Technology news

• OPM hack: 21 million people's personal information stolen, federal agency says

  09-07-2015 22:41 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  OPM background check applicants since 2000 ‘highly likely’ to be affected Office of Personnel Management computer networks infiltrated in late MaySensitive information including social security numbers concerning more than 21 million people was stolen last month when the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was hacked, the US federal agency said on Thursday.OPM launched a “forensic investigation” after discovering that its internal database, housing background-check records of current, f
  
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• VIDEO: Coding brothers inspired by Google

  09-07-2015 21:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Brothers Osine and Anesi have developed an Android web browser, calling it Crocodile Browser Lite.
  
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• When it comes to nudity, Facebook is little different than Victorian England

  09-07-2015 19:54 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Facebook is making a distinct choice: rather than enable freedom of expression as the company often claims to do, it imposes cultural conservatism, eroding our freedom in the very spaces we perceive to be and treat as our commonsWhen Frédéric Durand-Baïssas shared Gustave Courbet’s The Origin of the World on Facebook, he probably didn’t expect that the painting – a close-up view of a nude woman’s genitals and abdomen – would trigger the platform’s censors. The Fren
  
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• Cisco injects $1 billion in UK digital economy

  09-07-2015 19:03
  
  Cisco will invest some $1 billion (around £650 million, or AU$1.34 billion) in the UK's digital sector over the coming five years as it looks to capitalise on growth in the countries burgeoning startups sector.Among the investments it will make are $150 million (around £97.68 million, or AU$201 million) in venture capital equity for UK startups, an extension to its NetAcademy scheme and the creation of as many as 250 new jobs in central London by the end of 2015.The $150 million (around £97.6
  
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• Updated: iPad Air 3: what we want to see

  09-07-2015 19:00
  
  With the iPad Air 2 we said that Apple had taken the perfect tablet and somehow made it even better. So where does it go from there? Well, hopefully do the same thing again.We're not expecting a quantum leap with the iPad Air 3, but some things are bound to change. The processor will obviously get a boost for one, and for better or worse it's entirely possible that it will get even slimmer and lighter than the iPad Air 2 - although is there anywhere for Apple to go in making this tablet even thi
  
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• VIDEO: The vest that helps exam cheats

  09-07-2015 18:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Justin Rowlatt looks at the technology designed to help people cheat in exams in India.
  
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• Another day, another new Windows 10 preview for PCs

  09-07-2015 18:55 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Microsoft rolls out Windows 10 Build 10166 for PCs to Fast Ring testers and continues to inch toward RTM.
  
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• Updated: Facebook won't go into music streaming after all

  09-07-2015 18:44
  
  Update: Don't ditch your Spotify account yet. A Facebook representative has officially denied the report of the upcoming streaming service saying, "we have no plans to go into music streaming."The Verge reports that Facebook has been in talks with major music labels, but says that there is no end-goal at this time.Original story follows...While Facebook recently took on YouTube with its own video streaming platform, it looks like the social media giant is now gearing up to take on the
  
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• 10 brilliant Google Now tips and tricks

  09-07-2015 18:35
  
  Google Now tips and tricksAs voice assistants go Google Now is pretty good. It can reliably recognise and interpret what you ask it (within reason) and it's packed full of features beyond just simple web searches.But some of these features aren't well advertised, so they can take time and guess work to figure out, or simply never come to light at all. Then again you could just read this guide and become an instant expert on this Android assistant.'OK Google' from any screenGoogle Now is about co
  
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• Cheap all-flash storage signals the demise of the data center

  09-07-2015 18:34
  
  The days of traditional data centers are well and truly numbered as all-flash storage systems continue to push the boundaries in terms of performance, according to HP.First reported by The Inquirer, HP's 3Par all-flash storage system has allowed it to offer high performance storage to its customers without having to raise prices with traditional data centers being hit hard."There is now a compelling moment where our customers can transition from expensive legacy storage environments to all-
  
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• Put your best friends in focus with Facebook's new News Feed

  09-07-2015 18:04
  
  Facebook is launching an update to its News Feed that's all about giving you more control. This is a welcomed change because, as Facebook users know, there's nothing worse than realizing you missed out on something important because it got buried under twenty cat-in-a-costume GIFs. These customizable options help to ensure that the content you actually want to see stays at the top of your News Feed, like stuff from close friends and family. As illustrated by cute little crabs with combovers, you
  
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• Facebook and Google fined by Brazilian court over 'morbid images'

  09-07-2015 18:01 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Judge tells technology firms they acted in ‘bad faith’ when not removing or blocking ‘degrading photos’
  Judges in Brazil have handed down a £10,000 fine to Facebook and Google for not removing or blocking “degrading photos”.The ruling came after pictures of Brazilian musician Cristiano Araujo in a mortuary were shared online. The Brazilian singer, who was 29, died in a car crash in June alongside his girlfriend. Continue reading...
  
