Technology news

• Tech companies urged to protect young from dangers of excessive screen time

  10-10-2015 23:15 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Thinktank wants firms to establish guidelines for recommended daily use of their technologyTechnology firms risk repeating the mistakes of tobacco companies if they fail to take responsibility for the threats that their products and services pose to young people’s mental health.This provocative claim comes from a thinktank which wants the firms to establish guidelines for the recommended daily use of their technology. It is made in Screened Out, a report to be published on Thursday by the
  
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• Will BlaBlaCar shake up French work culture?

  10-10-2015 22:40 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  New technology is polarising the country – but Frédéric Mazzella believes that he can help change the way the French think about workWhen Frédéric Mazzella was struggling to find a business model for his long-distance ride-sharing company, the “It will never work” doomsayers were legion. The young entrepreneur reminded those who suggested he was wasting his time of his Italian roots. “I can eat pasta for a while longer,” he would say.Toda
  
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• Obama backs away from law to access encrypted information

  10-10-2015 21:31
  
  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration has backed away from seeking legislation that would give U.S. law enforcement agencies access to individuals' encrypted messages, the White House said on Saturday. "We are actively engaged with private companies to ensure they understand the public safety and national security risks that result from malicious actors’ use of their encrypted products and services," said White House spokesman Mark Stroh. "However, the administration is not s
  
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• Would you be happier listening to music if you had better sounding headphones or speakers?

  10-10-2015 19:47 via cnet.com
  
  It's not a trick question. Do you think sound quality enhances musical enjoyment?
  
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• Aural ecstasy: Focal Sphear in-ear headphones

  10-10-2015 18:37 via cnet.com
  
  A smooth tonal balance and an extra-comfy fit distinguish the Focal Sphear in-ear headphones from the competition.
  
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• 5G field test hits a blistering 3.6Gbps data transfer speed

  10-10-2015 15:30
  
  If you're interested in faster download speeds on your smartphone - and aren't we all? - then you'll want to know about the latest field tests of 5G technology being carried out in Japan.The new trial carried out by Huawei and Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo is the first to use conditions that match the real world: in other words, a lot of users connecting at once on a spectrum compatible with today's handsets.The good news is that the engineers managed a peak data transfer speed of 3.6Gbps - not to
  
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• The Ergorapido offers convertible cleaning on a budget (pictures)

  10-10-2015 15:00 via cnet.com
  
  With a maneuverable vacuum head and a lightweight frame, Electrolux makes it easy to take the 2-in-1 Ergorapido stick vac for a spin.
  
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• Messy results undermine Electrolux's nicely designed stick vac

  10-10-2015 15:00 via cnet.com
  
  A convertible stick vac with a few appealing features, Electrolux's Lithium Ion powered machine is great in theory, but lackluster in practice.
  
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• How to use Gmail

  10-10-2015 15:00
  
  How to use GmailGmail is, in many ways, the core service in Google's suite of office tools. It connects directly with Google Calendar and Google Plus.Gmail attachments are opened in Google Docs or can be saved directly to Google Drive. Tasks, now a feature of Calendar, originated here – as did the practice of using labels instead of folders, which is widely implemented across Google apps.On top of this, of course, your Gmail account is how you connect to all the other Google apps. It's you
  
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• The missing link: Ford's genre-bending Flex starts to show its age

  10-10-2015 14:01 via cnet.com
  
  The Ford Flex is the missing link between wagons and SUVs with loads of space inside, but a car-like ride.
  
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• US drone rules hamper firms hoping machines can take over dangerous jobs

  10-10-2015 14:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Industries like mining and drilling would prefer to send vehicles, not people, to do the riskiest work, and the FAA faces its own hurdles in changing the lawIf one of your duties is dangling from a rope while you try to check for corrosion and metal fatigue, a flying robot may be here to help soon.When we read about drones, it’s usually an annoying hobbyist spying on sunbathers or a terrifying automated plane with a name like “Reaper” raining death on Afghanistan. But at the fi
  
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• Make espresso at home without spending a fortune

  10-10-2015 14:00 via cnet.com
  
  If what truly brings you happiness is a shot of strong coffee sweetened by steamed milk then these espresso machines will please and at an affordable price.
  
