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http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Samsung/Samsung_Windows_Phone-470-75.jpgApparently not content with its wide lead in the Android Market or having its own Tizen OS backup plan, Samsung appears to be making up for lost time with a second new handset, this time running the latest version of Microsoft's smartphone operating system. SamMobile caught wind today that Samsung plans to follow up its just-announced ATIV SE Windows Phone 8 flagship smartphone for Verizon Wireless with a second device a little further down the food chain. Billed as the Samsung ATIV Core, the as-yet unannounced handset is said to be the Korean manufacturer's first to run the forthcoming Windows Phone 8.1, which Microsoft finally made official during this week's Build developer conference. The handset is reportedly far enough along the supply chain that it could land in stores around the same time as Nokia's latest devices next month - but unless the pricing is rock-bottom, the specs may keep Windows Phone 8.1 fans from jumping on board. Fair to middlingWhile Samsung's ATIV SE offers Verizon customers a pretty sweet assortment of Windows Phone 8-enabled technology, ATIV Core appears to be aimed at the less-discriminating buyer. The report details a 4.5-inch display with a 720p resolution, 1GB of RAM and 2100mAh battery, although there's no firm details on what kind of processing power is behind ATIV Core. ATIV Core's camera may hold more promise, with tipsters offering contradicting claims of either 8MP or 13MP resolution, which will probably wind up on the lower end of that spectrum. No word on carriers, pricing or other launch details have turned up yet, but with Windows Phone 8.1 apparently headed to developers on April 14, these details should start rolling out in short order. Don't forget to check out our review of the new Samsung Galaxy S5!http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/390029ea/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/193360632080/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/390029ea/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360632080/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/390029ea/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360632080/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/390029ea/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360632080/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/390029ea/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360632080/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/390029ea/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/SkyyqKXDGIs

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Onetimers/Novauris%20works%20on%20Siri-470-75.jpgApple must be feeling some pressure from Cortana's big reveal at Microsoft Build as it has now bought Novauris Technologies to help improve it improve Siri. Apple quietly acquired Novauris Technologies, a company specializing in the automatic speech recognition field, which originally spun off from the team that developed Nuance's Dragon naturally speaking software. TechCrunch reported that the Cupertino company actually bought up Novauris last year but the purchase was not publicly announced until now. Since last fall the team has been working to improve Siri, Apple's speech-based personal assistant. Before being acquired the Novauris team was already working on its own large-vocabulary, automatic speech recognition technology to access information stored on mobile devices themselves or remote servers. This same system is likely being integrated into Siri for an improved version we might see come with iOS 8 at WWDC 2014 this June 2. The best virtual secretaryApple later confirmed that it did purchase Novauris with TechCrunch. However, the iPhone maker also noted that it buys smaller technology companies from time to time but it had no interest in discussing the purpose or plans behind the acquisition. What comes out of Apple bulking up its team of voice recognition experts remains uncertain, but it's becoming clear that Apple's virtual assistant is lagging behind the competition. With Google Now on Android, and now Cortana, it's becoming plainly obvious a digital assistant needs to do more than understand a users voice command and reply with punchy one-liners. The software also needs to learn to adapt to your schedule and life style. Google Now cards already predict information you need ahead of time such as commuting times and spotting restaurants around the corner. Cortana, meanwhile, made its debut overshadowing Windows Phone 8.1 with its ability to plug into third-party apps – an ability Siri does not have. What's more the "UNSC battle AI" from Halo will check back with your calendar and note any scheduling conflicts rather than listening and marking down every appointment without another thought. Cortana also let users set people reminders such as a note to ask about their sister's dog the next time she calls. Meet the Nokia Lumia 930, one of the very first Windows Phone 8.1 deviceshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38f67753/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/193360852326/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38f67753/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360852326/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38f67753/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360852326/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38f67753/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360852326/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38f67753/sc/5/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360852326/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38f67753/sc/5/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/bE_pOyeqG24

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Windows%20Phone/cortanaleak2-470-75.jpgMicrosoft has finally unveiled Cortana, it's Siri-competitor, but we won't see her pop up in devices until some time in 2015. Named after the artificial intelligence character in the Halo video game series, Cortana goes up against Google Now and Apple's Siri, sitting somewhere between the two. It is powered by Bing, has a bit of a personality like Siri, and can pull data from resources like Foursquare and elsewhere for contextual awareness like Gogle Now. You'll be able to use Cortana to schedule reminders, set alarms and translate voice to text, but it will also have support for third-party apps like Facebook and Skype. Cortana will even show emotion. Windows Phone 8.1But while Cortana looks to make Windows Phone platform rival the prowess of Android and iOS, it will only begin to start rolling out in beta form as part of the Window Phone 8.1 update in the US from April or May. A full version of Cortana will roll out in the second half of the year, with Microsoft only saying that the release will expand into the UK and China by the end of 2014. As for when we'll see it in Australia, it likely won't be until 2015. That said, we probably won't be the last country that Cortana rolls out to, but with Bing not having the strongest presence in Australia, the wait could end up being over a year long. Thankfully, we will at least see Windows Phone 8.1 on Aussie shores sooner than thathttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38ed8f0d/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/193360879064/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38ed8f0d/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360879064/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38ed8f0d/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360879064/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38ed8f0d/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360879064/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38ed8f0d/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360879064/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38ed8f0d/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/6gcaYJ4GCXA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Windows%20Phone/WP8/In%20pictures/Win8_05_Press-470-75.jpgDuring the Build 2014 conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Microsoft CVP Joe Belfiore pulled the curtain back on the much-rumored, long awaited Windows Phone 8.1 update. Set to launch in the coming months on existing handsets and packed into upcoming models, Windows Phone 8.1 looks and sounds like much more than a "point update." This could have easily been dubbed "Windows Phone 9." Here's what's new and different in Windows Phone 8.1: Cortana jacks into Windows PhoneWindows Phone 8.1 marks the launch of Microsoft's voice recognition and Bing-powered mobile personal assistant, Cortana. Named after the artificial intelligence that has followed the titular Halo protagonist, Master Chief, around for years, Cortana is basically Microsoft's answer to Google Now on Android 4.4 Kitkat and Siri on iOS 7. On stage, Belfiore pitched Cortana not only as the most important change to Windows Phone, but as "the world's first truly personal assistant," with an emphasis on "personal". Cortana is designed to use both Bing and your phone's internal data – such as contacts, calendar and more – to build a personal relationship with users, to get to know them. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/Windows%20Phone/Windows%20Phone%208/windowsphone8-1cortana-420-90.jpg Cortana can handle all the basic tasks you would expect from a voice-powered tool, like scheduling reminders, setting up alarms and translating voice to text. But Microsoft has baked in support for third-party apps, too, like Facebook, Hulu and Skype. Now, you can check in on Facebook friends, load up your Hulu Plus queue and initiate calls with your voice. When Windows Phone 8.1 launches, Cortana will have a "beta" tag until Microsoft sends Cortana to UK and Chinese Windows Phone devices in the "second half of 2014." Action Center leaps into … you knowAt last, Windows Phone catches up to the competition with its very own drawer of quick settings. Microsoft calls this the "Action Center," but it's essentially an answer to what Android has offered for several versions and what Apple introduced with iOS 7. This settings drawer of sorts offers simple access to control over Wi-Fi, Flight Mode, the Bluetooth radio and interface rotation lock. You'll also see notifications from all of your apps within Action Center, in case you missed them on their Live Tiles. Even more personal Live TilesMicrosoft has finally opened up support for three columns of Live Tiles, Microsoft's name for the interactive elements of its mobile operating system, to handsets of all sizes. But more importantly, you can now choose a "Start background." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/Windows%20Phone/Windows%20Phone%208/windowsphone8-1livetiles-420-90.jpg This feature allows users to choose a single image that will appear across and behind all of their Live Tiles, sort of like a sliced up photo. However, this effect only applies to a certain number of tiles. Nevertheless, "Start background" makes for a super stylish look to your home screen. Swyping a winning keyboardThanks to a tool that Microsoft has dubbed its "Word Flow Keyboard," Windows Phone now support swipe typing. Popularized by the fan-favorite Swype keyboard on Android, this allows you to more easily type one-handed by gliding your fingers along the virtual keys rather than tap. This might have earned Redmond campus the Guinness World Record for swipe typing – do these give these out for anything these days? – but Android still did it first. Regardless, there's clearly some merit to second place. