Technology news

• Review: Epson Workforce ET-4550

  17-08-2015 23:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  IntroductionThere is an abundance of affordable and serviceable home and office inkjet printers on the market. These units tend to distinguish themselves from competitors based on print speed and quality. A new contender has emerged that provides a unique value proposition: tons and tons of cheap ink. The Epson WorkForce ET-4550 (US-only $499, about £320, AU$678) is a member of the new Epson EcoTank line of printers. Each of the new EcoTank units come with a compartment specifically design
  
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• Twitter flunks examination as university endowments dump stock

  17-08-2015 22:07 via feeds.theguardian.com
  Harvard, Yale and Stanford sell big chunks of Twitter stakesShares in troubled technology company fall 44% since AprilAmerica’s smartest schools have given Twitter an F. Harvard, Yale and Stanford universities have all sold big chunks of their Twitter stock as the nine-year-old social media company struggles to prove to investors it has a trajectory of growth. Related: Twitter's Dick Costolo to step down amid stalled growth and troll troublesContinue reading...
  
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• Google unveils hopefully sweeter new operating system Marshmallow

  17-08-2015 21:56 via feeds.theguardian.com
  Google’s new OS emphasizes security after last OS, Lollipop, contained a bug that allowed users to take control of a device by sending a textGoogle’s new operating system is called Marshmallow. The new name was revealed on Monday not in a press release but in a statue outside Google’s office in Mountain View, California. This will be the 13th official, renamed iteration for the Linux-based operating system, on which the company’s mobile phones and tablets are run. Eleven
  
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• Trouble at the mill threatens Jeff Bezos and Amazon's reputation

  17-08-2015 21:17 via feeds.theguardian.com
  The company’s chief executive acted quickly to refute allegations of a brutal work environment, but maybe what his employees need is a trade unionA company’s reputation is precious. Once lost, it is mightily hard to recover. Think Gerald Ratner, who once famously described the jewellery he was selling as “crap”. Think BP after the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Or G4S, which seemed to have trouble preventing prisoners from escaping and bungled the Olympics
  
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• Happy memories of paternoster lifts | Letters

  17-08-2015 20:50 via feeds.theguardian.com
  Your article about paternoster lifts (Why Germans fought so hard to save their paternoster lifts, 14 August) brought back happy memories of sixth-form voluntary service at school in central London in the late 1960s. To get out of any sport-related activity, my friend Sheila and I wheeled a tea trolley round all the outpatient departments of St Thomas’ hospital on Wednesday afternoons, doing our bit to help those waiting to be seen. Our self-selected reward at the end of the day was a ride
  
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• Amazon office culture nothing like NYT article, says Jay Carney – video

  17-08-2015 18:45 via feeds.theguardian.com
  Former White House press secretary Jay Carney defends the competitive work environment of his new employer Amazon after a damning New York Times exposé into the retail giant. Speaking to CBS This Morning on Monday, Carney says he does not recognise the company portrayed in the article, which described working conditions devoid of empathy and a brutal push for greater productivity and efficiency. He says employees are drawn to the company because they agree with its ‘spirit of innova
  
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• Smartphone app launched to help asylum seekers in Dresden

  17-08-2015 17:53 via feeds.theguardian.com
  App offers practical assistance to refugees arriving in the eastern German city and comes in response to recent anti-immigrant hostilityA smartphone app has been launched to help asylum seekers find their feet in Dresden, which became the epicentre of anti-immigrant hostility in Germany earlier this year.The Welcome to Dresden app, developed by two IT companies based in the eastern German city, gives refugees information on how to register with the authorities, get health insurance and find thei
  
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• Message read. But what kind of weirdo keeps read receipts on?

  17-08-2015 17:43 via feeds.theguardian.com
  Read receipts – those signifiers that a message has been opened and read – fill me with terror, but plenty of people keep them on. Why?There was a time when the main thing you had to worry about in casual social situations was the decision between a peck-on-the-cheek, a handshake, or a hug upon greeting. Meanwhile, relationships have always been fraught with double meanings and crossed wires. Flowers – a spontaneous, fresh-scented display of thoughtfulness? Or a floral attempt
  
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• Review: Plantronics BackBeat Sense

  17-08-2015 16:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  It's a difficult task to find headphones that excel at everything they attempt to pull off, especially when they're trying to do a heck of a lot. Plantronics' recent efforts in portable audio hinted at achieving just that, pairing slick design with exceptional and reliable technology. The new BackBeat Sense get a little closer to actually hitting the mark with a lightweight build that offers a satisfying sound, long-lasting battery and comfort (lots and lots of comfort). The $179 (available for
  
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• Review: Huawei Ascend G620S

  17-08-2015 15:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  IntroductionNot so long ago, the fact that the Huawei Ascend G620S could be picked up for about £125/$150/AU$200 was a major point in its favour. It's still a definite plus, but with the number of low-cost yet impressive handsets now on the market, I can't be won over on price alone.So what else does it have? Well, 4G for one, coupled with a fairly large 5.0-inch screen, but with stiff competition from the likes of the Moto G (2014), the Sony Xperia M2 Aqua and the Microsoft Lumia 640, it'
  
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• Jeff Bezos defends Amazon after NYT exposé of working practices

  17-08-2015 14:44 via feeds.theguardian.com
  Chief executive said in an internal email that the New York Times article did not describe the Amazon he knewAmazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos has defended his company after allegations of employee cruelty made by the New York Times.In a rare communication from the 51-year-old, Bezos told staff to carefully read the “very long” article and compared it with a “very different take by a current Amazonian” in an internal all-staff email.Continue reading...
  
