TechRadar: Software news

Firefox to get Metro app for Windows 8

Chris Smith — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:16:00 GMT

Mozilla has revealed its plans to launch a version of its Firefox browser for the Windows 8 Metro interface.

The announcement was made as part of the company's roadmap for 2012 and says an Alpha release will be made in the second half of 2012.

The Firefox for Windows 8 Metro browser will be built using the Gecko API and will be reimagined to suit the touch sensitive controls and will also boast full-screen capabilities.

Familiar features like the Awesomebar, an app bar and navigation controls will be present, but it appears it will be pared down somewhat compared to recent versions of the desktop browser.

Connected to the Metro environment

A post on the Mozilla roadmap page says: "The feature goal here is a new Gecko based browser built for and integrated with the Metro environment.

"Firefox on Metro, like all other Metro apps will be full screen, focused on touch interactions, and connected to the rest of the Metro environment through Windows 8 contracts.

"Firefox will have to support three "snap" states -- full screen, 1/6th screen and 5/6th screen depending on how the user "docks" two full screen apps. Our UI will need to adjust to show the most relevant content for each size.

"In order to provide users with access to other content, other apps, and to Firefox from other content and apps, we'll need integration with the share contract, the search contract, the settings contract, the app to app picking contract, the print contract, the play to contract, and possibly a couple more. We'll be a source for some, a target for some, and both for some.

"We may want to offer a live tile with user-centric data like friends presence or other Firefox Home information updates."

Getting in early with a solid Windows 8 Metro app could offer Mozilla a way out of its recent slump, which has seen a rapidly declining share in market share after being overtaken by Google Chrome.

Microsoft defends the Windows desktop

Patrick Goss — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:01:00 GMT

Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky has defended the Windows desktop, as the company looks ahead to a vital year for the grand old Operating System.

Speaking to TechRadar last week, Sinofsky outlined one of the key new Windows changes: the transition to work on ARM chips.

Windows on ARM (WOA) is a huge departure for Microsoft – it has previously focused on Intel's x86 platform – but the transition to new chips will not see a move away from the now familiar Windows desktop.

Touchtop?

In a blog post, Sinofsky outlined just why the Windows desktop would not be sacrificed any time soon, insisting that it was a compromise too far as touchscreen devices become widespread.

"Some have suggested we might remove the desktop from WOA in an effort to be pure, to break from the past, or to be more simplistic or expeditious in our approach," he blogged.

"To us, giving up something useful that has little cost to customers was a compromise that we didn't want to see in the evolution of PCs.

"The presence of different models is part of every platform. Whether it is to support a transition to a future programming model, to support different programming models on one platform, or to support different ways of working, the presence of multiple models represents a flexible solution that provides a true no-compromise experience on any platform."

brightcove : 1199351091001

Considering the considerable interest in Windows tablets there is clearly still a desire for a desktop, and Microsoft is aware that familiar user interfaces are as much about serving up what a consumer expects as clinging on to the past.

TechRadar's hands on: Windows 8 review discusses the difficulties in balancing a traditional desktop and the touch-friendly modern Metro UI that runs over the top of it.

And even if that transition is still a little clumsy, it seems that ditching the desktop would be a step too far for many - including the team at Microsoft.

Tutorial: The beginner's guide to Linux Mint

Jonathan Roberts — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT

The beginner's guide to Linux Mint

Linux Mint has just released its latversion, Mint 12, and has now become the last of the big three distributions to switch to a radically new desktop interface.

We found that it's an impressive compromise between Gnome Shell's new fangled way of doing things and the more traditional desktops of the past.

If you're intrigued by this and want to investigate for yourself, get a copy of Linux Mint 12, this guide, and see what you can do with the new Mint.

We'll begin by taking a quick tour of the default interface, and then move on to cover how you can customise it. We'll also take a look at Mint's package manager so that you know how to add and remove applications.

Choosing your desktop

Before we even begin to examine the new desktop, however, let's start by taking a look at Mint's new login screen. This screen is quite different to past Mint releases, since, along with Ubuntu, they've switched away from Gnome's default login manager to the more customisable LightDM.

At the top-right of the screen, you can find some basic controls, including some (limited) accessibility options, volume control and the option to power-off the computer. The centre-left of the screen is where you log in.

By default, one user or another will be highlighted by a grey box, with a password entry field at the ready. Other users and guest sessions can be selected by clicking on their name above or below this.

The most important thing to know about this new login screen is that you can use it to select which desktop you want to use. So, if you decide that you don't like Mint's new desktop, you can use it to switch to Mate, its port of Gnome 2, which faithfully recreates past Mint desktops.

If you want to install something entirely different, such as KDE or Xfce, you'll also be able to select those from the login screen. To do this, select your username from the list and then, before typing your password and pressing enter, click the small cog in the top right of the box.

From this menu, you can select between all available desktops. Whichever desktop you choose will remain the default until you change it again.

Meet the Shell

Now that you're familiar with the login screen, let's take a look at Mint 12's default interface. Make sure you've selected Gnome as the desktop to use and then enter your password and log in.

The first thing to note is that, unlike past Mint releases, there are two panels on the desktop – one at the top and another at the bottom. Looking at the top panel from left to right, there's:

The infinity icon, which launches the Overview mode – more on this later.

The system tray, where applications can store alerts or quick access controls.

The indicator area, where you can control the volume and select which network you want to connect to.

The clock applet, which expands to a calender when clicked.

The status menu, which lets you log out, shutdown, control your availability in chat and access system settings.

All of this, with the exception of the infinity icon, should be fairly self-explanatory.

Clicking on any of the icons to the right-hand side brings up further information and options for you to change. Clicking on the speaker icon, for instance, will allow you to adjust the volume of your computer's speakers and access the sound settings.

Of these icons, the Status menu provides the most comprehensive set of options. The only one of these that requires explanation is Notifications.

When you insert a DVD, or someone contacts you via instant messenger, Gnome Shell will usually alert you by raising a black rectangle at the bottom of the screen. These notifications are useful since they allow you to take further actions in response to the alert, but if you want to focus without any distractions they can also be annoying.

The designers of Gnome Shell recognised this, so put the Notifications option in the Status menu. This way, you can turn off all notifications when you don't want to be disturbed. Just remember to turn them on again later.

The bottom panel

Almost everything in the top panel is standard Gnome Shell; the bottom panel is all Linux Mint's doing. On the left-hand side of the bottom panel is a menu for launching applications, the spiritual successor to the Mint menu.

This menu is split in to three main columns. The left most one shows your favourite applications, which can be set in the Overview mode; the middle one shows categories of applications to make browsing easier; and the right most one shows the applications within those categories.

If you prefer a keyboard to a mouse, you can use the Search bar at the top to quickly find the application you're looking for by typing its name.

Next to the menu is the show desktop icon, which will minimise all your open windows. Next to this is the window list. If you have no windows open, it will look like a big, empty space; otherwise, it will be filled with buttons representing your open and minimised windows – it works just like the window list in Gnome 2 did.

At the other end of this panel are the desktop switcher and Mint's new notification toggle. By default, Gnome Shell creates only a single desktop, but automatically adds a second as soon as you open any applications and so on; if you remove all applications from a desktop, Gnome Shell will then remove it. Mint's switcher will immediately mirror Gnome Shell's changes to the number of desktops.

The notification icon is a clever addition. By default, after you dismiss Gnome Shell notifications without doing anything, they disappear in to a small black bar at the bottom of the screen. You would ordinarilly raise this by moving your mouse to the bottom right-hand corner, but with the new taskbar, you would often accidentally cause it to appear and interfere with what you were trying to do.

Instead, Mint has made it so that you need to click this exclamation mark to get access to the notifications.

The beginner's guide to Linux Mint

Overview mode

Phew! Our tour is nearing its end. The final thing we need to show you is the Overview mode.

Although Mint hasn't made any changes to the Overview mode, which is a key component of standard Gnome Shell, if you've never used it you'll be grateful for a quick introduction.

To access the Overview mode, you need to click the infinity icon in the top panel, or quickly through your mouse in the top-right corner; you can also use the Windows key to access it. As soon as you do this, you'll see the desktop turn grey and some new elements overlaid on it.

The large space in the centre of this screen has two functions. By default, it will display thumbnails of all your open windows. This is a convenient way to find that window you know is somewhere amongst all the clutter, but keeps evading you.

It can also be used as an application launcher, however, by clicking the Applications button above it. You can then browse applications by scrolling through the icons with your mouse. You can narrow the selection by choosing one of the categories to the right, or by typing its name or function with your keyboard.

To the right of the Overview mode is the Favourites bar. This is exactly the same as what's in the Mint menu, only from here you can adjust its contents. Right-clicking on any of the icons will give you the opportunity to remove it from the Favourites bar. To add anything to it, switch to the Applications view and then drag the application you want on to the Favourites bar.

Oddly, this Favourites bar also doubles as a dock and stores the icons of open applications as well – something the Mint menu doesn't do.

Finally, there's also a desktop switcher built in to the Overview mode. It's hidden by default, but if you move your mouse to the far right of the screen while in the Windows mode, it will appear. You can use this to drag open windows between desktops, and to switch to different desktops.

Now that you know where everything is by default, let's take a look at how you can customise it to your liking, beginning with extensions.

Installing new extensions

The Gnome team are trying to encourage the creation of an entire ecosystem of extensions for users of the Shell to enjoy. As a user of Linux Mint 12, you'll be able to install and enjoy these as developers create them.

Installation used to be a bit tricky. It involved either downloading a file archive and unzipping it to a specific directory in your home folder, or using Gnome Tweak Tool to automate some of this process. In the past month, however, the Gnome team has launched a new website, extensions.gnome.org, that lets you easily browse and install new extensions directly from within your web browser.

To install extensions using this website, launch Firefox and visit extensions.gnome.org. Once there, you can browse through the extensions displayed.

After spotting one you like the sound off, click its name. This will take you to that extension's information page, at the top of which will be an on-off toggle button. Toggling this to on will then install the extension; toggling it back to off will remove it.

We think that the Pomodoro timer extension is a great way to avoid procrastination, and the Window Navigator extension makes the window section of the Overview mode much more convenient.

Theming Gnome Shell

Most people aren't content with tweaking the way their desktop works; lots of us also want to customise the way it looks. It's not yet as easy to install new themes as it is extensions, but there are plenty of nice themes for the Shell that you can install with a bit of effort.

The first thing to do is download some new themes for the Shell. We've discovered that a great place to find them is gnome-shell.deviantart.com, so go ahead and browse their selection of shell themes and then choose one to download as a zip file. We like Faience.

Once it's downloaded and saved in your Downloads folder, open up Gnome Tweak Tool. This is available on the Favourites bar as the square icon with cogs inside – it will display Advanced Settings when you click it.

After it has launched, click the Theme entry on the left-hand side, and then click the box that says (None) next to Shell Theme. In the file browser that opens, head to the zip file of the theme you downloaded, and then select and open it. This will install the theme, and you can then select it in the drop-down menu next to (None). And that's all there is to it.

In this tutorial, we've focused on Mint's implementation of Gnome Shell, but as we've alluded to through our references to Mate and the default applications, there's a lot more to Mint than just this desktop.

Be sure to investigate the Linux Mint website and forums, where you can find lots of other avenues for exploration, including different desktops (KDE, Xfce and LXDE are all supported) and even different base distributions (the rolling release Debian edition is particularly interesting).

Most importantly, experiment and have fun.

Explained: BrowserID: what it is and why you should care

Marco Fioretti — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

BrowserID: what it is and why you should care

BrowserID is a method, presented in July 2011, to use email addresses to prove an identity and sign in to a website quickly and safely.

