ViewSonic introduces affordable 27-inch 4K monitor for professionals

ViewSonic UHD 4K VP2780-Left-Pro-900x506

ViewSonic has announced a new 4K monitor designed for professional work. The Ultra HD VP2780-4K, to give the monitor its full name, is a 27-inch LED panel offering a resolution of 3840 x 2160. It uses SuperClear IPS panel tech and is a 10-bit color panel.

Accurate colors are promised, with 100 percent sRGB, and 80 percent Adobe RGB high color coverage, meaning pinpoint colors for CAD work, serious photography and video editing and the like.

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HBO says 'down Periscope' after Game of Thrones livestreamed on Twitter's app

Game of thonres

Game of Thrones enjoyed an impressive season 5 premiere on Sunday, with nearly 8 million viewers tuning into HBO to watch it. Unfortunately for the broadcaster, millions more pirated the show -- as is the case every year -- and the situation wasn’t helped by the online leak of the first four episodes that came in advance of the new season’s launch.

HBO is obviously furious about that leak, which it confirms originated from an as-yet unidentified reviewer, but it’s equally unhappy with Twitter, whose Periscope app was apparently employed by some users to livestream episodes of the show on Sunday.

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Apple releases first iOS 8.4 beta with new Music app in tow

16GB iPhones and iPhones quake in fear as Apple increases maximum app size to 4GB

Apple has released the iOS 8.4 beta and with it, the upcoming revamped Music app.

The new music app features a stylish design (as we would expect from Apple), and a well thought-through interface, which includes a mini-player that remains visible while you’re looking around the app.

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The crosswalk awaits you -- Abbey Road comes to Google Maps

abbey-road

When it comes to music there is perhaps no more famous location in the world than Abbey Road. The studio has become legend -- created legends, in fact. The recording home of John, Paul, George and Ringo is still there, almost a museum of sorts, awaiting the tourists who want to get just a small sense of the Fab Four.

No need to traipse the crosswalk, let alone barefoot, to get your glimpse into where it all happened. Google Street View is here to make all your troubles seem so far away by taking you to Abbey Road, virtually.

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2014: The year data breaches came of age

On screen lock

There were 783 reported data breaches in 2014, up 27.5 percent over the previous year and the most in any year of the past decade. The average cost of each of those breaches was $3.5 million, up 15 percent over 2013.

These are among the statistics highlighted in a new infographic from user behavior intelligence specialist Exabeam. Ten breaches each led to more than a million records being reported stolen, the biggest being Home Depot with 56 million records.

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Take this Friday off and watch Orphan Black for free on Amazon -- Prime not required

orphan-black

Season three of Orphan Black is about to debut. The highly acclaimed BBC America TV show has been licensed this year by AMC, making it more widely available. Still, the two channels may not be in everyone's menu. For you, Amazon has a solution, though you may need a bit of caffeine to capitalize on this one.

While seasons one and two have been available for some time to Prime subscribers, those who don't pay Amazon $99 per year can now catch up on season one -- providing you do so this Friday.

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HighQ brings confidential collaboration to the cloud

Cloud handshake collaboration

There are lots of options for business collaboration but security of data is always a concern, especially when implementing cloud solutions.

The answer to these worries may lie with cloud collaboration specialist HighQ which is launching Collaborate 3.4, the first hybrid version of its platform providing both cloud and on-premise secure storage of data.

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Europe faces shortage of 800,000 IT workers by 2020

Jobs Job

New trends such as machine-to-machine communications and cloud computing are opening great new opportunities, and Europe is in serious danger of missing out if it doesn’t produce enough experts in the field.

During a speech in Belgium, European Commission (EC) Digital Single Market chief Andrus Ansip said Europe might face a huge deficit in skilled ICT workers, V3 reports.

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New malware family attacks retail systems

Chip and pin card reader

Only two weeks ago we reported on the underlying vulnerabilities that put point-of-sale systems at risk. Now acting as part of an investigation by the US Secret Service, researchers at security services company Trustwave have identified a new family of PoS malware.

Cyber criminals are already using the malware -- which researchers have named "Punkey" in an obscure '80s sitcom reference -- to infect businesses. Payment card information and more than 75 active victim IPs were found as part of the investigation.

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Google hits back at European antitrust charges

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Google abused its position in Europe to further its own online products, says the European Commission. Following a five-year investigation, Google stands accused of abusing dominance in Europe, violating antitrust laws. EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager says that Google gave its own shopping comparison service greater priority over rivals in search results.

The company's mobile operating system is also in the firing line. Android, it is said, has been used by Google to promote its own products and services over those of rivals.The Commission is also launching a formal investigation into Android to determine whether Google acted anti-competitively with its mobile operating system. Attention is focused on Google's bundling of its own apps after forming agreements with hardware manufacturers. Unsurprisingly, Google disagrees.

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New partnership helps businesses analyze and present Birst data

business integration

Business intelligence systems have in the past delivered large amounts of data but in a format that wasn't necessarily easy to use as it was extracted from legacy systems.

In an effort to make BI data more accessible, cloud intelligence and analytics specialist Birst has announced a partnership with Tableau Software to combine the latter’s powerful visual analytics with Birst’s agile and scalable Cloud BI data platform through an ODBC connector.

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Nokia buys Alcatel-Lucent for $16.6 billion, considers selling HERE

Nokia

Following on from yesterday's confirmation that Nokia was in talks with Alcatel-Lucent regarding a possible buyout, the Finnish company has now gone ahead with the purchase. Nokia is paying €15.6 billion ($16.6 billion) for the French telecoms equipment manufacturer. The deal is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2016, subject to shareholder approval.

The coming together of forces is very much a forward-looking venture. Nokia says that the combination of Nokia Technologies and FutureWorks with Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs will allow for "unparalleled innovation capabilities". Nokia also announced that it has initiated a strategic review of its HERE business, but it is not yet clear whether this will ultimately result in its sale.

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Companies should embrace change, not fear it

scaredbusinessman

Let’s face it, for most change is daunting. It’s human nature to revert to your comfort zone. Unfortunately, in today’s digital world, change is the acceptable norm.

A recent survey found that 68 percent of marketers feel their role has changed more in the last two years than the previous 50! It’s hard to believe now that 10 years ago nobody had heard of the cloud, the iPhone didn’t exist and 20 years ago most people didn’t have an email address. Therefore the question companies now need to ask is "are we geared up for change?"

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Microsoft unveils Lumia 540 Dual SIM: Another affordable Windows Phone

Lumia-540_Dual-SIM_feat

To compete in the low-end smartphone market, Windows Phone vendors have opted for the sensible approach of prioritizing cost over features. As a result, there are plenty of affordable options to choose from that can be had for much less than $100 off-contract. The downside is that the low-end Windows Phones that more demanding consumers might want to buy are few and far between.

Those smartphones may cost more -- much more compared to an entry-level Microsoft-branded offering like Lumia 435 -- but they are also much more enjoyable, and better equipped for long-term usage. And the new Lumia 540 Dual SIM that Microsoft just unveiled more than fits the bill.

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Samsung starts production on SM951-NVMe -- world's first M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD

M.2_NVMe_SSD

SATA based solid state drives are so 2014. We are already in Q2 of 2015, so it is time to step things up. While SATA drives will still meet the needs of many, enthusiasts are always looking for a new way to gain an edge.

PCIe NVMe PCIe SSDs are the future, and the market is starting to see more of these drives. With that said, NVMe PCIe drives have only been in the PCIe full and half-height form factors. Today, Samsung announces it is starting production on the world's first NVMe PCIe SSD to use the M.2 form factor.

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