Do you use Google Chrome for web browsing? Well, millions of users
all over the world prefer to use Google Chrome for web browsing that
makes it the second most used web browser worldwide. Google Chrome is
fast and comes with a clean interface and swift performance.
Furthermore, its easy syncing ability with mobile devices makes it a
preferred choice of young generation.
Apart from that, there are plenty of useful extensions that are
available on the Chrome Web Store. These extensions are meant to further
enhance the web browsing experience. Here, we have listed 10 best
Google Chrome extensions that can literally change your internet
experience. Have a look!
With this collection, we are showcasing a useful assortment of some
free and useful jQuery select box and dropdown plugins for you so that
you can download them and simplify your work process. Resources such as
jQuery select box and dropdown plugins are meant to expedite your work
flow by allowing you carry out certain actions quickly thus helping you
to improve your productivity as well. jQuery is the most popular and
well accepted JavaScript library that has been widely used all around
the world.
Today, we have sorted the wheat from the chaff and presenting you 15
useful jQuery select box and dropdown plugins that have the potential to
unleash your creativity to whole new levels. Enjoy! ddSlick
A free light weight jQuery plugin that allows you to create a custom drop down with images and description.
Search Box With Filter And Large Drop Down Menu
Here we will show you some more UI elements: a search box with a filter and a large drop down menu.
We will use jQuery in both elements for the effect. We will also use
plenty of CSS3 properties to create some slick looking details.
Customizable jQuery Select Box Replacement Plugin
wSelect is a fast and lightweight jQuery plugin which turns the
default html select elements into customizable and clean looking select
boxes with some themes and options.
JavaScript image combobox
Are you tired with your old fashion dropdown? Try this new one. Image
combo box. You can add an icon with each option. It works with your
existing “select” element or you can create by JSON object. I hope
you’ll like this.
Simple chained combobox plugin
To chain combobox state to combobox country and combobox city to combobox state you must write the following code. jQuery Selectbox plugin
Custom select box replacement inspired by jQuery UI source. Require jQuery 1.4.x or higher.
Responsive & Cross Browser jQuery Dropdown Menu Plugin
Easy As Pie is a jQuery extension for superfish plugin that
automatically turns a multi-level dropdown menu into a collapsible
mobile navigation when the window’s size has reached the breakpoint.
jQuery Multiple Select Box Plugin
An useful and cross-browser jQuery plugin that replaces your
browser’s default multiple select box to allow you to select multiple
items when Scroll/’>scrolling and dragging.
Responsive Fashion Top Dropdown Menu with jQuery
MobiMenu is a responsive and mobile-friendly menu plugin that creates
a multi-level top dropdown navigation with smooth sliding animations.
Simple Selectbox
Simple Selectbox is a minimalist jQuery select replacement for
creating customizable & stylable option dropdown list with smooth
transition effect.
Gorgeous And Feature Rich Dropdown Select Box Plugin
SelectBoxIt is a replacement of ugly and hard to use HTML select
boxes that allows you to create gorgeous and feature rich dropdown
select Boxes. jQuery Plugin For HTML Select Box Replacement
Heapbox is an easy jQuery plugin that replaces the default html drop down select box to make it support themes, events, callbacks, ajax and much more.
jQuery Plugin For Customizable Select Box
selectify is an extremely (~6kb) lightweight jQuery plugin that
allows you to beautiful and highly customizable select drop down list.
We’ve had about six months to play with Windows 8 (like it or not) and with the first generation of hardware designed for the new OS. So now, with PCs based on Intel’s Haswell CPU poised on the horizon, it’s time to take stock of the best Windows 8 hardware available today. You may be able to snap one up for a bargain-basement price as the industry clears out inventory in anticipation of second-gen machines.
Our top picks among first-gen Windows 8 devices offer touch capability, along with something deeper: a new take on what it means to be a tablet, a laptop, or a hybrid that lies somewhere in between. As for desktops, members of the latest generation of all-in-ones provide generous screen real estate for both Live Tiles and touch features. We applaud all of the following machines for the way they’ve risen to the Windows 8 challenge.
Windows 8 tablets: The best and the boldest
Yes, the Surface Pro is the best available Windows 8 tablet. Though it’s not quite the iPad killer Microsoft should have created, it’s a huge improvement over Surface RT, thanks to a vastly better display, Ultrabook-caliber components, and a full version of Windows 8 Pro.
Surface Pro can run all of the legacy desktop applications you need for serious productivity—and run them well, outpacing many full-fledged Windows 8 hybrids. And who doesn’t love its smart industrial design? Its VaporMg chassis still inspires us today, offering a level of fit and finish missing from competing tablets.
ROBERT CARDINMicrosoft's Surface Pro tablet remains the best Windows 8 tablet, if not the iPad killer we had hoped for.
