As expected, Apple yesterday began pushing out iOS 6 to iPods, iPhones and iPads. According to Apple, the update adds over 200 new features, to iOS 5, which was released last October. Chief among them is an entirely new maps application that uses Apple's own data, changes to Siri that add more information about movies, restaurants, and sports scores, as well as deep integration with Facebook.
Microsoft is unveiling a new recycle bin feature for SkyDrive yesterday. After being rumored since earlier this year, SkyDrive will now offer a way to recover any files that may have been deleted by accident. SkyDrive already keeps previous versions of your Office documents automatically. But students, in particular, have asked for a way to recover any file — even those deleted by accident, by someone else, during a group project. So, Microsoft has added a recycle bin to SkyDrive.
Hackers have used a new zero-day vulnerability — a hole previously unknown to security researchers — in versions 7 and 8 of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser to spread malware on computers running Windows XP Service Pack 3 and below. Further investigation by the developers of penetration testing tool Metasploit has demonstrated that the hole can also be exploited on computers running Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7 or Windows Vista.
Microsoft has announced the consumer and small-business prices for the new Office suite, which will be sold both via traditional single-device, perpetual licenses and via a new annual, multi-device cloud subscription. The subscription version for consumers, called Office 365 Home Premium, will cost US$99.99 per household, while the small-business version, called Office 365 Small Business Premium, will cost $149.99 per employee per year.
If you are spending most of the time on your computer using a web browser like Firefox, you may in the future spend even more time using the browser, and nothing but the browser. The idea behind Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) is to add options to the web browser to share and stream audio, video and data. How that is different from today’s options to do so? WebRTC requires no plugins, extensions or third party software to provide you with those functionalities.
The Photoshop team would like to provide advanced notice that Photoshop CS6 (13.0) will be the last major version of Photoshop to support Windows XP. (Photoshop CS6 does not support Windows Vista.) In addition, all subsequent Photoshop feature updates specifically for Creative Cloud members will no longer support Windows XP.
Buyers of computers running Windows RT, the Windows 8 version for ARM-based devices, will receive at no additional cost a version of Office that will become available in multiple languages between November and January. The devices, expected to be mostly tablets, that being to ship in late October will include a preview version of Office Home & Student 2013 RT, which will be replaced via download with a full-featured version via Windows Update download once the version for the user's language becomes available.
Microsoft promised that sign-ups for a Windows Phone 8 SDK Preview Program would open, and the company has followed through. Although the near-final kit will be available to current Windows Phone developers, the access to the program is limited. A full Windows Phone 8 SDK will be made available publicly later this year once the company unveils Windows Phone 8, but the Preview Program will provide early access to developers.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook took to the stage a short while ago at the Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco, along with a bevy of other company executives and vice-presidents, to announce the sixth-generation iPhone. In a small pocket of San Francisco, technology press gathered to learn what the new iPhone would look and feel like, despite the dozens of leaks that led up to yesterday's announcement. Nonetheless, the news was in no way dampened by the series of cracks in Apple's tight-lipped mantra.
At the IBC 2012 Conference and Exhibition, Adobe announced it is showcasing innovative new video technologies that are driving the shift to Adobe video solutions across the broadcast and media industries. Highlights of the show include the reveal of Adobe Anywhere for video. Adobe Anywhere is a modern, collaborative workflow platform that empowers teams using Adobe professional video tools, including Adobe Premiere Pro, to work together across virtually any network, using shared media.