The system was developed by Mozilla Labs.

It's designed to be easier and faster than the esisting method of a site sending you an email and you clicking a link to verify your true identity.

So why is it important and how will it work? We decided to find out.

Q. How would it work in practice?

A. In order to log in on a website that supports BrowserID, you would only have to click on a Sign In button and then select from a menu what email address you want to use. Your browser and the website would take care of everything else.

Q. What about logging in via Facebook, Twitter or Google? That would be even faster and simpler, wouldn't it?

A. Yes, when you're browsing while logged in to any of those portals, you don't have to do anything, since any website connected with them will immediately know who you are. And that's the problem. Outsourcing these tasks to giant private providers creates lots of lock-in and privacy protection issues.

Q. That's surely true, but wait a second! Wasn't OpenID supposed to provide (more or less) the same service?

A. Indeed it was. In practice, it looks as if OpenID failed to reach critical mass for several reasons. Probably the biggest one was the need to temporarily go to another website to gain access to the one you wanted to visit.

Unless someone really understands the value of reliable online authentication services (and cares about it) that's much more cumbersome than just telling a browser to remember all passwords, or click on the Remember Me boxes provided by most log-in web forms. BrowserID tries to provide the same level of security and trust as OpenID, but in a much more transparent way.

Q. Tell me more about privacy protection in BrowserID, please.

A. First of all, unlike other sign-in systems, BrowserID does not force the user to share or transmit online personal, sensitive data, such as date of birth. In addition to this, BrowserID is designed not to pass to any server data about which web pages you visit.

Q. Why is BrowserID based on email addresses?

A. First of all, because everybody using the web on a regular basis already has at least one email address and knows it's already used as an identity and authorisation token. Next, because email addresses are not controlled or controllable by any single organisation.

Finally, because practically all websites that require their users to log in already store their email addresses to handle direct communications, password reset requests and other services: therefore, BrowserID gives them a better way to use for authentication some user data that they have already.

Q. Would BrowserID prevent me from using my favourite nicknames on those websites?

A. Not at all. The email address is used only for the initial authentication. BrowserID doesn't limit in any way how a website lets you configure your local account.

Q. Could I have multiple BrowserID identities then?

A. Of course. The only requirement is that each of them is associated with a different email address.

Q. What about other applications, such as chat clients? Could I use BrowserID with them too, or is it a browser-only thing?

A. Yes you could, as long as those programs implement the protocol, and provide their users with an interface to log in to their identity provider to get the keys. These may then be stored in Kwallet or any other desktop-based password manager.

Q. Sorry, what protocol and keys? Is BrowserID based on some sort of proprietary technology?

A. No. Technically speaking, BrowserID is an application of the Verified Email Protocol; a decentralised authentication system based on public/private key cryptography, through which users can prove to a website that they own an email address.

Q. Does BrowserID work on all browsers?

A. BrowserID can work on every modern browser, including mobile ones. The only requirement is that those browsers be compatible with the BrowserID JavaScript API. This said, even if you were forced to use a noncompliant browser, it would still be possible to use an equivalent web-based service.

Q. What should I do to start using BrowserID?

A. You should log in the old way to the website of your identity provider. That server will then tell your browser, through a JavaScript API, to generate a public/private pair of cryptographic keys.

Right after that, the browser will send the public key to the identity provider and get back a signed identity certificate. The browser will then store the private key and certificate as it would do with traditional passwords.

Q. What would happen next, when I visit a BrowserID-compliant website?

A. That website will tell your browser to run a JavaScript function that asks you if you want to log in and with which identity – that is email address.

Q. And when I accept...

A. The browser will send to the website the identity certificate, signed with the private key. At that point, the website will download your public key from your identity provider and verify that the signature is authentic.

Q. And that's how I'll prove to that website that I really am who I say I am?

A. Yes… and no. What this procedure provides is a third-party confirmation (unlike what happens with cookies!) that the authentication request comes from a browser that has the secret key associated to the provided email address. Which means that…

Q. I should never let other people use my browser!

A. That's absolutely true. However, that's the same risk you already face with every other authentication system that doesn't force you to enter a password every time, isn't it?

Q. I suppose that's true, but this also means I won't be able to authenticate from other browsers, right?

A. It depends. That's really up to you. In and by itself, BrowserID does allow you to have one certificate for each computer or smartphone you use, including borrowed or public ones such as internet kiosks. Of course, in those cases you would have to delete the private key and certificate as soon as you're done!

Q. Let's go back to identity providers. You keep mentioning them – who are they?

A. In the simplest and most natural scenario, your BrowserID identity provider would be your email provider.

Q. What if it doesn't support the system?

A. You could still use, without problems, a trusted, secondary identity provider that offers the same services. The Mozilla Foundation, for example, has set up a website called BrowserID.org for this very purpose, in order to speed up testing and adoption of BrowserID.

Q. Ah, yes, adoption. What is the current status of BrowserID? Is anybody already using it?

A. At the time of writing this piece (late November), BrowserID is still in its infancy. Most browser developers haven't announced any official plans to integrate BrowserID support in their software. That's not the main problem, though.

Q. Really? What is it then?

A. The real open issue is if and when the major email providers and online communities, such as Facebook and Twitter, will support BrowserID – that is become identity providers. Especially when, like Facebook, they have their own in-house alternative.

Besides, all these providers would need to agree on a standard way to make public keys accessible. Luckily, none of this makes it impossible to try BrowserID or implement it on your website.

Q. That's cool. How can I try it today?

A. For the moment, the best way to see how using BrowserID looks is to visit the official demo site at Myfavoritebeer.org.

Q. What about webmasters?

A If they use popular open source software, such as WordPress or Drupal, they're lucky: BrowserID plug-ins for those content management systems already exist.

Alternatively, they'd have to follow the instructions for developers published at browserid.org. Even in that case, though, they'd be able to use BrowserID without having to write any authentication code by themselves.

Tutorial: How to get started with Apple Mail

Matthew Bolton — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMT

How to get started with Apple Mail

Despite the popularity of social networks, no computer is complete without a great email app to help you keep in touch with friends and loved ones.

It's no surprise, then, that all Macs come with Apple's Mail program built into OS X. It makes it easy to set up your email account and browse and sort your messages, as well as write emails to others.

You'll need to have an email account. And for many email types, including Yahoo!, AOL, Gmail and Windows Live/Hotmail, Mail can set up your account using just your email address and password.

You can set up other kinds of accounts, but you may need to know the details of your incoming and outgoing servers, which your provider should be able to supply you with.

Once your account is set up, you'll see the Mail interface, with a list of emails on the left, and a preview box on the right. There's a Show button just above the messages list that enables you to see your list of account inboxes, which is handy if you have more than one set up, have created multiple mailboxes, or if you want to browse messages you've deleted from your inbox.

From the toolbar along the top of the Mail window, you can check for new messages, compose a new email, create a new note, delete emails, mark emails as junk mail, forward and reply to messages, and flag emails for your attention later.

There's also a search bar here, which enables you to find text anywhere in any of your emails, so you can easily search for its subject, or the person who sent it, for example.

In this walkthrough, we'll talk you through the basics of using the Mail app, including getting set up, reading your emails and writing messages, but once you're more confident with Mail, you can do a lot more.

For example, you can set up Rules such as having incoming messages sorted into different inboxes depending on the sender, you can change the default font and size that messages are displayed in, and create multiple email signatures.

Of course, if all you want to do is send and receive the occasional hello from family members, you can stick with just the steps on the opposite page and enjoy the full email experience.

How to get to grips with features in Apple Mail

1. Set up your account

When you first open Mail, or when you add a new account, it will ask for your name, email address and password. For many types of email, this is all you'll need to enter, but if Mail is unable to find the information it needs automatically, it'll ask you for more details.

2. Read a message

With your account set up, and email flooding in, select one in the left-hand inbox list to display it in the window to the right. Or, you can double-click on an email to open it in a new window. From here, you can click the arrow buttons at the top to reply or forward emails.

3. File attachments

If an email sent to you has an attachment, you'll see a paperclip next to the sender's name. A file icon will be displayed beneath the email text. You can click a file's name to open it, open it with Quick Look for a brief check, and save it by right-clicking.

4. Photo attachments

Attachments, such as photos and PDF files, are handled slightly differently. They are displayed in full under the email's text. Again, they can be opened or saved, and if there are several photos, you can view them in a slideshow with Quick Look.

5. Search through emails

In the top-right of the Mail window is the search box. Mail will search all emails for anything you type in here. Results appear in the inbox pane, and below the search box. You can use this list to search for emails from certain people, or by subject line, for example.

6. Compose a message

Click the paper-and-pencil icon to create a new message. In the To field, you can enter the email address of your recipient.

If they're stored in your Address Book, you don't need to type out their email address in full – start typing their name, and Mail will offer their email address. Add a subject line and type a message in the blank space below that.

To attach a file, click the paperclip icon at the top of the windows and browse to the file you want. Clicking the icon that looks like a mountain will open a photo browser, so you can insert a photo from your iPhoto library.

To the right of this icon is a button to open the stationery pane, which enables you to send colourful emails.

Opinion: Windows 8 on ARM? Intel must be laughing

Dan Grabham — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:50:00 GMT

Our columnist Gary Marshall points out that Microsoft's decision to prevent third-party apps on ARM-based Windows 8 desktops will only serve to confuse.

He's right. And, what's more, it horribly hobbles ARM-based Windows 8 hardware to the extent that Intel will be rubbing its hands together with glee.

Last September I suggested that ARM-based Windows 8's lack of legacy app support was the elephant in the room for the OS. It still is.

People won't understand they can't just download and install legacy apps on something that looks like a standard Windows 8 desktop. That's not what Windows means to people.

OK, so there will be Office 15 apps and other bits and pieces pre-installed, while we will have plenty of lovely third-party apps using the Metro interface. But the ARM Windows 8 desktop won't be a flexible experience.

And that can only mean customers will turn away – indeed, I feel that this news means that manufacturers will play it safe and we'll only see a few ARM-based Windows 8 tablets at the launch of Windows 8, rather than the plethora of multipurpose devices I'd hoped for.

You see, people will expect Windows 8 devices to give them options. New possibilities. They won't want an iPad 3 alternative that has a bit of old Windows tacked on.

It's up to Intel

We knew that x86-based devices would still dominate the Windows 8 landscape. But we had hoped that ARM-based Windows devices would take the OS beyond the traditional PC and give us some really exciting tablet-laptop hybrids that could be used for work or play. The single device to suit every occasion.

I was looking forward to having an ARM-based Windows 8 convertible running a chip like the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, where I could use Metro in tablet mode but also get the full laptop experience with a keyboard and the Windows desktop when needed.

Now it seems that many of these more complex and interesting devices will end up being Intel-based, rather like the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga we loved so much at CES 2012.

IDEAPAD YOGA: We'll be seeing a lot more Intel-based convertible Windows 8 devices

And that'll be because manufacturers know what will sell. To be frank, people are so used to looking for something with Intel inside.

Intel made it clear at CES that touch-based Ultrabooks will be with us for Windows 8, and many of these could be convertible devices using the Core series of processors.

Intel is keen to make inroads into the tablet market and recently announced the Atom chip it hopes can compete with ARM in many phones and tablets.

Despite the Atom's relative lack of power and battery life compared to the best ARM silicon, it will be rather happy at the possibilities that Windows 8 can bring.

Gary Marshall: Windows 8 on ARM: a confusing mess

Gary Marshall — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:55:00 GMT

Great news! Microsoft has cleared up the confusion over whether ARM-based Windows 8 machines will run legacy apps!

Terrible news! It's still going to confuse people!