It’s no easy feat to pack a full computer into such a small space. But given Microsoft’s vast resources, we’re disappointed that the Surface Pro is so much thicker and chunkier than the new iPad and the Surface RT. Also, its display, though very nice, isn’t Retina-caliber—and is too small for serious work. And finally, Microsoft’s two keyboard options are starting to look worse compared to those that other hybrids offer.
Our other favorite Windows 8 tablet makes no apologies for what it is, and what it costs. The Razer Edge Pro is a Windows 8 gaming tablet built expressly for playing PC games on the go. The tablet’s Core i7 processor and discrete Nvidia graphics allow it to run graphics-intensive games at decent frame rates—and when playtime’s over, the Edge Pro can run legacy desktop applications too. It’s really, really fast.
ROBERT CARDINThe Razer Edge Pro gaming tablet is unapologetically powerful and expensive.
It’s also really, really expensive: $1450 for our test model, not counting the gaming accessories you’ll likely want. Not surprisingly (given the horsepower), it runs a bit hot, and its battery life falls just short of 4 hours. But this tablet isn’t interested in being practical. It just wants to play hard, and that it does.
Hybrids and laptops are merging
Tablets are just a decent keyboard away from being hybrids, and the laptop-shaped machines in this section blur the line we once drew between tablets and portable computers. You can’t knock the versatility of a machine that can fold flat like a tablet, and then unfold for more intensive work, its keyboard willing and waiting. You also can’t expect a hybrid to have quite the power or features of a full-fledged laptop, though many people will find that it comes close enough.
ROBERT CARDINThe HP Envy x2's Atom CPU is no barn burner, but this hybrid’s nice screen and long battery life are pluses.
The HP Envy x2 offers a good-size, 11.6-inch display and a keyboard dock that packs a second battery. The Envy x2 lasts about 8.5 hours when running on its main battery, and the dock’s battery provides almost 5 hours of service beyond that. Another plus: The keyboard’s pretty comfortable to use. Though the tablet’s Intel Atom processor is no barn burner, the device didn’t feel sluggish during normal use. Its brushed-aluminum case will catch envious eyes in the café.
ROBERT CARDINA quick flip of the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13's 360-degree hinge converts the machine from a laptop into a tablet.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is one of the most innovative designs we’ve seen in the first generation of Windows 8 machines. Its 360-degree hinge permits the laptop to fold over itself completely to become a tablet, or even to stand up like a tent for presentations. At 3.4 pounds, the Yoga 3 is less portable than a regular tablet, but its 13-inch, high-resolution (1600-by-900-pixel) touchscreen makes the additional burden worthwhile.
ROBERT CARDINThe Dell Inspiron 15z has a luxurious 15.6-inch touchscreen and scads of features inside its brushed-aluminum chassis.
A full-fledged laptop like the Dell Inspiron 15z offers a more luxurious—though also bigger and heavier—experience, with a 15.6-inch touchscreen display and a gray brushed-aluminum chassis. It includes four USB 3.0 ports and even a DVD+-RW drive. Our test model (equipped with Intel’s 1.7GHz Core i5-3317u CPU) delivered decent performance, and Dell subsequently upgraded the model with faster CPUs. The battery life is the only notable disappointment, at less than 3.5 hours.
Huge touchscreen all-in-ones let Windows 8 spread out
Dell also sells one of the best touchscreen all-in-one PCs we’ve seen, the office-readyOptiPlex 9010. Its 23.6-inch, 1920-by-1080-pixel widescreen provides a very sharp picture, but the coolest part of the design is a double-jointed arm that lets you move the display up and down and slightly forward, as well as tile it in the traditional fashion. It even has a standard VESA mount point so you can hang it on a wall.
DELLDell's office-ready OptiPlex 9010 has a double-jointed display arm that lets you bring the monitor closer to you, for easier touch interaction.
The high-end configuration of our test model included a fast Intel Core i7-3770S CPU and 8GB of DDR3/1600 memory. The system’s integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics managed playable frame rates at lower resolutions.
ROBERT CARDINThe HP Envy 23 has a 23-inch touch display and all the desktop fixings.
The HP Envy 23 TouchSmart is a consumer all-in-one that stuffs a lot into its 23-inch touchscreen design: A third-generation Intel Core i7-3770S processor, 12GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GT 630M graphics card, and an impressively large 3TB hard drive. Its low-voltage processor reduces its power potential a bit, but the Envy 23 still outperforms other desktops in its class. It comes with a Blu-ray Disc optical drive, built-in Bluetooth 4.0, and Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n. The stand, though sleek, can be a bit annoying, since it prevents you from storing any peripherals (such as the keyboard) under the screen.
The best Windows 8 machines are touch-friendly and increasingly versatile
Whatever else you can say about Windows 8, it has changed the way we look at computers and what we want to do with them. You can’t enjoy the full Windows 8 experience without a touchscreen, though nontouch displays remain available in lower-cost models.