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• Kodak's latest live-streaming camera offers HD video for less

  10-10-2015 14:00 via cnet.com
  
  Kodak's $150 Video Monitor CFH-V20 can stream up to 720p video, for a reasonably priced entrant into the HD camera market.
  
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• A cheap, big-screen conduit to Amazon's digital content

  10-10-2015 14:00 via cnet.com
  
  Amazon's biggest tablet ever offers easy access to Prime TV shows, movies, music and games, and it even lets you download them onto a microSD card.
  
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• Microsoft unveils new Surface tablet, laptop and Netflix raises prices

  10-10-2015 13:50 via cnet.com
  
  Microsoft shocked everyone by introducing its first laptop. Meanwhile, Netflix just got more expensive.
  
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• Amazon Fire HD 10 is an affordable tablet with Prime perks

  10-10-2015 13:50 via cnet.com
  
  The family-friendly 10-inch tablet is Amazon's biggest yet
  
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• Bigger is (mostly) better

  10-10-2015 13:41 via cnet.com
  
  With improved speed, better cameras (plus optical image stabilization), and a pressure-sensitive 3D Touch display, and more, it's not just size that sets the Plus apart.
  
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• Piano app gets me playing

  10-10-2015 13:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  The new Skoove app promises to ‘make your musical dreams come true’. It’s good, but doesn’t hit all the right notes for a learnerI’ve long fancied the idea of astonishing my friends by whipping a cloth off a keyboard and playing a glorious rendition of festive tunes à la Downton Abbey Christmas special. But apart from prodding the odd key, I’ve never been near a piano.Enter Skoove, the app that promises to “make your musical dreams come true&rdquo
  
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• Running Man of Tech: 9 Kickstarter campaigns that every runner should back

  10-10-2015 12:30
  
  Great ideasAnother day, another wasted dream. That's how I like to live my life, apparently, as once again I came up with another million-dollarpound idea only to realise that someone had already done it and taking anything from an idea into a reality is much harder than it looks.It occurred to me when I was out on a long run and once again cursing the stupid fact I had to hold a water bottle with me. I sometimes run with a Camelbak, but there are multiple times when I don't need THAT much water
  
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• Week in Gaming: Microtransactions are seeping into console gaming, and it makes me feel bad

  10-10-2015 12:24
  
  Imagine you're a child. Imagine you're out in the park one day, and you find a shiny 50p. Also, imagine it's the 90s. Stick with me here. You take your hard-earned pocket money to the corner shop, selecting for yourself a paper bag of sherbet lemons and some Opal Fruits ("what excellent, historically accurate detail," you say. "I am so totally immersed right now"). The huge, hairy shopkeeper looms at you. "It'll cost you extra if you want anything but yellow Opal Fruits," he booms. "Also, I'm ou
  
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• China publishes draft rules to regulate online car hailing services

  10-10-2015 11:44
  
  China on Saturday published draft rules to regulate online car hailing businesses, a booming sector where U.S. firm Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] and Chinese rival Didi Kuaidi have been aggressively competing for market share. The draft rules, published on the website of the Ministry of Transport, said they are aimed at maintaining order by strengthening supervision of online car hailing apps. Like in many other countries, the legality of car hailing services has vexed regulators in China wher
  
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• Wiz Khalifa is the tenth member of YouTube's Billion Views Club

  10-10-2015 11:30
  
  What do Wiz Khalifa, Mark Ronson, Meghan Trainor, Enrique Iglesias, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Psy all have in common? As you might have guessed if you read the headline, they all have videos with more than a billion views on YouTube.Khalifa's See You Again, a tribute to the late Paul Walker and featured on the Furious 7 soundtrack album, is the newest member of that exclusive club. YouTube announced the news with a post on its Trends blog.YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch
  
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• Japan-backed fund considering investing in Sharp: source

  10-10-2015 11:15
  
  By Reiji Murai TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese government-backed fund is considering a range of options to help turn around Sharp Corp including a direct investment, a person familiar with the matter said. A direct investment would mark a shift in thinking at the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), which previously only wanted to be involved in Sharp's liquid crystal display business. The source, who did not want to me named because the matter was private, said INCJ was also looking at
  
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• Five things we love: from a robotic toy to a laser shaver