For those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time troubleshooting friends' and relatives' PCs and offering buying advice, Microsoft's policy regarding old Windows apps on ARM - WOA, as Microsoft calls it - has just guaranteed us weeks of confused faces and the odd tear as we lose our rag and bellow "YOU CAN'T, OKAY? YOU JUST CAN'T, DAMMIT!" at our grans.

Here's the policy: Windows 8 on ARM - WOA - won't have any old-fashioned Windows stuff on it, apart from some old-fashioned Windows stuff, and it won't let you run old Windows apps, apart from some new Windows apps that look like old Windows apps.

Phew. For a minute there I thought it was going to be confusing.

There's no business like WOA business

As Steven Sinofsky explains, WOA is all about Metro and Metro apps.

However, for technical reasons that some people may interpret as "we can't be arsed making a Metro version of Office right now", WOA will also include the traditional Windows Desktop so you can run Office 15, and only Office 15.

WOA might look like Windows and run Office like Windows, but it won't run old Windows apps.

I understand why Microsoft's done this - as Intel and ARM are different architectures, running legacy apps would require virtualisation, which won't help performance or battery life, but from a marketing point of view I think it's going to cause unnecessary confusion.

Microsoft says WOA is a separate thing like Windows Server or Windows Embedded. That's true, but people don't see machines running those OSes next to the normal PCs in John Lewis or PC World.

I'm imagining the conversations with my relatives now.

"No, I don't think you should buy that one. Yes, I know it runs Office. Yes, I know that's the Windows Desktop. No, you can't put your old programs on it. No. No, that's a new Office, there's - no, that's because there's a LOOK YOU CAN'T, OKAY? YOU JUST CAN'T, DAMMIT!"

Updated: Windows 8 ARM desktop: no third-party apps

Dan Grabham — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:17:00 GMT

Microsoft has released full details about Windows 8 on ARM and spoken to us about it - but there's one revelation that stands out from the rest.

You will get the traditional desktop with Windows 8 on ARM - but you won't be able to put third-party apps on it.

That's because all the third-party apps developed for ARM-based Windows 8 devices will be for the new Metro interface.

Windows 8 on ARM: Steven Sinofsky speaks

However, it doesn't mean the death of desktop-style apps on WOA - what Microsoft calls Windows on ARM. You'll still get familiar apps like Explorer, Internet Explorer and the Windows Live apps (which will no longer be called Windows Live) plus Office – but everything else will be Metro.

"All Metro-style apps will run on WOA just like you would expect," Sinofsky confirmed to TechRadar in an interview with TechRadar; "it's the same experience".

Those are apps written in HTML5, VB, C# and XAML – and in C++ if developers prefer. That's the language most x86 Windows programs are written in, though you can't just turn an existing x86 Windows app into a Metro app (which would be a bad idea for a lot of different reasons).

WOA will come preinstalled with what Microsoft has previously been calling the next wave of Windows Live apps for Metro, hardware accelerated for speed.

And, while you'll get Office apps preinstalled, you will not get Outlook.

"We'll have apps from Microsoft for things like mail and calendaring and contacts and photos and storage, hardware accelerated HTML5 and a whole bunch of media formats and document formats - that all support hardware acceleration, that support offloading of computation to integrated chipsets for H264 and things like that. And all of those are included as part of WOA."

"You also get the Windows desktop itself; for working with files, for control panel for working with devices and peripherals, Explorer, desktop Internet Explorer - all of that is part of the WOA product."

Shipping simultaneously

Windows 8 for ARM tablets will come out at the same time as Windows 8 for x86 PCs but while there will be a beta for the x86 version, there will be no such concession for the ARM version. Neither will you be able to port the ARM Windows 8 version to Android devices (or install Android/Linux on Windows 8 hardware) - it will only ship on device.

"Windows on ARM, WOA, is a new member of the Windows family that is built on the foundation of Windows," Sinofsky told us. "It has a high degree of commonality, a very significant amount of shared code with Windows 8. It's going to be developed for, sold and supported as part of our overall Windows ecosystem."

Microsoft also says that Windows 8 ARM tablets will have no vendor integration to slow them down, while all updates will come directly from Microsoft.

"All the updates, whether for firmware, drivers or apps, will only come through the Windows Update or Microsoft update infrastructure and the Store," said Sinofsky.

Read TechRadar's full Windows 8 on ARM interview.

HTC Sensation range Android 4.0 update coming in March

Chris Smith — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:03:00 GMT

HTC has confirmed that it will begin updating its existing Android devices with Ice Cream Sandwich next month.

First in line for the long-desired Android 4.0 coat of paint is the HTC Sensation range. The Sensation, Sensation XE, and Sensation 4G will get the overhaul by the end of March.

The Sensation XL update will follow shortly thereafter, the company said on its Facebook page.

After that, well plans are already afoot to update devices like the Incredible S, Rezound, Desire HD, Desire S, EVO 3D, Amaze 4G sometime during 2012.

MWC offering coming later this month

We already know that the company will launch an Ice White iteration of the original Sensation, which'll come bundled with Android 4.0, on March 1st.

The update schedule puts the Sensation range at the forefront of HTC's thinking, but that may change with the expected launch of a host of new Android 4.0, 4G LTE devices at MWC later this month.

Names like the HTC Edge and HTC Ville (which sounds like it should come with a beret and a stripey shirt) have been thrown around ahead of the annual Barcelona mobile show.

With HTC promising to refocus its attentions on a few key smartphone releases in 2012, we're super-keen to see what the company has to offer as it looks to recover from an underwhelming 2011.

Interview: Windows 8 on ARM: Steven Sinofsky speaks

Mary Branscombe — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:02:00 GMT

Windows 8 on ARM: the full details

Windows 8 for ARM tablets will come out at the same time as Windows 8 for x86 PCs, if everything goes according to plan.

Microsoft has released full details on Windows on ARM today. It will have the Windows desktop, with familiar apps like Explorer, Internet Explorer and the Windows Live apps, plus Office – but everything else will be Metro.

And no, you won't be able to install it on an Android tablet.

What's WOA?

Microsoft is revealing the technical details of Windows on ARM – which it calls WOA for short – today.

TechRadar talked to Windows chief Steven Sinofsky about what WOA can do, when and how you can get it and which apps it will and won't run.

"Windows on Arm, WOA, is a new member of the Windows family that is built on the foundation of Windows," Sinofsky told us. "It has a high degree of commonality, a very significant amount of shared code with Windows 8. It's going to be developed for, sold and supported as part of our overall Windows ecosystem."

But he didn't want us to think about WOA systems as just PC with a different chip. "We created WOA so that it would enable a new class of PCs with unique capabilities and form factors. It's a new level of device." Think of it as a new weapon for Microsoft in the tablet battle. "It's up-levelling our ability to meet the consumer demand for a device that is reliable and performant over time. The canonical example is the reset and refresh feature and the difference between that and a clean install."

THE BOSS: We spoke to the head of Windows, Steven Sinofsky, ahead of the Windows 8 on ARM announcement

By that, he's talking about the end of 'Windows rot'; a WOA PC won't gradually fill up with cruft and get bloated and sluggish the way older versions of Windows are prone to. A WOA PC will stay snappy and responsive thanks to apps not being able to run in the background. If it gets cluttered with too many apps you don't want, you can reset it to get rid of them without losing your pictures and files.

There's no more hunting for the specific version of a driver that your PC needs on badly organised support sites. "All the updates, whether for firmware, drivers or apps, will only come through the Windows Update or Microsoft update infrastructure and the Store.

And, of course, it will have long battery life in a thin and light design with strong security and powerful applications. It's Windows, reimagined the way Microsoft thinks you always wanted it to be.

Metro, desktop and Office

WOA is very much still Windows. Microsoft is finally confirming something that we've suspected but that has been unclear since Microsoft's BUILD conference last year. Yes, Windows on ARM still has the Windows desktop. And yes, Office 15 will run on it, in the desktop rather than Metro. But there will be no third-party desktop apps for ARM

"All Metro-style apps will run on WOA just like you would expect," Sinofsky confirmed; "it's the same experience". Those are apps written in HTML5, VB, C# and XAML – and in C++ if developers prefer. That's the language most x86 Windows programs are written in, though you can't just turn an existing x86 Windows app into a Metro app (which would be a bad idea for a lot of different reasons).

"You can reuse all your code from existing apps if you want, so long as you only call WinRT APIs. If your app is going through the store and uses the WinRT APIs then it too can work on WOA and we'll provide the tools to cross compile that."

WOA will come with what Microsoft has previously been calling the next wave of Windows Live apps for Metro, hardware accelerated for speed (the way IE9 and IE10 are), already installed.

Plus you get touch-centric versions of Office (with the notable exception of Outlook), and the desktop you need to run it on, on every WOA PC.

"The other kind of app that's included for WOA are the Office 15 apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. These are all desktop apps. They're new versions that are completely compatible. They're not subset applications, they have the same file format - all of that stuff. With that of course, you also get the Windows desktop itself; for working with files, for control panel for working with devices and peripherals, Explorer, desktop Internet Explorer - all of that is part of the WOA product."

OFFICE: Office will be part of the native suite running on the Windows 8 desktop

Given that the Microsoft Metro apps include document viewers, getting desktop Office apps is a good thing; you'll use them when you need to work with a document in detail, not just glance through it.

He didn't give us any details about the user interface for Office on WOA but Microsoft has put a lot of effort into making them work well on a tablet, Sinofsky said. The Office apps "have been retuned very significantly to support touch and to support the low power requirements of running on the WOA hardware."

That's a good reason why there won't be desktop apps on WOA from any other software vendors, just Microsoft.

The machine learning Microsoft has used to make the desktop and apps like Explorer work well with touch in the Developer Preview, even when you're dealing with a tiny button, is beyond the scope of many developers - so user interfaces in existing Windows programs would be a bad fit for WOA. Just recompiling an app would give you a program that would probably run slowly, use a lot of battery life, be hard to use and wouldn't use new WinRT features like unified search and share.

Expert users or developers can't get around the restrictions. "There's not a side-loading of x86-compatible code or anything like that. There's no other way to get compiled code on the product other than through the Store."

Not allowing third-party desktop apps makes sense but it certainly has implications. Microsoft wouldn't confirm it, but we believe this means no browser plugins for desktop IE on WOA. There's no official word on Media Center for WOA either.

So to sum up the app situation. "You have Metro style apps that can come from third parties and from Microsoft, you have the desktop and you have all the features that are intrinsic to Windows, and you have Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote apps."

WOA tablets: who and when?

Several traditional PC makers – who also make Android tablets – have confirmed that they will make ARM tablets running Windows, but there are also persistent rumours that Nokia and other phone makers will also create Windows tablets.

Sinofsky didn't confirm any manufacturers but he did tell us WOA will "be supported by a new set of partners that expand the overall ecosystem". That could just be QUALCOMM, NVidia and Ti of course; the companies that are making the different ARM platforms.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview is only for x86 PCs. That's not because WOA is behind the x86 version; it's because there isn't any WOA hardware. "These WOA PCs are all still under development, they're still being made. But our collective goal is that PC makers will ship them the same time as PCs that are shipped for Windows 8 on x86 and 64."

Developers and peripheral makers will get to see WOA first, on prototype hardware. "Over the next weeks and months following the Consumer Preview, a limited number of test PCs are going to be made available to developer and hardware partners in a closed, invitation-only program." Don't get excited: "They're already spoken for," Sinofsky warned us. And don't feel left out.

WINDOWS 8 ON ARM: From the original demos - the desktop

"There are no actual PCs yet. These are the PCs much like the ones we've been showing in demos. They are hardware prototypes. They're running all the same guts, just as debug boards. They're not the form factors that consumers will see, they don't have the industrial design. They're not thin and light. They have no battery sometimes!"

