LogMeIn buys Nanorep to offer personalized user experiences

Mergers and acquisitions message displayed on a tablet, with a coffee cup and pen nearby

LogMeIn has revealed a major new deal which it says will help its services become smarter and more personalized than ever.

The privacy firm has announced that it will acquire the digital self-service, chatbot and virtual assistant company Nanorep to provide more personalized experiences for its customers.

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Google Play now promotes apps that crash less and offer better battery life

There are many metrics by which to measure how good an app is, and Google is starting to use a few more when it ranks Android apps and games in the Play Store. The latest app-ranking algorithm now takes into account app stability, performance and battery usage.

As well as improving the relevance of listings for people downloading apps, Google is also using this change to push developers to improve their apps.

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Windows 10 still failing to challenge Windows 7's market dominance

Last month I reported how, according to NetMarketShare’s figures, Windows 10 had managed to grow its usage share by just 5 percentage points in an entire year. That's a shocking state of affairs for a relatively new -- and regularly updated -- operating system, especially given that Windows 7 enjoyed a 2 percentage overall increase in the same time frame.

In July, perhaps buoyed by the news that the Windows 10 Creators Update was finally going to be offered to (nearly) all, Windows 10 posted its largest usage increase for three months, although still nothing for Microsoft to get excited about.

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Newton adds Tidy Inbox so you can focus on important emails

Having tabs in your inbox to weed out unimportant emails can come in handy, but this feature has not gained traction with all the major providers. Google is the only one to offer it, having introduced it over two years ago, with the likes of Outlook.com and Yahoo staying on the sidelines.

So CloudMagic, the company behind popular email app Newton, has come up with its own implementation, that works with all the email accounts available in the client. It's called Tidy Inbox and it's pitched as "Gmail tabs for all email accounts."

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Canonical publishes laughably simple guide to upgrading to the Ubuntu app for Windows

It is not long since Ubuntu made its debut in the Windows Store, much to the excitement of Linux fans.

Now Canonical has provided a guide to upgrading from the "bash on Ubuntu on Windows" experience that's built into Windows 10, to the full-blown Windows Store version.

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Try the public preview of new sign-in experience for Azure AD and Microsoft accounts

Microsoft has redesigned the sign-in process (or "experience" as the company refers to it) for both Azure AD and Microsoft accounts.

The interfaces for the sign-in screens for both types of account have been updated so they are the same, and there's now a Google-style two-page sign-in procedure. The updated design is available as a public preview and the change has come about through telemetry data collected by Microsoft.

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WiMiUS L2 4K is an impressive affordable action camera [Review]

There are lots of affordable action cameras on the market, but not many of those deserve your attention. In their attempt to compete with upmarket products, vendors tend to focus more on specs rather than the user experience, delivering action cameras that look great on paper but do not work as well as you might expect in real life.

That was the case with WiMiUS' L1, which did not live up to my expectations despite having solid components. However, with the new L2, things should be different. The quality is said to be better than before, and the selection of accessories is much more interesting as well. So, I have put the WiMiUS L2 to the test to see just how good it really is.

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Google now permits Android apps that facilitate gambling with real money

Google has relaxed its rules surrounding real-money gambling apps in Google Play -- in some countries, at least. There has been a ban on apps and games that allow users to gamble with real money since 2013, but that has now changed.

While there was previously a ban in place due to the difficulty in policing ages and complying with different gambling laws around the world, real-money gambling apps are now permitted in the UK, France and Ireland.

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TVAddons is back, but the Kodi addon site faces secretive lawsuit from Canadian telecos

It has been hard to avoid stories about Kodi in recent months as broadcasters and copyright holders panic about the software's potential for piracy.  The controversial site TVAddons was the subject of a lawsuit from Dish Network, and shortly after this it disappeared from the web completely.

Rather than originating from the US as many people suspected, the lawsuit against TVAddons that led to its disappearance comes from Canadian telecoms firms Bell Canada, TVA, Videotron and Rogers. Now TVAddons is back, but the story about its legal battle -- involving claims of piracy of Game of Thrones -- is rather more complicated than just about anyone could have thought.

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IBM sets new record for tape storage

IBM has revealed a major step forward in its storage capabilities with a new world record.

The computing giant has revealed that researchers have been able to fit 330 terabytes of uncompressed data into a single palm-sized tape cartridge -- equivalent to around 201 gigabytes per square inch.

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Verizon Up is a rewards program you pay for with your privacy

Verizon

You don't, as we all know, get something for nothing... but that doesn't stop companies from making it appear as though you do. The latest perpetrator of this crime against common sense is Verizon. The carrier has rolled out a rewards program -- Verizon Up -- which enables subscribers to earn credits for racking up a bill.

For every $300 spent on Verizon Wireless products and services users are paid a credit which can be collected and spent on various rewards (money off handsets, accessory discounts, and so on). But there is a price, and that price is privacy. In return for letting you accrue credits, Verizon scoops up vast swathes of personal data including browsing history, app usage, location, interests, and much more.

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LG confirms its next flagship smartphone has a 6-inch plastic OLED FullVision display

LG has confirmed rumors that its next flagship smartphone will feature a 6-inch OLED screen. While the Korean company does not reveal the name of the handset, it is believed to be the V30 which is due to be revealed very soon.

Despite the giant size of the screen, the overall size of the phone is smaller than last year's LG V20; the company says this is thanks to a reduction in bezel size. The QHD+ OLED screen will also feature curved edges to improve ergonomics and, despite being plastic, there's still protection from Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

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Facebook Messenger chatbots help companies boost sales

Chatbots on Facebook's Messenger have helped companies increase their sales more than expected, meaning the technology could soon become widespread.

The news was announced during Facebook's F8 keynote, with its VP of messaging products David Marcus discussing a number of big-name brands such as Sephora, SnapTravel and Tommy Hilfiger.

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HP ElitePOS is a secure retail point-of-sale system powered by Microsoft Windows 10

Windows 10 has proven to be a bit disappointing for some users, but for others, it can be a satisfying experience. If you cannot afford a Mac, and learning Linux is out of the question, Microsoft's desktop operating system is your best bet. Look, Windows 10 isn't a bad OS at all. Actually, it scales rather well to many computer types and screen sizes. For instance, no other desktop OS can match it on a touch screen.

To highlight this, today, HP announces a beautiful Windows 10 point-of-sale system. Called "ElitePOS," it leverages many of Windows 10's strengths, such as touch-input and security. The little business computer is quite attractive too, which is very important for a customer-facing machine. The machine has solid hardware on the inside as well, featuring Kaby Lake processors and DDR4 memory. The body doesn't just look good, it is built well too, with military-grade ruggedness. In other words, this POS computer is not a "POS."

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Facebook buys AI startup Ozlo to improve Messenger

Facebook has acquired an AI start-up as it aims to strengthen the artificial intelligence capabilities of its Messenger platform.

The start-up in question is called Ozlo. It is based in Palo Alto, California, and has roughly 30 employees, the majority of which will be joining Facebook in either Menlo Park, California, or Seattle, Washington.

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