The gaming console industry is about to experience another major revolution with the rumored arrival of the newest generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Sony is first on the line with the Sony PS4 scheduled to be announced on February 20 in New York while Microsoft is rumored to make public the arrival of the new Xbox by Q3 of 2013.

And as expected rumors and information leaks has spread over the internet like wildfire as the said date draws near. But what should we expect from these new generation of gaming consoles? In this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL, we’ve consolidated all information on the internet about these two machines to give us a heads up on what’s to come.

SONY PLAYSTATION 4

The new Sony PlayStation 4 will be announced tomorrow February 4, 2013 at Manhattan, New York. As for hardware specifications, it will be powered by AMD’s x86 processors and will pack a Radeon GPU with 18 GCN units. There’s probably 4-8GB of RAM of the GDDR5 variety and it has also been rumored to pack around 1.84 teraflops of overall computation power.

As for the controllers, rumors suggest that the PS4 controller will have the same shape and relatively the same dimensions of controllers from previous versions but will now have Vita-like touch sensitive surfaces replacing the usual analog sticks we’ve seen in the past. There are also rumors that it will also have remodeled shoulder buttons as well as an interactive touchscreen at the middle where the start and select button used to be.

Lastly, since the new console will use a new architecture, Sony hopes to solve the problem of backward compatibility with the use of streaming games over the internet. Yes, you heard it right. The PS4 is rumored to have the capability to stream games, specifically those developed for previous versions over the internet.

MICROSOFT XBOX 720

Microsoft on the other hand plans to release their next generation Xbox gaming console before Christmas of 2013, so we should expect its announcement by Q3 or early Q4 of this year. In contrast to the PlayStation 4, details about the Xbox 720 (assuming it will be called by that name) are still in murky waters.

There’s not much about the new console that is certain for now but according to rumors, the Xbox 720 will have relatively the same specs as its rival – the PlayStation 4 in terms of hardware specifications. Both consoles will be powered by AMD processors and will have powerful GPUs to support graphics intensive games.

As for the controller, rumors suggest that the Xbox 720 might still use a control pad but more emphasis will be given to its Kinect motion based controller technology which is not really that surprising as this technology offers a lot of promise and applications that Microsoft sees as a worthy investment for the future.

Reports also suggest that just like the PS4, the Xbox 720 will have a featured aimed at preventing the use of second hand games. This would mean that users won’t be able to trade in old titles anymore in order to raise funds to purchase new games. A related rumor also suggested that the new console would need an active internet connection in order to play games. This is to ensure that all games played will be tethered to a specific console profile making it hard for anyone to resell games.

Lastly, reports suggest that the Xbox 720 might not be called that way at all and that Microsoft is planning a different route in terms of the name of its new machine. Popular codenames include the Xbox Infinity and Xbox Loop.

What are your thoughts about the PS4 and the Xbox 720? Please do tell us by leaving a comment below. You can also find TFL on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus or subscribe to our blog for other Filipino lifestyle stories.

Hello everyone! Sorry if I missed out on last week’s episode of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. I was kind of busy with all the Christmas party preparations, exchange gifts and the likes. But now that I’m back,  we’ll be talking about a very timely topic that most of you might have already done with your Christmas bonuses and your 13^th month pay – SHOPPING.

According to a survey done by Google Philippines, a lot of Filipinos are now searching more for information about gadgets especially during the start of the holiday season. I believe it is primarily because the gadgets that we use today have come to a state so advance compared to previous decades that they are more intricately intertwined with our lives making them more and more of a necessity rather than a luxury. 

Moreover, our gadgets have evolved so far that they can now perform multiple functions in one package.

So if you’re planning to get yourself or get a loved one a new gadget this Christmas, it can easily become a pain when choosing which gadget would you buy and which would you likely to avoid. Well, despair no more, as today we will be talking about which gizmos are a match to your lifestyle and personality. If you’re all set, shall we begin?

Netbooks vs. Ultrabooks – the portable computer system is taking a major turn these past few years. As power and flexibility is crossing over into the mobile domain with the introduction of powerful devices with slim form factors, a trend is slowly becoming visible in terms of what the future of mobile computing will be. And that future is probably be the one ruled by ultrabooks.

As more and more PC manufacturers are developing machines that fit the ultrabook or slimbook profile, competition is slowly becoming stiffer by the minute. Ultrabook prices are slowly going down so if you’re really that excited to get one, I suggest waiting a bit more to let the prices stabilize. But if you’re really into saving a lot of money and you’re not that critical whether or not your laptop has an ivy bridge processor or a super slim profile, a netbook can be a good option for youl.

