John Lister

Last quarter Microsoft profits were up an impressive 19 per cent when compared to the same period last year. However, the company can credit Office software and the Xbox 360, not Windows 8, for that bump. While Microsoft's Windows division showed ... increases in revenue and profits, The Wall Street Journal notes this income was actually earned in the past, with its reporting deferred for accounting purposes. This involved software that allowed the user to receive a free or reduced-price upgrade at a later date. Microsoft chose to not list the full revenue in its accounts at the time of purchase ... (view more)

Twitter has announced it will run personalised advertisements based on what an individual user is writing about. It's an attractive proposition for advertisers but may come across as creepy to users of the social media service. Most Twitter ads are ... based on the people a user follows and the types of messages that users retweet (or share with other users). (Source; pcworld.com ) The new advertising model will go beyond that and incorporate technologies from two popular ad-funded web giants. Like Facebook, Twitter ads can now be targeted to people of a particular gender, living in a particular ... (view more)

Hardware manufacturer Hewlett-Packard (HP) plans to begin adding motion control sensors to some of its computers. Although it will initially be aimed at gamers, the motion control technology could allow for some other high-tech uses, including ... remote surgery. The technology is from Leap Motion, which already produces a standalone accessory that plugs into computers. HP says it will begin bundling the accessory with some new computers shortly. It will then release computers with the technology built-in later this year. In the long run, it's possible HP will use the technology in other devices ... (view more)

Samsung is under investigation for allegedly paying people to post bogus comments online. However, the fake reviews didn't talk up Samsung products but instead attacked devices from rival smartphone manufacturer HTC. News of the alleged dirty tricks ... came from a Taiwanese website that published a document from a marketing firm hired by Samsung. The document lists numerous online discussion forum posts made by people acting on behalf of the marketing firm and, in turn, Samsung. Some of the posts simply praised Samsung products. Others included comparisons between Samsung and HTC smartphones ... (view more)

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has warned that privately-owned drone aircraft could pose a threat to civil liberties. It's a somewhat ironic comment given Google's controversial Street View operations. Schmidt discussed the dangers posed by ... drones in a recent interview with The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. Schmidt says such drones have a long operating range and can transmit data wirelessly to the person controlling them, even passing on live video footage from an on-board camera. At the moment, federal rules allow only approved law enforcement agencies to operate ... (view more)

According to a new report, the number of PCs sold around the world dropped by almost 14 per cent last year. Even the gloomiest forecasts failed to predict such a slump that many experts are blaming on Windows 8. The figures come from analyst firm ... IDC and combine reports from the major PC manufacturers. These reports cover the first three months of 2013 and compare them to the same period last year. The numbers actually refer to how many PCs the firms have sent to stores rather than how many have been bought by consumers and businesses. That can make it difficult to compare one quarter to the ... (view more)

Google says it will allow users to decide what should happen to their data after they die. It will allow users to have data deleted or passed on to somebody else. The new feature is called 'Inactive Account Manager' and is accessed through the main ... account settings page for your Google account. It's an opt-in service, so it will only take effect if you actively set it up. (Source: google.com ) The feature isn't triggered by your death, but by you failing to carry out any actions that require you to be logged into an account, such as checking emails. You can set the feature to activate after ... (view more)

Researchers in California say they've developed a way to use brain signals as a form of digital security. It could solve several major problems with current password systems. Existing log-in tools are limited by the ability of the user to remember a ... password. In turn, that tempts people to use simpler passwords that are easier for humans to guess or machines to figure out by trial and error. The University of California Berkeley School of Information has been working on an alternative. Staff there believe reading a person's brainwaves represents a more reliable and secure system. They've ... (view more)

Microsoft is now warning Windows XP users that it will only support the aging operating system (OS) for one more year. Beyond that point, anyone still using it will be at risk. To get people off the old OS, Microsoft is offering a 15 per cent price ... reduction for businesses upgrading to Windows 8. April 8, 2014, will mark the end of extended support for people running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3), the last of the major updates to the system. Those who didn't apply the service packs are already out of the support window, though there's no charge to download these updates. Extended ... (view more)

A group dedicated to protecting civil rights has released a high-tech bracelet that can automatically send out a location-based alert if the wearer is kidnapped. However, the organization says it needs financial assistance to protect more workers. ... The bracelet is produced by the Sweden-based Civil Rights Defenders group, an independent organization that sends workers into foreign countries to help prevent human rights violations. The idea for the bracelet came after the 2009 death of Natalia Estermirova in Chechnya. She was kidnapped and later found murdered. The organization believes she was ... (view more)