Oculus drops support for Samsung Galaxy Note7 to keep users safe
It is tough being a Galaxy Note7 user. First, Samsung tells customers to exchange their units for a safe one, following reports of exploding batteries. Next, the "new" Galaxy Note7 devices start catching fire too, after it was revealed that their batteries have issues as well. And, now, Samsung decides to stop production altogether, discontinuing its latest Android flagship across the globe.
What's more, because the Galaxy Note7 is clearly not safe to use, Oculus has dropped support for the Android flagship, introducing a forced update for the app that enables the Gear VR headset to work with the device.
YouTube makes it easier to create video ads
YouTube has announced a new platform which will make creating video ads for the site easier. The number of visits, as well as visit duration, have gone up lately, and the company wants to cash in on the momentum. The new offering is called YouTube Director -- a solution to help businesses create a professionally-looking ad in no time.
There are two ways to do it: the YouTube Director for Business app and the YouTube Director onsite service. The former, free and currently only available in iOS, helps businesses create an ad through a custom template. With a step-by-step walkthrough, the app will "help the business understand not only what to film, but what to say and when".
Yahoo locks in users by disabling email forwarding to other accounts
Yahoo has had a dramatic fall from grace in the last couple of weeks. While far from the most popular email service out there, it maintains a relatively healthy user base -- but all of this changed with news of a security breach resulting in the theft of 500 million account details, and the revelation that the company secretly scanned emails for the NSA.
While there has not exactly been a mass exodus away from Yahoo, many users have started to question their loyalty to the company and investigate the alternatives. If you are thinking about abandoning Yahoo, the company has put something of an obstacle in the way -- it has disabled email forwarding, saying the feature is now 'under development'.
The high cost of NOT buying Apple
Call me a cheapskate, but I’ve always been a bit stingy when it comes to spending on technology. Maybe it’s all those years spent testing and reviewing hardware for myriad trade publications (and the parade of free "extended loaners" I received). Or maybe it’s my insider knowledge of tech trends that makes me hesitant to pay top dollar for something I know will be obsolete inside of a year. But regardless of the motivation, I’ve steadfastly resisted the "urge to splurge" on high-profile technology products.
Case in point: Apple. When the original iPhone came out, I dismissed it as a toy and stuck with my feature phone. And when the iPad debuted, I ignored the tablet sector entirely for nearly two years before investing in what I thought was a technically superior (and by that time, heavily discounted) Blackberry Playbook.
Samsung permanently discontinues Galaxy Note7
The troubled Galaxy Note7 is being killed off completely. The news comes after Samsung's statement yesterday that it was asking carriers and retail partners to cease sales and exchanges while an investigation is carried out into handsets catching fire or exploding.
But now the company has filed papers with South Korean regulators in which it says it will permanently cease sales of the beleaguered smartphone. The decision follows earlier reports that production was on hold temporarily.
Enterprises increase reliance on public key infrastructures
A new report released by data protection company Thales and the Ponemon Institute shows that the use of cloud services and the IoT has led to greater dependence on public key infrastructures (PKIs) in today's businesses.
The survey of more than 5,000 companies across 11 countries shows that PKIs -- used to create, distribute, store, and revoke digital certificates and manage public-key encryption -- are increasingly relied on to support applications.
SoftPerfect’s World Route is a simple visual traceroute
Australian developer SoftPerfect has shipped World Route 1.0, a free for Windows (commercial for Mac) visual traceroute which plots your internet traffic on a world map.
The package is built for simplicity. Type your destination domain or IP address in a box, press Enter and the program begins listing the IP address and geographic location of each hop. Once it’s done, the route is drawn over a Google-sourced map, and some summary stats list the total distance of all hops and their round-trip time.
UK bans Apple Watch from cabinet meetings
In an attempt to block foreign hackers from compromising the devices of British politicians to access sensitive information, Apple Watches have been banned from use during official cabinet meetings.
The UK's prime minister Theresa May has informed elected ministers that just as mobile phones are not allowed, high-end smartwatches will no longer be permitted as they pose a security risk. An inside source informed The Telegraph that "The Russians are trying to hack everything".