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/Windows%20Phone/Windows%20Phone%208/windowsphone8-1skype-420-90.jpg Skype meets FaceTime head-onWith Windows Phone 8.1, you can start a Skype video call right from within a standard phone call just by tapping the corresponding icon. It seems quite similar to what iOS users can do through Apple's FaceTime, though it works with Cortana as well. Regardless, we'll have to see how this works when calling Android and iOS users. Action shots get easier with Burst ModeJust like on some Android phones, Windows Phone devices can now shoot images in Burst Mode, meaning the camera can take several shots with a single button press. Given the focus on the camera for many of these handsets, this should provide a much-wanted boost to Microsoft's mobile camera software. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/mobile_phones/Windows%20Phone/Windows%20Phone%208/windowsphone8-1lockscreen-420-90.jpg Additional improvementsOn top of these marquee upgrades, Microsoft fleshed out its Data Sense, Wi-Fi Sense, Storage Sense and Battery Saver tools to grant more control over those aspects of your phone. Of course, they're all designed to save, whether that be saved battery life, saved storage, or saved data. Plus, you can now project the contents of your phone's display to a PC, TV or projector over USB as well as Miracast on some supported devices. Xbox Music has been refreshed as well, separating music, video and podcasts into dedicated apps with additional functionality. There's plenty more to see in Windows Phone 8.1, like improvements to Internet Explorer 11 (such as InPrivate browsing), Calendar (like a week view option) and further syncing between your Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices (right down to the color scheme). So, yeah, it will be worth the upgrade. Check out the rest of our Build 2014 coveragehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38eb220c/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/193360869495/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38eb220c/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360869495/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38eb220c/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360869495/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38eb220c/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360869495/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38eb220c/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360869495/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38eb220c/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/GFQ_F1jR8hg

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/events/Microsoft%20Build%202014/Keynote-470-75.jpgMicrosoft has taken the wraps off Windows Phone 8.1, the next edition of its mobile OS, at Build 2014. The update comes complete with an Action Center, as was widely rumored. CVP Joe Belfiore introduced the new center, highlighting its ability to keep users informed of what's going on with their phone, such as better battery life readings. Perhaps most importantly of all, Windows Phone 8.1 breathes life into Cortana, Microsoft's new personal assistant. She's powered by Bing, and replaces the search function on Windows Phone. Belfiore demoed Cortana on stage, showing off her ability to set reminders, read text messages, find search results (like the best Mexican restaurants in Palo Alto) and much more. Belfiore explained that with user permission, Cortana will read users emails, gaining access to info like flight schedules. Personalizing Windows PhonePersonalization is clearly a big focus with the update, and Belfiore even said that the changes in store are all about personalizing the mobile phone experience. Users will also be able to customize their lock screen as well as their live tile themes. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/events/Microsoft%20Build%202014/live%20tiles-420-90.jpg With Windows Phone 8.1, users will also be able to choose what they're on-screen start screen look like. There are also a number of apps getting an update with Windows Phone 8.1, including Skype. We're getting details as they come in, so stay tuned for more. More to follow... http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38e892d8/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/193360860941/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d8/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360860941/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d8/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360860941/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d8/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360860941/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d8/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360860941/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d8/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/RvYRV4HsHOw

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/events/Microsoft%20Build%202014/Cortana1-470-75.jpgMicrosoft began its Build 2014 conference with an announcement that we've been expecting for a while: there's a Siri rival built into Windows Phone 8.1, and its name is Cortana. Cortana is also the name of the artificial intelligence character in the Halo video game series, of course, and Microsoft is taking full advantage of that fact. Corporate Vice President of Operating Systems Group Joe Belfiore introduced the virtual personal assistant, asking her whether she likes her name and her appearance, to which she replied that she resembles, among other things, "a halo." Good one, Microsoft. Cortana gets her own live tile in Windows Phone 8.1., but that's only one way to access her - she also replaces the search function in the mobile OS. A leg upUsers interact with Cortana with natural voice commands and requests, Belfiore demonstrated. You can also type complex requests directly to her. "Like a real personal assistant, she's good at handling your communications and your calendar," he said. "She's also good at helping you learn things." He asked her about calendar entries and added items to his to-do list, and she informed him about a conflict in his calendar. Cortana even asks your permission to read your email, Belfiore said - unlike the NSA. More importantly, Cortana can also be "extended" by third-party apps - unlike Siri. Belfiore asked Cortana about Mexican restaurants, to which she replied using data from Yelp. He also showed off "people reminders," by which the virtual assistant can identify certain people and perform contextual functions. For example Belfiore asked her to remind him of something whenever he talks to "my sister," and said Cortana would then pipe up if he texted, emailed, called, or otherwise interacted with the person she identifies as his sister. Beta bluesBelfiore revealed that Cortana will launch as a beta - there were a few hiccups during the demo, when she misinterpreted or misheard some of Belfiore's commands. So maybe she's not all that different from Siri after all. Developing… http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38e892d9/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/193360860940/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d9/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360860940/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d9/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360860940/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d9/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/193360860940/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d9/sc/4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/193360860940/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38e892d9/sc/4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/VMtSNggUYXQ

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/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/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/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/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/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/CCleaner-470-75.jpgJust like the car sitting in your drive, your PC is going to benefit from a regular service and check-up. As the months and years go by, computers can show a tendency to get sluggish, cluttered and wheezy, but keeping your Windows machine factory fresh doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Control%20Panel-420-90.jpg No matter what the weather may say, we're into the months of spring, so there's no better time to wipe the virtual dust off your PC and clean out some of the apps, settings and files you're no longer using. By the time you've finished, you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier. ApplicationsKeeping old, neglected applications installed on your computer may not seem like such a crime, but these redundant programs take up storage space, clog up the Windows registry and can interfere with the apps you're actually using. It's also a good idea to remove any useless 'bloatware' that came installed on your PC when you first bought it. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/app%20sizes-420-90.jpg Windows 8.1 gives you plenty of options for removing applications. You can follow the link in the Control Panel to uninstall a program, right-click (or tap and hold) on a tile on the Start screen, or head through the Settings charm to the Search and apps page. If you go via the Control Panel route, you can sort your apps by the last used date, which should highlight programs that are starting to show their age. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Task%20Manager-420-90.jpg Even if you don't want to remove programs completely, you can stop them from booting up at the same time as Windows and taking up precious memory unnecessarily. Run the Task Manager utility from the Search charm and switch to the Start-up tab to see everything that launches with Windows. Use the Publisher information or a quick Google search to see which of the entries in the list you can safely disable. Disk spacehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Disk%20Clean-up-420-90.jpg Disk Clean-up scours your hard drive for files that are no longer required and carefully excises them from your system. Log files, downloads, archives, error reports and more are included in the search, and you have the option of reviewing each type of file before it's deleted. