. That could be about to change though, as 9 to 5 Mac claims to have spoken to "sources briefed on the plans" and learned that public transport directions for trains, subways and buses will be added to Maps, initially for major US cities, with a wider roll out likely to follow. The same sources also claim that it will be more accurate than it is now and new points of interest and labels will be added for things like stations and airports. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Apple%20maps%20one%20year%20on/mapswalking-420-90.jpg The appearance of the app has apparently been improved too, making streets more visible. Supposedly Apple is also working on an augmented reality feature, which will allow you to see points of interest on your camera viewfinder, though it's thought that this feature won't make it out in time for iOS 8. Late last year Apple patented some major new ideas for Maps, which would add a whole new level of interactivity beyond even what's currently rumored. It would allow users to tap a road for example and see information relevant to just that road, such as any junctions on it, or to tap a restaurant and get a menu. This functionality might be some way off yet, if it emerges at all, but we live in hope that it might make an appearance in iOS 8. SiriApple could hardly release a new version of iOS without updating everyone's favourite personal assistant. According to tech site The Information, Apple wants Siri to be able to interface with third party apps. Currently it's compatible with a number of popular third party apps, but only because Apple worked directly with the developers to add the functionality. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/Siri/Siri-01-420-90.jpg In future any and all app developers might be able to make their apps compatible with Siri without Apple's help, which would vastly increase Siri's usefulness, allowing you for example to use third party messaging apps and calendars to send messages and set reminders. There's also talk that Siri might be able to contextually launch specific apps in future, so for example if you start jogging it might automatically launch RunKeeper, rather than you having to ask it to. iTunes RadioApple looks to be putting more weight behind iTunes Radio, if sources speaking to 9 to 5 Mac are to be believed. The sources claim that it will be given a separate app for iOS 8, as currently it's part of the Music app. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/av_accessories/iTunes%20Radio/itunesradio_hero-420-90.jpg Supposedly other than becoming its own app it's going to remain exactly as it is now, which isn't so surprising as it only launched last year, but by giving iTunes Radio its own app it will be more noticeable to users and better positioned to take on other streaming services like Spotify. Preview and Text EditWe recently got our first glimpse of what might be iOS 8. Based on the image it unsurprisingly looks a lot like iOS 7, albeit with a few new apps on board. There's an icon for the aforementioned Healthbook and one for Tips, which is likely a user guide, but there are also Preview and Text Edit icons. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iOS%208/iOS_8_leak-420-90.jpg If those names sound familiar it's because they're existing pieces of software for OS X, but now seemingly iOS is getting its own versions. However while the Mac versions are used to edit PDF's, images and text files, the iOS versions are apparently optimized to simply let you view any such documents that you have stored in iCloud. It's questionable how real this screenshot even is, 9to5Mac claims to have confirmed its veracity with several sources, yet it would be easy to fake, especially as the Text Edit and Preview icons are identical to their Mac counterparts. App updatesThere are whispers of various minor updates to a number of apps. According to an unnamed source the Notification Center is getting streamlined for iOS 8. The update completely removes the "Missed" tab, so everything can be found on either "Today" or "All". The Messages app is apparently having a new option added, to allow you to automatically delete threads after a certain period of time and Voice Memos may be getting a new button arrangement. Apple is also supposedly removing the requirement for a Lightning cord when using CarPlay, allowing it to work wirelessly instead. Apps may also be able to better communicate thanks to a new developer API which is rumored to be in testing. Known as an "XPC" service, the API would allow apps to share data, which among other things would hopefully make it easy to keep files synced up across different apps. Goodbye Game CenterWhile there are a lot of new things rumored for iOS 8 we might also be losing some things. Apple's Game Center app is rumoured to be for the chopping block according to 9to5Mac, with the functionality being moved directly into games themselves. iOS 8: 10 things we want to seeSo we're starting to get an idea of some of the major changes in store for iOS 8, still, there are many other things we'd like to see Apple change by the time iOS 8 rolls around later in 2014 - although in some cases we've got a sneaking suspicion Apple would disagree. FutTv : n4950K8zVLF4m1. Change and hide default iOS appsWe'd love to be able to choose non-Apple alternatives for handling email, browsing and maps, but doubt it'll happen. However, Apple not providing the means to hide preinstalled apps you don't use is an irritant that goes back to the very first iPhone. Even if there was a similar 'parental controls' trick for hiding apps to the one on the Apple TV, that'd be good enough. 2. A guest/child accountApple's mantra is everyone should own their own device. That's lovely, but not everyone's pockets are as deep as those of Apple board members. OS X-style user accounts are unlikely, but it can't be beyond Apple to provide a single-tap child account or a guest account that doesn't affect your settings and data, and doesn't retain settings or data of its own. 3. Better iOS app managementAs of iOS 7, Apple automates app updates, but it should go further. Devs wrestle with iCloud app data, but this should be child's play to save and also (optionally) restore whenever you reinstall an app. And the App Store itself should offer trials and paid version updates (rather than devs being forced to use IAP or 'replacement' apps as a workaround). http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iOS7/iOS7-Video-10%20copy-420-90.jpg 4. Stronger inter-app communicationsOne of the weakest elements of iOS is inter-app communication. If a service bumps you to another app, you're not always returned when you've finished performing an action. Worse, when making document edits across several apps workflow can be a nightmare with document copies in various states strewn throughout individual app sandboxes. Hopefully this is set to improve if the new API for data-sharing makes it into iOS 8. 5. Better document managementFollowing on from the previous point, iOS should introduce at least some kind of centralised access to documents. Right now, Dropbox is a surrogate file system because iCloud is a bunch of silos. It's absurd that you can't easily attach documents within Mail in an OS that boasts a version number of 7. The lack of collaboration opportunities within iCloud document workflow is also disappointing. 6. Group FaceTime callsThis isn't specifically tied to iOS, but Apple's mobile platform is where FaceTime began life, and although the one-to-one model is great, it's about time you could call several people at once, rather than a group having to crowd around an iPhone. 7. iOS notifications like in OS X MavericksIn OS X Mavericks, notifications are interactive - get a message and you can deal with it there and then, rather than leaving the app you're in. This is even more important on iOS, and so we hope Apple adds similar functionality on mobile. Google does it with aplomb, so we want to see the same here. 8. More Do Not Disturb optionsDo Not Disturb gained extra power in iOS 7, enabling you to silence notifications only when a device is locked. Bizarrely, it still retains only a single schedule though. Is it beyond Apple to enable you to at least set one for weekdays and a separate one for weekends? http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/Apps/ios_dnd-420-90.jpg 9. Better text manipulationApple's text-selection, cut, copy and paste seemed elegant when it was introduced, but only compared to disastrous equivalents on competing mobile systems. Today, it comes across as awkward, and it's a barrier to usability for far too many people. We'd like to see a rethink from Apple and more usable and intuitive ways of dealing with text. 10. Two-up appsWe love the focus iOS provides, but there are times when we'd like to work with two apps at once. Much like messing with default apps, we doubt Apple will ever go down this path, but OS X Mavericks now has a more powerful full-screen mode for multiple monitors. So there's perhaps the slightest hope a multi-screen mode might one day arrive for the iPad or a larger iPhone, and would be one in the eye for all those Samsung owners out there. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38cf727f/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413032/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf727f/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413032/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf727f/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413032/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf727f/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360413032/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf727f/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360413032/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38cf727f/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/4uurSbdtkwk