Black Berries – Research in Motions Black Berry smartphones have recently experienced a massive price drop. But don’t be fooled, because it might be that retailers are just emptying their BlackBerry shelves in order to give way to the new fleet of RIM devices coming in January 2013. These new devices will sport updated features that will most likely make current BB devices look old and out dated.

For hardcore BB enthusiasts, getting an upgrade or an extra berry today might not be the best idea and you’d be better off waiting for the L-series next year. But for those who just want a bare bones BlackBerry experience, getting a RIM device right now seems to be a right choice.

Gaming Consoles – Gaming consoles have also experienced a huge dip in retail prices this past few months. The Xbox 360 with Kinect now sells for around P14k which comes bundled with at least 3 games. The same goes for Sony’s PS3 which retails at almost identical price point. The Nintendo Wii on the other hand now retails for less than P10,000 for the base unit which makes it extremely affordable compared last year.

And with the exception of the Wii U, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are still the flagship gaming consoles for Microsoft and Sony respectively which ensures that you’ll still be getting the first serving of games from developers.

iPhone 5 – the iPhone 5 has made waves this year. It was one of the most anticipated devices to be announced and released this year just alongside the Google Nexus 4 and Microsoft’s Surface tablet. However, in my honest opinion, getting an iPhone 5 today may not be a smart move especially for fans of Apple out there.

This is because, in true Apple tradition, the announcement of a new generation device would mean the coming of a much faster and slightly improved “S” version the following year, which is what happened with the iPhone 3 and 3GS and the iPhone 4 and 4S. So if you’re really into the Apple iPhone craze, you might want to hold your horses until next year when Apple would release an iPhone 5S.

DSLRs and ILCs – Camera systems have recently enjoyed success and patronage among Filipinos. As more and more Pinoys are getting hooked to photography, camera manufacturers are improving their product line by adding more affordable yet equally powerful DSLR cameras. This, just like what happened with ultrabooks have pushed prices down and heightened the competition among different brands. That is why getting a full size DSLR would be a great idea for this holiday season as these camera systems are slowly becoming mainstream.

ILCs on the other hand are still quite expensive. They are also quite rare, with manufacturers only producing one to three models of interchangeable lens cameras in their entire product line. For now, their less bulky profile doesn’t trump over their high price tag, so it wouldn’t be advisable to get one now. Instead get a less pricey DSLR with the same specs of the ILC that you want.

Windows Phones – Another grey area when shopping for gadgets would be Windows phones. There are currently two types of Windows phones on sale right now – the legacy devices powered by Windows Phone 7+ and the newer Windows Phone 8 devices. And just like its direct competitor, Blackberries, Windows phones have two sides of the story.

On the one side, WP7 devices are now very affordable compared 12 months ago. Nokia’s Lumia phones, which include the Lumia 610, 800 and 900 are now all priced below the P20,000 price range, so for those looking for the Metro UI experience, getting the first generation of WP devices would be a really good bargain. The only catch is that Microsoft would have very little support for these devices in the future as they have already planned to push for WP8.

On the other hand, WP8 devices are still quite expensive and few. The only manufacturers which have a ready supply of Windows Phone 8 smartphones out in the market would be Nokia with their Lumia 920, 820 and the budget friend 620; and HTC with their 8X and 8S devices. However, owners of WP8 devices are ensured that they will be getting future updates in contrast to users of WP7+ platform.

So there you have it. I hope this post was able to help some of you who are still undecided on getting a new gadget this holiday season. If you have any comments, suggestions and reactions, please do share them with us by leaving a comment below. You can also reach us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterst and Google Plus or subscribe to our blog for the latest and freshest news, features and updates about Filipinos and their lifestyle.

Hello everyone. The tech world is once again buzzing with news tidbits, rumours and leakages especially now that the big three are preparing their respective events for this month to announce their latest goodies just in time for thanksgiving and of course cyber Monday. So in this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL, we’ll be talking about the big three – Apple, Microsoft and Google and the events that they will be hosting in the coming days.

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HOST: Apple

DATE: October 23, 2012

VENUE: California Theatre, San Jose, California

What to Expect: Apple’s event tomorrow will likely feature the announcement of either the 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display or the iPad mini which most people would probably expect. For several weeks now, numerous rumours and leaked images of parts and components of the alleged iPad mini has surfaced on the Internet which made the announcement of the device even more sensational.

Based on reports, the iPad mini will have a 7.85-inch screen, 3G and 4G cellular connectivity, at least 8GB of internal storage, a lightning connector, a battery rated at 4490mAh and will run iOS6. Prices are expected to start at $320.

