Technology news

• Review: Dell Venue 8 7000

  20-02-2015 23:55
  
  Introduction, design and displayEveryone has had the same reaction when I told them I was reviewing the Dell Venue 8 7000: "Wow, a Dell tablet? That must be awful." The tablet's overly calculated name and the brand's post-90s mediocrity don't invoke a whole lot of confidence.To their surprise and mine, this 8.4-inch Android tablet easily measures up to other premium slates like the iPad mini 3 and Nexus 9. It even claims Apple's former title of "world's thinnest tablet," than
  
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• Google wins dismissal of U.S. lawsuit over Android app limits

  20-02-2015 23:27
  
  A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Google Inc of harming smartphone buyers by forcing handset makers that use its Android operating system to make the search engine company's own applications the default option. Consumers claimed that Google required companies such as Samsung Electronics Co to favour Google apps such as YouTube on Android-powered phones, and restrict rival apps such as Microsoft Corp's Bing. They said this illegally drove smartphone prices higher be
  
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• Google's YouTube to launch subscription music service in 'few months'

  20-02-2015 23:04
  
  (This January 18 story corrects headline and first sentence to show that paid subscription service is for music, not broader service; changes source to Google, not CNBC; removes reference to YouTube exploring a paid, ad-free version of its service) (Reuters) - Google Inc is set to launch its paid monthly subscription service called YouTube Music Key in a few months, Robert Kyncl, the online video service's head of content and business operations, said at the Code/Media conference. ...
  
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• On U.S. net neutrality rules, 11th-hour push against vague rule

  20-02-2015 22:54
  
  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. Federal Communications Commission prepares to vote on new rules for high-speed Internet service, one aspect of the rules is drawing criticism from both opponents and proponents of tighter regulation. The FCC, which is set to vote next week to regulate Internet service providers more like traditional telephone companies, has introduced a so-called "general conduct" provision in the latest version of the rules that aim to ensure net neu
  
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• How to sync shared Google calendars with an iPhone

  20-02-2015 22:40
  
  For businesses that have adopted Google Apps as part of their workflow, the ability to see and share your Google Calendar with colleagues is beneficial when scheduling meetings. Whether it's for personal use at home for making family appointments or work-related purposes to plan events and conference calls, having access to a shared calendar keeps everyone in the loop to avoid scheduling conflicts. Fortunately, for Android users, shared calendars on Google automatically synchronize with your dev
  
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• Buying Guide: Best monitor: the best displays on the market

  20-02-2015 22:26
  
  IntroductionTen years ago, monitors were nothing more than necessary accessories. Today, they can be luxury items that dramatically improve all aspects of computing and content consumption. There are so many types of monitors that suit so many different needs. Screen resolution, response time, panel weight: everything should be considered when choosing a personal device or an enterprise fleet. Unfortunately, all of these specs can be confusing. We've compiled this roundup to help you sort throug
  
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• US government tells Lenovo customers to remove Superfish adware or risk cyber attack

  20-02-2015 22:17
  
  The US Department of Homeland Security is advising Lenovo customers to get rid of the Superfish bug from their computers as soon as possible.An alert released through the National Cyber Awareness System explained to US citizens that anyone who doesn't remove Superfish will find their PC vulnerable to an SSL spoofing cyberattack and also claimed that it was installed on machines sold as far back as 2010."Systems that came with the software already installed will continue to be vulnerable unt
  
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• Leaked 2015 Lenovo Vibe lineup has something for everyone

  20-02-2015 22:15
  
  Smartphone manufacturers put a lot of faith in the annual Mobile World Congress kicking off in Barcelona on March 2, but as usual, tantalizing renders and details continue to leak out ahead of the big event.Taiwanese blog MXPhone (via Android Police) today reported that Lenovo is likely to arrive at MWC 2015 with one less surprise under its belt, thanks to a stack of images that appear to spill the beans on the company's latest Vibe lineup.Out of the five models leaked, the Lenovo Vibe Shot look
  
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• opinion: VR is the future, but it looks stupid right now

  20-02-2015 21:30
  
  New technologies usually take a few stumbles before finding their winning stride. Decades went by before the boxy and cumbersome form factor of early mobile phones chiseled down to the appealing standard we see in devices like the LG G Flex 2 and iPhone 6 today. Similarly, today's VR headsets face a long road of trial and error ahead of them. While the majority of the efforts have focused on building software-driven experiences in VR - many of which are coming together quite nicely - the current
  
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• Rights groups call for action over reported US-UK phone hack

  20-02-2015 21:21
  
  Rights organizations on Friday called for urgent steps to be taken to protect private calls and online communications after allegations that U.S. and British agencies hacked into the networks of a major ...
  
