All signs point to a March release of the iPad 3, with an enhanced Retina display and potentially a faster processor and LTE/4G data speeds. Any one of those would probably be enough for me to upgrade from my iPad 2, so in preparation I looked into selling my old iPad. When I upgraded to…
Do you own an iPhone 4 and really wish Siri worked for you? I feel your pain. It doesn’t make sense that Siri works exclusively for the 4S. It’s just not fair. Ok, now that we are over that, what can we do? How about hiring her 1st cousin? Let me introduce you to SpeakToIt…
It has long been rumored that the new iPad 3, expected to be announced March 7, will come with a 2048 x 1536 retina display — an amazingly high resolution. Now MacRumors has has obtained one of the displays to be used in the iPad 3 and, based on close analysis, has deemed that in…
There are a lot of sprays and chemicals designed to eliminate smudges and fingerprints on touchscreen devices, but they have heir drawbacks. If the bottle is too big, you can’t carry it on a plane and they run out at the most inopportune times. The iEraser attempts to fix that. It is a handheld block…
The blogs are buzzing today with the rumor that Apple will announce the iPad 3 at an event in San Francisco the first week of March. The source is All Things D, which has an excellent reputation for accuracy. Plus, the iPad 2 was announced in early March a year ago, so the timing would…
There is a little known feature in Facebook that enables you to download and backup your entire profile. This is an important security precaution, should somehow your profile get corrupted, or any other mishap. It is a complete copy of all of the personal information you’ve shared on Facebook. It should be treated as a…
iOS 5.1 Coming Soon — But Will Not Fix Problem of Random Muting of iPhone 4S Calls I’m looking forward to iOS 5.1, which should be coming out soon. It’s expected to fix some major bugs as well as add some new features. A test version of the new software has been in the hands…
While the recent vulnerability found in Adobe’s Reader and Acrobat products is only being exploited on Windows, the flaw exists on the Mac and other platforms and could compromise those systems as well. When is Adobe fixing this once and for all?
According to an article in The Daily (the News Corp daily newspaper for the iPad), Microsoft is working on a version of Microsoft Office for the iPad, though there’s no word on when it might be available. The article speculates that the pricing would be in the same ballpark as Apple’s office app: Pages, Numbers,…
Apple does know how to please. And if there was any doubt the people love their iPhone, that has now been erased by a poll that found a 96% satisfaction rate among iPhone 4S users. A Change/Wave survey released yesterday reported that 77% said there were “very satisfied,” and 19% said “somewhat satisfied.” Only 2%…
Greetings to all of you, You hear a lot about Internet privacy these days. But what does that really mean to you? Under President Jimmy Carter a commission was formed to explore personal privacy. The result was Personal Privacy in an Information Society: The Report of the Privacy Protection Study Commission transmitted on July 12,…
Wikipedia describes Internet privacy as “the desire or mandate of personal privacy concerning transactions or transmission of data via the Internet. It also involves the exercise of control over the type and amount of information revealed about a person on the Internet and who may access said information.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_privacy There are those that claim that…
If you’re still using Windows XP, you might not be familiar with the security feature called User Account Control (UAC). It was introduced in Windows Vista, and became one of the main “pain points” that caused the OS to be the most maligned Microsoft operating systems in history. Although the intent was good – to…
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday aims to quell the ever-increasing tide of data breaches by requiring businesses to follow guidelines for the safe storage of data and imposing large fines to violators. The 100-page measure, introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and called the Personal Data Protection and Breach Accountability Act…
These days when people think of malware and OS X the first name that comes to mind is likely MacDefender or one of its variants, which were rogue utilities designed to trick users into giving up personal and financial information. As the Mac gains in popularity there will undoubtedly be more attempts like this, and…
Once upon a time, Microsoft had a substantial share of the smart phone market with its Windows Mobile devices. It was a three-way race, with WinMo battling Blackberry and Palm. These devices were mostly confined to business customers. Then the iPhone happened. Apple brought the huge consumer base into the smart phone fold and sold…
Facebook will launch an analytics tool designed to enable companies to measure the impact of brand pages on Oct. 5, said Grady Burnett, VP of global marketing solutions at Facebook.