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HOST: Microsoft

DATE: October 26, 2012

VENUE: New York City

What to Expect: Microsoft has sent out invites for its October 26 event in NYC where it will be officially announcing the launch of Windows 8 and probably Windows RT. The launch was already announced back in September by Microsoft’s Head of Windows Steven Sinofsky.

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HOST: Google

DATE: October 29, 2012

VENUE: New York City

What to Expect: Google is expected to announce the much anticipated next generation Nexus phone created by LG. Dubbed as the Nexus 4, the device is based on LG’s Optimus G and will feature a 4.75-inch IPS+ panel, a 1.5GHz quadcore processor – Qualcomm’s APQ8064 Snapdragon chip with at least 2GB of RAM. It will also most likely run on Android 4.2 which was first believed to be called Key Lime Pie.

Aside from the Nexus 4, Google is also expected to announce two new version of the Nexus 7, including the previously leaked 32GB version with 3G HSPA+.

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So are you excited with these events? If you are, then you’re definitely not alone. Which device are you most excited about? Tell us by leaving a comment below. You can also hit us up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus or better yet, subscribe to our blog for more Filipino Lifestyle stories.

Another week has passed and that means that it’s time again for another roundup of the latest tech news all around the globe. This week, we’ll be talking about a new partnership between a search engine and social media analytics site, and two companies who have suffered major losses in the past and are now trying to make up for lost opportunities.

If you’re still interested, then just read on and get to know the details.

Klout joins Bing

San Francisco-based social media analytics company Klout has joined forces with Bing combining the two companies’ data to bring people with more accurate social search results.

Bing is already incorporating social results into its search, mainly data from known social networks such as Facebook. With this new partnership, Bing will now add more value to its search result as Klout scores will be taken into account for search results and queries. Klout on the other hand will consider how often a person’s name is searched on Bing when coming up with that person’s influence score.

According to Microsoft, the effects of the partnership will be seen on Klout in the next few months while social ranking data will be incorporated into Bing search as soon as possible.

No more printers from Kodak

Last week, Kodak announced that it will no longer produce consumer printers in an attempt to streamline its operations. The company is already making efforts to reorganize its core ongoing businesses reduce costs and sell its assets.

Kodak was once known as a top leading company in the realm of photography, but due to its inability to cope with current trends have slowly fallen back in the consumer products race behind bigger brands like Sony and Samsung. According to Antonio Perez, Kodak’s chairman and CEO, the decision for the company to stop the production of consumer printer sales will substantially advance the transformation of the brand to focus on commercial, packaging and functional printing solutions and enterprise services.

Aside from its decision to exit the consumer printer business, Kodak has also employed several strategies which include selling its patents to other companies and even suing Apple and RIM over alleged patent violations. Furthermore, the company is said to be planning to lay off 4000 people this year.

Blackberry Laguna is bound for Verizon

The specs of the rumoured L6 device from RIM codenamed Laguna has been leaked on the internet a couple of days ago. According to the leaked spec sheet, the Laguna is bound for Verizon and will probably feature a 4.2-inch screen with a resolution of 1280x768 pixels at a pixel density of 355 pixels per inch.

It will also pack a dual-core Krait processor and 1GB of RAM packed reportedly in a Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset to compete head to head with current WP8 devices. Other rumoured features include LTE with GSM 2G and 3G roaming, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, mobile Wi-Fi hotspot and Wi-Fi direct, NFC, and micro HDMI port.

An 8MP camera has also been reported that can shoot 1080p videos. There’s 16GB of built-in storage with support for micro SD expansion. In terms of battery, the Laguna is expected to be powered by an 1800mAh battery.

So there you have it guys. Tune in again next week for more tech news and goodies from Tech Tuesdays on TFL. You can also follow The Filipino Lifestyle blog on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest, or subscribe to our blog for more Filipino lifestyle news and features. 

Hello Everyone! It’s Tuesday once again and it’s time again for our weekly roundup of tech news from around the globe. Last week, we talked about Apple’s new iPhone, iPod touch and iPod nano and the various features these three devices are bringing in into the market. But if you’re somehow drowning in news and features about these new Apple products, then this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays would probably give you a breath of fresh air.

To be specific, we’ll be talking about a new game for computers and mobile devices, an updated version of a very popular productivity suite and two new gaming consoles that will launch in a few months’ time. If you’re all set, let’s get the ball rollin’ shall we?

BAD PIGGIES

Rovio’s Angry Birds franchise has already enjoyed an amazing streak of success with its series of mobile games having been downloaded for over 1 billion times and having been revitalized several times with numerous updates and versions. But Rovio is now shifting the spotlight from the birds and now to the pigs – with Bad Piggies.

