How Your Bank Accounts Can Be Stolen With Zeus Virus?

Zeus Virus

The 'Zeus Trojan Horse' Virus once again had a come back. According to a resource, it has an ability to drain your Bank accounts easily.

Zeus Virus can propagate through phishing messages that are generated from the account that was already compromised with phishing. That phished account will then start sending messages to your friends containing links to the ads and would ask them to simply check-out the video or product by clicking on such links. This way the virus will go viral.

Readers are requested to stay refrain from clicking such links, because they might end up getting their accounts compromised The virus is very sophisticated, so that it could replace the website of a bank with the mimicked page of its own.

That fake page could then ask for your security information and some other important data that could be easily sold in black market.

According to many sources, perhaps it has been confirmed that those pages are being hosted by Russian Mafia (known as Russian Business Network as well).

About Zeus(Virus)

The virus is well-known for what it use to do. It was detected once back in 2007, and after that detection it started to spread online. The virus is well-designed so that if you would click on it, the possible and important data like Passwords and Bank Accounts can be stolen easily.

Does Facebook Took Action Against It?

Facebook is aware of it, but it is unlikely that Facebook is going to take any action against it.

The founder of advocacy group Fans Against Kounterfeit Enterprise (FAKE) said that he was trying to alert Facebook about this issue to take action against it as soon as possible, but unluckily he was not satisfied well with their response.

Those who are using windows should stay much careful about this issue. It has been said that Windows devices are much infected with this virus. Hence, Mac OS X or Linux are still safe of this virus.

Some countries like USA and UK are badly infected, though, India, Russia, Canada and France are also infected with the virus at some moderate limits. Some other countries like Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia and some other South-East Asian and European countries are less affected by this virus.

LiveMap Offers Augmented-Reality Helmet for Motorcyclists

Moto Helmet with navigation

Imagine Google Glass built into a motorcycle helmet that superimposes directions in front of your eyes as you speed down a highway.

Imagine a souped-up Google Glass built into a motorcycle or bicycle helmet that superimposes information and directions in front of your eyes as you speed down a highway or move through a congested downtown area.

LiveMap, a startup based in Moscow, is developing a motorcycle helmet with a head-mounted display, built-in navigation, and Siri-like voice recognition. The helmet will have a translucent, color display that's projected on the visor in the center of the field of vision, and a custom user interface, English language-only at launch, based on Android.

LiveMap will have a short list of voice commands for navigation and referencing points of interest.

Unlike visor-mounted heads-up displays, which have been available for a decade, LiveMaps is fully integrated within the headgear and layers information in real space. The "augmented reality" helmet display includes a light sensor for adjusting image brightness according to external light conditions, as well as an accelerometer, gyroscope, and digital compass for tracking head movements. The digital helmet is also clever about minimizing distracted driving -- a map is shown only when the rider's speed is close to zero.

The company has so far built some prototype hardware and software for the helmet with the help of grants from the Russian government, and it's now reaching out via Indiegogo to raise $150,000 to make press molds for the helmet capsule.

The company is also seeking venture capital funding but isn't finding it in its home country. "Russian venture funds are not disposed to invest into hardware startups. They prefer to back up clones of successful services like Groupon, Airnb, Zappos, Yelp, Booking, etc. They are not interested in producing hardware either," the CEO, Andrew Artishchev, wrote on LiveMap's Indiegogo page.

Scientists Discovered a Black Hole Bonanza

Black Hole Bonanza

Researchers find 26 possible black holes in Andromeda, a galaxy near our own Black holes can't be seen directly But astronomers can detect material falling into them when they interfere with other stars

You're in no danger of falling in, but a large group of possible cosmic vacuum cleaners have just been identified.

Researchers have come upon 26 possible black holes in Andromeda, a galaxy near our own.

This is the largest number of possible black holes found in a galaxy outside the Milky Way, but that may be because of Andromeda's relative proximity to our galaxy. It's probably easiest for Earth-based scientists to find black holes outside the Milky Way there, said Robin Barnard of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Combining this discovery with previous observations of nine other black hole candidates, scientists can say that Andromeda has a total of 35 possible black holes. The research is published in The Astrophysical Journal.