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Glary%20Utilities-420-90.jpg There are plenty of third-party applications around that will do the same sort of job in a friendlier interface: Glary Utilities is one of our favourites. It includes a '1-Click Maintenance' module for fast and convenient cleaning. As well as looking at redundant files, Glary Utilities can also tidy up the registry settings, spot any duplicate files that have appeared and remove empty folders for you. Web browsersMany of us spend a lot of computing time inside a web browser, and these apps can become bloated and sluggish in the same way as Windows itself. Look at removing unnecessary extensions and cleaning out temporary data to improve performance. The process will vary from browser to browser, but in Chrome you can use the 'Clear browsing data' button on the Settings screen to tidy up your browsing and download history, the temporary file cache, and cookies stored by websites you've visited. All browsers have similar tools as well as an extensions manager that you can use to disable toolbars, add-ons and plugins that aren't important to your day-to-day work. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Google%20Chrome-420-90.jpg One of the best freeware apps for this job is the excellent CCleaner. It analyses a number of different desktop applications, including your web browsers, and erases any files and data that can be safely removed. You get the option to review all of CCleaner's findings before the relevant files are deleted, so you don't have to remove anything you're unsure about. The web browser part of the program covers your browsing history, file cache, cookies, download history and current session information. Restore and resetSince the arrival of Windows 8, cleaning up Microsoft's operating system has become a lot more straightforward. Reinstalling your OS is often one of the best ways to blow away all of the clutter that has accumulated, but nowadays this process can be launched in a couple of clicks, and you don't have to waste hours hunting for your original Windows discs. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Update%20and%20recovery-420-90.jpg From the Change PC settings link on the Settings charm, choose Update and recovery. Under the Recovery heading you'll see two options: Refresh your PC, which essentially resets Windows without touching your files, and Restore everything, which cleans out your hard drive and puts everything back in its original state (which is handy if you're flogging your machine on eBay). If you want the cleanest results in the quickest time, then these two options are your best bets. By the time you've finished, you should be left with a tidy, optimised PC that's breathing more easily. What's more, just as a regular motor service reduces the risk of a catastrophe on the M6, so a regular tidy up of your computer's nooks and crannies can limit your chances of running into bigger issues further down the line. Now why not check out Best free antivirus software 2014http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/388e2880/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.pnghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ypvPMDtsw9s

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/onenote-ipad-470-75.jpgMicrosoft Office on iPad: too little too late?Well, it's happening: Microsoft is bringing elements of its Office suite, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, to iPad in a bid to win over the ever expanding tablet user base, which has largely been neglected by Redmond. Aside from its Office suites on the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, which operate predominately within the 'Desktop' mode of Windows 8 rather than being bespoke apps design for tablets, Microsoft has done very little to appease iPads users. It did hint repeatedly that Office would "one day" be coming to iOS, but never actually delivered a final version, until now. Whether Office on iPad is a success or not remains to be seen, but will rely heavily on the way Microsoft chooses to implement the app(s). We can't know the implementation that Microsoft will choose to use for Office on iPad, but we know the options. One option is to use Office 365, Microsoft's subscription service for Office. Microsoft's Surface devices require Office 365 to run the Office suite hinting at the path Microsoft may choose to take for Office on iPad. For £79.99 (US$99.99, AU$119) a year, or £7.99 (US$9.99, AU$12) a month, Microsoft 365 gives you OneDrive (née SkyDrive) storage, international Skype minutes, all of the Office suite and syncing between devices. It would stand to reason that the iPad version would require this to work, but is it necessarily the best way for Microsoft to go about it? The answer to that question is likely no. Microsoft will know this because the iPad is still not seen as a "creation" device, mainly due to the lack of keyboard. Ways to payMany users will balk at having to pay a monthly fee in order to use a programme they will most likely use infrequently. It will be used to edit a few documents they have been sent via email or to change a document while travelling without a laptop. Of course some users will sign up, but not as many as Microsoft would want considering the effort that has gone into porting Office to iOS. A far better alternative would be the more Apple-esque route of charging a small fee per app (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and offering an in-app purchase of Office 365 if the customer wishes to sync documents seamlessly across devices. While this would mean sending 30% of all sales to Apple, the consumer would receive a more cohesive experience that would rival Apple's own productivity suite. According to data from App Annie, Pages, the Apple equivalent of Word, has been in the top 40 apps all time, despite charging £6.99 (US $9.99, AU$10.49) up until September 2013. Microsoft will likely want to replicate this success to make their foray into iOS worthwhile. According to a tweet sent to MacRumors Microsoft could choose to bundle the suite into a single app, allowing users limited functionality but offering the app for free. This strategy lends itself to the casual user who wishes to edit very simple files, but falls far short of beating Apple's offerings on the platform which are also free, offer near-desktop levels of editing ability and can export to both Microsoft and Apple's productivity suites. Users may download the app on a whim but decide that Apple's apps are superior in both value and function. Whatever Microsoft chooses to announce at its event later this month will be compared directly to Apple's iWork suite by both technology critics and the general public, a fact Microsoft should be wary of. Before September 2013 Apple's offerings came at the cost of £21 (about US$30, AU$32) for all three available apps, a bar too high for many. Now, however, the apps are free, meaning that anyone can download and compare them to Microsoft's offerings and users could well decide that Microsoft has delivered too little too late. Deciding whether to buy an iPad Air?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3881aeaa/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/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/0R0mdwrHa88

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Buildings/Microsoft/microsoft-hq-redmond-470-75.JPGSoftware giant Microsoft has packed up its latest version of its SQL Server database, SQL Server 2014 and sent it to manufacturers. This version's most important new feature is its built-in in-memory online transaction processing (OLTP) capability, which Microsoft has said can improve database performance up to 30 times. According to ZDNet the new software should be in the shops on April 1. It is based around in-memory OLTP engine codenamed "Hekaton" is supposed to complement the in-memory data-warehousing and business-intelligence capabilities that are already under the bonnet of SQL. In a normal database the assumption is that data lives on disk and is stored on disk pages but this creates a lot of overhead in accessing records. However when data lives totally in memory, it is possible to use much simpler data structures. HekatronHekaton's index data structures and storage structures are optimized on the basis that when a table is declared memory-optimized, all of its records live in memory, Microsoft said. Hekaton has new concurrency-control mechanisms that mean it can be scaled, and it moves away from a partitioned approach via a multicore processor that's treated as a distributed system. What replaces it is a latch-free/lock-free design which avoids data corruption caused when multiple users try to modify a data structure concurrently. SQL Server 2014 also was designed to back up to Windows Azure, enabling users to back up their on-premises data to the cloud at an instance-level for disaster-recovery purposes. Backups can be automatic or manual, and a backup can be restored to a Windows Azure Virtual Machine, if need be. Now learn about the dangers of cloud sprawl.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/385c4e24/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/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/BriKEFoF-IU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/AU%20News/Tenplay%20Android-470-75.jpgNetwork Ten has finally released it's catch-up TV app Tenplay for Android, though the company had initially planned for a late 2013 availability for Google's OS. Launched Septmeber last year, Tenplay was initially available for iOS, Sony Bravia TVs, Windows 8, Xbox 360, and was also accessible through browsers. Currently, however, it's Android presence is limited to smartphones, with Network Ten saying that a tablet app will be available later this month. Ten catches upAs well as a catch-up service, the app is also able to live stream content and offers a "continuous play feature", allowing you to move between devices without losing your spot in the middle of a show. You can also create personalised playlists, set up reminders for shows, and access a complete TV guide. While the move to Android should make watching The Simpsons easier for a lot of users, Network Ten is also currently developing an Windows Phone app The Android Tenplay app for smartphones is now available free from the Google Play store. If you want more catch-up TV options, here's our review of the ABC's iview apphttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3841fa87/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/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/9SXKc_p7tJ8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Windows/windows_81_rtm/win81%20startscreen-470-75.jpg Getting under the skin of the software giant is not always easy. But there is clearly something in Microsoft's DNA that has created a good-bad-good gene when it comes to developing its operating systems. In essence, every time it skips a generation, it's significantly enhanced. Remember Windows 95? It was a great product for its time. Innovative, intuitive – an OS that really moved the world of personal, and more importantly business, computing forward. Sure, it had some bugs, but software development on that scale is bound to have early teething problems and they were quickly resolved. New millenniumThen came Windows ME, a product supposedly fit for the new Millennium. Except, no-one appeared to have told the development team that a move into the 21st Century was supposed to engender improvement, not retrograde steps. While ME showed some ingenuity, much of it was regressive particularly for business users, who were