However, unlike the Angry Birds Games, Bad Piggies utilizes a different form of gameplay. If you’re wondering if you’re going to use a catapult of some sort to throw things or pigs to the birds, then you’re deeply mistaken. Instead, users will act as engineers, navigators and drivers for the pigs, as the game is focused on users creating a vehicle for the pigs for them to travel from point A to point B. The official trailer of the game is shown below.

Bad Piggies is scheduled for release on Thursday – September 27 for iOS, Android, PC and Mac.

MICROSOFT OFFICE 2013

Microsoft has finally unveiled the pricing for their 2013 Office productivity suite. There are two ways to purchase the applications suite. First would be to get the office suite through common retail channels just like its predecessor. Licensing terms will also follow the same rules as Office 2010. Having said this, users will only be able to install the software on one computer so users would need to buy separate licenses for them to install the program on more than one computer. Per-PC licensing starts at $140 and could go up to $400.

There’s also a subscription based versions of MS Office 2013. First is the Office 365 Home Premium which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Published, Access and Outlook. This version will cost around $100 per year for a household license that will allow users to install the software on up to a maximum of five PCs or Macs and on selected smartphones and tablets.

Users can also subscribe to the Office 365 Small Business Premium version package. Just like the Office Professional Plus 2010 which were sold traditionally through volume licensing programs. In this method, licenses are sold on a per-user basis, at $150 per user per year, with each subscriber getting the right to install the software on up to five machines and on select smartphones and tablets.

Aside from that, subscription packages allows users to get additional features such as cloud storage via Sky Drive, Skype minutes, SharePoint storage and hosted exchange to name a few.

Nintendo Wii U

Nintendo and Sony have announced that they will be releasing new consoles in the coming months. On one side, Nintendo has already made available for pre-order their recently launched Wii U. Meant to replace the Wii, the new console will sell for around $300 and will feature personal TV and video programming and recording through TiVo and other digital recording services.

The Wii U will also feature a “GamePad” that can act as a remote control, with its built-in touchscreen, which can either replicate or supplement the gameplay shown on the main display. The controller features an accelerometer, gyroscope, camera, dual analog sticks, a built-in microphone and can even support NFC.

If the game pad looks a little bit intimidating for you, a more familiar Wii U Pro Controller can be bought separately. Like most traditional game controllers, the Wii U Pro has standard control sticks, buttons and triggers.

Specs wise, Nintendo’s upcoming gaming console will be powered by an IBM Power7-based multi-core processor, a custom AMD Radeon High Definition GPGPU, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of on-board storage which can be expanded via SD memory cards or USB hard disk drives. It also has a slot-loading optical disc drive plus basic I/O ports like a sensor bar power output, AV Multi out port and a HDMI 1.4 out port to name a few.

The Nintendo Wii U is expected to go on sale on November for North America, November 30 in Europe and Australia, and Japan is set to follow on December.

So that’s a wrap for this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. Tune in again next week for more tech news from around the globe. You can also follow us on Twitter, be a fan on Facebook or subscribe to our RSS feeds to get even more updates not only about technology and gadgets but also other stories about Filipino lifestyle.

Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC has just welcomed two of the newest members of its Windows Phone family. Directly opposite the HTC One X and One S from the company’s Android lineup are the HTC Windows Phone 8X and 8S. The company has been in the fore front of the Windows Phone race with the company representing over half of all the WP7 phones in the past two years or so.

And even though Microsoft is now favoring Nokia over other manufacturers when it comes to the use and development of the Windows Phone operating system, HTC hopes to still retain its fan base with the arrival of the 8X and the 8S. And with the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820, the stakes are now even higher for HTC to attract more consumers to buy their handsets. But are the features 8X and 8S enough to win over Windows Phone fans from Nokia’s camp or even Android and Apple fans?

Here’s a quick overview of the features and design of the two WP8 devices from HTC.

HTC WINDOWS PHONE 8S

The 8S is the WP8 equivalent of the HTC One S Android smartphone. The phone has a two-toned body around 10.3mm thin with a 4.0-inch S-LCD capacitive display protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass. It has an internal memory of 4GB and 512MB of RAM.

It has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and v2.1 Bluetooth. The 8S is powered by dual-core 1GHz Krait processor on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset. The S-LCD screen is able to produce around 16M colors with a pixel density of 233 pixels per inch. The phone has a rear facing camera able to capture images at 5MP resolution and video at 720pixels at a rate of 30 frames per second. The camera is equipped with autofocus functionality, geo-tagging, touch focus and face detection plus a LED flash for taking pictures in low light conditions.

