system

Screensavers have long outworn their welcome, but some people still refuse to live without them. If you wouldn't dream of having a blank black screen when your computer is idle, Solar System - Earth 3D Screensaver is for you. It shows you our planet in all of its glory.

The goofy early-'90s sci-fi music this application features is a weird choice, but it doesn't totally detract from the screensaver. As for the image, it's a cool spinning Earth that is actually fun to watch. It isn't the most accurate view of Earth you'll ever … Read more

One of the primary uses of computers is, of course, for media, whether you're watching movies, listening to music, playing a game, or running through a feature-packed slideshow. In the middle of the fun, it can be incrediby frustrating to get interrupted by a loud swoosh as you receive a new e-mail, or a speech alert telling you some other program needs attention.

To avoid such interruptions, of course you can quit the various applications like Mail and instant-messaging clients that may cause them, but this will not guarantee silence, as alerts can still crop up from other sources.… Read more

China is now the world's largest Android market, market researcher Informa said today.

Informa estimates that about 786 million smartphones will be sold worldwide by the end of the year, up 45 percent compared with 2011. Total Android-based smartphone sales this year will hit 461 million units. One-third of all of the Android devices sold in 2012 were sold in China, making it the world's largest Android market.

That figure becomes all the more staggering when one considers that the United States is in second place with 11 percent of all Android device sales this year.

The fact … Read more

Sound bar buyers' performance expectations are pretty low; all the 'bar has to do is sound better than the lousy speakers that are built into their TVs. So if that's all you need, a sound bar will get the job done -- but there are better-sounding alternatives, starting with a pair of self-powered Audioengine A2 ($199) speakers. The A2s are terrific, but the Paradigm Millenia CT ($700) is a 2.1-channel subwoofer/satellite system, and it sounds better than the Audioengines. A lot better, and it's really pretty amazing.

Spread 64 inches apart, the Millenia sats produced a … Read more

General Electric has developed an ultraslim cooling solution that could be used in laptops and tablets in the near future.

The cooler uses what GE calls dual piezoelectric cooling jets (DCJ for short). Unlike fan-based versions, which utilize spinning blades, the DCJ implementation is akin to mini bellows that suck in cool air and push out warm air. … Read more

Adobe Systems released Lightroom 4.3 today, adding support for MacBook Pros' high-resolution Retina displays and for raw images from 20 new cameras.

The list of supported cameras includes three higher-end compact PowerShot models from Canon, the small S110, the more flexible G15, and the ultrazoom SX50 HS; the new Nikon 1 V2 compact interchangeable-lens model and lower-priced full-frame Nikon D600 SLR; and competing models from Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, and Pentax. However, the D600 support is only preliminary, according to a blog post by Sharad Mangalick.

The Retina support, available only in Lightroom's library and develop modules, means that … Read more

Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, two high-profile programs used by graphic artists with a discriminating eye, now support Apple's high-resolution Retina Displays.

The new versions are being distributed through Adobe's new Creative Cloud subscription, which costs $50 per month for a 12-month commitment but is being boosted by a promotional price of $30 per month for a 12-month commitment to prime the Creative Cloud pump.

The idea behind Apple's Retina Displays, which are offered on iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Pros, is to use pixels small enough that the human eye can't distinguish them, removing pixelated edges from … Read more

Apparently Adobe Systems can persuade skeptics that its Creative Cloud subscription plan is worthwhile -- as long as the price is right.

That's one finding from a survey by CNET and analyst firm Jefferies this month. Nearly half of the 525 respondents already are subscribers, and of them, 59 percent said deeply discounted introductory pricing was a "major" influence in signing up for the Creative Cloud.

The Creative Cloud subscription is a monumental change to Adobe's business. Instead of persuading customers to buy perpetual licenses to Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Edge, and other members of the … Read more

Intel today disclosed technology that it hopes will get more of its silicon inside smartphones and tablets.

At the International Electron Devices Meeting, Intel laid out its next-generation 22-nanometer "SoC" system-on-a-chip technology. An SoC puts most of a device's core functions onto one piece of silicon and is typically used in mobile devices where space and power efficiency are paramount.

"In the past...we were focused primarily on developing transistors with ever higher performance," Mark Bohr, an Intel senior fellow, said to journalists in a teleconference. "Now we're developing technologies with a much … Read more