Personal Computer sales taking a dive

Posted by David Bernstein

Just recently people would be talking about how many computers they had in their house and how they could not live without them. Well today that doesn’t appear to be the case since PC sales are on a downward spiral which is not good for PC manufacturers and this is because of the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets but more recently by government budget cuts in China.

Market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has been keeping an eye on this trend and is reporting that global personal computer shipments may decline even more than the 7.7% that was predicted before for the first quarter.  China is responsible for more than one fifth of the world’s PC shipments but these budget cuts and anti-corruption measures are having an effect on shipments and sales. Even Intel who makes a large majority of PC processors is feeling the pinch with sales down 6% from last December.

So if this trend continues it could either mean higher prices because of less supply or lower prices because of less demand. Then again you might be one of those people who gave up their PC in favor of your smartphone or tablet and don’t care either way!

Evernote is the latest victim of hackers

Posted by David Bernstein

Evernote is an online or cloud based personal organizer that allows you to set reminders and notes for whatever you like and sync the information between your computer, smartphone and tablet. So you can set a note on your phone and when you get to work the reminder will be there waiting for you.

This attack on Evernote has resulted in users having their usernames, emails and passwords stolen from a database that was accessed by the hackers. So if you are an Evernote user you should change your password right away. They are saying that users passwords are encrypted so the attackers would have to do some extra work to actually get to the stolen passwords but it’s still recommended that you change your password just to be safe. Evernote says that credit card information was not stolen because it’s not stored on their servers.

It’s estimated that Evernote has around 50 million users storing things such as notes, lists, reminders, web pages and itineraries in its cloud based system. Facebook was just attacked a week ago and other companies such as Apple, Microsoft and the New York Times have been victims of hackers recently as well.

Facebook News Feed update on the way

 Posted by David Bernstein

Facebook has many features that you may or may not use or even know about… or care about. But one of their more popular features called News Feed is getting a face lift. Facebook will be unveiling their new News Feed look on March 7th at their Menlo Park campus.

News Feed is the Facebook feature that updates stories and posts from your friends such as status updates, links, photos, videos and so on. It’s the feature that is most used and the first thing you see when you log in.

Facebook had originally been talking about new designs for the Timeline features but now it appears that they are focusing on their News Feed for now. These new changes will be taking place in the mobile versions of Facebook as well.

Part of the reason may be because they have just acquired Atlas from Microsoft which is a digital advertising company and now will be better suited to target advertising to Facebook users while using the News Feed feature. News Feed is where Facebook makes most of its money so it makes sense to update this before any other feature.

Outlook.com to replace Hotmail

Posted by David Bernstein

If you are one of the hundreds of millions Hotmail users and are used to the interface you have been using for years then get ready for a change. Microsoft is doing away with Hotmail and switching everyone to Outlook.com. They are doing this to push their Windows 8 style and way of doing things and Outlook.com does resemble the new Windows 8 look.

Microsoft beta tested Outlook.com last July and got a lot of feedback on what users liked and didn’t like. If you want to make the switch now all you have to do is log in to your Hotmail account and click the button to upgrade. If you don’t want to upgrade now then you will be forced to this summer. But don’t worry because all of your Hotmail items such as messages, folders, contacts, and rules and so on will remain intact so there will be no need to redo anything.

There will also be some cool new features once you switch over so it may be worth your while. Some things you will be able to do include sending huge email attachments, take advantage of cloud storage, connect with social networks, enjoy better spam filtering, see fewer ads and take advantage of Skype integration.

 

Adobe Flash patch released to fix critical vulnerability

Posted by David Bernstein

If you are running Adobe Flash on your computer, which you most likely are, there is a new patch just released to fix a security hole in the software. Without the patch there is a chance that a hacker can crash your system or potentially take control of it. This patch even applies to Mac, Linux and Android devices.

So far there have been attacks targeting aerospace companies via infected Microsoft Office documents by way of phishing scam emails. These documents have embedded SWF Flash Player flies in them which can infect your computer. And of course there are other ways to infect your computer such as having some malicious code on a website that utilizes Flash which can cause just as much damage.

This latest fix brings the most current version of Flash for Windows and OS X to 11.5.502.149 and the latest Linux version to 11.2.202.262. If you are an Android 4.x user then you need to be at 11.1.115.36 or 11.1.115.37 for Android 3 and earlier users. You can go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ to download the latest version and get yourself up to date before it’s too late.

Secret Google Wireless Plan in the Works

Posted by David Bernstein
 

It appears that search giant Google may be planning an experimental wireless network at its Mountain View location. This speculation has started because Google has filed an application with the FCC for a radio station for an experimental radio service which will be located at their site.

This is leading people to believe that they are building a super-fast wireless network. The application shows that the system will have 5 to 10 base stations mounted on walls or ceilings and antennas also mounted on walls and directed towards buildings. Google plans to test up to 50 base stations and 200 user devices during a 2 year period.

The wireless experiment will use frequencies allocated to the Educational Broadband Service and the Broadband Radio Service, some of which Clearwire is using for its own mobile broadband service. Google could potentially work with Clearwire to deploy strong indoor coverage without interfering with existing cellular networks. This type of setup could allow people to access the internet on their mobile devices without using their cellular carrier’s signals but it most likely will be some time before we see anything that looks promising for us end users.

Wikimedia launches Wikivoyage travel site

Posted by David Bernstein

 

I’m sure you are familiar with the Wikipedia website where you can find information and statistics about just about anything. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that allows others to collaborate on its over 24 million articles. As of now there are around 100,000 people contributing to the site and keeping things up to date and fresh.

Now the Wikimedia Foundation who runs Wikipedia is starting a travel site to help travelers get information they need about their destinations online. Wikivoyage has been in beta since September and is now going to be released for everyone to use in the near future.

The site will offer information on things such as sightseeing, tourist attractions, lodging, restaurants and shopping. You will also be able to find information about the area and its history. As of now the site supports 8 languages even though all the translations are not completed.

Microsoft Office 2013 pricing and release date

Posted by David Bernstein
 

When it comes to office productivity software such as word processors and spreadsheets, Microsoft has the biggest market share with its Office suite of products. Almost everyone has used Microsoft Word or Excel compared to other software such as WordPerfect or Lotus 1-2-3. And most businesses and home users like to keep their Office software up to date and get the latest version even though it can get quite pricey.

With the anticipated Office 2013 on its way to store shelves soon, Microsoft has announced some pricing for their popular software which comes in a variety of versions depending on your needs. The various versions offer select Office products grouped to meet specific needs such as home users or business users. The release date is not official but it should be at the end of March.

Here is the pricing for the various versions of Office 2013:

• Office 365 Home Premium - $99.99/year 
• Office 365 Small Business Premium - $149.99/year
• Office Home & Student 2013 - $139.99
• Office Home & Business 2013 - $219.99
• Office Professional 2013 - $399.99