Even as Microsoft tries to popularize its Windows Store for PC apps, shown above, the market for Windows crapware remains alive and well. about InstallMonetizer, a wrapper for Windows desktop software that presents “offers” to users after installation. For instance, users might see an offer to install a third-party browser toolbar or some anti-virus software. If the user agrees, the original software developer gets paid. . Vince Mundy, CEO of InstallMonetizer, told TechCrunch that the software is profitable, and that it doubles its number of bundled software installations every two or three months. It's good to be a crapware pusher. , who develops the Twitter client MetroTwit for Windows. On his blog, Zheng talked about a few of the offers he's received over the years to wrap crapware installers around MetroTwit.
A shadowy group of hackers has siphoned intelligence data worldwide from diplomatic, government, and scientific research computer networks for more than five years, including targets in the United States, according to a report from Kaspersky Lab. Kaspersky Lab began researching the malware attacks in October and dubbed them “Rocra,” short for “Red October.” Rocra uses a number of security vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PDF documents types to infect PCs, smartphones, and computer networking equipment. On Tuesday researchers discovered the malware platform also uses . It's not clear who is behind the attacks, but Rocra uses at least three publicly known exploits originally created by Chinese hackers. Rocra's programming, however, appears to be from a separate group of Russian-speaking operatives, according to the report from . The attacks are ongoing and targeted at high-level institutions in what are known as spear-fishing attacks. Kaspersky estimates that the Red October attacks have likely obtained hundreds of terabytes of data in the time it has been operational, which could be as early as May 2007.
to the wider public after more than six months of internal beta testing and limited previews. The launch coincides with the release of Justin Timberlake’s new single, “Suit & Tie,” featuring rapper Jay-Z, which is promoted on the landing page of the site. Timberlake is one of the main investors in MySpace. He teamed up with Specific Media to purchase the site for about $35 million from News Corp. in 2011. News Corp. had purchased MySpace in 2005 for $580 million. Anyone can now sign up to the new MySpace, with their Facebook or Twitter account, or with an old MySpace account, if you ever had one. The new-look MySpace seems inspired by the Windows 8 Metro user interface, with clean rectangles, straight lines and smooth scrolling. MySpace is all about music The central point of the new MySpace is music. The bottom of the page is dedicated to the audio deck, where you can create your own mix (playlist) or listen to radio stations based on your musical tastes. The Radio feature is similar to Last.fm, where you pick one song to start with and MySpace will play song recommendations based on that choice. You can also listen to other people’s mixes and share your own. Some songs also have music videos available to play straight from your mix, and you can play them in full screen or in a corner of the page while browsing.
Samsung will begin pushing Android Jelly Bean to its Galaxy S II model in February, according to a notice posted to the company's Korean website. The notice has since been removed, but not before a Korean Android enthusiast site, . The Jelly Bean upgrade will start in Singapore then gradually rolled out to the rest of the world, according to CNET. Updates will be performed through Samsung's sync service, . Over-the-air updates won't be supported. The new Android version includes a number of new features including Smart Stay, which will keep the handset's display on as long as the phone detects that you're looking at the screen.
The suicide of Internet activist and pioneer Aaron Swartz has focused attention on what some activists say is the overzealous use of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act anti-hacking statute. last Friday, apparently over concerns stemming for the prospect of spending up to 35 years in prison on hacking-related charges. Federal prosecutors had indicted Swartz on 13 counts of felony hacking and wire fraud related to the alleged theft of millions of documents from JSTOR, an online library of literary journals and scholarly documents sold by subscription to universities and other institutions. Several charges against Swartz were tied to alleged CFAA violations.
