Corliss Tech Review Group: ARM smartphone chip boasts 3x computing power

With the trend today of making every new smartphone thinner than the last one, most would have to make a compromise between aesthetics and productivity. Usually, a nice and thin smartphone means shorter battery life and limited processing capability.

Fortunately for us, manufacturers are now moving towards extended battery life and excellent processing power even in thin handsets. Case in point: ARM's next generation A72 processors.

ARM Holdings, a microchip designer based in Britain, has announced a new processor for tablets and smartphones that boasts improved graphics and processing capability. Their new Cortex-A72 chip design and other improvements in related technology came just in time to help the handheld device industry which struggles with cooling demand.

Corliss Tech Review Group noted that much of the advancement could be credited to big improvements made in manufacturing technology, particularly from the Asian contractors.

An event in San Francisco was held where ARM announced that the new chips pack thrice as much computing power when compared with those in use today. It is now totally possible for manufacturers to use these new processors from ARM to get superb performance minus the strain in the device's battery. In fact, the company claims that in thin profile designs, the new chip could allow for as much as 75% reduction in power consumption.

The company's vice president of marketing also mentioned that the device has "more than enough" computing power to support complex processes on tablets and smartphones even without an Internet connection. Most of the smartphone processes today that are data-heavy are usually being handled by remote servers and not the device's processor itself.

Devices with this new processor technology are expected to be available by early next year. But according to Corliss Tech Review Group, 10 companies, including MediaTek of Taiwan and Rockchip of China, have already licensed ARM's new technology.

The Corliss Group Latest Tech Review: Security experts offer online shopping tips

As Americans spend billions on holiday shopping this month, online security experts say a little caution can go a long way when it comes to avoiding identity theft.

“In general online shopping is good. It’s safe for the most part, but it’s the safest when you initiate the contact, when you log onto a known website,” said Rick Avery, president of Boston-based Securitas Security Systems.

Directly visiting trusted, reputable online retailers is just one way to attempt to avoid the cyber criminals who try to steal sensitive information from vulnerable computers and unsuspecting consumers.

“There is a risk in commerce …” said Sam Ransbotham, an information systems professor at Boston College. “There is also a risk from walking around with a wad of cash. We’ve got years and years of experience walking around with wads of cash that we just don’t have with these newer mechanisms.”

Purchases at brick-and-mortar stores aren’t immune to data breaches either. Last year, hackers stole data from 40 million credit cards from Target, while cyber thieves got information from 56 million credit cards from Home Depot earlier this year.

To reduce the chances of fraud, Avery advises that shoppers be wary of offers sent via email. Criminals, he said, may send legitimate-looking emails that appear to be from online merchants or banks. Rather than clicking on a link in an email, he recommends directly typing the website address into your browser.

“One of the most dangerous ways people get involved with credit card fraud or theft on the Internet is they get emailed a link offering 50 percent off, or saying it’s from the bank, and it’s actually a false website made to look like the authentic website,” he said.

Cyber criminals can use fraudulent websites to gather financial information from a person or install malware on their computers.

“If you’re shopping around and find an extra, extra really good deal, that might be the online equivalent to buying cheap speakers out of the back of a truck,” Ransbotham said. “If it’s too good to be true, it is.”

Avery also recommends using credit cards or one-time use credit cards instead of debit cards.

“Some banks have protections on a debit card, but not all do at the point of an ATM,” Avery said. “Usually, your debit card is tied to your other banking accounts, and it’s a lot more difficult to get your money back. It may be weeks before you get your money back.”

In some cases, a victim might never get that money back.

The Corliss Group Latest Tech Review: Top tips to stay safe while shopping online on what promises to be one of retail's biggest days of the year

Cyber Monday is set to be among the biggest shopping days of the year - but how can you avoid becoming the victim of online shopping fraud on Monday?

Experian found that last year saw a huge lift in Black Friday’s significance, with a 19 percent increase in visits to retail websites last year (29 Nov) compared to 2012. Cyber Monday is also increasing, with a 9 per cent increase last year on 2012’s figures.

Meanwhile, the rise of ‘click & collect’ services, and a greater trust in retailers being able to deliver well in time for Christmas, has resulted in a trend for people being more comfortable leaving their Christmas shopping until a Monday later: Manic Monday, you might call it.

A few things to remember if you are doing the bulk of your Christmas shopping online, according to Experian:

1. It’s best to use websites that you know and trust. Always look for a security padlock icon in the top left hand corner of a page before you register financial or personal information on a website. And if an online deal you find, or have been emailed, sounds too good to be true, it quite probably is.

