On the 16^th August Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chip maker, shocked the technology industry in its bid to acquire McAfee for $7.68 billion ($4.9bn).

This would mean a purchase of all of McAfee’s common stock for £48 per share in cash and McAfee will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary, reporting into Intel’s Software and Services Group.

Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO said:

“The addition of McAfee products and technologies into the Intel computing portfolio brings us incredibly talented people with a track record of delivering security innovations, products and services that the industry and consumers trust to make connecting to the Internet safer and more secure.”

This merger will ultimately better protect consumers, corporations and governments with security software and hardware from one company as billions of devices – and the server and cloud networks that manage them – go online.

Intel and McAfee will jointly explore future product concepts to help strengthen security in the cloud network and countless computers and devices people use day-to-day.

Renée James, Intel senior vice president, and general manager of the group, said:

“McAfee is the right security partner for us. Our current work together has impressive prospects, and we look forward to introducing a product from our strategic partnership next year.”

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Adobe mobile spokesman Stefan Offerman said:

“AIR includes specific functionality offered by mobile OSes and devices such as multi-touch, gesture inputs, accelerometer, geolocation, and screen orientation and enables developers to deliver these rich apps (games etc.) outside the browser.”

Following Adobe’s recent rift with Apple, the software manufacturers has strengthened it relationship with Google, whose Android-based phone are integrated with Adobe’s components.

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Tracking Cookies are not often widely known among users but that do pose questions about privacy. They track the websites you visit and help advertisers target the right audience. If you find this invasive, Symantec products help you block and delete them.

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Symantec has stressed that cyber criminals are always evolving and finding new ways of exploiting Internet users. Social media platforms are ones which have drawn much attention form hackers of late and Symantec is urging for a more comprehensive from of protection as these site grow in popularity.

This sleek new line of all-in-one PCs consists of the ET2400E, ET2400I, ET2400A, ET2400EGT, ET2400INT, ET2400AGT, ET2400XVT. These PCs are the height of entertainment with Super Hybrid Engines and the ASUS SonicMaster Technology teamed with a 23.6-inch Full HD widescreen.

The SonicMaster Technology ensures a crisp sound through a wide audio spectrum between 80Hz and 12 KHz, and minimizes distortions. The unique Super Hybrid Engine works alongside the latest Intel® processors and increases system performance by up to 15 per cent.

Selected models in the series feature USB 3.0 which makes file transfers 10 times faster compared to USB 2.0, as well as Bluetooth 3.0 which syncs mobile devices up to 8 times faster than normal.

All models in the series come with a 16:9, 23.6-inch Full HD display but the top of the range ET2400XVT, goes that extra bit further. It comes with NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ technology, meaning you get 3D movies and games in Full HD.

Other components on offer in selected models include a built-in TV tuner, Blu-ray drive, and HDMI-in, meaning it is compatible with games consoles, cameras and laptops.

These PCs will have a very strong media focus and are versatile enough for the whole family. No details on pricing have been released as of yet.

Specs

ET2400E

Intel®Pentium® dual-core E5500

2Gb RAM (DDR3 800 MHz)

1Tb/750Gb/500Gb/320Gb SATA II 7200rpm

Super Multi DVD optical drive

Display: 23.6 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution

Graphics: on board

ET2400I

Intel® Core™ i5 -650 /

Intel® Core™ i3 -540

2Gb RAM (DDR3 1066 MHz)

1Tb/750Gb/500Gb SATA II 7200rpm

Blue-ray reader / Super Multi DVD optical drive

Display: 23.6 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution

Graphics: on board

ET2400A

AMD Athlon II X2 220

Graphics ATI Radeon HD5470, ATI Radeon HD4570, UMA

2Gb RAM (DDR3 1066 MHz)

1Tb/750Gb/500Gb/320Gb SATA II 7200rpm

Super Multi DVD optical drive

Display: 23.6 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution

ET2400EGT

Intel® Pentium® dual-core E5500

Graphics: ATI Radeon HD5470, ATI Radeon HD4570

2Gb RAM (DDR3 800 MHz)

1Tb/750Gb/500Gb/320Gb SATA II 7200rpm

Display: 23.6 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution

Touch screen

Super Multi DVD optical drive

ET2400INT

Intel® Core™ i5 -650, Intel® Core™ i3 -540

Graphics: NVIDIA G310M

2Gb RAM (DDR3 1066 MHz)

