Microsoft ammends ways, surface pro now in 256GB version launched

Image Source : microsoft.com

There was an interesting fact about the windows 8 powered Microsoft Surface Pro tablet, that the 64GB version actually offers only 28GB of usable storage space, after taking into count the space pre-booked for the OS and its updates. Combined with the fact that the tablet does not have a microSD slot, this was one of the super criticized points. And it seems Microsoft has learned something from the mistake, and have launched a 256GB storage space containing Surface Pro, in Japan. Incidentally, this tablet is a replacement for the 64GB model, as the latter was not launched there at all.

The 256GB Surface Pro costs around $1175 , converting from its cost in yen (119,800 yen), and will be available with exclusive Touch covers when it gets into the market on June 7. A 128GB model will also be available. To remind our readers, the Surface Pro is an Intel Core i5 processor powered, tablet, which doubles up as a laptop with a dockable keyboard. The multi touch screen also supports stylus, the same type as the S Pen in case of Samsung Note series of devices.

Although launched in Japan, there is no official word as to the availability of the 256GB version in other parts of the world, as to which we will constantly keep you updated. 

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini launched - compared with S4

After what seemed an ages of speculations since the launch of Galaxy S4, finally Samsung has officially launched the trimmed down device , the Galaxy S4 Mini , which according to JK Shin,  CEO, IT and Mobile communication division at Samsung, is " for more compact and practical usages" .

So to what extent exactly has Samsung trimmed down the S4 here? Well, frankly quite a bit. With a 4.3 inch qHD Super AMOLED display in contrast to the 5 inch of the S4, it weighs a light 107g , 23g lighter than the S4. Coming to the processor, the S4 mini is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual core processor, which though won't let users feel much difference in normal use, but surely can be expected to be not as fast as the Quad or Octa core processor of the S4 , but only in terms of some processor hungry apps which may show up in the future. For now, based on the data itself, its difficult to imagine the extent of difference that would show up in usage, if any that is.

The S4 sports an internal memory of 8 GB expandable to 64 GB, and a RAM of 1.5 GB. The camera of the S4 mini is also at a lower level, at 8MP for the rear one, and 1.9 MP for the front camera, both supporting HD recording. The OS will be the same as S4, being the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The battery is of a lower capacity as well , at 1900 mAh.



In terms of software feature, the S4 mini will hold in itself the same characteristic set of apps as the S4 to give a similar 'life companion' experience , like the Sound&shot feature , integrated ChatOn , Samsung Hub, WatchOn, Samsung Link (available in select countries), apart from apps like S Travel and Google Mobile services. S Health, Adapt Display and Adapt Sound are few health apps downloadable from the Samsung apps site.

It will be in 3 variants, 4G LTE, 3GHSPA+ or dual sim 3G, and with the kind of specs we are seeing, it should ideally see a decent price cut as well, 'coz consumers won't be impressed at all without this one, in the light of how the device stands up to S4. Though yeah, it still is more than a match for S3 in itself, so not too disappointing it is. It can be considered a decent smartphone , as long as it has a justifiable price tag.

How To Know You're Getting The Best Mobile Security

Image source : smallbiztechnology.com

Mobile security is a tricky subject that many people don’t fully understand. While a good security app should be similar to a desktop security program, there should also be some additional features like an SD card scanner and SIM card lock to protect your mobile device. These are the features and options that you should look for if you want the best mobile security app.

Scan Everything
The mobile security app should be able to scan everything so that it can alert you if you are about to download a virus. This doesn’t just include files from the Internet. It should also include apps from official and third-party sources, external files from your computer and any other file that you are about to download.

The app should also be able to scan SD cards. Many hackers give out free SD cards that are infected because the virus will infect your device as soon as you insert the card. A scanner will be able to check the card to see if there are any malicious files.

Most mobile security apps can scan files, but sometimes the scanner is limited and it can only check files from the browser. This is good, but not good enough if you want the best security.

SIM Card Lock
While many people are worried about hackers, the truth is that theft is more common than hacking. It’s relatively common for someone to steal a phone, switch the SIM card and then use the device. Normally there is nothing that can stop this type of activity, but a good security app will have a SIM card lock feature.

