Technology news

• Review: Origin EON15-X

  11-03-2015 23:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  IntroductionDesktop performance in a gaming laptop is something we've chased forever. The latest and greatest components including Nvidia's Maxwell GPU series have taken mobile computing closer than it's ever been to a solid 60 frames per second.This year, the line that separates gaming desktops and laptops is getting even blurrier. Both MSI and Alienware have developed external GPU boxes to give notebooks an extra kick of performance from a desktop graphics card. Now, Origin has thrown a deskto
  
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• Alibaba to invest in Snapchat at $15 bln valuation - Bloomberg

  11-03-2015 23:06
  
  (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is planning to invest $200 million (133 million pounds) in Snapchat, valuing the photo-messaging service at about $15 billion, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people it said were familiar with the situation. A month ago, Bloomberg reported that Snapchat is looking to raise as much as $500 million in a new funding round that would value the Los Angeles-based company at up to $19 billion. The Alibaba investment would not be p
  
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• Apple's iTunes, App Stores back online after unusually long outage

  11-03-2015 23:03
  
  By Joseph Menn and Edwin Chan SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's iTunes and App Store came back online on Wednesday afternoon after an unusually long service disruption that the company blamed on an internal technical error. Apple updated its status page at 5:04 pm ET to show that the disrupted services, including the Mac App Store and iBooks, were now functioning normally. The App Store and iTunes are a source of pride for the world's largest tech company and form the centrepiece o
  
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• Apple's iTunes, app stores back online after 12-hour outage

  11-03-2015 22:21
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's iTunes and App Store came back online on Wednesday afternoon, according to its online status page, after an unusual hours-long disruption that the company blamed on an internal technical error. The outage began a little before 5:00 am ET (0900 GMT), after which users vented their frustrations on Twitter about being unable to access the popular mobile apps store and online content service. Apple updated its status page at 5:04 pm ET to show that the disr
  
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• Apple reopens iTunes, App stores after lengthy outage

  11-03-2015 22:12
  
  Apple has restored service to its widely used iTunes and app stores. A rare breakdown Wednesday that vexed the iPhone and iPad maker for more than five hours frustrated millions of music lovers and mobile ...
  
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• 'Godmother of VR' sees journalism as the future of virtual reality

  11-03-2015 22:02
  
  Nonny de la Peña has made an immersive reconstruction of the Trayvon Martin shooting and thinks in future all stories will be shot with 3D, 360-degree cameras Continue reading...
  
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• FTC sues DirecTV, alleges hidden fees and deceptive ads

  11-03-2015 21:48
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is taking the nation's biggest satellite TV provider to court, accusing DirecTV of misleading millions of consumers about the cost of its programming.
  
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• Review: Updated: MSI GS30 Shadow

  11-03-2015 21:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  IntroductionUpdate: Now with video, see what we thought of the MSI GS30 Shadow with GamingDockIn the pursuit of even greater mobile computing performance, some gaming laptops makers have turned to desktop parts. The latest Origin EON-15X leans on a desktop processor, while the Alienware 13hooks up to the company's Graphics Amplifier unit with a discrete desktop GPU humming inside.To help gamers scratch the same itch for bleeding edge performance, MSI created the GS30 Shadow with GamingDock. The
  
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• Review: mini review: Parrot Zik 2.0

  11-03-2015 20:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The Parrot Zik 2.0 wants to stir things up in the world of headphones. First, by requiring a smartphone app to unlock its many features and second, by charging a steep $399 (£299, AU$499). Despite these hoops, the Zik 2.0 are an excellent option for tinker-savvy listeners interested in a set of booming headphones with only a few nagging strings attached.DesignThanks to designer Philippe Starck at the helm, Parrot has whipped up an attractive set of headphones. The pleather-coated design is appe
  
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• ResearchKit: 5 things to know about Apple's medical apps

  11-03-2015 20:25
  
  Amid all the talk of Apple Watch, a new MacBook laptop and a partnership with HBO, a set of Apple tools aimed at promoting medical research didn't get much attention. The tools, called ResearchKit, promise ...
  
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• Google change allows company statements to top news searches

  11-03-2015 19:57
  
  By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - A little-noticed change in the way Google selects search results has allowed company statements to top the list of news links shown when users search for information on businesses. The measure may cost news publishers web traffic and risks misleading users, analysts said. A Google spokeswoman said that in September the search giant widened the number of sources from which it drew the entries that appear in the "in the news" section of its search results
  
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• Inspector finds State Department lax on preserving emails

  11-03-2015 19:53
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department's internal watchdog has found that many department employees are not preserving emails for the public record as required by the government. That could mean a substantial amount of lost government information.
  
