Windows 8: Windows logo gets redesigned

The Windows logo has gone through several changes over the years. What started as a simple, monochrome 2D logo with Windows 1.0 slowly became more complex as more colors were added along with a bit of depth, until it started resembling a flag by the time XP came out. That ‘flag’ then got ensconced inside an orb with Vista and has been the same ever since.

How The Pirate Bay was reduced to just 90MB of data

Famed for its vast array of torrents and infamous within the film, television and music industries, The Pirate Bay has become one of the most well known and infamous torrent sites on the web.
Following its recent switch to the using magnet links however, its also become far more space efficient. So much so, one user decided to take the entire library of Pirate Bay torrent links and condense them onto a single USB flash drive.
With over 1.6 million torrents, it’s easy to see the appeal for those who are fans of file sharing and depending on the files in question, easy to understand why such a site would be likely to come under fire from big content creators.

Siri Challenged: Speaktoit Assistant launches on iOS

The Speaktoit Assistant is an app that started off on Android and has now crossed over into iOS, bringing Siri-like functionality to iPhone owners outside of the 4S.
Speaktoit can do practically everything Siri does – it can call your contacts, send messages, search for places – even outside of the US and more.
The app is available for free on Android but will set iOS users back $1.99. There will be a special Valentine’s Day promo – the first 100,000 downloaders will get it for free. It will also soon be launching on Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Bada.
What it brings over Apple’s Siri is support for older iPhones and not just the 4S, it has a face, customizable avatar you talk to, it can search maps outside of the US, can update your social status (Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare).
The app shows great promise and it’s generally easy and refreshing to use and most importantly is receiving updates, which is something Siri is yet to have.
You can check it out on the App Store, the Android Market or go to the developer’s homepage.
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Androids lose resale value faster...study shows

An interesting new startup called Priceonomics tackles a question that we all face eventually - how much can I sell my old phone for? According to their research, iPhones have the best resale value, while Android is almost tied with BlackBerrys in this respect.If you try to sell your 18-month old phone, you'd get 53% of its original price on average if you have an iPhone, 42% if it's a droid and 41% for a BlackBerry. Check out this graph that shows how quickly smartphones deprecate in value.

RIP Windows Start Button: 1995-2012

It had to happen sooner or later. News from those who somehow acquired copies of a Windows 8 "Consumer Preview" version (build 8220) that leaked this weekend indicates that Microsoft has finally decided to remove one of the staple elements of the Windows operating system: The start button.
Whether you know it more as a start button or start orb – the latter having replaced the flatter "start rectangle" in Windows Vista – the tiny little area that you'd previously click on to pull up a menu of applications, shortcuts, and search functionality is no more. The Windows Superbar, first introduced with Windows 7, now extends across the entirety of the bottom of Windows 8's "desktop mode." And it functions just the same as how you're already used to using it in Windows 7.

Google launches Chrome for Android beta – the browser you have all been looking for

Google just unveiled the Android-ready version of its Chrome web browser and made this a huge day for the Chrome users, who have a smartphone of the droid variety. The app is still in beta, but it already looks like one of the best browsers on the platform (and as you know there’s no shortage of quality web browsers on Android).
With great performance and simplified user interface, the Chrome browser for Android still has plenty of eye-candy to offer. It lets you sync just about anything between your desktop browser and your smartphone/tablet – from bookmarks to current browsing session, so you can continue on your smart device exactly where you left off on your computer.