Furthermore, the phone has an Adreno 225 dedicated graphics processor, an accelerometer and a proximity sensor.  It also has A-GPS support and GLONASS as well has HTML5 native support for browsing. Just like the iPhone and the Lumias, the 8S will support MicroSIM cards only.

The device will be powered by 1700mAh Li-ion battery and will come in a variety of colors including: domino, fiesta red, atlantic blue and high-rise gray. HTC has also brought the Beats audio sound enhancement feature on board the WP8 phones so no more Beats-envy for WP8 users. J

HTC WINDOWS PHONE 8X

Just like the 8S is for the One S, the 8X is of course the WP8 counterpart of the HTC One X. Unlike the 8S, the 8X has a unibody design and has a thinner profile at 10.1mm and a larger screen at 4.3 inches. This phone also has a higher screen resolution set at 720x1280 pixels compared to the 480x800 pixel resolution of the 8S.

It also has an improved GPU, an Adreno 225 to be specific. And on top of that, it features an 8MP camera with autofocus, geo-tagging, touch focus and can capture video at 1080p at 30 frames per second with continuous focus. The front facing camera has a resolution of 2.1 megapixels.  The 8X also has NFC capabilities and a beefed up 16GB of internal memory and 1GB of RAM on a Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon processor.

For the similarities, this phone also feature the same Beats Audio sound enhancement feature that improves bass and treble for audio files. It offers the same support for Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and v2.1 Bluetooth with A2DP, EDR. A-GPS support and GLONASS are also available in the 8X as well as a built in accelerometer, proximity sensor and compass.

The phone also supports MicroSIM cards only. The display is also protected by Gorilla glass from Corning and the processor is a 1.5 GHz Krait with two cores. The phone’s browser also supports HTML5 just like in the 8S. In terms of colors, the device will come in California blue, graphite black, flame red and limelight yellow.

So what do you think of the two WP8 phones from HTC? Do you think they can win Windows Phone fans and other smartphone users to make the switch? Your guesses are as good as mine. For now, only time can tell if these two phones will be a hit to smartphone users.

Hello everyone! The month of September has already arrived; and with all the events that the major IT companies are lining up that will probably start next week, the next few days can certainly be considered as the calm before the storm.

So what actually are we expecting this month of September from the tech industry? Here’s a quick roundup of what new products and technology might come in the very near future.

For starters, the second generation of Amazon’s Kindle Fire is rumoured to be released this month. According to previous reports, the Kindle Fire 2 will come in either a 7-inch or a 10-inch variant and will most likely pack quad-core Tegra processors. Of course, the new Kindle Fire will run on a skinned version of Google’s Android mobile operating system. The tablet’s specs sheet will most probably put it below the $200 price range in the direct line of fire with Google’s own Nexus 7 tablet.  

Microsoft on the other hand is prepping their camp for the launch of their newly revamped mobile operating system – Windows Phone 8. Microsoft has actually built some momentum last week when Samsung announced its ATIV, and the rest of the crew – Nokia and HTC are sure to follow.

And last but not the least, the most highly anticipated event of the year is centred on the new generation of the iPhone. The announcement is scheduled on September 12 and will mark the end of all rumours regarding the device. A release date has already been set on September 21 just 9 days after the event.

And that concludes this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. Tune in again next time for your weekly dose of tech news. You can also add us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for other interesting stories about Filipino living. 

Hi there everyone. We’re here again for another episode of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. On this episode we’ll be talking about the newest player in the smart camera race, a company’s new logo after a quarter of a century and the verdict to one of history’s most controversial lawsuits.

CAMERA

Nikon has just released its S800c smart camera powered by Google’s Android mobile operating system. The camera features a 16MP BSI CMOS sensor, 25-250mm equivalent F3.2-5.8 lens, a 3.5-inch WVGA OLED touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 2GB of internal memory, up to 8fps continuous shooting, 1080p video and Android v2.3 (Gingerbread).

At the moment, the only app Nikon offers for the camera is its “My Picture Town” app for uploading images to its cloud storage service. It’s still a question whether the camera would take advantage of existing camera apps available on Google play like Instagram and Hipstamatic, of course only time will tell.

LOGO

Microsoft has unveiled its new company logo. After twenty five years, the company has finally decided to make that change and it’s just in time for the release of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 in the coming weeks.

The design of the new logo is not that of a radical departure from the logo that Microsoft has been using for the past 25 years. The logo still features the same four coloured boxes without the wavy shape. It still retains the same four colours – red, green, yellow and blue.

The logo is already in use at Microsoft’s website as well in three retails stores in Boston, Seattle and Washington.

