Has your Gmail icon turned blue? Here's why, and how to change it back (if you want to)

tabs

I usually have at least two Gmail windows open in my browser. One for my BetaNews email, and one for my personal account. There’s never been an easy way of knowing which is which in a tab-filled browser without clicking on one of the tabs, but this has now changed.

The icon on regular Gmail accounts is still red, but the icon for corporate Gmail accounts (G Suite), or Gmail with a custom domain, has turned blue.

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Why blockchain is the real star of the cryptocurrency boom

Blockchain

Bitcoin remains one of the hottest financial topics of the last several years. The digital currency grew from less than $1,000 per coin at the start of 2017, to nearly $20,000 by the end of the year.

The buzz around Bitcoin continues to grow despite high volatility -- including a 50 percent drop between December and January -- and condemnation from figures like Warren Buffet who call it a "fraud." But how is it being used? And most important, what value does it really hold as an investment?

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Apricorn Aegis Bio 3.0: A simple, but super-secure biometric drive [Review]

Aegis bio

If you want to keep your personal data safe and secure, then a hardware encrypted drive is your best bet. Secure drives, like the Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3z, require you to enter a PIN into the integrated keypad to unlock the drive. These also come with a variety of security measures to make sure they can’t be brute forced.

If you prefer a different way of securing your data -- one that doesn’t require remembering a long PIN -- then you might prefer a biometric solution like the Aegis Bio 3.0. This a USB drive with a built-in finger reader. Unlocking the drive, and therefore your data, just involves swiping your finger down the AuthenTec TouchStrip sensor.

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White House refutes claims it wants to build its own 5G network

White House at night

Documents that came to light recently suggested that the Trump administration was considering creating a government-controlled 5G network. It was an idea viewed in a dim light by the FCC, but now the White House has denied it has such plans.

Despite the unearthing of a memo to the contrary, the US government insists there are no such plans under consideration.

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Data professionals waste half their time on futile activities and repeated efforts

Pointing at clock

Analytics and data science is having a major impact on the commercial world, but a new report shows that data professionals are wasting half of their time each week finding, protecting, or preparing data -- costing organizations significant amounts of money.

The research commissioned by self-service analytics company Alteryx, and conducted by IDC, surveyed 400-plus individuals performing data functions across North America and Europe.

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Privacy: Judges say the UK's Snooper's Charter is illegal

Scene on London Bridge

Judges have ruled that the UK government's digital surveillance program -- known variously as the Snooper's Charter and the Investigatory Powers Act -- is illegal.

In the case brought by human rights group Liberty, appeal judges found that the preceding Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) -- which ultimately became the Snooper's Charter -- failed to offer adequate protection to people's data. Of particular concern was the fact that private data could be shared between different agencies without sufficient oversight.

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Arcserve launches affordable cloud disaster recovery service

Cloud recovery

Disaster recovery has often been a choice between maintaining system availability at high cost, or choosing a cheaper solution at the expense of longer recovery times.

Now data protection and recovery specialist Arcserve is launching a new direct-to-cloud disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) and backup as a service (BaaS) solution aimed at mid-sized businesses.

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iPhone X is a best-selling smartphone

iPhone X with unicorn animoji

The iPhone X was among the best-selling smartphones in major markets like Europe, Japan and US in December, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Apple's flagship helped iOS gain market share in five major European markets.

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's report comes just after Nikkei claimed that iPhone X was selling bellow expectations. Nikkei based its analysis on supply figures from Apple's partners, which may not accurately reflect consumers' interest in the flagship.

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Virgin Mobile to offer cheap, 'pre-loved' iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets

Virgin logo

Virgin Mobile has announced plans to offer Certified Pre-Loved iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets in the US. Starting in February, the company will be offering the phones for between $379.99 and $429.99.

It is already possible to buy a Certified Pre-Loved iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus from Virgin Mobile, and by adding the newer handsets to the program, the company is offering a cheaper way to buy a more recent iPhone.

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Facebook's latest News Feed update gives local news a boost

facebook-local-news

Facebook recently promised big changes to the way its News Feed works, and Mark Zuckerberg has now revealed that the social network will start to place a greater emphasis on local news. At least it makes a change from constantly banging on about fake news.

It's part of the company's desire to increase civic engagement, with the Facebook CEO saying that there is a direct link between reading local news and people getting involved in helping out with local causes. The changes are coming to the US first and will then spread to the rest of the world.

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Samsung unveils high-performance 800GB SZ985 Z-SSD

zssd

Solid state drives are all the rage nowadays, and it is not hard to see why. Not only are they much faster than traditional mechanical hard drives, but they consume much less electricity too. While power consumption might not be a big deal for home users, it can really add up in the enterprise where many drives are in use. In other words, a reduction in energy use can really benefit data centers and other business uses.

Today, Samsung unveils a new high-performance SSD aimed at the enterprise. The "SZ985 Z-SSD," as it is called, uses special Z-NAND memory. The drive is designed for The Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, supercomputing, and more. With that said, there is no reason enthusiasts can’t use it on their PCs.

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Trump administration wants to nationalize 5G, but the FCC is not impressed

5G network

Leaked documents show that the Trump administration is considering plans to nationalize the 5G network. In the documents, seen by Axios, a senior National Security Council official says that a centralized, government-controlled 5G network is needed to offer security against China.

But while the government may believe it makes sense for it to be in control of the future mobile network, the idea has attracted vocal opposition. Among the opponents is FCC chairman Ajit Pai.

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Security warning: Lenovo Fingerprint Manager Pro has a hardcoded password backdoor

Fingerprint on a chip

If you have a ThinkPad, ThinkCentre or ThinkStation system, Lenovo has an important security patch for you to install. And you should install it right now.

Reporting vulnerability CVE-2017-3762, the computer manufacturer says that it discovered a weak algorithm used to encode fingerprint data could be bypassed with a hardcoded password. The problem affects the Lenovo Fingerprint Manager Pro utility for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.

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Moving to 'intelligent operations' will help businesses thrive

buisness growth graph

Organizations that can harness the combination of innovative talent, diverse data, and applied intelligence will be best placed to use data-driven insights to improve business outcomes and enhance the customer experience, according to new research.

The study conducted by HfS Research for professional services company Accenture shows that 80 percent of those surveyed are concerned with disruption and competitive threats, especially from new digital-savvy entrants.

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iPhone X sales reportedly below expectations

iphone-x-launch-tokyo

Smartphone buyers are not all that impressed with the iPhone X. According to a new report released by Nikkei, Apple saw "slower-than-expected" sales in major markets like US, Europe and China during the holiday season.

Nikkei claims that, as a result, Apple has decided to halve the production target for its flagship smartphone in the first quarter of 2018 from 40 million units to 20 million units.

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