Norton AntiVirus 2012 and Norton Internet Security 2012 Beta Registration

• Norton AntiVirus 2012
    
  The latest upgrade of Norton AntiVirus offers:
  • Our fastest performance ever
  • Industry-leading protection
  • Easier to use Control Center and features.
  Try it now and receive a special discount on the full version once the beta ends!
  Norton AntiVirus 2012 - Beta Registration
  Award-winning speed, performance and protection just got better.
   
• Norton Protection System includes 4 layers of rock-solid protection designed to proactively protect against the very latest threats – so you can do more on your PC without disruptions.
• Insight Technology protects you from download dangers no matter which browser, instant messenger or file sharing program you use*.
• Customizable Control Center gives you the option to choose your preference between a simplified screen or the traditional detailed view.
• Bandwidth Management limits Norton’s processes and updates when you have limited bandwidth or monthly downloads.
• Download Insight 2.0 now tells you how stable a download is before you put your computer at risk for crashes or other bad things to happen.
• Download   

Norton Internet Security 2012 - Beta

The latest upgrade of Norton Internet Security offers:

• Our fastest performance ever
• Industry-leading protection
• Easier to use Control Center and features

Try it now and receive a special discount on the full version once the beta ends!
Award-winning speed, performance and protection just got better. 

Download   

Video Game Industry Drop . Microsoft XBox Gains to Buck U.S.

June 13 (Bloomberg Business Week)

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 was the top-selling video-game console in the U.S. last month, bucking a software-led decline that saw industry sales slump to their lowest since October 2006.

Xbox 360 sales increased 39 percent to 270,000 units from a year earlier, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said today in an e-mailed statement, citing industry tracker NPD Group Inc. Sony Corp., maker of the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable, said its hardware sales increased 14 percent.

A light slate of new game software and Nintendo Co.’s aging Wii console contributed to a 14 percent decline in overall retail sales of $743.1 million in May, Port Washington, New York-based NPD said in an e-mailed statement. The figure doesn’t include digital sales of games.

“Overall, the Xbox 360 platform has contributed 34 percent of year-to-date revenues” across hardware, content and accessories, said Anita Frazier, an analyst with NPD. The platform has gained 7 percentage points of market share, she said.

Industry hardware sales dropped 5 percent to $228.9 million, and software declined 19 percent to $375.8 million, NPD reported.

Sony’s PS3 and PSP both showed unit-sales growth, NPD reported, without citing exact figures

Windows 8 :Hidden Features

Windows 8 is coming in 2012: Here's an early look at 10 major new features and areas of improvement.

1. Boot in under 20 seconds? Windows 8 sports a new Hybrid Boot mode which drastically reduces (cold) boot time and will most likely be the default boot option going forward. In essence, it's a combination of "Log Off" and "Hibernate" -- the moment users click on the shutdown button, Windows closes all running applications, logs off and then goes into hibernation mode. Instead of booting up regularly, which usually involves loading hundreds of files and initializing services, drivers and so forth, Windows 8 simply loads the single hibernation file into memory and presents you with the log on screen. I've benchmarked the results on two machines and came away impressed:

2. Automatic Maintenance
Microsoft puts a heavy emphasis on optimizing and increasing overall stability of Windows 8: A new "Automatic Maintenance" regularly checks for solutions to problems (via Windows Error Report), runs the .NET Optimization Service and defrags all hard disks automatically -- all of this happens while the PC is on idle, of course.

3. Disk Defragmenter

Speaking of defragmentation, the new Disk Defragmenter is finally capable of handling SSD drives and allows users to perform the TRIM command much easier than in Windows 7.
n addition, I've found a new Windows service called "Spot Verifier". According to its descriptions and its related DLL files, it checks for bad sectors in real-time and marks them as "bad" in order to avoid data loss or damage. I've also dug up traces of some underlying file system changes that I couldn't quite make sense of, such as an entirely new file system driver called "NT Protogon FS driver", which looks like a kernel mode driver for some sort of (yet unknown) file system called Protogon. It's unclear, whether this is a major new file system or just some minor subsystem.
4. Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer is the next tool that received (quite) a UI overhaul and a perfect example of where Microsoft reduces the steps necessary to perform tasks: Like it or not, Windows 8 is likely to come with a ribbonized version of Windows Explorer, as first revealed by Windows experts Paul Thurott and Rafael Rivera. While actually working with this explorer for a couple of weeks we have to admit that, despite its hideous look, it's absolutely wonderful to work with. Day-to-day file tasks are simpler and the ribbon adapts to the file contents (for example, "Music Tools" below.

5. ISO mounting
Additionally, Windows 8 sports its own ISO mounting tool, thus eliminating the need to go and download 3rd party tools, which are often riddled with annoying toolbars and ads.

Intel's Next-Generation High-End Chipset

Intel Corp.'s next-generation high-end core-logic known as X79 may support both current enthusiast-class chips in LGA1366 form-factor as well as next-generation microprocessors in LGA2011 packaging. In fact, according to a document seen by X-bit labs, Intel itself prepares to release two mainboards based on X79 chipset for both its present and future chips.
At present Intel X58 chipset supports only microprocessors in LGA1366 form-factor and it is unlikely that the core-logic will support future Sandy Bridge E central processing units (CPUs). The yet-to-be announced X79 chipset (Waimea Bay enthusiast platform) will support both types of "extreme" chips: code-named Bloomfield in LGA1366 form-factor as well as code-named Sandy Bridge-E in LGA2011 packaging, a document seen by us claims.
Intel itself plans to release two X79-based "Extreme Board" motherboards: DX79SI (Siler) and DX79TO (Thorsby) for LGA1366 and LGA2011 microprocessors, according to documents seen by X-bit labs. The DX79SI will be aimed at no-compromise performance enthusiasts, whereas the DX79TO will be designed for those, who want high performance with certain price envelopes. Interestingly, the new Intel Extreme Boards lack PS/2 connector, which is a pretty logical move and a signal for other makers of mainboards.

Nokia's new smartphone strategy fails to impress market watchers

• Charles Arthur Technology editor
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 June 2011 16.33 BST

Nokia aims to connect the 'next billion' people using its new handsets with Windows software available from the autumn. Photograph Alberto Estevez

Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop left the stage quickly after his speech last week, when he set out how the Finnish mobile phone company planned to build the "third ecosystem" in the fast-growing smartphone market.
He had been was speaking in London, and said he was confident that in partnership with Microsoft – which from this autumn will supply its Windows Phone software to top-end Nokia handsets – the company would continue its drive to connect the "next billion" people to the mobile network.

Full Story Read :guardian.co.uk