Latest Technology News

Each month, we report NetMarketShare’s figures on the state of the desktop operating system market. Although the numbers occasionally go a little haywire (last month, for example, they briefly showed a sizeable -- and unrealistic -- growth for Linux, before being corrected), they are usually pretty consistent.

NetMarketShare isn’t the only firm that monitors operating system share however. StatCounter also keeps a close eye on the state of things, and its figures paint a very different, and much rosier picture for Windows 10.

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The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update began its rollout last month, and according to AdDuplex it’s already on over 5 percent of systems running the new OS.

Windows 10’s growth has generally been quite slow since Microsoft pulled the plug on the official free upgrade path, and the latest figures from NetMarketShare show no change here. In fact, in October, Windows 10 saw its slowest growth in months.

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Ubuntu is a great operating system, and this year it has gotten even better. Why? The maker of the distribution, Canonical, ditched the much-maligned Unity desktop environment. Instead, the latest version of the distro uses the far-better GNOME.

Not only does Ubuntu get better by using GNOME, but GNOME should improve thanks to Canonical’s contributions. Today, the GNOME Foundation Advisory board announces that Canonical has joined. This makes a lot of sense, as the company’s popular operating system should bring a renewed interest in the desktop environment. In other words, it is win/win for both.

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Google has today unveiled a new library for virtual and augmented reality creators. Poly is home to all manner of 3D objects and scenes that can be dropped into apps and games.

At the moment Google says there are "thousands" of free models available to download, but the company will be hoping for this to expand massively. Poly is integrated with Tilt Brush and Blocks, and has been designed with a range of VR headsets and phone-based AR systems in mind.

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While public cloud adoption continues to grow, organizations, especially in regulated industries like finance and health care, are continuing to use private clouds to quickly launch and update applications.

To tap into this market IBM is launching a new Cloud Private software platform, designed to enable companies to create on-premises cloud capabilities similar to public clouds to accelerate app development.

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Foxit Software has released Foxit Reader 9.0, a major new version of its free PDF creation and reader tool for Windows PCs.

The new release focuses on improving the program’s accessibility with new single-key accelerators among other changes, but also adds a new single-column Reflow view and features notable updates to the program’s commenting features and search tools.

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In spite of trends towards decentralization and the cloud, the mainframe remains a relevant and growing data center hub for many businesses according to a new report.

In the 12th annual Mainframe Research Report from IT solutions company BMC 91 percent of respondents predict mainframe workloads will continue to grow, and 51 percent say more than half of their data resides on a mainframe.

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Passwords are fundamental to modern life, both at home and at work. In the workplace, the security of passwords is paramount, and ensuring that employees are taking matters seriously is an important part of safeguarding any business.

A new report by LastPass -- The Password Exposé -- reveals the threats posed, and the opportunities presented, by employee passwords. The report starts by pointing out that while nearly everyone (91 percent) knows that it is dangerous to reuse passwords -- with 81 percent of data breaches attributable to "weak, reused, or stolen passwords", more than half (61 percent) do reuse passwords. But the real purpose of the report is to "reveal the true gap between what IT thinks, and what's really happening."

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Spreadsheets like Excel were never designed to handle complex analytics and big data tasks, but a growing demand for data insights is leading many businesses to waste effort manually handling data in spreadsheets.

A study commissioned by self-service analytics company Alteryx and carried out by IDC reveals that advanced spreadsheet users spend on average nine hours a week on repeat effort manually manipulating data, wasting €10,000 per year. Across Europe this represents, on average, two billion hours of duplicate work, costing an eye-watering €55bn per year (around $64bn).

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Just moments ago I was reading about Bitcoin setting a new price record above $6,400. The main cryptocurrency has been incredibly strong, and resilient during crashes, so this latest development does not surprise me one iota.

What also does not surprise me is that Bitcoin kept going after reaching the $6,400 mark, settling above $6,600 at the time of writing this article, based on an average from major exchanges like Bithumb (where it's actually gone past $6,700), Kraken, GDAX and Poloniex.

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As more and more applications move to the cloud there's an increasing assumption that it's the right approach for everyone. Indeed we've seen recently that many cloud investments are being made out of fear of missing out. But this one size fits all approach isn't necessarily the right one, and can put companies in a difficult position.

We spoke to Michael Hiskey, Chief Strategy Officer from intelligent data management company Semarchy, to find out what businesses should consider before moving to the cloud and how they can avoid being forced down that route.

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Apple has pushed out the latest updates to macOS High Sierra and iOS. macOS 10.13.1 and iOS 11.1 include a range of bug fixes, and also herald the arrival of a new batch of emoji.

The two relatively minor updates also address the recently-discovered KRACK security vulnerability. But while the WPA2 patch will be welcomed by many people, it is not available for all iPhones and iPads, meaning that large numbers of people will be left exposed.

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Google has announced Fast Pair, an update to Bluetooth connectivity that speeds up the process of connecting a Bluetooth device -- such as headphones -- to an Android phone or tablet. It's an idea that's not entirely dissimilar to the technology used by Apple to connect AirPods to iPhones.

Using a combination of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) for advertising and discovery, and traditional Bluetooth for pairing, the focus is on speed and security. It's compatible with devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above, and it's part of Google Play services 11.7+.

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I am a strong believer in home Wi-Fi security cameras. Being able to monitor my house while away is a godsend. Yeah, it is great for security purposes, but you know where else these products shine? Pets! Yeah, with one of these cameras, you can keep tabs on your dog, cat, bird, lizard -- whatever. If you are at work and want to check in on your pup or kitty, just launch an app and there they are.

Unfortunately, these cameras can be expensive and difficult to set up. But, what if they weren't? What if there was a Wi-Fi camera that was easy to set up and cost, I don't know, say, $20? Surely you cannot get such a Wi-Fi security camera for an "Andrew Jackson," right? Actually, you can! The WyzeCam is that inexpensive and even promises an easy app-based setup process. Quite frankly, the boxy design is quite adorable too. Shockingly, it even streams at 1080p.

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Keeping in touch with other users is essential for your business. We use Skype to keep in touch with contacts all over the world, from freelancers writers, through to key contacts.

With this in mind, all we want is a relatively simple tool that enables us to perform our business without distractions.

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