not a happy bunch of campers. Skip a generation from 95 and welcome Windows XP. A giant leap for computer-kind, XP was a significant springboard for Microsoft to build a whole new suite of products and really enhance existing business applications such as its Office suite. It was stable, reliable and incorporated enough innovation to keep customers loyal. In fact, there are still organisations using XP and are very happy with it, despite the rest of the world having moved on. Vista was next. Clearly the rogue gene had found its way back into the code and its launch was greeted to the sound of one hand clapping. Enough said - and swiftly on to Windows 7. Again, genuine innovation and a drive towards integration with mobile technologies. Great for businesses that were starting to get to grips with an 'always-on' world. By now, the trend was pretty clear and, apparently, not just an anomaly. Windows 8: yes, a rock- solid system which works well, but an OS that was half-baked when it came to business. The interface was a radical departure from day-to-day working environments and, although 8.1 has been an improvement, the concept of partial control via tiles and partial control through traditional menu layouts just does not work – particularly when most of the workforce is highly unlikely to have touch screens. In my view, this was a personal consumer OS that should have stayed that way and been clearly separated from business users. It's the reason why most businesses have held-off from full Windows 8 implementation. Who cares?So, given Microsoft's genetic record, Windows 9 should be a real humdinger for business and, if the rumours are correct, there will be an element of consumer and enterprise separation. But before us geeks get too carried away, there is a fundamental question to be asked: "does business really care that much?" The reality is that, for many business users, the interest in PCs has waned and they are simply seen as a 'must have' tool to do their job, rather than engendering the kind of excitement that used to occur every time new innovations, applications or hardware appeared. The focus is now on mobile tech and that means Windows 9 has a very specific job to do: it needs to be a reliable workhorse not a sparkly, whizz-bang package. Compare an OS to the office photocopier. Unless you are running a print shop or the design department of a major corporate, how many buttons, features and gizmos do you actually need to make a few copies? Speed, yes. Reliability, most definitely. Collation, probably. As for the rest – who even understands what that button with the strange reverse arrow icon means, let alone how to use it? The same can be said for an OS. It needs to do the bog-standard stuff totally reliably and be robust enough to withstand the lowest common denominator user. It must be easy to support and fully backwards-compatible with both software and hardware. It certainly has to be fast and run software glitch-free and efficiently. Most importantly, Windows 9 has to be totally cloud future-proofed, regardless of the system or service. Until it's launched, we won't know for certain, but my hope is that Windows 9 will also include a 'killer' feature similar to Apple's Siri personal assistant, along with 'smart' coding that can rationalise password storage, predict usage patterns and reporting requirements. We'll have to wait and see but, if Microsoft's genetic code is true to form, we're in for another step forward. Dr Peter Chadha is CEO of DrPete Inc and Chair of Steegle.com. With more than 20 years of independent consulting, his company now provides strategic IT reviews and implementation to global enterprise. He takes a pragmatic approach to business solutions, but is a technology evangelist.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/383cd2a7/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/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/AL-jciuiT2k

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Nokia/Lumia_Refocus-470-75.jpgThe impressive Nokia Refocus app is now up for grabs for anyone rocking one of the company's Lumia handsets, running Windows Phone 8. The app allows users to alter the focus of photos after taking them, much like the Lytro Light Field camera, and was previously only available on the company's PureView handsets like the 41-megapixel Lumia 1020. Refocus has wowed users by allowing them to completely change the depth of field in a snap by tapping on the touchscreen after taking the photo. The shoot-now-focus-later app, enables photographers to emphasise the foreground or background items in any picture and there's also an "all in focus" option to keep everything in the frame looking sharper. DefinedThe app's creator Jens Eggert, Nokia's Lead Program Manager for Refocus, told the Nokia Conversations blog the roll out was an example of existing Lumia phones continuing to improve as time goes on. In terms of creating the perfect Refocus image, he added: "Move as close as possible to the object nearest you, get that in focus – between five and ten centimetres – and ensure you've got something defined in the background. The best advice, however, is experimentation. Just play, it's fun." The company has placed some interactive pictures on the blog enabling potential Lumia fanciers to have a play and refocus photos for themselves. Take a look, it's definitely worth a try. Find out why the Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet enters the market with one hand tied behind its backhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38399354/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/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/kE2E2DQWnq8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Windows/Firefox%20Windows%208-470-75.jpgDon't expect Firefox to surface on your Surface 2 or Windows 8.1 start screen, as the open-source software developer behind the browser has abandoned its Metro-styled app. Mozilla realized launching the 1.0 version of its Microsoft Modern UI app "would be a mistake," wrote Johnathan Nightingale, vice president of Firefox, in a blog post. "It looked like the next battleground for the web," noted Nightingale. Now he says, "we've been watching Metro's adoption. From what we can see, it's pretty flat." While pre-release versions of Firefox's desktop browser are beta tested by millions of people, the company never saw more than 1,000 active daily users taking advantage of Metro. If a bug exists in a Metro app, does anyone hear it?The problem with Microsoft's new design language isn't just that it's unpopular; it's also hard for app developers to properly bug test their software. Nightingale theorized that Mozilla could have eventually shipped the Firefox Metro app, but without real-world testing, a lot of glitches would have been discovered by end users. This decision to pull the plug on this Mozilla app ends its arduous two-year development cycle. It was first announced in February 2012 and slated to finally release in December of last year. It was even previewed just before the end of last year, but delayed as recently as January of this year and now won't come out any time soon. Instead, Mozilla will focus on its development efforts on existing Firefox platforms, including Mac, Linux, Android and straight-up Windows. Maybe when Windows 9 rolls around, it can consider giving Metro another go, but for now it says the real costs of investment in a platform its users have shown little sign of adopting isn't worth it. Firefox is still available on Androids like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3833f96d/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/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/gV2LXw6Bvew

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Abstract/Infrastructure%20network/iStock_000019928004Small-Spectral-Design-470-75.jpg Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) has had a slow start over the past few years. Many enterprises tried and failed to implement VDI or didn't see the utility, cost savings or productivity they hoped for. Problems with latency issues and performance proved major setbacks. However, as cloud technologies improve, customers are giving hosted desktops a second look, but this time turning to third-party hosted desktop service providers to help them access their documents, apps, and programs virtually, from any device, anytime, anywhere via the cloud. Even several industry giants have jumped on the Desktop as a Service (DaaS) bandwagon due to a growing demand for cloud services. These new efforts and significant investments in research and development are heating up the DaaS market. dinCloud is a cloud service provider that helps organizations migrate to the cloud through the hosting of servers, desktops, storage, and other cloud services via its channel base of VARs and MSPs. The company's DaaS offerings are subscription-based and tailored to fit a range of business models resulting in reduced cost, enhanced security, control, and productivity. TechRadar Pro speaks to Mike Chase, EVP & CTO at dinCloud, to find out more. TechRadar Pro: Tell us a little bit about dinCloud – what do you do? Mike Chase: dinCloud is a cloud service provider and transformation company that helps businesses and organizations rapidly migrate to the cloud through the hosting of servers, desktops, storage, and other cloud services via its strong channel base of VARs and MSPs. We are distributed by Ingram Micro and Arrow distribution, while resold by CDW, Insight Enterprises, En Pointe Technologies and other VARs nationally and worldwide. TRP: Can you explain the difference between VDI and DaaS? MC: DaaS is a highly optimized hardware infrastructure, which exploits a superior software solution for virtual desktops at a cost model unattainable by enterprise customers. Technologies like ultra-dense servers (8cpu, 128cores, 2TB memory), ultralow latency networking (40g infiniband or trident+ 10g Ethernet chips), hybrid (SSD/SAS/SATA) hyper-scalable object oriented storage with erasure coding, as well as virtualized security, and encryption and defense systems are brought together to create a turnkey made-for-virtual-desktop environment where every click requires a lightning fast response to deliver a true windows desktop replacement with high user experience expectations. