Microsoft ships stand-alone Android Emulator

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Microsoft has released the final build of Visual Studio Emulator for Android, which despite its name, doesn’t install or require Visual Studio: just Windows 8+ with Hyper-V.

The big disadvantage of the package is still the lack of the Play Store. You can only install new apps from their APK files. If you can live with that, the Emulator’s benefits start with its range of environments. The package comes with a virtual KitKat phone and tablet, and various other Android versions and form factors are available for download.

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Apple Watch leads the smartwatch market

Apple Watch Sport on wrist

Apple will release its Q3 FY2015 earnings report later today, revealing just how well its products have performed in the second quarter of the year. The star of the show will likely continue to be the iPhone line, while iPads are expected to disappoint once again. But what about its most-recent endeavor, Apple Watch?

Apple has been relatively quiet so far. There are no official figures of any kind yet, and there is no guarantee that the company will reveal any concrete information surrounding its smartwatch today. There is, however, an estimate from analyst company Canalys, which places Apple at the top of the wearable vendors list.

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Samsung's Galaxy S6 is secure-enough for UK government

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If you’re a government employee in the UK, looking for a device secure enough for you to use, you can go for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge.

The Communications and Electronics Security Group (CESG) has said that the duo of handsets meet the compliance standards for its Commercial Product Assurance requirements.

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Pebble Time hits stores

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People have been waiting for Pebble Time, the latest device in the Pebble line of smartwatches. The company once again utilized Kickstarter for this project, and did so with great results. Pebble Time shipped early to its backers, but now it hits stores for everyone to buy.

Unlike the previous Pebble, this one has a color screen and looks much more vibrant -- keeping up with Android Wear. It also has more features for users to enjoy.

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Huh? Twitter just removed the option to use a background image

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Part of using any social website is customizing the appearance of your account to your liking; now Twitter has bucked the trend and removed that option. As noted by TechCrunch, Twitter users are no longer able to adorn their profile with a custom background image.

It seems like something of a strange move, made all the more odd by the fact that Twitter has not made an announcement about the change. Firing up Twitter, users around the world will today find that their accounts look rather different. It's bright, white backgrounds all the way. So what on earth is going on?

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MobaXterm 8.0 adds PuTTY engine, credentials, PowerShell support

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All-in-one remote networking toolkit MobaXterm 8.0 has shipped with the ability to create credentials for multiple sessions.

The latest build is packed with technology derived from the open source PuTTY, including the SSH/ telnet/ rlogin/ serial engines, the embedded terminal, a new "MobaKeyGen" graphical SSH keys generator -- even a new Games menu with simple puzzles and games from the PuTTY developer. (No, really.)

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AMD launches super-affordable Windows 10-ready A8-7670K APU

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Windows 10 will be available on July 29th, meaning it is just a bit more than a week until the world can start buying computers running the operating system. While Windows 10 will run fine on older hardware, a new version of Microsoft's OS can be a great time to upgrade your computer. System builders in particular may want to improve their build.

Understandably, you may be hesitant to spend money on new hardware; the economy is still bad for many. Don't worry, AMD has you covered. Today, the company launches the A8-7670K APU. Not only is it Windows 10-ready with DirectX 12 support, but it is insanely affordable too at a shockingly low $117.99. In other words, you may pay less than that at retailers.

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Twitter launches new Safety Center to educate and protect users

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Over the years Twitter has taken various steps to help users avoid spam, trolls, abuse, and other online problems. Today the social site takes the wraps off the Twitter Safety Center. This is home to advice about staying safe on Twitter and online in general, as well as including links to the various tools that Twitter has to offer.

The Safety Center is divided into three sections -- Tools, Policies, and Enforcement -- and the idea is that users are given the information they need to keep themselves safe. Each of the sections includes advice and guides about improving security, maintaining privacy, and avoiding unwanted content.

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Google+ Photos dies August 1, replaced by Google Photos

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Wielding its axe above its head, Google today prepares to sever another limb from Google+. It's only a couple of months since Google Photos launched, and we knew back then that the writing was on the wall for the Photos component of Google+. Now we know that the axe drops on August 1.

From this date Google+ Photos will be no more. The service will shut down first for Android users, followed quickly by the web and iOS versions. If you want to continue to take advantage of cloud photo storage, editing, and sharing, you'll need to make the switch to Google Photos.

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Microsoft releases emergency security patch for all Windows versions

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Microsoft has released an off-schedule patch for all currently supported versions of Windows. A serious vulnerability has been discovered in a font driver that could be exploited by a hacker to remotely execute code on a compromised machine.

The problem affects Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows RT, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012. Windows 10 is not at risk. Microsoft describes the issue as 'critical' and has pushed an emergency patch to Windows Update.

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Why organizations should embrace wearables

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From its roots as a quirky, consumer-centric niche just a few years ago, wearable technology has pushed its way into the headlines.

The recent launch of the Apple Watch generated huge amounts of media hype (not to mention almost a million pre-orders before release), suggesting that a growing number of organizations could be playing host to wearable devices over the coming months and years -- if they aren’t already.

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GE chooses Microsoft Office 365 for its 300,000 employees

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Microsoft Office is the best office suite on the planet. Nothing annoys me more than when someone suggests that LibreOffice is a comparable solution. If you are a home user, sure, you can get by with a limited word processor and spreadsheet offering. If you are a business owner, however, you are crazy to use anything other than Microsoft Office.

Today, GE -- one of the world's most respected companies -- announces that it chose Microsoft Office 365 for its 300,000+ employees. Not only is GE's decision very wise, but it is a huge win for Microsoft too.

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Google blames other driver for latest self-driving car accident

Google's self-driving car cars fleet Lexus

Google’s self-driving car has been involved in yet another accident and the company has said it wasn’t the autonomous vehicle’s fault.

The car was rear-ended at a crossroads, and the company laid the blame on the human driver behind it.

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Samsung annouces PM863 and SM863 data center SSDs with up to 3.8TB of storage

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The hard disk is not going away any time soon, but make no mistake -- it is on death row. Solid state drives, or SSDs, are becoming more reliable, getting less expensive, and gaining larger storage capacities. It is only a matter of time before mechanical spinning drives get the heave-ho.

While consumers will be the first to shun hard drives, data centers will likely be the holdouts. Why? Cost and capacity. Right now, gigabyte per dollar is far less expensive compared to SSD. More importantly, however, SSDs just don't have comparable capacities -- yet. Today, Samsung announces the PM863 and SM863 data center SSDs. The latter features a top capacity of 1.9TB, while the former maxes out at a mind-blowing 3.8TB!

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What are the perks that employees want the most?

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It’s a question that CEOs and managers around the world are asking: "How can I keep my employees loyal?"

In the modern working world, staff loyalty is almost a thing of the past. Whereas employees used to stay at the same company for most, if not all, of their career, jumping from one job to another in quick succession has become the norm.

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