Tablets have definitely changed the way we look at laptops, making hybrids an increasingly popular middle-ground choice. We’re looking forward to whatever comes next. Even if a Windows 8 watch seems far-fetched at this point, everything is still on the table.
Big Auto is watching you behind the wheel of that hackable car
A new study of the mobile data and wireless electronic systems proliferating in cars says they present serious security problems as well as potential threats to individual privacy. The report coming Monday from Senator Ed Markey’s office is based on information from 16 car makers, the New York Times says, and looks at not only how wireless systems leave vehicle electronics vulnerable to hacking, but also at the wholesale collection of data on driving history.
ARM puts IoT security center stage with Offspark acquisition
The microprocessor design company that plays a dominant role in the mobile space has bought what it calls the leading security company in the Internet of Things arena. ARM Holdings said Monday it’s buying Dutch company Offspark, developer of the PolarSSL embedded Transport Layer Security technology.
Alibaba funds Chinese phonemaker to support its own mobile OS
Alibaba is investing US$590 million in a small phone maker in China that’s put its hardware behind Alibaba’s YunOS operating system. Meizu is a little-known handset vendor but it has a phone that runs Alibaba’s mobile OS—an Android competitor which the e-commerce giant sees as a platform for popularizing its own Internet services.
Pols want Verizon’s supercookies probed
Three U.S. senators want an investigation into whether Verizon Wireless’ use of so-called supercookies to track the online activities of its subscribers amount to privacy violations. They’re also considering new legislation targeting such tactics. Verizon has said it will let consumers opt out, but privacy advocates favor requiring an opt-in.
Corning has a followup to Gorilla Glass
The developer of the super-tough Gorilla Glass that’s made it less traumatic to accidentally drop your mobile device has an even hardier substance waiting in the wings. Corning Glass told an investor conference that it has a product that’s as drop-resistant as Gorilla Glass, with a scratch-resistance that “approaches” synthetic sapphire, Cnet reported.
Medical fraud worries on the rise with Anthem hack
The breach of U.S. health insurer Anthem that was revealed last week may reflect a trend for hackers to go where the richest information is—and with the move to electronic health records, the spotlight may be on medical targets. Not only do the records frequently have a broad and deep set of personal and credit information, but they also provide the data to enable medical identity theft. Meanwhile, healthcare as an industry is under-invested in cybersecurity relative to other businesses like banks.
Mobile wallets have a trust problem
If mobile wallets and payment apps have been slow to take off, it may be because consumers’ trust in them is eroding, not growing, according to a recent survey of 15,000 mobile users in 15 countries. Not only do many mobile users believe the systems aren’t secure, they are also concerned about having to share too much personal information when enabling an app.
Watch now
DARPA is planning fast, cheap satellite launches: it wants to send orbiters weighing 100 pounds or less into low earth orbit within 24 hours for less than $1 million per launch.
A security investigation finds that nearly 100 percent of new cars on
the market today may be vulnerable to security and privacy violations,
and automakers have done little to plug the holes.
With smarter cars comes improved safety, better performance and all
the benefits of a smartphone baked into your dashboard. Yet automakers
have been slow to recognize how hackers can take advantage of
on-the-road computers or how best to protect our privacy, according to a
new report.
The report, released Monday by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.),
detailed lax cybersecurity that opens vehicles to potential hacking and
drivers to privacy breaches as automakers collect more data on our
driving habits.
Markey's office sent a lengthy questionnaire to 20
automakers more than a year ago to compile the report, and 16
responded. The survey found that a majority of automakers questioned
were unaware of or failed to report past hacking incidents. Only two of
the companies said they had systems in place to fend off hacking attacks
in real-time and only two confirmed they could remotely slow down or
stop a vehicle under the control of a hacker.
The findings were released following a "60 Minutes" segment on Sunday
detailing how the US government's Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, or DARPA, was able to hack General Motors' OnStar system to
remote control a Chevrolet Impala, including its brake and acceleration
systems.
Almost every new car
on the market today have some type of network capacity such as Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth or cellular connectivity that could "pose vulnerabilities to
hacking or privacy intrusions," the report warned.
Although nearly every car maker is adding
sophisticated technology, there are no standards governing how
automakers secure vehicles' wireless networks, respond to threats and
handle confidential driver data. While security experts have long
recognized the vulnerability of these systems, it's now starting to get
legislative attention.
"These findings reveal that there is a
clear lack of appropriate security measures to protect drivers against
hackers who may be able to take control of a vehicle or against those
who may wish to collect and use personal driver information," the report
reads.
Markey's report detailed how, as opposed to past hacking
demonstrations, hackers no longer need a direct connection to the
vehicle to take over its systems. DARPA demonstrated how malware from
Bluetooth-connected smartphones and security holes in onboard software,
like OnStar, provide numerous avenues to take control remotely. Because
examples of hacks happening to everyday drivers remain largely
undocumented, the report added, automakers are not taking them
seriously.