2. Use strong passwords, especially if you have stored payment details, and it’s a good idea to change them every now and then. If possible, install the latest anti-virus and firewall software. If you’re out and about, make sure you can’t be overlooked when you make a mobile payment – be especially careful around wi-fi, even at home.

3. Keep an eye on your bank and credit card account balances. Your credit report can also show you if there are any irregularities, such as suspect applications for credit and rises in card balances. As a CreditExpert member you can get unlimited views of your Experian Credit Report and alerts to credit activity in your name so you can spot potentially fraudulent activity.

4. Buying on credit can give you protection. If you buy goods or services on your credit card, you have extra protection if things go wrong (clothes don’t fit, unwanted gifts etc.) compared with paying by cash or even debit card, under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Corliss Tech Review Group provides some tips and reviews on how to secure you through online and technical issue. Our substance is short yet to the point, and intended to challenge you to live in and nurture with IT technologies. For more update, just visit our blog site.

Corliss Tech Review Group: Google Glass barely alive

Two years ago, Google has hyped its Glasses device as the greatest thing since sliced bread -- and for a moment, many of us believed it.

During its launch, there was much enthusiasm on the part of the consumers and developers but now people seemed to be losing interest. (Whether that's because of the $1,500 price tag or the fact that you can't really find a place to buy it from remains unknown.)

While it may still sound supercool to geeks, Glass might not even reach the hands of the general public as developers are jumping out of the bandwagon. Some of them have felt the lack of support from Google, especially since an official public launch date is yet to be set. When Glass became available for developers in 2012, 10,000 units were reportedly sold. Then last year, it became available to tech lovers and media people but as of now, there's no news when it would become commercially available.

"It's not a big enough platform to play on seriously," said the founder of Normative Design Matthew Milan who discontinued their Glass app supposed to target fitness buffs.

According to Corliss Tech Review Group, out of more than a dozen Glass app developers, 9 have already put their efforts on hold owing to the limitations of the gadget and perceived lack of customers. Meanwhile, 3 of them have instead switched their focus on developing software for businesses.

"If there was 200 million Google Glasses sold, it would be a different perspective. There's no market at this point," said Tom Frencel, CEO of a game developer firm that held back its efforts to make a Glass game.

What's more, in the past 6 months, a number of Google employees responsible for the Glass development have reportedly left. Also, the Glass Collective, a funding consortium by Google Ventures has invested in only 3 startups this year and has taken down its website without notice. A spokesperson from Google Ventures said that the reason for the website closure is for entrepreneurs to come to them directly.

Google insists it's still committed to developing Glass. Chris O'Neill, its head of business ops said, "We are completely energized as ever about the opportunity that wearable and Glass in particular represent. We are as committed as ever to a consumer launch. That is going to take time and we are not going to launch this product until it's absolutely ready."

The formerly proud "Explorers" who go around the streets touting their Glasses are now getting flak for being "Glassholes". After all, no one really wants such evident threat to privacy hanging around in obvious, or obscure, places. In fact, someone from Google admitted himself that Glass is a perfect example of privacy issues concerning wearable devices.

Experts from Corliss Tech Review Group have already predicted that it's a tall order for Glass to be a mass-market gadget. It's more likely to go down the road of Segway; a supposedly cool invention that ended up being used only in professional and industrial settings.

The Corliss Group Latest Tech Review on Bitdefender Total Security 2015

Regarded as one of the best technical Windows internet security suites for PC and laptop, and Total Security 2015 lives up to that rep.

Bitdefender is widely regarded as one of the best technical Windows internet security suites. Its Total Security product offers a very good range of the features you rightly expect in a security suite. The 2015 version aims to make life even easier for customers by introducing Profiles, which adapt the software for particular tasks, like playing games, watching movies or general office work. Also see: Best internet security software 2014.

After installation, you’re presented with a very Windows 8-looking tiled interface. Rather than having a lot of tiles slide awkwardly through the Bitdefender window, as in the 2014 version, here there are three large tiles and four subsidiary ones, giving quick and easy access to all the program’s key functions.

The modules provided by Bitdefender Total Security 2015 cover AV, anti-malware and anti-spam, tune-up, online banking protection, a 2-way firewall, parental control, online backup and anti-theft provision.

Online backup, which Bitdefender Total Security 2015 refers to as Safebox, is handled from the My Bitdefender online site, which is unusual – it’s more usually set up and managed locally. 

It works by syncing the files and folders you select with off-site storage and offers 2 GB of space. This is paltry in a Bitdefender Total Security 2015 package catering for three PCs, though you can, naturally, buy more. 

System optimisation looks at three different areas that might need attention: disk, Windows Registry and privacy. 