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• Microsoft finally unveils Office 2016 for Mac

  09-07-2015 18:01
  
  Microsoft has introduced Office 2016 for Mac, five years after the last Office for Mac rolled out from Redmond. A lot has changed from then in the world of technology which might explain why Mac users, not Windows ones, get the freshest version of Office first.In a briefing, a Microsoft spokesperson explained that it was important to release it first to show that Mac users still count for the company as it clearly demonstrated by launching iOS (and Android) versions of Office Mobile for them fir
  
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• Facebook introduces news feed preferences

  09-07-2015 17:48 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Social network launches See First tool, allowing users to take more control over which stories appear at the top
  Facebook has just announced changes to its news feed, allowing users to take more control over which stories appear first based on their interests.The introduction of the See First tool will mean users choose friends and pages they would like to see at the top of their news feed, rather than, say, another incredible piece about Facebook updating its news feed. Continue reading...
  
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• Israeli jailed over Madonna hack

  09-07-2015 17:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An Israeli man is jailed for 14 months in Tel Aviv for hacking the computers of singers including Madonna.
  
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• Windows 10 users to get free support for at least two years

  09-07-2015 17:47
  
  Excited Microsoft fans anticipating the release of Windows 10 finally have an estimated free upgrade timespan thanks to a presentation quietly eked out by the Redmond-based firm.Working under the "supported lifetime of the device" mantra that it first mentioned in January, a presentation noticed by Computerworld explained that users of devices will get free upgrades for the first two to four years of each device's lifespan."Revenue allocated is deferred and recognised on a straigh
  
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• Salesforce survey states obvious: technology makes sales easier

  09-07-2015 17:29
  
  Businesses are keen to predict the future. As a result, predictive sales analytics usage will increase 135% over the next year and a half, according to a new report from Salesforce.com. The report, which surveyed more than 2,300 sales executives worldwide, found that organizations that are performing above expectations are 3.5 times more likely to use sales analytics than organizations that self-identify as underperforming.One of the reasons a gulf has emerged between successful teams and strugg
  
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• Is Facebook about to enter the music streaming war?

  09-07-2015 17:20 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Social network is reportedly investing in video streaming with an eye to launching a music service to take on Spotify, Apple, Google and TidalRewind just a few short years. The music industry was sick, if not dying. Napster had started the decline, free music for all, albeit illegally. With shrinking revenues and costly licensing deals only Apple was really making any money by selling its breakthrough iPod music player.
  Spin on to 2015 and everything has changed. Apple Music just launched to cha
  
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• Spotify urges Premium users paying through iTunes to cancel subsciptions

  09-07-2015 16:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Music streaming company tells customers they can save money by subscribing directly via website, preventing Apple from taking 30% cut
  Spotify is urging customers who paid to join its music streaming service through Apple to cancel their subscriptions, as the rivalry between the two companies intensifies following the launch of Apple Music.In an email to be sent to Spotify customers with iPhones, the company says if users pay through Spotify.com they can save money by stopping Apple from taking a
  
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• Web giants fined for 'morbid' photos

  09-07-2015 15:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Facebook and Google are fined 50,000 Brazilian real (£10,000) for ignoring a ban on the dissemination of "degrading images" in Brazil.
  