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Google/nexus5/Nexus%205%20Review/nexus-5-review-50-470-75.jpgApple's iOS 7.1 operating system has seen the lowest app crash rates yet, according to newly-published research, but it's still higher than apps running on Android. According to Crittercism, apps on iOS 7.1 crash a meagre 1.6 per cent of the time, which is the best performance ever for iOS. However, devices running Google Android 4.0 and up experience apps crashes just 0.7 per cent of the time. That means, for every app crash on Android, there's more than two on iOS devices. One billion servedCrittercism gets its stats by monitoring usage of over a billion iOS and Android apps, so it's safe to say the company has been extensive in its research. Does that mean apps for Android are better built than those for iOS? Does it mean Android plays nicer with third party apps than their Apple counterparts? Or is the report a load of hogwash? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. iOS 7 vs iOS 7.1: What changes have Apple made?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38c38c32/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360357421/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c38c32/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360357421/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c38c32/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360357421/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c38c32/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360357421/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c38c32/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360357421/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c38c32/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/TaL_GcFYng4

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/people/Brendan_Eich_Mozilla_CEO-470-75.jpgHalf of the Mozilla board have quit their positions at the company following the appointment of new CEO Brendan Eich this week, according to the Wall Street Journal. The business bible claims former Mozilla CEO's Gary Kovacks and John Lilly, as well as Ellen Siminoff have left their positions, in protest at co-founder and former CTO Eich's rise to the top chair. Despite outcry over Eich's personal politics this week, that's not the reason for the mass exodus at the Firefox-maker level, according to the Journal. Those who have left are upset that a more mobile-focused candidate from outside the company wasn't selected to help boost the Firefox OS software. Poorly receivedThe arrival of Brendan Eich has not been received well at Mozilla, with protests over a campaign donation to an anti-gay marriage lobby in California back in 2008. Employees at the non-profit firm have urged Eich to step down from the CEO's position. In a blog post on Friday, the new boss claimed he was aware of "concerns about my commitment to fostering equality and welcome for LGBT individuals at Mozilla," but pledged they were unfounded. "I am committed to ensuring that Mozilla is, and will remain, a place that includes and supports everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, economic status, or religion," he wrote. Firefox OS: Could your next smartphone cost as little as £15?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38c22df0/sc/21/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359842053/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c22df0/sc/21/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359842053/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c22df0/sc/21/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359842053/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c22df0/sc/21/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359842053/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c22df0/sc/21/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193359842053/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c22df0/sc/21/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/AdYJmRyLwTA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/Julia%20White%20demonstrating%20that%20cloud%20is%20about%20managing%20mobile%20devices%20as%20well-470-75.jpgWhen you have a program like Office 2013 that's crammed full of features on Windows, how do you decide what to keep when you make the iPad version? You look at what users do on a tablet, Office general manager Julia White told TechRadar Pro at the launch. "We looked and said what are people doing in that environment and let's take that as a starting point; let's put the right amount of capabilities in, and then add from there what makes sense." Weekly minor updates to become the norm?But this is definitely just the beginning, she emphasized. "This is just our v1, we're just getting started. We're going to make these apps richer based on what people are doing. As we get user feedback and we see what people are doing, we will update in the right ways; we'll get feedback about what people are doing most and what people want more of, and then we can rev the apps quickly. What we picked was the base; much more than you have on the phone, not everything you have on the PC or Mac but somewhere in between. It's what people are mostly doing on those devices. And we were also really thoughtful about making it a great touch experience." The key is matching the way you work on an iPad, Office Product Management Director Michael Atalla explained. "When you're picking up an iPad it's because you're picking up your work; precision control designed PowerPoints are not going to start on iPad necessarily, they're going to start on Windows or a Mac with a keyboard and mouse where you have that control and you're going to move to an iPad when you're ready to tweak and edit." That's why when you open a document you've worked on elsewhere, Office for iPad automatically takes you to the place you were editing last; the assumption is that you want to carry on where you left off. http://cdn2.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/cloud-580-100.jpg The price of Office for iPad is about striking a balance between letting you get your documents everywhere when you want to carry on working and giving you a reason to pay for Office 365, White explained. "It's so important that people don't lose information [when they change devices] so we want to make sure everyone can have a taste of what Office is good for and why people love it. But we also want to add value for Office 365 subscribers. So we felt that was the right balance. I can read all of my files, consume my content, I can present my content for free. But any manipulation of it, if I want to change words or do formatting, I need the subscription. Or if I want to start a new word or PowerPoint or Excel file in iPad, I need the subscription for that." We asked White how quickly to expect new versions of Office for iPad and it sounds like pretty soon. "In Office 365, we've been doing updates weekly," she pointed out. "We're going to watch really closely and see how people are using these apps and you should expect us to iterate very really fast. Especially as it's a v1 so we'll be learning fast and iterating fast." Is Office late or just right?There have been rumours for a long time about Office for iPad. Why launch it now, we asked Atalla? "It's the perfect time," he maintained. "This is the time when these devices are in the right place in the workplace, with the proliferation of devices and people using multiple devices, when there are three devices in everybody's hands. And yeah, this is the time when we got the apps to a place where they're great. iPad users are going to be blown away by what you can do with Office for iPad." He's not concerned about the competition from iPad-specific apps either, because he believes they won't be ready for whatever the next popular device is. "I think it's crazy to think any device paradigm will last for ever in a world where the design paradigms we work with for productivity have changed so drastically over just in the last five years. Five years ago, we did not have iPads in the workplace and we did not have 82" capacitive touch screens in conference rooms, but we have both of those now and we need productivity experiences to span all of those. And as device form factors and experiences change, we need Office to be able to adapt to those so users can have a great experience everywhere. For anybody to think about building something just for iPad is to miss the opportunity to deliver a great experience on what is next. We are both well positioned [for that] as well as we understand that Office needs to evolve with the industry - and in some cases it will lead the industry. We'll take it to new form factors and devices first and some of those will be things like Surface and PPI boards." http://cdn3.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/windows%20azure-580-90.jpg Imagine working on a whiteboard in a meeting and as you leave, taking a photo of it in the new Office Lens that's in OneNote on iPad (as well as on Windows Phone) which processes it to get the perspective correct. "You take picture of the whiteboard and have it reoriented and flattened and the colours bolded and you send it to OneNote. Then you walk into a room that has a PPI board and you open OneNote you open that whiteboard image and you just carry on working." You can do the same thing with a piece of paper and OneNote using the new LiveScribe pen.What's next for office on mobile devices?Having Office on all devices is broader than just the usual tablets then, but obviously it's Android that everyone is wondering about next. CEO Satya Nadella didn't name any other devices when he talked about having Office on all phones and tablets, but White suggested Android and Windows RT are both on the list. "iPad is important of course but people aren't just using iPad, they're using all kinds of devices and that's what's awesome with Office. I don't have this patchwork quilt of productivity in my life, I can have that same familiar experience and I know I can count on things working consistently across them. Today it's iPad, in the future we'll bring that to other devices." And what about the touch version of Office promised for Windows RT? "We're going to absolutely bring those to the Windows Store," White confirmed, "you'll see at Build next week some more examples of that, so stay tuned. Microsoft promises management ease with its mobility suiteshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38c10226/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360347266/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c10226/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360347266/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c10226/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360347266/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c10226/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360347266/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c10226/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360347266/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38c10226/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/PFnDt3qq9UE