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory made more than 150 observations over the course of 13 years to identify these black hole candidates.

Seven of the new potential Andromeda black holes reside within 1,000 light years of the center of that galaxy. This supports earlier research showing that, near the center of Andromeda, there are an unusual number of X-ray sources.

Black holes can't be seen directly. But astronomers can detect material falling into them when they interfere with other stars.

A black hole is a dense region of space that has collapsed in on itself in such a way that nothing can escape it, not even light.

In a binary system of this nature, a black hole and a star orbit each other closely. Material from the star falls into the black hole and "as it spirals in, it gets hotter and hotter, and faster and faster, and eventually it gives off X-rays, so we see lots and lots of X-rays coming out of it," Barnard said.

The material as it has been swallowed gets incredibly hot, up to about 10 billion degrees. Because of the tremendous amount of energy released, some of the brightest objects in the universe are black holes.

It's hard for scientists to distinguish distant black holes from neutron stars, however.

When a star explodes in a supernova, its fiery death leaves behind either a neutron star or a black hole, which is a more extreme version of a neutron star.

If our own sun were a neutron star, it would be only about 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles, across, Barnard said. By comparison, as a black hole our sun might be only 2 kilometers across. Black holes of the kind that scientists may have spotted in Andromeda have masses that are typically five to 10 times that of the sun.

Neutron stars have a surface, so falling material pounds onto it, Barnard said. Material rains down at enormous speeds, causing huge explosions and energy emissions.

Billions of years from now, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will collide, marking the end of the galaxy as we know it.

Finally Microsoft Office comes to the iPhone

Microsoft Office In iPHONE

Microsoft Office is finally on mobile, after upstarts like Evernote and Dropbox took advantage of the gap.

The app, which launched Friday in Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) App Store, has a catch. It's available (and free) only for users who subscribe to Office 365, Microsoft's cloud-based Office program that costs $100 per year. That means if you're using Office 2010 or Office 2013, you're out of luck.

In a research note, Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund called the app's release "a very limited first step." He noted that Microsoft is likely keeping Office Mobile off the iPad to give Windows 8 and the Surface tablet "a chance to gain traction."

Still, he said, even a limited Office Mobile release "represents a key strategic step for Microsoft."

Related story: Microsoft and Sony are at each other's throats

Office is currently available on other platforms in a limited way. Windows Phone and Surface users have access to the full version of Office, but those devices have gained little traction. Android and for the iPad owners can use Microsoft's Office Web apps, but their functionality is extremely pared down.

That's not the case in the new Office Mobile for iPhone. Users can view and edit documents in Office programs on their iPhones, and the formatting and layout of the desktop version will be kept intact.

It's Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) first big push into mobile productivity on a competitor's platform. With devices like smartphones and tablets overtaking the PC, some analysts think it's long overdue.

Evernote and Dropbox, meanwhile, have rushed in to fill the productivity gap on mobile devices, "disenfranchis[ing] Office on the hottest growth platforms," Sherlund noted.

Office Mobile could help fix that problem.

The launch of Office Mobile will keep Microsoft relevant in that world -- and it's a potentially big source of revenue, said Laura DiDio, principal analyst at research firm ITIC. Microsoft needs that right now, given that PC sales are seriously struggling and WIndows Phone is a distant third in the smartphone market.

"The life's blood of any software package is its availability on as many platforms as possible," DiDio said. " And since mobility is a key platform, this can only help Office."

Facebook to unveil Instagram video on June 20

That's the claim from TechCrunch, which says that Facebook's special press event on June 20 will be focused in part on video and Instagram.

Facebook and Instagram might have a new feature up their sleeves.

At its special press event on June 20, Facebook will unveil video support for Instagram, TechCrunch is reporting, citing a person who claims to have knowledge of its plans. Similar to Twitter's Vine, which allows users to post 6-second videos, Instagram's videos would be limited to 5 to 10 seconds.

Vine has been growing rapidly, as users have found it to be a worthwhile alternative to tweeting or sharing pictures. Users are able to record several seconds of video, and then share it with friends. Vine videos are also added to Twitter timelines.

Since Twitter has a video service, it would make sense that Facebook would respond. Whether it'll happen at its special event on June 20, however, remains to be seen. There's also been talk of Facebook launching an RSS reader as an alternative to the outgoing Google Reader.