  10-10-2015 11:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  We share some of the newest, most fun and helpful tech ideasA robotic toy comprised of electronic cubes, Robo hopes to be the Lego of the digital age, allowing children or rookie coders to build functioning, programmable robots with interchangeable parts commanded by a Robo app. With the Robo app, the right blocks and a rainy afternoon, you could – according to the Kickstarter page – have a three-wheeled robot nosing around the room, obeying commands and announcing the weather foreca
  
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• 'Steve Jobs' film is a 'painting, not a photograph,' moviemakers say

  10-10-2015 09:33 via cnet.com
  
  Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle on Friday during an advance screening of the movie in San Francisco defended why they stretched the truth about the Apple co-founder's life.
  
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• How to get the most from the Windows 10 command prompt

  10-10-2015 09:29
  
  Introduction and copying textIf you tried out the previews of Windows 10, you may have seen the experimental options in the command prompt. Now that it's released, the Experimental tab in the Properties dialog is gone, but the key features are still there – just slotted into the other tabs. To see what's available, right-click on the title bar of a command prompt window and choose Properties if you want to only change the current command window, or Defaults if you want to change every comm
  
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• Inside 'Steve Jobs,' the movie (pictures)

  10-10-2015 09:25 via cnet.com
  
  "Steve Jobs" takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to give an intimate look at one of its main players.
  
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• Can robots truly be creative and use their imagination?

  10-10-2015 08:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Two scientists and two artists give the answers you might not expectDAVID COPEComposer, author and professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Santa Cruz Continue reading...
  
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• On the road: Honda Civic Type R – car review

  10-10-2015 07:00 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  ‘It is insanely powerful. I felt like the Hulk bursting out of his shirt’In my day, a Honda Civic looked like the car you would drive if you were going on an IT training course in Milton Keynes and wanted to fit in: reliable, characterless, neither large nor small, fast nor slow. At some point in the intervening decade, the designers or maybe the entire Honda brand have had a midlife crisis.If I utter the phrase “black with red detailing”, you’ll think you know what
  
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• Japan-backed fund considering investing in Sharp: Nikkei

  10-10-2015 05:53
  
  A Japanese government-backed fund is considering investing in embattled Sharp Corp to take the initiative in reorganizing the electronics maker's operations, Nikkei business daily reported, without citing sources. The Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) and Sharp had hired financial advisors to gauge Sharp's asset value and would hold direct talks on the size of any investment, it added. INCJ is also the top shareholder of Sharp rival Japan Display Inc, the world's largest maker of li
  
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• The Asus GX700 brings liquid cooling to gaming laptops

  10-10-2015 04:54 via cnet.com
  
  Powerful desktop-grade components could make this gaming laptop an intriguing pick.
  
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• The Asus ROG G752 is a pricey, bulky gaming behemoth

  10-10-2015 04:52 via cnet.com
  
  Premium gaming in a portable package -- but it'll cost you.
  
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• Dell to use VMware to help pay for EMC deal: sources

  10-10-2015 03:19
  
  By Greg Roumeliotis (Reuters) - Dell Inc is planning to use equity in cloud software company VMware Inc to help pay for its acquisition of EMC Corp in a deal valuing the data storage company at more than $55 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. While the bulk of its offer will be in cash, Dell also plans to pay EMC shareholders with "tracking stock" that follows the value of the 20 percent of VMware that EMC does not own, the people said on Friday. ...
  
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• The ASUS ROG GX700 is a water-cooled gaming laptop with primo graphics power (hands-on)

  10-10-2015 02:54 via cnet.com
  
  We don't know when it'll arrive or how much it'll cost, but the water-cooled Asus ROG GX700 sounds like a monster gaming PC.
  
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• Load Web pages in a flash with Speedafari for iOS

  10-10-2015 02:15 via cnet.com
  
  By stripping pages of extraneous elements, this app promises to preserve both battery life and data.
  
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• The Asus G752 stuffs premium gaming hardware into a bulky package (hands-on)

  10-10-2015 01:58 via cnet.com
  
  This pricey behemoth of a gaming PC is a sequel to one of our favorites.
  
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• The ASUS ROG GX700 is a water-cooled gaming laptop with primo graphics power

  10-10-2015 01:55 via cnet.com
  
  We don't know when it'll arrive or how much it'll cost, but the water-cooled Asus ROG GX700 sounds like a monster gaming PC.
  