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (or VDI) is costly, built on slower enterprise class infrastructure, upgrades poorly, scales slowly, and is failing to keep pace with security, regulatory and user experience expectations. As such, VDI is often a novelty or augmentation in an enterprise environment and rarely a full windows desktop replacement. In contrast, I can walk into numerous clients and see an entire floor of 300 or more dinCloud hosted virtual desktops in use as the sole platform. TRP: Do you think VDI had a slow start? MC: VDI had a lot of hype and huge start (VMware had 20,000 POCs running at the peak of the hype), but it never ultimately got off the ground because it couldn't deliver. Many of the technologies which create the perfect Desktop as a Service (DAAS) solution aren't even available to, or on the radar of, most enterprise architects. Cloud architects tend to pioneer their own solutions, which don't make it to the open market. Nonetheless, as customers became cloud-wise instead of cloud-wary, the need for a tenable virtual desktop solution grew, since it's hard if not impossible to divorce desktops from servers and other resources which commonly form symbiotic environments. So, as the servers moved en-masse to the cloud, virtual desktops (DAAS) became ripe in late 2013/early 2014 such that even the largest cloud infrastructure providers like Amazon announced they were diving into this (virtual desktops) market. TRP: There have been new efforts and significant investments in research and in the DaaS market – can you talk about some of these? MC: I think storage is the most significant revolution in DAAS. All clouds now run hybrid (SSD/SAS/SATA) hyper-scalable object oriented storage with erasure coding. This reduced the cost of storage for most cloud providers from around 24.6 cents to 4.6 cents, per GB, per month when compared to traditional enterprise storage vendors like NetApp, EMC, HP, Hitachi and others. It also increased the number of live copies from 2 to 3, added encryption, and eliminated RAID entirely. Eliminating RAID as the key underlying data protection mechanism was a quantum leap forward because it exponentially reduced the chance of data loss on highly scalable multi-petabyte/Exabyte systems. For example, with RAID6+2, you can lose two hard drives maximum before ALL data is lost. A failed 1TB hard disk once replaced could take 2-4 days to rebuild in the system. During this time you are vulnerable to additional disk losses. In object storage, that 1TB drive is rebuilt in 20 minutes! Also, I foresee a future that finally defies physics (our ability to move data beyond the speed of light over glass) by using object storage to create copies of everything we store worldwide so that no matter where we travel to, we are always accessing the local copy of our servers, desktops, files and more. How does DaaS pick up where VDI failed? DAAS combines hardware, software, security, and a cost model that is undeniable. This is why even the largest distributors and VARs team up with cloud service providers like dinCloud vs. building their own. Cloud-wise customers are encouraged to do the same. DAAS in a day is better than VDI in never-never land. TRP: Why do you think there has been a growing demand for cloud services? MC: It's the only place to get the latest technologies at the lowest prices. Much of what is being invented and pioneered is either being done by the cloud internally or by vendors who are increasingly cloud-centric themselves. As such, cloud has killed the enterprise - only the enterprise's most loyal remain. TRP: What's your prediction for the DaaS industry in 2014? MC: Because of the prior hype and angst over VDI, 2014 will see DAAS become the dominant player simply because you can't divorce your desktops from servers that have already made the jump to the cloud. 2016 and beyond will be about cloning those virtual environments so that they can existing in multiple geographic datacenters worldwide in real-time so that the most local copy may be used from anywhere. Fortunately, the technologies required to make this nirvana happen are now in existence; they are maturing rapidly so I expect to see them in 2016/2017 as common best practices. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/382d2c8a/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/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/72sl-UX1tyo

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/logos/microsoft_onenote-470-75.jpgMicrosoft OneNote could soon come to Mac OS X for the first time - and it might be free. The note-taking app debuted on Windows a decade ago, and so far it's never been released on Mac, though Microsoft has released iOS, Android and browser versions. But unnamed sources told The Verge that big changes, including an OS X release and a shift to free, are coming to OneNote. OneNote will also be separate from Microsoft Office, they say. Never forgetThose aren't the only changes, though - Microsoft will reportedly also add other features to make OneNote more attractive to Evernote users. These include a web clipper that will let users save parts of websites and browser extensions for Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox. These features are present in Evernote. OneNote users will reportedly also be able to email notes to the service to have them inserted into notebooks remotely. OneNote on Mac could release this month, preceding the new Office for Mac, which is confirmed to be coming out in 2014. What to expect in OS X 10.10http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/381b8f0d/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/191801311009/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/381b8f0d/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801311009/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/381b8f0d/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801311009/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/381b8f0d/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801311009/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/381b8f0d/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801311009/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/381b8f0d/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/UXXaSgySeiA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Abstract/Software%20piracy/PCP302.insight3.istock_000006324651-470-75.jpgSecurity experts from BAE have released a report claiming that the mysterious Uroburos malware which was recently found by German experts has been switched on in the Ukraine. Uroburos rootkit burrows deep into a Windows operating systems, steals files and transmits them back to its masters. It is built to target high-security installations. The malware requires an Internet connection to transmit data, but not to spread. As long as computers are connected via a network, Uroburos can replicate itself and funnel files back to an Internet-connected system for transmission. According to the report, the malware has actually been in development since at least 2005 and the research suggests that Uroburos' authors and operators are committed and well-funded professionals. Not found in RussiaThe malware has been found mostly in Eastern Europe, but also in the US, UK and other Western European countries. Curiously, it is not being seen at all in Russia. Now there is some concern that it might has been activated recently to paralyse computers in the Ukraine. The country appears to be submitting the most Uroburos related malware samples is the Ukraine, which means that the rootkit has been sitting below the radar and has only recently been spotted working. BAE said that there have been at least 22 attacks launched against Ukrainian computer systems since January 2013 and a significant uptick in Uroburos-related malware submissions from the country this year. You can read the BAE report on PDF herehttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38025ee2/sc/46/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/191801125386/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38025ee2/sc/46/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801125386/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38025ee2/sc/46/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801125386/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38025ee2/sc/46/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801125386/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38025ee2/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801125386/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38025ee2/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/8vjaPAbMgRg

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/laptops/Sony/Sony%20Vaio%20Duo%2011/Sony%20Vaio%20Duo%2011%20front-470-75.jpgMicrosoft fundamentally changed the way Windows works when it introduced Windows 8, ensuring it works better with touchscreens and tablets. But what about Windows 8 laptops, Ultrabooks and convertibles? They're all supported, too. One thing Windows 8 has in spades is convergence. A Windows 8 Ultrabook that has a touchscreen? Check. A laptop with a flip-around screen? Check. Tablet PCs that slide up to reveal a keyboard? Check. It can be tough differentiating some of these from tablets, but the only conditions required for laptops to make it into this article are that they have a keyboard and also run x86 Intel or AMD processors. (None of the machines you'll see here are ARM-based.) They also come with keyboards in one way or another - for something more tablet-specific, check out our Best Windows 8 tablets article. All of which means they don't run Windows RT, the version of Windows for ARM systems. They do, however, run either Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro. Check out our article on the different Windows 8 versions to get your head around which version you'd like. So to help you choose the right machine, here's a rundown of the Windows 8 laptops, notebooks, convertibles and Ultrabooks we've looked at so far. Make sure you also read our Windows 8 review, and check out the changes in the Windows 8.1 update. Acer Aspire V5 - £299 / US$497 / AUS$554http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Acer/Acer-v5-2013/Acer%20Aspire%20V5-122P%206-420-90.jpg The Acer Aspire V5-122P is light, portable and now comes with touchscreen input. As such, it works very well with Microsoft's Windows 8. You won't need to navigate using the touchpad's frustrating integrated click buttons because you can just reach up and swipe through options on the screen. Although available in a wide range of specifications, our model arrived with an AMD A6-1460 processor, with a clock speed of 1GHz backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM. While these components handled complex processes well on day one, we're not sure how well the V5-122P will hold up after a year's worth of program installation and software updates. Read our full Acer Aspire V5 review Lenovo G505 - £330 / US$272 / AUS$533http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/Lenovo%20G505/DSCF6466-420-90.JPG How much should a laptop cost? A laptop that can handle serious applications, surf like the best of them and also turn its hand to the odd game? How does £330 strike you? That's the price tag that can be found hanging from Lenovo's latest offering, the potentially bargainous Lenovo G505. With the world and his dog jumping aboard on the Ultrabook bandwagon, it's good to see that there's still interest from system builders to manufacture value-focused machines. Read our full Lenovo G505 review Lenovo G500s - £330 / US$272 / AUS$533http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/LenovoG550s_review/g500s00-420-90.jpg Lenovo has a habit of serially iterating on popular product lines, which although confusing, does mean we end up with things like the G500s, which is essentially an update to the Lenovo G505 (above). The key difference is that the G500s feels snappier in Windows 8 generally, thanks to an upgrade to a more powerful processor and twice the amount of RAM found in the G505. This model still isn't the most portable of devices (it weighs 2.5kg), but like its sibling there's a lot