Last week, Facebook sent an invitation to media outlets, saying they could learn about a "small team" that "has been working on a big idea." The invite had a coffee stain in the lower-right corner.

Facebook's press event will be held at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. CNET will be there to cover all the news coming out of that event.

Google is Planning to wipe child porn from the Web

Google

The search giant is creating a database of images depicting child exploitation -- to be shared with tech companies, law enforcement, and charities -- in order to scrub the images from the Internet.

Photos and videos of child pornography on the Web have multiplied at an alarming rate over the past few years. In 2011, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it received 17.3 million images and videos of suspected child abuse, which is four times more than 2007.

Google has announced that it wants to help curb this proliferation of child pornography. In fact, the Web giant plans to take it even a step further -- it wants to completely eradicate child porn from the Internet.

"Behind these images are real, vulnerable kids who are sexually victimized and victimized further through the distribution of their images," Google Giving director Jacquelline Fuller wrote in a blog post on Saturday. "It is critical that we take action as a community -- as concerned parents, guardians, teachers and companies -- to help combat this problem."

Google's plan is to build a database of child porn images that can be shared with other tech companies, law enforcement, and charities around the world. The database will let these groups swap information, collaborate, and remove the images from the Web.

Part of the technology behind this database comes from a technique Google already uses called "hashing," which tags images showing sexual abuse of children with a unique identification code. Computers can recognize the code and then locate, block, and report all duplicate images on the Web. Google plans to have the database up and running within a year.

Google has been working against child pornography since 2006 when it teamed up with other tech companies and joined the Technology Coalition, which looks at how technology can be used to end child exploitation. It has also donated millions to nonprofit organizations that work for the cause.

Other tech companies have also been active in battling child pornography on the Web. Microsoft helped develop the hashing technology for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Photo DNA program and Facebook uses the technology across its network to ensure child pornography is not circulating through the site.

In addition to the upcoming database, Google also announced Saturday that it is donating $5 million to fight child pornography. The money will be split up between global child protection organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Internet Watch Foundation, and Google's own Child Protection Technology Fund.

"We're in the business of making information widely available, but there's certain 'information' that should never be created or found," Fuller wrote. "We can do a lot to ensure it's not available online -- and that when people try to share this disgusting content they are caught and prosecuted."

Samsung to Launch Galaxy S4 Advanced with faster LTE

Samsung Galaxy s4

The device will ship internationally, but due to network constraints in the U.S., it won't be coming here for the time being.

Samsung is ready to launch a new Galaxy S4 that will be capable of connecting to the Internet through the LTE-Advanced 4G technology.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview published Monday, Samsung Electronics CEO J.K. Shin said that his company will launch a Galaxy S4 Advanced device designed to connect to the next generation of 4G LTE networks, dubbed LTE-Advanced. According to Shin, while a movie download might take three minutes on a current LTE connection, it would take a little over one minute on LTE-Advanced.

The Galaxy S4 Advanced's chip will be made by Qualcomm, Shin told Reuters. The company plans to launch the device, which will be the first commercial product to actually connect to LTE-Advanced, as early as this month in South Korea.

If all goes well with the Galaxy S4 Advanced, Samsung will likely launch it internationally in markets where the service is available. That means U.S. customers are out the only LTE available now in the States is the older, slower version.

Chinese Supercomputer is Top of the Charts -- Two years early

Tianhe-2, with 3.1 million processor cores and a lot of Chinese-build technology, is the new leader of the twice-yearly list of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers.

Performing more than 33 quadrillion calculations per second, a new Chinese supercomputer called Tianhe-2 arrived two years earlier than expected to claim the top spot in a list of the 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world.

The Top500 list, updated twice a year at the International Supercomputing Conference, measures performance for mammoth systems typically used for jobs like modeling nuclear weapons explosions and forecasting global climate changes. And the Chinese machine, at the National University of Defense Technology, is more mammoth than most.

The Tianhe-2 has 32,000 Xeon processors boosted by 48,000 Xeon Phi accelerator processors for a total of 3.12 million processor cores linked together with a Chinese interconnect called TH Express-2. It's also got 1 petabyte of memory (that's about 12,500 times as much as in an ordinary personal computer), runs the university's Kylin Linux operating system, and sucks down 17.8 megawatts of power.

