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Microsoft is due to launch the second edition of its augmented reality headset next month. HoloLens 2 will go on sale in September, according to the executive vice president of the company's artificial intelligence and research group, Harry Shum.

Shum was speaking at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai when he made the revelation, finally bringing to an end speculation about when the device will see the light of day.

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A number of previous Windows 10 Insider builds from the 20H1 branch have featured a new "Cloud download" option in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) under Reset this PC. Despite the feature’s presence in these builds, Microsoft has yet to release a working version. That changes in the latest flight.

Build 18970 allows users to download Windows over a high speed internet connection when resetting a PC. The option reinstalls the same build, version, and edition that's currently on your device.

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Hackers are using compromised websites to install "monitoring implants" on iPhones, warns a security researcher from Google's Project Zero.

Taking advantage of vulnerabilities in iOS and Safari, hackers are able to target devices running everything from iOS 10 to iOS 12, accessing contacts, images and other data. It is claimed that the practice has been going on for years, and that "simply visiting the hacked site [is] enough for the exploit server to attack your device".
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We all knew that Apple would be unveiling new iPhone smartphones next month, but now, we know the exact day -- September 10. Earlier today, Apple sent invitations to members of the press. Sadly, my invitation was lost in the mail. Once again, the product event will take place at the Steve Jobs Theater in the company's Cupertino, California "Apple Park" headquarters. Yes, this means Apple's announcement will happen nearly a month before Microsoft's upcoming Surface event.

BetaNews can confirm there will be three iPhone sizes -- 5.8-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.5-inch. We can also confirm that the oft-rumored square camera bump is happening too. Yeah, that square is ugly, but it is pretty much a guarantee that it will take phenomenal photos. Rumors suggest the new smartphones will be branded iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Apparently, the company won't use "XI." It will be interesting to see what colors will be available, as the invitation image (seen above) suggests it could be a colorful affair.

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Apple products are very elegantly designed, but they aren't known for being durable, nor are they free from defects. For instance, my iPhone 8 Plus had dead pixels out of the box -- I had to get a screen fix immediately. Later, my MacBook Pro -- which I have since sold -- developed a screen defect on its own. There are countless people that have dropped their Apple devices too (even from low heights) and had the the damn thing break. Apple stuff can be rather fragile.

So, yeah, owning an Apple product means you sometimes have to visit the Apple Store to get it fixed. If you don't have Apple Care, however, and the phone is out of warranty, it can be a very expensive affair. Not to mention, many people don't live near a physical Apple Store. So to either save money or because of geographic purposes, they turn to third-party repair services.

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New research from managed detection and response company CRITICALSTART finds that security operations center (SOC) analysts are being overwhelmed by alerts and this is leading to high rates of analyst turnover.

In the past year, 80 percent of respondents reported SOC turnover of more than 10 percent of analysts, with nearly half reporting between 10 and 25 percent turnover. 35 percent report losing a quarter or more of their SOC analysts in under a year.

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No, the Fairphone 3 is not really made from marijuana plant fibers -- but it might as well be. This misguided attempt to make a smartphone that "care[s] for people and planet" is nearly as ugly as that hemp "shirt" your Environmental Studies buddy used to wear in college. Clunky, with middling specs and a creepy, peek-a-boo-translucent backside, it's a phone that screams "virtue signal -- incoming!"

I mean, why else would anyone buy this thing? Its aesthetic is reminiscent of every generic, first-generation slab phone ever built -- like someone took an Apple iPhone 4 and a Samsung Galaxy S2, ran them through a blender, and then reassembled the debris with scotch tape and cellophane. The expletive-laden contraction "F'UGLY" doesn’t begin to describe this abomination.

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I'm someone who uses both a Linux-based operating system and Windows 10 daily. You'd think I constantly run into  roadblocks when working between them, but really, that couldn't be further from the truth. Actually, much of the software I use on Linux is also on Windows, such as GIMP, Google Chrome, and LibreOffice. One area where I have faced difficulty over the years, however, is working with different file systems for external drives. It is a common problem.