VERDICT

The most controversial tech news of past weeks would probably be the lawsuit that involves two major companies. Apple and Samsung’s patent war has finally received a verdict, with the decision in favour of the Cupertino Company.

A nine-person jury came to a unanimous decision on August 24 saying that Samsung did infringe several Apple-patented features. In relation to his, the court is awarding Apple approximately $1.05 billion in damages. Conversely, Apple’s stock skyrocketed a few hours after the verdict. Stock prices rose at around 1.8% (around $12) closing at $663.22 per share.

But in true corporate lawsuit fashion, Samsung is planning to appeal the decision not only in the US but in other courts and tribunals around the world. In the coming weeks, the two companies will have to decide on what actions to take regarding the decision of the court. But it’s almost inevitable that Apple will ask the court to ban sales of several devices from Samsung’s past and present line up including the Galaxy S, Galaxy S2, Nexus S, Mesmerize, Vibrant, Skyrocket, Continuum, Prevail and Infuse among others.

And that concludes this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. Stay tuned next week for more news and updates from the world of gadgets and technology. You can also follow us on Twitter or be fan on Facebook for other Filipino lifestyle features.

Hello everyone, it’s Tuesday once again and it’s time for another weekly roundup of the latest news and features about gadgets and technology from around the globe. In this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL, we’ll be talking about another hacker attack on a popular cloud service and two redesigns of web old timers.

Dropped Box gets Hacked

A bomb gets dropped into popular cloud service Drop Box as the company confirmed that usernames and passwords from their system were apparently stolen. According to their investigation, the stolen account information from other websites who were previously attacked (like Linkedin, Last.fm, etc) was the source of the leak.

Fortunately, after a number of their users started emailing Drop Box about them receiving spam emails in email addresses that were used only for Drop Box, the company has already taken measures to mitigate the security breach. Furthermore, the company has added improvements to the way they handle user’s sensitive information, such as two-factor authentication, a new page to enable users to examine all active logins to their account and in some cases, even requiring some users to change their passwords.

Goodbye Hotmail, Hello Outlook

Microsoft’s free web-based email service has just been revamped and rebranded last week. The once cluttered interface of Hotmail is now replaced with a clean and minimalist look that’s in line with the design features of Windows 8. The service will now take on the name of Outlook which is also the name of the email client found on Windows OS.

In addition, Outlook.com will now have integration with social media sites. Ads will also be minimized and will become more targeted just like Gmail. According to reports, almost one million people has signed up just 6 hours after the service went live. You can already sign up for an account through this link, and if you’re a Hotmail user, just select “Upgrade to Outlook” under settings.

Digg is Dug from its Grave

Social news website Digg has been revived just 6 weeks after it closes due to a decline in popularity and visitors over the years. According to its new owners Betaworks and new CEO John Borthwick, Digg’s old platform was too expensive to run, and hence, they wanted to build the new site from the ground up.

And to make this possible they made Digg V4 to go back in startup mode and develop a completely new and modern platform in which the site will build on. The site’s voting algorithms were also taken out. Users will still be able to use their Facebook-based accounts on Digg V4 and they will still be able to retrieve most of the data that they’ve put into the site in the past.

Aside from Facebook, the new algorithms will now look at signals from Twitter. Moreover, the new site has close integration with the iPhone app enabling iPhone users to save a story and read it straight from their phones. The new Digg 4 also stresses that they plan to take the site mainstream but will likely to continue to be biased towards science and technology news.

And that’s a wrap for this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. Tune in again next week for your weekly dose of news and updates from the tech industry. You can also follow our Twitter and Facebook profiles for even more likeable stories.

It’s another Tuesday and that would only mean that there’s a new episode of Tech Tuesdays on TFL! Last week, we talked about the gaming console Ouya, the security breach that happened on Yahoo! and Formspring and an Nvidia event.

In this week’s episode, the news is all about three big IT companies and the different events that transpired within the past 7 days that are related to them. First on the list is Google.

GOOGLE

American search engine giant recently acquired Sparrow. For those who don’t know, Sparrow is an email client for Mac OS X and iOS that offers an intuitive and streamline user experience to Apple consumers. Originally meant as a minor project, Sparrow went on sale in the Mac App Store on February 9, 2011 and immediately became the top grossing paid app in less than one day.

On July 20, 2012, Dom Leca, Sparrow’s CEO, announced in the company’s website that they will be heading to Google to work with the Gmail team. She also said that even though they are going to help Google with Gmail, Sparrow will continue to offer and provide support to their existing customers from Apple devices.