"That stuff is very straightforward to protect against,
but until you get hacked, you don't do anything about it," said Scott
McGregor, the CEO of chipmaker Broadcom, which is partnered with
automakers like Hyundai and BMW to wire their cars with Internet
connectivity.
Beyond the more malicious threat of a hacker gaining
control of your steering wheel or gas pedal, automakers are constantly
gathering information about drivers, including locations traveled to and
how long the car remains parked. Companies then store that data with
little protection, sometimes even in third-party data centers whose own
security may not have proper safeguards. The report said automakers
rarely inform consumers about the information they've collected.
The report also found that automakers collectively have no consistent
policy on how long to store data and what exactly it can be used it for.
Few companies inform drivers of this data collection or have effective
opt-out policies that do not disable key features like navigation.
The
report concluded: "The alarmingly inconsistent and incomplete state of
industry security and privacy practices ... raises a need for the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in consultation with the
Federal Trade Commission on privacy issues, to promulgate new standards
that will protect the data, security and privacy of drivers in the
modern age of increasingly connected vehicles."
Microsoft says the companies have settled a contract dispute over
Android patent-licensing but offers no specifics about the terms.
Microsoft and Samsung have settled their contract dispute over Android patent-licensing, according to a brief statement issued Monday by Microsoft.
Microsoft officials declined to qualify or comment in any way on the settlement terms. Microsoft filed an Android patent-royalty suit against Samsung
on August 1. Microsoft claimed there was a breach of contract by
Samsung involving Android patent royalties, following reported "months"
of attempts between the two companies to resolve their issues.
The
contract in question was the September 2011 multi-year IP agreement
Samsung signed with Microsoft via which Samsung has been paying
Microsoft per-device royalties for its Android phones. Under that 2011
agreement, Samsung and Microsoft agreed to cross-license their intellectual property, with Samsung paying Microsoft an undisclosed amount for each Android-based phone and tablet it sold.
I know nothing about wine other than reds give me an unfairly severe
hangover if I drink more than two glasses of it. Thus, I tend to shy
away from wine except for holiday dinners and special occasions. For
Valentine's Day, particularly one that allows me to recuperate on a
Sunday, I will look for a good bottle of red for my wife and I to drink
with dinner.
Since I don't buy wine with regularity, I am quickly
overwhelmed by the selection of wines at my local wine store or by any
wine list at a restaurant. Armed with a wine app however, I have become a
more confident wine buyer.
Vivino Wine Scanner
I will
never walk into a wine store without this app. There are a number of
apps that let you scan a wine label to get information about the wine,
but I found the Vivino Wine Scanner app provides the most useful
information.
After you take a photo of a label, it gives you an
average rating and price so you know if you are holding a good wine and a
good price. You can also scan the text of a wine list should you find
yourself clueless in a restaurant. In addition to rating and price,
Vivino provides notes about the type of grape used in the wine, info
about the winery which made the wine and a variety of additional
rankings that rank the wine within its winery, region, country and
world. You can read reviews from other Vivino users and add your own,
but what I find fun and interesting are the winemaker's notes (as in,
"notes of toffee, cherry, fig, chocolate"), vintage comparison (how it
stacks up to other years), and food pairing suggestions (beef, lamb,
spicy food).
The wines you scan are saved to a My Wines list
and will eventually build a taste profile for you. You can also build a
feed, where you can follow friends who use the app as well as wine
enthusiasts and pros. The app also lists nearby places that sell wine,
showing you how many different wines are offered at each store and
restaurant. Lastly, there is a Top Lists section that features lists
such as "Best wines under $20 right now" and "Five wines from the
world's smallest wine country."
Vivino Wine Scanner is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
Wine Spectator WineRatings+
If
I ever begin to amass a wine cellar's worth of wine, the WineRatings+
app from Wine Spectator magazine will prove useful. As it stands right
now, it offers useful how-to articles and videos along with interesting
vintage charts. These two items are free, along with a news feed of
wine-related news articles. If you sign up for the monthly subscription
($2.99, £2.29, AU$3.79), you'll also get Wine Spectator's ratings and
reviews.
Of the free content, I like perusing the vintage charts
to see if the bottle I'm considering buying is from a good year for that
particular region and grape. Since I'm a wine novice, I found a number
of the how-to articles and videos to be illuminating, particularly those
on how to pair wine and food.
Wine Spectator WineRatings+ is available for iOS and Android.
Delectable
Delectable
provides the same ability to scan wine labels as Vivino, and while it
provides far less information than Vivino about the wines you scan, it
does something Vivino can't. With Delectable you can buy wines for
delivery through the app, whereas Vivino only shows you places nearby
that sell wine. Wine delivery is certainly convenient, and it appears as
though orders of four or more bottles ship for free.