WOA PCs: only for WOA

"All the PC manufacturers are obviously super-hard at work on building these brand new devices that from the ground up are designed to be great - and exclusively for WOA," Sinofsky emphasized.

That means you can't take a WOA tablet and install Linux on it, and you can't put WOA on an existing ARM tablet. "It is not this level playing field across ARM devices," he pointed out to TechRadar; "Each one is unique. It's why you don't install Android on your iPhone."

Microsoft has done a lot of work to rebuild Windows for ARM and that's specifically for the hardware WOA PC makers are choosing.

"All of this is going to lead to a new generation of integrated end-to-end products. Hardware, firmware, the WOA software; it's all built from the ground up to work together, with a new level of collaboration between Microsoft, the ARM licensees, PC makers and developers of components and peripherals.

The work was across a really broad array of subsystems in Windows; some of them have been re-architected for low power and new kinds of devices, others are brand new support for things that haven't been there before."

But the way Microsoft is supporting ARM is also going to make life a lot easier for tablet manufacturers who've had to do a great deal of integration work putting Android onto their ARM tablets. Despite the range of hardware, there's only one version of WOA, because the Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer takes care of differences, and that could conceivably put tablet prices down.

"These PCs that we're building together are built on the hardware platforms from NVidia, QUALCOMM and Ti but they all share a common WOA OS foundation. The neat thing is all of them are running the same Windows binary," Sinofsky told us enthusiastically.

"It's a different approach that we've taken where we're working across different ARM hardware but the same Windows binaries are on each of them. We actually added more features to the HAL to work across different ARM buses, as we call them. What we're doing working across multiple ARM platforms is unprecedented."

Best of Windows, best of ARM

This is the 'best of both worlds' approach that we've predicted Microsoft would take with ARM and Windows 8. It's a tablet with tablet apps (although we expect to see slider and ultraportable form factors too and Sinofsky repeatedly said 'PC' rather than 'tablet'). But it's also a PC with the power of Windows and Office – just without many of the disadvantages.

If you want the whole of both worlds (good and bad), cross your fingers for the work Intel is doing to create low power SoC PCs. "We're doing a lot of work with Intel on this release too," Sinofsky reminded us.

"Especially when we talk about a lot of the power saving features, remember that Intel is making their System on a Chip stuff as well and everything we're talking about applies to those Intel chips." That would give you an ultra-low power system that gets the always-on Connected Standby feature and could run all your old Windows apps too, although those apps could weigh the system down and don't get all the advantages of WinRT.

The question is how many people want that 'belt and braces' approach and that's more Intel's problem than Microsoft's. With Windows on ARM, Microsoft is betting that the tablet market is going to be big, especially for tablets with long battery life and the advantages of a PC – like running Office.

Microsoft releases full details of Windows 8 on ARM

Dan Grabham — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:01:00 GMT

Microsoft has finally lifted the lid on Windows 8 on ARM, saying that it doesn't want ARM-based devices to be simply referred to as standard Windows systems with a different processor.

Instead, Windows 8 on ARM (known at Microsoft as WOA) will give rise to a whole new type of PC according to the software giant.

There are also some startling revelations about the Windows 8 ARM desktop, which you can read more about here.

In a Mary Branscombe interview for TechRadar, Windows head Steven Sinofsky about the announcement. "Windows on ARM, WOA, is a new member of the Windows family that is built on the foundation of Windows," Sinofsky told us.

"It has a high degree of commonality, a very significant amount of shared code with Windows 8. It's going to be developed for, sold and supported as part of our overall Windows ecosystem."

"We created WOA so that it would enable a new class of PCs with unique capabilities and form factors. It's a new level of device."

"It's up-levelling our ability to meet the consumer demand for a device that is reliable and performant over time. The canonical example is the reset and refresh feature and the difference between that and a clean install."

Read the full TechRadar interview with Steven Sinofsky.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview launching at MWC

Chris Smith — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:15:00 GMT

Microsoft has sent out press invites to the official Windows 8 Consumer Preview launch at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The company will showcase the long-awaited public beta on February 29th in a two hour event from 3pm to 5pm, at the annual mobile show.

Microsoft had promised to release the Consumer Preview by the end of February, so it would seem that it'll be made available following the event at MWC.

Aside from the time, date and purpose of the event, additional details are thin on the ground.

Next step to release

The launch of the Consumer Preview is the next step along the line to a full release of the final version of the eagerly anticipated reimagining of Windows.

Developers have been able to use a preview version of the Metro-centric OS since September.

The final manufacturers copy is expected to be sent out in second half of 2012.

We'll be live at Mobile World Congress bringing you all of the details from Microsoft's event on February 29th.

In Depth: PlayBook 2.0: what you need to know

Mary Branscombe — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

PlayBook 2.0: what you need to know

The BlackBerry PlayBook samples being handed out to developers at the BlackBerry DevCon in Amsterdam this week come with the option of a beta version of PlayBook OS 2.0.

But that's just for the technical features in the operating system like running Android applications, not the new Cascades-based user interface or the new messaging apps.

Images of those are plastered around the conference centre and we saw a demo of the same new features RIM talked about at CES 2012, along with sample apps and tools to help developers create great-looking apps that fit in with the new BlackBerry style.

New CEO Thorsten Heins claims that "we've taken our strength in messaging and collaboration and brought that together for a seamless experience in PlayBook OS 2.0, giving a users a truly social, intuitive, fun and easy way to connect with their world".

What do you get in the update to deliver that? Email, calendar, contacts and remote control – but not BBM, which RIM says isn't ready yet (expect to see that later this year).

PlayBook OS 2.0: BlackBerry flow

The best BlackBerry apps have always integrated into the built-in BlackBerry tools like messaging and calendar.

The new PlayBook apps come with some key services already integrated in a way that lets you move from an email message that renders as beautifully as a Web page to the details of the sender to their Twitter feed and Facebook updates to the latest news about the company they work for to places you've met them in to a list of people you both know (courtesy of LinkedIn), without having to jump out to another application and look them up all over again.

It doesn't work quite the same way as the social integration in Windows Phone but the underlying principle is similar; make it easy to get at the different ways you can interact with someone.

This is what RIM is calling BlackBerry 'flow'; the key, says Heins, "is to be effortless in terms of everything you do". In email the features are based on the Gist social network integration technology that RIM bought; the calendar uses the scheduling and sharing tools it got from Tungle.

But one of the best features in the calendar is the simplest; days when you have lots of meetings use a larger font in month view so you can see straight away when you're going to be busy.

PlayBook OS 2.0 isn't just the new apps; head of software head of software Vivek Bhardwaj calls it "a complete overhaul; we've enhanced just about every application". Mostly those are small changes but the Web browser gets a major upgrade in 2.0. Heins claims that PlayBook and BlackBerry 10 will have "the most comprehensive mobile support for HTML5 of any platform".

That maters not just to make Web pages work the way you're used to on the desktop, but because that's a way developers can create apps that run on BlackBerry today, PlayBook this month and BlackBerry 10 at the end of the year - and RIM lets HTML apps use native BlackBerry features like integration with BBM.

The browser has and will continue to have Flash support (Adobe will give RIM the code to keep updating it themselves if necessary). It also supports AIR 3.0, which lets developers create apps that don't look like Flash; Documents To Go on the PlayBook is an AIR app that hooks into native PlayBook functionality so it feels like a native app.

PlayBook OS 2.0: The Cascades look

The PIM applications in PlayBook 2.0 have an interface using the 3D animations and transitions designed by RIM's new user experience team, the design consultancy TAT. They're hardware-accelerated to be smooth and speedy and the signature style is something RIM design head Jeff LeJune is calling "pre-packaged elegance ".

That could give you the look of physical paper with curling edges or photos that shrink and zoom like vector graphics. Zoom out on a list of notes or messages and they don't just get smaller; the list folds like a concertina and just displays items that are flagged or highlighted - again, an idea a little like semantic zoom in Windows 8.

RIM is doing some interesting things with the Cascades styles; it's also making them available to developers to use in their own apps, so we're expecting a range of apps with the new PlayBook look.

PlayBook OS 2.0 remote control with Bridge

Now that PlayBook has its own PIM tools, you don't need BlackBerry Bridge just to read and send email. You can still use it to get online if there's no Wi-Fi to use, but Bridge till also turn a BlackBerry into a remote control for the PlayBook.

The most obvious use is for typing on the still-superior BlackBerry keyboard rather than on the on-screen PlayBook keyboard. But as long as it's a touchscreen BlackBerry you can also use the same swipe gestures on screen to control PlayBook apps.

Imagine plugging a PlayBook into your surround-sound TV or hi-fi using the HDMI socket; that's a bit unwieldy to keep in your lap, but you don't want to get up and walk over to the tablet every time you want to change the station in Nobex Radio or pause the video you're playing.

Using a BlackBerry as a remote control that lets you make the same gestures you'd use on the PlayBook could be appealing for that, and for gaming. You wouldn't want to play Cut The Rope on your TV by controlling the screen from a BlackBerry, but it would work for more immersive games.

BlackBerry OS chief Chris Smith claimed in his keynote that "we have console-quality games on a tablet". At work, you could put the PlayBook on your desk in a stand that displays the screen well and control it without leaning forward and hunching over uncomfortably.

What does QNX mean for PlayBook and BlackBerry 10?

Think BlackBerry has been falling behind (despite sales in Europe that have actually grown 75% year on year)? RIM's actually been thinking about that for the last three years, which is when Heins points out the company "began assembling the pieces we needed to build a future proof next generation platform that will take us into the next decade" (buying the many companies that bring new features to PlayBook).

The plan is to keep the best of both worlds. "We've taken the best of BlackBerry on the device with superapps and the BBM social platform, and in the cloud and we've married it to an industry proven powerhouse OS that powers 25 million vehicles, that runs in Internet routers, in medical devices and in nuclear plants."

One advantage of QNX is what Heins calls a "next-generation content and communications flow not just between apps on the same device but between devices; a seamless experience that will be used in cars, in the home and in even more vertical segments to come".

QNX looks at the system it's running on very differently from other operating systems. When it connects to other QNX systems, as long as it has the right permissions it treats their resources as if they're part of your system - so a photo stored on another QNX system shows up alongside the photos on your device.

That means a QNX system in a car could have the list of addresses or the music files from your PlayBook without you having to sync it. In PlayBook OS 2.0 the Open To feature will let you take a picture on your BlackBerry and display it immediately on your PlayBook.

Expect to see more apps using this to let you move content seamlessly between BlackBerry and PlayBook - how about taking a Web page you want to see in more detail and pushing that onto the bigger PlayBook screen with a gesture?

PlayBook OS 2.0 release date: when is it?

The official RIM line is still "this month" but "we're not giving the date yet" (and BlackBerry 10 is still "later this year"). There have been plenty of rumours about specific dates (especially since RIM posted an image of the new interface for AppWorld showing February 16th as the date) and adverts for the upgrade have been appearing in some UK phone stores this week suggesting it's imminent.

We also expect PlayBook OS 2.0 to come out before Mobile World Congress so the announcement doesn't get lost in the crowd of other phone news.

RIM would also do better to avoid launching at the same time as the Windows 8 Consumer Preview but until Microsoft announces a date that's hard to ensure.

From what we've seen of the latest builds, we're not expecting any delays and the firmest indication came from Vivek Bhardwaj who said "We're a matter of a couple of week away - we're at the point of eyeing out the last few bugs".

RIM has been making the technical improvements in the PlayBook available to developers for some months.

