PC Satisfaction Increased by Tablets?

Recent news on PCs have been mostly negative with most people in the tech industry saying that the PC is dead, due in large part to the incredible rise of the tablet PC. Many people have been saying that tablets are killing the PC business and that it is only a matter of time before tablets completely make PCs obsolete. However, recent reports are suggesting that tablets may actually be boosting the rate at which consumers appreciate their PCs.

Personal computer satisfaction increased by 2.6% this year, giving it a record high score of 80 on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI). According to the index, the reason for this satisfaction increase is probably due to rise in tablet use among consumers.

When you think about it, this seems a little contradictory, though ASCI founder Claes Fornell has a theory. Fornell's theory is that when unsatisfied PC users move to Apple and other tablet makers, only the most loyal and happy users are left using traditional PCs, such as Dell, HP and Acer computers. That actually makes a lot of sense. If all the unsatisfied people switch to tablets, then only the happy and satisfied customers are left to take the surveys.

There may be an additional reason that tablet growth has increased PC customer satisfaction. Tablets typically server as an ancillary device, meaning they are viewed as second in importance to a PC. If this is true then tablets, instead of taking the place of a PC, are used solely for the tasks that they are best at, like surfing the internet, watching movies or checking Facebook. This leaves PC users fully aware of everything that their PC offers and everything that their tablet doesn't, further increasing their satisfaction.

Source: PC World - Tablets might actually be increasing PC customer satisfaction

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Microsoft Issues Fix It Patch for Internet Explorer Vulnerability

Microsoft has just released what it is calling "Fix It" software that was designed to protect Windows users from a critical hole in Internet Explorer that was being exploited by hackers. While this is all well and good, it isn't the big fix that everybody has been waiting for. Instead, this is merely a temporary fix until Microsoft releases a cumulative update for Internet Explorer.

According to Trustworthy Computer Director for Microsoft Yunsun Wee, the Fix It tool "is an easy, one-click solution that will help protect your computer right away. It will not affect your ability to browse the web, and it does not require a reboot of your computer. This will not only reinforce the issue that the Fix It addressed, but cover other issues as well, including four other critical remote code execution issues."

This isn't some minor hole, however. In fact, the vulnerability is so severe that the German government and security experts have been advising people to avoid using Internet Explorer altogether until the vulnerability is patched entirely, which won't happen until the larger update is released. That update, which has a severity rating of Critical, should come out any day now, meaning users won't have long to wait until they can get back to viewing the internet in peace.

This vulnerability, more specifically, was uncovered within the past week and could very well compromise the PCs of every single Internet Explorer user who visits a malicious site. The flaw itself is being actively exploited to deliver a back-door Trojan known as Poison Ivy. My recommendation is that you download the patch as soon as it is available so as to not risk any critical harm befalling your PC.

Source: CNET - Microsoft issues fix for IE hole; full update coming Friday

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Microsoft Drops Metro, Calls Everything Windows 8 Now

It appears as if Microsoft has entered into a naming dispute with European partner Metro Group over the design language for the company's upcoming operating system, Windows 8. Metro has long been used by Microsoft in reference to Windows 8 but, instead of fighting it out with Metro Group, Microsoft has simply decided to change the name. The new name that the company is using is none other than Microsoft 8 itself. Wow, what a change.

According to sources from Microsoft, anything currently or formerly known as a Metro-Style application (regardless of the hyphen) will henceforth be referred to as a Windows 8 application. In addition to that, references to the Metro user interface will be replaced by a Windows 8 user interface and instead of using Metro design, Microsoft and everybody else involved with the project will use the term Windows 8 design.

This news doesn't seem to be a big secret though as some OEMs seem to have gotten the message. Lenovo's new promo page for the new Windows 8 Thinkpad Tablet 2 has no mention of the word Metro anywhere on it. Instead, the heading Windows 8 apps is used. However, some at Microsoft are still using the Metro term in certain situations.

Some divisions at Microsoft were still using Metro to refer to the tiled interface with bold Segoe-font typographic elements. Metro became a nickname to refer to the new look and feel of Windows 8, as well as a way to refer to apps built using the new WinRT programming interface. It also seems as if Microsoft is going to use the Windows 8 name change with its Windows Phone as well. That means the Metro interface on Windows Phone will now be known as the Windows 8 interface.

Source: ZDNet - Microsoft: Don't call it Metro. Call it 'Windows 8'

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Blackhole Exploit Sucks in Twitter Users

According to the security firm Sophos, who seems to be on top of every single major spam attack that happens on the internet these days, a widespread spam attack that links to malware has weaseled its way onto Twitter. The tweets that are trying to lure unsuspecting users in include things like: "It's you on photo?" or "It's about you?" In addition to that, the tweets and URLs typically include a user's Twitter handle. Many of the links that Sophos has discovered include a .RU domain name.

According to Head of Sophos' U.S. Labs Richard Wang, "The attack itself is very simple, relying on people's natural curiosity about anything they think mentions them. Including the target's Twitter username in the link is an added hook to reel people in." Twitter added through a spokesman's email saying, "We're aware of the issue and we're working to resolve it."

The links in the tweets themselves lead to a Trojan that ultimately redirects users to Russian websites that contain the Blackhole exploit kit, according to Sophos. The Blackhole exploit kit first emerged back in 2010 and is widely used in spam attacks. The version of the kit that is floating around Twitter targets vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Shockwave Flash, Sophos discovered.

