PCWorld Aug-12

IT’S A CLASSIC physics question: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? In this case, the unstoppable force is the online advertising industry, which earns its bread by tracking consumers’ click-by-click behavior and using that data to display targeted ads. The immovable object is Microsoft, whose upcoming Internet Explorer 10 browser in Windows 8 makes tracking an option, not the default. Tracking is the latest battlefield in the privacy wars. (See Mark Sullivan’s sobering “Data Snatchers! The Booming Market for Your Online Identity” on page 77 for details on how your personal data is collected, shared, and sold.) In fact, tracking has become so troubling that the Obama administration ordered the ad industry to devise a plan to protect consumers. The Digital Advertising Alliance, an industry coalition, responded by…

Free Antivirus I turned with interest to “Free Antivirus You Can Trust” (June). But I was startled to note that your reviewer tested Microsoft Security Essentials 2.1. Good heavens! The version installed on my machine is numbered 4.0. Dennis Davis, Tucson, Arizona Author’s reply: Version 4.0 of Microsoft Security Essentials came out the day after our reviews were completed—one of the hazards of covering products that get updated from time to time. —Nick Mediati No one antivirus product—free or paid—protects against all viruses/malware/spam/phishing/zero-day threats. Period. To think that there is a magic-shield app that will keep you safe, warm, and protected is unwise. As the article shows, all of the products have their varying strengths and weaknesses. Multilayer protection is a necessity for all Windows PC users. My2w0S3n5e, PCWorld.com forums In the case of vendors that provide…

ENGINEERS HAVE BEEN working on developing flexible displays for years. But until this year, we’ve only seen prototypes of bendable screens. In 2008, HP and the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University unveiled a prototype of an affordable, flexible electronic display that used self-aligned imprint lithography technology. The paperlike computer displays are made almost entirely of plastic, which makes them durable, movable, and portable. And in 2010, Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute and AU Optronics teamed up to develop a manufacturing process for flexible e-reader displays using AMOLED technology. Then last fall, Nokia showed off a working prototype of a kinetic device that had a flexible OLED display. To interact with it, you had to hold the gadget in both hands, which allowed you to flex and bend it to…

APPLE’S iOS 6 will continue to leapfrog with the competition, adding long-requested features as well as new surprises. But if you were hoping for big changes to the iPhone’s operating system, you’ll have to keep waiting. An iPhone with iOS 6 is still essentially a launcher for apps and services. It looks as dependable as ever, but it’s getting kind of dull. Admittedly, apps and services will get better in iOS 6. Maps will improve with turn-by-turn navigation. Mail will finally allow photo and video attachments. A “Do Not Disturb” mode will enhance notifications. Facetime will gain support for cellular networks and be able to answer phone calls as video chats. A new service called Passbook will let people store tickets, passes, gift cards, and other documents in digital form. Yet apps on…

Chrome OS Update Adds Traditional Desktop Feel The latest version of Google’s Chrome OS adds a traditional desktop look to Chromebooks, including features that will be familiar to any PC user. Instead of having a single monolithic browser window with an endless number of tabs, Chrome OS has a new window manager that lets you open multiple windows at once. You can also snap a window to each side of the screen to view two separate windows at once, much as with the Aero Snap feature in Windows 7. Win 8: MS Tries to Rein In Unwanted Software To combat bloatware, Microsoft plans to offer Windows 8 users a $99 Signature Upgrade service— an extension of the Microsoft Store’s Signature PC program that tweaks Windows 7 PCs for speed and performance, and removes…

COMCAST HAS dropped its 250GB monthly bandwidth limit for all but a few of its cable subscribers. The company plans to test the effect of higher included bandwidth limits (with a maximum of at least 300GB) in combination with overage fees of $10 per 50GB block—20 cents per gigabyte—beyond such caps. When Comcast finishes its testing and installs its new limits, how will it affect you? If you have a television-plus-Internet bundle, Comcast doesn’t (and won’t) count any of the Xfinity cable TV video that it transmits through its television set-top box against data quotas. But Comcast does split out video delivered in other ways. Subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity Streampix can watch TV series and movies via a Web browser or an iOS app, and watch on-demand content via a separate subscription;…