To be honest, I’m quite surprised that Google haven’t approached this idea sooner, however now, according to reports, Google are now lining up their own online music store, which no doubt they are hoping will give Apple iTunes a run for its money.
Reports say that Google’s VP of Engineering, Andy Rubin, has been in touch with various record labels proposing the idea which he hopes will be ready by Christmas, although it would seem that at the moment no deal has been agreed.
So, perhaps we will see yet another Google vs. Apple battle – however Google will have to step up a gear and get some major record labels on board if they are hoping to have this service up and running by Christmas time.
You’ve probably heard of HTC, right? A former unknown in the Tech World to all but the biggest nerds, HTC have actually been a manufacturer of Mobile Phones for some time. However, most of their phones were made for other, big-name brands, who would brand the phone their own and never once mention HTC. Now though, not only do they make phones with their OWN brand, but they have earned a well-deserved reputation for creating some of the best handsets around.
So is it any surprise other lesser-known companies are looking to follow in their footsteps?
HUAWEI certainly are. A China-based company, they are the largest telecommunications equipment supplier in the country, but are relative unknowns elsewhere. Their main claim to fame is that almost all of the mobile internet dongles used by millions around the world, come straight from their company. They also make a large number of Wireless Routers. So their latest announcement, that they will be entering the Mobile Smartphone market with an Android-based device, certainly turns a few heads. Read the rest of this entry »
Earlier this month, Google stated that they plan to kill off their revolutionary cloud collaboration service, Google Wave, citing lack of user interest (and prompting some protest). In case you didn’t know already, Wave was a collaborative communications suite that effectively combined email, instant messaging, wikis, and blogging abilities into one software that you could update in real time.
It seems that Google has got the message that some people liked Wave and had found effective uses of the software, and don’t want it to die; because they’ve now announced their plans for Wave’s future. Quite simply, Google has said that it will be offering developers a reduced-functionality version of its defunct Wave application suite dubbed ‘Wave in a box.” Read the rest of this entry »
SpywareBlaster is a popular tool for protecting your computer against the various nasties that lurk on the internet, ready to spread to and cause havoc on your computer. Unlike Malware Scanners, which clean and protect you from existing infections, SpywareBlaster is designed to prevent new Malware infections from ever getting installed from the moment it’s active. As Javacool Software, the parent company of the software, explain it:
SpywareBlaster focuses on prevention and protection. Removal deals with threats after they’ve already had a chance to wreak havoc and compromise your data. There are plenty of freely-available spyware removal tools. But few of them do anything to help keep your system secure. That’s why we initially released SpywareBlaster, and that’s why we’ve continued to strengthen its already powerful protection – to stop potentially unwanted software before it has a chance to get on your machine.
Recently, JavaCool Software updated the entire software package, bumping up its version number to 4.4. Those who have an older version should already have been notified to download the new version from the website, but if you haven’t been yet and didn’t know, or just needed a reminder, then I thought I’d just post this to remind you. Unfortunately JavaCool doesn’t post changelogs for its software, so I don’t actually know what the new version brings.
Last night, Google officially launched a new VoIP telephony service called GMail Calls. The service, which lives inside Google’s Email service, GMail, can be used to call landlines and mobile phones directly within Gmail, simply by clicking the new “Call Phone” icon. The service is currently only available for American users, but Google says they will roll it out to other countries as soon as they can.
It seems the service has got a significant early interest and may well prove to be a good move by Google, because in a statement released today, Google claims to have logged one million calls in the first 24 hours of the service being launched! Google is obviously pleased about this and is calling this a very successful launch, and who can blame them? Google confirmed the news in a Tweet, although it didn’t give information on where the callers were placed.
Just a few hours ago I saw this headline appear in the news. Since it’s attracted some interest in tech circles I’m a part of, I thought I’d repost it myself.
(This post was updated 20:35 BST with updated information about the deal. I’d like to thank The Register for their report of the news, which acted as the main source for these updates)
Intel has announced it is buying software-security company McAfee. The chip maker has offered $48 a share in cash for the anti-virus firm, a 62 per cent premium of McAfee’s Wednesday closing price of $29.93 a share. The total value of the acquisition, $7.68 billion, is Read the rest of this entry »
Remember that post I made about three weeks ago about why deleting a file on a computer doesn’t actually delete it? In it I made quite a big deal as to how the fact that files kept without you knowing can be a huge privacy and security risk, especially if they are of a sensitive nature. However, there’s another side to the story as well. Files that haven’t been permanently deleted can actually be a GOOD thing. Confused? Well, let me explain.
Stop me if you’re familiar with this scenario. Your friend/work associate/person you know needs a favour from you and asks you to create a document for them. You, being a particularly helpful person, get the task done quickly and send him a copy. He says “thanks” and walks away with a copy of the work you just gave him. Satisfied that you won’t need your copy any more, you delete the file. Then later you decide to empty your Recycle Bin, and the file completely disappears from your computer. Suddenly, your friend/work associate/person you know contacts you to tell you he’s lost his copy and needs another, but you don’t have the original work any more because you deleted it!
If you’ve ever had such a scenario, you probably know just what a nightmare it can be. And you’ve probably wished you could undo your foolishness and “un-delete” the file you just deleted. Well, I’m pleased to say you can stop freaking out and start relaxing, because you can! Read the rest of this entry »
It’s become apparent to me lately that a glitch in my web host’s FTP services has led to the disappearance of some images used by both the main Technically Motivated blog and the associated Forums. I believe I have fixed the issues, but if you happen to notice that there is a missing image anywhere within TM, please report it to me through a Forum PM or as a comment on this post so I can check it out and correct it.
On Friday 13 August, 2010, v3.co.uk ran a promotion lasting 24 hours, allowing users to get a 1 year license of BitDefender AntiVirus 2010 for free. Here was the official word from them:
We’ve given you some of the very best full applications in the past and we’re back again with four full exclusive promos through August. The first is our exclusive BitDefender Antivirus 2010 [1-PC, 1-Year], worth $24.95/£16.99, available free of charge for everyone, for 24 hours, between miday CEST Friday 13 August to midday CEST Saturday 14 of August.
Where can you download your exclusively free BitDefender Antivirus 2010? From the V3.co.uk Software Store: http://store.v3.co.uk
Promotional information will be available on Friday, so keep checking the store. With this promo, you can download your software build on Friday, grab your serial code, then install or use at any time. Strictly one serial code per user, however.
Better still, with BitDefender 2011 due soon, you’ll be able to upgrade from the free 2010 to 2011! BitDefender are also offering you an exclusive upgrade promo to the full security suite, BitDefender Internet Security. More information on Friday.
This freebie has unfortunately now expired and is no longer available. However, as a testament to the history of Technically Motivated’s Freebies section, this topic shall remain at least for now.
I’ve updated the Freebie section of the Forums with a simple way of keeping track of the status of Freebies. Now, all topics on the Freebie sections will have a quick mark showing whether the freebie mentioned inside is actually available, so you can see whether or not to pay attention to a Freebie topic.
By default, all new posts in any Freebie section will be automatically marked “Available”, as we assume you’re not going to talk about a freebie we can’t get any more. However, if the freebie is put on hold or expires, someone with the ability can change the status to reflect such – the other choices are “No Longer Available”, “Coming Soon”, and “Status Unknown” for ones we aren’t sure about. Easy!