Today, Microsoft announces it will make working between Linux and Windows 10 even easier. How, you ask? By publicly publishing the exFAT file system specification and hopefully paving the way for it to be included in the Linux kernel. In other words, if you have a memory card, flash drive, or other storage device formatted in exFAT, you will eventually be able to access it on Linux right "out of the box" -- no need to install additional packages. I suppose you could say, Microsoft is essentially improving the Linux kernel! This should come as no surprise, as the Windows-maker has transformed itself into an open source champion these days.

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Following outcry over human "grading" of Siri recordings, Apple has issued an apology and promised that it will no longer retain recordings of interaction with the digital assistant unless given explicit permission.

The company says that "we haven't been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize". Having suspended the human grading of Siri requests, Apple is now making fundamental changes to its privacy policy saying that only Apple employees will be able to listen to recordings, as opposed to contractors, and users will have to opt in for this to happen.

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Only 24 percent of organizations are prioritizing security when it comes to technology investment according to a new report from UK-based software company Advanced.

For the report the company surveyed over 500 senior decision makers working in UK businesses, both SMEs and large enterprises, to explore the state of digital transformation. It shows that just 34 percent admit that regulatory change is triggering the purchase of new technology in their organisation, which is surprisingly low given the introduction of GDPR in May last year.

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DDoS attacks remain a major problem for businesses and can have serious consequences.

Data center services supplier US Signal is launching a new cloud-based offering. Building on the company’s partnership with Cloudflare it delivers a robust, customizable service that protects organizations against online threats including DDoS, ransomware, malicious bots and application-layer attacks.

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The majority of people in the world are illiterate -- including myself. No, I am not talking about being unable to read or write English or another language, but instead, the inability to code. Look, not everyone needs coding skills -- many jobs don't require it. However, as the workforce changes, and blue collar jobs disappear to automation and robots, the ability to code will be essential. And so, it is highly recommended that young folks get into coding as soon as possible -- the younger the better. After all, even if they later choose a career that doesn't involve coding, there is no downside to knowing how, right?

Today, the GNOME Foundation announces that it has partnered with Endless to launch a brand new "Coding Education Challenge." This is a great way to encourage both students and educators to investigate coding. While participation should be fun and educational, there is plenty of money to be had too. How much? A half million dollars!

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The Magecart JavaScript attack that captures online payment information has been around since 2016. A new study for Arxan Technologies produced by Aite Group takes a detailed look at the attack.

This research follows the trail of servers compromised by Magecart groups, as well as the collection servers to which the sites were actively sending stolen credit card data, in an effort to examine commonalities between victim websites and the tactics, techniques, and procedures used to compromise the servers.

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Fairphone is not a new name in the smartphone market, but it's not one that everyone is aware of. The company has a strong ethical and environmental stance, producing handsets that are gentle on the environment, the people producing them, and are easily repaired.

Now the company has announced the Fairphone 3. Due for release next month, the Android handset is a decent mid-ranger which is likely to attract more interest than its two predecessors. So what's all the fuss about?

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Organizations are going global and their infrastructures, thanks to the cloud, are going global as well. Today, mid-sized and even small companies are doing business on a global stage. Whether this global growth takes place by opening new offices or by acquiring them, one of the thorniest challenges is enabling collaboration between them, because it requires sharing large, unstructured data and application files across vast distances. And this task only becomes more complex and difficult as both files and the number of people who need to work with them simultaneously grow larger. This shift toward more companies going global creates a distinct need.

The traditional IT infrastructure -- one in which the corporate data center is located at the headquarters -- is not at all suited for providing collaboration with large files at scale. What's required is a new, disruptive technology category, with platforms that combine the control and performance of network attached storage (NAS) with the unlimited capacity and economy of the cloud.

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