Technology news

• The 'Boston Yeti' looks back on two-day snow romp: 'I'm feeling lots of love'

  28-01-2015 23:52
  
  Self-dubbed ‘Boston Yeti’ talks about going viral on Twitter during the north-east blizzard, and what he plans to do now that the snow is winding down Continue reading...
  
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• In Depth: Deck out your home theater for less than the price of a Super Bowl ticket

  28-01-2015 23:35
  
  Football, America's second-greatest pastime, is best enjoyed live and in person. Fortunately, seeing a regular season game is something that most people can afford. The Super Bowl, on the other hand, is a different story. With ticket prices reaching close to $800-plus, unless you're a real die-hard fan of either the Seattle Seahawks or the New England Patriots (boo!), I recommend spending that cash elsewhere. Second-best to going to the game is upgrading your home theater setup to deliver a grea
  
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• Amazon ramps up enterprise push with email service

  28-01-2015 23:33
  
  By Deepa Seetharaman SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc accelerated its efforts to win over corporate clients on Wednesday by announcing an email and scheduling service that will compete with Microsoft Corp and Google Inc. The service, dubbed WorkMail, will launch in the second quarter and has been developed by the company's cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS). It highlights Amazon's efforts to convince deep-pocketed companies, called enterprises in tech parlance, to
  
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• Alibaba breaks with custom to berate Chinese authorities over highly critical report

  28-01-2015 23:24
  
  The e-commerce giant complained of ‘misconduct’ and bias after regulators accused it of permitting sales of fake goods and hurting consumers
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• Review: Dell XPS 18

  28-01-2015 23:20
  
  Introduction, design and featuresThere's a conundrum these days in choosing between a desktop, a notebook or a tablet. Starting at $599 (about £395, AU$758), the Dell XPS 18 makes the decision easier by offering a little of everything (or at least two of the three) in one package. Not all configurations are available globally.What makes this 18.5-inch, Windows 8.1 tablet so appealing is a pair of rubberized feet, which allow it to stand upright when you want a desktop experience. You can also l
  
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• Tiger fight: China and Alibaba face off over fake goods

  28-01-2015 23:15
  
  BEIJING (AP) — There's a tiger fight going on in China.
  
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• Jade wins 29 terminal deals in 2014

  28-01-2015 23:08 via zdnet.com
  
  Year ends with a seven-port deal for Jade's Master Terminal software with the Abu Dhabi Ports Company.
  
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• Review: mini review: Monster Inspiration Lite

  28-01-2015 22:45
  
  Although Monster's older – c'mon, favorite – kid, Beats By Dre, has moved out of the house, that won't stop it from trying to strike gold again.Monster Inspiration Lite, the fashionable on-ear flavor in the Inspiration series, rocks with the familiar genes of style and booming sound. At $269 (about £234, AU$338), are these new, US-exclusive headphones appealing enough to attract more than just the chic geek?DesignSimilar to Moto 360, the forthcoming Apple Watch and other svelte devices, Mon
  
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• Facebook earnings beat expectations

  28-01-2015 22:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The social network reports fourth-quarter profits of $701m, a 34% increase from the same period a year earlier, buoyed by strong mobile advertising sales.
  
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• Uber delivers puppies on-demand delighting Americans in 10 cities

  28-01-2015 22:12
  
  For $30, office workers in 10 cities across the US could use the company’s app to order 15 minutes of cuddle time with adoptable dogs
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• Rapists use social media to cover their tracks, police warned

  28-01-2015 21:59
  
  Police and Crown Prosecution Service conference on rape hears attackers are increasingly creating false narratives online Continue reading...
  
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• Huge YouTube bulk makes it tough to catch all terror videos

  28-01-2015 21:32
  
  BRUSSELS (AP) — Internet giant Google said Wednesday that the sheer volume of video on its YouTube website makes it tough to catch all terror related content, complicating the struggle to halt the spread of terrorist propaganda and hostage footage.
  
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• Coder creates smallest chess game

  28-01-2015 21:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A computer programmer creates a computer chess program that takes up only 487 bytes of data, breaking a 33-year-old record.
  
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• Sheriffs expand concerns about Waze mobile traffic app

  28-01-2015 20:17
  
  A sheriffs' organization is broadening its concerns about the popular Waze (pronounced "ways") mobile traffic app. Now it says a feature that lets drivers warn others about nearby police cruisers ...
  