1Tb/750Gb/500Gb SATAII 7200rpm

Display: 23.6 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution

Touch screen

Blue-ray reader / Super Multi DVD optical drive

ET2400AGT

AMD Athlon II X2 220

Graphic:ATI Radeon HD5470, ATI Radeon HD4570, UMA

2Gb RAM (DDR3 1066 MHz)

1Tb/750Gb/500Gb/320Gb SATA II 7200rpm

Display: 23.6 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution

Touch screen

Super Multi DVD optical drive

ET2400XVT

Intel® Core™ i7 -740QM

Grapics: NVIDIA Geforce GTX Fermi

2Gb RAM (DDR3 1333 MHz)

1Tb SATAII7200rpm

Display: 23.6 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution (120Hz 3D)

Touch screen

Blue-ray reader optical drive

This very small laptop; it weighs around 600g and is just 21 mm thick. It looks a lot like a little clutch bag and comes in five colours; black, white and a neon orange, green and pink.

Many people weren’t impressed with the first edition of the P Series; complaining that its miniaturisation has gone too far, but this latest laptop has undergone some improvements, so let’s see if it makes the cut.

What We Like Best

One of the best new features with this version P Series is the grip-style touchpad. With the first edition of the you just had the ball-like sensor in the middle of the keyboard, which can at times be difficult to work with -   it’s not very comfy and can be oversensitive.

Now you can choose between the original and this new touchpad on the right of the screen and the mouse buttons on the left – so you can hold it and control it comfortably with both hands.

Also to the right here you will see the classic VAIO Assist button which takes you straight to VAIO care and there is the famous WEB button that allows you to surf the web without loading up the laptop.

Simply lift the lid, push the button and wait a few seconds for the browser to load – no need to turn it on.

Another great new feature is the landscape to portrait view. If you are reading a news article or blog post, you can rotate the laptop 90 degrees and read it like a book!

What We Like Least

The screen sounds impressive with 1600 × 768 pixel squeezed into an 8-inch diagonal but the result is actually a little disappointing – everything appears very small on the screen.

This problem that is helped a bit by the “Change Resolution”. When you push it the screen with adjusts down to a 1,280 x 600 pixel resolution and makes the fonts easier to read, but images less crisp.

The Intel Atom processor, even teamed with 2Gb of RAM and a 64 Gb solid state drive, proves limited.  This lack of speed is probably due to its size and the pre-installed VAIO applications that come with it – uninstall any you know you won’t use.

You can upgrade to get more power out of your machine but it will cost you a fair bit extra.

The verdict

This models real strength is its portability; it has a two-cell battery that lasts just over five hours, which is better than most netbooks. It lacks in speed and the screen may irritate people who prefer larger screen. Other than that it is a perfect little laptop for web-browsing, emailing and staying connected on the go.

Specs

Processor:

Up to 1.60GHz Intel® Processor

Screen:

8 inch (diagonal)

1600 × 768 pixel resolution

LED Backlight

Storage:

Up to 128Gb Hard Disk Drive available

Memory:

2Gb DDR2 SDRAM

Graphics:

Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 500

Multimedia:

Intel® High Definition Audio

SD™ memory card slot

Memory Stick PRO™ Standard/Duo) media slot with MagicGate® functionality

Built-in MOTION EYE® camera

Microphone

Headphone jack

Battery type:

2-cell 2500 mAh lithium-ion battery (up to 5 hours)

Ports:

2 x USB

Display/LAN adapter port

DC-In

Weight & size:

9.6″(W) x 0.78″(H) x 4.72″(D)

1.3 lbs/600g (with standard capacity battery)

Connectivity:

Integrated Stereo A2DP Bluetooth® technology

WiFi Atheros 802.11b/g/n

Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband Built-In

Operating system:

Genuine Microsoft® Windows 7® Professional 32bit available

McAfee has confirmed the existence of the app, which poses as a player for multimedia content, but also states that it is classed as low-risk for consumers and corporate users.

The app is designed to send text messages during its installation which are sent to a premium number in Russia – causing users phone bills to spike.

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Following on from the popularity of the genuine “Like” button that the social network installed, hackers have decided install an application pitched as the “Dislike application.

Once a user grants access to said application, the hacker pumps out spam through their Facebook account, which snowballs as the user’s friends get invited to join the application. You have been warned.

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Double Negative has been the provider of special effects for major motion pictures, including Iron Man 2, Prince of Persia and Sherlock Holmes.

Patrick Dwyer, Director and General Manager, Dell, Large Enterprise, UK, said:

“Fast-paced businesses like Double Negative are turning to Dell to deliver open and interoperable systems through a variety of partnerships and services which encourage business growth and move away from restrictive legacy approaches.”

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