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• Fast broadband lifts revenue growth for Europe's cable operators

  11-03-2015 19:50
  
  By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Investments in high-speed broadband networks helped Europe's cable operators such as Liberty Global and Altice accelerate revenue growth in 2014 to 4.6 percent, industry group Cable Europe said on Wednesday. Cable operators in the 28-nation European Union made 21.5 billion euros ($22.8 billion) in revenues last year, with half from broadband and telephony. Cable companies have been competing with traditional telecom operators such as Deutsche Telekom a
  
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• Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab Active

  11-03-2015 19:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Intro and designAs the modern small business continues to incorporate new technology into their workflows, tablets have begun to supplement notebook computers. The iPad Air 2 ($499, £399, AU$619) is still the flashy king of the tablet world, but with Apple's reputation for building units that shatter too easily, a need exists in the market for a battle-tested tablet. In comes the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active, one of the first built-to-be-tested, yet inexpensive tablets. Sure Panasonic has the Toug
  
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• Woman in gender bias suit faces third day of questioning

  11-03-2015 19:30
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A woman alleging gender bias at a prestigious Silicon Valley venture capital firm has testified that a partner at the company told her she shouldn't work with a male colleague with whom she had an affair but she decided against the advice.
  
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• Hands-on review: Razer Forge TV

  11-03-2015 19:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Razer isn’t afraid to branch out into new territory. Take its sound bar, the Razer Leviathan, for example.It’s essentially a bass-heavy sound bar for gamers who wouldn’t necessarily have ventured into audio equipment. Or consider the Razer Nabu, a smartband built for casual exercise enthusiasts and marketed to the legion of gamers. Or how about the developer-conscious Razer OSVR? The list of new products go on and on. The $99/£99 Forge TV, an Android TV micro-console that’s a step betwe
  
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• Fast-changing security threats overwhelm IT managers - survey

  11-03-2015 19:29
  
  By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Security professionals are unable to keep pace with cybersecurity threats against companies as external and internal threats mushroom from both known and emerging technologies, a survey published on Wednesday showed. The study of just over 1,000 security professionals in the United States, Britain and Canada paints a picture of mounting pressures on organisations due to a shortage of necessary specialist skills, tight budgets and poor employee education. For
  
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• Facebook to face U.S. class action over children's online purchases

  11-03-2015 18:57
  
  A federal judge said Facebook Inc must face a nationwide class-action lawsuit seeking to force the social media company to provide refunds when children spend their parents' money on its website without permission. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California on Tuesday said a class of plaintiffs estimated in the hundreds of thousands may press their claim that Facebook should change how it handles online transactions by minors. Facebook did not immediately respond to req
  
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• Global outage shuts down Apple's iTunes, App stores

  11-03-2015 18:54
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple's widely used iTunes and app stores suffered a rare breakdown Wednesday, frustrating millions of music lovers and mobile device owners around the world.
  
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• Hacked dog, a car that snoops on you and a fridge full of adverts: the perils of the internet of things

  11-03-2015 18:45
  
  In the not so distant future, every object in your life will be online and talking to one another. It’ll transform the way we live and work - but will the benefits outweigh the dangers?
  Continue reading...
  
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• Wikipedia feels 'targeted' by U.S. NSA, co-founder says

  11-03-2015 18:29
  
  By Carolyn Cohn EDINBURGH (Reuters) - The Wikimedia Foundation believes it can win its case against the U.S. National Security Agency because it has evidence that mass surveillance had caused it harm, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales said on Wednesday. Wales also said he thought the lawsuit, brought Tuesday by Wikimedia and rights groups, would end up in the U.S. Supreme Court because either side is likely to appeal any ruling against it. A U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman did not immediat
  
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• How Chameleons Change Color

  11-03-2015 18:28
  
  "They are like selective mirrors," Michel Milinkovitch, a co-author of the study at the University of Geneva, told the BBC.
  
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• Apple says iTunes, App Stores down for all users

  11-03-2015 17:58
  
  "Customers may be unable to make purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, or Mac App Store," the company said on its website. Apple said on Wednesday that its iCloud Mail and iCloud Account & Sign In were also affected until about 9 a.m. ET (1300 GMT). The Apple Store was shut briefly on Monday, ahead of the company's highly anticipated unveiling of the Apple Watch.
  
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• Flying cars, robot petting zoo: It's South by Southwest time

  11-03-2015 17:55
  
  Flying cars and a robot petting zoo. Mobile wallets and net neutrality. The most outlandish ideas of the future and tech trends shaping the world today will be in focus as the freewheeling South by Southwest Interactive Festival kicks off Friday.
  