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/cloud-470-75.jpgA cloud for everyone on every device and Office for iPad (and later on Android) means people will be opening important company documents on a lot more devices. That means IT admins will want tools for managing those. There are plenty of Mobile Device Management solutions, but Microsoft is hoping that the combination of being able to manage both PCs and devices in Intune and the premium Azure Active Directory services behinds its new Enterprise Mobility Suite will give it the edge of competitors like BlackBerry and MobileIron. The specific Intune features for managing Office for iPad and other mobile devices aren't there yet, Microsoft cloud and enterprise product marketing manager Andrew Conway told TechRadar Pro. But after the major new version last October and more updates in January 2014 Conway says, "we'll be bringing new capabilities to Intune in April. That will include being able to remote into my PC from iPad and Android devices." Samsung Knox gets extra support; you can manage it with Intune and enable workplace joining for Knox devices so users can get access to files and applications that you otherwise restrict to the office network. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/Julia%20White%20demonstrating%20that%20cloud%20is%20about%20managing%20mobile%20devices%20as%20well-420-90.jpg The Enterprise Mobility Suite bundles up Intune with the existing Azure Rights Management service and the just-out-of-preview Azure Active Directory Premium service. "This is a premium set of IT tools on top of Azure Active Directory," Conway explained. "You get features like single sign on group management for SaaS access, security reports, self-service password reset ... With the security reporting, you get an insight into anomalous logins, like someone who is logging in from two places at the same time; if you see weird patterns you can start to require a second factor for authentication. We're bringing it all together in the Enterprise Mobility Suite, with the addition of Azure Rights Management. Azure is the common identity, the common rail that everything runs on and these are the different capabilities we have on top." Keeping things simpleSingle sign on lets you control the cloud services users connect to, like Salesforce and Twitter; there are a thousand services already supported in Azure Active Directory. You choose which users have access and they don't have another password to remember (or get phished). "And when someone leaves, all those accounts get deprovisioned," points out Conway. It's much less work to delete one account in Azure than to make sure individually that they don't have access to all their cloud tools any more. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/windows%20azure-420-90.jpg Office 365 already includes rights management for documents, so you can choose whether confidential documents can be forwarded or printed, or have a price list expire after a certain time. Azure Rights Management brings that to other document formats, including apps that support it like the Polaris Android tools and Samsung Know. Users can use rights management for free but if you want to manage how they do that, you need the Azure Rights Management service. "We've brought to the cloud something we've been doing on premise for a long time," Conway explains. "But we've done a lot to make it easier for customers because you don't have to set it up yourself on premise." http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38bd37b9/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360686087/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd37b9/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360686087/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd37b9/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360686087/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd37b9/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360686087/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd37b9/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360686087/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd37b9/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/HT-TBRaMMbI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/HTC/HTC_OneM8/HandsOn2/HTC%20One%20M8%20review%20(9)-470-75.JPGSmartphone manufacturers suckling on the teat of Google's open source Android software must now give the creator supreme some credit if it wishes to continue using the operating system's key apps. According to Geek.com, Google has thrown down a mandate requiring mobile makers to feature the words 'powered by Android' on the boot up screen in exchange for access to the Google Mobile Services suite. The GMS stable of course includes essential services like the Google Play store, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, You Tube and the rest of those created by the hard-working folks at Mountain View. Those who choose not to give the Devil his due, won't have access the core Google apps, kind of like the Amazon Kindle Fire range. Whipping 'em into shapeThe report comes after eagle-eyed reporters spotted the 'powered by Android message when powering up the new HTC One (M8) following its launch earlier this week. It also appears on the new Samsung Galaxy S5's boot-up screen. A document sent by Google to Android manufacturers says the boot screen logo must be given "appropriate clear space" and it is advised that the logo takes up no less than 40 per cent of the width of the screen. Judging by this move it appears that Google is once again attempting to whip Android device makers into shape rather than giving them a completely free hand to use the software as they wish. Earlier this year, the company upped its efforts to do away with fragmentation by refusing to grant GMS approval for phones running on older version of the software. Got apps? Here's the 50 best Android apps of 2014http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38bd2cd6/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360684615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd2cd6/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360684615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd2cd6/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360684615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd2cd6/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360684615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd2cd6/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360684615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38bd2cd6/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/qgRqRXGdgi0