HP’s latest Envy 23 TouchSmart all-in-one desktop computer is a bit pricey at just over $1700, but it’s a relatively good-looking machine with a nice, sturdy build. Our review model, which costs $1740.99 as configured, has a third-generation Intel Core i7-3770S processor, 12GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GT 630M graphics card, and an impressively large 3TB hard drive. It’s also got a 23-inch touchscreen, a Blu-ray disc optical drive, and built-in Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n. The Envy 23 TouchSmart runs Windows 8. In PCWorld’s WorldBench 8 benchmark tests, the Envy 23 TouchSmart scores a comfortable 72 out of 100. This means the TouchSmart is 18 percent slower than our testing model, which has a third-generation Intel Core i5 desktop processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. Although the TouchSmart has an i7, rather than an i5, it’s a low voltage processor, which means it’s not as powerful as the higher voltage, K-class processors. Still, the TouchSmart scores better than other desktops in its class, such as the Toshiba Satellite LX835 (a similarly-sized all-in-one), which scored 67 out of 100.
Earlier this year, we took a look at Dell’s non-touchscreen version of the . Now Dell’s pretty all-in-one is back, with slightly updated specs, Windows 8 Professional, and, of course, a touchscreen. This version of the One is as gorgeous as ever, with the exact same design as its predecessor, and its Quad HD screen looks even better with multi-touch. But now that Windows 8 is out, just about every single computer out there has a touchscreen—so how does the One hold up? Our review model, which costs $2600 as configured, has a third-generation Intel Core i7-3770S processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 2TB hard drive (alongside a 32GB SSD boot drive). This all-in-one also has a discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 640M graphics card, built-in Bluetooth 4.0, and a slot-loading DVD-RW/Blu-ray combo drive. The XPS One runs Windows 8 Professional. In PCWorld’s WorldBench 8 benchmark tests, the XPS One scores a very good 91 out of 100. This means that the One is just nine percent slower than our testing model, which sports a third-generation Intel Core i5-3570K desktop processor, 8GB of RAM, and a discrete Nvidia desktop-class graphics card. By comparison, the One has a low voltage, S model processor and an Nvidia GT 640M mobile GPU, which is why it’s a bit slower than our testing model (despite the fact that our testing model has an i5, and not an i7, processor). The XPS One performs well in individual tests, though it’s not quite up to speed with our testing model. It’s quick to start up (20.6 seconds), and reasonably snappy with video and audio encoding (148 seconds and 201.5 seconds, respectively). By comparison, our testing model starts up in 33.5 seconds, and encodes video and audio in 132 seconds and 202.2 seconds, respectively. The One doesn’t perform quite as well in the PCMark 7 productivity test, with a score of 2943 (compared to the testing model’s 4633).
Ah, Vegas. It's the place where dreams are realized, and hearts are shattered. As such, probably no more appropriate venue exists to showcase the massive gamble that is Windows RT, Microsoft's first tablet-focused operating system, and the first Windows version created expressly for ARM processors. that it won't be bringing the ATIV Tab stateside, citing poor demand for Windows RT tablets in general. Samsung SVP Mike Abrary also said that consumers don't understand the difference between Windows RT and Windows 8.
Looks can be deceiving, and that's definitely the case with Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Pro tablet. At first glance, the Surface Pro seems barely different than the Surface RT. Thicker, sure, but a casual once-over could miss that detail, and it otherwise mimics the size and aesthetic of its ARM-powered predecessor. you spend another $120 or $130 for a must-have Touch or Type Cover. All in all, you're likely to drop at least $1020 on Microsoft's flagship tablet. seems a bit like comparing apples to oranges when you take all that into consideration. So how does Microsoft's slate stack up to its true competition? We decided to pit the Surface Pro's specs against five of the best laptops you can pick up for around $1000 to find out.
Mark Zuckerberg die neue Suchfunktion von Facebook vorgestellt. Die Graph Search findet beispielsweise «Fotos, die mir gefallen». Zuckerberg versuchte die Attacke gegen Google aber noch herunterzuspielen.
Die amerikanische Waffenlobby hat trotz des Amoklaufs in Newtown eine Waffen-App entwickelt. Apple hat das Game einen Monat nach dem Massenmord freigegeben – ab vier Jahren.