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• Moore’s law wins: new chips have circuits 10,000 times thinner than hairs

  09-07-2015 15:26 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  IBM processors built at 7nm will be four times more powerful with up to 20bn transistors squeezed onto a single chipFears that Moore’s law – which dictates the exponential growth of processing power – would falter this year have been allayed after IBM revealed processors with circuits just 7nm wide.Moore’s law states that every 18 to 24 months processing power will double and it has been steadily observed to be true since 1965, enabling the rapid technological progress over the last four
  
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• Uber accused of exploiting customers during tube strike after it triples fares

  09-07-2015 15:14 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  London cab drivers and users of the taxi-booking app criticise its ‘surge pricing’ policy, when fares rise due to increasing demand, during strike Uber, the app-based taxi-booking business, has been accused of exploiting customers by tripling fares during London’s tube strike.
  Uber users were confronted on Thursday morning with warnings that the company was tripling fares because “demand is off the charts”. Continue reading...
  
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• Disney wins starwars.co.uk battle

  09-07-2015 14:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Disney makes a UK-based fancy-dress retailer surrender starwars.co.uk and six other web addresses related to its sci-fi film franchise.
  
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• Microsoft and Windows Phone: What went wrong, and where can they go from here?

  09-07-2015 14:50 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Microsoft says it still wants to make phones - but what does the future look like for Windows Phone and Lumia devices?
  
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• ​Cyanogen nabs Amazon and Qualcomm execs to bolster engineering

  09-07-2015 14:47 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Cyanogen has hired two new engineering execs to continue its war with Google over control of Android.
  
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• IBM chips 'contain smallest parts'

  09-07-2015 14:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  IBM says it has overcome technical hurdles threatening to delay the manufacture of silicon chips with the smallest components so far.
  
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• Accenture launches analytics cloud service

  09-07-2015 14:30 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  The company outlined the Accenture Insights Platform, an analytics as a service suite, and said it's designed to appeal to CXOs to data scientists to business users.
  
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• UK to develop 'universal' satellite

  09-07-2015 14:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The development is approved of a completely novel type of telecommunications satellite, which will be built in the UK.
  
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• How the blind led Warsaw to the Internet of Things

  09-07-2015 12:52 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  A project designed to help visually impaired people get around council buildings has been given a new lease on life as a smart city system.
  
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• Without Uber, Nokia and German carmakers see who will blink first over Here

  09-07-2015 12:43 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  According to Reuters Uber is out of the race for Nokia's Here business taking the pressure of Germany's car industry to pay a premium.
  
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• Man charged for naming sex attack victim on police Facebook page

  09-07-2015 12:37 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Doncaster resident made a comment on the Facebook page of South Yorkshire police that identified the victimA Doncaster man who published the name of the victim of a sexual offence on the Facebook page of South Yorkshire police has been charged.Shane Ward, 31, of Edlington, commented on the police’s Facebook page post about the sexual offence court case and identified the victim. He was charged under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Amendment Act 1992 for breaching the victim’s right to anony
  
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• Review: Lenovo ThinkPad E550

  09-07-2015 12:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and designBusiness-class mobile workstations aren't normally great value for money. This is especially true of Lenovo's ThinkPad line, which usually competes right at the high-end of the market, with a corresponding high cost.But the 15.6-inch ThinkPad E550 bucks this trend, as it starts at just £379 including VAT ($470 in the US and AU$606) for an entry-level model, and even the high-end variant, with a fairly powerful specification, including a discrete graphics card, Intel Core
  
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• How virtual reality porn could bring about world peace

  09-07-2015 12:29 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Cold, silly, downright terrifying – at first I was unstirred by the allure of VR pornography. That was, until I met Adrian …Pornography often helps to drive new technology into the mainstream. Everyone knows that. In fact, by now the point has become rote. It’s the sort of thing that needlessly contrarian dinner party guests routinely trot out 20 minutes before embarking upon trickier subjects like “Hitler had some good ideas” and “Female drivers, eh?”Still, an element of truth rem
  
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• Is virtual reality the future of porn? – video

  09-07-2015 11:43 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Just as new formats and technologies have driven new types of pornography in the past, virtual reality is starting to offer powerful, immersive new formats for adult entertainment. Stuart Heritage braves an onslaught of stimulating demos to find out if VR is as good as the real thing• WARNING: CONTAINS SEXUALLY EXPLICIT IMAGES• Read about Stuart's experience of virtual reality porn here Continue reading...
  
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• ​Apple to rollout new two-factor authentication in iOS 9 and El Capitan

  09-07-2015 11:33 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Apple is aiming for a more streamlined two-factor authentication system for its next Mac and iPhone operating systems.
  