All that means the machine's sustained performance is 33.86 petaflops, or a quadrillion mathematical calculations per second, a figure all the more notable given that the researchers who compile the Top500 list expected Tianhe-2, also called Milky Way-2, to be deployed in two years.

Its performance is nearly double that of the machine now bumped to second place, the Cray XK7 system called Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with a speed of 17.59 petaflops. Third place went to Sequoia, an IBM BlueGene/Q system installed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with a speed of 17.17 petaflops. Tianhe-2 is the successor to the Tianhe-1Asupercomputer that topped the list in 2010. The systems indicate a growing ability at the Chinese supercomputing center to not just capably assemble hardware from elsewhere but also to design much of it in-house.

"Most of the features of the system were developed in China, and they are only using Intel for the main compute part," said Top500 editor and computer researcher Jack Dongarra. "The interconnect, operating system, front-end processors, and software are mainly Chinese."

The two Chinese systems spotlight a broader trend in supercomputing, too: the use of special-purpose accelerator processors. Moore's Law is steadily marching on, strictly defined by the number of transistors on a processor doubling every two years. But the clock speed of chips stalled years ago, redirecting a lot of chip development into parallelism -- doing lots of work in small jobs that run simultaneously in parallel rather than in fewer jobs that run sequentially.

General-purpose chips have moved to parallelism by adopting multicore designs, but a newer trend is to offload work onto special-purpose chips that use more extreme parallelism. Intel's Xeon Phi chips are one example, but Nvidia's graphics chips -- repurposed for number crunching -- are more widely used on the Top500.

On the Top500 list, 39 use Nvidia chips, 11 use Xeon Phi, and three use ATI Radeon chips. The top machine uses Xeon Phi, the No. 2 uses Nvidia chips, and Tianhe-1A, now bumped down to No. 10, uses Nvidia chips.

Expect the accelerators to spread further.

"I'm willing to bet that by 2015, all top 10 systems on the Top500 list will be GPU/accelerator-based," Horst Simon, who is Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's deputy director, a computer scientist, and one of the four Top500 editors, said in a May interview.

Simon also believes it won't be possible to reach a performance level of a quadrillion floating-point operations per second, or 1 exaflops, by 2020. One big limit he pointed out is power consumption:

The increasing trend in power efficiency, though it might look like a gradual slope over time, is really a one-time gain that came from switching to accelerator/manycore [architectures] in 2010. This is not a sustainable trend in the absence of other new technology. There is no more magic -- we're maxed out. Right now, the most efficient system needs 1 to 2 megawatts per petaflops. Multiply that by 1,000 to get to exascale and the power is simply unaffordable.

Still, the list has remained remarkably steady over the years, and extrapolating past trends into the future shows the No. 1 machine will cross the exaflop threshold in 2018.

Other items of note from the latest list:

• Sixty-five of the top 500 systems are in China, a number that has leveled off at least for now. The United States was home to 253 systems.
• Intel processors are used on 80 percent of the systems.
• Sixty-seven percent of systems used processors with eight or more cores.
• A total of 180 systems dropped off the list from the previous one released a half a year ago. The minimum level of performance needed to rate in the top 500 supercomputers increased from 76.5 teraflops to 96.6 teraflops.
• Hewlett-Packard was the top supplier of systems, with 189 systems. IBM was next with 160, but IBM made four of the top 10 systems.

The Internet that Talks Against the World

Why are so many nations willing to gather and discuss Internet governance under the umbrella of the UN, when it's fairly clear none of them require the body's approval to do just exactly as they please within their own borders? It's a question of international norms, said Eli Dourado, a Mercatus Center research fellow. We're trying to say, "Well, this is what well-behaved, good countries do."

Last December, the United Nations-sponsored World Conference on International Telecommunications accomplished... well, not a ton. Disagreement abounded, as Western democracies (the U.S., Australia, Europe and the like) aligned against predictable foes (China, Russia, several Arab states) to ensure that the proceedings ended at loggerheads.

Despite the December stalemate, the UN's International Telecommunication Union hasn't given up. In mid-May, representatives from around the world met in Geneva to take another crack at finding common ground.