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/Satya%20Nadella%20is%20taking%20Microsoft%20back%20to%20the%20beginning-470-75.jpgWhile Steve Ballmer talked about bringing Office to the iPad when the technology was right, its new CEO Satya Nadella gets to bring that to market as part of the One Microsoft vision. Rather than doing it with Ballmer's trademark bombast and bluster, Nadella has his own, slightly dry way. While it's unmistakably a response to the huge success of iPad and Android tablets, he's pitching it less as a desperate attempt to jump on the iPad bandwagon and more as a coherent strategy for appealing to consumers plus giving businesses what they need for management and security. And in what's quickly becoming a trademark, he's doing it with poetry. From both the polish of the applications and the number of leaks we've seen over the last couple of years, it's obvious that Office for iPad has been in development for a long time, and was certainly not brainstormed in the five weeks since Nadella took over at Microsoft. Launching it now is a signal that Microsoft isn't the Windows company or even the Office company we've known (because it comes alongside device management features in Intune and Azure); in Nadella's words "there's absolutely no holding back" and "there's no tradeoff, it's just reality." It's also here now because of iOS 7; when the new version came along, the team decided to wait to launch Office until they had it working on the new OS in order to allow the hardware acceleration with features like rotating images in PowerPoint. And it's here now so it doesn't distract from the news Microsoft will have about Windows next week at Build. Office for iPad leads the wayIt's also apparent we're going to get Office on every device you can think of, whether it's a Microsoft brand or not. The vision is straightforward: "We're going to make sure the one billion Office users and growing have access to the Office experience on every device they love to use." Office for iPad is just the beginning: "Our commitment going forward is to make sure we drive Office 365 everywhere - across all phones, across all tablets, across the Web and across all PCs." Which means we should definitely expect Office for Android some point soon, as well as regular updates to Office for iPad - and we're expecting news about Office on Windows RT at Build next week. It's obvious that Nadella's vision for Microsoft has confused some people even at Microsoft; when his first company wide email said the new direction was "mobile first, cloud first" he quickly got the typical nit-picking Microsoft question back of how could they both be first? Which is another way of asking what does devices and services actually mean. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/Office%20for%20iPad%20image2-420-90.jpg For Office, it means getting Office on iPad and elsewhere. It's free if you just want to look at the documents you've already created, or with a subscription if you want to create and edit documents - including the cheapest Office 365 personal subscription, for one PC and one tablet. It's making Office good enough for users to want to use it instead of Quip or any of the new iPad alternatives, so they'll be happy with it at work and want it at home. For those who are going to dismiss Office for iPad as "too little too late" Nadella was quick to point out that the tablet isn't the only new device that will ever come along; from smart rooms with sensors to wearables of all shapes and sizes, to machines learning and the new ways we'll work with more intelligent devices, "the world of the next five years, the next ten years will not be defined by the form factors we know and love today but the variety of form factors that will come to be." When something displaces iPad the way iPad has displaced PCs, he wants Microsoft to be ready for it. Cloud on everything and beyondThis means letting developers build on Office 365, like being able to put electronic signatures into Office documents on your iPhone. Because DocuSign has built on the new Office 365 APIs, it also means letting IT pros - who Nadella subtly complimented by noting the occupation is as stressful as any CEO's - manage the documents, the devices and the services, using Azure Active Directory, Intune and single sign-on for cloud applications. These services can be used even if they're not from Microsoft, and rights management that controls the information inside documents (on Samsung Knox and on iPad as well as Mac and Windows) won't hinder them either. Microsoft still wants to be emulate how an IT team keeps control, but of many more things beyond Windows PCs. In other words, while Office for iPad is what we'll all be thinking about, Nadella has much bigger ambitions. He wants Microsoft to be where you go to get "a cloud for everyone on every device." He wants the experience to be "magical" (a word you were more likely to hear from Steve Jobs than Steve Ballmer, who would have talked about the numbers behind the magic). The poem Satya Nadella chose to quote the first time he spoke publicly since he became Microsoft CEO was Little Gidding, by T.S. Eliot. "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time," he said, explaining that five weeks as CEO gives you a different perspective from 22 years building technology at Microsoft. But if you read on, there's another line that also applies to what Microsoft - and Nadella - have to deliver: "A condition of complete simplicity (costing not less than everything)." Office for iPad looks great and makes sense as part of a Microsoft strategy that costs Windows its central role at the company - but Microsoft and Nadella now have to deliver the same for every other Microsoft product as well. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38b31c73/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360547733/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b31c73/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360547733/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b31c73/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360547733/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b31c73/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360547733/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b31c73/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360547733/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b31c73/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Ix5w9YSdJFo

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/tablets/iPad/Accessories/iPad_Smart_Keyboard_Patent-470-75.jpgApple may be planning to launch a new version of its Smart Cover for iPad tablets, which for the first time will include a physical keyboard, judging by a recently revealed patent application. Uncovered by the fine-toothed-comb-wielding enthusiasts at AppleInsider, the patent, blandly entitled "Cover for electronic device," showcases a multi-touch, razor thin typing surface. The presence of multi-touch sensors, which would seemingly be activated by lightly swiping across keys, would negate the need for a touchpad on the keyboard, which could be detached from the cover and used wirelessly Currently, the company sells an external, iPad-compatible Bluetooth keyboard, but the launch of an integrated solution would give Apple tablet owners something resembling the Microsoft Surface Touch Cover. Word up!The timing of the patent revelation is coincidental given it comes on the same day that Microsoft outed its Office for iPad suite, following years of speculation. Given there are few users who enjoy lengthy periods of typing on a touchscreen, the introduction of Microsoft Word, combined with a svelte new keyboard case could open the door for a new era of productivity for Apple's tablet. What price this being introduced alongside the rumoured iPad Pro tablet for business bods?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38b2bab4/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359490260/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b2bab4/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359490260/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b2bab4/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359490260/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b2bab4/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359490260/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b2bab4/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193359490260/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b2bab4/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/UOIF5XsbFWs

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/Nadella-470-75.jpgMicrosoft just took a step that many have long awaited since Apple's iPad first launched April 3, 2010 - just shy of four years ago. The company's Office suite of productivity apps - meaning Word, Excel and PowerPoint - are now available on the Mac maker's titanic tablet, newly-minted CEO Satya Nadella recently announced. While the move is an exciting one, it raises some questions. Namely, what took you so long? Soon after the iPad - the iPad 2 especially - the tablet scene exploded, and with it the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend within businesses. But rather than simply bringing its software suite to iOS, Microsoft tried its hand at competing with Apple directly with a slate of its own, the Surface. Despite a recent uptick in sales, it has yet to provide the results you would imagine the folks in Redmond, Wash. were hoping for. Ubiquity ≠equityYou can say that Windows is still arguably the most ubiquitous operating system in the home and at work. But its creator is losing traction on both fronts to iOS and Android, and fast. According to Andreesen Horowitz partner Benedict Evans, Mac OS and iOS have officially caught up to Windows in terms of device sales. And Good Technology, an enterprise mobile services vendor, reports that the iPad holds nearly 92% of enterprise tablet deployments, while the iPhone accounts for 54% of the devices that use its services. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/office%20for%20ipad-420-90.jpg The Surface tablet and Windows Phone operating system were designed to provide the ease-of-use and comfort of a leisure device while offering the power and capability for enterprise users. It's safe to say that Microsoft's master plan for devices isn't working. Here we are in early 2014, and Office is finally available on the iPad. According to Business Insider's sources, the move was a hot topic for debate within Microsoft, and that the only reason former CEO Steve Ballmer kept Office from iOS and Android was to give the Surface some much-needed leverage. From the outside looking in, it's both a sign of the company moving forward and an admission of its strengths (and weaknesses). Microsoft is an incredibly strong software company, but save for the Xbox, its hardware endeavors have almost all been met with setbacks. Getting in front of the PC problem the right wayIt's no secret that PC sales are tanking in the face of mobile devices. Windows 8 was Microsoft's first attempt at a tourniquet, which is, frankly, struggling to stop the bleeding. In that regard, Windows Phone and Surface aren't working either. With Nadella at the helm and this recent launch, it seems as if Microsoft is admitting that the PC cannot be saved, or rather it has fundamentally changed and will continue to transform. Not to mention that the Xbox was a flash in the pan in the company's hardware attempts over the past 15 years or so. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/events/Microsoft%20cloud%20and%20mobile%20event/android%20ipad%20tablets-420-90.jpg I at least hope that's the case, because the company cannot afford many more attempts at catching up with the mobile revolution on the devices front. But, as Office for iPad might show, Microsoft could continue to have a leg in this race, as long as its powering what's behind those screens rather than putting together the parts itself. Office for iPad is a return to form for Microsoft only in that it's a return to its core strength, which is what drove Microsoft to amass its billions. Even if Microsoft isn't a crucial part of the computing industry's shift to mobile, the company stands to make a nice buck off of moves like Office for iPad, not to mention making a number of customers very happy. Microsoft Build 2014 is bound to be very interestinghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38b1e493/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360542903/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b1e493/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360542903/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b1e493/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360542903/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b1e493/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360542903/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b1e493/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360542903/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38b1e493/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/EBeEcYFH3w8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Onetimers/NSA_phone_records_vault-470-75.jpgThe debate over the US government's ability to collect telephone data in bulk continues to rage, but the President is ready to take some clear steps to rein in the practice once and for all. In a statement posted by The White House Office of the Press Secretary today, President Barack Obama laid out further details on how he hopes to reign in how the National Security Agency (NSA) collects data from American citizens. Following up on a January 17 speech that promised a shift away from the current draconian NSA policies, President Obama plans to disconnect prying government eyes from bulk data held by telephone providers. The move would effectively end the so-called "Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program," forcing government agencies to obtain data on a case-by-case basis and only by request. Legal maneuversThe move shifts control back into the hands of telephone carriers and Federal judges, who can agree to access data under individual orders from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) or where "national security concerns" are at issue. "I believe this approach will best ensure that we have the information we need to meet our intelligence needs while enhancing public confidence in the manner in which the information is collected and held," the President explained in a statement published Thursday on The White House website. President Obama reached his decision after careful consultation with Congress, privacy and civil liberties groups as well as companies in the private sector as part of "alternative approaches" announced in January that were to be put into place by March 28. The legislation proposed today won't be in place by that deadline, but the President has directed the Department of Justice to reauthorize the existing program -- with his January modifications in place -- for a period of 90 days while the government gets all of its ducks in a row. The Samsung Galaxy S5 approaches -- find out the latest news!

