Latest Technology News

So many Linux distributions, so little time! Today, yet another operating system based on the kernel gets a new version. This particular distro, called "deepin" is a bit controversial, as it comes from China -- a country not known for human rights or user privacy. Since the OS is largely open source, I am not really worried, but I can respect people that are wary of spying, however.

This new version of deepin is 15.4.1. I know what you are thinking -- this is just a point release, is it really interesting? Actually, yes! There are quite a lot of new features and fixes, making this essential for existing users of the operating system. Those looking to try it for the first time -- maybe because they are dissatisfied with Windows 10 -- are in for a treat, as it has quite the unique and elegant user interface, delivering a very positive experience. Since it is based on the great Debian, you know that it will be rock solid.

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The biggest challenges companies have with implementing IoT technologies is not security but rather identifying ROI.

This is according to a new report by Canonical, entitled Defining IoT Business Models, which polled 360 IoT professionals, including devs, vendors and enterprise users, more than half (53 percent) say "quantifying ROI and providing a clear use case" is currently their biggest challenge.

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YouTube has quietly revealed that its Video Editor and Photo slideshows features will close down in just two months. It seems that not enough people are using the two tools to warrant keeping them alive, so they are being "retired".

Users are warned that while videos that have already been published will remain accessible, projects currently sitting in Video Editor must be completed by the shutdown date of September 20.

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Andy Rubin's startup, Essential, announced its highly-anticipated smartphone in late-May. The high-end device, called Essential Phone, is aimed at flagship buyers looking for something a little different from an iPhone 7 or Galaxy S8, packing some cool features and a clean design at a competitive price.

But, unlike an iPhone 7 or Galaxy S8, you cannot just go out and buy an Essential Phone. Users can, however, "reserve" one, in either black or white, but when it will ship is as yet unknown at this stage. An email from Andy Rubin gives us a pretty good idea as to when it will be available though.

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Google, Facebook and other big tech companies have all committed to trying to eradicate extremism from their respective networks in recent months. YouTube has just announced its latest strategy, with a technique which sounds rather like a type of contraception.

The Redirect Method uses a very simple technique of displaying safe, carefully curated content when certain keywords are used as search terms. More than this, when searches for extremist content are conducted, YouTube will actually show videos that "debunk violent extremist recruiting narratives."

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There is a lot of discussion surrounding what will happen to Bitcoin come August 1, when two major changes to the protocol are scheduled to take place. Will we have a soft fork, which will keep Bitcoin on the current blockchain, or will a hard fork take place, creating a separate blockchain?

There is no definitive answer yet, but the major exchanges are preparing its customers for what will likely be a bumpy period in trading. Coinbase has announced its stance, revealing that it will not support the hard fork and the coins that it may create.

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Two-hundred-and-forty 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.

We are just months away from the release of the next big update for Windows 10, the Fall Creators Update. Only 50 percent of all Windows 10 devices have received the current feature update -- the Creators Update -- so far, which makes it likely that some systems may go straight to the next release when it arrives.

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According to a new survey by advert filtering company AdGuard, 57 percent of internet users have either fallen prey to advert scammers, or are worried about malicious and phishing advertising.

In addition 48 percent of respondents have experienced privacy issues with tracking requests hidden in online ads, leading to the email spam, unwanted incoming calls and IM chats.

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The ransomware attacks that make the news are the ones like WannaCry and NotPetya that spread rapidly and affect many businesses.

But there's a new breed of manual ransomware attack happening that seeks to pick its victims much more selectively with a view to causing maximum disruption. We spoke to Roy Fisher, incident investigator at cyber security company MWR to find out more.

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Microsoft hasn't supported Windows XP and Windows Vista for a while (mainstream support ended eight and five years ago, respectively), but other technology companies have continued to support their own software under these ancient operating systems.

Now, however, Blizzard has announced that it is dropping support for the OSes in a number of its games. The list includes names such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft II and Diablo III, and the change is coming later this year.

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Some four months after the first Vault 7 leak, WikiLeaks continues to publish revealing CIA documents that detail the agency's ability to hack, infiltrate and surveil targets. The latest batch goes under the banner "UCL / Raytheon", and comprises documents from CIA contractor Raytheon Blackbird Technologies.

Dating from late 2014 and late 2015, the documents show how the CIA, through Raytheon Blackbird Technologies, monitored malware in the wild to see how it could be used by the agency. The documents cover tools produced by the infamous Hacking Team as well as the Russian HammerToss malware delivered via Twitter.

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In an effort to appear more user friendly, Amazon has removed a controversial clause from its AWS customer agreement that may lead to more businesses signing up for its cloud computing services.

For quite a few years now, potential customers have been wary of a clause in the company's customer agreement that prohibited customers from suing it over patent infringement. Businesses chose other cloud providers instead as they were concerned over whether or not they could trust Amazon with the intellectual property of their companies.

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Samsung's Galaxy Note line of devices totally changed the smartphone landscape forever. Not only did the company revolutionize the "phablet" screen size, but with the addition of the wonderful S-Pen, it made handwriting entry relevant again. Even Apple faced the pressure of big-screen Android devices, finally altering its own iPhone with bigger displays.

Life was good for Samsung's Note smartphones, until it wasn't. In a sad turn of events, the most recent variant, the Note7, was recalled due to exploding batteries. While many companies would be unable to survive such a calamity, Samsung has. In fact, its brand is still incredibly strong and many consumers are clamoring for the next such smartphone. I am happy too say that, as rumored, the much-anticipated Galaxy Note8 will make its triumphant debut next month. It will be revealed in New York City at Samsung's annual "Unpacked" press event.

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IBM has announced today that it will be launching four new data centers in England, Australia and California that will allow its customers to take advantage of its blockchain, big data and IoT offerings as well as have low-latency access to its cognitive services.

The firm reported its quarterly earnings this week and despite the rest of its business performing below expectations, its cloud division saw revenue increase by 15 percent year-over-year and accounted for $3.9 billion of its total revenue.

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Despite previously being one of the most vocal champions of the wearable technology market space, semiconductor giant Intel has virtually (and quietly) shut down the business unit that was responsible for its once emerging line of smartwatch and fitness tracker components.

The dedicated unit was created after Intel acquired a little-known smartwatch company called Basis in 2014. The writing may have been on the wall after the company had to recall all Basis products late last year after multiple incidents of them overheating, causing users' wrists to become burned.

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