In this TechNewsWorld podcast, we chat with Eli Dourado, a research fellow with the Mercatus Center's Technology Policy Program at George Mason University and cofounder of the website WCITLeaks.org. Dourado, who has written for Foreign Policy, Wired and Ars Technica, among others, was in Geneva to keep tabs on the proceedings, formally dubbed the "World Telecommunications/ICT Policy Forum."

Dourado joined us to talk about what has changed since Dubai, why censorship-happy governments care about UN approval, and what role recent stories -- like, say, gratuitous cyberespionage conducted by China -- have on the debate.

Here are some excerpts from the podcast:

TechNewsWorld: I actually recorded a podcast in the wake of the ITU conference that was held in Dubai last December, and it seemed like the takeaway from that was that while there was consensus among certain countries and certain blocs of countries -- and these were drawn up along rather predictable lines -- there wasn't a lot that could be called international consensus. I'm curious if the same sort of divisions played out in Geneva, and what your main takeaways were, especially considering past attempts to talk about this.

Eli Dourado: I was at that conference in Dubai as well ... that conference was called the "WCIT," the World Conference in International Telecommunications -- so some people have talked about the "post-WCIT era." The ITU has always been a place where they've really tried to have consensus, and of course at the WCIT there wasn't consensus; there was a forced vote.

So people wanted to see what the new environment looked like, what is the future of these conversations going to be like at the ITU, given what happened in Dubai: that there was a vote and some countries decided not to sign the treaty. So that was definitely something on our minds -- how is this going to proceed going forward?

TNW: Was the future that you were looking forward to any different than the past?

Dourado: I think what ended up happening was that the hard line that the liberal democracies took in Dubai kind of paid off -- that other countries were kind of like, "OK, just because we're more numerous doesn't mean that we can push them around and just force our agenda through. They just won't agree to it and then we're stuck." So I think there was a much stronger effort to get along.

And that's kind of what ended up happening in Geneva a couple weeks ago, is basically there was a lot of agreement on the opinions that emerged from the preparatory process, everyone sort of played nice and stuck to the existing pacts and didn't push too hard for big changes.

TNW: You talk about some countries perhaps relinquishing on pushing their agenda through. I'm curious if the countries that met resistance in Dubai -- such as Russia and China and some of the Arab states that were pushing for a lot of government autonomy -- do they need any sort of international consensus to impose the rules they want? It seems like it would be legitimizing for them if they were given UN approval to regulate the Internet in whatever way they wanted. But what's the motivation for them, what's the real necessity, to have a UN-sanctioned authority to do the things it seems like they're already doing now?

Dourado: That's a really insightful question, I think. Actually, the first line of the ITU constitution emphasizes that states are totally sovereign. So member states have complete sovereignty to do whatever they want to do in their own territory. Which means they can censor the Internet; there's nothing in the ITU that says you cannot do whatever you want on the Internet in your own country.

So what I think is, we're really operating at the level of international norms. We're trying to say, "Well, this is what well-behaved, good countries do." And we're trying to establish that and not give countries cover to push what they want to do on their own citizens by saying, "Well, this is what everybody does," or "This is how it's done." So if you think about Russia, for instance -- Russia is nominally a democracy, it has some sort of elections and so on. So it's responsible a little bit to what the public expects. And if you can get the public to think, "This is normal, this is how it's done in every country," then the government can sort of get away with more censorship and more monitoring.

TechNewsWorld: Since the Dubai conference there has been a lot of really interesting stuff that has transpired on the international Internet front, and especially when you talk about cybersecurity. There was, of course, the U.S. security firm Mandiant, [which] issued their report in February about Chinese military hacking. This spread like wildfire and it prompted an official denial from China, and they said that they, in fact, were the victims of U.S. hacking.

And then there was also what was reported to be the biggest-ever bank theft, a (US)$45 million heist that seemed to have been carried out 99 percent thanks to hacking and cyberbreaches. I'm curious if these current events seeped into the discussion and if there is enough flexibility and enough fluidity with the United Nations and ITU to take into account recent events and kind of what's on people's minds ...