here, including a massive 1TB hard drive and a great deal to admire at this price. Read our full Lenovo G500s review Asus V550CA - £399 / US$663 / AUS$739http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Asus/Asus%20V550CA-CJ106H/Asus%20V550CA-CJ106H%20front-420-90.jpg Mid-ranged laptops such as the Asus V550CA-CJ106H can sometimes be a mixed bag. They come with price tags that make it hard to overlook the sort of shortcomings you'd forgive a laptop £100 cheaper. And yet they still can't target the highest-end components for the best possible performance. Sometimes these laptops can get the balance right, such as the Samsung Series 9 NP900X3D, but more often than not they can end up being rather underwhelming, like the MSI CX61 0NF. So how does the Asus V550CA-CJ106H fare? Read our Asus V550CA review HP Pavilion Touchbook Sleekbook - £400 / US$650 / AUS$800http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/HP/HP%20Pavilion%20Touchbook/HP%20Pavilion%20Touchbook%20Sleekbook-420-90.jpg Sporting an AMD A-Series processor, 6GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, the HP Pavilion Touchbook Sleekbook is pretty well specced to run full Windows 8. It also boasts a 15.6-inch touchscreen, which is responsive and works well with the OS, but has a low resolution and dull colours. Its lid is also sparkly and shiny, and the laptop has HDMI, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connections and a webcam. The keyboard doesn't feel that great to use, but the trackpad is great, with a hatched texture that feels nicely different. Read our full HP Pavilion Touchbook Sleekbook review Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 Touch - £439 / US$729 / AUS$813http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/IdeaPad%20Z500%20Touch/Lenovo%20IdeaPad%20Z500%20Touch%20front%20back%201-420-90.jpg The biggest surprise about the Z500 is that Lenovo decided to pack in discrete graphics, where most laptops rely on the integrated graphics. This decision, coupled with the lower resolution 15.6-inch screen that enables the graphics to work more optimally, makes it a decent little games machine. For instance, BioShock Infinite can run smoothly at a medium graphics setting, which is quite impressive. However, the caveat, which usually follows good gaming performance, is that the Z500 is on the chunky side and battery life takes a hit, averaging about three hours. There are lighter laptops, but they don't offer as much performance or, indeed, as much storage, and there a better gaming portables, like the MSI GS70 Stealth, but they cost substantially more. Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 Touch review Acer Aspire P3 - £529 / US$600 / AUS$979http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Acer/acer%20aspire%20p3/Aspire%20P3%20left%20angle-420-90.jpg Acer has upped its game in recent years, and it's easy to forget that just two years ago the Taiwanese giant made its money peddling identi-kit budget laptops by their millions. The company has since turned around its reputation and is responsible for the glorious Acer Aspire S7 - one of the finest Ultrabooks out there - and has also got chins wagging about the Acer Iconia W3 (the world's first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet) as well as the Acer Aspire R7 and Acer Aspire P3. Read our full Acer Aspire P3 review Lenovo Yoga 11S - £549 / US$912 / AUS$1,017http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/Lenovo%20Yoga%2011S/Yoga%2011s%20hero-420-90.jpg While other manufacturers are busy pointing fingers as to why the PC seems to be struggling in the face of competition from that Cupertino-based company and myriad tablets, Lenovo is both pumping out solidWindows 8 devices while at the same time, turning a profit. Which brings us to the Lenovo Yoga 11S. Of course, this isn't Lenovo's first time on the yoga mat. The 13-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga was released last year to very favourable reviews. The appropriately named 11s is a size down. At just 11.6-inches, it's the smallest form factor that can support a full QWERTY keyboard. Read our full Lenovo Yoga 11S review Lenovo ThinkPad S431 Touch - £571 / US$949 / AUS$1,056http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/ThinkPad%20S431/Thinkpad%20S431%20hero-420-90.jpg Lenovo faces some difficult challenges with the ThinkPad. As well as trying not to upset zealous followers of the range, it has to balance both price and performance to appease business users. On the most part, Lenovo succeeds in doing this with the 13-inch S431, rattling off a workman-like performance. The results could have been better, though. A current-generation Haswell processor from Intel, instead of a third-generation chip, would have helped both the raw power and battery results, which, even though charging the S431 is swift, saw a single charge struggling to last a working day. The Lenovo ThinkPad S431 Touch isn't flashy, but it's a solid performer at a price that will appeal to frugal IT managers. Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad S431 Touch review Toshiba Satellite U50T - £669 / US$1,115 / AUS$1,244http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Toshiba/Satellite%20Ultrabooks/U50t-A-10F/Toshiba%20Satellite%20U50t-A-10F%20(2)-420-90.jpg The Toshiba Satellite is a nice Windows 8 machine for the money, which doesn't cut too many corners for its Ultrabook status. It loses a few points for a low-res screen and heaviness at 2.3kg, and while that weight means it's not going to offer the Ultrabook experience you may be after, it's powerful enough for general office work because of the Intel Core i5 (Haswell) processor. The compromises that have been made don't equate to major flaws – battery life is particularly good at close to 7 hours and a hybrid drive with a 32GB solid-state drive has helped shape a fast booting system and generally good performance in Windows 8. Read our full Toshiba Satellite U50T review Microsoft Surface Pro - £720 / US$900 / AUS$1,000http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/tablets/Microsoft/Surface%20Pro/Surface%20Pro%20Press%202-420-90.jpg Microsoft's own full Windows 8 laptop-tablet hybrid, the Surface Pro, has the same look and the same VaporMg coat as the Surface RT, but has a tweaked kickstand and magnetic connectors for power and the two tear-off keyboards. It also has a higher resolution 10.6-inch touchscreen with excellent blacks, a smooth, pressure-sensitive stylus and an Intel Core i5 processor. It can run any application you throw at it, and has USB and DisplayPort connections. The clip-on Touch Cover feels very light, and typing on its flat surface takes some getting used to, or the more expensive Type Cover feels more like a normal laptop keyboard, which we prefer. Read our Microsoft Surface Pro review Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Touch - £722 / US$700 AUS$915http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/U410%20Touch/Lenovo%20U410%20Touch%203-420-90.jpg We first crossed paths with the Lenovo IdeaPad U410 in January 2013, finding it to be a very tidy little package, even if it strained the Ultrabook name a little. Its mid-range price belied some rather useful specs, though, such as a dedicated graphics card and an uncommonly large hard drive. While the name change from the original Lenovo U410 to the Lenovo U410 Touch here might draw attention to the touchscreen, it's not the special part: it's everything else in it that's noticeable. Read our Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Touch review Gigabyte P34G - £839 / AUS$/US$1,399http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Gigabyte/Gigabyte%20P34G/Press/gigabytep34gpress-3-420-90.jpg http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Awards%20Logos%202012/tr_great_value_2012-100-100.jpgThis is Gigabyte's budget gaming laptop for the more frugal player of games. This portable is all about combining the best components for the least amount of cash. You get a Full HD 14-inch screen, a Core i7-4700HQ (the same as the Aurus X7), Nvidia's 760M discrete graphics, 16GB of DDR3 RAM, 1TB of storage and a 128GB solid-state drive, along with all the connectivity and ports you'll need, including HDMI and Ethernet. In real-world gaming terms the P34G really delivers. For instance, we tried out the Titanfall beta on High Settings (save for antialiasing) and it dealt with all the Source-engine's mech smashing without a stutter. Battlefield 4 will likely bring it to its knees, though. This is a gaming laptop at an unmatched price: the battery is poor at around 2 hours 30 minutes and the build quality is adequate and uninspiring, but you'll get roughly the same gaming performance as a Razer Blade or an Alienware 14. Read the full Gigabyte P34G review Dell XPS 13 - £849 / US$1,411 / AUS$1,573http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Dell/Dell%20XPS%2013%20(Late%202013)/dellxps13-press-420-90.jpg A Windows 8 upgrade of the laptop of the same name, the 13-inch Dell XPS 13 looks like a MacBook on first glance, though under the lid is a soft rubber coating and lots of black. An Intel Core i7 processor is top of the line, able to handle picture and video editing and multitasking with ease. 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD also ensure performance is quick, while battery life is seriously impressive. However, the laptop's screen isn't touch-sensitive, so you can't make the most of Windows 8 gestures, and it's not Full HD resolution either. If you don't mind ditching a touchscreen, the keyboard and trackpad are comfortable to use for long periods, and the overall performance is impressive. Read our full Dell XPS 13 review Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro - £873 / US$1,455 / AUS$1,624http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/Yoga%202%20Pro/official/straight%20on-420-90.jpg Yes, this is another bendy Windows 8 hybrid from Lenovo. The key changes to this Yoga Pro 2 refresh are a very high resolution 13-inch screen (at a 3,200x1,800 pixels) and an upgrade to the processor, to the latest generation Intel Core i5. We were surprised that the battery didn't last longer than three hours given the promise of greater performance via the Haswell chip, but powering all those pixels onscreen has to be a drain. Windows 8.1 also fixes any concerns you might have about scaling issues with such a high-res display. What Microsoft can't fix, however, is other software and you'll need to be aware that some apps may not be ready for this HD+ world with menus that are hard to read, unless you dial down the resolution to mere Full HD. The Yoga Pro 2 also benefits from being a good half a pound lighter than its predecessor. The choice with this hybrid isn't really performance, but whether or not you like (or need) all the backflipping modes this form factor has to offer. You might be better off with a separate tablet and laptop for the same price. Read our full Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro review Alienware 14 2013 - £899 / US$1,100 / AUS$1,666http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/magazines/Windows%208/Issue%2012/WIN12.Desire_REV4.1-420-90.jpg The Alienware 14 is an attempt to create a serious but portable gaming laptop. It's been designed