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• 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' trailer makes killing zombies look classy

  10-10-2015 01:47 via cnet.com
  
  Hold on to your corsets! These zombie slayers bring weapons to ballroom dances and tea parties in an entertaining twist on author Jane Austen's beloved romantic novel.
  
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• Twitter looks to cut jobs and regain momentum – report

  10-10-2015 01:03 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  Engineering staff likely to be most affected by layoffs following Jack Dorsey’s appointment as permanent chief executive, claims Re/code Twitter is planning company-wide layoffs next week, technology news website Re/code reported on Friday. The news comes after Jack Dorsey was appointed permanent chief executive on Monday.It is unclear how many of Twitter’s staff will be laid off, but it is likely that it will affect most departments, Re/code said, citing company insiders. The compan
  
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• Asus unveils the RT-AC88U, its first eight-port MU-MIMO home Wi-Fi router

  10-10-2015 01:02 via cnet.com
  
  Asus announces the RT-AC88U, its first high-end router that has eight Gigabit LAN ports and supports MU-MIMO technology for better Wi-Fi coverage.
  
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• Things get awkward when couples bring Facebook behaviors to real life

  10-10-2015 00:46 via cnet.com
  
  Couples do some pretty weird stuff online, but things get really strange when they take that behavior into the real word, as evidenced by this video from CollegeHumor.
  
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• Hands-on review: Dell XPS 12

  10-10-2015 00:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Dell XPS 12 reviewDell unabashedly admits its inspiration for the 2015, hinge-free Dell XPS 12: Microsoft's Surface tablets. The Austin, Texas-based firm's goal was to make the transition between laptop and tablet as fluid as possible for this device, perhaps even more so than it is with a Surface.However, the XPS 12 also had to offer what Dell calls a true typing experience; "not an accessory," as a Dell executive told me during a recent preview event. And, from my brief time with the XPS 12, i
  
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• Twitter plans layoffs next week: Re/code

  10-10-2015 00:21
  
  (Reuters) - Twitter Inc is planning company-wide layoffs next week, technology news website Re/code reported on Friday, citing sources. The news comes after Jack Dorsey was appointed permanent chief executive on Monday. It is unclear how many of Twitter's staff will be laid off, but it is likely it will affect most departments, Re/code said, citing company insiders.
  
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• Google says Docs, Drive disruption resolved

  10-10-2015 00:10
  
  (Reuters) - Some of Google Inc's services, including Drive and Docs, which were facing disruptions for a few hours on Friday have been resolved, the company said. Google's status page had showed that its file-sharing services such as Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Classroom were facing disruptions. "The problem with Google Drive should be resolved," the company said on an update to its page at 5:30 p.m. ET. (http://bit.ly/1hsgVC3) Google, which has now morphed into holding company Alphabet Inc,
  
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• Hands-on review: Asus ROG GX700

  10-10-2015 00:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Liquid cooling your PC is rite of passage that separates the casual gamers from the hardcore enthusiasts. And so when Asus announced integrated liquid cooling into a 17.3-inch gaming laptop, I was totally stoked. However, after spending a short afternoon playing on this desktop-equivalent gaming laptop, I’m finding there’s more to this monster than the sheer absurdity of it.Call me a nerd or geek if you want, but there’s something about the Asus ROG GX700 that makes it the epit
  
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• Hands-on review: Asus ROG G752

  10-10-2015 00:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The ROG GX700 isn't the only beastly gaming laptop Asus brought to its big Republic of Gamers event: it also packed along its other top dog, the ROG G752. The 17.3-inch gaming notebook comes as the successor to the flagship ROG G751 and features a radical new design, its own novel cooling system, and sixth-generation Intel Skylake processors to boot.Design The first thing you'll notice about the new Asus ROG G752 is it has a flashier aluminum exterior that's also much cleaner than its predecesso
  
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• Asus unveils the RT-AC88U, its first 8-port MU-MIMO home Wi-Fi router

  10-10-2015 00:00 via cnet.com
  
  Asus announces the RT-AC88U, its first high-end router with 8 Gigabit LAN ports and supports MU-MIMO technology for better Wi-Fi coverage.
  
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