When Windows 8 was just starting to make waves, one of the things that caught many people off guard was the fact that the Start button was gone. Not hidden, not moved, but removed completely. With Windows 8's move to Metro as an app launcher, there was deemed to be no need for a Start button. The Internet, nay the world disagreed.
The Halo franchise has been an integral part of the Xbox's success hitherto, and with the Xbox One having just entered the scene, Larry Hryb, better know as Major Nelson, has just revealed the release date of Halo: Spartan Assault on the console.
Samsung's Galaxy S4 is the company's current flagship, and since its release in the spring, many millions of units have been sold. With so many in the wild, it's only natural that some should develop faults, but with all the extensive testing carried out by Samsung to ensure that users aren't put in any danger, GS4 owner Richard Wygand was stunned to wake up next to his device bellowing smoke and flames.
It's fair to say, with Google Glass on the horizon and the likes of the Pebble and Galaxy Gear already on the market, that we're currently in the middle of a wearable tech boom. From the Nike FuelBand to the so-called iWatch, many companies are getting in on the act, and with something a little different to bring to the table comes Smarty Ring, a digital device that wraps around your finger. With notifications, access to two different clocks, social updates, smartphone tracking capabilities and Bluetooth, as well as a 24-hour battery life, it does a great deal more than your average band, and for a fraction of the price.
With the news late last week that the iPhone 5s was shipping within 1-3 days for the UK and many other markets across the world, the signs were there that Apple was finally getting on top of supplies. Now, it has emerged that - in the U.S., at least - the Cupertino giant has achieved 100 percent stock rate in all of its Retail Stores, with each variant of the iPhone 5s available in every single outlet.
The recent wave of data breaches on a number of popular sites and Web service providers should definitely be a cause for concern to most users. Malicious attacks on the likes of Yahoo!, Facebook and Adobe should act as a catalyst for us to review our current account setup and make changes accordingly to improve the strength of passwords, even if your data wasn't amongst the batch that was compromised in any of the attacks. Microsoft Research is well aware that password strength is one of the most vital components in combating such breaches, and as such has created the Telephathwords tool to try and guess the next character of a password based on a large database and complex query patterns.
For as long as Facebook has been using its famous 'Like' button, people have wondered when they would be able to click on something a little less jovial when the need arises. We've all been forced to 'Like' a friend's status update on Facebook when the situation really demands something quite the opposite. With people posting about things ranging from bad days at the office and pets being ill to marriage breakups and loved ones dying, hitting that 'Like' button as a form of acknowledgement feels crass at best, and downright cruel at its worst. And it seems someone at Facebook would agree.
Tim Cook and Apple's executive team are always keen to wax lyrical about how many apps have passed through the App Store over the last five years. The majority of the company's media events heavily feature slides featuring the number of available third-party applications available and the amount of revenue that has been paid out to the developers who create and publish those apps. In the relatively short lifespan of the App Store, Apple has managed to hit, and go beyond some pretty impressive milestones. Recent data from AppsFire suggests that Apple have hit yet another notable goal by now having over one million apps live in the U.S. App Store alone.
Microsoft's Xbox One is the console that the company hopes will carry it through to 2020 and beyond, but while all the talk is often about how powerful these new game consoles are and whether they will usher in a new era of hyper-realistic games or not, often one of the important aspects of a new console is overlooked - how does the thing look?
Earlier on in the year, Google made a move which some people deemed clever, some foolish. With the expertise that comes with being one of the world's largest software companies, Google doesn’t have the best credentials when it comes to hardware production. The answer? Purchase an already existing, well thought of, manufacturer. In this case, Google purchased the then-struggling Motorola Mobility to head their mobile device production.