specifically for serious gamers - it has a roster of specs to die for and a price to match. Alienware is owned by Dell, and the gaming brand has benefited from the latter's prowess in building robust laptops, as well as its buying power. As you'd hope, there's a WLED Full HD anti-glare screen with superb viewing angles. The colours on the Windows 8 Start screen still look awesome even when viewed from an extremely acute angle. The anti-glare coating can make pale colours look a little grainy at first glance, but games look superb on it. Sadly, it's not a touchscreen. Read our full Alienware 14 review HP EliteBook 820 G1 - £899 / US$1,494 / AUS$1,666http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/HP/elitebook820/820_front-420-90.jpg A military grade portable isn't for everyone. After all, most of us aren't likely to be worried whether our laptop will survive being run over by a Humvee – unless, of course, you drive one. The EliteBook is well specced out with a Haswell Core i5 chip, 8GB and 1TB of storage, as well as an optional copy of Windows 8 Pro. In soldierly fashion, there's tool-free access to the innards, which enables quick upgrades, replacements and the ability to slot in a bigger battery than that supplied, for greater staying power. The Elitebook 820 G1 is a solid straight-down-the-barrel laptop with reliability baked in and is good value to boot. Read our full HP EliteBook 820 G1 review Lenovo ThinkPad T440s - £935 / US$1,543 / AUS$1,759http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/T440s/Press%20Photos/lenovothinkpadt440s-1-420-90.jpg Similar to the ThinkPad X240, the T440s has two batteries and as a consequence results in a combined 8 hours of power. Instantly that makes the T440s a worthy business portable, even if that additional battery increases the girth and weight of the T440s to 4.2 pounds. The solid specs, including the latest generation Core i5 processor and a 128GB solid-state drive, reflect that you're getting a no-fuss and reliable ThinkPad for everyday business people that will simply deliver. If you want to make more of a statement, you may want to consider one of the Yoga series. Lenovo's changes, particularly to the keyboard, aren't going to sit well with old-school acolytes of the ThinkPad, but it's as close as you're likely to get, with its iconic red Trackpoint and the subtly concave keys that grip your fingertips for more controlled typing. Read our full ThinkPad T440s review Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga - £962 / US$1,598 / AUS$1,782http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/ThinkPad%20Yoga/Press%20Images/Thinkpad%20Yoga_04_interface-420-90.jpg This is the Yoga wearing a pinstriped suit - and possibly a pink tie. Lenovo wants you to think of the Yoga series as the perfect business Ultrabook and it makes a good start by supplying a Core i3 (Haswell) processor, which provides a responsive and workman-like Windows 8 performance. Unfortunately, like many of the Yoga models we've reviewed, the battery life doesn't stretch very far, which makes all that bending into a tablet for commuting and flipping into 'tent' mode for a quick presentation a lot less useful. This is a long way from ThinkPad's origins, but it's stylish and will appeal if you're looking for versatility and a hi-res screen for visuals. Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga review Dell XPS 18 - £1,000 / US$1,350 / AUS$1,650http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/desktop_pcs_and_macs/Dell/xps18/xps18-420-90.jpg Essentially an 18-inch Windows 8 tablet crossed with an all-in-one PC, the Dell XPS 18 has a charging stand, Bluetooth mouse and keyboard that turns it into a desktop machine. It also has touchscreen controls and a kickstand, which means it works on its own, though it doesn't offer stylus support. The system feels quick, if not the most powerful around, and the keyboard is comfortable to use, though trackpads are better than mice when using Windows 8, so we often tended to navigate with the touchscreen instead of the mouse. Its screen is Full HD, and the machine packs an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive and speedy 32GB SSD into a slim 18mm body. It just offers two USB 3.0 ports, an SD card slot and an audio jack, with no more connections in the charging dock. Battery life is a little disappointing, largely due to the beautiful big screen sucking it all up. Read our full Dell XPS 18 review Lenovo ThinkPad Helix £1,007 / US$1,679 / AUS$1,878http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/Thinkpad%20Helix/lenovo-thinkpad-helix-420-90.jpg Jack of both trades and master of neither laptop nor hybrid? In fact the ThinkPad Helix bravely squares off against the biggest challenge for a hybrid and does a good job for the most part. The Helix ships with a keyboard attachment that has its own battery pack and airflow fans. Stamped as it is with the ThinkPad moniker, the truncated keyboard is the best we've tried on a hybrid laptop, and is particularly good for bashing out long documents. That extra battery in the dock also means real day's worth of longevity. Our tests indicate that you'll get 7 hours from the Helix while docked and roughly 6 hours as a tablet. That fine result is largely down to the low power last-gen (Ivy Bridge) processor, which, we feel, should really have been a latest generation of Intel processor at this price. Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad Helix review Gigabyte P2742G - around £1,000 / US$1,607 / AU$1,706http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Gigabyte/Gigabyte%20P2742G/p2742g7db8-det1-420-90.jpg Graphics. It's the final frontier for mobile computing. We'll come to the reasons why momentarily. But the bottom line is that it means going after a laptop with 3D grunt is going to cost you. And that makes the new Gigabyte P2742G actually look like something of a bargain. It's a big, brash 17-inch portable gaming rig with a full-HD screen, a quad-core CPU and – critically – a dedicated graphics chip. The problem for mobile gaming goes something like this. CPU performance is stagnating. In fact, Intel bases most of its desktop CPUs on mobile designs these days, so the performance gap is tolerable. Read our Gigabyte P2742G review Samsung Series 7 Ultra - £1,020 / US$1,200 / AU$1,350http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Samsung/Series%207%20Ultra%20ultrabook/Series%207%20Ultra-420-90.jpg Pretty much everything about the 13-inch Samsung Series 7 Ultra shouts premium. And so it should, given the price. The cost alone butts it up against rivals such as the Asus Zenbook, Dell XPS 13 and Apple MacBook Air– remember that the latter model, while running Apple's OS X straight out of the box, can have Windows 7 or Windows 8 installed on it should you wish. The Series 7 Ultra runs Windows 8 Pro. The main reason for the price is the presence of so many premium features, chief among them an AMD Radeon HD 8500M graphics chip, which Samsung has taken the rather unusual Ultrabook step of including, alongside the 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor. That extra graphics chip is why it's among our high end laptops rather than coming under our ultraportables section, coming up. Read our Samsung Series 7 Ultra review Asus Transformer Book TX300 - £1,159 / US$1,925 / AUS$2,147http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Asus/Transformer-Book/tx300%20(15)-420-90.jpg We remember playing with a Transformer that turned into a microcassette recorder, which is probably why Hasbro took offence to Asus's stylish hybrids and tried to sue the company for trademark infringement. Fortunately, Hasbro's litigation failed and as a result we have a powerful 13-inch Ultrabook that transforms into a tablet quickly by unclipping the keyboard. The rest of the specs add up to a responsive Windows 8 experience, although had the Core i7 processor been a Haswell chip, the battery life would have likely steamed past its current 5 hours. Aside from a few connectivity caveats (no HDMI or USB 3.0 ports on the tablet) and its weight, this is a desirable hybrid finished off with brushed aluminium. The Asus Transformer Book TX300 may not beat the likes of the Apple MacBook Pro but it straddles the line between laptop and tablet in an admirable fashion (that would make Optimus Prime proud). Read our full Asus Transformer Book TX300 review Toshiba Satellite P70 - £1,199 / US$1,992 / AUS$2,222http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Toshiba/Toshiba-P70/23228-420-90.jpg Aspects of the Satellite P70's build look a bit cheap, but that's not the case with the components that have been used inside the chassis. It packs a vivid Full HD screen, a stunning 2TB of storage, a top-end Core i7 chip, even a Blu-ray writer and, to top it off, discrete graphics. Unfortunately, all of those demanding internals also mean a hit to the battery life, which lasted only 77 minutes, which isn't enough time to watch the average movie. This Windows 8 machine is intended to be a desktop replacement and as such it will hit most, if not all, of the requirements. Read our full Toshiba Satellite P70 review Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus - £1,200 / US$1,400 / AUS$1,600http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Samsung/Samsung%20Ativ%20Book%209%20Plus/uk_NP940X3G-K01UK_020_Front_black-420-90.jpg Samsung was one of the very first PC manufacturers to jump on the Ultrabook bandwagon. It's done a fine job of representing Intel's baby ever since, with some stunning offerings, including the Series 5 Ultra Touch and, more recently, the top-of-the-range Series 9 NP900X3D. Samsung certainly knows its stuff when it comes to Ultrabooks, but the goal posts are always moving. So what new trick can it pull out of its sleeve for 2014? Read our full Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus review Asus G750JX - £1,269 / US$1,900 / AU$2,300http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/magazines/Windows%208/Issue%2013/WIN13.desire_rev3.asus3-420-90.jpg When you buy a high-end gaming laptop like this, you're not only buying something that's physically large, you're also buying power - and a considerable amount of power at that. The Asus G750JX boasts top-end components across the board, but nowhere more so than at its hugely capable heart - there's a Core i7-4700HQ processor on board from Intel in there. Launched mere months ago, this 2.4GHz quad-core processor has plenty to offer gamers. Read our Asus G750JX review HP ZBook 14 - £1,430 / US$2,349 / AUS$2,617http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/HP/ZBook%2014/hpzbook14press-1-420-90.jpg This is Dell's Ultrabook workstation, which aside from good all-round performance means it's got business squarely in mind. This includes easy access to the internals for IT departments wanting to do quick upgrades or replacements, and a fingerprint sensor for slowing down any opportunist wishing to rifle through your confidential documents. The ZBook isn't light for an Ultrabook but it will handle all the intensive data tasks you can throw at it with its high-end Intel Core i7 chip, 240GB solid-state drive, 16GB of RAM and extra graphical grunt via discrete AMD FirePro M4100. Battery life was distinctly less impressive at 3 hours when