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/televisions/May%20on%204K/Panasonic%20COnvention/resolution-470-75.jpgHold the front page! It's not picture resolution that makes for a great TV image, but old chestnuts dynamic range and colour fidelity. That was the message from TV calibration guru Joel Silver this week when he took to the stage at Panasonic's huge pan-European dealer convention in Amsterdam to support the company's new 4K TV launches. In truth, it was probably not the message that Panasonic had anticipated when they invited the CEO and Founder of the Imaging Science Foundation along to talk 4K tech, but it made for a fascinating insight all the same. "Resolution is actually the fourth and least important of the big four image parameters," declared Silver. "The single most apparent thing you see in an image isn't detail but dynamic range, followed by colour saturation and fidelity. If fleshtones are off or there's even a hint of a greenish cast in yellows, images have no chance of looking lifelike. These factors make or break TV images." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/televisions/May%20on%204K/Panasonic%20COnvention/Joel%20Silver-420-90.jpg Some things never changeHe's right of course. In the dry world of calibration getting the aforementioned basics right is a prerequisite, but that 4K resolution hike remains the single biggest reason to upgrade your TV. Luckily Ultra HD is about far more than picture detail. "We're still watching the same number of TV pictures per second as we were over 80 years ago," he points out. "UHD TV broadcasting will bring twice as many pictures per second, which will make things like sport significantly smoother. We're also currently losing three quarters of all colour information on televisions. Even with Blu-ray, we're only getting one out of every four pixels of colour information. We use nice terms like spatial interpolation, but in reality 75 per cent of pixels are made up as we go along and we're getting softer pictures because of that. We'll go beyond that one day when we get all the colour information on all our screens thanks, to Ultra HD." Silver doesn't subscribe to the 4K curved mantra either. "It's a single person viewer experience," he confided to me while salivating over Panasonic's 4K capable GH4 compact system camera. "It's about marketing, not physics…" Panasonic announced two (flat, naturally) 4K TV ranges at its Amsterdam shindig. The first, branded AX802, launches this spring, with the step-up AX902 still in development. Predictably, the brand made more noise about being able to exceed the image quality of its now defunct plasma panels. To prove its point it staged a darkroom rematch between the 2013 WT600 4K TV, upcoming AX902 and premium ZT65 plasma. The aim was to prove the new flagship exceeded the performance of its lauded PDP forebear. However while beautiful, The Set That Would Be King didn't quite deliver the knockout blow seen at CES. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/televisions/May%20on%204K/Panasonic%20COnvention/Dark%20Room%20shootout-420-90.jpg Still no OLED from PanasonicIn terms of shadow detail, the Full HD ZT65 edged ahead. Still, I was told, the AX902 won't actually be good to go until this year's IFA tech expo in Berlin. This gives the brand's reassigned plasma engineers plenty of time to fine tune their LED tech. One screen technology still conspicuous by its absence at the Panasonic dealer fest was OLED. While the company showed an undulating convex/concave proof-of-concept OLED wall, there was zero talk of OLED consumer tellies. This, it transpires, is because the technology just doesn't yet offer anywhere near the quality leap that would justify its cost. At least that's what I was told by Yuki Kusumi, Director of Panasonic's TV Business Division. OLED remains ruinously expensive to commercialise, he says. "It requires a lot of money to be invested in panel factories, so the panel price point will remain much, much higher than LCD. And from a user's viewpoint such an expensive panel should also offer much higher picture quality." At this moment consumers can buy a curved OLED TV but it's only 1080p and its DCI colour space coverage is limited to something like 71 per cent. "Compare that to our 2014 LCD LED products which are 4K and have a DCI coverage of 98 per cent. Which would you prefer?" he asks. "When we launch an OLED consumer display product – I don't call it a TV – it will offer very accurate colour reproduction and be 4K…or more than 4K!" And if that's not a subtle tease for an 8K OLED timed to coincide with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, then I'm a Dutchman. Now read: Panasonic says current OLED TVs are a strange compromise