So we expect it to launch with both a large number of converted Android applications (which work properly with PlayBook gestures like opening app menus) and applications that take advantage of what PlayBook OS 2.0 can do like 3D gestures in AIR that let you control an application by waving your hand at the camera.

Having lots of PlayBook apps matters, but apps that show what QNX can really do are going to be what makes PlayBook stand out from the tablet crowd.

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Bundled Windows 8 Metro apps detailed

Kate Solomon — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:10:00 GMT

Windows 8 will come with a number of pre-installed apps, which look set to include things like messaging, mail and contacts.

The apps will be in the Windows Phone Metro style and some, like messaging may incorporate mobile aspects like SMS support.

The full list, acquired by The Verge, includes camera, messaging, mail, calendar, SkyDrive, people, photos, video and music.

Soon, soon

We should see all these apps and, possibly, more in the Windows 8 beta set for this month.

None will be branded WIndows Live, as some Windows apps like Messenger currently are, but the Music and Video apps are said to be branded Zune at the moment, with plans to move this to Xbox Live for Windows in the long term.

Speaking of Xbox Live, there's also a possibility that a Windows Phone-alike Xbox Live Companion app will come bundled in the consumer preview too.

So, not exactly groundbreaking information, but rather another blank filled in in the great tech crossword puzzle that is Windows 8.

In Depth: 10 ways Windows 8 tablets can take on the iPad

Gary Marshall — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

10 ways Windows 8 tablets can take on the iPad

Are you excited about Windows 8 tablets? We are.

Microsoft's latest Windows is a really attractive OS, and the tablets and hybrids we've seen so far are pretty impressive.

In a market where too many firms' strategy is simply "copy Apple", Microsoft is prepared to - yes! - Think Different.

Here are ten ways Windows 8 tablets could compete with the iPad 3.

1. Corporate customers

While many people do use their iPads for work, Apple hasn't explicitly targeted the big corporate market - and that's a huge business that Microsoft knows very well. Tablets that securely connect to corporate systems could be a big win for Microsoft here.

2. New Office

Microsoft Office remains Windows' killer app, especially in the business market - one reason Microsoft's own Tablet PC didn't succeed was because Office compatibility was "sabotaged" - so you can be sure that Office will be on both Intel and ARM-powered tablets. It'll be interesting to see whether Microsoft takes the opportunity to completely transform the Office UI for the ARM version: Office Metro-style, anyone?

3. Dual-mode machines

The iPad is very, very good at what it does, and what it does doesn't include being a desktop device. Microsoft thinks there's an opportunity there. Fancy a tablet that's finger-flipping good until you dock it, at which point it becomes a "proper" Windows PC with am OS designed for your keyboard and mouse or trackpad? We do, and we really hope Microsoft can make it work elegantly. Windows tablets with split personalities could be a lot of fun, not to mention seriously useful - as would...

4. Hybrid tablets

The combination of a dual-mode OS with dual-mode hardware - think Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime or Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga could be very interesting indeed. Tablets that effortlessly switch between work and play modes could turn out to be the electronic equivalent of daytime to evening workwear.

TWICE AS NICE: Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga is a tablet that transforms into a notebook, "like the Tablet PC but good"

5. Mega Metro

Metro is Microsoft's newest, whooshiest interface, and we like it a lot. We're not alone: pretty much everybody who uses Metro likes Metro, and we reckon that if everything else - hardware, app selection, price and so on - were equal, some people would choose a Windows tablet over an Apple one because they prefer Metro to iOS.

6. SkyDrive

Microsoft's vision for cloud-based sharing is very ambitious: your Windows ID will bring your stuff and your settings to whatever device you happen to be on, whether that's a tablet, a PC, an Xbox or something else. That's not just music: the goal is what Microsoft describes as "all your content. Anywhere."

CLOUD ATLAS: Microsoft's SkyDrive puts cloud storage, synching and sharing at the heart of Windows

7. Beaming between devices

Microsoft is reportedly working on "beaming" between Windows devices for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, so for example you'll be able to beam content from your Windows 8 tablet to your PC or phone over whatever wireless connection happens to be present - Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct or NFC - without any fuss. That's the kind of thing that makes people say "wow" and reach for their credit cards.

8. Side-by-side apps

The iPad's single-minded focus on the app you're using is usually a great thing, but sometimes you want to do two things at once - such as read what's in one application while you write in another. Provided the screen's big enough, Windows 8 will let you see two apps simultaneously.

9. Nokia tablets

No disrespect to Microsoft's many hardware partners, but Nokia's the one we're really interested in when it comes to designing exciting tablets: the Finnish firm is famed for its hardware, and we're getting some tantalising hints of interesting new models, possibly coming as early as this summer.

10. A wider choice

It's probably safe to say that nobody can make iPad-spec tablets that match Apple's quality, price tag and enormous profit margins, but then not everybody wants an iPad. As we've seen with devices from the likes of Asus and Amazon, there's plenty of room in the market for devices that don't just ape Apple.

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Google Chrome browser launches for Android

Chris Smith — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:35:00 GMT

Google's Chrome web browser has finally launched for the Android platform.

The long-awaited arrival comes in public Beta for smartphones and tablets currently using Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

That means very few Android users are going to be able to access the popular web browser at this stage.

The Android browser teams-up with your desktop version to bring the tabs already open on your computer, directly to your smartphone, if you're signed-in to a Chrome account.

The feature will be of great benefit to users when they have to step away from their main screen, while in the middle of reading an article.

Your favourite and previously visited sites will also sync to the mobile iteration, while the fast-search functionality is also on-board.

New tabs and link preview

In terms of looks and appearance, Chrome for Android Beta has re-imagined the way tabs are presented to ensure they fit comfortably on the screen, while gestures will allow you to flip through them "like a pack of cards," Google says. Cool.

There's also a new feature called Link Preview, which allows you to easily select the correct link on a smaller mobile device by automatically zooming-in to the links on the page.

Google hopes this will end the all-to-common occurrence of users accidentally hitting the wrong link while browsing the web using a smartphone.

We're excited to finally see Chrome land on Android and, while it's sure to become the default browser on all Google-based devices before too long we'd love to see it available to more than the tiny percentage of users currently graced with ICS.

Here's Google's video preview below.

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVjw7n_U37A

Gary Marshall: Should Microsoft save the Start button?

Gary Marshall — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:07:00 GMT

According to The Verge, Windows is about to lose something precious: the Start Orb, better known as the Start button.

We're already familiar with the new, touch-optimised, orb-free Windows 8 Metro interface, but it looks like the Orb's getting booted from the traditional desktop too.

There's no doubt that many people would like to see the back of it - we've had comments of the "OMG LOL YOU HAVE TO PRESS START TO SHUT DOWN YOUR PC BUY APPLE BUY APPLE BUY APPLE" variety since it was introduced in 1733, and there's no doubt that Metro looks much more modern and friendly than the ageing Windows UI.

But in the whoosh of Microsoft throwing out the bathwater, some people think they can hear the waaah of a baby.

Stopping Starting something

The rumours, I'm sure, are right: Microsoft has been making Windows 8's interface more Metro-y for some time, and killing off the Start button makes sense from that perspective.

The thing is, though, Microsoft isn't killing it: it's hiding it. When you move the mouse to the bottom corner the Orb magically appears again. You'll still be able to access the Orb from the Start key on your keyboard, too.

If we were living in a time of great pixel shortages, where gangs of graphics card manufacturers fought in the streets over packets of stolen pixels, hiding the Start Orb might be a great advantage.

However, we aren't, and as a result all that's really going on is that Microsoft appears to be making the classic Windows desktop a little bit more confusing, choosing to hide a key part of the user interface. Maybe once we get our hands on the Consumer Preview we'll think the new way is fantastic, but right now it looks like a step backwards in user-friendliness for no real benefit.

Windows 8 beta: new features to expect

According to Windows boss Steven Sinofsky, "people 'in the know' who valued efficiency were moving away from the Start menu, and pinning their frequently used programs to the taskbar so that they could access them instantly in one click."

Program pinning is handy, but you can't pin everything to the taskbar or things start getting silly - and if you're in legacy mode rather than Metro mode, surely you want Windows to work like Windows always has?

Sinofsky says that the old Start menu is bad because it provides access to lots of programs and features people don't use very often, but for some of us that's exactly the point: we *like* having something that provides access to the things we don't use very often.

I'm imagining Sinofsky as a crazed vivisectionist here, cutting up cats and gluing their heads onto horses to make the cats better at showjumping.

Maybe, like cats and horses, Metro and classic Windows are best kept separate. Anyone fancy FrankenWindows?

In Depth: The 10 most talented people in tech

Gary Marshall — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:31:00 GMT

10 most talented people in tech

Hot industries tend to attract the world's best and brightest, and these days there are few industries hotter than tech.

From silicon valley to silicon roundabout, some of the world's smartest, most talented people are building the future - and if we had the cash, we'd hire the very best of them and take over the entire universe.

So which tech titans would make the most amazing tech firm of all time?

These are our nominations for the tech industry's smartest operators and biggest brains: let us know yours in the comments.

1. Tim Cook, Apple

As Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook turned what Fortune called "the atrocious state of Apple's manufacturing, distribution and supply apparatus" into the extraordinary and extraordinarily profitable machine it is today. He may not have Steve Jobs' vision thing, but that's okay, because our next two nominations have that in spades.

2. Jeff Bezos, Amazon

[Image credit: James Duncan Davidson, CC Attribution 2.0 Generic]

Many pundits see the Amazon founder and CEO as the spiritual heir to the late Steve Jobs, and while he may lack Jobs' showmanship he has a Jobs-esque ability to see into the future - and he uses that ability to dominate markets before most people even know they exist. Amazon dominated bookselling, then online retail; the Kindle did for ebooks what the iPod did to music; the Kindle Fire is outselling Android tablets by an enormous margin, and Amazon Prime is almost a religion in the US.

3. Jonathan Ive, Apple

One of the most influential and imitated designers the world has ever seen - his original iMac even influenced toasters and sex toys - Jonathan Ive is responsible for an incredible range of stunning hardware. To have just one of his creations on a CV would be pretty impressive, but Ive's been in charge of the design for every Apple product since the late 1990s: the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air... The Daily Mail called him a "design genius", and like everything else in the Daily Mail, that is absolutely true.

4. Marissa Mayer, Google

Google's 20th employee is one of the sharpest executives in Silicon Valley, the youngest member of Google's executive operating committee and the youngest woman ever featured in Fortune magazine's annual Most Powerful Women list. Mayer is famed for her ability to spot, implement and improve bright ideas, and after years in charge of management and design for Google's many products she's now Google's vice-president in charge of local, mobile and contextual services.

5. Joichi Ito, MIT

Joichi "Joi" Ito's many hats include chairman of Creative Commons, director of the MIT Media Lab, Mozilla board member, venture capitalist, human rights activist, World of Warcraft guild master and being one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers. Ito's many interests and fierce intelligence means he's particularly good at the big picture stuff: not just technology, but technology's place in the wider world.

6. Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo

[Image credit: Sklathill, CC Attribution-ShareAlike]

Has anybody in the technology industry spread more joy than Shigeru Miyamoto? The gaming legend's CV includes Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pikmin and Nintendogs, and he's variously been called the guru of gaming, the father of modern videogames and the god of the videogames industry.

7. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook

[Credit: Drew Altizer/Financial Times, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic]

Forget Mark Zuckerberg: Sandberg is the brains behind Facebook, where she "oversees the company's business operations including sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy and communications." In other words, she runs the place. Mark Zuckerberg may have built the site, but Sheryl Sandberg made it into a billion dollar business that's well on its way to having a billion members.