taxed, but make no mistake this is a capable Windows 8 workstation. Read our full HP ZBook 14 review Dell Precision M3800 - £1,499 / US$2,498 / AUS$2,791http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Dell/Precision%20M3800%20(2013)/dell%20precision%20m3800%20portable%20workstation-420-90.jpg This is an exceptionally powerful and portable workstation for creative work, albeit with a limited battery life of around 3 hours. An Intel Core i7-4702HQ quad-core processor backed by 16GB of RAM and Nvidia Quadro discrete graphics give this Precision M3800 almost desktop-like performance. Another HD+ display makes a welcome appearance with a resolution of 3,200x1,800, which makes for crisp viewing. As it currently stands, however, Adobe has hobbled this great display for serious design work as it hasn't been scaled up for Creative Cloud apps. As a result, icons are tiny and menu information remains very hard to read. This isn't Dell's fault but it may take time for the situation to be resolved with all the software you use regularly. This model also comes with a decent-sized SSD that works alongside a 500GB hybrid hard drive with flash memory that kicks in for fast access to Windows 8. Solidly built yet sleek and lightweight, the Precision M3800 earns its money and is capable of running many types of 3D software and intensive tasks that are part of a designer's day. Read the full Dell Precision M3800 review Gigabyte Aorus X7 - £1,600 / US$2,666 / AUS$2,978http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Aorus/X7/Press%20images%20cropped/X702-420-90.jpg http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/techradar/Awards%20Logos%202012/tr_recommended_2012-100-100.jpg Twin-GPUs in an inch-thick gaming laptop? That's the kind of thing liable to induce a frenzy among most serious gamers, akin to spraying blood into a shark pool. Gigabyte has two Nvidia 765M GPUs running in SLI mode in the Aorus X7, which putting it into perspective is the same graphics GPU in the Alienware 14 – but twice over. It would appear that physics has, apparently, been sidestepped somehow. But the notion is simple enough: use two decent graphics GPUs and spread the heat around the chassis and you can achieve a smaller form factor than with a better single graphics unit. As you'll note from the review's product shots, you also need vents – lots of them. Real-world gaming performance, as you might expect, is stellar – how about BioShock Infinite on max graphics settings at 55fps through a 1080p screen? Not bad, to put it mildly. The downside of all that performance is the noise from the fans and the air blasting through the vents (on the plus side you could dry your hair mid-game). Battery life isn't great either, but something had to be sacrificed to the gods of gaming for this kind of performance. That graphical muscle is matched up with a Core i7-4700HQ, a great processor for video editing and creative work as well as gaming. To swing for home, the Aorus X7 even has 1TB of hard drive space for all your games and a small SSD for fast booting. Read our Gigabyte Aorus X7 review MSI GS70 Stealth - £1,600 / US$2,000 / AU$2,300http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/MSI/GS70/msi10msi-gs70-420-90.jpg The MSI GS70 Stealth breaks away from familiar desktop replacement conventions: instead of being bulky, heavy and ugly, it's little thicker than an Ultrabook and half the weight of some rivals - and it's one of the best-looking laptops we've seen for quite some time. The GS70's vital statistics are backed up by great quality. It's mostly made from brushed aluminium, and the gunmetal-grey finish is paired with slick design. The MSI's lid and base gently contour toward subtle curves at each edge, and we like the little details: milled speaker grilles and air vents, discreet status LEDs on the front edge, and the total absence of garish stickers that usually disturb wrist-rests. Build quality is excellent, too - impressive when the GS70's dimensions are considered. The base is sturdy and, while there's a little flex in the lid, it's what we expect from machines with a 17-inch screen. Read our MSI GS70 Stealth review Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch - £1,779 / US$2,139 / AUS$2,538http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Lenovo/ThinkPad%20X1%20Carbon%20Touch/Lenovo%20ThinkPad%20X1%20Carbon%20Touch%20front-420-90.jpg The original 2012 Lenovo X1 Carbon was the best ThinkPad money could buy, but now Lenovo has added a touchscreen panel and changed Windows 7 Professional for Windows 8, bringing last year's model right up to date. The result is a formidable machine that not only offers the best usability and performance, but also a fantastic Windows 8 experience. However, the eye-watering price tag means this experience doesn't come cheap. Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch review Razer Blade - £1,802 / US$2,994 / AUS$3,339http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/laptops/Razer/Blade/blade-main-420-90.jpg The Razer Blade with it's matte-black aluminium finish is all about gaming with style. Razer has chosen a 14-inch chassis with a lower-res screen (1,600x900 pixels) for a design purpose: achieving the best gaming results possible with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M graphics and an Intel Core i7 4702HQ processor. In a sense the Razer Blade achieves this goal with some admirable results on current 3D games, such as Metro Last Light. But the achievement isn't one that yields a portable gaming machine that will replace your desktop PC. Less demanding titles, such as the Call of Duty: Black Ops will run just fine, which suggests that Titanfall (which uses the less demanding Source Engine) may run smoothly as well. The question is how much you're prepared to pay for a beautifully designed gaming laptop that's not going to be powerful enough to deliver all the current crop of high performance games with everything turned on and the graphics cranked up to Ultra. Read our full Razer Blade review http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/37feeb7d/sc/28/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/191800989615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37feeb7d/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191800989615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37feeb7d/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191800989615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37feeb7d/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191800989615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37feeb7d/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191800989615/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37feeb7d/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/rV2vp1Mp8TU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Onetimers/Window%208.1%20Taskbar-470-75.jpgMicrosoft has greenlighted the RTM release of Windows 8.1 Update 1, according to a report by a Russian technology blog. WZorNet claims that the Windows 8.1 Spring Update 2014 for Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 RT, and Windows Server 2012 R2 has been signed off for release. The RTM Escrow build 9600.17031.WINBLUE_GDR.140221-1952 was apparently signed on 26 February. The install should be less than 800MB if leaked screenshots are accurate. The new version will, according to WZorNet, launch on April 1 - April 2 on the Microsoft Developer Network, with a full release for everyone else on April 7 - April 8. Some major OEM partners have reportedly already received the new build. Window washingThe Service Pack, called a Feature Pack in the screenshots, promises to restore some popular Windows 7 functionality for mouse and keyboard users, such as the ability to pin Metro apps to the Desktop taskbar, along with an updated user interface and new context menus, among other features. The new version will reduce the system requirements to just 1GB of RAM and 16GB of hard drive space, opening doors for more entry-level Windows Blue tablets. No other new features have been revealed at this time. Via ITProPortal Will Windows 8.1 Update 1 boot straight to desktop?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/37d341d4/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/186531349549/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37d341d4/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186531349549/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37d341d4/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186531349549/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37d341d4/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186531349549/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37d341d4/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/186531349549/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37d341d4/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Xcln2h5qEPQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/BlackBerry/Z10/Press/Z10-Press-05-470-75.jpgThe next update for BlackBerry's ever-improving BBM app for iPhone and Android, will soon bring group photo messaging into play, the company has confirmed. In a blog post this weekend, the Waterloo-based firm said it was continually looking to add new features in order to keep customers happy and photo messaging within group chats is next on the agenda. "We know customers want to be able to share pics with multiple people in a chat. The next release of BBM will support photo sharing in multi person chats," Jeff Gadway, the firm's head of product and brand marketing wrote on the BlackBerry Blog. The support will come as BBM looks to make up ground on other popular messaging apps like Google Hangouts, Apple's iMessage and Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which already have the ability to distribute photos to more than one person. Bigger filesAdditionally, the company is upping the maximum file size users are able to share from 6MB to 16MB. That's 16 seconds of 1080p HD video, according to BlackBerry, or more pertinently, the difference between sharing a full resolution photo taken with a DSLR and one taken with a smartphone camera. "What this means is that you'll be able to send bigger pictures, larger documents and longer videos," Gadway added. The company didn't reveal when the update would be dropping, but considering the frequency of the changes so far, then it's unlikely to be too far away from launch. BBM to collide with Facebook Messenger on Windows Phone later this year!http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/37b3b337/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/186531215960/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37b3b337/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186531215960/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37b3b337/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186531215960/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37b3b337/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186531215960/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37b3b337/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/186531215960/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/37b3b337/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/vqgvGS_p1XI