Delectable
saves your scans and lets you add a comment and rating along with useful
info like where you enjoyed a certain wine and with whom. You can share
your wine thoughts via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and you can
also recommend wines to a friend via text. Also like Vivino, Delectable
lets you build a feed of friends, winemakers, sommeliers and critics.
Microsoft is busy prepping its upcoming Window 10 Technical Preview
for smartphones. But which phones will get the preview, and which ones
will receive all the features of the new OS, is a key question.
In a series of tweets posted Sunday, Joe Belfiore, vice president for
Microsoft's Operating Systems Group, laid out the plans for the rollout
of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for Windows handsets.
The first tweet aimed to allay some anxieties: "Hey all: we ARE working on Win10 for 512MB, including 520. Our ambition is to make #Win10 available for these devices but features may vary, including 520."
Several Lumia phones, which Microsoft now sells courtesy of its buyout of Nokia's handset division,
come with only half a gigabyte of memory. Those phones include the
Lumia 520, Lumia 630, Lumia 625 and Lumia 530. Many owners of these and
other phones with only 512MB of RAM have complained in the past that
certain Windows Phone apps and features require more memory and
therefore won't run on their devices. Belfiore's tweet implies that the
same limitation may hold true for Windows 10, which may fuel more
complaints from users of affected devices.
Windows 10 is a next
leap forward for a marquee operating system that has long been a
mainstay of desktop computing, but that seemed to lose its way with the
last big version, Windows 8. At the same time, Microsoft's efforts to
attract consumers to its mobile OS have largely gone unheeded -- in
2014, Windows Phone hovered at about 3 percent of the worldwide market for smartphones, far behind Apple's iOS and market leader Android.
Now, with the upcoming Windows 10, Microsoft will drop the Windows Phone distinction altogether, aiming to make clear that all Windows-powered devices, from phones and tablets
to desktops and laptops, will run on a single platform. At its big
coming-out party for Windows 10 on January 21, Microsoft said it plans
to have a version of the operating system tailored for devices with
screen sizes below 8 inches.
What has yet to be fully set out is when exactly everything will fall into place.
On Sunday, a second tweet
from Belfiore said: "Timing for various phones may be variable as well.
When we first launch insider program, it'll be a subset of phones with
more coming latr." He didn't indicate which subset of phones would be
first on the list. But considering the issues with 512MB phones, the
first batch that qualify could be those equipped with more RAM.
In a third tweet, Belfiore promised that the first build of Windows 10 for phones is still slated for this month:
"Also, we're on track for Insider build coming 'in Feb' as Terry said
at our 1/21 event. We need to complete internal testing 1st, hang in!"
Microsoft naturally wants to eliminate as many bugs as possible before
it rolls out the technical preview. Many Microsoft insiders who were
supposed to test Windows 10 build 12492 on their phones last week weren't even able to upgrade their devices,
a source at Microsoft revealed to Neowin. Those kinds of bugs are
obviously best discovered by Microsoft employees rather than the large
number of users who'll be playing with the Technical Preview.
The Windows 10 Technical Preview has already been available for PCs and
tablets, giving people the ability to check out the new OS. Microsoft's
goal with Windows 10 is to provide more consistency across PCs, tablets
and mobile phones as one way to increase customer interest and demand
for all three types of devices.
LG is teaming up with Google to try bringing virtual reality to the masses.
The
South Korean electronics company said Monday that it'll soon kick off a
new promotion that offers a virtual-reality headset -- the VR for G3 --
for free for new buyers of its G3 flagship smartphone. The headset,
which is based on Google's Cardboard device, uses the G3 as the screen,
allowing owners to use it for VR apps and games downloaded from the
Google Play store.
"This is just the beginning of the virtual
reality movement, which until recently was expensive and inaccessible to
everyday consumers," Chris Yie, an LG marketing executive, said in a
statement.
The new headset is a way for LG to answer its long-time
South Korean rival, Samsung, with a similar but no-cost virtual-reality
product. The VR for G3 follows the lead of Samsung's Gear VR, released in December, which uses the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as the display and can cost several hundred dollars ($310 on Amazon).
Also, both Samsung and LG are looking for ways to build up smartphone
sales, which have been slowing in mature markets, and could be using
their VR headsets to do just that.
The LG headset could be an early sign of how
competition and cooperation will shape up in the world of mobile virtual
reality -- Samsung aligning with Facebook's VR-goggle maker Oculus on
the Gear VR, and LG working with Google.
Both headsets are just
one part of a growing list of virtual-reality and augmented-reality
products being created, as tech firms work to add new technologies into
those previously unrealized markets. The intent of virtual reality is to
provide an immersive experience for gaming or other applications, while
augmented reality offers an overlay of the real world to provide extra
information for the user.
