Latest News - Page 3028

That's right, the Nexus 10 tablet has been officially outed through pictures posted on Google+. And it was no slip-up either. Google exec Vic Gundotra is on vacation somewhere incredibly gorgeous (who knows, maybe Google paid for the vacation so he could do this "stunt") and has taken photos with a Nexus 10 and posted them on his Google+.

Of course, these pictures then went out to his 3.3 million followers. We're only 3 days away from when the Nexus 10 is supposed to be unveiled. Now, that in and of itself isn't that big of a deal, or at least it wouldn't be until you learn some of the specifications of the new device. Most important is the screen resolution, 2560 x 1600.

This is notable because it is higher than both the iPad 3 and iPad 4's Retina displays, an impressive feat. And, with the pictures that have been posted, we can also comment on the shooter, which is clearly a good camera specimen. It took some incredible shots of what I imagine to be an incredible vacation.

With the ever-increasing pervasiveness of technology, it was only time until someone figured out that airplane boarding passes could be read by smartphones and the data displayed to the user. Unfortunately, it was discovered that these boarding passes lacked any sort of simple security, such as encryption.

Users who use the PreCheck system can decode their barcodes and find out whether or not they would be randomly checked before they ever left home. The US PreCheck system allows frequent flyers and people willing to pay $100 to sometimes skip some parts of security, though it is random whether or not you will be checked.

This "randomness" is decided ahead of time and encoded in the barcode. A quick scan with a smartphone, or a quick look with your eyes, divulges whether or not you've been randomly selected. "The disclosure of this information means that bad guys are not going to be kept on their toes anymore," Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union, said.

Here's a study I'm sure Microsoft will be extremely happy to see. It seems like people do believe that Microsoft has gotten better over the years at making Windows a safer operating system, something that people previously despised Microsoft for. Avast AntiVirus ran a survey of over 350,000 computer users who installed or re-licensed their software and found some really interesting results.

In the study, Avast found that Microsoft did a great job of promoting the new operating system as 56 percent of respondents new that Windows 8 would soon be released. Of the respondents, 65 percent were using Windows 7, 22 percent XP, and 8 percent on Vista. Curiously, 3 percent didn't know which they were using.

18 percent of respondents said that Windows has "definitely gotten safer over the years." 46 percent thought that it probably had and 30 percent weren't sure. 4 percent said probably not and 2 percent said definitely not. A combined 46 percent said either probably or definitely yes that Windows 8 would be safer than previous versions.

I have to admit, I absolutely love SwiftKey. It's one of the first apps I install on any new Android-based device I use, personally or for reviews. The developer behind the application has just announced something new, SwiftKey Flow.

SwiftKey Flow infuzes the power of SwiftKey's predictive algorithms, and puts a new spin on continuous input, offering real-time prediction as you begin to "flow" a word on the keys. Sounds amazing, eh? Check out the video above!

There are already apps like this out, such as Swype, but SwiftKey's prediction engine is very, very powerful. From the start of your finger touching the screen, SwiftKey Flow begins offering you predictions based on the movement of your finger - as soon as you let go of the screen, SwiftKey Flow will enter your word onto the screen. The application has been "engineered to simultaneously support both typing by 'tapping' on the keys (SwiftKey as you currently know and love it) and gliding across the keyboard".

ASUS Australia invited Aussie journalists to see and *touch* the new range of Windows 8 notebooks & tablets.

Vivian Hung, Regional head of ASUS Australia described the notion of "design thinking" for the new family of devices. Hung introduced the new VivoTab family, which was the "first ASUS Windows 8 tablet" before introducing Anson Zhang, the product manager for tablets in Australia.

Zhang provided some numbers from Telsyte Research about the forecast of tablets in Australia, "11 million Australians will have tablets by the year 2016" he informed the crowd shortly after asking how many people had tablets (about 90% of the attendees raised their hands). In other words, about one in every two people in Australia will have a tablet in 2-3 years; this isn't really surprising due to the influx of affordable tablet devices coming out.

TSMC have something to be happy about right now, posting a record third quarter profit. The company posted a net profit of 49.3 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.69 billion), which is a 62% jump year-over-year, and beating over 24 analysts' expectations.

TSMC-powered smartphones and tablet demand continue to expand, even in an economy which isn't doing so well. TSMC's flagship 28nm technology has given them an advantage over the competition, and the company has said that is directly responsible for doubling chip shipments in Q3. TSMC have said that chips built on the 28nm process accounted for 13% of total wafer revenue.

Morris Chang, TMSC Chairman, says that the future will be a little dull, expecting revenue to fall in the final three months of 2012. Chipmakers like Intel are scaling their productions back in the fourth quarter, citing reduced demand. Even with Q4 not looking so good, TSMC are optimistic about 2013 and the future, where Chang believes that TSMC will continue to outgrow the semiconductor industry in the coming years, as they has positioned themselves well in the smart device markets.

Here we are again, three months later and we have Apple's Q4 financial results to share with you. Not long after the Cupertino-based company unveiled their new iPad mini, fourth-generation iPad and refreshed Macs, their Q4 financial results are surprising in more ways than one.