8. Gabe Newell, Valve

[Image credit: Jontintinjordan, CC Attribution]

The plain-speaking former Microsoft man co-founded Valve, the publisher responsible for triple-A games including the Half-Life series, Team Fortress and Portal. Its incredibly profitable Steam service means that Valve is tremendously rich, but Valve's really impressive achievement is to make all that money while being almost universally adored among gamers.

9. Sundar Pichai, Google

[Image credit: Sundar Pichai]

According to TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, Google paid Sundar Pichai "tens of millions of dollars" to stay with Google instead of jumping ship to Twitter. That was probably a bargain: under his watch, Chrome has gone from zero to hero, overtaking Firefox in market share in late 2011. That's a tremendous achievement, and it took just three years.

10. Marc Benioff, Salesforce

[Image credit: Robert Scoble CC Attribution]

The multi-award winning chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com calls himself "a student of Steve Jobs", but he's come a long way from his days writing assembly language for Apple: quick to spot the potential of cloud computing, Benioff declared war on traditional software and built a $16 billion business. His eye's on social media now, with tools to help firms communicate internally, spot potential customers and mollify angry existing ones, and he also pioneered a model of philanthropy called the 1/1/1 rule: employees contribute 1% of profits, 1% of equity and 1% of working hours to the local community. Other firms, such as Google, have followed Benioff's example.

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Tutorial: How to create perfect iTunes playlists

Alan Stonebridge — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Create an iTunes playlist: make the perfect mix

There are several ways that you can browse your music library in iTunes. Its grid and Cover Flow views are really great for picking out an album by its artwork, and you can play an individual track within seconds of it springing to mind, just by typing in the search bar.

But sometimes you'll want to kick back with a tailored selection of songs, or create a playlist for a party. iTunes caters for this with several kinds of playlist.

Each type is differently suited to the effort you want to invest and how finickety you happen to be feeling.

The most basic type of playlist is nothing more than a place to gather songs from your whole library and play them in whatever order you choose.

With Smart Playlists, instead of hand-picking every single song, you can specify criteria that inspects information attached to your songs, such as the artist and year of publication. iTunes also records dynamic information, such as the number of times you've played a song and how many times you've skipped it.

iTunes does the hard graft of working out what matches your criteria, which it does in next to no time even if your library contains thousands of songs.

Several Smart Playlists are automatically provided to serve common purposes. One shows your highest-rated songs, while another shows recent additions to your library. You might want to create a list just to show dance music from the 1990s only, or songs by particular artists that you haven't listened to in the last six months.

For a Genius Playlist, you only need to pick one track from your library to generate a selection of up to 100 songs. This requires the Genius feature to be on (Store > Turn On Genius), so that iTunes can periodically provide Apple with information about your songs and listening habits.

Apple analyses information from many people around the world and cross-references with your library to pick out songs that it thinks are complementary to the single song you've chosen.

How to create perfect iTunes playlists

1. Build a playlist

Choose File > New Playlist or click the + at the bottom-left of iTunes' window to create a playlist. Name it and press Return. Click Music in the left pane and drag songs from your library onto the playlist's name. Hold Command to select multiple tracks to add in one drag.

2. Change the order

Click your playlist. Tracks play in the order they were added. Drag them up and down the list to change that. Click the second icon at the bottom-left to turn on shuffle. The third repeats the playlist or song indefinitely. Playlists individually retain these settings.

3. Get smart

Smart Playlists have a cog to the left of their name in the left pane. Hold Ctrl and click one of the pre-defined ones that comes with iTunes and choose Edit Smart Playlist. From the same menu, use Duplicate to adapt an existing Smart Playlist.

4. Make the rules

Choose File > New Smart Playlist to start from scratch. Click the + button to add rules to be additionally matched. Hold Option and the + will change to '…', which adds a group of conditions. You can set it to match any of the rules within.

5. Tidy up

File > New Playlist Folder organises playlists. Drag a playlist onto a folder to put it inside. Folders can contain other folders. To move a playlist to the top level, drag it over a playlist at that level, then left of its icon. Let go when the blue highlight disappears.

6. Speedy creation

Make sure Genius is on and up to date (Store > Update Genius). Next, hold down Ctrl and click a song in your library. Choose Start Genius to create a Genius Playlist. At the top-right, you can choose how many tracks it contains.

7. Saving genius

Press Save Playlist at the top-right so you can revisit this playlist later. A Genius Playlist remains the same until you select one and press Refresh at the top-right. To avoid losing content, press Command+A to select and choose File > New Playlist from Selection.

8. Listen on the go

Playlists can help transfer music to an iPod or iOS device if it can't hold everything. Connect your device, select it on the left, then click Music at the top of the right pane. Under Playlists, put a tick next to any playlists you want to take with you.

In Depth: iCloud: the essential guide

Nik Rawlinson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Essential iCloud guide: Introduction

Poor old MobileMe. It tried hard, but never quite delivered. Expensive, sometimes slow and saddled with a clumsy name, it has long had the air of an unloved child.

Its development cycle was long and drawn out. And by the time Steve Jobs announced the end of its short and undistinguished life, just two years after its rebirth from the ashes of .Mac, few were inclined to shed any tears.

Yet it wasn't all bad. The email service was stable and largely dependable. It synced our contacts, so we didn't need to tap them all in on an iPhone keyboard, and the calendar tool always made sure we turned up on time, wherever we happened to be.

Apple knew this as well as anyone, which is why it chose to preserve those parts, jettisoning the web publishing, photo gallery and iDisk, as it set about building iCloud.

Housed in a vast data centre in North Carolina, iCloud is Apple's next-generation online service. It syncs your iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod touch. It can track a lost device, copy your iPhone snaps over the web so they're safely backed up on your Mac, and synchronise your iWork files so that whatever device you're using, downtime is never wasted time.

Over the next few pages, we'll show you how to set up your Mac and iOS devices to use iCloud, how to sync your apps and data, and how easy it is to back up your documents to the web. You'll soon see that MobileMe's demise really was the iCloud with a silver lining.

Whether you're moving an existing MobileMe account to iCloud or setting it up for the first time, Apple has applied its trademark logic to the process to make it as simple as possible.

The most important step you need to take is to make sure all of your devices are up to date and running the most recent versions of each headline app. Here we'll walk you through the process, step by step.

Update your Mac

To take advantage of all of iCloud's features you need to be running OS X Lion. This is now well bedded in and although some older machines appear to run a little slower than they did under Snow Leopard, it's generally proved to be fault free and enjoys good compatibility with existing third-party hardware and software.

iCloud requires Lion version 10.7.2 or later, which is the version currently being shipped through the App Store (£21). If you upgraded to Lion when it shipped back in July and haven't touched it since then, run Software Update now to downloaded the latest revision before going any further.

Lion only works on Macs running on an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, i5 or i7, or Xeon processor. That precludes the earliest Intel Macs and anything running a PowerPC processor.

It requires a minimum of 2GB of RAM, 7GB of hard drive space and Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later. This was the first version of the OS released via the Mac App Store, through which the 4GB installer must be downloaded.

If you're on a capped broadband deal or you don't have broadband, then all is not lost. Head for a bricks-and-mortar Apple Store if you have one within reasonable driving distance and download it there using the free Wi-Fi.

Alternatively, order the £55 OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive from http://store.apple.com/uk/product/ MD256Z/A. It's over twice the price of the downloaded edition, but it does come on one of the best-looking thumb drives we've ever seen.

Update iPhoto/Aperture

One of the most exciting features of iCloud is Photo Stream, which automatically copies the 1,000 photos you've most recently taken over the last 30 days between your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as backing them up to any Mac running iPhoto or Aperture.

Again, you'll need to ensure that you're running the very latest edition of either of these applications. In the case of iPhoto, that's iPhoto 11 version 9.2 or later, while Aperture users should be running version 3.2 or later.

Both of these are available through the Mac App Store (iPhoto 11 costs £10.49; Aperture 3 costs £55).

Update iTunes

iCloud has taken over from MobileMe as the main synchronisation conduit for all of your data on Apple's integrated ecosystem. That includes not only your contact, email accounts, calendars and so on, but also your purchases through the iTunes Store, iBook Store and Mac App Store.

That means that any purchase you make on any of your devices, or through iTunes on your Mac, will automatically be synchronised on each of your other devices. This works on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as soon as you upgrade to iOS 5 and activate iCloud.

But to get the Mac side of things working you need to upgrade to iTunes 5 or later, again through Software Update.

Update iOS devices

iCloud is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S, iPad and iPad 2, and the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. Each must be running iOS 5 to gain access to options for enabling the integrated iCloud features that sit at the heart of the OS.

The original iPhone and iPod touch only support as far as iPhone OS 3.1.3, and the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch, iOS 4.2.1. If you're updating several identical devices at one time, download the iOS 5 setup files manually so that you don't tie up your internet connection as iTunes retrieves them for each device individually. See here for the direct download links and instructions on how to apply each patch.

Be aware that if you follow this route, the bundles differ according to which device you want to update. So while the OS underpinning your iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPod touch might all be called iOS 5, they differ sufficiently for you to require a different setup file for each one.

The simplest route to updating your device, therefore, is to connect it to your Mac using USB and launch iTunes. iTunes will check Apple's servers for the iOS 5 update and patch your device. Click Download and Update to proceed, having already performed a manual synchronisation to ensure there's an up-to-date backup of your data in place should anything go wrong.

Once you've updated to iOS 5, all future software updates can be performed directly through the phone without plugging it in to your Mac. Tap Settings > General > Software Update to check for new releases.

You'll also need to update your Apple TV to take advantage of Photo Stream and access your previous iTunes purchases. Do this by using your remote to select Settings > General > Software Update. When Apple TV has located the installer, click Download and Install (or Download Now on a first-generation Apple TV). When the download completes on Apple TV 2, the update will have been applied. On Apple TV 1, click Update Now. Note that only Apple TV 2 is compatible with iCloud Photo Stream.

With all of your devices and applications up to date, it's time to take the plunge and set up your iCloud account properly. For existing MobileMe members, this is a simple matter of transferring your existing account. Everyone else, however, is starting from scratch. Turn the page to get started.

Setting up iCloud

iCloud for new users

Signing in to iCloud requires an Apple ID. If you've ever bought anything from one of Apple's online stores – music, apps, books, videos and so on – you already have an Apple ID.

If you can't remember what it is, point your browser at https://iforgot.apple.com, click Forgot Apple ID and enter your name, address and email address (or, if you can remember your Apple ID but you've forgotten your password, simply enter your ID in the box and click Next).

If you don't already have an Apple ID you can sign up for one for free without making any purchases at https://appleid.apple.com. Your selected Apple ID will take the form of an email address, but note that you can't use an existing MobileMe address here.

If you have one, it counts as an existing Apple ID, so you can use that to set up your Mac and iOS devices. So with your Apple ID registered, point your browser at http://icloud.com and sign in.

MobileMe users

As you already have an account set up, you need to convert it to iCloud. Open a browser window and visit www.me.com/move. You'll need to enter your MobileMe password to authorise the transfer.

There's no such thing as an iCloud family account, so master account holders of MobileMe Family Packs will have to transfer each user individually.

Data synchronisation

Like MobileMe before it, iCloud synchronises all of your day-to-day data, including appointments and contacts, between each of your devices. Again, setting this up is a two-step process conducted first on your Mac and then on your iOS device.

Open System Preferences > iCloud on your Mac and log in using the Apple ID and password tied to your iCloud account. Now check the boxes beside the data you want to synchronise, including Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks and Mail & Notes.

