Chris Sutton

Internet Explorer 10 now available for Windows 7

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Internet Explorer 10 now available for Windows 7Microsoft has quietly rolled out its latest Internet Explorer 10 browser for Windows 7 users.

The release preview was made available in mid-November, and the final version is now available to W7 users, which remain the majority of Microsoft’s customers.

IE10 had previously only been available to Windows 8 users.

You must have Service Pack 1 installed to be able to download the browser, which is available in 32 and 64-bit variants. Most likely, if you have Windows 7, you have SP1, so that should not be an issue. Auto-updaters will take place for IE users in the coming weeks.

Outside of some aesthetic updates, IE10 also brings better JavaScript performance, integrated spell checking and auto-correct functions, and better support for the new CSS3.

Get it here: IE 10

Chris Sutton

Samsung Galaxy S IV to be unveiled on March 14th

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Samsung Galaxy S IV to be unveiled on March 14thSamsung has confirmed today that its Galaxy S IV event will indeed be on March 14th.

The flagship device will get its own Unpacked event in New York City, following the footsteps of previous Galaxy phones.

Samsung will livestream the event at 7PM on the day.

There is little known about the device but it expected to have a 5-inch 1080p display, an IR blaster and a new, more powerful GPU.

 

Chris Sutton

Facebook adds VoIP calling to iOS service

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Facebook adds VoIP calling to iOS serviceFacebook has updated its iOS app this week, adding free VoIP calling for users in the U.S. and Canada.

The social networking giant had been testing the feature through its Messenger iOS app since early January.

Accessing the free calling is simple enough. Tapping a friend’s name in the chat menu, and then heading to “info” will show off a new option to make a free call.

For the call to work, both users must have the latest version of Facebook.

The calls work via your existing data plan.

Chris Sutton

Google stock hits $800

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Google stock hits $800On Tuesday, Google’s stock price hit $800 for the first time as confidence in the search and mobile giant is booming.

In 2007, Google stock hit $700 but then joined the rest of the market in a decline during turmoil years after the financial crisis hit. In April 2011, it was decided that Google co-founder Larry Page should take over the role of CEO from Eric Schmidt.

Since then, Google stock has risen around 35 percent, with most of the gains occurring in the past seven months.

Analysts see Google as one of the best position tech companies for the forseeable future. It’s Search service continues to dominate in its field, and over 600 million devices now run the Android operating system. It also owns other huge services, like YouTube, which is gaining more confidence from advertisers.

It is also overhauling its ad system to address concerns about the revenue that can generated for mobile ads.

Chris Sutton

Google Glass UI shown off in new video

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Google Glass UI shown off in new videoGoogle has posted a video to show you how it feels to use its ambitious Glass prototype.

All the footage in the video is actually recorded through Glass. The video shows a variety of different scenarios, including sky diving, a rollercoaster ride, horse riding and more. You interact with Glass by simply instructing it to do something, like “record a video.”

It also shows sharing images that you’ve just taken with contacts, and requesting that it shows you certain types of pictures.

Another part shows how you can ask Glass to translate words for you, and get a response pretty quickly. Glass is still very much a work in progress, but it is headed in the right direction.

 

Chris Sutton

Apple releases iOS 6.1.2 to fix bugs

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Apple releases iOS 6.1.2 to fix bugsApple has released iOS 6.1.2 for iPhones, iPads and iPod touch to fix a couple of bugs reported in iOS 6.1.

It had previously released iOS 6.1.1 just for iPhone 4S users to fix problems with 3G signal, after several carriers told their customers not to update to iOS 6.1 due to several reported issues.

Now Apple has pushed out iOS 6.1.2 for all compatible devices, fixing an issue with Microsoft Exchange servers that caused headaches for corporate network administrators, and also fixing another issue that reportedly caused battery drain.

What is more peculiar is what Apple has not fixed however; iOS 6.1.2 is still vulnerable to a flaw that lets a user easily bypass the lock screen and access some user data, so we guess that we have to wait for Apple to fix that now too.

iOS 6.1.2 is available OTA, or through iTunes, for all compatible devices now.

Chris Sutton

Microsoft begins migrating users away from Hotmail and towards Outlook

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Microsoft begins migrating users away from Hotmail and towards OutlookEarlier this week, Microsoft announced that its new web-based email service Outlook had moved out of beta.

The service will replace Hotmail/Live, and the company has begun migrating users away from its existing services.

Preview versions of Outlook.com went up six months ago and it appears that Microsoft has done sufficient testing.

Microsoft will look to steal users back from Google’s Gmail, and Microsoft’s director of product management Dharmesh Mehta says the transition will make Outlook one of the largest free email services in the world. “It’s a pretty massive bet we’ve made that Outlook.com is a great choice,” Mehta added.

All Hotmail settings, contacts and messages will make the transition and you can continue to use your existing email addresses.

Get started at Outlook.com now.

Chris Sutton

Google planning on launching retail stores

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Google planning on launching retail storesGoogle is in the process of launching retail stores in the U.S., following in the footsteps of rivals Apple and Microsoft.

The stores would showcase Google-branded hardware like the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 and potentially Chromebooks, as well.

Sources say there is no word on where or when the stores may launch, as the plans are not set in stone.

Apple has long used retail outlets to help sales of its iOS devices, giving would-be buyers a chance to test the devices before buying. Microsoft has begun expanding their retail presence recently thanks to the launch of the Surface and Windows Phone 8.

The sources also claim that Google would not promote Motorola at all in the stores, even though the company acquired Motorola Mobility in 2011. That move makes sense as any favoritism would be seen as an attack on its other Android partners, most notably Samsung.