Dourado: I think generally what happens at these events is the discussion is pretty high-level. Both in the strategy that countries are adopting and in what they can accomplish at the ITU -- it is pretty high-level. The ITU has zero day-to-day control over the Internet right now, and I think one reason that countries want the ITU to be involved is that they are comfortable working with the ITU, so they want to have the ITU be a place where they can go to raise their problems. But nobody is talking about anything specific, like hacking or specific hacking events. They'll talk about security in general terms, and that there should be an ITU treaty that says what the responsibilities are with respect to security, but it's all very high-level and not specific at all. 

Microsoft Repairs Windows 8 Cracks

Windows 8 has had a bumpy ride since its launch last fall, but this week Microsoft used the Computex stage in Taiwan to try to make amends. Included among its efforts were the announcement that Outlook is coming to Windows RT after all, and the first public demo of its forthcoming Windows 8.1 update. The question now is, will these latest moves be enough?

At this week's Computex trade show in Taiwan, Microsoft applied some polish to its beleaguered Windows platform. That included announcing that its widely used Outlook email software will finally arrive on Windows RT and making the first public demonstration of its forthcoming Windows 8.1 update.

Windows RT, which arrived last fall, has so far been seen as more of a miss than a hit for the company, and Windows 8's revolutionary change may have been too much of a change for some users.

"When you listen to and read the negative comments about Windows 8, this could be seen to address those points," Craig Stice, senior principal analyst for computer platforms at IHS iSuppli, told TechNewsWorld, "but this isn't a desperate move."

'Like Learning a New Language'

Few new operating systems have arrived without the occasional bump in the road, of course. Still, software developers have to realize that computer users like simplicity and don't always want to have to learn how to do something again -- even if it is presented as a superior way of doing things.

"At the end of the day, it is a personal computer, and people get used to their ways," Stice explained. "When you're on the computer a lot, it is second nature to do things a certain way; when that changes, it is a drawback. In many ways, the learning curve was bigger than people were willing to spend on it.

"It is almost like learning a new language, and it can be tedious," Stice added. "The other half of this, however, is that once you get past that learning curve, users are saying that Windows 8 is actually pretty great."

'Clearly a Mistake'

Instead of retreating, Microsoft appears to be digging in and showing that it can fix the broken Windows -- or at least address what people don't like. This new version of Windows 8 -- version 8.1, codenamed "Blue" -- will reportedly go public in a preview build later this month.

"Microsoft's actions at Computex qualify as a sort of collective 'mea culpa' for the company's misbegotten assumptions and practices related to Windows 8," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, told TechNewsWorld. "Replacing the Start desktop and menu with the Metro interface was clearly a mistake, as was shipping RT without a fully functional version of Outlook."

The fact is that "Microsoft customers are both financially and emotionally invested in the Windows OS, key applications like Outlook and the larger ecosystem," King explained. "Believing customers would simply follow wherever Microsoft management felt like leading was deeply insensitive and unnecessarily stupid, especially since Vista offered many of the same painful lessons."

8 Isn't Enough

Given that Windows 8 was arguably one of the biggest changes to the operating system since the arrival of Windows 95, however, it is hardly any surprise that there has been a learning curve -- not only for users but also for the company.

In the case of Microsoft, it has been learning what people like and don't like, so it makes perfect sense that a 'point one' upgrade should arrive so soon.

"When they initially launched Windows 8 last October, it was a complete overhaul of their operating system," noted IHS iSuppli's Stice, "so there were changes that were going to need to be made.

"Clearly Microsoft is listening to feedback; coming out with 8.1 is a good move," he added.

The question, of course, is why such usability-focused changes must be made after the fact. Shouldn't developers know from past OS versions what works and doesn't?

"Without a good feel for what works, Microsoft often makes design errors," Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates, told TechNewsWorld. "Perhaps change for change's sake. Engineers gone wild. A desire to move things to create a billable moment."

Readdressing Outlook

Meanwhile, Microsoft also has had to backpedal by providing Outlook to Windows RT after all.

That will address one issue, but RT devices still can't run some earlier versions of Windows-compatible software. Whether the addition of Outlook alone will be enough to sway users still remains to be seen.