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• Google launches cloud service for 'cold data'

  11-03-2015 17:21
  
  (Reuters) - Google Inc introduced a cloud storage service for users to store "cold data" and access it much faster than traditional services. Google Cloud Storage Nearline will let users access stored data in about three seconds and will charge them 1 cent per gigabyte of data at rest, the company said in a blog post. Amazon.com Inc's cloud service Amazon Web Services offers a similarly priced service called Glacier. Google listed data storage providers such as Symantec Corp, NetA
  
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• Sony plans U.S. launch of video-streaming service this year - WSJ

  11-03-2015 16:58
  
  (Reuters) - Sony Corp is planning the U.S. rollout of its long-anticipated video-streaming product later this year, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Sony Computer Entertainment President Andrew House said in an interview with the Journal that PlayStation Vue will launch within two weeks in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. The video-streaming service will let consumers bypass traditional cable and satellite subscriptions to watch TV shows and movies. Time Warner I
  
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• Minecraft ban reports investigated

  11-03-2015 16:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Minecraft owner Microsoft is investigating reports the Turkish government is preparing to ban the game, the BBC understands.
  
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• Google CFO to leave job for a 'midlife crisis full of bliss and beauty' on the road

  11-03-2015 16:19
  
  In a post on Google Plus, Patrick Pichette announces he will be retiring, aged 52 to spend more time with his family and go backpacking around the world Continue reading...
  
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• We are citizens, not mere physical masses of data for harvesting

  11-03-2015 16:04
  
  The deal we have struck with the information society over the extent to which our lives are shaped and our privacy invaded requires urgent renegotiationThere is something profoundly unsettling and unedifying at the heart of the contemporary information economy. Captivated by shiny devices, services and apps, manipulated by information merchants, and unprotected by barnacle-encrusted law and institutions, we are losing - or have lost - control.This is the message of American legal scholar, Julie
  
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• Apple says some services down for all users

  11-03-2015 16:02
  
  (Reuters) - Some Apple Inc services, including the App store, iTunes store, Mac App store and iBook store, were down for users worldwide on Wednesday. "Customers may be unable to make purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, or Mac App Store," the company said on its website. Apple said its iCloud Mail and iCloud Account & Sign In were affected until about 9 a.m. ET., but had been restored.
  
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• AP sues State Department, seeking access to Clinton records

  11-03-2015 16:00
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the State Department to force the release of email correspondence and government documents from Hillary Rodham Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.
  
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• Apple hails the return of the wrist watch – Tech Weekly podcast

  11-03-2015 15:53
  
  The team take the long view of Apple's smart watch and review Apple Pay expansion and the rise of the MacBook Continue reading...
  
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• Cheap 'Apple Watch' copies on sale

  11-03-2015 15:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Smartwatches that mirror the Apple Watch's design and graphics are being sold via a site run by China's Alibaba.
  
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• IBM uncovers critical Dropbox SDK for Android vulnerability

  11-03-2015 15:25
  
  Android app developers are being urged to update their Dropbox SDK to the latest version after IBM's team of application security researchers found a severe vulnerability that has the potential to affect billions of files.The IBM X-Force Application Security Research Team discovered the vulnerability in Dropbox SDK for Android versions 1.5.4 and above, and it meant an attacker could connect applications on any Android device to a Dropbox account they controlled.Dropbox was quick to act and, acco
  
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• Oh dear, Apple's iTunes and App Stores have broken

  11-03-2015 15:22
  
  Apple's digital stores - the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store and Mac App Store - are experiencing some pesky technical problems right now.Apple has updated its service status page to reflect that "all users are affected" by the problem. It was also having issues with iCloud account sign-ins, which now seems to be fixed, but users are still experiencing problems with purchasing items on its stores.So if you're having issues with any of these services, fear not, you're not alone. W
  
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• Apple online services stutter, leaving users unable to access iTunes

  11-03-2015 15:09
  
  Despite assurances from Apple that the online services were live, widespread reports of outages suggest problems in Cupertino with iCloud and iTunesApple’s online services are experiencing sporadic outages, affecting users of software as diverse as iTunes, Game Centre and iCloud.The company’s iCloud system status page initially showed no reported issues, even as users were unable to log in to iCloud, download new apps, or play multiplayer games.I see the downside of storing important files o
  
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• Selfie stick bans go into effect at French, UK attractions

  11-03-2015 15:09
  
  PARIS (AP) — "Selfie sticks" have now been banned at a French palace and a British museum, joining a growing list of global tourist attractions to take such measures.
  
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• Retailers told to adapt or die in an asteroid strike of technological changes

  11-03-2015 15:01
  
  Dixons Carphone’s Seb James says rise of household gadgets connected via the internet means new services will be needed to meet shift in consumer behaviour Continue reading...
  
