Facebook in talks with music labels


Social giant Facebook has been in talks with music labels for the past few months, although nobody is quite sure what the company is planning.
Reports say Facebook has met with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, three of the big music licensing labels. Since this doesn’t seem to involve indie labels, we can assume it isn’t a music streaming deal, but instead a licensing and content protection deal.
OnePlus has free Google Cardboard VR headsets for everyone!


Virtual reality is making a comeback. Forget the atrocious examples we endured in the 90s, now we have the likes of Oculus Rift to delight our senses, and Microsoft is tempting us with HoloLens. Neither of these are particularly cheap, but Google came up with a cheap alternative in the form of Cardboard.
As the name suggests, this is a foldable cardboard unit which can be used to transform a variety of smartphones into a fully-fledged VR headset. While much cheaper than the likes of Oculus Rift and HoloLens, Cardboard is not free... or at least, it wasn't. Ahead of the launch of OnePlus 2, OnePlus is offering its own OnePlus CardBoard for free.
Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 420X Xbox One Headset coming soon -- pre-order now


Video games have come a long way. What was once a single or double player affair, is now much grander thanks to online gaming. It is much more engaging to play against multiple real people, rather than an artificial opponent. You can even communicate with other players by using a microphone -- very cool.
The Xbox One comes with a headset in the box, and it is passable, but hardly comfortable nor high quality. Marathon gamers will want to invest in a premium headset for improved audio and comfort. Turtle Beach will soon be selling its self-proclaimed "affordable" Ear Force Stealth 420X wireless headset, and it looks like a winner.
Scan pages as searchable PDFs with NAPS2


Earlier this year we wrote about NAPS2 (Not Another PDF Scanner 2), a tiny open source tool which could scan documents to PDF, TIFF and other file formats. We liked the program’s simplicity and ease of use, and in the past few months it’s been further extended with some major new features.
Integrated OCR means you can now make your PDFs searchable. There’s no complex interface to navigate, no manual setting of OCR regions or anything else: just click the OCR button, choose the document language and NAPS2 handles everything else.
The 2015 Nexus 5 will be built by LG


The Nexus range of smartphones has proved a popular way to get a fairly high-end handset running stock Android at a decent price. Previous models have (largely) sold well, and there is always eager anticipation surrounding the next release. One thing people are always keen to know is just who is going to be making the handset.
According to a report by AndroidPIT, it is LG who will be responsible for the 2015 Nexus 5. A spokesperson said that the device is to be based on a yet-to-be-seen prototype rather than the LG G4. Based on previous launches, it's safe to assume that the release will coincide with the launch of the next version of Google's mobile operating system, Android M.
Reddit faces yet another user revolt, mods shut down several top subreddits


An insurrection is underway on Reddit, one of the largest websites on the planet. The juggernaut network which maintains thousands of open groups -- called subreddits -- dedicated to news, science, technology, entertainment, and sports among others is facing a backlash from moderators of many top subreddits over the company’s decision to fire Victoria Taylor, one of the key figures over at Reddit’s extremely popular AMA subreddit.
Victoria Taylor joined Reddit in 2013 as its director of communications. As several moderators bring to our attention, Taylor headed AMA’s celebrity sessions. She relayed users’ questions to high-profile figures and transcribed their responses to the website. Her sudden and unexplained departure has left moderators with a feeling of betrayal.
5 common Wi-Fi problems -- how you can resolve them

Best Windows apps this week


One-hundred and thirty-sixth in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.
Microsoft pushed out three builds of the Windows 10 operating system to Fast Ring systems this week (the latest is 10162) and will pick a suitable RTM soon for the operating system.
Firefox 39 introduces social network sharing of Hello conversations

Buy a Windows Phone from Microsoft, get Nokia headphones for free


If you are in the market for a new Windows Phone now is the time to pull the trigger. Microsoft is running an attractive promotion, giving customers a free pair of Nokia headphones with the purchase of any Windows Phone from its online store.
And I mean any Windows Phone. This promotion applies to all Acer, BLU, Microsoft and Nokia-branded Windows Phone devices that Microsoft sells, so you are not limited to a certain brand or, most importantly, a certain price bracket.
Your online payments could soon be authorized with a selfie


Make an online payment with your credit card and you're probably used to having to enter a password or PIN. But if a trial scheme by MasterCard takes off, this could become a thing of the past. The finance company is testing out a new payment authorization technique including fingerprint scanning and facial recognition.
MasterCard is working with Apple, BlackBerry, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung to introduce the biometric checks. The initial plan is to trial the system with 500 participants before possibly rolling it out on a larger scale. It's something that MasterCard believes will be welcomed by millennials and should simplify the process of making payments from a smartphone.
How much does security software slow down your PC?


One of the main complaints that people express about security software is that it harms the performance of their PC. But how much of an effect does it really have?
Independent testing organization AV-Comparatives has conducted a test of 20 leading security products for Windows to assess their impact. Tests were performed on a 64-bit Intel Core i5 machine with Windows 8.1.
The world's smallest drone can be had for just $35


Drones are a much talked about technological development, but they have yet to really take off with members of the public.
There is a whole host of factors holding them back, regulations being chief among them, but it seems size certainly isn’t going to be an issue. Particularly when drones are being made that can easily fit into the palm of your hand.
Official Eyefi Mobi app available on Windows Phone


As more official apps are available in Store, more consumers will start paying attention to Windows Phone and, perhaps, be willing to switch from their Android smartphones and iPhones. The selection is improving, even if at a slow pace, and it is nice to see new known developers embracing the platform.
So, having Eyefi Mobi finally available on the platform is a major win. While not known by the majority of users, in the sense that Facebook is at least, it is a very important app for photography enthusiasts. here is what you need to know about it.
Prince pulling music from popular streaming services


One of the most prominent skeptics of digital music, Prince has surprisingly been off the radar on the whole music streaming debate, until now.
The Minneapolis sound pioneer removed all of his songs from Deezer, Spotify, Rdio and Apple Music earlier this week, while keeping music on Google Play and Tidal.
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