Microsoft offering Windows 8 Pro discount for students

Trace Hagan | Software & Apps | Jan 30, 2013 4:02 PM CST

If you haven't picked up Windows 8 Pro quite yet, you should really consider doing it before the end of January. The upgrade is currently available for $39.99 online, but that price will soon be going up. Students won't be left completely in the woods, though, as starting February 1, they will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $69.99.

While that price isn't quite as good as the current $39.99, it will be better than the regular price of $199.99. If you can afford to buy the upgrade now, you should, even if you qualify for the student price. You don't have to install the update before February 1, you just have to have purchased it.

Windows 8 offers the best for work and play and with the new Start screen that makes it super easy to organize, access and find what matters most to you. With Windows 8, students can download apps from the Windows Store like Microsoft OneNote or Evernote for taking notes in class or Skype to stay connected with friends and family.

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Windows Phone 7.8 now available for Lumia devices

Trace Hagan | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Jan 30, 2013 3:33 PM CST

Older Lumia devices can now be updated to Windows Phone 7.8. Nokia announced the available update alongside the video seen below and is encouraging users to update their Lumia devices to the latest Windows Phone 7. While it isn't Windows Phone 8, it will be the best thing available to these older Lumia devices.

Microsoft has released Windows Phone 7.8 to try and keep users happy, or at least that's what it would appear to be. Users with older Windows Phone 7 devices are unable to update to the latest Windows Phone 8, so Microsoft promised Windows Phone 7.8, which features a Start Screen similar to that of Windows Phone 8.

Nokia says to update your phone through the Zune for PC app. If you're an owner of one of these older Lumia devices, it should soon be prompting you to update it. If you already have Windows Phone 7.8, let us know what you think of it!

Continue reading: Windows Phone 7.8 now available for Lumia devices (full post)

Honda Accord, Acura RDX and ILX to get Apple Siri "Eyes Free" technology

Charles Gantt | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Jan 30, 2013 1:26 PM CST

Last summer Apple announced that it was working with car manufacturers on a new "Eyes Free" mode for Siri. The new feature would integrate with voice command buttons that are increasingly being found in new car models.

"Eyes Free" would allow users to interact with Siri without ever touching or looking at the device screen. At the time Apple said it was working with BMW, GM, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler and Honda on the initiative. Today it looks like Honda is the first to bring the new feature to market.

From Honda's press release:

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BlackBerry Z10 cases, backup battery charger, and Bluetooth speaker revealed at BB10 Launch Event

Charles Gantt | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Jan 30, 2013 11:56 AM CST

BlackBerry had a lot of announcements this morning at its BB10 launch event in NYC. What we didn't see in the live coverage was the booth's set up around the event showcasing the official accessories for the new BlackBerry Z10.

The Verge has just posted some images of a few of the official accessories geared for use with the new Z10. As expected there is a whole line-up of protective and stylish cases, but the big news accessories seem to be the optional Z10 charger that has a slot for charging a back-up battery.

Alongside the new charger is what appears to be a clip on Bluetooth 4.0 speaker that is big enough to clip onto the straps of even the largest messenger bag. The speaker doubles as a speaker phone and it has an auxiliary port so you can play music wirelessly on any device that lacks Bluetooth support.

Continue reading: BlackBerry Z10 cases, backup battery charger, and Bluetooth speaker revealed at BB10 Launch Event (full post)

BlackBerry announces Alicia Keys to fill newly created 'Global Creative Director' position

Charles Gantt | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Jan 30, 2013 10:43 AM CST

The final major announcement at the BlackBerry 10 launch took most of us by surprise. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins announced that BlackBerry has been consulting with entrepreneurs and artist from around the globe in an effort to improve the company, and as a result BlackBerry has decided to create a new position called 'Global Creative Director'.

Hines said, "We've created a new position at BlackBerry, Global Creative Director. We wanted someone at the top of her field, someone who could help guide us. I want to announce 40 time Grammy award singer song writer, one of the top 30 people on twitter, wife and mother, Alicia Keys as the new Global Creative Director at BlackBerry."

Keys said "I'm so excited, thank you for reaching out to me. I love the new browser, the hub, the flow. I'm obsessed with the time shift, I love how you can switch from work to play mode through balance." Keys went on to say, "I was in a long term relationship with BB, and I started to notice some new hotter, more attractive, sexier phones at the gym. So I broke up with you, but started to miss how you organized my life. Then one day you called, and told me how you hard to started to work out, and now, we're exclusively dating again!"

