FINsix DART-C is world's smallest USB-C laptop charger -- for MacBook Pro (2016) and more
USB-C is proving to be quite the wonderful connector. It is being used on many devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This means you can often charge multiple devices using a single power adapter -- very convenient for those that like to pack light. You can also connect things like flash drives to both PCs and mobile devices -- very cool.
Apple recently released its newest MacBook Pro, and it only has USB-C ports for connectivity; it even charges using these ports. The power brick is surprisingly chunky, however, meaning it can take up a good amount of room in a bag. If you desire a smaller charger for your MacBook or other USB-C devices, I have good news. Today, FINsix announces the DART-C, which it claims is the 'world’s smallest' USB-C laptop charger.
BT is number one -- for broadband complaints
British Telecom, more commonly known as BT, is the top UK supplier for broadband. However, "top" doesn't always mean best, and in this case the point is proven. The London headquartered company is the subject of a new report.
Regulator Ofcom is announcing its findings for the third quarter of 2016 and BT is number one for customer complaints, averaging a whopping 36 per-100,000 customers, a number that is almost double the industry average.
Apple's AirPods are kind of impressive
At $159.99, Apple's new AirPods are super expensive. But there is a very good reason why. According to an iFixit teardown, there is a lot of technology crammed into this pair of wireless earphones. As it turns out, the old "you get what you pay for" saying is true.
In the AirPods, which weigh four grams (0.14 ounces) each, Apple has packed its own W1 chip to provide wireless connectivity, IR sensors, microphones, an accelerometer and a battery, on top of the usual speaker. The IR sensors, microphones and accelerometer are there so that the AirPods can detect when they're in your ear -- and work accordingly.
Electronic Frontier Foundation reveals its privacy and security wishlist for 2017
With the end of the year approaching, many people are looking back over 2016 and picking out the highlights. Others, however, are looking back to see what can be learned for 2017; this is exactly what digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation is doing.
EFF has drawn up a wishlist for 2017, outlining some of the things it hopes technology companies like Google, Twitter, Apple and Facebook will take action on. There are lots of familiar names on the list, and while some of the requests might seem a little hopeful, there is certainly scope for some of the changes to be implemented.
How to not get hacked
We found out last week that one billion Yahoo accounts were hacked in 2013, only a couple months after we learned about a separate hack, that took place in 2014, which compromised an additional 500 million accounts. Combine that with the 360 million compromised MySpace passwords, 117 million from LinkedIn, 65 million from Tumblr, and 32 million from Twitter, and you can almost guarantee that you or someone you know was affected by the mega-breaches announced in recent months.
Being as most people use the same password over and over, these breaches give hackers access to multiple accounts. In a proactive security screen this fall, Netflix found a number of users whose Netflix passwords were compromised as part of another company’s breach. These instances do not simply let attackers tweet on your behalf; they can affect all of your accounts. How many people use the same password for LinkedIn or Yahoo as they do for their corporate email? An unsettling number.
G.SKILL announces Trident Z RGB DDR4 memory kit with color lighting
All RAM is the same, right? No way, José! Not only must you choose between DDR3 and DDR4-based memory depending on your build, but you also must consider capacity and timings. Don't forget brand, either -- choosing a no-name company for your memory needs can result in poor performance and stability -- stick to the well-known companies, folks.
My absolute favorite brand of memory is G.SKILL. Not only does the company offer high-quality RAM with excellent compatibility at reasonable prices, but it also offers a great warranty. Today, it reveals a really cool new line of DDR4 RAM -- Trident Z RGB. As the name suggests, yes, these sticks light up. And yes, that matters -- some people take pride in their PC build's appearance.
Flock guns for Slack with its 'chat operating system'
Slack came from nowhere to be one of the leaders of the collaboration market in just two years. But being a leader means other people are keen to take a share of your business and team messenger application Flock is the latest to be eyeing up Slack's market.
Today Flock is launching a development platform, FlockOS. It describes this as a chat operating system, that allows developers to build customized apps, bots and integrations. These can either be used within their own organizations, or published on the Flock Appstore, making them available for all Flock users.
Changing infrastructure and new job roles among 2017 Internet of Things predictions
Continuing our series of expert predictions for the coming year, today we turn our attention to the Internet of Things which has begun to take off in a serious way in 2016.
Although the IoT may already be pretty big it's set to get much, much bigger. Figures earlier this year from Machina Research predict the number of IoT connections will grow from 6 billion in 2015 to 27 billion in 2025. So what opportunities and challenges is this going to present to businesses?
Get Wiley's 'Windows 10 Simplified' (worth $17) FREE for a limited time
Whether you’re new to Windows 10, know someone who might need a little help mastering the new OS, or just want to get more from it yourself, Windows 10 Simplified is a great read.
The book usually retails for $17, but you can download a PDF version for free now. The offer is only good until December 29, 2016, so act quickly.
Smart machines will become mainstream in the enterprise by 2021
If Gartner’s right, smart machines will become a business mainstream by 2021. Its new report, entitled "Smart Machines: Consulting and System Integration Services Market Forecast and Opportunities", says smart machines will see a 30 percent adoption in the next five years among large enterprises.
Gartner says cognitive computing, artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent automation, machine learning and deep learning are all considered "smart machines". By becoming mainstream, smart machines will open up an entirely new industry, which is expected to be worth approximately $29 billion (£23.3bn) by 2021.
EU accuses Facebook of providing misleading information about WhatsApp acquisition
The European Commission could hit Facebook with a colossal fine for providing misleading information during its $19bn takeover of WhatsApp.
The social networking giant could be hit with a fine equivalent to 1 percent of annual sales (around $125m) for failing to correctly communicate planned changes to privacy policies. The data sharing between WhatsApp and Facebook is already the subject of investigations, but this latest accusation comes as a fresh blow.
Facebook brings colored backgrounds to statuses
After "the most requested Messenger feature ever" yesterday -- Group Video Chat -- Facebook now has another update.
This time around the social network is allowing users to change the background color of status updates. Before you get too excited, however, there are limitations aplenty to bear in mind.
RansomFree keeps your PC safe from ransomware
Cybereason has released RansomFree, a free anti-ransomware tool for Windows. The program uses behavior monitoring to watch your system for ransomware-like actions, detecting and suspending any malicious process once encryption starts.
RansomFree is exceptionally easy to install and use. There are no setup options, no scheduling tools, no lists of drives or folders: you just install the program and leave it to do its work.
Fool Windows 10 into disabling automatic updates
Microsoft made Windows 10 updates mandatory in order to make sure all users are always on the latest version of the new OS, but if you’d rather choose if and when updates are installed -- perhaps to avoid falling foul of problem ones -- there are several options available to you.
We’ve previously looked at ways you can disable the update mechanism in Windows 10, including using the Windows 10 Updater Disabler, but Windows 10 Update Switch uses an interesting method to stop updates for as long as you’d like.
Only one in three consumers install firmware updates right away
Less than a third (31 percent) of consumers in the UK perform firmware updates on their devices as soon as they become available, a new report by Ubuntu Core, a Canonical company working on connected devices, says. Four in ten (40 percent) have never updated the firmware on their devices, ever.
This leaves them extremely vulnerable to attacks, as firmware updates are also designed to patch security holes. What’s also interesting is that a significant number of consumers don’t even think it’s their responsibility to keep their devices up-to-date and protected.
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.