How to Open Files that have Unknown Extensions

Extensions, or the characters that precede the last period in a file name, help you determine the type of a file (is it an image, a video or something else) and you immediately know which software program is required to preview that file.

However, you may sometimes come across files that either have unknown extensions or don’t have any extension at all. How do you then determine the associated application that is required to open a file when you don’t recognize the file type itself?


Research Unknown File Extensions with Wolfram

The first thing you are likely to do is “google” for the file extension but there is an easier open as well. Go to Wolfram Alpha and just search for the file extension with the dot (or period) – see example.

Wolfram won’t just reveal the technical details of that file extension – like the developer and MIME type – but also generates a list of software programs that you may use to open that file on your computer – see sample results.
Identifying Files that don’t have an Extension

If a file doesn’t have an extension, you can still identify the format of that file from its signature. All known file types have a standard and unique signature (screenshot) and this data is stored in the file itself. There are programs that can read this signature* and determine the file format even if the extension is missing from the file name.

The most popular program in the category of file identifiers is TrIDNet. First download and unzip the TrIDNet utility and the associated XML definition files in the same directory. Then open the TrIDNet.exe file, press the “Rescan Defs” button to load the file signatures (you only need to do this once) and then drag-drop any unknown files that you wish to analyze.

Delay of One X, EVO 4G LTE. HTC-Apple Dispute

HTC One smartphone

Apple succeeded a narrow victory over HTC in a patent lawsuit in December over technology in the smartphones, one of many such disputes in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.

HTC said in a statement on Wednesday that "the US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard US Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC ( International Trade Commission) exclusion order".


Under that ruling, HTC phones with the disputed technology would be banned from entering the US from April 19. HTC has said that it has a workaround in its new phones to avoid the technology. The shipments still require inspection however.

Wifi with T-rays

Researchers in Japan have smashed the record for wireless data transmission in the terahertz band, an uncharted part of the electro-magnetic spectrum      .

The data rate is 20 times higher than the best commonly used wi-fi standard.

As consumers become ever more hungry for high data rates, standard lower-frequency bands have become crowded.

The research, published in Electronics Letters, adds to the idea that the terahertz band could offer huge swathes of bandwidth for data transmission.

The band lies between the microwave and far-infrared regions of the spectrum, and is currently completely unregulated by telecommunications agencies.

The iPhone 5 Might Look Like This [PICS]

The iPhone 5 is rumored to be coming later this year, with an official announcement expected in June around Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC).

Based on some of the latest rumors regarding the phone and what we can expect, one artist, Jon Fawcett, created some concept pictures of what he thinks Apple’s newest iPhone will look like when it hits store shelves.

Rumor has it that the next version of the iPhone will be made of LiquidMetal. A mix of several different metals, LiquidMetal could allow the phone to be more durable. Light like plastic but durable like aluminum, it would also allow the phone to weigh less and have a thinner profile.