Windows 10 Anniversary Update may take up to three months to reach all users
The latest big update to Windows 10 began rolling out to users a month ago, but while the Anniversary Update officially became available on the 2 August, it was a staggered launch.
Microsoft targeted "newer" devices first, with those on older systems set to receive the update shortly afterwards. If you were keen to upgrade, you could of course hurry things along or take matters into your own hands.
Toshiba unveils OCZ VX500 SATA SSD
Solid State Drives are not the exciting products they once were. Having an SSD is so commonplace nowadays, that there are far fewer opportunities to 'wow' someone with an upgrade from a mechanical hard drive. SATA variants in particular are underwhelming in performance compared to faster NVMe models.
With all of that said, there is a place for SATA SSDs on the market, as not all computers offer compatibility with NVMe drives. If you are still clutching to an old HDD, or maybe needing to replace an existing SATA SSD, Toshiba has a new drive that may interest you. What the OCZ VX500 SATA SSD lacks in speed (550/515 MB read/write is expected for SATA), it makes up in potential longevity with MLC as opposed to TLC.
Amazon Prime members get free audio books and access to 'Audible Channels'
As someone on the go, I have always craved the ability to listen to audio books in my car. Whenever I research getting them, however, the high prices always scare me away. Look, I understand a lot of time and effort goes into creating versions of books that are read aloud, but with current pricing, it is simply not reasonable for an average person to truly take advantage.
Today, this changes as Amazon delivers audio-focused benefits to members of its Prime service. Users can now access 50 audio books for free, meaning consuming them is an affordable reality. In addition, Prime members are getting free access to the company's 'Audible Channels'.
Adblock Plus introduces new platform to increase Acceptable Ads’ transparency
It has been difficult to ignore the issue of online ads recently. Facebook’s approach to ads has been in the news in particular, but the battle between advertisers and ad blockers is one that has rumbled on for some time -- and looks set to continue to do so. At the forefront of ad blocking is Adblock Plus, and the company has just announced a new ad platform that aims to deliver ads that will not irritate internet users too much.
Acceptable Ads is an idea that has been bounced around for a while now, but today it has been relaunched as a completely new platform -- the Acceptable Ads Platform, funnily enough. It has two primary directives: to increase the transparency of Acceptable Ads, and to provide website creators with easy access to a database of pre-whitelisted ads that they can use to monetize their sites.
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are a huge hit at Sprint and T-Mobile
The latest iPhones may not be hugely different compared to last year's models, but consumers do not seem to mind it. According to pre-order reports from Sprint and T-Mobile, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are off to a great start, being received extremely well by their customers.
Sprint today announced that, in the first three days, pre-orders for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are more than 375 percent higher compared to last year. The carrier does not say whether that is a new record for the iPhone. Over at T-Mobile, however, the new smartphones did set a new bar.
The outdated business practice that's sabotaging your IT budget
As our world becomes more digital by the day, IT leaders are under ever-increasing pressure to perform in a measurable way. From the demands of cutting costs and modernizing workflows to bolstering security and optimizing cloud migration, their strategic and technical priorities extend into every aspect of the business. On a more comprehensive level, 70 percent of IT leaders regard digital transformation as a top priority within their organization. With so many initiatives demanding their attention, CIOs and IT managers must allocate their time and resources wisely.
Yet there are several challenges that can obstruct the path to modern IT success. In Gartner’s 2016 CIO Agenda Report, the technology research company asked 2,994 CIOs from 84 countries to identify their main barrier as an IT leader. Twenty-two percent of participants responded with skills and resources, while 15 percent pinpointed funding and budgets as their biggest obstacle. The fact of the matter is that IT departments don’t always have the funds and resources they need to truly drive digital transformation and stay on the cutting edge of technology. A company’s available budget reflects an abundance of tireless work and careful strategy, making the question of how to save and maximize hard-earned revenue one of the most pressing issues to affect enterprises across the globe.
Have the exploding Galaxy Note7 phones put you off Samsung?
Samsung’s Galaxy Note7 smartphone has received universally favorable reviews, and looked to be a big hit for the South Korean company… and then came the news that some devices had exploded, leading to a massive recall.
Since then, in addition to the estimated $5 billion the recall is expected to cost, Samsung has seen $14.3 billion wiped of its market capitalization. There have been stories of children being injured by exploding devices, cars being set on fire, airlines warning passengers not to take the device on flights, and so on. It's a major catastrophe for Samsung.
Microsoft adds guest access to Office 365
Microsoft keeps adding new features to its Office 365 suite, and now it has made easier for people outside a group to collaborate on files. A new feature, for Office 365 groups, allows people who aren't staff members, or members of a particular group, to join in and collaborate.
Group owners can now use the web version of Outlook to invite non-staff members in.
New partnership aims to improve threat detection
The problem with many security solutions is that the number of alerts they generate leads to a good deal of time in investigations, some of which will turn out to be false positives.
Real-time analytics company Corvil is partnering with endpoint security specialist Carbon Black to offer customers unified cyber threat detection, analysis, and response.
New solution prevents loss and corruption in big data environments
The pressure to move towards using big data can often lead to management practices lagging behind. While storage is managed often data flows aren't, which leads to breakdowns and corruption of the data.
The bigger and more complex the data, the greater the problem becomes. To address this, San Francisco-based StreamSets is launching its Dataflow Performance Manager (DPM), a solution that makes it possible to manage the operations of a company's end-to-end dataflows within a single pane.
Samsung will prevent Galaxy Note7 from exploding with an OTA update
The Galaxy Note7 recall is a huge mess. Samsung may be giving customers the option to have affected devices replaced, but there is no word as to how long it will take before every faulty Galaxy Note7 is exchanged. But the biggest problem is that users who want to take Samsung up on its exchange offer still have to live with a device that could explode and cause some real damage after that.
The only way to prevent that from happening is to stop using the device, but for customers who have the Galaxy Note7 as their only smartphone that is clearly not an option. The good news is that Samsung will come up with a solution to keep them going until a replacement device arrives.
New software applies machine learning to contract reviews
When contracts need to be reviewed, renewed or revised, the process tends to be labor intensive and time consuming.
Contract delivery and analytics specialist Seal Software is launching version 5.0 of its contract analysis software, which uses machine learning to speed up the process. It also includes a new add-in which allows contract data extraction and review capabilities to be used within Microsoft Word.
Employees sue Seagate over HR department's private data leak
After falling victim to a phishing scam in March, Seagate is now being sued by its own employees whose sensitive data was exposed in the leak.
The company's HR department was tricked into providing the operators of the phishing scheme with the personally identifiable information (PII) of 10,000 past and current employees and W-2 forms that include their Social Security numbers along with their wage, salary and tax information.
Ancile is a script-based Windows 7/8 telemetry-blocker
Increasing concern over Windows "spying" technologies has brought a host of free tools claiming to disable them, but are they safe to use? It’s often hard to tell, as developers don’t clearly explain what they’re doing.
Ancile is easier to evaluate, at least for experienced users, because it’s just a Windows script -- open the files in your text editor of choice and it’s all there.
Broadband customers need accurate speed comparison sites
There are calls for ISPs to provide more accurate broadband speed information to customers to allow them to make better comparisons between companies. The current method of providing theoretical maximum figures is just not acceptable, says the UK's Local Government Association.
The LGA points out that ISPs' current provision of estimated speeds are not necessarily a true reflection of the reality. Just as consumers can use price comparison sites to check out the best deals for electricity and other utilities, so the LGA believes a similar service should be available to allow for more accurate speed comparison.
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