mobile devices

New reports indicate that the rate at which consumers are flocking to mobile computing devices -- including smartphones and tablet computers -- could threaten the PC market. According to recent consumer polls, people are increasingly using mobile ... devices for their Internet browsing. More specifically, 27 per cent of tablet owners admit to using their PCs far less for online browsing, while 20 per cent said that their PCs are being used less often for accessing Facebook. Furthermore, 27 per cent of smartphone owners claimed they use their PCs far less regularly for both Internet access and ... (view more)

Microsoft has now revealed that most buyers will choose between just two versions of Windows 8. It's a big change from earlier Windows launches, in which choosing the right version could be a daunting and confusing experience. One version of Windows ... 8, known as simply 'Windows 8', is aimed at consumers and small businesses. The more expensive and expansive option will be called 'Windows 8 Pro'. As with previous "premium" or "business" editions of Windows, it will include features that are most useful in a corporate setting. These additional features include extra network controls, a remote ... (view more)

Facebook has announced it will step up the amount of advertising displayed to users. It plans to include ads within news feeds and, for the first time, on mobile devices. Advertising makes up the vast majority of Facebook's revenue, the remainder ... coming from revenue associated with applications, like Farmville. However, to date Facebook has not followed the traditional model of offering advertisers a variety of different ad sizes and spaces at different prices. Instead, it has concentrated on its ability to target ads at users who meet a specific description set by the advertiser. That's ... (view more)

On Thursday, Microsoft gave its first major public demonstration of Windows 8, and showed how it would be used to bridge the gap between PCs and mobile devices. To the surprise of many guests attending the event, Microsoft says that the new ... operating system's hardware requirements will actually be less than the requirements to run Windows 7. Windows 8 Optimized for Varying Screen Sizes and Processors Microsoft recently confirmed that Windows 8 would run on the ARM processor : a low-powered CPU (central processing unit) commonly used on mobile devices such as tablets, and mobile phones. In ... (view more)

Adobe, Inc. is dropping most restrictions on the use of its Flash technology on mobile devices. The firm hopes the move will help boost the technology's appeal on cellphones, handheld PCs and set-top television boxes. Flash, which allows developers ... to produce interactive content and animations that appear the same way on all computers, is already widely popular on the web: around 98% of desktop computers with an Internet connection have the software installed. There's already a cut-down edition called Flash Lite for mobile devices, but licensing restrictions mean the full-scale Flash software ... (view more)

Since the launch of the highly successful AdSense campaign, Google has been synonymous with online advertising. Thanks to a new initiative that will merge online and print ads, Google is making the leap from the screen to the printed page and ... hosting ads in a newspaper near you. Google's new Print Ad program will allow organizations with an existing AdSense account to convert their campaigns to print format with just a few mouse clicks. Advertisers will be able to search for ad space within over six hundred international newspapers. Linking online ads with print media could cause a ... (view more)