"The big problem with Windows RT was that the email client, when compared to Outlook, sucked," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. "It was in line with other email clients on other tablets, but it wasn't even on the same planet with Outlook, and it drove those of us using RT nuts.

"If it weren't for Outlook, my carry box would have remained Windows RT, as the battery life is to die for," Enderle added. "This one move could make this product."

App for That

Another issue is whether Microsoft can convince app developers to take a second look at its Windows offerings. That may well be the biggest hurdle of all facing the company now: Without apps, the OS may not be embraced -- yet until there is great adoption, developers will develop elsewhere.

"The app situation is a somewhat different kettle of fish since its success depends largely on developers believing in Windows 8," said King. "Microsoft can stroke a few egos and twist a few arms and thus bump up the number of available apps. But until Windows 8 is widely perceived as a winning, profitable platform, many -- if not most -- innovative developers are likely to stay away."

Apple New Mac Book Pro : 2013

Apple MAC book pro 2013

As Apple's developers conference approaches, the rumors are coming hot and heavy. The latest? More scuttlebutt on the Mac Pro, Apple's one and only desktop tower, which the company has promised to overhaul and rerelease this year.

New tidbits come from longtime video producer Lou Borella, the creator of the Facebook group "We Want a New Macpro," who on Monday posted details on the changes from "a source or two that has some credibility."

The Gist:

• It will be heavily reliant on Thunderbolt 

• There will be no internal expandability 

• It will have support for dual GPUs with three-monitor support right out of the box 

• No [Firewire 800] or optical drive

• It will be released in the fall

• It will be a completely new design

While some of those details have shown up before, the rumored changes suggest something much closer to a souped-up Mac Mini than the $2,499, expandable desktop tower Apple has kept largely unchanged (physically) for the past decade. But that might not be a bad thing, according to Borella.
"To truly see any benefit in this type of configuration you have to forget what you know about your existing machine," Borella wrote. "You are going to have to believe that Apple has thought about all the possible existing workflows and has a solution that can replace them."

Another move toward a lack of user replaceable parts and an optical drive should not be surprising given what Apple has done with its other products. Optical drives have been phased out of Apple's notebooks in favor of slimmer enclosures, a move that's carried over to desktops like the Mac Mini and the latest iMac. The same goes for hard drives, which Apple has made increasingly hard for users to get to, and replaced with integrated flash storage. With that said, one of the main benefits -- and purposes -- of desktops has been the capability to open up the hood and make adjustments.

The Mac Pro is one of several machines Apple is expected to update in the near future. Others include the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, which were last updated about a year ago. A report from Apple news site MacTrast last week noted that online availability of the Mac Pro was severely limited, with many online stores listing it as backordered, or out of stock

Android now owns half of China's smartphone market

Android now owns a half of china's company

During the first quarter of 2013 Android topped 50 percent of all installed smartphones, says research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Android has upped its lead in the growing Chinese smartphone market.

Google's mobile OS reached a milestone at the end of the first quarter as it gobbled up a 51.4 percent slice of all smartphones owned in China, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said on Friday. That figure showed a gain of 2.8 percent over the fourth quarter of 2012.

Among all Android vendors, Samsung proved the fastest growing with a 15.2 percent share among Chinese smartphone owners. And Kantar expects more growth on the way.

"Samsung has recently launched the Galaxy S4, selling over 10 million units globally in less than one month," Craig Yu, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said in a statement. "We predict the launch of Galaxy S4 Mini in the not too distant future will greatly increase its product reach in urban China."

Nokia's Symbian took the No. 2 spot in China last quarter with a market share of 23 percent, down 2 percent from the prior quarter. As Nokia phases out its older mobile OS, Kantar expects Symbian to drop to third place sometime in the next two quarters. Apple's iOS came in third with a 19.9 percent share.

Smartphones in general continue to see heavier demand among Chinese buyers. Smartphone ownership reached 42 percent in China last quarter, up 1.2 percent from the prior quarter. Much of that growth came from owners of feature phones upgrading to smartphones. Almost half of feature phone owners who changed their devices last quarter opted for a smartphone.

"Feature phones are losing their price advantage as Android smartphones are rapidly becoming more affordable and delivering better value," Yu said. "We expect to see accelerated smartphone adoption in China in the coming months."