Google hopes that through the acquisition of Sparrow, their Gmail app can be improved in iOS and Mac and possible improve it further on the PC and on Android. Unfortunately for Apple device users, the acquisition means that development of the app for iOS and Mac will eventually stop to make way for projects from Google.

YAHOO!

After the disastrous hacker attack last week on Yahoo! voices, the Sunnyvale, California-based internet company has got itself a new CEO – former Google executive Marissa Mayer.

Mayer will be at the helm of the internet company as it tries to bounce back from financial problems and internal turmoil brought about by thousands of lay-offs and failed attempts of the past four CEOs of the company.

According to a document from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, 37 year old Mayer will be paid by Yahoo at an annual base rate of $1,000,000. She will also be eligible for an annual bonus under the Company’s executive incentive plan which will be at 200% of her base salary.

Furthermore, she will also be given $12 million worth of stocks (in grants and options) over the next three years and $14 million worth of restricted stocks to compensate for the money she would have gotten if she stayed with Google.  And on top of that, Yahoo will also give her an extra $30 million if she stays with the company for five years.

Not bad right, especially since she’s expecting a baby boy by October this year.

MICROSOFT

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, raised the curtains on the company’s latest update to its very popular suite of office applications – Microsoft Office.

Microsoft Office 2013 or MS Office 15, according to Ballmer will deliver unparalleled productivity and flexibility for both consumers and business customers.  The new suite, will sport the new Metro look and will be seamlessly integrated with the user interface of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft. It will also be touch-friendly, with support for tap to select and pinch-to-zoom functionality.

Also, it will reportedly be heavily dependent on Microsoft’s cloud service, with documents being saved by default to the cloud, allowing users access to content while on the go by using other devices like tablets and smartphones.

Office 15 will be shipped together with ARM-based windows 8 devices, which is scheduled to be released by October 2012. It will also be available as a stand-alone product, with pricing and availability to be announced.

And just like Windows 8, Office 15 is already available for download as a consumer preview via Microsoft’s website.

And that’s the latest updates on the tech world for this edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. Tune in again next week for your weekly dose of news, features and events in the tech industry. Also, please follow us on twitter and be a fan on Facebook. Thanks!

It’s Tuesday once again and it’s time for another episode of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. This week, we’ll be talking about the newest and possibly be the game changer in the tablet market, news about the release of the much awaited update to two very promising mobile operating systems and the technical problems that were recently encountered by a very popular social networking site.

So, let’s begin.

OUTAGE

Popular social media network Twitter suffered a major outage last week as the site intermittently went down for around three hours.  Rumours immediately spread the following day that the outage might have been caused by hacker attacks, but Twitter’s VP of engineering, Mazen Rawashdeh wrote in a blog post that the outage was not caused by hacker attacks but rather a “cascading” bug that affected the site’s system.

Apparently, the bug that caused the outage wasn’t confined to a particular software element in the site’s system but instead cascades itself into other elements of the site, thereby affecting users worldwide. Rawashdeh said that Twitter is already taking measures to fix all the problems that the bug has caused and that they are doing everything in their power to help prevent these things from happening in the future.

UPDATES

Two important news updates were revealed last week as Microsoft announced the upcoming release of Windows Phone 8 while leaked information of Google’s new Android version was seen on the company’s own Play Store.

Microsoft has already given some clues of the release of their brand new mobile operating system when they announced to the members of the media the release of Windows Phone 8 also known as “Apollo” around two weeks ago. There were also confirmations that the new breed of Windows Phone devices will be using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Plus processors.

Aside from the multi-core Snapdragon processors, other features of the new OS include: support for higher resolution screens, NFC (Near Field Communication) and an improved user interface, specifically the home screen. This was made possible because of Microsoft redesigning the platform from the ground up.

Unfortunately, this total makeover means that Windows Phone 8 will not be available to legacy devices which pretty much (urghh) means all the WP devices currently in the market. Instead, selected models will just be updated to Windows Phone 7.8, while the rest will just have to settle with Windows Phone 7.5.

Google on the other hand is posed to announce Android 4.1 AKA Jelly Bean when they let a bit of information slip a little via the Play Store. The info leak is seen when purchasing a Galaxy Nexus on the Play Store. Once the purchased Galaxy Nexus is checked out, a short descriptive snippet is displayed saying that the Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ will soon be the first phone with “Android 4.1 Jell…”

Magnifying the image in the checkout page will also reveal a new background and a new frosted search widget which are good indicators that the phone will indeed have the new OS. It also somehow confirms news about Google launching a Nexus Tablet at I/O with Jelly Bean, in contrast to their tradition of releasing a new phone for a new OS.

