Chrome OS to mimic OS X Yosemite with smartphone continuity features

This might actually be the first feature to make me want to try Chrome OS. 

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2352134/chrome-os-to-mimic-os-x-yosemite-with-smartphone-continuity-features

I've tidied up my awesome freeware page!

I've tagged the suggestions with their OS specific platforms and actually proof read it so it should make a bit more sense thing time around.

http://blog.alpagot.net/p/awesome-freeware.html

OS, Internet Exploder and Flash all need your attention... Microsoft patch Tuesday

From The reg -  It's 2014 and Microsoft Windows PCs can still be owned by a JPEG

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/11/microsoft_adobe_patch_tuesday/

Windows Phone. You've now got a fighting chance! (Windows 8.1 feature set post)

• Swype support (Sorry iOS, your now out in the cold).
• VPN (Er... the business phone with Office and Exchange support but no VPN till now!!!)
• Rotation lock. ( Reading emails in bed will no longer be infuriating).

You've finally listened!

Now all I need is Sky Go but I can live without while I still have a tablet!

http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-81-features

Other notable mentions:

Media

• Audio/video transcoding, Hardware accelerated

System

• Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• Chkdsk for SD cards to ensure card health
• Miracast, PlayTo, mirror and project via wireless display or USB-out
• Mouse and keyboard support (HID)
• Stereoscopic 3D support
• Wi-Fi Direct

Galaxy S5 rumours & thoughts

See link at the bottom. 

A 2k display on a 5in screen just seems a bit excessive to be honest! If the rumours are true and is LCD over AMOLED then I don't think that'll be great in daylight either... Still it's on course for an April release which is when I got my S4 last year so it's a decent option. I''d also be impressed if it doesn't kill the battery in just a few hours of gaming. 

Same goes for the 6 core 64bit processor. Although that does sound pretty cool and the idea of 'carrying' your desktop around in your pocket is pretty cool. I hope they give it a mini-HDMI / MHL out to plug straight into a display.

On a side note. I'd love for them to release the same spec as a Windows Phone and give the devs something to built towards! That OS needs more rapid development! Thats not to say Android won't for some of these features.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2317640/samsung-galaxy-s5-release-date-price-specs-and-features

Valve's SteamOS will be available for individuals and OEMs on December 13th

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse#announcements/detail/1930088300965516570

The Verge: KitKat 4.4

Mavericks is free!

Yep, Apple have released it for free and its in a App store waiting for download.

Google's Chrome OS is being built into Windows 8

Much more appealing than a standalone Google OS in my opinion.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/5/4806562/google-building-chrome-os-into-windows-8

Steam is coming to a new operating system

So Valve are going with their own OS. I think it's a interesting move but i'm not sure its the right one.

Still if they push it hard enough it might work. I'm guessing it's going to be a skinned Linux (probably based off Ubuntu).

It'll be interesting to see what they do about graphics driver support. Thats usually a bug bear of many linux gamers although the quality of them have come a lone way in recent years.

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamOS/

Also they have released an image of their new controller design:

It looks weird to say the least! Again it's a bit of risk as PC gaming is designed around a keyboard mouse combo.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/27/valve-steambox-announcement-3/

NFC mobile payments – fixing the big issues

I wish they would hurry up and sort this out. I want to ditch all my cards and just carry one device!

http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2013/05/20/nfc-mobile-payments-fixing-the-big-issues/

Windows Phone update in testing, includes rotation lock and text syncing to PCs

About time for the rotation lock. That was so annoying I gave up on the platform. What a pain trying to check your emails in bed when you woke up.

Also I welcome the feature that we had BACK ON WINDOWS MOBILE CE, which was to be able to send SMS from a PC. It'd be better if we could have it emulate the display like we used to. (With the MobileMe app (program as they were known back then)).

If it gets swype / Swift key then I might even go back to the platform, dodging Nokia unless they have a think high spec model that doesn't fall over at the sight of a bit of dust.

I tried to love the platform.... see historic posts. It just didn't love me... 

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/9/4604990/windows-phone-update-rotation-lock-text-sync-features

Swiftkey update

Since moving away from Android the one thing I do greatly miss is the 'top end' keyboards such as Swype and Swiftkey. The Windows Phone keyboard is still good, better than IOS's but it's not as good as I found Swype.

So to hear about some of the new features in Swiftkey is making me rather envious. There is some clever stuff in there such as the bi-lingual suggestions...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/20/swiftkey_4_overview/

EA's Origin for Mac in Alpha & Sim City

So I got through an e-mail i've wanted for a while now. My Sim City beta key!! Having recently switched to Mac and wanted the best experience for the hardware I thought i'd opt to see if it was available through Origin for Mac. A few minutes in and to my dismay I couldn't find the download a Mac client. A quick google search later and it was revealed to be available for Mac as an alpha release.

Good to know they have a client as Sim City will be out on Mac.
Sadly once I got into the client and entered my key it was only for a Windows US version so i'll be switching over to bootcamped Windows anyway. Worth a try though...

http://store.origin.com/store/eaemea/en_GB/html/originweb/demos/pbPage.demos-en_GB

Looks like i'll be bootcamping a little less

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/announcing-guild-wars-2-for-mac-beta/

The register gives PureView tech a look

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/10/05/review_nokia_pureview_808_phone_camera_tech/

Moto's Xooms still got it...

The Motorola Xoom still see's support! http://www.androidcentral.com/android-411-finally-pushed-motorola-xoom-wifi-testers

Project Sputnik: Dell's Ubuntu-based XPS13 laptop for developers

Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/08/project-sputnik-dell-ubuntu-developers/