Latest Technology News

Opera 34 revamps Turbo Mode to deliver more data savings, faster browsing speeds

Opera Software has unveiled Opera 34 FINAL, a major new release of its desktop web browser, with a separate mobile release due shortly.

The new desktop build's primary focus is on delivering an improved Opera Turbo experience, but it also adds a handful of new features, including a number of improvements to its download engine as well as support for MSE Audio.

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Tabr is a RAM-saving Chrome tab manager

Chrome's a great browser, but open too many tabs and it can turn into a real resource hog, grabbing vast amounts of RAM and maybe impacting your system's performance.

Tabr is a new Chrome tab manager which helps you deal with this, by providing new ways to browse, archive and control your browser tabs.

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As well as closing US borders to Muslims, Donald Trump wants to talk to Bill Gates about 'closing up the internet'

People who support freedom of speech are "foolish people" in Donald Trump's book. This is just the latest in a seemingly endless stream of sweeping generalizations and misguided utterances to fall from the mouth of the Republican presidential candidate.

Positioning himself as the spokesman for the "noisy majority", Trump yesterday appealed to the xenophobic electorate in suggesting "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States". This is the statement that has, understandably, grabbed the headlines, but Trump also wants to exert control over the technology we use every day. Specifically, he is interested in "closing up the internet in some way", and he wants to speak to Bill Gates about it.

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Microsoft releases new Office 365 SMB plans

Microsoft brings mobile device management to Office 365

After announcing the subscription-based service in 2014, Microsoft has now made available three new Office 365 small/mid-size business plans to its existing business customers.

The three plans -- Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business and Office 365 Business Premium -- are replacing the current Office 365 Small Business, Small Business Premium and Midsize Business plans.

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TuneIn Radio lands on Windows 10 with lots of content

TuneIn Radio has made some news recently, most notably with its inclusion of radio broadcasts for all NFL games. Granted, this requires the customer to pony up $7.99 per month for a premium subscription and there is no video, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than NFL Sunday Ticket and radio broadcasts are pretty descriptive about plays.

Now the service is arriving on Windows 10, the latest operating system from Microsoft. This is a Universal App and brings the full content of the service to the platform.

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Google makes Android a little less dangerous with 'Safe Browsing' update

When I switched from Android to iOS earlier this year, it had nothing to do with being a fanboy, hating Google, or loving Apple. Truth be told, I have never ever owned a Mac -- although I have played around with Hackintosh -- and I continue to use many Google services like YouTube and Gmail. The reason I switched was simple -- security. Too many Android devices get abandoned by manufacturers, meaning users are expected to use devices with known vulnerabilities -- unacceptable. With iOS, I can be confident that I will get a steady stream of updates.

While Android continues to be a dangerous Wild-West-like experience when it comes to updates and vulnerabilities -- except for Nexus devices -- today, Google is making it a bit safer to use. As long as you use Chrome as your web browser on the mobile Linux-based operating system, the search giant will try to protect you from potentially dangerous websites. Yes, Android is becoming, arguably, a little less dangerous.

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Is HTC's A9 the One? [review]

So you bought iPhone 6. You love the understated styling of the aluminum enclosure and how the device feels in your hands. But iOS is a dog brain. It's loyal and friendly, but you want more than a tail-wagger that needs to be let out to pee. HTC has your back, with the shockingly similar-looking One A9. The imitator gives you close-enough design benefits with the extra bang of the freshest Android (Marshmallow).

Over the Black-Friday-to-Cyber-Monday weekend, one in ten A9 buyers moved up from iPhone 6 or 6s series devices, according to HTC. The manufacturer has a holiday special ending Jan. 7, 2016 that allures some switchers. Trade-in one of the Apples for full discount off the A9's purchase price (HTC mails a $499.99 check after receiving the old device). Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge traders get $200 and LG3 and LG4 owners $100.

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At last! Google Calendar gains to-do lists with Reminders

When it comes to keeping on top of appointments, Google Calendar is certainly a useful tool -- but it's a long way from perfect. It's very capable at helping you to keep track of what you have to do and when, but there's one area in which it has always fallen short: to-do lists.

Today (or at least this week) this changes. Google is adding Reminders to the iOS and Android version of the Calendar app, with the promise that the same feature will make its way to the web soon. The name might not be quite right, but Reminders is the to-do list support users have been waiting for.