As with MobileMe, this latter option doesn't synchronise your email messages – just your account settings. However, it does synchronise jottings created using the Notes application on your iPad or iPhone, filing them neatly inside the OS X Mail application.

Now turn to your iOS device and add your iCloud account: tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account… and enter your Apple ID credentials, choosing iCloud as the account type. With this in place, step back to the overall Settings screen and tap iCloud, followed by the sliders beside the data types you want to synchronise. That way they match the ones you activated on your Mac.

Bear in mind that the more you synchronise, the more you'll eat into your storage allocation, with even Mail and any attachments in your inbox, outbox, drafts and folders counting against your limit. Photo Stream is the only synchronisation feature that Apple excludes from its calculations when working out how much you've used. And for good reason: it would be impossible for you to accurately judge in advance the exact size of each picture you take and how much space it will occupy on Apple's servers.

You should therefore avoid synchronising more data types than you need if you want to avoid having to upgrade to a paid account at some point in the future.

iTunes Store syncing

iTunes' status has been demoted slightly since the arrival of iOS 5 in that you don't need to use it to set up a new iPhone, or necessarily plug in your phone using USB to sync it. However, it remains a hub for your incoming data and an essential backup location for downloaded apps, books and music, so that should you lose your iOS device you won't also lose all your purchases.

Launch iTunes and click iTunes > Preferences > Store, then click the check boxes beside Music, Apps and Books to automatically download all purchases made on your iOS devices simultaneously to your iTunes library. This saves you syncing your device manually the next time you want to create a backup.

Setting up iTunes is only one half of the process, as you need to enable the same options on your iOS devices. Here, click Settings > Store and tap the sliders beside Music, Apps and Books to activate synchronisation.

On the iPhone and on 3G-enabled iPads you'll find a further option here to download your purchases over the cellphone network. Tap the slider beside Use Mobile Data to do this, but only if you're sure you're happy for your mobile 3G data allowance to be used in this way. If you are intending to take your device overseas, be sure to disable this particular feature. The excess fees you'll be charged for data roaming will make even a free app painfully expensive.

How to free up space on your iCloud account

1. Consider an upgrade

Every iCloud account comes with 5GB of free storage, which you can optionally upgrade by 20GB or 50GB for £28 and £70 a year respectively. You might consider doing this when things start to get tight. But before you do, how about clearing out some unused files?

2. Manage current storage

You can manage your iCloud storage from either your Mac or an iOS device. If you're at your Mac, simply open System Preferences > iCloud and click the Manage… button. On iOS, tap Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage.

3. Clear unused files (OS X)

On OS X, click through the various apps that are authorised to save data to your iCloud space to see which apps are hogging more than their due. Select the files you don't need any more and press Command+Delete to remove them, or click Delete All to clear out all files of that type.

4. Clear unused files (iOS)

On your iOS device, tap the name of each application in turn, followed by Edit, and then the red circles beside the names of the files you want to remove. This calls up a series of red Delete buttons. Simply tap these to confirm the removal.

5. Buy more storage

If you still need more storage, step back to Manage Storage on iOS, or click Buy More Storage… in OS X and select the amount of extra space you want to buy. Bear in mind that the specified quantities are in addition to your free 5GB account.

6. Downgrade options

Avoid paying for additional storage that you may no longer need when your account comes up for renewal by setting it to a more appropriate level. Click Downgrade Options… and select your new account quota. Note the billing details at the top of the pane.

Essential iCloud guide: Photo Stream

Photo Stream is like Time Machine for your iPhone snaps. Take a photo on any device running iOS 5 or later and it'll be synchronised to all of your other devices, and your Mac, without any input from yourself.

It's quite magical the first time you see it in operation, but how does it work, and how can you put it to use?

Set up Photo Stream

Enable Photo Stream on your iOS device by tapping Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream and tapping the action slider so that it reads 'ON'. You can now step out of settings and get on with using your device as usual.

On your Mac, Photo Stream helpfully synchronises with iPhoto 11 or Aperture 3.2. You can enable it through System Preferences by clicking in the Photo Stream check box on the iCloud pane. You now need to decide which application should act as the archive for your remotely shot images. (Apple doesn't allow you to send them simultaneously to iPhoto and Aperture.)

Open either application's Preferences and click the toolbar's Photo Stream icon, then tick the box to Enable Photo Stream, followed by either or both of the options to automatically import and automatically upload new photos. We would recommend at the very least enabling automatic import so that you maintain a complete archive of your iOS photos on your Mac.

Unlike the photos in the Photo Streams on your iOS devices, these will never be removed from your account, even after the 30-day limit.

Do you really need to enable automatic uploads? That depends on what your plans are. Are you going to be importing several hundred holiday shots when you return from your travels? It's better to decide now whether you want them to also be sent to your iOS device. If not, uncheck that option.

Photo Stream only works over Wi-Fi, so it won't hammer your 3G bandwidth and risk taking you close to your mobile contract's monthly cap. One less thing to worry about when you're on holiday!

Every time you take a photo on any iOS 5 device linked to your iCloud account, it's uploaded to Apple's servers when you quit the Camera app. From there it's sent back down to your other iOS devices and your Mac.

The next time you fire up iPhoto or Aperture (depending on which you have linked to your iCloud account) you'll find a Photo Stream entry in the sidebar containing a copy of each of your iOS photos. Your pictures will also appear on the second-generation Apple TV running software update 4.4 or later.

Photo Stream on iOS

Things work slightly differently on an iOS device to the way they do in Aperture or iPhoto. Images shot on any device are saved locally, as usual, to the Camera Roll in the Photos app.

Step back one level from here on the iPhone or iPod touch, or use the buttons at the top of the screen on the iPad, and you'll see a new library called Photo Stream. This is where you'll find your synchronised images, whether they were snapped on an alternative iOS device or synchronised through iPhoto or Aperture.

Any photo taken on an iOS device will remain on that device until you actively choose to delete it. However, items that appear only in the Photo Stream album will be removed from the device after 30 days. They will also be removed from the Photo Stream album on an iOS device one at a time if you add more than 1,000 during that 30-day period, with the oldest one in each instance being killed off to make way for each new addition.

It's therefore vitally important that you take an active interest in saving (and backing up!) your synchronised pictures. Fire up iPhoto or Aperture at least once a month to make sure you have a copy of your images on your Mac. And if you want to keep synchronised photos on any iOS devices other than the ones originally used to take them, copy them to your Camera Roll by following the instructions in the walk-through below.

Images downloaded to your Mac are saved at their native resolution, so for anything taken using the rear camera on an iPhone 4S that means the full 8 megapixels. This matches some compact cameras on sale just a couple of years ago.

However, images sent to Photo Stream on an iOS device are first reduced in size to optimise them for display on that particular device's screen. The exact resolution will depend on the dimensions of the original, but Apple currently uses 2048x1535 pixels (3 megapixels) as its benchmark.

Photo Stream is compatible with JPEG, TIF, PNG and RAW images imported from your iPhoto or Aperture library. These formats are in turn converted as part of the transfer process.

How to archive synchronised photos on an iOS device

1. Select Photo Stream

To save synchronised images from being expired and disappearing from the Photo Stream on your iOS device, you should copy any you want to keep to your Camera Roll. Open the Photos app and step back to the albums page, then select Photo Stream.

2. Tick images

Tap the shortcut button on the toolbar (it looks like a box with an arrow curling out of it) and select the images you want to copy by tapping on each one in turn. As you do, they'll be given a small red tick to show which have been selected.

3. Tap to keep

Tap the save button at the foot of the screen to store them in your Camera Roll. The images will be left in place on your Photo Stream and removed when their time is up, but the versions you saved will be kept on your device until you remove them manually.

How to delete your Photo Stream

1. Log in to iCloud

Although your Photo Stream contents don't count against your iCloud storage limit, there may be times when you want to delete the contents of the stream entirely. Log in to your iCloud account at icloud.com and click the iCloud icon in the top-left corner.

02. Delete remote photos

Click your name at the top of the screen to open your account preferences. Click the Advanced button and then, click Reset Photo Stream. This clears out the images on Apple's servers but leaves them where they are on your Mac and iOS devices.

3. Delete local photos

To remove the images from your iOS device, open Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream and tap the activity button so that it reads 'OFF'. You'll be asked for confirmation, after which all of the synchronised photos will be removed, leaving in place only original and saved snaps.

Essential iCloud guide: Backups and storage

As we've already discussed, iCloud takes care of backing up all of your iOS purchases on your Mac, and simultaneously installs any apps you buy on your Mac to each of your iOS devices. However, you can now go one step further and save your device backups directly to the cloud.

Previously, every time you synchronised your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iTunes on your Mac it would create a local backup. That way, should the worst happen, you could easily recover your documents, contacts, appointments and apps. That's still an option, but in iOS 5 and iTunes 5 Apple has improved on this feature in two ways.

First, you can now enable wireless backups to iTunes so that whenever your device is plugged into a power source and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your iTunes library, it will automatically synchronise the two. You can opt instead to save that backup to iCloud, so that should your Mac be damaged or lost your backup won't be lost with it.

To enable this, connect your iOS device to your Mac, select its entry in the iTunes sidebar, and click the Back up to iCloud radio button on the Summary page. Now your device will be backed up once a day whenever it's plugged in.

The final piece of the iCloud puzzle (at least until iTunes Match arrives in the UK) is Documents in the Cloud, which maintains a backed-up copy of all of your remotely edited Pages, Numbers and Keynote documents.

Synchronisation with iCloud requires the latest versions of the iOS iWork apps. These updates are free for all existing users, but if you don't already have them, the apps are sold individually at £6.99 apiece through the App Store. They're all Universal apps, so work on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

You need to opt in to use iCloud with each application individually. If you're firing up any one of them for the first time you'll be given the option to do this on the startup screens. But if you've already been using them in the past, you can activate them through the iOS Settings application where they appear among the third-party apps at the bottom of the menu.

Working with documents

Open the iWork app of your choice and create a new document by tapping the '+' in the upper left corner of the screen. We'd recommend ignoring the option to use iDisk as this will disappear over time, so it makes sense to get out of the habit as soon as you can.

Tap Create Document and choose a document type in the usual way, then start working. When you've finished, and you return to the document menu, you'll notice that its thumbnail has a small arrow on a turned-over corner. This is a warning that the document hasn't yet been backed up to iCloud.

Your documents will automatically sync to the same apps on any other iOS device the next time you start them up, and are also saved to your online iCloud account. Point your browser at www.icloud.com/iwork, and you'll see that there are individual tabs for Keynote, Pages and Numbers, with the relevant documents organised inside each one. Here, things don't work quite as smoothly as you might hope…

Apple has made great claims about iCloud's ability to synchronise your documents across all devices. It says you can shut down your Mac on your way out the door and finish working on your document, spreadsheet or presentation on your iPad on the way home.

Technically that's true, but only if when using OS X you manually copy your data to and from iCloud. To access the document created on your iOS device, click it in the web interface and select the format in which you'd like to download it. Choose from the native iWork formats, their Microsoft Office equivalents and PDF.

To send documents from your Mac to your iOS device, select the relevant application by clicking its name on the tabs at the top of the web interface; then drag the file into the document management area that fills the rest of the screen. A progress gauge monitors its passage onto iCloud.

We can expect to see more apps exploit Documents in the Cloud, as Apple has opened up the underlying hooks that will enable third-party coders to integrate the service into their own apps. But we would also hope to see iCloud integrated directly into the OS X iWork apps so that we no longer need to open a browser window to access our iOS documents.

How to manage iCloud files in your browser

1. Rename files

Click once on the document's filename and type a new name, pressing return as you would in the Finder to confirm the change. Filenames can be up to 255 characters in length and contain anything you like – so long as they don't start with a colon, dot or slash.

