Americans see tech as mixed blessing

A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that Americans consider technology a mixed blessing, regardless of their access to it, says CBC News.

The study found that 31% of adult Americans are frequent users of multiple technologies, 20% are moderate users and the remainder have little or no access to the Internet or cellphones.

But the study found deep divides within each group when it came to their opinion of technology, from wholesale adoption to apathy and mistrust.

After its predecessor met with disappointing reviews, Samsung says it has responded to feedback and created a better ultramobile PC, reports CNET News.

Samsung has created four versions of the new Q1 Ultra. The Q1 Ultra-V, which will ship to retailers in approximately two weeks, is equipped with Windows Vista Home Premium Edition and a 60GB hard drive, and will cost $1 199.

Later this month, it will be joined by a $799 lower-end version designed for consumers on a budget, called the Q1 Ultra-EL. That version comes with a 40GB hard drive and a lower-end processor, and lacks the Q1 Ultra-V's camera and biometric fingerprint reader.

The technologies that could help make the 2012 Olympic Games more secure have not yet been announced, but already a row has broken out about them, reports BBC News.

Derek Wyatt, the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Olympic group, said potential technology suppliers had been overlooked in favour of Games' sponsor, Visa. However, Visa denies this and says it has no part to play in security for the games.

Its technology would play a 'major role' in the area of payments, but security issues were the responsibility of the London Organising Committee and the Metropolitan Police, it says.

Microsoft's Hotmail has blossomed into a Web 2.0 service after going through an 11-year ugly duckling phase, reports The Register.

The transformation has changed MSN Hotmail into Windows Live Hotmail. The company calls the re-launch of its free e-mail service "the most significant upgrade" since its inception in 1996.

The Web-based client now more closely emulates its software cousin Microsoft Outlook, with drag-and-drop capabilities, preview pane customisation and auto-complete addressing.

Impi Linux 7.05, a South African-developed version of the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system has been released, says Tectonic.

Impi Linux, which is majority-owned by Mark Shuttleworth's HBD venture capital business, has been primarily active to date in the South African public sector with it's version of Linux.

With this release, Impi Linux is undoubtedly looking to extend its commercial foothold and has included a number of features targeted at the enterprise user market, including file and e-mail encryption, groupware-enabled e-mail, NTFS support and directory authentication.