This will lock the phone if a new SIM card is entered so that the person cannot use your phone. You can change the SIM card if needed, but you must enter a password to keep the phone from locking.

Phishing Protection
Phishing is much more common on mobile devices because people tend to fall for these scams more often if they see the phishing message through a mobile device. This reason for this is that users often trust the sender more if they see the message on their smartphone. Another reason for this is because most smartphones are connected to an email inbox, social media accounts and other messaging services.

This feature will ensure that you don’t give away your personal information and it will also block common phishing messages.

Constant Updates
Some free and poorly supported mobile security apps are rarely updated. This is a problem because hackers are always creating new viruses and exploiting programming bugs to infiltrate mobile devices. The best mobile security app should have constant updates so that the app is as ready as possible to stop a hacker and block malware.

The app should at least have monthly updates. Weekly updates are better, but even many of the best apps don’t offer this frequency.

Locate Device and Remote Wipe
Phones are much easier to steal than desktops or laptops. They also tend to contain more sensitive information. A good security app should help you find your device if you lost it. This is usually done by sending a GPS signal that can be easily tracked from another smartphone or computer.

The app should also allow you to remotely wipe the information stored on the smartphone. This means that the thief won’t be able to access or steal the information on your device because it will all be erased.

Continuous Scanning
The last feature that you should look for is continuous scanning. The app should keep checking your device to see if there is any malicious activity occurring behind the scenes. Many viruses will remain dormant until you do a certain action. The app should be able to block and remove the virus before it becomes active so that it doesn’t hurt your device.

Conclusion
There are many great mobile security apps available for users, but you must ensure that you are getting a comprehensive one if you want to keep your device safe. Constant updates and the ability to scan everything isn’t enough. The app should also consider problems that are unique to mobile devices like theft and SD cards.


About the author : Katelyn Roberts works with Sarah Hendricks who is a security expert on protecting users and businesses from hackers and data leakage. Users in the office, at home, or working remotely are all subject to attack. Sarah has teamed up with Mobile antivirus software at NQ.com anti virus software to keep mobile devices protected nation wide!

With Intel Haswell, laptops to get a major battery life boost

This is what Intel itself claims, according to whom, the 4th generation Haswell processors are going to be a great upgrade over the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture in terms of being as much as 20 times more energy efficient, without compromising on the performance side. That would be a much sought relief to consumers as well as laptop and macbook manufacturers, who have been facing the battery life issue for quite some time, temporarily though.
The Haswell processors , with the nanoseconds ticking, are going to be launched next month at the Computex show in Taipei.
With this launch will start a race among the laptop manufacturers to offer the latest of intel 'inside' , and from current speculations, Apple could be winning this race this time, with its Macbook range looking towards being among the first to get the 4th gen Haswell upgrade. according to reports, which are going to see the light of the day at WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference) on June 10

Source : Techradar, ComputerWorld

Who Is To Blame For All The Malware In 2013?

Image Source : pcmag

You know those Trojan horses and other viruses, worms, and malicious software that somehow end up on your computer? It is said over and over again that these objects are planted by people, organizations, and companies that have nothing better to do. However, where does most of the malware originate?

Top Malware-Producing Locations Worldwide
According to some of the latest Infographics produced, China, the United States, South Korea, Russia, and Taiwan are the top five producers and spreaders of malware. Is this a surprise to people? That is a discussion for another time.
Here is a look at some numbers brought to you by the Alien Vault Open Threat Exchange Program (in number of malicious ip addresses):

• China- 95,249
• United States- 60,346
• South Korea- 16,115
• Russia- 13,367
• Taiwan- 12,504

Common Malware Distribution Routes

Malware (a.k.a. Viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, worms) can infect a computer in many different ways. However, it usually follows some common distribution paths.

• Direct infection-This type is becoming too obvious so it is more rare than the other usual ways of dispensing malware onto computers. Still, it is worth mentioning because sometimes malicious operators still feel like they have nothing to hide—including viruses they intentionally decide not to hide in a file. 

• Indirect infection via .exe file-Many people become a victim of a seemingly “innocent” free software download. Usually the infection is not spread until the user attempts to open the file to install and run it. However, sometimes the infection starts even while the software is still downloading. The less-evil forms of this kind of infection are the software packages with free toolbars and gadgets that seem to sneak onto your start menu, desktop, and task bar before you have the chance to say “no.” At the very least, it slows down your computer. At the worst, it infects it with a nasty virus.