Google has been a major player in AR and VR lately, last year unveiling the cheap, do-it-yourself virtual reality kit called Cardboard,
which it has continued to develop with additional features and apps.
Google's Glass wearable headset project has faced a a bumpier start,
with government officials asking about privacy issues and Google
eventually taking the product off the market, at least temporarily.
Microsoft became the latest giant tech firm to jump into augmented
reality, announcing last month it's working on a headset called HoloLens.
The VR for G3 promotion will roll out this month in certain markets. Buyers of the LG G3 can also download a free VR game, "Robobliteration," using an in-box code.
Microsoft (MSFT) Monday filed plans to sell a massive amount of debt, the latest in borrowing by rich tech companies.
The computing giant is negotiating with potential buyers of $10.75
billion in debt with maturities ranging from five to 40 years, says
Richard Lane of Moody’s Investors Service. Demand is strong as the
rating agency Standard & Poor’s as reaffirmed Microsoft’s pristine
AAA-credit rating and the deal size could grow, says Reuters. Microsoft
is one of just three companies with the perfect AAA credit rating.
Microsoft’s bond offering follows another from tech giant Apple, which sold $6.5 billion in debt
last week. These tech companies are using debt to deal with a tax
problem. Both Microsoft and Apple have huge cash piles of cash sitting
overseas. U.S. investors want the cash back, in the form of stock
buybacks and dividends. But if these companies bring overseas cash to
U.S. shores, a tax bill could be due.
So rather than bringing cash to the U.S., these companies can avail
themselves of the super-low interest rates and borrow. Those borrowed
funds can be used to fund share buybacks and dividends – without
triggering a tax event.
Microsoft has bold plans to return cash to investors – even as a
great deal is stored overseas, according to a report from Moody’s
Investors Service to clients. The computer company plans to finish the
rest of its $31 billion share buyback by the end of December 2016.
Microsoft is certainly not hurting for cash. The company ended 2014
with cash and investments of $102 billion – making it one of the most
well-funded companies in the world. Before the current offering,
Microsoft was carrying $18.2 billion in long-term debt, which is up 52%
from two years ago, says S&P Capital IQ.
The trouble is only $8.1 billion is “reported to be maintained
domestically,” Moody’s says. And about half of Microsoft’s expected $36
billion in cash from operations over the next year will come from
foreign sources, Moody’s says.
S&P said is doesn’t plan to downgrade Microsoft due to the latest
debt offering. Our ‘AAA’ corporate credit rating and stable outlook on
Microsoft remain unchanged,” according to an S&P statement to
investors. “The corporate credit rating incorporates our assumption that
Microsoft will maintain a “minimal” financial risk profile assessment,
with adjusted leverage below 0.5x.”
Moody’s, too, doesn’t expect any change to the company’s rating over
the next 12 to 18 months. Much further in the future that could change
if the company continues to use debt to return cash to stockholders.
Microsoft’s stock price rose 22 cents, or 0.5%, to $42.63.
Google Chrome for Android features a new Reader Mode that lets you read
web pages on your mobile without the clutter. Previously you had to install bookmarklets
to enable readability but not anymore as readability is now integrated
in the recent releases of Chrome much like the Safari browser on iOS.
Read web pages without the clutter
While
you are reading an article inside Chrome (it will only show up in
text-heavy articles), you can click the “Reader” button near the address
bar (see screenshot above) and the current page is instantly optimized
for reading. The page header, the ads, the sidebar, the navigation and
all the non-essential elements are instantly hidden while the typeface
and layout is changed for improved readability.
Turn-on the Reader Mode in Chrome
If
you are not seeing the Reader Mode button in your Chrome yet, that’s
because it’s enabled by default. Tap the address bar in Chrome, type chrome://flags and you’ll get a list of flags that are available in your Chrome.
Scroll
down until you see a setting that says “Enable Reader Tool Mode” and
click Enable. Relaunch the Chrome app and you should now see the Reader
button in your Chrome when you are on a text-heavy web page. It may not
show up on every article page though.
The Reader mode in Chrome will also come handy for printing web pages or when you saving a page as a PDF on your Android.
If
you prefer your vacations with a minimum of human interaction, you might
try a hotel that's opening in Japan this summer. The Henn-na Hotel's
human staff will number just 10, but that doesn't mean you won't get
speedy service: Robots will be ready to help you with everything from
reception to cleaning to carrying your bags, the Telegraph
reports. Developed at Osaka University, the eerily human-like robots
are known as actroids. Most look like young Japanese women. They can
speak several languages and move their eyes to correspond with yours—a
feature that could be pretty disturbing, LiveScience notes, and indeed, the hotel's name means "strange hotel."
The
hotel will be located in the Huis Ten Bosch theme park near Nagasaki.