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BlackBerry 10 already has over 70,000 apps in the BlackBerry World app store

Charles Gantt | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Jan 30, 2013 10:29 AM CST

BlackBerry just announced that as of today the BlackBerry World store already contains 70,000+ apps. They have partnered with all of the major app developers to bring the most popular apps to the service.

VP of Global Alliances and Business Development Martyn Mallick said, "Many people didn't believe we could create a BlackBerry that has incredible content and experiences. We are launching BB10 with more apps by far than any first-gen operating system - over 70,000 applications have already been added to the BlackBerry World Store."

Mallick continued, "When people get BB10 devices, they're going to be looking for certain apps... We have Skype committed to BB10, Amazon Kindle, Whatsapp, SAP, Angry Birds... over 1,000 of top applications from around the world committed to BB10."

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Here is the new Q10 keyboard and BBM features for BlackBerry 10

Charles Gantt | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Jan 30, 2013 10:08 AM CST

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins along with Vivek Bhardwaj, head of software portfolio, just announced several new and exciting keyboard and BlackBerry Messenger features. Heins said "We have the experience to be best keyboard experience... Everything feels like a BlackBerry. I call this writing without typing. Imagine typing on one screen with a single thumb."

Bhardwaj pointed out that "We wanted to do more than just building gestures. The new keyboard features predictive typing that can adapt by language. Sometimes I'm in a real rush and I start typing fast, make mistakes, miss spaces, the new BlackBerry 10 keyboard can fix that too on its own".

The presentation then moved on to BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). Bhardwaj said "The new keyboard is a great innovation, but I know there's another feature you can't live without: Blackberry Messenger. I've always enjoyed the real time nature of it, I use it for work, family, friends", said Heins.

Continue reading: Here is the new Q10 keyboard and BBM features for BlackBerry 10 (full post)

Amazon's e-book business is doing very well, still won't talk Kindle sales, though

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jan 30, 2013 1:37 AM CST

When you've got nothing nice to say, the rule is to say nothing nice at all, so it looks like Amazon are playing this game with Kindle sales, as their lips are still sealed shut. On the flip side, their e-book business is churning through money like it's nothing.

Amazon's e-book business is now a very tidy "multi-billion dollar category" for the US-based retail giant. Amazon had sold out of their e-reader last year, with Amazon's CFO, Tom Szkutak, saying during their earnings call yesterday that if they didn't sell out of their Kindle's, they would've had much higher sales numbers - all without unveiling just how many they sold.

Szkutak was pushed by an analyst who wondered why the company's revenue was lower than expected for Q4, where the CFO cited a number of reasons - sales of consumer electronics fell short of expectations, as well as the shortages of the Kindle Paperwhite. He said:

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Philips drops out of the consumer electronics business, surprises no one

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jan 29, 2013 9:38 PM CST

Philips have just bowed out of the consumer electronics market, and are now focusing all of their energies into the medical equipment and lightning businesses. Philips have sold their consumer electronics business to Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric Co. for $201 million.

Philips' CEO, Frans van Houten talked to The Wall Street Journal, saying "Since we have online entertainment, people do not buy Blu-ray and DVD players anymore."

This is true though - as most consumer electronics are pretty much identical these days as the content displayed on them is completely online. Myself, I use a Samsung Smart TV and don't use any of the 'smart' features apart from two times in eight months I've used Skype. Everything comes from a networked media player, streaming from my QNAP NAS. There should be many changes in the consumer market with more players shifting and changing in the coming years.

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CBS forced to respond to injunction that prevents CNET from talking torrents

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Jan 29, 2013 8:04 PM CST

CBS Interactive has filed a response to an injunction that is keeping CNET's journalists from talking about bit torrent technology. The injunction alleges that by CNET talking about, and linking to, P2P software that can be used for illegal purposes, they are encouraging users and causing it to become more pervasive.

CBSI has responded to the injunction claiming just the opposite. They say that because they provide warnings about not using the technology to infringe on copyrights, they are actually doing more good. They warn that the software is still publicly available and wouldn't come with these warnings if found by a Google search.

If CBSI were enjoined from linking to sites that offer downloads of BitTorrent clients, those sites would still remain available to the public and would still be easily found by a simple search on Google - albeit without the warning against infringement that CBSI provides. Moreover, the public interest would be damaged by denying legitimate and truthful information about a pervasive technology, as well as by impending non-infriging uses.

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