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Despite a court order instructing the company to hand over text conversations between iMessage accounts to the FBI, Apple says that its own encryption system means it cannot do so. The Justice Department obtained a court order that required Apple to provide real time access to text messages sent between suspects in an investigation involving guns and drugs.

Apple has responded by saying that the fact iMessage is encrypted means that it is simply not able to comply with the order. The stand-off between the US government and Apple could last for some time as neither side is willing -- or possibly able -- to back down.

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Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO, doesn’t strike anyone as a man with many regrets. But infamously dismissing the newly launched iPhone because "...it doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard" is probably one of them.

The interview was taken by many as a sign that Microsoft didn’t really get consumers. It didn’t get that consumer tech was fast over-taking enterprise systems as the new driving force for innovation. And it didn’t get that the gap between what people wanted at home and what they wanted at work was closing fast.

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Fujitsu has revealed details of a new wireless receiver capable of data transfer rates of "several tens of Gigabits per second". Operating on the terahertz band, the receiver is over 100 times faster than current devices that use the 0.8-2.0 GHz range.

Described as "the world's first 300 GHz band compact receiver", the receiver is ten times smaller than previous models, opening up the possibility of use in mobile devices. Shrinking the unit has reduced its size to under one cubic centimeter and Fujitsu says that it "enables mobile devices to instantly transfer 4K or 8K HD video".

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The Raspberry Pi is very low cost, but all you get for your money is the actual bare-bones device itself. You will still need to add an SD card, cables, a USB keyboard and mouse, and a screen before you can use it -- some of which you will likely already have lying around at home.

There are numerous add-ons available to buy too, including an official case, and today the Raspberry Pi Foundation introduces one more addition to its range -- a superb (and affordable) 7 inch touchscreen display.

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It should only be a matter of weeks before we have official news about the new Nexus 5, but as we draw closer to the launch, leaked images continue to stream in. Just a few days ago we were treated to the best image yet of the upcoming LG handset, and now we have a new photo that gives a slightly different view.

A new leaked image depicts the new Nexus 5 (or Nexus 5X, perhaps) from a side angle, giving a clear view of the protruding camera lens that graces the rear. The photo also shows the repositioned power and volume buttons, but it is the camera nipple that will probably cause the most interest.

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If you have not recently updated the firmware for your Seagate wireless NAS drives, now is the time to do so. Researchers at Tangible Security have discovered a series of vulnerabilities in a number of devices produced by Seagate that could allow unauthorized access to files and settings.

An undocumented Telnet feature could be used to gain control of the device by using the username 'root' and the hardcoded default password. There are also other vulnerabilities that allow for unauthorized browsing and downloading of files, as well as permitting malicious files to be uploaded. Tangible Security says that Seagate Wireless Plus Mobile Storage, Seagate Wireless Mobile Storage, and LaCie FUEL drives are affected, but there may also be others.

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Cyber insurance is an important element for companies as it covers the damage and liability caused by a hack, which are usually excluded from traditional liability coverage.

Stricter data privacy notification laws, government incentives, cloud adoption and the increase in high-profile hacks and data breaches have all contributed to the significant increase in the number of companies offering and buying cyber insurance.

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If you are not happy with how your desktop PC or laptop performs, chances are it has a plain-old HDD inside. It is likely large enough to store all your files, but the old technology it is based on makes it extremely slow by modern standards -- apps and programs take a long time to load and transfer speeds are low. Basically, it is the reason why your device does not feel as fast as a new, high-end PC. Fortunately, you can give it a new lease on life.

The first upgrade that you should consider is an SSD. It is a huge improvement over virtually any HDD, as it will greatly improve load times and transfer speeds, making your device feel much more responsive, and reduce noise and power consumption. To show just big a difference it can make, I have tested an Emtec SSD Power Plus drive, in 120 GB trim, with an old HP Compaq 610 laptop.

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Samsung's latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy Note5 and S6 edge+, are wonderful. We are currently hard at work testing them in the BetaNews laboratory, and will publish reviews soon.

These devices no longer offer removable batteries. While I am totally at peace with losing that feature, other consumers aren't. I'm here to tell you that it truly isn't a big deal. Why? USB power banks are better. I am pleased to share with you all, dear readers, that I have discovered the best such battery pack for owners of the Note5 or S6 edge+ -- the Aukey Quick Charge 2.0 External Battery.

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From PC novices to Windows experts, just about everyone needs to access the Windows Registry occasionally. But the standard REGEDIT doesn’t exactly make this easy, and it hasn’t seen any significant changes in years.

Registry Finder is a free tool which improves on the editing process with a strong set of extras and enhancements.

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DevOps. It’s the buzzword of the moment. According to Gartner, it’s growing so fast in popularity that a quarter of Global 2000 organizations will deploy it by 2016.

So what exactly is it? And why is everyone talking about it?

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Governments around the world continue to block access to torrent sites, and people keep finding ways around any roadblocks that might be put in place. Proxies and mirrors have been used to get around restrictions, and now the Norwegian Pirate Party has set up its own free DNS service to provide access to the Pirate Bay.

The Pirate Party is an advocate of free, unrestricted access to the internet, and its latest move is a reaction to the government of Norway blocking access to the the Pirate Bay. The uncensored DNS servers are free for anyone to use, and demonstrate just how easy it is to bypass restrictions that governments seem to believe are the answer to the problem of piracy.

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At the very top of the Acer range are the Aspire V Nitro gaming laptops. Slotting in below those, the workaday Aspire V models deliver decent performance and smart design at a price that’s more attractive to business and home users who want a fast machine without needing, or wanting to spend a lot of money on, a premium gaming rig.

The latest release is part of the V15 range, meaning it has a 15-inch screen, though rather confusingly it’s called a V3 -- V3-574G-51ZI to give it its full official title -- so what does it have to offer?

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A new piece of Android malware appears to offer pornographic images but instead takes pictures of the user via the phone’s front facing camera, then locks up the device and demands a $500 ransom.

Called Adult Player it was discovered by researchers at Zscaler. Having checked that a camera is available and taken a picture, it sends details of the victim's device and operating system to the remote servers before displaying the user’s picture on a personalized ransom screen.

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Everyday humans create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, according to IBM. This data comes from virtually everywhere -- sensors used to gather environmental information, posts to social media sites, cell phone signals and more. In order to best determine how to put this data to use in meaningful ways, the science of analytics has changed (think: the amount of data that can be analyzed, the tools and methodologies that enable us to do so, etc.). Most importantly, companies can now be predictive based on data analytics, enabling them to better forecast demands and proactively prevent certain issues.

I spoke to Murali Nadarajah, Global Head of Big Data Analytics for Xchanging, a publicly listed multi-national business technology and services provider, about how organizations today are using predictive analytics, and how the ability to be predictive has -- and will continue -- to change the business landscape enabling the development of new approaches and products.

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