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• Italian privacy watchdog says to conduct inspections at Google U.S. offices

  20-02-2015 21:02
  
  By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy's data privacy watchdog said Google Inc had agreed to it conducting inspections at its Californian headquarters, the first time a European Union regulator will make checks on the company inside U.S. territory. Google has been under investigation by several EU data protection authorities (DPAs) since it consolidated some 70 existing privacy policies into one in March 2012, combining data collected on individual users across its services, including
  
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• Review: Samsung SD590CS

  20-02-2015 21:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction, design and specs2015 is the year of curved devices and Samsung seems to be leading the charge. Samsung's newest monitor, the 27-inch curved LED SD590CS, is gorgeously designed and easy to use. Unfortunately, the SD590CS is quite costly for a non-4K monitor. With 4K monitors like the the 27-inch Viewsonic VX2880ml ($600, £399, AU$765), Samsung's own gaming-centric 28-inch UD590 ($679, £429, AU$782), and the 28-inch Philips Brilliance 288P with a TN panel ($530, £345, AU$680), it'
  
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• U.S. government urges Lenovo customers to remove Superfish software

  20-02-2015 20:42
  
  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday advised Lenovo Group Ltd customers to remove a software programme known as "Superfish," which it said the world's No. 1 PC maker started installing on some machines as early as 2010. The Department of Homeland Security said in an alert released through its National Cyber Awareness System that the software made users vulnerable to a type of cyberattack known as SSL spoofing. "Systems that came with the software already install
  
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• French minister meets with Google, Facebook, Twitter

  20-02-2015 20:05
  The French interior minister is meeting with representatives from Google, Facebook and Twitter to encourage them to join the European Union in its fight against propaganda disseminated online by terrorist ...
  
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• Christ the Redeemer mapped by drone to create first ever 3D model

  20-02-2015 18:51
  
  Brazil's Christ the Redeemer has been scanned into a fully accurate 3D model for the first time after a drone flew around and snapped 3,584 pictures of the iconic statue. The Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of Rio de Janeiro, Canadian drone manufacturer Aeryon Labs and Swiss software company Pix4D teamed up to create a high resolution 3D model of the art deco statue of Jesus Christ, which measure 38 metres tall on its pedestal. In the past it has been impossible to accurately scan a
  
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• NASCAR announces effort to promote math, science

  20-02-2015 18:28
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — It takes a lot of geometry and physics to get a race car to go 200 laps at speeds that can top 200 mph.
  
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• Google-backed genetic test approved

  20-02-2015 18:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Californian start-up will be allowed to advertise a mail order DNA test that screens for a rare genetic condition.
  
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• Mobile phones hacked: can the NSA and GCHQ listen to all our phone calls?

  20-02-2015 18:01 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Snowden leak reveals that the US and UK security services hacked into servers and stole the access keys to billions of sim cards around the worldThe latest revelations from the NSA files have shown that US and UK surveillance agencies could have the ability to listen in on billions of mobile phone calls from around the world. But how can they do that, and what does it mean for the general public? And should you be worried? Related: Sim card database hack gave US and UK spies access to billions o
  
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• Airlander 10: UK bringing airships back into fashion with world's largest aircraft

  20-02-2015 17:53
  
  It looks like the airship will be coming back into fashion after the UK government invested £3.4m (€4.6m, $5.2m) into the Airlander 10, the world's largest aircraft in the world. Hybrid Air Vehicles, based in the UK and founded in 2007, is borne from one of these many attempts.
  
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• What will happen when the internet of things becomes artificially intelligent?

  20-02-2015 17:25 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  From Stephen Hawking to Spike Jonze, the existential threat posed by the onset of the ‘conscious web’ is fuelling much debate – but should we be afraid?When Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and Elon Musk all agree on something, it’s worth paying attention. All three have warned of the potential dangers that artificial intelligence or AI can bring. The world’s foremost physicist, Hawking said that the full development of artificial intelligence (AI) could “spell the end of the human race�
  
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• Hack gave U.S. and British spies access to billions of phones - Intercept

  20-02-2015 17:05
  
  By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. and British spies hacked into the world's biggest maker of phone SIM cards, allowing them to potentially monitor the calls, texts and emails of billions of mobile users around the world, an investigative news website reported. The alleged hack on Gemalto, if confirmed, would expand the scope of known mass surveillance methods available to U.S. and British spy agencies to include not just email and web traffic, as previously revealed, but also mobil
  
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• Lenovo demonstrates that malware is big business

  20-02-2015 17:01 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  With retail profit margins shrinking, the consumer PC has become a collection of auctionable software elements
  “User feedback was not positive,” Lenovo acknowledged on its website this week – while also trying to explain how customers could protect themselves against a serious security risk.“Visual Discovery/Superfish was previously included on some consumer notebook products shipped in a short window between October and December to help customers potentially discover interesting product
  
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• Forgotten Heritage: Matt Emmett photographs eerily beautiful abandoned industrial sites

  20-02-2015 16:47
  
  Matt Emmett from Reading has travelled around Britain and Europe photographing the eerie beauty of abandoned buildings and derelict industrial sites. Some people have criticised this type of photography as "ruin porn", but he points out that once these sites have been demolished, photographs are the only record of their beauty.
  