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Twitter%20on%20a%20phone%20-470-75.jpgTwitter's mobile photo prowess just grew 10-fold, then by another 4-fold. Now users can tag up to 10 people in a photo without affecting the character count of their tweet. If you're tagged in someone's picture, you'll receive a notification, similar to how Twitter sends alerts when people you follow are talking about a certain subject or have followed the same person. You can adjust notifications and who can tag you by diving into Settings, and Twitter has added some pertinent info to is "Posting photos on Twitter" support page. Sharing is caringIn addition to photo tagging, Twitter will now let mobile users share up to four photos in a single tweet. Instead of a side-by-side photo layout, your pic quartet will automatically form a collage. To view the full image, users can tap preview to see the slide, then swipe through the group. iPhone users will see multiple photo uploads start rolling out today, and Android users and twitter.com users are due for the feature soon. On any of these platforms, users can view tweets with more than one pic. Photo tagging and tweets packed with multiple pics will be viewable in embedded tweets. Heard of this little thing called the iPad mini 2?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38a76d7c/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359732828/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a76d7c/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359732828/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a76d7c/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359732828/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a76d7c/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359732828/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a76d7c/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193359732828/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a76d7c/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/vx70GW7lQwA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/your_mobile_life/BESTMUSICAPPS/lastfm-470-75.jpgLast.fm has announced that it's shutting down its subscription streaming radio service beginning April 28. The company wrote in its forums that the ever-changing music industry landscape is to blame, and that Last.fm will now focus on scrobbling, music discovery and recommendations. Last.fm users on iOS can still use the scrobbling app to track their listening and create playlists, and the company will continue to offer free, ad-supported streaming radio stations through the Last.fm player. But Last.fm will no longer stream any music from its own servers, instead relying on third parties like YouTube and Spotify. And it seems Android users are out of luck after April. Bad news, eh?It seems Last.fm's subscription service just couldn't cut it in the face of competition from the likes of Spotify and Pandora. No doubt many listeners will be disappointed, though perhaps none more so than users in Canada, for whom "Last.fm was the only decent service available," according to one commenter on Last.fm announcement. Other commenters expressed disappointment and promised to cancel their subscriptions in protest. "Over ten years, our goal has always been to allow people around the world to discover new music with as few limitations or restrictions as possible," Last.fm said. "However, the music landscape has changed considerably during that time and we've been forced to make some very difficult decisions surrounding our core products and services." Amazon reportedly priming a music streaming service for this yearhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38a71a42/sc/21/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495409/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a42/sc/21/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495409/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a42/sc/21/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495409/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a42/sc/21/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495409/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a42/sc/21/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360495409/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a42/sc/21/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Zp5kRd53V4U

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/HTC/HTC%20One%20Mini/Hands%20on%202/P1010944-470-75.JPGThe new HTC One (M8) is here and we love it, but any owners still hanging onto the HTC One Mini will be glad to know they're getting the latest version of Android. AT&T has released the latest version 4.4.2 of Android Kitkat with HTC Senses 5.5 to the smaller HTC One. HTC's executive director of product management Mo Versi tweeted out that the over the air update would arrive by the end of the week. With the update in tow, HTC One Mini users can expect a several improvements including a new icon to pop the camera off straight from the lock screen. HTC's Blinkfeed also gets a nice bump up with additional menus to add more news sources. Plus there's quicker access to switch content sources and search for custom topics. Small tweaks for a mini handsetHTC Sense 5.5 also revises the overall interface with new status and navigation bars. While using compatible apps, a new "immersive mode" enables full screen viewing of books, videos, and games. Users in constant contact with their friends and co-workers will now be able to look up whoever they want straight from the dial pad. Meanwhile, if the HTC One Mini gets a call from any unknown recipients, it will try to cross reference the number to any matches from businesses with a local listing on Google Maps. Tweaks have also been made on the email side giving the built-in email client Gmail's look and feel, while adding the ability for in-line editing. Connect your phone to your face with Google Glasshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38a71a43/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495408/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a43/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495408/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a43/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495408/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a43/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360495408/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a43/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360495408/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38a71a43/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/EwAid0MB4Ac

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Onetimers/Instagram%20collage-470-75.jpgNot only is Facebook forking over around $2 billion for the company that makes Oculus Rift, it's also stepping out with some pretty heady numbers for its longer-standing properties. First up, Facebook's first true love: mobile. Zuckerberg revealed Facebook now has 1 billion users on its mobile apps. The company repeated its December figure of 945 million monthly users just last week, but clearly it was time for an update. Furthermore, Zuckerberg said that looking at all mobile phone usage, more than 20% of peoples' time is spent on Facebook. The company has made much of its "mobile first" approach, and it appears to be paying off. Insta-successAs for Instagram, Facebook's first big payout, the photo sharing service revealed today that it has over 200 million users, with over 50 million joining in the last six months. Users sat at 100 million when Facebook purchased the tiny team in 2012. During a call with investors to discuss the Oculus purchase, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Instagram is "already ahead of where we want it to be." He assured Facebook wouldn't be making multi-billion dollar purchases every few months a regular thing, but with Instagram growing, WhatsApp expected to reach 1 billion people and Oculus Rift's potential as the future of computing, there's certainly some things Zuck is wiling to spend his bucks on. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe is all about VR beyond gaminghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/389ce194/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359397685/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/389ce194/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359397685/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/389ce194/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359397685/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/389ce194/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359397685/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/389ce194/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193359397685/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/389ce194/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ohJO3lBW60E

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/games_consoles/Project%20Shield/Nvidia%20Shield-470-75.jpgWe're only a week away from the calendar turning over to April, but that could feel a whole lot longer for owners of Nvidia's Android-based mobile gaming system now that details have surfaced on what the next update has in store. TechCrunch has scored details on next month's Nvidia Shield update, which will go live as a free, downloadable update for owners of the company's mobile gaming console on April 2. The forthcoming update will finally bring the system the latest and greatest Android 4.4 KitKat version of Google's mobile platform, including a refreshed Tegra Zone store to help find game titles optimized for the device. The April update will also deliver news about future Shield updates right to the Tegra Zone app, along with the added convenience of Bluetooth keyboard and mouse support for those who find the built-in controller too limiting while taking a break from gameplay. Remote streamingNvidia Shield owners will also finally be able to truly get their game on thanks to Remote GameStream, which allows players to wake a LAN-connected PC back home and stream favorite console games to anywhere there's an internet connection. GameStream does come with some moderately hefty requirements for successful remote gameplay, with Nvidia recommending an internet connection capable of at least 5mbps up and down, but players will be able to tweak their quality and framerate settings as needed. Nvidia is also stepping up efforts to promote the Shield with a $50 (about UK£30, AU$55) discount on the hardware, which brings the price down to a slightly more affordable $199 (about UK£120, AU$217). Shield players will have more to choose from with more than 100 titles (up from two dozen at launch) currently available, although GameStream will allow remote streaming of any title on your PC, whether Nvidia has optimized it or not. Still prefer a console? Check out our review of Microsoft's Xbox One!

