Windows 8 is on its way, and it'll be a departure from the Windows we know and love today. That was the message Microsoft sent Wednesday afternoon at the annual D: All Things Digital Conference, taking place near Los Angeles.
Tablets are hot. At the CTIA tradeshow in Orlando, FL, it seems like everyone and their mother is announcing a tablet.
A lot has changed in the browser universe since Firefox 3.0 launched in June 2008. Google Chrome burst onto the scene, and has undergone frequent updates since then. Microsoft released IE 8 and IE 9. Safari advanced from version 3 then to version 5 now.
This is turning out to be a big week in browser-land, with both the official release of IE9 and the Firefox 4 release candidate (RC) now available for your downloading satisfaction. Both include big changes to the user interface, as well as the underlying technology. Come along as we compare these two new browsers in a few of key areas.
Sick of waiting for pages to load on your mobile device? Get an iPad or iPhone. That's the upshot of a mobile browser speed study done by a company called Gomez. They found that Apple's mobile version of Safari was fastest and BlackBerry's browser the slowest.
2011 is the year that mobile security is going mainstream. Here at 2011 RSA Conference in San Francisco many of the security software companies I've spoken to have either released--or are planning to release a mobile security app of some sort.
Smartphone malware is still uncommon -- at least here in the United States -- but every now and then comes a fresh reminder that the threat is real. According to Lookout Mobile Security, a new Trojan is making the rounds in various alternative app markets in China, and it's being distributed through repackaged versions of other apps.
Dan Nixon and Don Jones recently shot a video for the band Echo Lake, featuring its song Young Silence. The video itself is pretty cool, and seems to fit the song's almost dream-like sound well. But the most impressive part? It was filmed using a Microsoft Kinect.
If you're looking for a good movie to watch tonight while curled up in the sofa with your significant other, Arduino: The Documentary may...not be the right film for you. But if you're as crazy over hacks and DIY projects as we here at GeekTech are, you owe it to yourself to take some time and watch it.
Depending on whom you ask, paying for antivirus software is either a good investment or a total ripoff. In reality, neither viewpoint is accurate. You can find plenty of good reasons to choose a paid antivirus product, and plenty of good reasons to go with a freebie.
Avast Pro Antivirus 5 ($US40 for a single-PC, one-year license as of 11/23/2010) ranks third in our roundup of 2011 paid antivirus products. When PCWorld last looked at Avast's paid antivirus offering, our reviewer wasn't particularly impressed with either its interface or its malware detection capabilities. Avast Antivirus Pro 5, however, is a definite improvement, thanks to a slick new interface and some useful additional features. But middling detection capabilities relative to other paid antivirus software keep it from claiming a higher ranking.
Avast Free Antivirus 5 took the top spot in our late 2010 roundup of free antivirus software. It provides good, all-around malware detection in a speedy, well-designed package. We liked its easy installation process, smooth interface design, and minimal impact in system performance. However, although it wins out overall, its malware detection, while good, isn't the best we've seen.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 takes fifth place in our roundup of 2011 antivirus software, closely trailing fourth-place finisher G-Data AntiVirus 2011. It did a great job at stopping brand new malware attacks, and a reasonable -- though not top-notch -- job at detecting known malware, and it sports a well-designed interface. On the downside, its impact on PC performance was worse than average.
Avira AntiVir Personal ranked second in our late 2010 roundup of free antivirus products. AntiVir has strength where it counts most: It did a great job at detecting and blocking malware. That said, its interface needs some improvement.
Norton Antivirus has been a strong performer in recent years, and this year is no exception. Norton Antivirus 2011 ($US40 for a one-year, single-PC license as of 11/23/2010) comes in first in our roundup of 2011 paid antivirus products. It does a very good job at detecting and removing malware, and it has a smooth interface.