If you feel that you have been affected by the spamming attacks, or you just want to take precautions against it in general, then you can protect yourself by updating your anti-malware software, patching your operating system and making sure your browser and browser plugins are up-to-date. In addition to that, you could just be smart and not click on anything on Twitter that you don't recognize.

Source: Computer World - Twitter suffers malware spam outbreak

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Yahoo Gets Hacked, Quickly Follows Up with a Patch

Yahoo recently announced that it has fixed the vulnerability in its system that led to the unauthorized release of more than 450,000 email passwords from users of Yahoo Voices. According to a blog post by Yahoo, "We have taken swift action and have now fixed this vulnerability, deployed additional security measures for affected Yahoo! users, enhanced our underlying security controls and are in the process of notifying affected users. In addition, we will continue to take significant measures to protect our users and their data."

The released data only affected those users who joined Associated Content before May 2010, the same time Yahoo acquired the company. According to Yahoo, "This compromised file was a standalone file that was not used to grant access to Yahoo systems and services." The next time the affected users sign into their Yahoo account, they will be asked to answer a series of authentication questions to change and validate account details, according to Yahoo.

The company added, "At Yahoo we take security very seriously and invest heavily in protective measures to ensure the security of our users and their data across all our products. We sincerely apologize to all affected users." Those affected users encompass 453,491 people whose emails and passwords were posted online by hacker group D33DS Company according to security firm Sophos. In a recent response to Sophos, D33DS Company stated, "We hope that the parties responsible for managing the security of this subdomain will take this as a wake-up call, and not as a threat."

Sophos recently released a new blog post that highlighted some of the insecure passwords many of the Yahoo hack victims were using. This included 1,666 people who used "123456" as their password and an additional 780 users who used "password" as their password. Among the other top choices were passwords like "welcome", "ninja", "sunshine", "princess" and "qwerty". I suddenly don't feel as bad for these people as I used to.

Yahoo isn't the only one who got hacked this week. Nvidia recently announced that it shut down its Developer Zone after it got hacked. That hack may have allowed the hacker to gain access to password information as well. In addition to Nvidia and Yahoo, Phandroid also got hacked, this one occurring on its Android forums.

Source: PC Mag - Yahoo Patches Email Vulnerability

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Twitter Ends Partnership with LinkedIn

According to a recent blog post by LinkedIn, Twitter has decided to end a two and a half year partnership with the website. The partnership allowed users of the social networking site for business professionals to publish tweets directly to their LinkedIn profiles. Consumer Product Chief for Twitter Michael Sippey recently wrote a post on the site's developer blog that the changes were part of a move to "deliver a core Twitter consumption experience through a consistent set of products and tools."

This isn't too surprising as Twitter has been slowly trying to push out partners who show tweets on their websites. However, those efforts have also been primarily focused on mobile clients, the same place Twitter has been emphasizing its own offerings.

LinkedIn and Twitter users will still be able to post updates on LinkedIn and broadcast them to Twitter, though the content sharing will not go the other way. This actually goes along with what Twitter's overall strategy has been recently. The social network is welcoming of others sending content to Twitter but isn't so keen on having others use tweets as content on their sites.

The strange thing about all of this, however, is that Twitter just upgraded its own Facebook app, which crossposts tweets to users' Facebook profiles, which is the exact same thing that the partnership with LinkedIn allowed since the partnership between the two sites formed back in 2009.

Twitter has struggled with rule and practice consistency for some time now with its partners like LinkedIn. Developers who have created apps for viewing tweets have found themselves placed at a disadvantage by changes to Twitter's rules and the site's efforts to develop its own mobile clients.

Source: Business Insider - Twitter Gives LinkedIn The Bird

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ARM Develops New GPU for Low-Cost Tablets

ARM has just created a brand new, entry level version of its Mali graphics processor that, if incorporated, could expand the market of low cost Android tablets. Known as the Mali-450, this GPU is designed to help manufacturers build tablets that are less expensive than the ones currently leading the markets, like Apple's iPad which runs $399. However, these manufacturers still want good enough graphics performance to keep most users satisfied.

Touchscreens and HD video are pretty standard when it comes to tablets these days, with the GPUs in these devices accounting for a big share of the price you pay. In addition to that, more powerful GPUs take up more space on the CPU, which could also increase costs. A lot of manufacturers are looking for cheaper parts that offer decent graphics performance while also occupying less space. This is where the Mali-450 fits in.

The new GPU is offered with as many as eight cores and offers double the performance of its predecessor the Mali-400. The Mali-450 is also expected to appear in tablets in the first half of 2013 according to Director of Marketing for ARM's Media Processing Division Ian Smythe.

Tablet makers are showing an increased demand for a wide range of price and performance characteristics, which is where this new ARM GPU comes in . The company is planning on offering the Mali-T600 series for high-end devices and the Mali-400 series for low-end devices.

Both series will be able to do gaming and video playback but, according to Smythe, only the high-end parts will be able to handle "computational graphics". That includes things like matching points on two images to do facial recognition or stitching photographs together into a panorama. ARM is also developing a high-end part known as Skrymir (not to be confused with Skyrim, cheeky devils) which is due out sometime in 2014.

Source: Computer World - ARM preps Mali GPU for low-cost Android tablets

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