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/features/Going%20paperless/paperless-470-75.jpg Since the 1s and 0s of the first email exchange made their way across the Web, people have envisioned a paperless future where documents live on computers and every 'In' tray is a virtual one. With today's super-thin tablets, cloud storage networks and mobile apps, going paperless is more viable than it's ever been before. To turn the idea of a paperless office (or home office) into a reality, you're going to need to get to grips with some of the kit and apps available. You're also going to need to spend some time working out processes for incoming and existing paperwork that needs to be dealt with. Converting documentsIf you're going to go all in with the paperless principle, then you have to do something about the mountains of paperwork you already have. There are dozens of flatbed scanners to choose from and you may even have one integrated into your printer. But the Doxie Go (US$199, £169, about AU$218) is worth a look too. This rechargeable, portable scanner can work with or without a PC to hand, and will make short work of ploughing through your documents. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/Doxie%20Go-420-90.jpg The software included with the Doxie Go is handy as well, letting you clip pages together, export files as PDFs and upload your scans to a cloud storage service such as Evernote or Dropbox. The models in Fujitsu's ScanSnap range fulfil a similar purpose, and can handle bigger batches of documents at once if you're prepared to pay more money. You can pick up last year's iX500 model for about £370 (US$495, AU$524) online. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/iX500-420-90.jpg The widely recognised PDF should be the format of choice for your documents, particularly if you can get hold of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software that is able to catalogue the text within the pages. By cataloguing and naming your documents as they come in you can avoid a bottleneck from happening further down the line. Managing documentsIn your journey from document overload to paperless nirvana it's important that you don't just swap a physical mess for a digital one. Being able to organise and search through the documents you create is vital, so devote some serious time to working out a system that you're happy with. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/Evernote-420-90.jpg Evernote is the poster boy for the paperless revolution, letting you collect together all manner of images, documents and links in one overarching library of digital notebooks. The beauty of Evernote lies in its open-ended flexibility, which means you can use it in all kinds of different ways. A basic account is free, but if you choose to upgrade to the premium plan for £3 a month (US$5, AU$11) then you get an offline mode, collaboration tools and the ability to search inside PDFs and other documents. Evernote includes a tagging function just like Gmail, so you can set up a series of tags to keep your digital paperwork in order. Of course, you don't have to overcomplicate matters if a simple set of Windows folders does the job, but as always make sure you have backups in place if you are shredding the originals. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/OneNote-420-90.jpg Microsoft's Evernote rival OneNote (£39.99, US$49.99, AU$59.99) works along similar lines, though support for attaching files is only available in the desktop version of the app. At the small business end of the market, full document management suites like PaperPort Professional (£99.99, US$199, AU$199.95) and FileCenter Pro (US$199.95, about £121, AU$219) offer more advanced database features with automatic text scanning and conversion. Viewing documentsThe evolution of the mobile phone into a miniature computer means that you already have a screen that's always with you. But for viewing larger documents on the go the latest iPad Air (starting at £399, US$499, AU$598) is hard to beat. Apple has done an impressive job in reducing the weight and increasing the thinness of the iPad, and we've previously described it as being "as near to tablet perfection as you're going to get." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/tablets/iPad/iPadAir/logitech_ultrathin_ipadair-420-90.jpg Whichever tablet or mobile phone you have with you, there are a glut of apps ready and waiting to make your documents available anytime anywhere. There's Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, iCloud, OneDrive and the aforementioned Evernote to name a few. All of these apps are based around cloud storage systems that mean your documents aren't locked away on a hard drive. These services sync files between devices and computers while keeping a backup in the cloud. They can also be used to share documents over the web too. All of the storage options mentioned have their uses, but Google Drive is the one that stands out at the moment. You get 15GB of room for free, it works across virtually any platform, and editing tools are built in. Drive also scores bonus points because its Android app can scan documents through the camera on your phone or tablet and convert them into searchable PDF files. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/Google%20Drive-420-90.jpg Whatever your home or office setup is like, you should now have a clearer idea of how you can go about reducing the amount of paper that's flying around. We'd recommend working out a suitable system before you start buying hardware and downloading apps. Work out what you need to catalogue, how you need to be able to access it, and how to organise it once it's digital. After this you can then choose a hardware and software combination to fit. Microsoft Office is coming to iPad - but is it too little, too late?

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/features/Going%20paperless/paperless-470-75.jpg Since the 1s and 0s of the first email exchange made their way across the Web, people have envisioned a paperless future where documents live on computers and every 'In' tray is a virtual one. With today's super-thin tablets, cloud storage networks and mobile apps, going paperless is more viable than it's ever been before. To turn the idea of a paperless office (or home office) into a reality, you're going to need to get to grips with some of the kit and apps available. You're also going to need to spend some time working out processes for incoming and existing paperwork that needs to be dealt with. Converting documentsIf you're going to go all in with the paperless principle, then you have to do something about the mountains of paperwork you already have. There are dozens of flatbed scanners to choose from and you may even have one integrated into your printer. But the Doxie Go (US$199, £169, about AU$218) is worth a look too. This rechargeable, portable scanner can work with or without a PC to hand, and will make short work of ploughing through your documents. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/Doxie%20Go-420-90.jpg The software included with the Doxie Go is handy as well, letting you clip pages together, export files as PDFs and upload your scans to a cloud storage service such as Evernote or Dropbox. The models in Fujitsu's ScanSnap range fulfil a similar purpose, and can handle bigger batches of documents at once if you're prepared to pay more money. You can pick up last year's iX500 model for about £370 (US$495, AU$524) online. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/iX500-420-90.jpg The widely recognised PDF should be the format of choice for your documents, particularly if you can get hold of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software that is able to catalogue the text within the pages. By cataloguing and naming your documents as they come in you can avoid a bottleneck from happening further down the line. Managing documentsIn your journey from document overload to paperless nirvana it's important that you don't just swap a physical mess for a digital one. Being able to organise and search through the documents you create is vital, so devote some serious time to working out a system that you're happy with. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/Evernote-420-90.jpg Evernote is the poster boy for the paperless revolution, letting you collect together all manner of images, documents and links in one overarching library of digital notebooks. The beauty of Evernote lies in its open-ended flexibility, which means you can use it in all kinds of different ways. A basic account is free, but if you choose to upgrade to the premium plan for £3 a month (US$5, AU$11) then you get an offline mode, collaboration tools and the ability to search inside PDFs and other documents. Evernote includes a tagging function just like Gmail, so you can set up a series of tags to keep your digital paperwork in order. Of course, you don't have to overcomplicate matters if a simple set of Windows folders does the job, but as always make sure you have backups in place if you are shredding the originals. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/OneNote-420-90.jpg Microsoft's Evernote rival OneNote (£39.99, US$49.99, AU$59.99) works along similar lines, though support for attaching files is only available in the desktop version of the app. At the small business end of the market, full document management suites like PaperPort Professional (£99.99, US$199, AU$199.95) and FileCenter Pro (US$199.95, about £121, AU$219) offer more advanced database features with automatic text scanning and conversion. Viewing documentsThe evolution of the mobile phone into a miniature computer means that you already have a screen that's always with you. But for viewing larger documents on the go the latest iPad Air (starting at £399, US$499, AU$598) is hard to beat. Apple has done an impressive job in reducing the weight and increasing the thinness of the iPad, and we've previously described it as being "as near to tablet perfection as you're going to get." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/tablets/iPad/iPadAir/logitech_ultrathin_ipadair-420-90.jpg Whichever tablet or mobile phone you have with you, there are a glut of apps ready and waiting to make your documents available anytime anywhere. There's Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, iCloud, OneDrive and the aforementioned Evernote to name a few. All of these apps are based around cloud storage systems that mean your documents aren't locked away on a hard drive. These services sync files between devices and computers while keeping a backup in the cloud. They can also be used to share documents over the web too. All of the storage options mentioned have their uses, but Google Drive is the one that stands out at the moment. You get 15GB of room for free, it works across virtually any platform, and editing tools are built in. Drive also scores bonus points because its Android app can scan documents through the camera on your phone or tablet and convert them into searchable PDF files. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/features/Going%20paperless/Google%20Drive-420-90.jpg Whatever your home or office setup is like, you should now have a clearer idea of how you can go about reducing the amount of paper that's flying around. We'd recommend working out a suitable system before you start buying hardware and downloading apps. Work out what you need to catalogue, how you need to be able to access it, and how to organise it once it's digital. After this you can then choose a hardware and software combination to fit. Microsoft Office is coming to iPad - but is it too little, too late?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38961c58/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359663765/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38961c58/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359663765/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38961c58/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359663765/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38961c58/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193359663765/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38961c58/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193359663765/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38961c58/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/YyKznbwR54k