• .PDF, .Zip and .RAR files-The infection for these file extensions starts in a similar way as does for the downloading and/or installation of .exe programs. The malware is delivered to the computer either during the download or installation process—or perhaps both. The level of severity ranges from spy and tracking devices all the way up to full-on PC infection.

• HTML or flash content-Right there on any given web page or multimedia video could exist viruses, spyware, worms, and more. It's hard to detect unless you have a program on your computer that alerts you of such. Website owners are highly advised to have their content protected with a scanner. They also should alert visitors to help them feel secure about visiting a particular page or domain.

Other Viral and Malicious Surprises

You may not even realize it, but most of the common viruses and malware are associated with popular operating systems. Harmful content that infects computers are more often than not derived from Windows and Mac OS components.

It should also be noted that that the top five types of malware worldwide include as follows:

• Scanning host-580521
• Malware domain-201177
• Malware ip-71890
• Spamming-61389
• Malicious host-51477

This information is provided by Alien Vault's Open Threat Exchange program. It was derived from records ranging from the dates February 2oth to July 20th, 2012.

Malware is Everywhere

Malware is not just in the five major countries mentioned earlier in this article. It exists everywhere, and you need to do your part to stay safe. Scan your computer as often as possible and be very careful what e-mails you open, what links you click, and what sites you visit.


Guest Author: Erin Walsh is the Director of Public Relations for Boost Software. She is an avid blogger that enjoys sharing her knowledge with the everyday computer user, by helping them with common errors especially error 1722, error 1719, error 0x80070424, and error 0x80004004. She also specializes in helping pc users update drivers, especially the most problematic ones such as toshiba drivers, no sound, motherboard drivers, chipset drivers, lenovo drivers, nvidia drivers and hp drivers.

Waterless Urinals; 'Ur-ine' For A Surprise!

Yes, it may sound odd that an unpleasant body fluid can be effortlessly disposed of in a urinal without the assistance of any water and, additionally, not leave behind any objectionable odor.  Well, thanks to the wonders of technology, waterless urinals are becoming increasingly popular; and the technology is astoundingly simple.

How Does It Work?

The simplicity of the workings of a waterless urinal is sheer genius.  ‘Simple’ and ‘genius’ at the same time?  It might sound like a paradox, but it’s really not.  The process goes like this:
1) Urine flows down the waterless bowl and goes through a special strainer.
2) The urine continues its flow through a special sealing liquid which is nothing more than an oil-based fluid.  In fact, even vegetable oil could serve as the oil component.
3) The urine collects in a waste pipe, below.
Now, here is where it gets quite interesting.  Since urine is denser than oil, your high-school science class would tell you that oil, then, would be the liquid that would produce the top layer or ‘floating’ layer. The  heavier-weight urine will remain below the lighter-weight oil; and once this happens, the urine is, in essence, trapped under the oil.  Then…
4) Any air bubbles will rise to the top and escape, which leaves the urine in a virtual oxygen-depleted environment.  The odor is trapped under the oil and has no way to escape out into the room.
5) Once the urine is trapped in the waste pipe, simple displacement sends it into the regular plumbing system. It’s important to note, also, that urine combined with water helps to heighten the natural odor of the urine.   With water lacking, the odors, yet again, are absolutely minimized.

Speed of Urine-Flow Is Key:

One might wonder why the urine hitting the oiled fluid doesn’t break the sealing liquid just enough and, therefore, allow odors to quickly escape.  That thought was taken into account and the potential for that problem was eliminated.  Due to the urinal’s design, the urine is slowed down just enough before it hits the oil; and, in addition, the flow speed is minimized due to no water being present in the bowl.

Two Types of Waterless Urinals:

There are two varieties of waterless urinals, cartridge based and non-cartridge based.  The cartridge based units use a replaceable, pre-filled cartridge that holds the sealing liquid.  Eventually, in any waterless urinal, the sealing liquid becomes ineffective and new cartridges are effortlessly inserted, within minutes, into the units.  Non-cartridge based urinals simply have new oil introduced into the drain hole of the unit.  The oil, on its own, settles as it should.