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Microsoft continues to force Windows 10 on people who don’t want it

This might come as a surprise to Microsoft, but not everyone wants to upgrade to Windows 10. As the slowing pace of the updates shows, there are plenty of people who are more than happy with Windows 7 or 8.1, and who don’t want to switch to the new OS.

While some people are simply delaying the upgrade, plenty of other users have no interest at all in Windows 10, and are actively taking steps to avoid it. But "no" doesn’t mean "no" to Microsoft. It apparently means "Yes, I want to upgrade"!

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Share files using public cloud and you might get fired

Boss firing employee message card

"You’re fired!" is a line we only really expect to hear from Alan Sugar these days, and even then, only for entertainment. Yet recent research reveals that file sync and share challenges could be putting UK employees at risk of hearing these words, or at the very least, of receiving a written warning.

It’s a familiar situation for most employees working in office environments -- you have some urgent files that need to be sent to a customer or partner on a tight deadline. The files are too big to be emailed and the person administrating the FTP-Server is, of course, on holiday. Being a hands-on, solution-oriented employee who is well versed with modern technology, you decide to share the files through a cloud-based file sharing solution like Dropbox or Box. With the job done and the customer happy, you might be expecting a pat on the back as a reward not a written warning, or even worse, a letter of termination, but that is the hidden reality for most UK employees.

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Hotel California and the Internet's future

When the Eagles released "Hotel California" in 1977, they were singing about drugs and the grip that addiction can hold over people. "We are all just prisoners here of our own device" is a stark reminder of how our own actions can end up trapping us, from which "we can never leave". But in the 21st century, these lyrics have taken on a new meaning. Look around any crowded place nowadays and it’s quite clear that many of us have become prisoners of literally our own devices -- smartphones, tablets, laptops, anything and everything with an Internet connection. Our lifestyles practically require us to always be on and connected to everyone else.

The Internet is our digital drug, and while it has proven immensely useful as a communications utility and public good, it has also enabled a select handful of powerful companies to take advantage of that need by monopolizing the Internet and segmenting it -- and us with it -- into silos under their control.

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Dropbox is killing Carousel and Mailbox, and I am heartbroken

Dropbox is my absolute favorite cloud storage service. Even though I can get free storage to meet much of my needs from other providers, such as Microsoft, I still pay for the Dropbox Pro service. Why? Well, it is the only true cross-platform solution, working well with Ubuntu, Windows, iOS and Android -- all operating systems I use regularly. Not to mention, I love the interface style and constant improvements made to the service.

My most important files, you see, are my family photos. My memories are more precious than anything. This is where Dropbox really shines for me, as I can easily upload my photos to the cloud. My favorite app is Carousel, which ties into Dropbox so I can easily view and share these photos. Today, Dropbox announces that is is killing Carousel. Its popular email client, Mailbox, is being killed too, after a long period of neglect.

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What's the most popular IT asset management software?

IT asset management (ITAM) software manages the lifecycle of hardware and software. It can help influence decisions about which assets need to be purchased, redistributed, or disposed of.

There is a lot of choice in the market when it comes to picking the right ITAM software for your company, but Camterra has made it easy by rating the top 20 IT asset management software solutions as measured by total customers, users, social presence and vendor size.

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Twitter to display your selfies and cat photos better

Now that most smartphones take brilliant photos, it is convenient for people to take and share pictures. Back in the day, you would have to upload photos from your desktop or laptop to the web. Hell, many of us lived in a time where we had to scan our paper photographs -- yuck!

Sharing photos can be the most fun aspect of photography, and social media is ideal for that. Unfortunately, Twitter was designed to be a text-only service, so the additions of photo and video sharing, historically, have not been the best experience. With photos, for instance, they are often cropped in feeds, and must be clicked on to be seen in full. No more. Today, Twitter announces that it will end the evil cropping of uploaded images.

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Microsoft tries to predict your future, no flying cars foreseen

It's that time of the year where predictions start flying. Most companies have a roadmap for what will really happen, but predictions about what's possible are always fun. It's shocking how many old science fiction books got it right with things like video phone calls and more. Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov did an especially good job nailing things down.

Now Microsoft is getting in on the action, with predictions for 2016 and beyond. These come from Microsoft's technology and research division, so it gets more attention, given these are the people working on these things.

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