Latest Technology News

As we approach the start of a new year, the inevitable "best of" lists are starting to crop up. Never one to miss a trick, Google has released its own top five lists for 2017.

The lists cover the US, and there are a few obvious names taking the top spots -- Super Mario Run is unsurprisingly shown to be the most popular game, while Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and It make appearance high in the movie and book charts respectively. But in addition to the top five new apps, new games, streamed songs, movies, TV shows and books, Google has broken things down even further.

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With the massive rise in popularity -- and value -- of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, it's little wonder that people are seeking out ever more imaginative and sneaky ways to mine coins without having to invest in dedicated hardware.

Websites that mine for cryptocurrency in the background, making use of visitors' CPU time, are nothing new -- the Pirate Bay has been caught red-handed, for instance, using a Monero miner in the form of the Coinhive JavaScript Miner. But now researchers have discovered that some websites are using a drive-by mining technique that allows them to continue cryptomining even after the site is closed.

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When StatCounter released its operating system usage share figures last month it showed the gap between Windows 7 and Windows 10 had narrowed significantly.

It looked, based on that data, as if the new operating system would overtake the old one during November, but surprisingly that didn’t happen.

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Two-hundred-and-fifty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.

Microsoft revealed this week that the company's Windows 10 operating system was installed on more than 600 million devices. Also, Microsoft Edge final is now available on iOS and Android.

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The highly controversial Snooper's Charter -- also known as the Investigatory Powers Act -- is, the government has been forced to admit, illegal under European law in its current form.

The Brexit process may well be underway, but at the moment, the UK is still subject to EU law. As such, the government is making changes to the law. While the tweaks will not change the level of surveillance people are subjected to, they will restrict who has automatic access to that information.

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According to the latest figures from NetMarketShare, Windows 10 is edging closer to Windows 7’s usage share, but it still has a way to go until it overtakes it.

In October, Windows 10 saw its slowest growth in months, posting a gain of just 0.17 percentage points. In November, however, it’s a very different picture.

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It is near impossible to avoid ads these days, but Google has just introduced a new policy that makes at least one area of your smartphone a safe haven.

The new policy means that most apps will no longer be permitted to display ads on the lockscreen. But while this is something that will please Android users, it's not something that the company has really trumpeted.

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Apple's macOS is a great operating system. Not only is it stable and beautifully designed, but it is very secure too. Well, usually it is. Unless you live under a rock, you definitely heard about the macOS High Sierra security bug that made the news over the last couple of days. In case you somehow are unaware, the bug essentially made it so anyone could log into any Mac running the latest version of the operating system.

Luckily, Apple has already patched the bug, and some people -- like me -- have forgiven the company. Understandably, not everyone will be as forgiving as me. Undoubtedly, there are Mac users that are ready to jump ship as a result of the embarrassing bug. While that is probably an overreaction, if you are set on trying an alternative operating system, you should not go with Windows 10. Instead, you should embrace Linux. In fact, rather serendipitously, a Linux distribution with a UI reminiscent of macOS gets a new version today. Called "deepin," version 15.5 of the distro is now ready to download.

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While the MacBook Pro doesn’t have a dedicated video port, that really doesn’t matter. Thanks to its versatile USB-C ports, any port can output video with the correct cable or dongle. In other words, a USB-C to HDMI, VGA, or DisplayPort cable can allow you to easily connect a computer to a monitor or television.

Most USB-C to DisplayPort cables claim 4K support at the most, but there is a new cable that takes things up a notch. You see, a new product from a company called "Moshi" can apparently do 5K at 60Hz. The company claims this is the first-ever USB-C cable to be certified by VESA for that resolution. It can even do 4:4:4 chroma subsampling. While it is designed for MacBook and MacBook Pro, it should work fine with Windows and Linux computers too.

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Christmas is quickly approaching and Santa is not the only one flying for the holiday. The yuletide season is one of the most popular travel times of the year. After all, as the song says There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays.

If you've planned your trip out and already booked your flight then you may not want to start packing just yet. There may be a small problem in that well thought-out itinerary, so alert mom and dad now.

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Digital transformation is increasingly critical to business success, yet a new survey of technology professionals shows that 47 percent lack confidence in the digital literacy of their leadership.

The study by technology association ISACA shows less than 25 percent of organizations believe their senior leadership is very receptive to adopting emerging technologies, while 20 percent are believed to be not receptive at all.

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For computer enthusiasts, we are living in a very exciting time. Hardware is faster than ever, while prices for parts are quite reasonable. You can build a very capable PC without breaking the bank.

One of my favorite components is the solid state drive. Not only are they much faster than traditional mechanical hard disk drives, but they can reduce power usage too -- a big win for battery life on laptops and tablets. Today, Toshiba unveils its latest such drive and it looks amazing. The 2TB XG5-P is NVMe based, meaning it will be blazing fast.

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Fueled by Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and other major players, the crypto market hit a new all-time-high yesterday, reaching a valuation of over $345 billion. But, as the saying goes, what goes up must come down. So, as the incredible rally finally came to an end, the market started to crash, big time.

This is not uncommon for the crypto scene. This year we have seen three similar crashes happening. All coincided with Bitcoin setting a new price record. This one is no different, as the market entered a correction right after the most-valuable cryptocurrency broke $11,500, sending it back into the low-$9,000s.

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Endpoint systems continue to be the weakest point for most organizations, allowing a potential route for hackers to penetrate networks and steal data.

IT and security operations specialist Ivanti is launching a new version of its Endpoint Manager and Endpoint Security aimed at simplifying endpoint management and security with an integrated console and workflows.

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A group going by the name Google You Owe Us is taking Google to court in the UK, complaining that the company harvested personal data from 5.4 million iPhone users.

The group is led by Richard Lloyd, director of consumer group Which?, and it alleges that Google bypassed privacy settings on iPhones between June 2011 and February 2012. The lawsuit seeks compensation for those affected by what is described as a "violation of trust."

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