RELEASE

Microsoft has indeed been very busy these past few weeks. Not only did they announce the newest version of Windows Phone last week, but they also launched their newest tablet to compete with the iPad and other android tablets in the market.

The Microsoft Surface is the first of its kind, being a tablet and a full-fledged PC at the same time as it will be running Windows 8 operating system. There will be two variants of the tablet in terms of OS versions; one will be running Windows 8 RT while the other one will have the Windows 8 Pro version.

The tablet is around 9.3mm (RT Version) and 13.5mm (Pro version) thick and will sport a 10.6-inch screen protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass. Both versions will also have two USB ports, a Micro SD port for the RT version and a Micro SDXC for the Pro version.

The Surface also has a kick built in kick stand at its back to help users in holding up the tablet especially when typing or viewing videos. A Touch cover can also be used with the tablet and protects the screen, much like Apple’s smart covers. However, the Surface’s touch covers also double as a fully functional keyboard with a built-in track pad. A stylus is also available for the Pro version and attaches to the side of the Surface for easy storage.

Memory-wise, the RT version will come in 32GB and 64GB variants while the Pro version will be available in 64GB and 128GB sizes. Both versions will have 2x2 MIMO antennae. A Micro HD Video port will be available for the RT version while a Mini Display Port Video will be available for the Pro version.

Prices have not been announced yet, but experts are thinking that the tablet may retail for about $599 or more once it becomes available to retailers.

And that’s just about it for this week’s episode of Tech Tuesdays. Tune in again next week, for the latest technology and gadgets news from around the globe. Again, if you have any comments, suggestions and reactions, please do leave them using the comment box below.

Till Next time!

The tech world is such an ever dynamic place and each day is filled with new technology and new stories that can greatly affect how we live our lives. And since technology is very much intertwined with our lives and our lifestyle, it’s very important that we keep up-to-date with the latest trends, news and innovations about the tech industry.

For this reason, I have decided to put up a special section in our blog that will feature technology news and trends that are most relevant to the common Pinoy. And today marks its first episode! So if you’re ready, let’s begin.

A New Screen: A YouTube video has recently received a lot of attention from the tech savvy community. The video shows a new tactile display that has buttons that rise out of the screen when needed. According to its creators – Tactus Tech, the protruding buttons are made possible with the use of microfluidic technology. It’s a special layer of fluid within the display stack that is activated by pressure causing the protrusion of buttons when needed.

At present, Tactus tech is currently planning to partner with device and component manufacturers to integrate the tactile layer into next-generation devices of mobile phones, tablets and other devices that makes use of touch screens.

Breach: Probably the most important news in the past two weeks was about LinkedIn. The password theft that happened last week shocked the entire LinkedIn community. Around 6.5 million passwords were apparently dumped in a Russian hacker forum, compromising the social networking site’s reputation.

And although passwords were the only ones that the hackers took from the site, experts say that these passwords can be reverse engineered to decrypt other sources of information. During the past few days, LinkedIn has been bombarded by criticisms on how they protect data from their members. And although it still hasn’t affected the performance of their stocks in the market, the world has yet to know the full story and full extent of the damage as the company is mum on the details of the breach.

A New Breed of Asha: It seems Nokia hasn’t given up on Symbian yet. They recently released three new Asha models. The Nokia 311, 306 and 305 will all pack touch screens and as the conventional naming convention suggests, the higher the number will mean that the device will have the higher specs. Prices for the new Asha models will start at 68 euros and will sport the usual set of multimedia and connectivity options like Bluetooth, WLAN (for 311 and 306), 3.5mm audio jack and accelerometer.

Event: One of the most talked about event from last week was Asia’s premier technology and consumer electronics trade show – Computex. Now in its 32^nd year, Computex is now attended by over 120,000 global participants from IT corporations, analyst firms and media outlets, and showcases not only the latest gadgets and technology in the market but also the future of consumer electronics headed to Asia.

This year, the event’s stars were Intel and Microsoft. Intel has created some buzz a few weeks back when they announced the release of their Ivy Bridge processors to the public. And lo and behold, those Ivy Bridge processors were everywhere. Microsoft on the other hand made some noise a few days before Computex when they announced the release preview of Windows 8. In fact Windows 8 was featured in several devices at the event such as the dual display laptop/tablet Asus Taichi, the Acer 5600U and 7600U all-in-one PCs, the MSI slider S20 as well as new versions of Ultrabooks such as the Acer Aspire S7.

And that’s just about it for this episode of Tech Tuesdays. Until next week!

If you have any comments and suggestions, please do leave a message in the comment box below. Thanks!