Microsoft has allowed journalists and everyday users to download windows 8 for the first time so they can play around with it and learn how it works. The operating system is still in Beta testing so like other new operating systems it is likely to be full of bugs and without customer support it isn’t yet a viable operating system to use. What it does do is give the world its first look at how Microsoft sees the future of personal computing.

Since 1995 windows have developed operating systems which while different have used the same basic structure. A start button in the bottom left hand corner which opens up a programs window and a desktop with short cuts have both been staples of windows operating systems up till now. Windows 8 represents a dramatic departure from this old model with the new operating system using a touch screen like interface not unlike that seen on many tablets. Windows 8 could potentially change how we use personal computers forever. Indeed Microsoft has said they want to challenge the very definition of PC.

Steven Sinofsky, The man in charge of Windows 8 asked the following at a recent conference in Barcelona “We live in a world where tablets are about touch, and PCs about the keyboard and mouse, but what happens when you revisit those assumptions?” He went to say that “Touch is just another point in Windows 8 where you get to pick ‘and.’ It’s not about ‘or’ anymore.”

The new operating System was demonstrated at the conference on various types of screens to show how flexible it could be. Laptops, PC, tablets were all shown to be able to run the new operating system plus a 50 inch interactive display and a touch monitor which rotated to become an interactive table.

Games which include virtual sports may not be helping children become fit a new study has shown. It blows apart the myth that the new generation of games which encourage children to get off the couch and move was making children healthier.

The which was conducted by Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas found that children who played regular videogames were not likely to be any less fit or unhealthy than their counter parts who played the new generation ‘active’ games.

What the research shows is that the new virtual sport games are simply no substitute for outdoor play. Researches had hoped that results would have been better especially considering that their are thousands of children for whom outdoor play isn’t possible due to safety reasons.

Researchers say they were shocked by the complete lack of difference and cant explain why the results came out the way they did.

For the study 78 children were gives a wii console if they didn’t already have one and were given a choice of games. Half were given active games such as wii sports while half were given an inactive game such as super Mario.

Children were given their choice of a second game from the same category half way through the study.

The study went for 13 weeks with researchers using accelerometers to measure the children’s physical activity. The devices were attached to belts worn by the children and allowed the researches to accurately measure how much exercise each participant did.

Children with active games didn’t do any more exercise than their non-active game counterparts. Despite the games being readily available it just didn’t translate into actual playtime. Two theories have emerged to explain the results. The first is that children don’t want to play the active games much and the second is that when they do they cheat the system by only using their wrists and not their whole bodies.

HTC shares have jumped dramatically after its One series of phones got rave reviews. The launch of the new model is expected to push HTC back into the forefront of mobile technology and will help them compete with their bigger rivals in Apple and Samsung.

Experts have heaped praise on the new range of phones saying that they could be a game changer in the mobile market. HTC has struggled in recent months with its previous models failing to keep up with the advanced features of its major rivals. HTC is the world’s 5^th largest producer of cell phones with this launch expected to potentially push it up a couple of rankings.

Michael On who is a managing director at Beyond Asset Management said that Sales of HTC this quarter will be very good because of the new models,”

He said he expects the share price of HTC to continue to rise as more and more people make the switch nth the new line of phones.

HTC share prices are the highest they’ve been since they launched in April last year. The new phones hit the market with a bang but their share price slowly slipped as they lost ground to their opponents. This trend appears to have turned around with a 35% rise being seen in the December quarter of last year.

HTC aren’t the only ones to have done it rough last year with the global Smartphone market down 42%. Technology it appears was hit hard by the global financial crisis as consumers sacrificed their smart phones in order to save money.

Experts say the key to success in the tech market is a products ability to reinvent itself and it appears HTC has done just that. By releasing new appealing phones they have proven they can adapt to a changing market.

In an attempt to increase revenue Twitter has announced plans to expand it’s advertising program to both the iPhone and android devices. While the move is seen as a blatant attempt to make more money experts predict that user loyalty to twitter will mean most don’t stop using the service because of the move. The advertising is expected to be subtle yet direct meaning the ads will likely be relevant to what you’ve bee reading/twittering about.

The company sells “promoted tweets” and promoted accounts which allow advertisers to hit a direct market. Up until this point, the ads have only appeared in peoples online time lines but now mobile times lines are set to get the same treatment. There will be no option to opt out of having ads nor will users be able to pay to avoid having ads unlike with some other mobile applications.

Ads have been on the mobile version of twitter up til now, however they have only been visible after searching for a term and not in the user’s personal twitter timeline.

It’s no wonder twitter are looking to increase ad revenue from their mobile services considering that over 55% of users use twitter from a tablet or phone and not from a laptop or computer. As this trend continues expect web advertisers to focus more on the smaller portable screens to make money and less on the conventional computers.

Twitter aren’t the only ones looking at advertising on mobile devices. The world’s largest social network “facebook” which gains 85 percent of its revenue from online ads is also reportedly testing advertisements on mobile devices.

To begin with only a small number of people will see promoted tweets on mobile devices but the number will increase as time goes on till eventually everyone has promoted tweets and accounts.

The New ipad will be launched on March 7 at the Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts in San Francisco, The same place that the original and the iPad 2 were announced.

The invite was sent to reporters via email and was rather vague apart from saying “We have something you really have to see. And touch.”

It included an image of what many believe to be the iPad 3.

Apple Fans, the media and investors will all be watching the launch with anticipation as they wait to see the next big thing in the tech world.

The ipad is the most popular tablet on the market but in recent months the kindle fire which only costs half as much has begun to rival the Apple giant.

The next generation of iPad is expected to hit the laptop market hard as it is expected to be able to do much of what traditional notebooks do. Apple chief executive Tim Cook has long predicted that tablets would eventually over take the PC market and that tablets will become a must have tool for everyone in modern day life.

Experts are predicting the new iPad will come with 4G capabilities which would keep it at the forefront of mobile broadband technology.

Experts have also speculated that a higher resolution will be a core feature of the new apple product. Apples stocks have risen steadily over the last month as investors have speculated about the success the ipad 3 will bring
Over 55 million iPad 2’s have been sold with apple sales doubling in the final quarter of 2011 The iPad 3 is expected to retail for around $500 dollars US but some analysts are predicting the cost may be lower to compete with other cheaper tablet models such as the fire.

The launch will be Apples first since the death of founder and visionary Steve Jobs.