2. Copy a document

Click once on the document's thumbnail icon, followed by the cog icon, and then select Duplicate Document from the drop-down menu. The next time you check your iOS devices you will see that the file has been duplicated and is ready to work on.

3. Keyboard navigation

Now press Ctrl+Esc to activate the keyboard, then use the cursor keys to move around your files in the browser view. Pressing Shift+Esc has the same effect as clicking the iCloud icon – you will be taken back to the applications menu.

WebOS will have 'huge advantages' over iOS and Android

Chris Smith — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:40:00 GMT

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman says the company's soon-to-be open source WebOS software will eventually be better than both the Android and iOS platforms.

HP will launch the first version of the reimagined operating system in September this year after deciding to commit the storied software to the open source community.

Whitman said the result will prove to be superior to the 'closed' Apple iOS ecosystem and the undeniably 'fragmented' Android platform.

She also confirmed that the company will re-enter the tablet market, following the HP TouchPad debacle of 2011.

An open and closed case

In an interview with CRN, she said: "There is a clear vision of what we're trying to accomplish.

"There will be some people who will not love that vision, and then there are people who are very excited about this vision, and what it can mean for an alternative, open-source operating system that has some real strengths to it.

"We're going to build another operating system that has huge advantages, in my view, over iOS, which is a closed system, [and] Android, which is incredibly fragmented and may ultimately be more closed with [Google's] acquisition of Motorola Mobility."

Windows 8 tablet

Whitman, who took the reigns at the world's largest PC manufacturer in September last year, also stated that HP will be in amongst it when the first Windows 8 tablets come to market later this year.

She said: "We have to have a tablet offering," Whitman said. "We will be back in that business. We're coming back into the market with a Windows 8 tablet, first on an x86 chip and then maybe on an ARM chip."

Via: CRN, BGR

Rhapsody music streaming app lands for Android tablets

Chris Smith — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:41:00 GMT

Music streaming service Rhapsody has enhanced its mobile offering with a brand new application for tablets running Android.

The reimagined app for Android tablets running the Ice Cream Sandwich or Honeycomb operating systems offers a gorgeous magazine-style user interface.

The new Rhapsody app brings album art and imagery to the fore compared with the text heavy approach of the smartphone version.

Rhapsody for Android tablets is also built around the editorial content the company is so proud of, bringing you the latest news, reviews and features all with playable links.

Reach out and touch

The app also brings the ability to swipe through music libraries while listening, and also allows for offline playlists to be downloaded.

"The tablet transforms Rhapsody into an immersive experience that's inspired by what digital music lovers miss about physical albums and CDs: album art, photos and the ability to reach out and touch the next album you're playing," said the company in a media release on Friday.

"The tablet amplifies the experience with the best aspects of digital, with links across the universe of content that Rhapsody editors have produced over the past decade."

The app, which requires a screen of nine inches or more in size, brings access to Rhapsody's 14 million-strong song library for premium members who pay $10 a month for the service.

The company already has apps for iPhone, Android smartphones and BlackBerry devices, but this is the first tablet-centric application launched by the US streaming giant.

In Depth: The 10 most hated programs of all time

Gary Marshall — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:50:00 GMT

10 worst programs of all time

Programs can be our friends: they can help us express ourselves, can solve our problems and can do their very best to make our days happier.

Sometimes, though, they do the Devil's work, making simple tasks so complex and frustrating that you'd happily make everybody involved face a firing squad.

So which programs made everyone angry? Let's discover the software Hall of Shame.

1. Final Cut Pro X

Apple's movie editing software isn't a bad program, but this release turned even the most mild-mannered editor into an incandescent ball of sheer fury. It was sold as an upgrade, but it was really a brand new, version 1.0 product - and that means it didn't have all the features or compatibility that existing users expected, wanted or relied upon.

2. Adobe Reader

Everybody needs to open a PDF from time to time, but Adobe Reader is a sledgehammer sold as a nutcracker: it's enormous - on the Mac, the current version is 69.1MB - it keeps putting a shortcut on your desktop for no good reason, and once you've installed it seems to spend most of its time moaning that you haven't paid it enough attention or installed yet another enormous update. No wonder Windows 8 plans to whack it with a shovel.

GOING: OS X has its own PDF reader, and Windows 8 will do the same with the new Open Reader

3. Ask Toolbar

We're not fans of browser toolbars at the best of times, but the Ask Toolbar is a particularly poor one: it's been variously accused of installing itself without asking permission, making changes to users' browser settings and promoting itself to children. Many problems occurred because over-zealous software writers bundled the toolbar with their own applications but didn't ask whether or not you wanted it.

WHAT'S THAT JEEVES?: We don't like third party toolbars at the best of times, but the Ask one proved particularly unpopular

4. Lotus Notes

IT departments loved this popular messaging and collaboration system, but users were considerably less keen: in the mid-2000s the product was widely criticised for appearing to have been put together by somebody who really, really hated the entire human race and wanted to make it suffer. According to The Guardian, its popularity in business was partly because "the people who choose [business software] tend not to be the ones who use it."

NOT OF NOTE: Lotus Notes still exists, but these days it's very different from its much-hated mid-2000s incarnation [Image credit: Koman90, Wikimedia Commons]

5. Norton Antivirus

Symantec's desktop antivirus software generated enormous ill will through its unfortunate habit of slowing your PC down to a crawl. Part of the problem was that the software tried to do too much: scanning every conceivable thing you do on PC requires significant resources at a time when PCs weren't the flying machines they are today. Thankfully, Norton has addressed such issues these days.

PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS: Happy Norton Man won't be smiling when his system slows down and he can't uninstall the program

6. Microsoft Word

Some people say "I hate Microsoft Word because it's far too complicated!" Some say "I hate Microsoft Word because it introduced Clippy the bloody Office Assistant!" A few say "I hate Microsoft Word because it's often used by idiots to make really horrible-looking things!" Others say, "I hate Microsoft Word because its HTML output made web designers' lives miserable for years!" Still others say "I hate Microsoft Word because I keep sending .docx files that only three people on Earth can actually read!" We say, people! Come together! Let's hate Microsoft Word for all of those reasons!

OFFICE PEST: Aaagh! Aaagh! Aaagh! Aaagh!

7. Adobe Flash

Despite its many benefits - in web design circles it's a powerful and useful creative tool - Flash can be enormously annoying. In many cases the problem was with its users, not the technology - you can't blame Adobe for irritating splash screens, badly designed ads or appalling user interfaces - but for many internet users, a Flash blocker is the first thing they install in a new browser.

NOT JUST JOBS: Flash remains a powerful design tool, but in the wrong hands it can be a powerful force for evil

8. iTunes for Windows

Steve Jobs called iTunes for Windows "like giving a glass of ice water to someone in hell". The reality distortion field was strong that day, because rather than show Windows users the joys of Apple software, iTunes on Windows seems merely designed to depress them. As we've said previously, "the Windows version is a sluggish, resource-hungry mess. Apple has Windows users worldwide loving its iOS devices and despising iTunes, and this needs to change."

SLOOOOOOW: iTunes is proof that Apple doesn't always get it right. On Windows it's a donkey

9. Windows Me and Windows Vista

Yes, we know these are operating systems. This one's a joint nomination: Windows Me because it was a largely pointless update of Windows 98, and Windows Vista because it didn't work properly. Vista in particular should have been a great OS, but show-stopping bugs - copying a file could easily take four million years - and a lack of initial driver support turned a potential racehorse into a donkey.

WOW NOW: The wow starts... now! No... now! Now! NOW! Oh okay, let's just wait for Windows 7 then

10. Internet Explorer 6

Imagine a pristine swimming pool with crystal clear water. That's the internet. Now imagine an enormous poo floating past. That's IE6.

You know something's bad when even its creator dances on its grave. The problem wasn't the browser as such, which was fairly modern when it was released in 2001; it was Microsoft's refusal to update it significantly for years and years, breaking websites and leaving internet users vulnerable to all kinds of online unpleasantness. IE6 was Microsoft at its worst.

TERRIBLE: "Imagine an enormous poo... that's IE6". IE6 is officially pronounced "Aieeeeeee"

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Gary Marshall: Tablets are no longer just idiot toys

Gary Marshall — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:25:00 GMT

From time to time even jaded tech hacks get a "wow!" moment. I had one last night when I saw that Avid had launched an iPad app.

Avid? The high-end video and ProTools firm? An iPad app? Yep, yep and yep.

Avid reckons the iPad makes a great wee video editor, and its Avid Studio plays happily with the firm's high-end desktop software. It's right, and it's not the only firm thinking along the same lines. Apple, of course, already does Garageband and iMovie, Adobe has Photoshop Touch, and there are stacks of digital audio products such as Auria and the tasty-looking Bitwig music studio.

Not bad for toys, eh?

Getting better all the time

What's really great about this is that we're still in the very early stages, both in terms of technology - we've gone from single core to dual core to quad core tablets already; imagine what horsepower tablets will have in five years - and in terms of what's possible for our tablets to do.

Take music, for example. You can use your tablet as a quick and dirty composition device, or as a controller for a desktop music production program, or as a fully-fledged studio, or you can slot it into another bit of hardware such as Behringer's utterly brilliant/completely demented iAxe or its faintly frightening iPad mixers.

This isn't about whether tablets are better than PCs or vice-versa; it's about people, and what they can do, and the ever-expanding universe of possibilities today's technology delivers and tomorrow's promises.

We've only had iPad-y tablets for two years. What on earth will we be doing with them in ten?

Windows Phone Apollo details leaked

Chris Smith — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:25:00 GMT

The next big update to the Windows Phone operating system has been laid bare, with Apollo set to boast built-in Skype and NFC tech.

PocketNow says it has seen a "Windows Phone 8" video meant for the eyes of Nokia executives, which gives full details of the update expected towards the end of the year, after the minor Tango bump.

The site says a new version of the Microsoft-owned Skype client will be baked into the operating system and will allow "Skype calls behave almost identically to regular, non-VoIP telephony."

Windows 8 in mind

The report says that the new mobile OS has also been built largely with the new Windows 8 software in mind, harnessing Microsoft's vision of one operating system across the range of Windows-running tech

The software is built using many of the same components, according to Pocket-Now, enabling developers to use most of the same code to port applications to the mobile ecosystem.

There's also be native code support, which will make it easier for developers of iOS and Android apps to create existing apps for the Windows Phone Marketplace.

NFC tech on board

In terms of hardware requirements, Windows Phone 8, currently codenamed Apollo, will also embrace Near Field Communications tech for the first time.

"The Wallet experience," says PocketNow, "will have to capability to be carrier-branded and controlled, either by a secure element on the SIM card or utilizing hardware in the phone itself. In addition, tap-to-share capabilities will reportedly work across multiple platforms, allowing desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones to all share content."

The Apollo generation of Windows Phones will also allow for multicore processors, while there'll also be removable MicroSD storage for the first time.

The software will also feature more efficient data management services, according to the site.

Identical to Windows 8

PocketNow, which has snagged a pretty huge scoop with this video that it hasn't published, says that the new Windows Phone version promises to bring the OS much closer to the Windows 8 OS.

The report closes by saying: "Overall, we're looking at a lot of changes and additions here, all of which seem designed to either bring Windows Phone in line with other platforms, feature-wise, or make it more closely identical to the desktop version of Windows. It's probably safe to say that the jump from Mango/Tango to Apollo will be nearly as significant as the transition from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone, and this preview certainly gives us a lot to look forward to."

The report follows TechRadar's chat with key Windows Phone partner Nokia, which promised Apollo will see the operating system reach its potential and finally come into its own.