Water—It Needs To Be Conserved:

Here are some startling facts concerning water, which make the utilization of waterless urinals even more compelling:
Fact #1:  Global demand for water will outweigh supply by 40% once 2030 rolls around
Fact #2:  Americans flush away 5.7 billion gallons of clean drinking water every 24 hours
Fact #3:  A single flush, even from a low-flush toilet in the U.S., uses 6 liters of water which equates to 1.6 gallons of clean drinking water
Fact #4:  Less than 2% of the water on earth is the water humans and land animals need to survive
And a big pat on the back should go to the designers of the new Dodger’s Stadium that underwent a $100 Million renovation—an impressive transformation project that included all waterless urinals in the men’s restrooms—Now, THAT’s a homerun!
Many companies like Clearwater Plumbing are very savvy with this technology so finding a competent contractor these days is not too challenging.  Waterless urinals herald a major breakthrough in clean, efficient, waterless technology.  That technology saves money, saves water and saves the environment!

Karen spent her career on teaching and is now enjoying her retirement in Nebraska where she writes about Fort Worth plumbers and many other topics.

Transcription Systems And Client Data Management Systems

No matter what kind of business you are running, you will have some kind of a transcription service provider who is providing you transcription services. These services may be provided to you via human based transcription agents or software based digital transcription or some kind of mix up of these methods. Ideally, your transcription company would have given you a control panel of sorts which allows you complete control about managing your transcription needs.
Depending on the service provider, they may provide you with a simple set of tools and attached services. On demand, they could provide you with more powerful tools. Either way, some of the general facilities can become tricky to use if you aren’t familiar with the concept.

Login Credentials
A control panel for your data – audio and text – is provided to you by default. One way of understanding this control panel is to think of it like your email Inbox on the web. In your web mail, you do all your mail scenarios like checking for new content, replying to folks, organizing content into folders and other mail related activities.
Similarly the transcription control panel allows you to do the various transcription scenario tasks.  There are three tasks that come to our mind right away. Two of them involve uploading and removing audio files that are submitted for transcription. The other task is the process of downloading text files that contain the transcript information. While these are the basic tasks, there are a lot of additional tasks that can be performed.
Before we can get into that, a few more words about login credentials. If the quantum of transcription that your company generates is huge, then it is not feasible for one person to handle everything in the control panel. In this case, the transcription company will provide you with multiple login credentials. In most cases, the main person, which is probably you, will be given full administrative rights. Other users of the same control panel may have limited access.
For instance, users with standard login privileges may only be able to see the transcript text files and cannot really make any changes or delete files. You could also designate access areas like some users of a particular business department being able to access certain files only. These are advanced features which may not be available from all transcription companies.

Additional Tasks
Earlier we mentioned how there are additional tasks that are possible via the control panel. These are minor enhancements and don’t mean much on their own. However, when taken together, they make a world of difference.
The uploading system allows you to upload files directly from your computer directly to the transcription company’s facilities. An enhancement that is available from some transcription service providers is that they update each file with an estimated time of completion. For instance, if you should update some dozen hours of audio recording, in a few minutes of time, the file status would be updated with an estimated time of processing.
This may not mean much to you but when you are dealing with hundreds of audio files, it will help you in a grand way to know when a particular file would be completed. A scenario to illustrate this would be to know that you have about a hundred files in queue for transcription. You notice that the very first file in the queue has a transcription time of ten hours while the rest have transcription times ranging from a few minutes to half an hour.
If you want to, you can prioritize the files right there from the control panel. If such an option is not available, you can always fire away an email to the service company to put that lengthy file at the end of the queue so as to speed up the other files. There will always be times when this minor feature could end up playing a key role.

Freedom To Manage
A nice thing about these web based control panels is that they are web based. Your control panel which gives you control to your information is just like any other website such as yahoo or google. You can visit these sites from your home computer, work PC, tablet, mobile phone and any other device you use to access the internet.
This means, you can be productive while on the move. More and more of us are finding ourselves working while we are mobile. Our workforce is getting mobile. So, web based control panels are a simple but effective system.
The author dictates a lot of his work and audio typing turns it into text. For such audio typing service conveniences, he always turns to the best in the business, 1st Class.