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• Doctors say fitness trackers, health apps can boost care

  20-02-2015 16:38
  
  HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — That phone app keeping track of your exercise and meals might keep you out of the hospital one day.
  
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• Challenges for doctors using fitness trackers & apps

  20-02-2015 16:32
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — More hospitals and doctors are starting to use data from fitness trackers and health apps to help treat patients. But they are moving cautiously. The technology has a lot of potential, but there are key challenges to work out:
  
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• Samsung Galaxy Alpha hands-on: Note 4 metal design in small compelling form factor

  20-02-2015 16:24 via zdnet.com
  
  The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge are the best designed Samsung smartphones and the Galaxy Alpha has the same metal edges.
  
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• Assassin's Creed: why DLC and companion apps are gaming's next war zone

  20-02-2015 15:40 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The latest Ubisoft action adventure locked certain content unless players downloaded a special app. The feature has been abandoned but it says a lot about where games areUntil recently, if you bought Ubisoft’s historical action adventure Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and came across a blue chest while exploring the game’s luscious depiction of revolutionary France, you wouldn’t have been able to open it. At least you wouldn’t unless you downloaded the special companion app on your Android o
  
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• US and UK 'hacked Sim card firm'

  20-02-2015 15:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US and British spies hacked a top Sim card firm to steal security codes and facilitate eavesdropping on mobiles, a news website says.
  
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• US museum lets 'Imitation Game' fans encrypt their own codes

  20-02-2015 15:27
  
  NATICK, Mass. (AP) — The Oscar-nominated film "The Imitation Game" may fudge some facts and amp up the drama, but there's still a lot it gets right about the Allied effort to crack the Germans' sophisticated communications code during World War II, says the owner of one of America's largest collections of Enigma encryption machines.
  
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• Assassin's Creed Rogue and Tobii Tech eye-tracking technology changes the game

  20-02-2015 15:07
  
  Motion controls have been part of the video game industry for many years, with Nintendo's Wii Nunchuk and Microsoft's Kinect camera being two of the most famous recent examples. One of the latest innovations comes from Tobii Tech in the form of its unique eye-tracking technology. We demoed the kit with the upcoming PC version of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Rogue, as well as PC indie title Sons of Nor, and discovered a new method of control that fits logically with what gamers
  
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• What will happen to the Lizard Squad hackers?

  20-02-2015 15:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  From Kevin Mitnick to LulzSec and Anonymous, the destiny of a hacker group tends to follow the same arc – hack something, hack something bigger, until someone makes a mistake that leads to one or more members being arrested
  When the UK police arrested an 18-year-old man over the online attack in December that knocked both the XBox Live and PlayStation Network offline, plenty of people raised knowing eyebrows. On Twitter, the chatter was that the person arrested was someone known as “Jordie�
  
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• Stripe launches bitcoin support - one year too late?

  20-02-2015 14:55 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The payment processor has finally enabled bitcoin support, first promised in March 2014 Continue reading...
  
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• Lenovo apologises for security-busting adware, offers 'incomplete' removal instructions

  20-02-2015 14:42 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The company said it only wanted to “enhance” user experience, and offered instructions to remove the adware – but not to completely fix the security hole. Continue reading...
  
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• Russian competition watchdog opens case against Google

  20-02-2015 14:38
  
  By Maria Kiselyova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's competition watchdog said on Friday it had opened a case against Google Inc over alleged violation of anti-monopoly law, following a complaint from Russia's biggest search site Yandex NV over Google's mobile platform. Yandex said on Wednesday it had asked the watchdog to investigate whether Google was abusing the dominance of its Android smartphone operating system, restricting competing apps. The press service for Google's offic
  
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• Review: Bookeen Cybook Muse FrontLight

  20-02-2015 14:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and designAnyone who thinks their ereader choice is a straight fight between a Kindle and a few choice products from Kobo should think again. This isn't the first ereader from French company Bookeen, but it is its best value version to date.The clue to its key feature is in its name; its backlit e-ink screen instantly puts it into the mix with the likes of the Amazon Paperwhite, Amazon Voyage, Kobo Aura H2O and Kobo Aura HD. With an RRP of a mere £80 (US$109, about AU$160), it's re
  