Apple posted a revenue of $35.97 billion with a net income of $8.2 billion, up from $28.27 billion and $6.62 billion this time last year. Apple's earnings fell short of analysts' expectations of $8.75 per share, reaching just $8.67 per share. Apple reportedly lowered their forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 from diluted earnings per share of $15.49 on revenue of $55 billion to $11.75 on revenue of $52 billion.

Analysts are pegging this on continuing supply problems, but I have a different idea. During the quarter, Apple sold just 26.9 million iPhones, 14 million iPads, 5.3 million iPods and 4.9 million Macs. iPhone shipments beat analysts' expectations by over 500,000 units, but fell short of analysts' expectations on iPad shipments by around 1 million units.

Our friends over at Corsair have just taken the cover off of their latest computer gaming accessory. Under the cover, we found two new gaming mouse mats designed to "deliver durable, gaming grade surfaces and a best-in-class gaming experience." Dubbed the Vengeance MM200 and Vengeance MM400, these will be the first two models to launch.

"Just as performance sports cars needs premium-quality tires in order to maximize performance on the road, a high-quality gaming mouse mat is essential to maximize the performance of gaming mice like the Vengeance laser gaming mice", said Ruben Mookerjee, Vice President and General Manager of the Components Business Unit at Corsair. "Corsair gaming mouse mats are engineered from the ground-up to deliver the consistent performance that gamers demand, so they can focus on winning."

The MM200 is a "glide-optimized" textile surface that includes fray-resistant edges and a non-slip rubber base. This model will be available in four different sizes, ranging from small to extra large formats. They even have a wide format version so as to accommodate different playing styles.

More and more companies are releasing apps for Windows 8. Amazon has just joined the party with the release of their Kindle app for Windows 8. The app will allow users to read their collection of Kindle eBooks on both Windows 8 and Windows RT. Of course, the app comes with all the features you've come to expect from Amazon and Kindle.

This means the app supports Amazon's Whispersync technology, which "automatically syncs your furthest page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across all your devices that have the Kindle app installed and across any Kindle device." It even comes with the ability to pin your favorite Kindle books to the home screen.

This is great! No longer will I have to wait those extra few seconds to start reading Fifty Shades of Grey. Joking aside, this is a nice feature of the app, and a Kindle app should be well received and welcomed on the new Windows 8 and Windows RT platform. After all, there will be many more potential customers for Amazon with all of these new Windows 8 tablets shipping.

Accidental clicks are a big problem for advertisers as they have to pay for a click that yields them nothing. It's a problem that people have been dealing with since the introduction of mobile advertising. The general thought is the smaller the screen, the more likely you are to accidentally click that tantalizing banner ad.

But is that the only factor? Probably not. How often are you surfing Facebook while driving? You might accidentally click on an ad then, not due to the small screen, but due to you being distracted with driving. GoldSpot is a mobile ad network that has taken a look into the problem of accidental clicks and they have a bit of insight to offer.

They figure that roughly four in 10 clicks on conventional banner ads are accidental. For rich media ads, the number drops to 13 percent, probably due to them being more noticeable as an ad. GoldSpot also believes accidental clicks are more likely to happen in the morning or evening, as you can see in the chart above.

Here's reason enough to switch to Apple's walled garden: less chance of malware. Malware is increasingly becoming a problem for the Android operating system, no doubt due in part to its openness and the ability for anyone to post an app to the Play Store. Also sideloading apps furthers this problem.

Don't believe me? Well, a new study shows that Android malware grew by 580 percent in the previous year. An incredible 175 million downloads were of apps deemed "High Risk." And these app downloads came from Google Play's Top 500. Let's stop the scare tatics, though, and focus on reality. For the most part, Android users will be safe from malware.

That 580 percent statistic is misleading. Malware samples grew from 4,951 in September 2011 to only 28,707 in September 2012. So while the 580 percent statistic is true, it's highly misleading. Looking at it in terms of total apps, roughly 1.69 percent of all Android apps are malware, though most of those are not in the Play Store.

The flow of Windows 8 devices are about to begin. Gigabyte is out of the gate today with a bunch of new devices out that will be running Microsoft's latest operating system that launches today. Offerings range from convertible Ultrabooks to regular Ultrabooks, and gaming notebooks to slates. That's right, Gigabyte has launched a tablet.

Let's say hello to the Convertible U2142 (seen above).

Microsoft's biggest launch of pretty much any product they've ever released is here, Windows 8. But, a new operating system isn't the only thing launching with Windows 8. We're looking at the Surface tablet running Windows RT, Windows Phone 8, a slew of Windows 8-powered notebooks, Ultrabooks, tablets as well as countless Windows 8-compatible accessories, and hardware.

5.) Windows 8-powered notebooks and Ultrabooks - One of the most exciting thing about the launch of Windows 8 is that there are going to be countless new products for everyone to choose from. New notebooks with Windows 8, touchscreen notebooks with Windows 8, new Ultrabooks, new touchscreen Ultrabooks with Windows 8. There are exciting new products like ASUS' TAICHI, which sports dual 1080p screens, one on the normal side like a standard notebook, and on the rear, another 1080p screen, but touchscreen-capable.