Rooms will start at $60 a night; robots don't generally ask to be paid,
and that will help reduce the hotel's costs, SlashGear
reports. The goal, says a Huis Ten Bosch rep, is a "smart hotel,"
complete with facial-recognition door locks. "We will make the most
efficient hotel in the world,” company president Hideo Sawada says, per
the Japan Times.
“In the future, we’d like to have more than 90% of hotel services
operated by robots.” (Maybe you'll even be able to get a ride there from a robot.)
The technology world went berserk last year when some publications reported that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk had been spotted at Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL)
headquarters in Cupertino, California. That meeting was quickly
revealed to be a non-formal meet-up, and Mr. Musk confirmed that it was
not about Apple potentially snapping up Tesla.
But a latest report from Patently Apple, a website that tracks
Apple’s patent activity, may have just sparked another wave of
speculations. Patently Apple has reportedly spotted an anomalous entry
in
Apple’s granted patent list. The patent goes by the name “Apple
Electric Car, Inc.”, which popped up as part of the search triggered
with routine keywords like “Apple” and “Inc”. It further concludes that
this occurrence may just have been a “database quirk”, given that a
simple Google and trademark search did not reveal any specific company
linked with it, especially not Apple.
The
patent, however, relates to technology that could enable and adjust a
mounted computer screen in a high-tech gold cart. Patently Apple
believes the patent may well have been acquired as one of the inventors
directly associated with the golf cart computer screen invention has no
connection to Apple Electric Car, Inc. Nothing except the striking name
tag of the patent seems to point to Apple actually willing to take on
Tesla. But patents aside, the two companies (both proven disruptors in
their own space) have enough similarities to intrigue several technology
analysts to think of a synergistic Apple-Tesla tie-up.
Both companies offer products that are a class apart from rivals, and
are based on smart and distinctive technology. Mr. Musk even modeled
Tesla’s direct sales method after Apple’s own direct distribution model
involving characteristic Apple stores, instead of selling
through franchisors; even though a direct-to-consumer business model is
almost unheard off in the auto industry.
Speculations
had particularly peaked last year when Apple displayed a keen interest
in medical devices and the auto industry as part of future growth
trajectories. The tech giant’s entry into medicine panned out as health
related apps, as part of its HealthKit launched midway last year. As for
the company’s interest in cars, all that has materialized by now is a
really cool app on the Apple Watch that allows users to control Tesla
EVs, such as checking on the available battery charge and temperature,
the performance of basic functions like locking and unlocking the doors
of the Model S, and controlling headlights.
While the patent in Apple’s name may not have confirmed its move into
electric cars just yet, the possibility of the maker of iPhones either
collaborating with Tesla or surprising the world with an iCar cannot be
ruled off. Or maybe Apple may want to stay within the confines of its
present technology edge and delve into related auto development aspects
instead, such as an autonomous driving imitative similar to the one
recently announced by app-based transportation network and taxi
company Uber. Either ways, the waiting time to a high-profile entry by
Apple into the auto industry just keeps extending for now.
A car leased to Apple and covered in cameras and scanning equipment has been spotted driving around San Francisco.
The people carrier with system of 12 cameras and a lidar sensor, which scans the environment using a spinning laser, attached to its roof was spotted by a Bay Area local blog called Claycord news and talk.
The unmarked vehicle was confirmed as having been leased to Apple via
its number plate, and it could indicate that the company is preparing a
large update to its maps app for the iPhone and iPad, similar to the
street-level photography within Google Maps.
Apple’s update to its operating system for the iPhone
and iPad, iOS 9, is expected to debut in the summer and could introduce
the new feature. That would require a significant investment from Apple
and a fleet of cars to photograph and map roads.
A similar car to the one spotted in San Francisco was also captured on video in New York last year.
Google’s Street View was introduced in 2006 across five major US
cities before expanding to the rest of the UK and Europe in 2008. It
marked the switch for Google from relying on other providers for maps to
building its own.
Apple has invested heavily in its maps app and made it the default mapping application on the company’s smartphones and tablets.
Apple Maps was notoriously buggy with inaccurate data on its launch in 2012, prompting the chief executive Tim Cook to publicly apologise for user frustration stating that the company was “doing everything we can to make Maps better”.
Street View was a crucial step in improving the accuracy of Google Maps
as part of the company’s “Ground Truth” project, adding context such as
no access roads, traffic signs and the context not available from
satellite or aerial photography.
Tracking the cars route with GPS and other sensors not associated
with photography verified routes and brought local knowledge to the
standard map.
A similar project from Apple could boost the accuracy of its map
application and bring it up to par with competitors from Google and
Nokia’s Here maps.
BEIJING (Reuters) – China had 649 million internet users by the end
of 2014, with 557 million of those using handsets to go online, said a
government report on Tuesday, as the world’s biggest smartphone market
continues its shift to mobile.
While growth is slowing, China’s total internet population still rose
by 31 million in 2014, said the report by the China Internet Network
Information Center (CNNIC).