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• YouTube staff too swamped to filter out all terror-related content

  28-01-2015 20:10
  
  Google says pre-sceening the 300 hours of material uploaded each minute would be like vetting a phone call before it is made Continue reading...
  
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• Artificial intelligence 'will not end human race'

  28-01-2015 19:08
  
  Microsoft research chief admits that AI will pose legal, ethical and psychological issues as it becomes more sophisticatedThe head of Microsoft’s research division has dismissed fears that artificial intelligence could pose a threat to the survival of the human race.Eric Horvitz believed that humans would not “lose control of certain kinds of intelligences”, adding: “In the end we’ll be able to get incredible benefits from machine intelligence in all realms of life, from science to edu
  
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• Life in the Universe May Be Much Older Than We Thought

  28-01-2015 18:56
  
  The search extends across space and through the universe’s 13.8 billion-year history. Now, scientists have found five Earth-sized planets—all around an ancient, orange star—that suggest life in the universe could be far older than previously believed. “We’ve never seen anything like this—it is such an old star and the large number of small planets make it very special,” Daniel Huber, an astronomer from the University of Sydney and a co-author of an Astrophysical Journal paper about
  
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• 'Sanction tech firms', says Hollande

  28-01-2015 18:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  France's President calls for an international legal framework to force tech companies to 'face up to their responsibilities'.
  
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• India sex-test ad ban for tech firms

  28-01-2015 18:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  India's Supreme Court orders internet giants Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to block adverts for tests that determine a child's sex before birth.
  
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• Google: YouTube is so overloaded staff cannot filter content

  28-01-2015 18:05
  
  Internet giant Google says that its video-sharing website YouTube is so inundated that staff cannot filter all terror related content, complicating the struggle to halt the publication of terrorist propaganda ...
  
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• Drone firm blocks White House flights

  28-01-2015 17:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Chinese drone-maker DJI is to prevent its kit from flying over much of the US capital, following the crash of one of its aircraft into the White House lawn.
  
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• ​Microsoft stops producing the Windows RT-based Surface 2

  28-01-2015 17:45 via zdnet.com
  
  Microsoft has wound down production of the Surface 2, the Microsoft tablet that won't be getting Windows 10.
  
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• Apple billions = better batteries?

  28-01-2015 17:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A plea to end recharging cable hell
  
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• Nintendo wins extra life from weaker yen, even as console sales keep falling

  28-01-2015 17:35
  
  Japanese gaming giant profits from overseas sales but pressure remains to shift focus from consoles to mobilesJapanese video-game maker Nintendo has issued a profit warning with a silver lining – even as it sells fewer consoles, the sharp weakening of the yen means overseas sales will inflate its net income this fiscal year.The creator of famed game character Mario the plumber and the Wii console said sales of its 3DS handheld device came up short in the end-of-year holiday season amid intense
  
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• Sony axes PlayStation Music Unlimited service in favour of Spotify deal

  28-01-2015 17:24
  
  Streaming service will be exclusive partner for new PlayStation Music brand across consoles, smartphones and tabletsSony is closing its Music Unlimited streaming music service, in favour of an partnership with Spotify that will span its consoles, smartphones and tablets.Spotify will be the exclusive partner for a new service called PlayStation Music, which will launch in the spring in 41 countries. Music Unlimited, which is currently available in 19 countries, will close on 29 March. Continue re
  
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• Facebook launching Trending Super Bowl for the big game

  28-01-2015 17:11
  
  PHOENIX (AP) — As Facebook's latest step into sports, the social media giant is launching Trending Super Bowl — a real-time hub for content from Sunday's game between the Patriots and Seahawks.
  