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• Inside the world's first Google store

  11-03-2015 14:59
  
  Google has opened its first-ever physical store and chose London to be the city to host it. In fact, the store has been open since Thursday March 5 but the company has kept it on the down low to make sure it was all up and running properly before making any fanfare.It was pretty easy to hide as Google's "first-ever" physical store isn't like you'd expect, it's in fact a section of a Curry's PC World, the one on Tottenham Court Road to be exact.Considering the behemoth Google is today i
  
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• Western Digital releases ultra-low powered data center drive

  11-03-2015 14:48
  
  Western Digital has introduced a collection of new data center hard drives that claim to have the lowest power consumption of any high capacity 3.5-inch drive on the market today.The WD Re+ range is the newest part of WD's full, tiered portfolio of high capacity data center storage drives and arrives on the same day as the incumbent Re and Se product lines see a new 6TB capacity added to their respective ranges.The SATA 6Gb/s WD Re+ hard drive family features a five-platter platform that brings
  
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• Apple's ‘force touch’ and 'taptic engine' explained

  11-03-2015 14:46
  
  The new MacBook trackpad and haptic feedback technology could be coming to the iPhone next year and represents the next evolution of touch inputApple’s new super-thin MacBook comes with a new trackpad technology that detects the force of a tap or press and is expected to be added to the iPhone next year. But what is “force touch”, how does it work and what on earth is a “taptic engine”?Beyond the hype and buzz around the Apple Watch launch on Monday evening, a piece of technology that
  
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• Despite what you think, most people aren't binge-watching House of Cards

  11-03-2015 14:43
  
  House of Cards' return for season 3 was highly anticipated across the world, but while some people chose to binge-watch, most actually haven't. Since Netflix announced the release date for the show there have been some 784,112 tweets logged by social media experts Spredfast, a company that watches all forms of social media and works with broadcasters to get viewer tweets and Facebook comments on screen. What's really interesting is that a relatively tiny number of people binge-watched the show
  
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• Maker Studios boss: if our YouTube stars acted like Clarkson, we'd exclude them

  11-03-2015 14:31
  
  PewDiePie and other stars on Disney-owned multichannel network take responsibility for their content, says René Rechtman Continue reading...
  
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• Updated: The next generation of USB: Apple's MacBook is first, but it won't be alone

  11-03-2015 14:25
  
  Introduction, speed and versatilityThe familiar USB port is changing – it looks different, it's faster and higher power than ever, and it can do a lot more than just connect USB devices. Switching to the new reversible, either-way-up USB type-C connector is just one of the changes in USB 3.1.That's one reason Apple chose the port for its new MacBook, with its appearance being a first for the laptop world, replacing the Thunderbolt and MagSafe connectors. The advantages that will have every per
  
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• Windows 10 Preview ready for speed boost

  11-03-2015 14:17
  
  Microsoft could be ready to floor the accelerator on Windows 10 preview releases with a daily cycle expected to be adopted in the coming days following the accidental release of information unto the wild.The Windows 10 Insider Hub erroneously posted a new update on March 10 that explained "flights are getting faster" and that anyone not ready for daily builds of the OS on their devices "might want to move the slow ring."Microsoft's Gabriel Aul responded to the leak via Twitte
  
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• Nokia relaunches its HERE maps and navigation app for iOS

  11-03-2015 14:04
  
  First app for Apple devices was pulled in late 2013, but all-new version is returning to the App Store after 4m downloads on Android Continue reading...
  
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• Google in talks to buy Indian startup InMobi - source

  11-03-2015 14:00
  
  Google Inc is in talks to buy Bangalore-based mobile advertising venture InMobi, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, which could pave the way for what could be the U.S. company's first deal in India's busy start-up space, InMobi helps companies target the users of phones and mobile devices in their advertising. The source, who asked not to be named because Google and InMobi have not made the negotiations public, said talks were at an early stage. The source said Google h
  
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• ​Could the Force Touch be with the next iPhone?

  11-03-2015 13:40 via zdnet.com
  
  The next iPhone may include Apple's new Force Touch tech that can distinguish between different levels of pressure applied to the face of the Apple Watch and the trackpad on the new MacBook.
  
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• DealsRadar: TechRadar Deals: Xbox One, Speakers, Kindle Fire HDX + more!

  11-03-2015 13:34
  
  We're back with more daily deals and today we've got games consoles, computers, chargers, speakers, soundbars, headphones and lots more!Xbox One: Amazon is currently offering a fantastic deal on an Xbox One, it comes with two great games Assassins Creed Unity and Black Flag. You can pick this up for only £279.85! That's as cheap as you'll be able to find this bundle.Bluetooth Speaker: Another great deal on a bluetooth speaker. This time its the Beacon Pheonix, This compact speaker comes with Be
  
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• Selfie sticks: French, UK attractions latest to impose ban

  11-03-2015 13:32
  
  A French palace and a British museum have joined the growing list of global tourist attractions to ban "selfie sticks" — devices visitors use to improve snapshots, but which critics say are obnoxious ...
  
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