Latest Technology News

Google has announced that it will not be placing a bid for a cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon. The Department of Defense's JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) project could have worth up to $10 billion.

The bidding process is due to end this week, but Google will now not be taking part. The company says that this particular project is not in line with its AI policies, but it will continue to work with the US government in other ways.

Google has introduced privacy and security focused changes as part of an update to Google Play Developer policies. In a move designed to protect sensitive data, there are new rules for apps that request SMS and Call Log permissions.

With immediate effect, it will only be possible for apps configured to be the default calling or text app to access phone and SMS data.

The private data of nearly half a million Google+ users was exposed to third-party developers, and Google failed to notify anyone. A bug in Google+ APIs meant that users' names, email addresses, occupations, gender and age were accessible from 2015 until Google discovered and patched the problem in March this year.

Despite the data possibly having been accessed by 438 apps, Google chose not to go public about the security breach until now. And in a dramatic move, the company has announced that it is shutting down Google+ for consumers. Google has also revealed details of Project Strobe, an audit program through which it discovered the problem.

For many PC gamers, wired accessories are preferable to wireless. Why? Well, besides potential lag with keyboards and mice, there is a fear of having batteries die during a match. When gaming, nothing is worse than having your mouse, keyboard, or headset stop working. To lose because of such nonsense is utterly maddening.

What if you want the reliability of a wired headset, for instance, but crave the wireless freedom a Bluetooth model offers? Today, HyperX unveils a new headset that is both wired and wireless -- the best of both worlds. Called "Cloud MIX," the headset can achieve up to 20 hours of battery life when in Bluetooth mode.

Still reeling from a security breach that affected up to 90 million users, Facebook has announced two new pieces of hardware designed to make video chat easier and more immersive than ever. Portal and Portal+ are 10- and 15-inch smart displays complete with integrated cameras and packed with AI. But even Facebook acknowledges there are privacy concerns.

The social networking giant says: "When you can’t be there, Portal and Portal+ let you feel there". What does it mean by this? The cameras are intelligent, meaning they pan and zoom, following people around the room as necessary. Facebook promises that Portal "follows the action" and "keeps everyone in frame" but -- seemingly acknowledging that people won't trust its claim that the devices are "private by design" and that the mic and camera can be disabled with a single tap -- a physical camera cover is included.

Security awareness training company KnowBe4 is launching a new version of its platform using artificial intelligence to identify evolving risks.

It includes a Virtual Risk Officer that helps security or IT professionals identify risks at the user, group or organizational level, resulting in better decision making for their security awareness plans.

With the exception of extremely low-cost budget models, all modern computers (laptops and desktops) should have Thunderbolt 3 these days. Why? Because TB3 is simply amazing -- it uses the USB-C connector, but is much faster than USB 3.1 Gen 2.

With Thunderbolt 3 being so fast, many consumers -- including yours truly -- have been waiting for external PCIe NVMe TB3 drives to begin hitting the mainstream. I am happy to say I have been testing one from VisionTek with my 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, and as you can imagine, it is super quick.

The purpose of the Windows Insider program is to let users test out pre-release versions of Windows 10 months in advance, so they can try out new features, and report problems.

In theory, this means when a new Windows 10 feature update rolls out to the public, all of the major bugs should have been squashed. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case, and occasionally really bad bugs -- like user personal data getting deleted by the update -- make it through the testing process. When something like this happens, it’s easy to think the issue simply failed to get picked up by Insiders, but actually that’s not the case.

OnePlus has revealed more about the upcoming OnePlus 6T. The company is famed for ramping up the hype ahead of a new launch, and things are no different with its latest handset.

The company has now revealed when the OnePlus 6T will launch -- October 30, at an event in New York City. As well as revealing this, OnePlus has also confirmed that it is no longer possible to sign up for The Lab -- a review opportunity it created to enable a select few to get their hands on the OnePlus 6T early.

The UK's High Court has blocked legal action brought against Google by the group Google You Owe Us. The group represented Apple smartphone owners and claimed that Google had collected personal data from over 4 million iPhone owners.

Fronted by former Which? director Richard Lloyd, Google You Owe Us said that between August 2011 and February 2012 the search giant bypassed iPhone privacy settings and gathered user data for advertising purposes.

Google has announced that its Safety Centre hub is rolling out across Europe. The announcement means that people in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK have access to Google's selection of tools and tips for staying safe online.

The launch has been timed to coincide with European Cyber Security Month, but Google doesn't quite seem to have decided how to spell the name of its own offering.

In the modern world people often say they care about privacy, but their actions don't reflect their words. Exploring this privacy paradox is a new infographic from privacy app company Keepsafe.

It shows that 35 percent of people have concerns when making purchases on their mobile devices, but 43 percent do so anyway in the name of convenience.

Walmart has partnered with movie studio Metro Goldwyn Mayer to help boost content for its video-on-demand platform Vudu.

Vudu -- which Walmart bought eight years ago -- has failed to attract a userbase anything close to that of rival Netflix, but by teaming up with MGM, there is clearly a push to change this. MGM will create original content based on its library of film and TV franchises. Walmart is also planning to introduce a new "shoppable" video ad format.

Following the footsteps of Microsoft Edge and Chrome, Firefox is -- at long last -- going to offer support for the delivery of notifications through Windows 10's Action Center.

The move will please many Firefox users as this is a highly-requested feature, and it brings Mozilla's web browser in line with its rivals. While there is no release date for the finished version of Firefox 64, Action Center notification support has already made its way into the nightly builds.

Just as there is a trend for dark themes in software at the moment, there is also something of a movement of "Lite" apps that use less data and resources. Originally intended for parts of the world where connectivity iss an issue, such apps have become popular with more and more people; because if you can use less data, why not?

We've seen Twitter Lite, Facebook Messenger Lite, and Facebook Lite -- although, until now, this last app has only been available to Android users. Now, however, Facebook Lite is expanding its reach with the launch of an iOS app.