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• Why I’m finally going to boycott Amazon

  17-08-2015 14:24 via feeds.theguardian.com
  Even though I will miss the convenience of buying stuff on my laptop in my underpants, claims about its brutal office culture are the final strawFew things in life are as universally satisfying as a boycott. To the left, a boycott is the ultimate display of society in action; to the right, it confirms the market’s all-consuming power. To me, it’s just fun. It’s negging, basically – if you love something, ignore it until it comes cowering back promising to do better.My li
  
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• Soylent hits back at claims of unsafe levels of lead and cadmium

  17-08-2015 14:10 via feeds.theguardian.com
  The meal-replacement startup argues that the metals are only present in safe levelsFood replacement startup Soylent has hit back at claims that its product contains unhealthy levels of lead and cadmium, after environmental campaign group As You Sow announced its intention to sue the firm under California’s Proposition 65.The law, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, imposes strict limits on the levels of toxic elements that can be found in foodstuffs wit
  
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• Bitcoin's forked: chief scientist launches alternative proposal for the currency

  17-08-2015 12:57 via feeds.theguardian.com
  The bitcoin wars have begun, as Bitcoin XT squares off against the classic flavour of the cryptocurrencyCryptocurrency bitcoin is facing civil war, with two high-profile developers announcing plans to split the code that underpins the network.Known as a “fork”, the new version of bitcoin (dubbed Bitcoin XT) would support more transactions per hour, at the cost of increasing the amount of memory required to hold a full database of all the bitcoin transactions throughout history, known
  
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• Can't stand the heat? How Central Europe's datacentres are coping with the hottest summer in centuries

  17-08-2015 12:39 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Despite being generally well-equipped to deal with atypical weather, technology companies in Central Europe have still faced discomfort and uncertainty during the current heatwave.
  
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• Review: Asus EeeBox PC EB1033

  17-08-2015 12:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and performanceWe don't usually review products that have been out for a few years but the Asus Eeebox PC EB1033 was simply too much of a good deal to ignore, at least on paper, especially as one UK retailer, Ebuyer, is selling it for just under £100 (around $155, or AU$210) and sent a machine over for a review (better late than never).At that price, it competes with the HP 260 G1 which we reviewed last month. Both devices share a number of similarities including the price and
  
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• Visor app crowdsources real time views of places and queues

  17-08-2015 11:22 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  If you are the sort of person that hates to queue, or wants to see what is happening inside places then you can ask users of new app to share up to the minute crowdsourced images.
  
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• CSG records AU$28.5m profit, announces AU$13.5m acquisition

  17-08-2015 09:34 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Australian-listed CSG has reported AU$28.5 million in profit for the 2015 financial year. On Monday morning it also told shareholders of its upcoming AU$13.5 purchase of CodeBlue, and its partnership with global cloud services firm, 8x8.
  
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• NEC inks AU$37m IT services deal with DFAT

  17-08-2015 07:25 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  NEC Australia has signed a four-year IT services agreement with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, adding to its existing state and federal government portfolio within the country.
  
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• Mozilla defaults Tracking Protection for Firefox developer builds, but only for private browsing

  17-08-2015 06:28 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Pre-beta versions of Firefox will block domains known to track users by default when a private browser window is opened.
  
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• Multinational crackdown as firms avoid AU$31b in Australian tax

  17-08-2015 04:07 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  A Senate inquiry into the tax avoidance of multinational companies in Australia has found AU$31 billion was funnelled to Singapore within a year by 10 multiinternational companies.
  
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• Mobile networks facing competition for IoT traffic

  17-08-2015 03:17 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Cellular networks are facing competition from new wireless technologies designed specifically to connect the billions of devices that will be deployed over the next few years as the IoT gathers momentum.
  
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• Optus launches 4G+ carrier aggregation with FDD, TDD

  17-08-2015 03:12 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Optus is combining its FDD and TDD bands to offer improved 4G speeds for customers with compatible Category 9 devices.
  
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• Vietnam's start-up queen

  17-08-2015 01:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The boss of the first Vietnamese firm bought by Silicon Valley
  
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• Review: Netgear Arlo

  17-08-2015 01:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  IntroductionMonitoring your home premises has become a lot easier in recent years. Faster broadband connections and improvements in wireless router technology have made internet-based security solutions like Netgear's Arlo Smart Home Security System easier to setup and much more reliable.Arlo joins a number of other wire-free home security devices like the Dropcam Pro, Closeli Simplicam and Belkin NetCam HD. While it doesn't pack any Minority Report-style features like facial recognition, its ca
  
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• New Zealand's Heartland Bank opts for Oracle

  17-08-2015 00:52 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Software roll-out is designed to allow the bank to focus on products and customers rather than IT, says chief operating officer.
  
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• MYOB homes in on BNZ mobile payments deal

  17-08-2015 00:07 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Australian listed accounting software developer plans 'next gen' payroll and invests in better phone support.
  
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