After we’d adjusted the default settings to leave browser caches and history alone, Bitdefender Total Security 2015 still managed to recover 8.7 GB from our test system, which is worth having back. You can run the optimiser with a single click.

The anti-theft features include locating, locking down and wiping a stolen laptop, although still no facility to take a photo of the person using it. While testing on a desktop PC, we tried the locate facility, which repeatedly reported we were in a suburb of Doncaster, a place we’ve never knowingly visited (although we’re sure it’s very nice). Since this writer is based in Devon that’s not very encouraging.

The Profiles, apart from the Standard one applied by default, are for work, games and videos. They postpone protection and maintenance tasks which impair performance and put off automatic Windows updates. Like many tasks in Bitdefender Total Security 2015, you can leave selection of the correct profile to AutoPilot, which automatically manages the IS suite when engaged.

Our tests showed a fairly low scan rate of 54.5 files per second, but good file fingerprinting, dropping the number of files scanned from 79,145 to 14,703 on a second scan.

We measured very little resource hit, too, with just a 10 percent impact on our copy test, when also running a background scan with Bitdefender Total Security 2015.

The German test site AV-Test (www.av-test.org) has awarded Bitdefender Total Security 2015 top marks in its test groups for the last three years, which is a notable achievement.

Most recently, using the 2014 product, the product managed an overall score of 17.5/18.0, which breaks down into a perfect 6.0/6.0 for Protection, the same for Usability and 5.5/6.0 for Performance.

Performance looks at how much the software affects the overall speed of the system it’s run on, and here it gave just a 1 second knock-back, against 5 sec for the group Bitdefender Total Security 2015 was tested in, as a whole. A very good result.

The Corliss Group Latest Tech Review: Logitech K480 Keyboard Works with Anything You Own

It’s a truth as universal as it is annoying; if you want all your devices to work with a specific keyboard, well, you’ll probably need either one for each, sign on for precisely one device ecosystem, or get used to swiping in words. Travelers in particular are driven insane by this problem, so Logitech decided, quite cleverly, to solve it with the K480.

Swiss Army Keyboard

There are two problems with modern portable keyboards. The first is, as we noted, device compatibility. Ask anybody who’s had to install drivers just to get a basic keyboard to work, the various device ecosystems out there don’t play well with each other and seemingly want to drive you insane.

Logitech solves this with some clever design. You can switch between three different places to send your words, so that regardless of whether you’re all Apple, or a mix of Apple, Chrome, and Windows, you’ll be able to use the keyboard and get the point across. Basically, if it uses Bluetooth, you’re all set to type.

At The Trough

The second problem is keeping all your stuff organized; you’ve got your phone over here, your tablet over there, and your laptop in front of you… and many keyboards want to be docked solely at your tablet. How does Logitech solve this? Simple: It puts a trough at the top of the keyboard that can easily be used to stand up both your tablet and your phone, and to type away at both of them with ease.

A Keyboard For The Multitasker

Multitasking, or at least sorting through your various tasks properly, can be a profoundly annoying experience, and Logitech deserves credit for looking at how we actually use our gadgets and creating a keyboard that fits in with them. If that’s something you need, it starts at just $50.

The Corliss Group Latest Tech Review on How Anqor Gets You Online

If you travel, you know the pain of getting online wherever you go. Either you pay offensive tethering charges when you really shouldn’t be, or, in some cases, it’s just impossible to access the Internet unless you’ve got an in-country SIM card. As we’re increasingly global, this is increasingly annoying, but there’s one Kickstarter, Anqor, that supposedly has the solution.

Always Online

The Anqor itself is fairly straightforward, as a device. It’s about the size of a novelty paperback you get as a gift, and relatively light, although that’s just the prototype; the end goal device is roughly the size of an iPhone. And it works relatively simply, as well; it connects to a 3G or 4G network in the area you’re in, connects to up to ten of the devices you have handy, and we’re off to the races. It’s how it connects that’s more interesting.

SIMulated Card

As we all know, to access a local mobile network, you need a SIM card, which is profoundly annoying. What the Anqor does is determine where you are, riffle through the company’s library of SIM cards, upload the profile, and you’re done. The tradeoff, of course, is that this doesn’t come cheap. Global travelers looking for this convenience will be paying roughly $52 a month for the library, although you can pause a subscription at any time, and for just one country, it’ll be a more reasonable $16 a month.

Online Anywhere

If you’re a world traveler, you know from experience that you’ll be running around juggling SIM cards anyway, so you may as well clean some of the clutter out of your life. And, if you never leave the country but your job requires constant Internet access, this might be worth it as well. The device, without data plan, will start at around $270 if you get in early on the Kickstarter.