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Generics/Lock%20image-470-75.jpgThe technology behind network security is evolving all the time, with years of enhancements and continuous intelligence added to security technologies such as firewalls. All this is designed to improve processes and minimise the risk of human error impacting businesses. However, there is one element that limits the effectiveness of the security in any business - the IT manager. A recent firewall survey indicated that 80 percent of companies do not know what all of their firewall rules do. I suggest this is because IT or security managers just cannot easily work with the added complexity of today's technology. Where there is a human involved, there is room for human error. This is not a reflection of the intelligence or expertise of IT managers - they are limited by the capabilities of the human brain. Limits of the human brainThe complexity of firewalls lies in the number of rules and correlation between rulesets. There is a limit to the amount of information that the human brain can digest at once. This means that when an IT manager looks at the management console on his/her computer screen, he or she can only process around 25 rows of rules, when some companies have around 500 rows of rules that are in use at any given time. We can all relate to this, as everyone has experienced an information overload at one time or another, but something needs to be done to stop this affecting business. Security rules and profile rulesets are common in organisations to keep their staff and IT systems safe, both now and in the future. As you can imagine, the higher number of firewall rules a company has, the higher the chance of mis-configuration due to human error. This is because it is extremely difficult for the IT manager running the firewall to keep a clear overview of the organisation's security or easily notice conflicting rulesets. It is unsurprising that over 55 per cent of companies have had a security gap because of a mis-configured firewall rule, with half of those cases resulting in system downtime. 500 rules and growingEven if the current rules are working and providing high security levels, there is no guarantee that it will continue to stay this way in the future. However, restricting the number of rulesets is not the way forward. Market dynamics and business requirements change continuously, so there is no way to hold back on adding and changing security rules and settings. Therefore, it is very likely that the number of rules that an IT manager has to contend with will continue to grow. The solutionThe industry needs to step up and come up with an answer to this mismatch between human brain capabilities and the amount of information that technology is providing. For example, when someone studies for a test, they are unable to absorb all the information in a textbook. The solution, for most people, is to take notes, condensing the most important information down into a few key points so the brain can easily absorb it. This is what security technology needs to do for it's users. Developing new security technology has always been a high priority for the industry, but the protection that this technology can offer is limited if they are vulnerable to human error. Ease of use needs to be as a high a priority as innovation, in order for organisations to ensure that their technology is working as effectively as it can. The key is a management console that provides a clear overview of the security rules that have been put in place, and flags the conflicting configurations. This will create and maintain an environment that protects and secures businesses in the best possible way. Klaus Gheri is vice president and general manager of network security, Barracuda Networkshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3894f096/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801933247/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3894f096/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801933247/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3894f096/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801933247/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3894f096/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801933247/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3894f096/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801933247/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3894f096/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ZzXJ25FIHAw

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Google/GoogleNow/Google_Now_Android_search-470-75.jpgWhile the big news today is Google Now officially arriving within the Chrome web browser, the company has also taken the opportunity to announce a new feature for the Android Google Search app. On Monday evening, Google announced Waze data has been integrated with Google Search, bringing users automatic, live traffic updates for users. The idea is to give folks a heads-up, via a notification, if delays are being experienced on regular commutes before they hit the traffic jam. This, of course, will allow them to seek alternate routes. "You know the feeling," wrote the firm on its Google+ page. "You're just miles from home when all of a sudden you see brake lights ahead—a sure sign of an incident on the road. Starting today, you'll have a better chance of making it around the traffic. Cruising the back roads"With the latest update to the GoogleSearch app for Android, Google Now will send you a notification if you're likely to hit a traffic incident along your drive—without you even having to ask. That way, you can get off at that earlier exit and cruise through the back roads." Google acquired the crowd-sourced Waze app last summer for over a billion dollars. It's first act of business was to bring traffic updates within Google Now, but today's move makes the updates accessible for those users running older version of Android who don't have the personal assistant app baked into their devices. Android 4.4 KitKat reviewhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3890cd6c/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801953588/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3890cd6c/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801953588/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3890cd6c/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801953588/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3890cd6c/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801953588/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3890cd6c/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801953588/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3890cd6c/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Cmx7hmyvnIM

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/HTC/M8/Verizon%20HTC%20One%20box-470-75.jpgHTC is mere hours away from presumably unveiling their latest and greatest flagship smartphone, and there are now indications Android fans may not have to wait months or even days to get their hands on one. Android Central reported Friday that the wait to buy a new HTC One (M8) smartphone may be very short indeed - perhaps even an hour after the simultaneous keynotes in London and New York wrap up tomorrow. Less than a week ago, UK retailer Carphone Warehouse confirmed that the Taiwanese manufacturer's latest smartphone will indeed go on sale at selected stores shortly after HTC's announcement. Thanks to a tipster at the Android Central forums, there's now further compelling evidence to suggest that at least Verizon Wireless will also be selling the awkwardly named HTC One (M8) on the same day. Hit refreshThat evidence comes in the form of a Verizon promotional box that teases consumers to "Get ready to hit fresh" on March 25 at 1PM EST, which is only two hours after HTC's media event is scheduled to begin. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/HTC/HTC_OneM8/HTC_One_M8_refresh_box-420-90.jpg Tipster "Joe the Insider" also claims his unidentified Verizon Wireless store will also be receiving an honest-to-goodness M8 demo unit, which isn't much of a surprise considering the number of leaks that have been turning up lately. Lending further credibility to the leaked image above is the fact that it appears to show off the dot-based flip case which turned up earlier this month in a separate leak, which is said to display the time and weather in "various color options" while closed. The leak has ignited speculation that the HTC One (M8) could wind up being a Verizon exclusive (at least at launch), but thankfully we won't have to wait much longer to find out for sure. The Samsung Galaxy S5 preorders have begun, so check out our full review!http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/388e2877/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944844/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e2877/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944844/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e2877/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944844/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e2877/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944844/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e2877/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801944844/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e2877/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ZDajR6mXBJ0