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• Alibaba in row with Chinese regulator over fake goods

  28-01-2015 17:08
  
  Chinese regulator accuses e-commerce giant of failing to stop sales of dubious products, but company makes rare public retaliation against official criticismAlibaba, China’s biggest e-retailer, has been strongly criticised by a government regulator for failing to do enough to stop fake goods being sold on its site.The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said in a report published on Wednesday that many products sold through Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall platforms infringed tra
  
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• Review: Brother MFC-J5720DW Business Smart inkjet printer

  28-01-2015 17:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and performanceThe MFC-J5720DW is the king of Brother's newly refreshed small office/home office range, with a list of features that could fill its 580-sheet paper capacity. It offers duplex printing, A3, scanning, copying and faxing, wired, wireless and USB connectivity and uses high capacity cartridges that promise to cut the often ruinous cost of inkjet printing. Does it live up to its billing?Setup and specificationsDespite the lengthily list of features - and an equally hefty w
  
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• AI will not kill us, says Microsoft

  28-01-2015 15:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The chief of Microsoft's research division says he does not believe artificial intelligence systems are going to wipe out humankind.
  
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• The dawn of augmented and virtual reality technologies - Tech Weekly podcast

  28-01-2015 15:25
  
  As Oculus Rift's foray into film begins and Microsoft reveals its HoloLens headset the team discuss the dawn of AR and VR tech Continue reading...
  
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• Android beats iOS for app downloads, but revenues are still a different story

  28-01-2015 15:00
  
  Analytics firm App Annie says Google Play generated 60% more downloads than the App Store, but 70% less revenuesAndroid’s Google Play store generated nearly 60% more app downloads than Apple’s iOS App Store in 2014, but the latter was still much more lucrative for app developers according to analytics firm App Annie.The company’s annual report claims that the App Store generated more than 70% more revenues than Google Play in 2014, even though both stores income grew rapidly, and at roughl
  
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• Head of games leaves Angry Birds company Rovio

  28-01-2015 14:53
  
  HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's Rovio and the head of its games operation, Jami Laes, have parted company as the business behind Angry Birds continues to grapple with an increasingly competitive mobile games market. Though Rovio has expanded its hugely successful Angry Birds brand into an animated TV series and consumer product licensing, the company has struggled to produce more hit games and recently said it would cut about 14 percent of its workforce. Laes said on Wednesday that he had le
  
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• Fitbit Charge review: Comfortable, easy, and powerful daily activity tracking

  28-01-2015 14:43 via zdnet.com
  
  The Fitbit Charge is the best daily activity tracker for the masses and Fitbit sets the bar for its powerful ecosystem and reliable tracker lineup.
  
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• Internet of Things: Governments start to take a closer look

  28-01-2015 14:30 via zdnet.com
  
  Ofcom and the FTC are the latest government agencies to start work on their strategies for, and responses to, the IoT.
  
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• ​Docker chief operator: Why the open source container project is taking a new shape

  28-01-2015 14:00 via zdnet.com
  
  The meteoric rise of Docker's container technology over the past year risked putting strains on the project that its new structure will address, says recently-appointed chief operator Steve Francia.
  
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• Microsoft Surface hits $1bn revenue: Mission accomplished?

  28-01-2015 13:52 via zdnet.com
  
  Microsoft's Surface hybrid has broken though the $1bn revenue mark. Does this mean it can now be described as a success?
  
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• China tech giant in spat with state

  28-01-2015 13:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  China's biggest internet retailer, Alibaba, is involved in a harshly worded spat with one of the country's regulators in a highly unusual public clash.
  
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• Why sex matters in Witcher 3, the Grand Theft Auto of fantasy games

  28-01-2015 13:45
  
  The Witcher titles have never shied away from sex, but with a new open world design, gaming’s most awkward taboo could now be an instrumental plot deviceOn 14 July 2004 Sam Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games, sent an email to a staff member outlining the various types of sex he wanted to include in the company’s forthcoming game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. “Full sex (multiple positions),” he began, in a vivid bullet-pointed list. “Dildo sex (including being able to kills [sic] so
  
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• Queen Serena under threat from Keys in semi-finals

  28-01-2015 13:37
  
  Serena Williams will bid to slow the charge of the next generation of American tennis when she faces teenager Madison Keys in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Thursday. The top seed was irrepressible in her quarter-final defeat of Dominika Cibulkova, needing only two sets and scarcely more than an hour to send the 11th seed and last year's finalist crashing out of the tournament. On her best run at Melbourne Park since her 2010 title, Williams has any number of reasons to be switch
  
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• Review: Philips BDM4065UC review