Before Windows 8, we never saw bold moves like this by players like ASUS, but now we are seeing dramatic shifts in the market as companies try new things. It's exciting.

The new Mac mini has been benchmarked by colocation data center, Macbinicolo. The site has pushed all three stock models through benchmarks, as well as sharing their initial impressions of each of the machines. Geekbench results focus mainly on processor and memory performance, and show just a slight increase in performance for the entry-level machine when compared to the previous-generation.

The bigger gains come from the quad-core Ivy Bridge-based processors, with early impressions of the device including:

Zynga aren't having the best year, with their Q3 2012 numbers rolling in and seeing large revenues of $316 million, beating analysts' low expectations of $300 million or so, but the company have lost $160 million in the first nine months of this year.

The the last three months, Zynga have lost $52 million, even with their better-than-expected Q3 2012 revenue. The company recently announced a $200 million stock buyback and a new partnership with UK-based real-money online gambling site, bwin.party. This saw Zynga's stock driving upward in after-hours trading, rising 13.67%.

But, they look to be short-term gains, with the company struggling in the last few months. Zynga are losing millions of gamers, are in lawsuits, had a write-down of OMGPOP, and have also seen corporate talent walking out the door. CEO and founder of Zynga, Mark Pincus, has said in a statement:

Windows 8 is mere hours away, and now we have Dell announcing theri 23-inch S2340T display. The Dell S2340T sports a 1920x1080 resolution, flexible positioning (take that as you will), with an articulated stand, supporting up to 10 points of simultaneous multitouch, all on an edge-to-edge glass panel.

We're looking at a 23-inch, VIS display with LED backlight, a 1920x1080 resolution at 60Hz and a 178-degree viewing angle. Filling out the number side of things, we have an 8,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. DisplayPort and HDMI connectivity are on offer for inputs.

The S2340T does have one requirement that most monitors don't have: it needs to be connected to a USB3.0 port to enable the touchscreen. The monitor itself provides more USB3.0 ports on-board, Gigabit Ethernet, a headphone port and microphone port. Dell's S2340T needs Displaylink's multitouch driver for functionality to enable, and the S2340T is not Mac-compatible right now, but will be in the future through a drive update.

This is something I kind of expected to happen, and in around the same time frame, but it looks like Android could turn into a huge powerhouse for Google. Bigger than the powerhouse it already is now with over 500 million Android-based users across the world, that is.

Traditional PC shipments are on the track to reclining for this year, marking the first time in over ten years that PC shipments have dipped. Gartner Research's latest numbers point toward Google's mobile OS, Android, being baked onto more devices that Microsoft's Windows OS.

By the end of 2016, the total number of computers, smartphones and tablets running Android is estimated to hit around 2.3 billion units, compared to [just] 2.28 billion Windows-based devices. Microsoft may have waved the flag of OS victory for the past 20 years, but its time for another champion, in robot form.

The Nintendo Wii U will be sold at a loss when it is first introduced in November. Nintendo has come out and said that manufacturing costs are higher than what consumers would be willing to pay, so they've decided to sell it at a loss, much like Sony did with the PlayStation and Microsoft did with the Xbox.

This decision isn't necessarily a bad choice. Microsoft and Sony have been doing this for a while as it allows more consumers to purchase the console, which, in turn, widens a developers audience so more games, and bigger budget games, are developed for the system. This drives even more sales of the console.

Furthermore, some of those losses are recouped on selling accessories, such as remotes, and on licensing fees paid be developers. Nintendo will make up these losses by selling games and accessories. And, as the cost of manufacturing decreases, Nintendo will start to make back its losses through profits on sales of the console itself.

Nintendo recently found itself in some hot water over accusations that underage workers were employed by Foxconn and working at factories where Nintendo has the Wii U manufactured. This is against the policy that Nintendo requires its partners to agree and abide by, so they were quick to launch an investigation.

Today, they have released a statement regarding the results of that investigation. They found that Foxconn had employed under-aged interns to manufacture the Wii U. Foxconn has accepted complete responsibility for the incident and has "moved quickly to ensure that all affected individuals no longer work at Foxconn."

It's not just Apple who are being affected by the working conditions at Foxconn. Nintendo has been brought into the fray, but has acted quickly to rectify the issue. The full statement from Nintendo is below:

Reports are coming in that the iPad mini will be limited in number at launch, due to supply constraints. This, coupled with a lower price tag that is expected to drive up demand, should worsen the already short supply. The supply is expected to be less than usual, so pre-order quickly or line up outside if you have to have the latest Apple gadget.

The supply constraints are chalked up to issues with producing the new, smaller 7.9-inch display. Reports say that Apple is expanding its supplier chain for iPad mini displays, but the new companies are experiencing issues producing the display. LG will continue to produce displays, though Apple has added AUO to the supply chain.

AUO will supply panels to Pegatron. AUO, however, was only able to produce 100,000 units in September. They hope to reach 400,000 for October, 800,000 for November, and 1 million December. This is compared to LG who shipped 300,000 in September, and plans to ship 1 million in October, 2.5 million in November, and 3 million in December.