Windows 10 is now so close you can smell it. With so many having been more than a little disappointed with Windows 8, Microsoft has to do a lot to convince those that stuck with Windows 7 to make the jump to Windows 10. The latest video Microsoft has released to give the operating system a final push before launch focuses on Continuum.

We've already seen how there are old favorites such as apps, security, and gaming in Windows 10, but people also need new features. Having learned about the likes of Windows Hello, now we are shown how Windows 10's mode-switching Continuum feature could help us.

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If you thought Google has been slacking lately with its Android One initiative, the company has a new smartphone that it hopes will have its fans perking up their ears. The company today launches Lava Pixel V1, a new Android One smartphone it made in collaboration with the Indian smartphone manufacturer. The pricing of the phone; however, disappoints.

Make no mistake, the Lava Pixel V1 is the most powerful Android One handset to-date. It sports a 5.5-inch HD (1,280x720 pixels) IPS display (up from FWVGA display in the first generation of Android One handsets). Underneath the handset sits a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek (MT6582) chipset coupled with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and 32GB internal storage which can be expanded by another 32GB using a microSD card.

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Since the beginning, Google+ has been seen as a mess. It has been dismissed as the social network for people who don’t actually like to be very social, and Google is only too aware that it needs to step up its game. You may well have wondered if the company knew what it was doing… today Google shares details of what it has planned.

Several months ago, Google announced that it was going to split up Google+ into a number of separate projects -- Hangouts, Photos, and Streams. We've already seen the arrival of Google Photos to replace Google+ Photos (you keeping up?) and now, as well as admitting that it made mistakes, Google gives a taste of what’s to come in the months ahead.

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When a consumer buys a new Windows 10 laptop, they will probably want the full experience. Microsoft has properly outfitted the operating system with all the settings the average user should need. Some manufacturers, however, like to customize the experience with their own branding and apps.

For many of us, this is nothing more than bloatware -- unneeded extras that are a chore to uninstall on day one. Today, Lenovo announce that is has updated some of its bloatware for its upcoming Windows 10 PCs -- version 3.0 of its Companion and Settings software.

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Microsoft is good at making software and it should stick to it, analysts say, adding that exiting the hardware business could see the company’s share soar.

According to a recently published report by Reuters, Microsoft’s hardware division, comprising of mostly Xbox and Surface tablets, is showing great sales. However, they contribute less than a 10th of the company’s revenue and they’re barely profitable.

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Apple has not revealed an official sales figure for Apple Watch, but, according to a Canalys report, it leads the smartwatch pack, with sales estimated to be around 4.2 million units. And we are talking about sales exclusively through Apple's own online and brick and mortar stores, which is a different strategy to iPhones and iPads.

Staring next month, however, Apple Watch will no longer be confined to Apple's own locations, as the smartwatch will also be available for purchase at US retailer Best Buy. Will this boost sales?

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Microsoft has been listing the top reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 10, with familiarity cited as one of the main selling points, Cortana’s inclusion is another.

Maybe it’s just me (but I expect it isn’t), but I don’t think those are really the best reasons why anyone should switch to the new OS. So I figured I would come up with a list of reasons that genuinely do make the case for upgrading to Windows 10.

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Although you may not have heard of it, Stagefright is at the heart of the Android operating system. It's a media library that processes several popular media formats. Since media processing is often time-sensitive, the library is implemented using native code (C++) that is more prone to memory corruption than memory-safe languages like Java.

Researchers at mobile security company Zimperium have uncovered an issue in the Stagefright code that they believe to be one of the worst Android vulnerabilities to date.

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If you’ve been following the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 leaks for a while, you might already be able to get a clear idea of what you should expect. We still think that there might be some changes to the exact details of the upcoming flagship, but reports suggest that the next Note device might be released as soon as next month.

So, to set our expectations and also be able to get some surprises from the smartphone giant, here are the five things that you (and we too) should expect from Samsung’s new Note device.

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One of the more controversial features of Windows 10 is the automatic, mandatory installation of updates. With launch day now just hours away a problem with NVidia drivers has highlighted just why automatic updates have proved so controversial.

Microsoft has previously said that home users will have no choice but to let Windows 10 take care of updates for them. For those concerned about this, the company has a special tool that can be used to block specific updates to Windows and drivers.

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Mark Zuckerberg's Internet.org has come in for quite a lot of criticism since it launched. Designed to help get the entire world online, it has been argued that the program is in opposition to the idea of net neutrality and many of its backers have pulled out or complained about things since it kicked off.

But in many regards none of this matters -- it is the numbers that are important. Twelve months after the launch of Internet.org, more than a billion people have been connected to the internet free of charge. Moving into year two, the next part of the operation involves scaling things up.

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We reported last week that a number of Fiat Chrysler vehicles were being recalled  due to the potential for them to be hacked.

Experts at IoT security specialist INSIDE Secure have been looking at the risks and how vehicles can be made more secure in future.

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Huawei is not, perhaps, a name that springs immediately to mind when you think about smartphones. But with this latest model the Chinese manufacturer is making a bid for a slice of the top end market dominated by the likes of the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy.

You get the impression of quality from the moment you receive it. It comes in a smart, black plastic box with a cardboard slip case; the phone sits in this with a shiny edge uppermost so it’s like opening a piece of jewelry.

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Your monitor can be so much more than just a device for displaying your desktop -- it can also supply power to other things. Extra ports on the back of a screen are nothing new, so the idea of using a monitor to charge your phone might not seem groundbreaking; but the Samsung SE370 can do it wirelessly.

The monitor is available in 23.6 inch and 27 inch models and features an integrated Qi wireless charging plate so compatible handsets can be charged without the need to fiddle with USB cables. In addition to space and time-saving features, Samsung has taken care to ensure that wireless charging is not the only reason to buy the monitor.

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MindMaple Lite is a free application for generating mind maps, project plans, running brainstorming sessions, and generally helping to organise, present and share your ideas.

Download and installation is straightforward – no registration, adware or other hassles here – and conveniently the program opens with a mind map explaining itself: the main features, what’s new in this edition, what you get from upgrading to the Pro edition, and more.

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