Irgendwie scheinen die Erfinder von neuen Techniken in Abkürzungen verliebt zu sein. Was verbirgt sich hinter kryptischen Kürzeln wie LTE, NFC, QR oder M2M?
Erstmals seit einem Jahr ist die Apple-Aktie am Montag unter 500 Dollar gerutscht. «Was Kult ist, hält sich nicht unendlich», sagt Experte Rainer Heissmann, der von einer Investition abrät.
Der drittgrösste Computerhersteller der Welt verhandelt Gerüchten zufolge über seinen Verkauf an Finanzinvestoren und den Rückzug von der Börse.
Ob Handy oder Tablet: Bei dieser Beschichtungstechnik perlt jeder Wassertropfen einfach ab – und dies ohne Hülle. Wir haben die Erfinder in Las Vegas getroffen.
Sicherheitsexperten haben einen gross angelegten Spionage-Angriff über das Internet auf diplomatische Vertretungen, Regierungsorganisationen und Forschungsinstitute in verschiedenen Ländern entdeckt.
«Digitalpapst» Albrecht Gasteiner über den HDTV-Nachfolger 4K, die Kehrseite von Riesenbildschirmen und ungeahnte Qualitäten von preisgünstigen Durchschnittskameras.
Das wichtige Weihnachtsgeschäft hat für die Desktop-Hersteller deutliche Einbussen gebracht.
Ist das iPhone ausser Mode? Für das laufende Quartal hat Apple nur halb so viele Bildschirme bestellt wie geplant, schreibt das «Wall Street Journal». Derweil bricht Samsung mit der Galaxy-Serie alle Rekorde.
Der Computerkonzern Hewlett-Packard hat auch in der Schweiz ein schwieriges Jahr hinter sich: In einem umkämpften Markt stagnierte der Umsatz, die Margen gerieten unter Druck.
Im Fall Aaron Swartz, dem begabten Programmierer, der sich vergangenen Freitag das Leben nahm, werden neue Details bekannt. Familie und Freunde sprechen von Überreaktion der Justiz.
Horizon kommt am 14. Januar. Der Konsument kann vier Sendungen gleichzeitig aufnehmen und Inhalte auf iPhone, iPad und PC streamen. Auch das Internet soll schneller werden.
Er galt als Wunderkind der Programmier-Szene: Gestern wurde Aaron Swartz erhängt in seiner Wohnung in New York aufgefunden. Dem 26-Jährigen drohte eine mehrjährige Haftstrafe.
Diese Hardware nimmt man garantiert nicht mit auf Reisen: Lenovos Idea Centre Horizon hat ein 27-Zoll-Display und ist acht Kilogramm schwer. Was soll diese Übergrösse? Wir haben das Gerät in Las Vegas ausprobiert.
In der Schweiz hat man Anspruch auf zwei Jahre Produktgarantie. Die Allianz der Konsumentenschützer hat aber festgestellt, dass einige Verkäufer von Apple-Produkten nur ein Jahr Garantie gewähren.
Der Internetriese behandelt bei den Suchergebnissen seine eigenen Dienste bevorzugt. Nun droht EU-Kommissar Joaquín Almunia mit hohen Geldbussen, sollte Google seine Einstellungen nicht ändern.
Unbekannte haben versucht, mehreren Betreibern von US-Webseiten zu schaden. Dazu griffen sie alle «.ch»-Webseiten an. Die Stiftung Switch konnte die Attacke noch rechtzeitig abwehren.
Nicht nur die Fernseher werden immer grösser: Die Hersteller haben an der CES in Las Vegas reihenweise Smartphones mit XL-Displays im Gepäck. Ab fünf Zoll ist man dabei, das grösste Modell bietet sogar 6,1 Zoll.
Am Freitag zeigt UPC Cablecom die neue TV-Set-Top-Box Horizon. Der Schweizer Kabelnetzbetreiber verkauft dies als Revolution des Fernsehens. Doch ist dieses Produkt überhaupt marktreif?