Xara Group has announced the release of Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10, the latest incarnation of its all-in-one editing, illustration and design tool.

Top of the new features list is the inclusion of Magic Bullet PhotoLooks 2.0, a powerful plugin (sold separately for $199 as recently as 2012) which offers 100+ present lighting and color effects.

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It's a little while since a European Court of Justice ruling forced Google to start removing search links to certain articles. Dubbed the "right to be forgotten", the ruling led Google to create an online form making it easier for people to get in touch about search results relating to them thought to be "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant". But just like those requests from celebrities to stop publishing compromising images online, it seems like asking for search links to be censored serves only to highlight the existence of the web pages they correspond to.

The court's decision that people should be able to request that information about them be removed from Google searches came after Spaniard Mr Costeja González took exception to links to stories about a series of old debts he had. There are now few people who follow news about Google who are not aware that Mr González has a less than perfect credit history. It's not clear whether he regards the ruling as a personal victory, but the appearance of Hidden From Google is sure to ruffle the feathers of many who have submitted similar removal requests to the search giant.

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Cloud storage service Dropbox has detailed a new partnership with mobile operator Deutsche Telekom, that will result in its Android app being preloaded on the majority of devices sold in certain parts of Europe by the German company and its subsidiaries.

This partnership also impacts Deutsche Telekom's current customer base, who will be helped to "discover" Dropbox. The Android devices that will come preloaded with the app will be available, starting in October, in Central and Eastern European markets.

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It’s all change for media server TVersity with a new major release. The old Basic version has been retired and in its place comes TVersity Media Server Free 3.0, which offers identical functionality to the Pro version minus the ability to transcode audio and video when required.

Version 3 also shows off a brand new and simplified user interface, introduces support for hardware-accelerated H.264 encoding in the Pro build and adds support for both Roku and Chromecast.

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Small home networks can take a while to set up -- especially if you’re a networking novice -- but once they’re up and running, there’s usually little else to do. Everything just works. And if it doesn’t, there’s generally a simple explanation (something’s been unplugged or turned off).

Add a few more systems, some of which are really important (a business server), and it’s another story. Problems quickly become complex, and have to be fixed right now.  To keep up it’s important to manage your network more carefully, and Axence nVision Free is the ideal program to help.

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Lumia 635 is one of the three Nokia-branded Windows Phone 8.1 devices announced so far. It is designed to compete in the low-end smartphone market, where it goes up against similarly-priced handsets from rival Android manufacturers. It is also the only device in its lineup to officially reach US shores, with T-Mobile being the first local mobile operator to announce its availability.

But Lumia 635 will also be available at another US mobile operator. Starting July 25, AT&T will offer the Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone through its GoPhone prepaid service and, starting August 8, the device will also be available through the mobile operator's online and brick and mortar stores.

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Conventional security wisdom says that you should use complicated passwords which are impossible to remember and have a different one for each and every website that you visit.

However, a new paper published this month by Microsoft Research says we should go back to having a bad, easily remembered, password and using it on lots of sites. Okay, that's a bit of a simplification, but what the researchers are saying is that in order to be able to remember the difficult passwords for your bank, etc it's better to reuse simpler passwords on low-risk sites.

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If you want to send images, videos or music to your TV from another device the obvious choice might seem to be Google's Chromecast. However it's not the only game in town, the Tronsmart may not be a name you've heard of but at $24.09 it's around $10 cheaper than Google's alternative, so is it worth considering?

First impressions are good, it's made of a nice smooth matt plastic and the design is tidy if unexciting. The unit plugs directly into the HDMI port of your TV or projector and it offers 1080P resolution, though can be switched to 720P for older TVs. The T1000 will work with Android (including Kindle Fire HDX), iOS or Windows devices, you just need to download the right software.

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If you follow what's trending in technology, you will by now know that the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to create new possibilities for connected technologies, along with IT resource churn, as companies struggle to securely connect a deluge of devices, sensors and objects to the corporate network. According to IDC, there will be more than 212 billion devices connected to the web by 2020, including over 30 billion connected autonomous things.

The IoT hype focuses on how Internet-connected cars, homes, offices, appliances and gadgets will transform how we work, play and live; sensors in water bottles, web-enabled tennis rackets and every kind of conceivable wearable will capture the spotlight.

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Given that I used to work for Apple and have lately been quite critical of IBM, readers are wondering what I think of Tuesday’s announcement of an iOS partnership of sorts between Apple and IBM. I think it makes good sense for both companies but isn’t a slam dunk for either.

There are three aspects to this deal -- hardware, apps, and cloud services. For Apple the deal presents primarily a new distribution channel for iPhones and iPads. Apple can always use new channels, especially if they hold inventory and support customers who aren’t price-sensitive. Apple’s primary goal is to simply get more devices inside Big Business and this is a good way to do that.

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The hacking and spying techniques of the UK's Government Communications headquarters (GCHQ) have been exposed in the latest leak by Edward Snowden. The wide-ranging techniques include invasive methods for online surveillance, as well as some of the very techniques that the US and UK have harshly prosecuted young online activists for employing, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and "call bombing".

The document is set out in a massive Wikipedia-style archive used by GCHQ to internally discuss its surveillance and online deception activities.

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For years, Steve Jobs fought the good fight against IBM and IBM compatibles. Heck, Apple was the anti-IBM. Sure, the fruit-logo company was out to make money, but not at any cost -- products and perception mattered. To many Apple enthusiasts, IBM was looked at as a dinosaur. Ultimately, IBM failed as a personal computer company, but thrives today offering services. The once mighty ThinkPad line is now property of the Chinese, by way of Lenovo. Apple stands strong in America.

Boy oh boy, Jobs must be spinning in his grave. Today, Apple and IBM join forces to strengthen iOS for the enterprise. Make no mistake, this is not Apple throwing IBM a bone. No, IBM is the stronger enterprise brand lending legitimacy to the iPhone and iPad for business. Big Blue is hired muscle for Apple.

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The FCC is currently taking public comments on it proposed changes to net neutrality. The law, if passed, would create a two-tier system where ISPs would be able to charge a premium to certain companies, such as Netflix or YouTube, in order to prioritize traffic. Those who do not pay, or startups that simply can not afford to, would face the possibility of being slowed down.

Many tech companies have, not surprisingly, spoken out against this possible change in legislation. The latest is video streaming service Vimeo -- a company that would likely be affected by the new law.

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Last week Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took another step in redefining his company for the post-Gates/Ballmer era, sending a 3100-word positioning memo to every Microsoft employee and to the world in general. I found it a fascinating document for many reasons, some of them even intended by Nadella, who still has quite a ways to go to legitimately turn Microsoft in the right direction.

We’re seeing a lot of this -- companies trying to talk their way into continued technology leadership. Well talk is cheap, and sometimes that’s the major point: it can be far easier to temporarily move customers and markets through the art of the press release than by actually embracing or -- better yet -- coming up with new ideas. We’re at that point to some extent with this Nadella message, which shows potential but no real substance. But I think this was not written for customers so much as for the very employees it is addressed to.

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Not many days pass without security being in the news in some form or another. Most of that news isn't good either. Services being attacked through vectors like DDoS, gaping holes in software that many people use everyday -- hello, Adobe and Java.

Now Google is taking its own steps to try and protect users. The company has already implemented SSL for many of its services, but the latest push is against zero-day vulnerabilities.

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