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• Apple hiring spree indicates the company is working on an electric car

  20-02-2015 13:59 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Reports show Apple is targeting 2020 to release an electric car after poaching key staff from rival car and battery manufacturers including Ford and TeslaApple is reported to be working on an electric car or vehicle-related project that could be released by 2020.The Cupertino, California-based company has been on a hiring spree attracting key members of rival car manufacturers’ electric and new vehicle system teams. Related: Tesla Model-S launch: an electric car to answer even Clarkson's objec
  
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• The right to be forgotten - Podcast

  20-02-2015 13:47 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The recent European court of justice ruling on the right to be delisted by companies like Google opens up a new era in digital rights Continue reading...
  
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• YouTube to launch kids' app

  20-02-2015 13:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Google-owned company is preparing to launch a separate YouTube app that will be focused on children and is being billed as a safer way to use YouTube.
  
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• Japan Display in talks with Apple to build iPhone screen plant - source

  20-02-2015 13:18
  
  By Reiji Murai TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Display Inc is considering building a plant to supply smartphone screens for Apple Inc and is negotiating with the U.S. company for investment in the project, a person familiar with the situation said on Friday. The Japanese screen maker aims to be the primary supplier of high-tech screens for Apple's wildly popular iPhones, the person told Reuters. Global iPhone sales, notably in China, have surged to make Apple the most profitable company in history.
  
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• Gemalto opens investigation into SIM card hack by NSA, GCHQ

  20-02-2015 12:43 via zdnet.com
  
  Dutch SIM card maker Gemalto says it is investigating reports it was hacked by US and British spies but at this stage has no idea whether it happened.
  
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• Dutch SIM card maker investigating reported UK-US hack

  20-02-2015 12:37
  
  THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch company that makes SIM cards for cellular phones says it is investigating reports that it was hacked by Britain's electronic spying agency in cooperation with the U.S. National Security Agency.
  
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• VIDEO: Modern computing 'rather dull'

  20-02-2015 12:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What has been achieved with computing is 'rather dull' says Sir Clive Sinclair
  
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• Microsoft offers free 100GB OneDrive space to Dropbox users worldwide

  20-02-2015 11:54 via zdnet.com
  
  Microsoft is giving away 100GB of free storage to Dropbox users across the globe, although it's not being as generous with free storage as it has been for US Bing Rewards members.
  
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• Connected and protected: balancing children’s online freedom and safety

  20-02-2015 11:53 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Online freedom brings internet dangers. With regulation limited and hard to enforce, education could be the key to keeping our children safe Continue reading...
  
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• Food on your phone

  20-02-2015 11:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How photographing your every meal changes the way you eat.
  
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• SpecialEffect: the charity making video games available for all

  20-02-2015 11:23 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The Oxfordshire charity devises specialist game control setups for people with physical disabilities – try telling them games are a waste of timeLee is a lifelong gamer; he also has spinal muscular atrophy, a disease that causes progressive muscle weakness. When his condition meant that he was no longer physically able to play games, he became depressed – he felt like part of who he was had slipped away. Now, with a combination of a mouth-controlled joystick and a series of micro-switches he
  
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• Russian competition watchdog opens case against Google - Interfax

  20-02-2015 11:19
  
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's anti-monopoly service has launched an investigation into Google following a request made by Russia's biggest search site Yandex, Interfax news agency reported on Friday citing the regulator. Yandex said on Wednesday it had asked the competition watchdog to investigate whether Google was abusing the dominance of its Android mobile operating system. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Lidia Kelly)
  
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• TLC raise $430,000 for new album

  20-02-2015 10:22 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The R&B duo thanked fans after raising almost three times their target through Kickstarter Continue reading...
  
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• Japan Display in talks with Apple to build iPhone screen plant-media

  20-02-2015 10:16
  
  By Reiji Murai and Yuka Obayashi TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Display Inc is considering building a plant to supply smartphone screens for Apple Inc, which may shoulder much of the 200 billion yen ($1.7 billion/1.1 billion pounds) investment, Japanese media said on Friday. The plant would make panels for Apple's wildly popular iPhones, the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun and Jiji news wire reported. The device's global sales, notably in China, have surged to make Apple the most profitable company in h
  
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• NASCAR effort focuses on math, science for kids

  20-02-2015 09:26
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — It takes a lot of geometry and physics to get a race car to go 200 laps at speeds that can top 200 mph.
  
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