Latest Technology News

With the GDPR implementation date of May 18th 2018 drawing ever nearer, organizations are looking to review their data management processes in order to avoid being hit with fines.

Big data application provider Solix Technologies is launching a range of new data governance capabilities and assessment services to address GDPR readiness and compliance, in addition to a free online GDPR readiness grading tool.

Continue reading →

Amazon is gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas with a new discount scheme. The online retailer has introduced a new "Discount provided by Amazon" tag, discounting independent merchants' prices -- at its own cost -- by up to 9 percent.

This is the first time Amazon has taken control of third party pricing, and in shouldering the cost itself the company is helping to ensure competitive pricing across the board, keeping customers on the site.

Continue reading →

If you've updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 11.1, you may well have encountered a strange autocorrect bug. Type an "i" and it could well be replaced by an uppercase A followed by a symbol.

Apple is aware of the peculiar bug and is working on a patch. Until this is released, the company is suggesting a workaround.

Continue reading →

Britain's decision to leave the European Union has sparked mixed emotions in the business world, but a new survey of over 800 IT decision-makers across Europe reveals that most see Brexit as an opportunity.

In the survey of over 800 European IT decision-makers by cloud and network provider Interoute, 70 percent overall believe that Britain leaving the EU is an opportunity for their company. Business confidence surrounding Britain leaving the EU was highest in France (83 percent) and Belgium (78 percent) but lowest in Sweden (49 percent).

Continue reading →

New research into insider threats reveals that 24 percent of UK employees have deliberately shared confidential business information outside their company.

The study from privacy and risk management specialist Egress Software Technologies also shows that almost half (46 percent) of respondents say they have received a panicked email recall request, which is not surprising given more than a third (37 percent) say they don’t always check emails before sending them.

Continue reading →

Twitter faced criticism over the weekend after it was discovered that the search term "bisexual" appeared to have been blocked. Users noticed that searching for the word returned no news or photo results, leading to claims of censorship and discrimination.

The company refers to the issue as "an error with search results for certain terms" and is "working quickly to resolve" it.

Continue reading →

The iPhone X launched to much excitement last week, and Apple's latest handset has received glowing reviews. But the company has issued a warning about the Super Retina display -- despite describing it as the "best OLED display that has ever shipped in a smartphone."

Just like Google's Pixel 2 XL, Apple warns that the iPhone X could suffer from "burn-in" issues. The company also refers to "slight visual changes" such as "image persistence" that may follow extended long-term use -- but offers up a few tips to minimize the problems.

Continue reading →

While it has a large presence in Europe, Altice is a fairly new name in the USA. The company recently bought Cablevision -- the cable TV and internet provider that serves Long Island and other areas in the New York Tri-State area. The company even offers VOIP telephone service, making it a traditional "triple play" provider.

Today, Altice USA announces its intentions to enter the cell phone service business too. No, the company is not putting up new cell towers or anything ambitious such as that. Actually, Altice USA will become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). If you aren't familiar, this essentially means the company will sell access to an existing cell provider's towers -- in this case, it will be Sprint.

Continue reading →

After weeks of rumors and speculation about a possible merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, the two companies have spoken out and said their discussions have amounted to nothing. In joint statements, the telecoms firms announced that merger talks have come to an end.

The companies were "unable to find mutually agreeable terms," and the decision has been made to "put an end to the extensive speculation around a transaction."

Continue reading →

I consider myself lucky, although some commenters (you know who you are) will disagree, by successfully ordering from Verizon Wireless the iPhone X for delivery on launch day—November 3rd. A FedEx driver brought the anticipated package to my door yesterday afternoon. I hauled down to Apple Store to purchase AppleCare+ before my grubby paws caressed the steel rims (vroom)  and generous glass (screen measures 5.8 inches diagonally).

Replacing iPhone 7 Plus, which features and benefits greatly satisfy, is a bit extravagant. But I wanted the X to review and for its smaller size but larger display—understanding caveats: Home button's removal changes fundamental interaction and means adapting habits (oh my aching muscle memory).

Continue reading →

Broadcom could be on the verge of carrying out the biggest technology acquisition in history. The chipmaker is said to be planning a $100 billion bid for smartphone chip supplier Qualcomm. It is possible that the bid could be even higher.

While the deal has not been officially announced, people familiar with the matter say the offer could be just days away. If Broadcom does go ahead with the purchase of Qualcomm, it would create a $200 billion company.

Continue reading →

If you're using Tor, you're almost certainly doing so because you're looking for privacy and anonymity. But a newly discovered critical vulnerability has been revealed in the Mac and Linux versions of the browser that means IP addresses may be leaked.

The bug was discovered by security firm We Are Segment and was reported to Tor. While a proper patch is yet to be created, a fix has been released, and Tor users are strongly advised to install it.

Continue reading →

Razer may be a smartphone maker nowadays, but don't think for a second the company has forgotten its roots. True, Razer is branching out to other businesses, but it is still a gaming peripheral company at its core.

To drive that point home, today, Razer unveils two new hardcore PC gaming peripherals -- the "Naga Trinity" gaming mouse and "Tartarus V2" gaming keypad. These are two very intriguing products -- evolutions of prior peripheral generations -- both of which focus heavily on complicated multiplayer games, such as MOBA and MMO. The mouse has a replaceable left side, which can give optimized thumb controls based on the game and user preference. The keypad is designed to make many keyboard keys accessible to one hand, making it a more comfortable and streamlined control experience. After all, traditional keyboards were designed for typing -- not gaming.

Continue reading →

This should not come as a surprise to anyone reading this wonderful website, but here at BetaNews we love beta software. The prospect of trying new features and changes before they make it into production gets us pretty excited. That's why, for instance, we check out every Windows 10 preview build we can install -- thanks, Microsoft!

I also have to thank Google, this time around for feeding our addiction of betas on the mobile side. Many major developers have embraced this option, opening programs so that enthusiasts can help improve their favorite apps. Netflix is the latest to (re)join the list.

Continue reading →

Open-source sound recording, editing and mixing tool Audacity 2.2.0 has been released for Windows, Mac and Linux, around two years after version 2.1.0 made its bow.

Version 2.2.0’s highlights include support for themes -- with a choice of four provided, plus reorganization of the program’s menus, additional help buttons and a major code overhaul.

Continue reading →