  28-01-2015 13:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and specsTen years. It's a staggeringly long time in tech. Back in 2005, you'd be looking at a dual-core Intel Pentium D and its craptastic NetBurst architecture. On the graphics side, it's Nvidia GeForce 6800 and 16 pixel pipes. Wowee. As for storage, the notion of an SSD wasn't even a twinkle in the NAND industry's eye. It was a very different time.Yet it was nearly a decade ago Dell wheeled out the monitor by which pretty much all others have since been measured, the 3007WFP, and
  
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• In Defense of Waze, Which Doesn't Put Police in Danger

  28-01-2015 13:30
  
  On the streets of Los Angeles, where everyone is looking for a route that skirts traffic, Waze is our jam. The Google-owned mobile phone app draws on everyone in its network of users to determine what roads are moving at what pace, information that allows it to offer optimized, often unexpected directions when crossing town at rush hour. Its map is also populated with information from its most avid users, like the location of a stalled car, road work, or a police cruiser. Sheriff Mike Brown of B
  
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• Creating an old-girls network in Silicon Valley

  28-01-2015 13:26
  
  Thanks to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and her mega-bestselling book, Lean In, the gender-disparity debate has been front and centre for years now in Silicon Valley. “Work your relationships,” says Lisa Lambert, a VP with Intel Corp.'s venture-capital unit.
  
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• Uber, Lyft face crucial courtroom test over driver benefits

  28-01-2015 13:25
  
  By Dan Levine and Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Smartphone-enabled car services Uber and Lyft head to court this week to resolve a critical question for Silicon Valley's sharing economy: whether their drivers are independent contractors or employees. The two privately held companies face separate lawsuits seeking class action status in San Francisco federal court, brought on behalf of drivers who contend they are employees and entitled to reimbursement for expenses including gas a
  
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• Facebook to sell real-time Super Bowl ads, taking on Twitter

  28-01-2015 13:04
  
  This Super Bowl Facebook is taking a page from Twitter's playbook, for the first time during a football championship selling ads that target people based on what they are talking about in real time. These include video ads that will play automatically on Facebook's newsfeed, triggered by key words that members mention in their posts as they watch the American football game on Feb. 1. Smartphones and tablets provide a second screen for the Super Bowl's 100 million television viewer
  
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• Insta-print selfie? Convert your smartphone into Polaroid-style camera

  28-01-2015 13:02
  
  Kickstarter pledges quadruple Prynt’s $50k funding goal for case which turns iPhone and Android into mini-photo printers The rise of smartphones, social networks and photo-sharing apps have killed off the idea of printing photos for many people. Now a startup called Prynt is hoping to tempt some of them back.The US company is taking pre-orders on crowdfunding website Kickstarter for “the first instant camera case for iPhone and Android”, which turns smartphones into Polaroid-style insta-pr
  
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• LibreOffice for Android coming soon

  28-01-2015 12:59 via zdnet.com
  
  LibreOffice is still chained to the desktop but it's looking towards cloud and mobile, with an Android version under development.
  
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• Nine things we learned from Apple's monster financial results

  28-01-2015 12:55
  
  Apple Watch to debut in April, iPhone sales have doubled in China, one billionth iOS device sold in November and moreApple enjoyed an impressive last three months in 2014, reporting record revenues of $74.6bn and a net profit of $18bn – the largest quarterly profit ever for any company, energy firms included.We already know about Apple’s record iPhone sales – 74.5m units – during the quarter, but the company’s earnings call with analysts after the results were announced yielded more in
  
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• WTF? Wickr goes cat crazy to keep photos under cover

  28-01-2015 12:47
  
  Secure messaging app introduces new feature to allow iOS users to display pictures on Facebook without giving up their rights. Continue reading...
  
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• Too many tabs open? Vivaldi could be the browser for you

  28-01-2015 12:22 via zdnet.com
  
  Opera co-founder Jon von Tetzchner unveils a new browser built for power users - the 'geeks' and 'nerds'.
  
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• Weaker yen helps to lift Canon profit as camera demand slows

  28-01-2015 12:19
  
  Japan's Canon Inc reported a slight increase in fourth-quarter profit, with a weaker yen and rising sales of office equipment countering difficulties faced by its camera division. Operating profit for the three months to Dec. 31 rose 5.4 percent year on year to 98.5 billion yen (549 million pounds), the company said on Wednesday. Demand for digital cameras with interchangeable lenses, however, slowed," Canon said, citing economic weakness and difficult conditions in the camera sector.
  
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