Samsung orders the global shutdown of both sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note7
Sigh. The Galaxy Note7. What should have been a wildly popular and successful smartphone has become synonymous with failure, and fodder for jokes. As everyone knows, the phone has been exploding and catching fire, creating serious risk for consumers.
The phone was eventually recalled and replaced, although that process was bungled by Samsung -- there was much confusion. Not to mention, there was criticism that the recall was not initially an official one. With the issues seemingly in the rear view mirror, the scandal was over, right? Wrong. Now, the replacement models are reportedly exploding too. Enough is apparently enough. Following rumors that production of the phone was being ceased, today, Samsung orders the global shutdown of both sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note7.
Kingston IronKey D300 USB Flash Drive has FIPS 140-2 Level 3 256-bit AES-XTS hardware encryption
Flash drives are less popular nowadays thanks to cloud storage. While the cloud offers convenience, there is extra control and security when local storage is used. Remember folks, when you leverage the cloud, you open yourself up to deficiencies of a third-party company -- a mass data breach could expose your secret files. For a business in particular, this could mean the loss of important information, or the leak of confidential information. Your company's reputation could be tarnished as a result.
If you are more comfortable using USB flash drives for storing and transmitting data, encryption is a must -- hardware being the best. Today, Kingston unveils the IronKey D300 USB Flash Drive. To secure your data, it uses FIPS 140-2 Level 3, 256-bit AES-XTS hardware encryption. There is also a "managed" version of the drive which allows companies to impose its requirements on employee-used drives.
Consumers don't want to use more apps due to security concerns
The fact that people are afraid to use more apps because of security reasons is costing the UK economy billions. To be more precise, £2.5 billion this year, £3.2 billion the next.
This is according to a new report by Rackspace, which says that 36 percent of consumers are reluctant to use more apps for security reasons. Privacy is also a huge issue for 33 percent of consumers in general -- rising up to 37 percent among the older population.
Workplace by Facebook exits beta, bringing social networking to the enterprise
You may not have heard of Workplace by Facebook, and that could be for one of two reasons. Firstly, it used to be known as Facebook at Work but, more importantly, it has been in closed beta for nearly two years.
Today, Facebook announces that Workplace is now available all over the world, giving enterprise users a way to stay connected with co-workers. Promising "the best of Facebook plus new features", Workplace can be used by any company or organization that feels a personalized, internal social network with messaging capabilities could be beneficial.
Identifying hackers is harder than you think
One of the main reasons why hackers and other malicious actors are so hard to locate is not the fact they're really good at hiding their location -- it is because they're exceptional when it comes to faking things. They fake their locations, their working hours, language, infrastructure, toolkits -- even their own groups.
Hackers are going extreme lengths to make sure people looking for them are actually in for a wild goose chase. These conclusions were released by security researchers at Kaspersky Lab who tried to tackle the issue of misleading both victims and security researchers.
HP Elite x3 Windows 10 Mobile phone now available from Microsoft -- who will buy it?
Windows 10 Mobile is a virtually dead platform. True, Microsoft is still developing it, but there are so few active users, that it is totally irrelevant. It isn't a bad mobile operating system, but a lack of apps makes it a non-starter for many. Ultimately, there is no compelling reason to choose a device running it over, say, an iPhone 7.
Today, what looks to be the best Windows 10 Mobile smartphone ever -- the HP Elite x3 -- becomes available for purchase. It is only being sold directly from Microsoft in its retail locations or its online store. The big question, however, is who the heck will buy such an expensive phone without access to many popular apps? I mean, $800 is a significant chunk of change, am I right?
Consumers are 'overwhelmed' by the sheer number of security alerts
A new study has revealed that many consumers are suffering from "security fatigue" as a result of relentless cybersecurity warnings which have led to many of them failing to protect themselves online.
The study was conducted by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), by conducting in-depth interviews with a wide cross-section of Americans between the ages of 20 and 60 living in rural and urban areas in both low and high-paying jobs.
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.