WhatsApp is a great mobile messaging app, but you might occasionally wish you could run it from a desktop, where you can take advantage of the full-sized keyboard and screen.

There’s no official desktop app available, but if you like the idea then you could try the extremely unofficial WhatsApp Desktop, an open source tool available for Windows, OS X and Linux.

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No less than a week ago, young Dylann Roof, a self-described hardline racist, decided to take nine wonderful lives in Charleston, SC. This was an individual who, through a manifesto since unveiled, had shaped his worldview so narrowly that he irreversibly joined the corrupted fringes of society.

But what really killed nine innocent people here? As much as our President wishes to believe it so, a gun wasn't the real cause of Roof's killing spree; it was an accessory to murder. Nor was the Confederate flag; this was merely hijacked window dressing to glorify one man's twisted reality. With as much debate currently focusing on these non-issues, the real causes which bred a monster by all definitions are sadly diluted from discussion.

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Even though Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile are part of the same "One" product strategy, the two feel like two separate projects at Microsoft. There are many commonalities and a similar core, but while Windows 10 has evolved tremendously since the technical preview build that arrived in January, the development of its mobile counterpart has progressed at a glacial pace. Windows 10 almost looks ready for its July 29 launch, but Windows 10 Mobile is far, far from being ready for prime time.

That is because the teams working on the upcoming operating system have devoted more of their attention to the PC version, leaving Windows 10 Mobile in the background. Microsoft is wise to play the PC card, as that is a market which it singlehandedly dominates, but not treating smartphones equally could be another mistake it is making on the mobile front. This is about to change.

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For smaller businesses organizing backups can be a chore which is why they often choose to buy a service solution from their systems provider rather than do it in house.

Backup and data protection specialist Intronis is one of the leaders in backup platforms for IT providers and is launching a new release of its ECHOplatform designed to deliver simplified operations and improved value.

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Sony delayed the launch of its wafer-thin 4K TVs in May, but has officially penned the launch month for July. The three models, all running Android TV, are ahead of the curve in terms of design.

Take the 55-inch model for example, measuring at 4.7 mm at the thickest screen point. That is thinner than the iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S6 and the thinnest display on the market.

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Bluetooth speakers usually need some sort of distinctive feature to help them to stand out from the crowd. In the case of the LuguLake that distinctiveness is in the way it looks.

The first thing that strikes you is the funky design, it's about the size of a tennis ball, or an apple if you prefer, with a shiny black finish and a sort of suspended saucer over the speaker cone itself. On the top of this is a touch pad that acts as a volume control as well as allowing you to pause and skip tracks, and answer calls so you can use it as a speakerphone.

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The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has defined the fifth generation networks (5G) and decided to commercialize that technology by the year 2020.

ITU-R Working Party 5D of the UN’s telco arm finalized its 5G vision and rubber-stamped it as IMT-2020 at a meeting in San Diego, California last week, Total Telecom reported.

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If you've been following the news about Windows 10, you can’t have avoided the confusion that arose from Gabe Aul's poorly written (but ultimately updated and clarified) blog post. We now know exactly where we stand. If you have a genuine version of Windows 7 or Windows 8.x you can upgrade to a fully licensed version of Windows 10 for free on July 29. For anyone without a genuine copy of 7 or 8.1, you can legitimately keep running Windows 10 if you are happy to stay on as a Windows Insider.

Of course, even if you upgrade from a valid version of Windows 7 or 8.x, you can still choose to remain a Windows Insider. Just as happens now, this means that you are granted access to pre-release builds on the Fast and Slow rings. Each preview build will be time-limited, but a new version will be released before the previous one expires. So... what will you do? Do you want to stay on the cutting edge of Windows advancements? Or would you prefer to stick with a more stable version of the operating system. There are, of course, pros and cons to both routes.

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Fitness bands and smartwatches that monitor your activity are notoriously inaccurate. Wear a bunch of them at the same time and they’ll all return entirely different results. And we’re not talking about slight discrepancies either -- the results can differ by several thousand steps. The idea is the trackers provide you with a general ballpark figure, rather than a precise one, so you can see how your activity varies on a daily basis, and take steps -- hah! -- to improve on it.

As a result, comparing the results from two or more fitness trackers isn’t usually very helpful -- each device will measure activity in its own way, and who is to say what’s right or wrong? However, more advanced wearables -- Microsoft Band and Apple Watch, for example -- measure your heart rate, and it’s much easier to check how accurate they are. All you need to do is compare the results they produce with the figures from a reliable source.

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A large number of organizations are continuing to use Windows Server 2003, despite Microsoft announcing that support for the operating system will cease in less than a month.

According to a recent study by Softchoice, 21 percent of servers were still operating the OS in the first half of 2015, a fall of 11 percent compared with the same period twelve months ago.

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The wearables market continues to grow and there's something of a battle -- just as there is in the smartphone market -- between Apple Watch and Android Wear. Google's wearable OS keeps receiving updates and one of the things that makes it stand apart from Watch OS is the level of customization it offers users.

Today Google unveils 17 new watch faces to add to the existing catalog that already extends to more than 1,500 entries. As ever, the claims of there being something for everyone apply, and there are numerous cultural nods with Terminator Genisys, Hello Kitty, and Angry Birds faces all available for download.

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As my colleague Manish Singh reports overnight, Apple reversed course and now plans to compensate artists for the first three months of music streaming. It's time to ask: Were the whiners grandstanding or sincere? The question mainly is meant for Taylor Swift, whose Father's Day Tumblr post seems to have brought, eh, swift response to the—what I call—"play for no-pay" plan.

The company unveiled Apple Music during the World Wide Developer Conference on June 8. The streaming service will be free to subscribers for the first three months, with Apple initially choosing not to make royalty payments to artists. I condemned the ridiculous strategy last week. The company sits on a nearly $200 billion cash horde, and content creators are among its most loyal customers. Stiffing them makes no sense from several different perspectives, with good public relations being one and expressing thanks to artist customers being another.

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Have you bought, or are you planning to buy, one of AMD's new graphics cards, like Fury X or R9 380? If so, well done my fellow PC builder; these cards are extremely powerful, while being competitively priced. Great choice.

While not the first cards to feature FreeSync, the higher end of these new cards will allow for comfortable 4K gaming too. Obviously you need a 4K FreeSync monitor. Well, need is a strong word -- you can get by without it (it is not food or water), but you do need it if you want to be the coolest PC gamer in your neighborhood (and you do). Today, Samsung announces two such monitors that will have you drooling.

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Uber has faced numerous complaints since its inception in 2010, including suggestions that drivers are not properly vetted. Now the taxi service is facing legal action over plans to track the location of its customers whether the app is running in the foreground or background on their phones.

The new policy is due to come into force on July 15, but the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed a complaint with the FTC saying that the policy change is unfair and should be investigated by the commission. It will be possible to opt out of this location tracking, but EPIC feels this is unreasonable.

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In the industry we’re in you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who is anything but positive about the development of technology. Thanks to technological advancements, we can carry whole computers in our pockets, travel to anywhere in the world without having to leave our living room through devices such as Oculus Rift and 3D print body parts to save lives.

But there is one area where people aren’t quite so enthusiastic and that is in employment, where jobs in a variety of industries are under threat from automation.

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