Growth in mobile internet users was faster, at 57 million.
Riding this wave are some of China’s, and the world’s, biggest
technology companies. These include e-commerce groups Alibaba and JD.com
Inc, social networking and video games firm Tencent Holdings Ltd,
search giant Baidu Inc and smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL].
For these companies a huge part of China’s potential remains
untapped, much of it in smaller cities and rural areas. The country’s
internet penetration rate is 47.9 percent and rural users only account
for just over a quarter of China’s total, said the CNNIC. By comparison,
in the United States 74.4 percent of households reported internet use
in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.
In good news for Alibaba and JD.com people shopping online increased
by 20 percent in the year to the end of 2014. Users of online payment
services, operated by Alibaba and Tencent, increased by 17 percent.
Instant messaging, which is dominated by Tencent’s WeChat and QQ, saw
users increase by 10 percent.
However, microblog use, a market dominated in China by Weibo Corp,
was down 11 percent. Last year, CNNIC reported a 9 percent decline in
users, triggering a sell-off in shares of the then-unlisted company’s
parent, Sina Corp.
But smartphone sales are flagging. Shipments in China were 389
million phones in 2014, down from 423 million the previous year,
according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Foreign internet companies have also been denied an opportunity to
compete in China. Some of the world’s biggest online services, like
those run by Google Inc, Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc have been severely
disrupted or simply blocked.
Nevertheless, domestic tech firms have weathered regulatory scrutiny
and the onus of self-censorship to account for more than $600 billion in
total share market values.
It seems like Google never stops fixing up the Play Store—and that’s a
good thing! It means the company is always working to perfect the
marketplace where we procure apps, games, books, movies, and more. But
it still feels like there are a few key features Google continues to
oversee. Here’s a wish list of the fixes we want Google to implement
immediately.
Better indication of which devices an app is for
There are two Netflix apps in the Google Play Store and it took me forever to realize that one was meant for Android TV.
I went looking for the Netflix app the other day and discovered that
there were two instances of it: one that’s meant for an Android phone or
tablet, and one that’s made for Android TV. It took a bit of Googling
and a Twitter conversation before I had figured any of that out, but
Google could have saved me the headache if it just had a system in place
that prominently stated which platform either application was meant
for. This isn't just an issue with Android TV; some apps are made just
for tablets, or are meant for your Android Wear watch.
Apple’s iTunes Store does a great job of this; it even offers a toggle
that lets you choose whether you want to search for apps that are
compatible with an iPad, an iPhone, or both. It’d be helpful if Google
offered the same utility, considering that it’s only going to get more
confusing now that Android is on your TV, in your car, and on your
wrist.
Notifications when apps in your wishlist goes on sale
I would appreciate if Google would alert me when Secrets of Mana eventually goes on sale.
The Google Play Store’s wish list feature is fun to come back to on a
rainy day—or when a relative slips me a Google Play Store gift card—but
I’d appreciate if I got a notification when a pricey app goes on sale.
It’s hard enough finding out what’s on sale in the store without digging
through pages of apps. I’d rather hear it directly from Google instead
of a shady looking, ad-ridden app that scans around for app sales.
Batch app installations
There are so many applications here, but there’s no way I want to sit and install them all on my device, one-by-one.
When I set up a new review device, I often have to go through and
install apps, one-by-one. I know—I should have a backup system in place,
right? But that still requires the hassle of downloading an app and
getting that all that set up, and the best backup utilities require that
your phone be rooted. Unlike Windows Phone or iOS, Android doesn’t have
a complementary desktop application, so everything you do with your
phone or tablet has to be done either on the device itself or from the
web.
Google could make this all hassle-free if it just allowed users to batch
install applications as they needed from the Play Store. It’d be even
better if you could individually choose the apps you want installed by
default and adjust it from time to time so that the minute you sync a
device with your Google account, it downloads those specific apps. Or
better yet, allow you to save lists of apps, and download those that you
want to the devices you want.
Let us forget about apps we no longer use
I can pick out at least two apps that haven’t been updated in 2011, and one that hasn’t been touched in over two years.
I’ve been an Android user for five years now. In that time, I’ve downloaded hundreds
of applications, many of which either have been abandoned by their
developers or have been ditched for other applications. But when I click
on My apps, I still see the dozens of titles I haven’t touched in years.
Google should let you curate your app history so that you don’t have to
wade through pages of apps you haven’t touched (or haven't been updated)
in years. Currently, you can disassociate an individual app from your
account in the Google Play app on your mobile device, but there’s no
easy way to do so from the browser, or to manage lots of apps at once.
Got any other things you wish Google would tune up in the Google Play
Store? Leave a comment, and if we get enough we’ll round them up and
share in a separate post.
ROBERT CARDIN
ROBERT CARDIN
DELL
