Latest Technology News

Kyocera unveils $99 waterproof Hydro REACH Android phone for Boost Mobile and Virgin USA

When buying a smartphone, there are many things to consider. Should you get Android or iOS? How much should you spend? Which carrier will you use? It can be very confusing.

If you are on a budget, however, Android is the best option -- Apple does not offer truly affordable off-contract phones. Choosing a value-focused, pre-paid carrier -- such as Boost Mobile or Virgin USA -- can be another way to save money. Today, Kyocera announces an affordable waterproof Android handset for those aforementioned carriers. Just how affordable is it? $99!

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Google set to improve transparency and privacy for Chrome extensions

data privacy

Google is looking to take steps that will enable Chrome users to make more informed decisions about the extensions they install. Specifically, developers will have to provide more information about data collections in the interests of transparency.

In addition, developers will have to produce a privacy policy for their extensions, and must ask for permission before collecting data about users. Google's new User Data Policy introduces these extra requirements in the wake of increased demands from users for more information about what is going on in the background.

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Microsoft helps friends and families of Japanese earthquake victims with free Skype calls

While many people worry about terrorism as a threat to human lives, and understandably so, mother nature can be quite destructive too. Between natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, nature can be downright scary.

Speaking of earthquakes, Japan has been dealing with many of them lately in Kyushu, causing death, injuries, and destruction. If you have friends or family in that country, and you are worried about them, Microsoft is here to help. It is currently offering free calls to Japan through its Skype communication service.

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Identify, monitor and overclock your GPU with NVIDIA Inspector

NVIDIA Inspector is a versatile tool for checking, monitoring and overclocking NVIDIA graphics cards.

This can be a complex area, but smart design ensures the program has something to offer every level of user.

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Our $27,500 drone. Do you have one, too?

This is the kind of thing you find on the bedroom floor of a 14 year-old boy. It’s a gift from last Christmas, still sitting in its box, not yet flown for a reason that often comes down to some variation of "but the batteries need to be charged". I’d forgotten about it totally, which means the little drone missed the FAA’s January 20th registration deadline. Technically, I could be subject to a fine of up to $27,500. If the unregistered drone is used to commit a crime the fine could rise to $250,000 plus three years in prison.

Do you have an unregistered drone sitting in a closet somewhere?

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SanDisk unveils 128GB Extreme PLUS microSDXC with gimmicky 'Works with GoPro' scheme

Micro SD cards are constantly getting bigger, faster, and more affordable. I purchased a 200GB SanDisk card from Amazon recently for $59.99 -- mind boggling. This will work brilliantly in devices such as the HTC 10, which supports cards up to a theoretical 2TB.

Today, SanDisk announces its newest such card, the 128GB Extreme PLUS microSDXC. The card is fast, and should be reliable, as SanDisk says it is "shockproof, temperature-proof, waterproof, and X-ray-proof". The company is quick to tout another aspect of the card, however, but it seems very gimmicky. SanDisk explains that the card is one of the first cards to carry the new 'Works with GoPro' designation.

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European Parliament approves new general data protection regulations

After a whole lot of discussion and debate, new general data protection regulations have been approved by the European Parliament.

In what has been described as a watershed moment for enterprise IT, the unification of Europe’s multiple data protection regulations into one common law signals a new beginning for businesses and consumers alike.

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Microsoft Edge web browser gets plugin-free Skype, and that is great news for Linux users

As a Linux user, I have stopped using Skype recently. What was once a great experience on Ubuntu, Fedora, and other such operating systems, has been seemingly abandoned by Microsoft. Skype on Linux is barely usable nowadays, as the client has not seen an update in quite a while. This is rather tragic, as it is otherwise a great service on other platforms, such as Android, iOS, and of course, Windows.

Users of Windows 10 that use the Edge web browser are getting a cool update this month, as Microsoft is rolling out plugin-free Skype support. While that is cool, the really intriguing aspect is the potential for Linux users, as it should lead to similar functionality on browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox.

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Microsoft releases Project Madeira public preview

Microsoft has finally released the details regarding "Project Madeira", its enterprise resource planning (ERP) client which many had speculated would be the next version of Dynamics NAV.

Dynamics NAV is one of the company’s four different ERP products and it is aimed at small to medium sized businesses. While many thought that Madeira might be the next version of this product, it is actually a separate release.

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Identify the ransomware that's encrypted your data

It’s no secret that the best way to deal with ransomware is to avoid getting infected in the first place, and tools like BDAntiRansomware, Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware and WinAntiRansom can do a lot to keep you safe.

If your defenses are bypassed and some data lost, there may still be hope, as companies and individual researchers are producing recovery tools all the time.

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UK startups receive less in VC funding

Venture capitalists have scaled back the size and amount of their deals across the world and UK-based startups received less funding during Q1 2016 than in Q4 2015 as a result.

A new report from the analytics company CB Insights and the advisory firm KPMG Enterprise has revealed that, between January and March, startups in the UK were able to raise $1.3 billion across 105 deals. Across Europe as a whole venture capitalist (VC) funding totaled $3.5 billion across 338 deals. Thirty-six percent of all VC funding in Europe went to companies in the UK.

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Security threat or untapped potential? Dark data and Accounts Payable

data engineering

Data, in whatever format it may take, is a vital part of every business. With phones tracking our every move, all aspects of customer interaction recorded, and new cars generating around of 350MB of data per second, there’s a lot of data to look at.

Billions of gigabytes of data are generated across the world every day; so much that it’s almost impossible to quantify. This data poses both a potential problem and a possible reward. With so much information in front of businesses, the vast majority is lost, disappearing into the dark and creating a possible security threat.  But if it’s found and used effectively, it could actually be very profitable.

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Stop using shortened URLs to share private content

Generating a shortened URL to share content may seem like a good idea, but it may also expose you to unnecessary security risks, a new research paper shows. Titled Gone in Six Characters: Short URLs Considered Harmful for Cloud Services, it explains how short URLs can be used by malicious players to plant malware, copy personal files, and retrieve all sorts of personal information, like your home address, among other things.

URL shorteners, as their name suggest, are meant to bring long links, that can contain dozens of characters, usually down to just a few letters and numbers. That has some clear benefits: shortened URLs suit SMS messages and tweets better, look nicer in conversations, and allow services to track the number of clicks for a specific link, among other things. But the fact that they only contain a handful of characters makes them susceptible to brute-force search.

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Facebook video scam targets Chrome users

Researchers at security company ESET have released details of a new piece of malware that spreads disguised as video posts on Facebook.

Malicious links appear as a video post you were tagged in on a timeline, or as a message sent to you via Facebook Messenger by a friend. They use the titles, 'My first video', 'My video', 'Private video' or a string of randomly generated characters.

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The Commodore 64 returns in computer and handheld versions

Old computer favorites never die, they just fade away for a bit and then reappear in a new form looking for funding on Indiegogo.

The ZX Spectrum was previously resurrected as Vega, and the handheld Vega+, and now there’s a new version of the Commodore 64 looking for funding. Called simply THE 64, this too will be available in desktop and handheld versions.

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