When Google rolled out the beta of their “magical and revolutionary” social network (oops, sorry – that’s Apple’s line), I dutifully signed up like everybody else in the tech industry. I played around with it and found some features I really liked – and some that made me scratch my head and think “Why in…
Disclaimer: HTGTech does not assume and cannot be responsible for any liability related to you clicking any of these linked Web sites. Nerdiest tattoos http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-501465_162-10009475.html Musical dry cleaning http://digg.com/news/offbeat/dry_cleaners_one_big_musical_instrument_video The truth about bottled water http://i.imgur.com/a71w2.jpg Let the cat out of the bag http://digg.com/news/offbeat/cat_explores_various_paper_bags_video Spock for prez in 2012 http://www.geekfill.com/2011/09/18/logic-we-can-believe-in-pic/ The World’s best Charleston dancers at…
Intel’s “Sandy Bridge” processors will power a supercomputer to be built by the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas. Developers say the system will be able to do 10 quadrillion floating-point operations per second thanks to eight-core Intel Xeon E5-series “Sandy Bridge-EP” chips and Intel accelerator technology.
A report from Cisco Systems indicates that today’s young professionals view the Web and mobile computing to be as critical as life’s basic needs. More than half polled, 55%, said they cannot live without Internet access, while 64% said they would chose connectivity over having a vehicle.
A few months ago security company F-Secure uncovered a Mac Trojan horse that posed as an installer application for Adobe Flash, taking advantage of the popularity of the plug-in to trick users into installing it. After installation, the Trojan would alter the system’s hosts file to redirect Google sites to fraudulent servers. Now Intego has…
Facebook ticks off (almost) everyone with new design – If you use Facebook at all, you’ve noticed some major changes they launched last Wednesday. People didn’t like it. Actually, it would be more fair to say a lot of people didn’t like it. The biggest complaint is that the site is now overcomplicated. That’s saying…
This is a basic overview for Windows 8 Dev Click link to see video Windows 8 overview
Apple unveiled the newest member of the iPhone family today at its headquarters in Cupertino, California: the iPhone 4S. Expectation was building to massive proportions before the event, with many expecting Apple to unveil an “iPhone 5″ Apple instead unveiled a very impressive series of features into their new iPhone 4S, and it’ll be available…
Looks like AT&T are already starting to crack down on customers who are using huge amounts of data in a monthly cycle. As 9to5Mac reports, they have begun sending out warning text messages to those who are in the top five percent of heaviest users, advising that their speeds will be reduced if their usage…
Apple has issued yet another developer release of its upcoming OS 10.7.2 update; however, unlike previous versions this latest build has been dubbed “Golden Master,” which means that unless any major bugs or flaws are found in this latest bout of testing, then this build will be issued to the public. In addition to today’s…
As I expected, Amazon launched a new tablet this week. When the smoke finally cleared, we were introduced to the Kindle Fire. The price alone is enough to warm the buying public’s response to the Fire. The new tablet carries an eye-popping price tag of just $199. That’s without a two-year contract, ads or any…
Apple founder Steve Jobs has passed away yesterday. “Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.” Read a statement from Apple’s Board of Directors. “Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched…
Facebook began warning users if they are about to visit a malicious URL. As part of a partnership with security firm Websense, each time a user clicks on a link within Facebook, the address will be checked against a database of known malicious sites. If the link matches a known bad site, users will be…
Couldn’t Agree More about “Demanding Security” I have been an IT guy since the early 2000′s professionally and of course long before that and if there is one thing I have noticed in the past few years it is the total intrusion of unwanted and annoying hobos that hitch a ride with usually dopey freeware….The…
While assuming is never a good thing (how often have you heard “Assume makes an ass-out-of-u-and-me”?), there are certain things I can safely assume the PCMech audience knows without having to overly explain it. For example, if I say “USB device”, you know that’s a piece of hardware that plugs into a USB port, and…
Editor’s Note: Amazing as I am writing about our kids, I find more and more reasons to be concerned but at the same time ways to handle the problem. In May, Consumer Reports announced that 7.5 million kids age 12 and younger are on Facebook. The magazine called this “troubling news,” in no small part…
CNN‘s Brandon Griggs wrote a column speculating as to why most computer generated voices, including Apple’s Siri, are made to sound female. Research suggests this preference starts as early as the womb, Nass said. He cites a study in which fetuses were found to react to the sound of their mother’s voice but not to…
