Verizon will have the first handset running on its Long-Term Evolution 4G network by the middle of next year — about six months ahead of schedule — according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The development of LTE means faster cellular data transfers than the 3G networks now in widespread use by U.S. carriers, though exactly when LTE will become common has long been a source of uncertainty. “Reports have had LTE available by 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and nobody was quite sure when,” Chris Nicoll, a research fellow at the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld.

Sony demonstrated its Move motion controller for the PlayStation 3 console at the 2010 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, following up on its first demo at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles last June. Together with the Move, Sony will release the Move sub-controller, a one-handed controller that’s similar to the Nintendo Wii “nunchuck” and is an optional accessory for some games. Sony said the Move and its sub-controller will be launched worldwide this fall. It says 35 game publishers and developers have signed up to support the Move.

When Apple enabled in-app purchases for iPhone applications, it seemed as though the days of “free” and “paid” versions of any given app were coming to an end. Soon, I thought, everything in the store would start out free as a teaser and then charge for an upgrade. That hasn’t exactly panned out universally, but Vlingo’s new voice application does charge in the way I thought all apps would charge by now. You can download it for free, but getting to the premium features costs $10. Vlingo is a speech-to-text app that can use that text in any of six general ways.

Color is not typically a topic of much discussion on the Linux blogs, but in recent weeks, it’s been drawing a lot of attention. Why, you ask? Simple: Ubuntu recently announced a major change to its longstanding “Human” earthtone-palette theme and branding. “I don’t know whether to call it ‘poo brown’ or ‘dirt brown,’ but either way it is seriously awful,” said Slashdot blogger hairyfeet. The new theme is meant to focus on the concept of “Light,” and it uses primarily hues in the dark purple and orange ranges.

In the Windows world, photographers looking for an alternative to Adobe Photoshop that will save them cash without skimping on power typically have turned to Corel’s PaintShop Photo Pro. The program has consistently kept pace with the evolving needs of shutterbugs over the years and the latest “X3″ version of the software continues that tradition. Among the new features in X3 are a number of improvements to enhance a photographer’s workflow. Workflow is important to shooters because once an image is captured, they are going to want to find it again eventually.

The first rule of Apple’s App Club is: You do not talk about App Club. Any developer who writes an app for the App Store is forbidden from making any public statements about the iPhone Developer Program Licensing Agreement. Second rule of App Club is: Said developers also can’t sell their apps to other app stores, even if that app is eventually rejected by Apple. Third rule of App Club: You can’t reverse engineer anything having to do with the App Store software development kit or the iPhone OS.

This month’s Patch Tuesday arrived with a rather unwelcome security surprise. Microsoft had expected things to be somewhat sedate; however, instead of two vulnerabilities that it expected needed patching, it got hit with four, including a new zero-day Internet Explorer exploit. Further, Microsoft has had to update its Malicious Software Removal Tool to include Win32/Helpud, a Trojan that’s been around since 2008. In addition, it’s keeping an eye on a VBScript vulnerability that could allow remote code execution.

In a move sure to make the grade with cyclists across the United States, Google on Wednesday added bicycle routes to its Google Maps service. Biking directions and extensive bike trail data are now available for the United States through Google Maps, giving cyclists nationwide a way to customize their trips, figure out the most efficient routes, make use of bike lanes and avoid big hills. More than 12,000 miles of trails are now included in biking directions and outlined directly on maps through the service thanks to a partnership with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

Some system utilities do a variety of things well. They come with tools to give users lots of solutions in one package. Other system apps like the Atol File Manager perform a dedicated function flawlessly without adding other specialties. Atol took a while to grow on me, but now this app is one of my most-used Linux tools. When it comes to file manager applications, that comparison spells out the philosophical design differences of the Atol Twin Panel file manager and the Krusader file manager, also a twin panel app, which I recently reviewed.

With global organizations depending on the sharing of sensitive information to support everything from financial transactions to patient care records, many believe they are relying on secure methods to exchange data with trusted partners. However, there is often a significant and alarming gap between perceived security and real vulnerability. To handle transmission of valuable company data, typical methods that are considered secure include FTP technology, “secure email,” regular email, courier services and the postal service.

Cisco Systems announced on Tuesday the CRS-3 Carrier Routing System, a new Internet networking architecture that is designed with the huge growth of video transmission, mobile devices and new online services in mind. The Cisco CRS-3 provides more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system, according to John Chamber, chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems. The new routing system is designed to accelerate the delivery of new services, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace, according to the company.

Sometime later this year, HP will release its Slate tablet PC device. What we know now is that it will run Windows 7 as well as Adobe Flash and Air, according to information revealed by an HP executive. However, it appears that the company is attempting to be quite selective about how and when it doles out further details on the device. The Slate’s ability to work with two significant Adobe technologies widely used on desktops and laptops is demonstrated in a new video posted by Phil McKinney, HP’s chief technology officer, on his blog.

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