Microsoft has decided to let Mac users participate in its Office Insider program. It gives users running the popular suite on an Apple computer the opportunity to test new features earlier than the general public.

Windows and Android users have been able to be a part of the Office Insider program for some time now, and Mac users are finally getting their chance to try it out.

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The Alibaba Group is launching a "big data" cloud platform which it plans will make data asset technology widely available throughout China.

Alibaba Cloud Computing (AliCloud), said on Thursday that the cloud "Big Data Platform" would offer an initial 20 products or solutions and services, which would cover all aspects of the so-called data development chain. This includes data services and visualization products that assist with data processing and analysis, but also provide a compute engine with capabilities for machine learning.

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We might look at augmented reality (AR) as another means of entertainment, but it is its business applications that will fuel growth for the next five years, a new report suggests.

Beecham Research's Augmented Reality and Wearable Technology -- an operational tool for the enterprise report suggests that different markets such as manufacturing, healthcare and retail, areas where AR offers a new way for people to interact with information without the use of hands, is where this technology is expected to shine in the next five years.

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Mobile usage is continuing to explode and is taking up significantly more of people’s time than desktop and other media, according to eMarketer. Mobile applications account for 89 percent of consumer media time in mobile, according to Nielson.

Today’s mobile usage landscape creates a new set of challenges for companies including more competition than ever for users to choose and use their applications. As a result, companies are racing to develop apps to take advantage of this growth, but many don’t have the right analytics in place to adequately measure their effectiveness. As such, companies investing in mobile app development should always optimize their apps using mobile analytics, or risk being unclear on their apps’ reach, engagement and if it is performing the way it is supposed to. Here is a quick introduction to mobile app analytics and why they are so important to businesses.

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Docker, the Californian technology company behind the open source virtual container platform, has announced the acquisition of Unikernel Systems, a Cambridge-based startup.

Unikernel Systems has a rather unique product that Docker plans to integrate into its own tools and services as it views a future beyond just containers. The integration of Unikernels into Docker would allow developers to build even more efficient microservice architectures.

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There’s been a new twist in the litigation between Oracle and Google over copyright infringement, after Oracle claimed Google breached copyright by inappropriate use of Java in Android.

A lawyer representing Oracle has now made the astonishing revelation, in court, that Google revenue from Android, since 2008, is $31 billion. This staggering figure relates to $22 in profit derived from Google’s two Android revenue streams, advertising on mobile Android platforms and the revenue it receives from sales on Google’s Android app store.

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American email and web security firm AppRiver has released its end-of-the-year report, where it showcased a detailed analysis of malware and spam trends in 2015.

The report, entitled Global Security Report, says that the number of email messages containing malware doubled, year-on-year. From January to November, AppRiver quarantined 944 million messages, and in December alone, another 705 million.

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Secunia Research at Flexera Software has published a report covering the fourth quarter of 2015 for 14 countries, regarding vulnerable software, applications and PCs.

Turns out we’re not really good at keeping our computers safe, and our software up to date.

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The series of high-profile data breaches we witnessed last year has left a mark on the way consumers perceive online business, a new research from NCC Group and IDG Research Services shows.

According to the research, entitled Trust in the Internet 2016, 63 percent of consumers expect their data to be compromised this year, and 60 percent are now worried, more than ever, about protecting their data on the Internet.

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Companies are approaching the data safety issue the wrong way, according to Vormetric's 2016 Data Threat Report, which was issued in conjunction with analyst firm 451 Research. The two companies polled 1,100 senior IT security executives from large businesses worldwide.

Key findings suggest that the rate of breaches is up, with 61 percent experiencing one in the past. From that number, 22 percent happened in 2015, and 39 percent in the year prior.

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It seems as 2016 will be the year of the SSD (solid-state drive), with more and more IT decision makers saying they’re looking to use the advanced storage technology within their organizations.

This is according to a Spiceworks Voice of IT survey, done by Crucial, which asked 306 IT decision-makers in Europe and North America about their storage plans.

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When it comes to storage, saving money is no longer the number one priority for businesses, a new survey by Western Digital Corporation says.

According to the storage maker’s second annual global survey of CIOs and IT decision-makers, businesses have recognized the positive impact data can have on their bottom line.

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Intel has just announced new processors for office computers. The 6th Generation Intel Core vPro processor family is designed "for the modern workforce" and comes with a few innovations to keep office life tolerable.

Intel says the new processor offers "2.5 times the performance and a 30-times increase in graphics performance over a 5-year-old device", providing users with much more productive and powerful business tools.

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Google may be simplifying the way Android users install apps on their devices. Some users have reportedly been able to install new apps directly from Google search results on their smartphones and tablets.

Typically a user is redirected from the Google Search app to the Google Play store when they are searching for new apps using the search engine. However, after a recent update to the app, an install button appears along with user ratings and information about the app that allows apps to be installed directly from search.

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Only 45 percent of worldwide organizations are confident in their ability to fend off today’s sophisticated cyber attacks. This is one of the key findings from Cisco’s 2016 Annual Security Report, which was released today.

With the rate of digital transformation continuing to increase, business leaders are increasing measures to secure their organizations’ future, with 92 percent agreeing that regulators and investors will expect them to manage cyber security risk.

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