Siri is great for most people, some said it is worth upgrading from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S to get it. But don’t be fooled by imposters. For example, there’s an app named “SIRI” that has NOTHING TO DO WITH VOICE CONTROL. Somehow, the app was approved on October 13th and is doing…
Leo writes: I would like a manual for Windows 7, where can I find one? Now before any of you say, “it’s in the Help and Support section of Windows 7″, this is true – but that assumes Leo actually has Windows 7, which he may not. Some people would prefer to download a detailed…
As most of you are aware, Skype is now owned by Microsoft, who has already put up a web page promoting the product: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/skype/ You can also see Microsoft branding on the www.skype.com web site. There has been wild speculation about what Microsoft will do with Windows Live Messenger now that it has Skype. Will…
Pet parents no longer have to worry about losing their beloved companions with the arrival of Tagg—The Pet Tracker™, an advanced pet tracking system equipped with GPS and wireless capabilities that enables pets to stay in touch with their owners. Tagg—The Pet Tracker is the first product from Snaptracs Inc., a newly formed, wholly owned…
So you’ve installed good anti-virus and anti-spyware software and installed a third party firewall or enabled the built-in Windows Firewall. You’re good to go, right? No need to worry about security? Well … it’s a good start, but in today’s malware-infested cyber world, anyone who ventures onto the Internet needs to do more. And no…
Another day, another Trojan. The malware bot called “Tsunami” that has been developed for Linux systems since around 2002 has been found on OS X. The malware (OSX/Tsunami.A) is a minimal threat, and as with other Trojans and backdoors for OS X requires you to manually and purposefully install it. While it is almost irrelevant…
Following a report in Digitimes, blogs repeated the rumor late yesterday that the iPad and iPhone will have a complete overhaul in 2012. The anonymous source: the guys in Asia who supply the parts. You can read a useful discussion on AppleInsider. According to the rumors, there are two iPads in development: one that comes…
Siri is the first really powerful natural-language-understanding system in a consumer device. And people love it. Now a blog post on the New York Times website is saying that Apple is expected to build a TV set that will include Siri. Apparently, Steve Jobs felt like TV is broken — that remotes are difficult to…
Apple Acknowledges Battery Issues in iOS 5, the 5.0.1 Update Will Address Them. Ever since iOS 5 was released a number of users have reported noticeably worse battery life on their iOS devices. Yesterday Apple acknowledged these issues in a statement to The Loop. “A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery…
Apple has begun taking unlocked iPhone 4S pre-orders in the US Online Apple Store. The preorders list a 1 to 2-week ship time and and are available for all three storage capacities in white and black. I just put an order in for my unlocked iPhone 4S and the confirmation email lists a delivery date…
A new Mac OS X Trojan being distributed on torrent sites like Paratypic aims to steal Bitcoin virtual currency, security researchers are warning. The malware, called DevilRobber, is bundled inside several Mac applications made available by attackers on file-sharing networks, including a Mac OS X image editing app called GraphicConverter version 7.4, Graham Cluley, senior…
1. Corporations adopt social networking as a primary communication tool. 2. Death of the laptop? 3. The “To the Cloud” movement continues. 4. The need for Virtualization skills will grow exponentially. 5. The days of owning software are numbered. 6. Real bandwidth to the household. 7. The rise of streaming media.
Google has long collected information about people’s home and business WiFi networks, and included it in a database that it uses for location services. The company now lets you opt out so that you network isn’t included, but it could be harder to do than you think. Read more info here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/greater-choice-for-wireless-access.html
Apple’s newest iPhone is highly popular, but its battery-life problem continues despite a system update intended to fix it. On Thursday morning, Apple released iOS 5.0.1, designed specifically to resolve a bug that reportedly drains the iPhone 4S’s battery at a too-rapid rate. Unfortunately, some users remain unsatisfied, while others seem to feel the update…
With the holiday season right around the corner, Microsoft is set to launch a new campaign designed to entice those who do not run Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) to try out the new browser in exchange for free music and movies. However, critics suggest the campaign has little to do with the Christmas spirit of…
Thanks to the combination of iTunes 10.5, iOS 5, and iCloud, you can sync data wirelessly with your iOS device. In fact, there are two ways to do so: iCloud syncing, which sends specific information to and from Apple’s iCloud servers over an Internet connection, and Wi-Fi Sync, which syncs your device with iTunes on…
Rumors of an Apple TV continue to mount, with a market analyst now saying that we can expect it in mid-2012. According to a report on AppleInsider, Apple may be partnering with Sharp to produce its “iTV.” Production could begin as early as February. Of course, Apple is already selling an Apple TV settop box,…