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Samsung has unveiled the latest addition to its range of Internet of Things devices: the Samsung Connect Tag. It is designed to make it possible to keep track of anything you can’t bear to lose, from a bag or keys, to a child or pet.

Based on the Tizen operating system, the Samsung Connect Tag can be clipped to a range of objects and, using a combination of NB-IoT, Cat.M1, GPS and GLONASS, it will report the location of whatever it is attached to. It is described as the first consumer product to take advantage of narrowband technology.

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With many consumers owning laptops or tablets as their sole computers nowadays, the concept of installing a sound card -- let alone any add-on card -- can be totally foreign. Believe it or not, however, many people still use and love desktop computers -- including yours truly. Not only can a tower be more powerful than their mobile counterparts, but they can be much easier to upgrade too.

Even if you do own a desktop computer, a high-end sound card, such as the Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 which I have been testing, may not be in your best interest. This card is designed for computer enthusiasts that are audiophiles, gamers, or both with decent headphones or speakers; there is no point in buying a high-end sound card to use with $10 Walmart speakers, right? The big question is, should you purchase the card?

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Looking for new ways to make money out of its professional social network LinkedIn, Microsoft is testing video advertisements. Currently in closed beta testing, video advertising is available to "a limited number of advertisers" and it may well prove unpopular with LinkedIn users.

Following a well-worn path set out by the likes of Google, Facebook and others, the video ads will autoplay. The one saving grace is that videos will play without sound, but this is unlikely to be enough to prevent them from quickly becoming an irritant.

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The data collecting activities of Windows 10 has landed Microsoft in trouble again. Investigating the telemetry built into the operating system, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) has said that Microsoft's spying is a violation of local privacy laws.

Of particular concern to the authority is the fact that users are not clearly told that data will be collected in both Windows itself and Microsoft Edge. With Microsoft's web browser gathering data about every URL that's visited by users who have not opted out of telemetry, and Windows 10 itself sucking up detailed information about app usage, the DPA is concerned that users are not adequately informed or protected.

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It came as something of a shock to people when Microsoft first released an Android launcher in the guise of Arrow Launcher. Now the company is making it more obvious who is behind the app, bringing the launcher out of beta and relaunching it as Microsoft Launcher.

Joe Belfiore only very recently admitted that Windows Phone is dead, and this is something that is borne out by Microsoft's increasing interest in developing iOS and Android software. What may well come as a surprise to many is that Microsoft Launcher is actually a decent piece of software.

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Last week it emerged that OnePlus has been secretly gathering a huge amount of data from handsets, revealing a wealth of personally identifiable information about their users. Now the smartphone company has spoken out in response to the uproar, and vowed to give users the ability to opt out of data collection.

Company founder Carl Pei took to the OnePlus community forums to explain why data was collected, stressing that OnePlus takes privacy seriously. But while Pei promises that an update is on the way by the end of the month that will introduce the ability to opt out of telemetry, users are still not happy, and many questions remain -- particularly about the secrecy involved.

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OnePlus has earned itself quite a reputation for pushing out new Android builds to its users, and it's no different with Android 8.0 Having previously announced that Oreo would be the last major update for the OnePlus 3 and 3T, the Chinese smartphone-maker has now made a beta version available to everyone.

Just last month, a closed group was given access to an early Oreo beta for the OnePlus 3, but now the OnePlus Open Beta program means that anyone who likes the idea of trying out Android 8.0 on their handset can do so.

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"iPhone jailbreaking is dead" reads the headline. Four words signaling the end of a 10-year long battle between Apple and those who wanted open control of their iOS devices. Here is an admission in black and white that prominent members of the jailbreaking community are giving up on attacking iOS devices. Apple created a system where their engineers, like soldiers in a castle under siege, were able to outlast the besieging army; throwing back assault after assault, until the attackers, deciding the siege was no longer worthwhile, packed up and headed home.

Ten years ago, finding a jailbreak was fairly doable, though it required skill. As iOS jailbreaks became harder to find, however, they became more valuable. Zerodium publicly announced it would pay $1 million, now increased to $1.5 million, for a remote jailbreak flaw (e.g. remote code execution) on iOS. This effectively priced the jailbreak community out of the market for iOS vulnerabilities. Markets only assign commodities such value when they are rare and difficult to obtain. If somehow you remain unconvinced, consider that the last publicly available untethered (e.g. persistent across reboots) jailbreak was discovered over a year ago, and was part of the government-quality attack tool Pegasus. The current generation of jailbreaks require the user to run a jailbreak app every time they reboot.

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When you build a PC, you don't necessarily need the best and fastest. After all, most consumers have a specific budget with which to work. You don't want to blow your money on a top-of-the-line CPU and then buy no-name RAM or a flaky power supply. In other words, it is smart to balance things out.

But OK, if you do have a lot of money to spend, and you want the absolute best, I have some interesting news for you. Today, G.SKILL announces the world's fastest DDR4 32GB (4x8GB) RAM kit. Just how fast? An insane 4266MHz. Designed with special Samsung B-die DDR4 ICs, this RAM is made to work with the latest 8th Gen Intel Core processors. With that said, compatibility will likely vary from motherboard to motherboard, so keep that in mind when purchasing -- if you can even afford this kit.

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Businesses in the EMEA region re increasingly using Microsoft’s Office 365 solutions, but they’re doing it with a dose of fear from cyber-attacks and similar malicious actions. This was concluded in the new Barracuda Networks report, entitled Office 365 Adoption: Drivers, Risks and Opportunities.

Based on a poll of more than 1,100 organizations in EMEA, the report says almost two thirds (62 percent) are now using Office 365. This is a jump from last year’s 50 percent. Of those that still don’t use the service, almost half (40 percent) said they’re planning to do so in the future (49 percent in the US).

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Windows Insiders who haven’t yet updated to the new Windows 10 RS4 build released today (and there may be many, as we're hearing reports of problems with its deployment), have a cumulative update heading their way.

Build 16299.19 (KB4043961) is currently rolling out to Windows Insiders running Build 16299.15 (the Fall Creators Update RTM), and offers a number of quality improvements.

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Last week, Microsoft rolled out Build 16299.15 -- the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update RTM -- to Insiders on the Fast ring, and then also released it to those on the Slow and Release Preview rings.

The official Fall Creators Update rollout starts next week, meaning we’re now starting to see builds from the Redstone 4 (RS4) branch making their way to Insiders, as the Fast and Skip Ahead branches merge. Build 17017 for PC arrives today in time for the weekend, introducing some useful new features.

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Microsoft took the Windows Developer Day as an opportunity to release a couple of new features and announce some fairly big changes to some of its best-known platforms

Among the biggest things announced are the launch of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update SDK. With the new SDK, which was in preview until now, developers will be able to submit everything they do, including apps, games and updates, to the Microsoft Store.

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Encryption is an excellent way of protecting sensitive data from compromise. It is commonly accepted that once information is securely encrypted, it is safe from prying eyes and sabotage both now and in the foreseeable future.

However, the long-term security offered by many encryption systems (also known as cryptosystems) is under severe threat. A new type of computer -- the quantum computer -- has been theoretically proven to break most of today’s commonly used cryptosystems, and such a computer is predicted to be available within 15 years.

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Buying cryptocurrency is not as easy as you might think. It also takes longer than you might expect, which is a problem when you want to take advantage of an opportunity in this market as quickly as possible.

Coinbase seems to have solved this issue, announcing that customers will be able to instantly buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin using their bank account. Prior to this change, they had to wait several days for the purchased coins to be available.

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