Hasta La Gadget!

While there are many advantages to storing your files on the cloud, one of the main drawbacks would be unreliability – as in, you can never quite tell just when Murphy is going to strike, and you are unable to access those stored files because the cloud service is down. Of course, the same can be said of stashing your files on a physical hard drive, as it could fail you at the most crucial of moments. Regardless, it is best to have the same file stored on both platforms – just in case. Apparently, Apple’s iCloud services were down earlier this morning, where it affected approximately 3 million iOS users – numbering around 1% of the total. Those who were affected by the downtime would have found it nigh impossible to retrieve images from the photostream, to back up applications and data, or even to access documents that have been stored away on the cloud.

Apart from that, sometime late last night Apple did take note that creating new Apple ID’s is not a possibility for everyone, and thankfully, that particular issue has been fixed since. I guess the downtime of a server happens to even the best of them once in a while, and in Apple’s case, it has already gone down several times. Of course, other players such as Microsoft and Google are not exempt either, having experienced their fair share of severe outages in the past, too.

Apple’s iCloud Service Experienced Downtime Today original content from Ubergizmo.

Lenovo has announced a new workstation, the ThinkStation E32 aimed at professionals who need an entry-level system. The ThinkStation E3 has Intel Haswell under the hood, and is being offered with 60-day trials of AutoDesk’s AutoCAD, indicating the type of buyers the company is targeting. The models will go on sale on September 6 starting […]

Rumor has it that LG will release its latest Android flagship smartphone, the G2, on the two largest U.S. carriers next month. Android Central claims to have heard that Verizon LG G2 will be released on September 12th, AT&T will release the device on September 13th. AT&T is said to open pre-orders for the device on September 3rd, customers who place pre-orders will reportedly receive a free folio case for the LG G2. Sprint and T-Mobile will also be offering the device, but their release dates haven’t been rumored yet.

LG has already begun selling its latest flagship in Korea, its home country. Customers in the UK can place their pre-orders, for them and for customers throughout Europe the LG G2 will reportedly launch in the end of September. This information should be taken with a grain of salt, since the aforementioned carriers have yet to officially announce the release date for this device. Verizon recently published its sign-up page for the LG G2, the page didn’t reveal much about the release date, but did tout the exclusive Qi wireless charging capability. We’ll only know the LG G2 U.S. release timeframe for sure once the carriers make an official announcement, lets hope that they do that soon.

LG G2 Verizon And AT&T Release Expected Next Month original content from Ubergizmo.

When Edward Snowden leaked a number of top secret documents detailing National Security Agency’s spying programs, a lot of questions were raised regarding the alleged participation of some of U.S.A’s top software and internet companies. Microsoft was named in those documents as one of the participants of NSA’s PRISM program. A German publication called Zeit Online claims to have obtained leaked documents that reveal IT experts within the German government believe that Windows 8 is a “security risk.”

According to the publication, the experts contend that Windows 8 contains a backdoor which cannot be closed. They’re concerned about how Windows 8 works with Trusted Platform Modules. It is believed that the backdoor might allow Microsoft and even the NSA to remotely control any computer running Windows 8. From 2015, every computer will come with Windows 8.x, thus leaving simply no way for a user to tell what Microsoft might be doing to their system via remote updates. The experts reportedly conclude that due to the “loss of control over the capabilities of information technology” the security principles of confidentiality and integrity are no longer achievable. While Windows 8 is termed “unusable” due to the alleged backdoor, one document is cited as saying that Windows 7 can be securely used until 2020, after which they will have to find other solutions.

German Government IT Experts Reportedly Consider Windows 8 A ‘Security Risk’ original content from Ubergizmo.

Microsoft has decided to make the jump to the realm of education with the official launch of Bing for Schools, which happens to be a new initiative that intends to increase the level of digital literacy among students through the intended input of technology – the Surface RT tablet in this case, making an appearance in classrooms. First previewed in June, Bing for Schools is ad-free, and would come with enhanced privacy protections, adult-content filters, and enhanced specialized learning capabilities.

The pilot program has just kicked off, where Microsoft had begun to recruit schools from all over the country, where among them include the Los Angeles Unified School District, Atlanta Public Schools, Fresno Unified School District, and Detroit Country Day School, so that the ad-free Bing experience will be able to reach over 800,000 students. If a particular school district happens to be facing budget cuts, Microsoft will transform Bing Rewards into Surface RT tablets. Just an overview on what Bing Rewards is all about – it will basically enable any Web user to earn credits as long as they surf the Web. These credits can then be redeemed for gift cards as well as other items, although there is also the option of donating it to altruistic projects such as Bing for Schools. 30,000 Bing Rewards credits will enable a school to receive a Microsoft tablet and Touch Cover, now how about that?

Bing For Schools Launched, Goes Ad Free original content from Ubergizmo.