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• VIDEO: Trialling the tech to track birds

  09-07-2015 10:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  London Zoo is currently trialling miniature technology that can track birds
  
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• All you need to know about Uber

  09-07-2015 10:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What drives the upstart car pick-up firm?
  
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• Facebook is 'planning its own music streaming service'

  09-07-2015 10:17 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Sources tell a music and tech site that the social media giant is to follow its video programme with an expansion into streamingUpdate Since this report was published, Facebook has publicly denied it is planning to launch a music streaming serviceCan’t decide between Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal? Your choices are only going to get harder. Now Facebook is set to enter the music streaming race, with the social media giant reportedly planning to launch its own streaming service.According to the
  
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• Help, I've been hacked – have I lost all my files?

  09-07-2015 10:13 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The files on Tara’s PC have been encrypted by CryptoWall malware, and she wonders if she can rescue anything without paying the criminals a ransomI have been hit by a CryptoWall attack. My files are encrypted. I presume I have lost everything, but is there anything I can do to rescue them? TaraIf you have been hit by the latest CryptoWall 3 then your presumption is probably correct – unless you pay the criminals who are holding your files hostage. Ransomware is getting more and more sophisti
  
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• Boost your fitness: 21 tips for Nike+, Strava and more

  09-07-2015 09:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Do more with your digital fitness coaches — find out how to move your data between apps, sync music to your exercise, set up smarter alerts and more. Continue reading...
  
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• Cloud service DigitalOcean raises $83m in latest funding round

  09-07-2015 08:26 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  DigitalOcean has completed an $83 million founding round led by Access Industries, which has previously assisted the likes of Uber and Alibaba.
  
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• Telstra boosts mobile network funding by AU$500m

  09-07-2015 05:29 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Telstra CEO Andrew Penn has committed to increasing Telstra's network funding for the next two years to 15 percent of sales, with over AU$5 billion worth of investment.
  
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• Batman: Arkham Knight's Batgirl DLC gives us more of the main game's best parts

  09-07-2015 04:52
  
  While many baulked at Batman: Arkham Knight's exorbitantly priced season pass, it certainly looks like the investment is going to pay off, if the first trailer for the game's DLC prequel chapter 'A Matter of Family' is anything to go by.Set before the events of the original game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, 'A Matter of Family' lets you play Barbara Gordon before she was confined to a wheelchair by Joker, when she was still protecting the streets of Gotham as Batgirl.Joker has taken Commissioner Jim
  
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• Mater Health stabilises application environment with VDI upgrade

  09-07-2015 04:30 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Mater Health Services has launched into several projects, including working with Citrix to upgrade its virtual desktop infrastructure, and moving from Windows XP to Windows 7.
  
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• Mega gears up for another public listing attempt

  09-07-2015 04:19 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  The Kim Dotcom-founded cloud storage firm Mega has had its company constitution updated ahead of plans to list on the NZX, following its failed back-door attempt in May this year.
  
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• Hawaiki gains partner in Pacific cable bid with more investment expected

  09-07-2015 02:33 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  US$300 million trans-Pacific cable plan gains support from private New Zealand investment company.
  
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• Hawaiki gains partner in Pacific cable bid

  09-07-2015 02:33 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  US$300 million trans-Pacific cable plan gains support from private New Zealand investment company.
  
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• Weaker China data drags global smartphone growth: Gartner

  09-07-2015 02:32 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Research firm Gartner is predicting that the good old days of smartphone makers may be coming to an end, as the global engine, China, is experiencing slow growth due to possible market saturation.
  
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• iOS Tips: Apple Music: 10 best tips and tricks to maximize your music

  09-07-2015 02:12
  
  Master Apple MusicUnless you have something against oodles of free music, you probably signed up for the Apple Music trial last week. Even if you have no plans on ever actually paying, you can still stream for the rest of the summer, which is more than enough time to get closely acquainted with Apple's new service. And that's good, because there's a lot to absorb. Whether you're coming from iTunes Radio, Spotify, or Beats Music, Apple has made its music service unique (some might say confusing)
  
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• Trust us: Telcos told they can't verify journalist metadata warrants

  09-07-2015 01:58 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Australian telecommunications companies will have to accept, at face value, that government agencies have obtained a warrant to access the metadata of a journalist.
  
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