Latest Technology News

Facing a backlash, Microsoft pulls post claiming Windows 7 is 'no longer able to keep up'

At the end of last week, Microsoft Germany published a post waving an early goodbye to Windows 7, and stating that the aging OS can "no longer keep up with the increased security requirements", and sticking with it could prove costly for users and businesses.

The software giant’s solution for Windows 7 users worried about security was, naturally, to switch to Windows 10. But, having faced an inevitable backlash from Windows 7 users and security experts, the company has pulled the post.

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Facebook rolls out Messenger interface for web inbox

Facebook Messenger gets a brand new dedicated website

Facebook has started to roll out the Messenger.com interface as a replacement for the longstanding message inbox on the web. The latest design should feel much more familiar to folks who use the chat service on their smartphones, as it closely resembles the Android and iOS apps.

There is no official announcement yet, but you should start seeing the new interface soon on your account. It debuted nearly two years ago as a standalone website and alternative to the message inbox for folks who do not want to visit Facebook (or wish to create an account with the social network, for that matter).

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Why advertisers need to wake up to mobile games

Happy mobile user

Mobile devices are increasingly used for many aspects of our lives and that includes playing games. But what does this mean for enterprises looking to promote their brands?

New research from mobile engagement platform Tapjoy suggests that consumers are twice as likely to say they feel relaxed when playing mobile games than they are when using social apps and that means more potential for advertisers to get their message across.

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These are all the Samsung phones set to get Android Nougat

The big difference between iOS and Android is when a new version of Apple’s mobile operating system arrives, it is pushed out to all compatible iPhones and iPads. When a new version of Google’s OS is released, there could be a considerable delay before it hits your Android phone, and -- depending on the make, model and carrier -- the chance that it might never do so.

If you have a Samsung phone and have been wondering when -- or indeed if -- you’re going to be getting an update to Android Nougat, the South Korean tech giant today details which devices will be getting the upgrade, and when.

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Acronis True Image Next Generation brings anti-ransomware, blockchain-based features

Acronis has unveiled Acronis True Image Next Generation, a new premium subscription option for Acronis True Image 2017.

The product debuts Acronis Active Protection on the Windows edition. It’s a real-time behavioral monitoring system which looks for ransomware-like activity on your PC, detecting and blocking any attempted file encryption.

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Taxi drivers, cashiers and other jobs facing extinction by technology

Boss firing employee message card

One of the challenges facing developed economies is that increased use of technology is set to wipe out many jobs. This is leading politicians to explore schemes like national basic incomes so that people can support themselves in a world where work is less certain.

But which jobs are most at risk of disappearing? UK services marketplace Bidvine has conducted a survey to find out how the public think advances in technology are changing the job market.

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Microsoft starts advertising its Chrome add-ons in Windows 10

If you’re a Windows 10 user, you’ll be no stranger to Microsoft’s adverts which appear all throughout the operating system, including on the Start menu, and the Lock screen. As I wrote a week ago, Microsoft is planning on introducing even more adverts in the Creators Update.

The latest ad to appear is for one of Microsoft’s Chrome extensions, and it arrives -- appropriately enough -- above the Chrome icon on the taskbar. The browser doesn’t need to be open at the time.

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Microsoft buys 3D optimization company Simplygon

As part of its new "3D for Everyone" strategy, Microsoft has announced that it will acquire the 3D optimization vendor Simplygon.

The company's corporate vice president of Next Gen Experiences Kudo Tsunoda revealed the acquisition intended to help boost its own 3D efforts. The Swedish company Simplygon will play a large role in allowing Microsoft to simplify the process of allowing its users to capture, create and share in 3D.

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Microsoft adds Intel's Clear Linux open source operating system to Azure Marketplace

Microsoft and Linux used to be like oil and water. In more recent years, however, the Windows-maker has embraced that kernel and other open source technologies too.

Today, Microsoft announces the addition of Intel's Clear Linux OS to Azure Marketplace. In other words, users of the company's cloud platform can set up a virtual machine using this distribution in addition to existing Linux-based operating systems.

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Few consumers believe it's their job to secure their data

Business security

Gemalto has just issued a report which clearly shows how lenient we are when it comes to protecting our private data on the Internet. In short, we are very quick to give companies our personal data, we want them to safeguard it, but we’re pretty certain they’re doing a terrible job at it.

Gemalto has polled 9,000 consumers in the following countries: Australia, Benelux, France, Germany, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States. Almost three quarters (70 percent) claim organizations are responsible for securing customer data. Just 30 percent believe the responsibility lies with them.

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YouTube gets in-app messaging and direct video sharing

Google is adding a new social component to YouTube, rolling out in-app messaging and direct video sharing on Android and iOS. The new features are available only in Canada at the time of writing this article, but Google says that they will be (eventually) released worldwide.

Why is Google introducing those features? Simple. In today's landscape, it is no longer enough to let users watch videos and reply back and forth in the comments section. If you look at Facebook, it is also super easy for users to connect after having a conversation, which then lets them privately share content, among other things. The result? They spend more time using the service.

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Mozilla rebrands with clever new logo and open source design principles

Mozilla is a very important organization for the open web. While Firefox's share of usage has not been lighting the world on fire lately, Mozilla is much more than just a web browser developer. It often fights for the rights of web users. Since it is a not-for-profit organization, you can be fairly confident that its intentions are pure.

Today, the organization announces a massive rebrand, including a partially crowd-sourced new logo. The logo is quite brilliant, as it is both pretty and sensical -- it incorporates the :// used in web addresses. While the clever logo is the star of the show, it is hardly the only new aspect. Mozilla is using open source design principles as well for things like colors, images, and fonts. In fact, the all new "Zilla" font is free to use by all.

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Businesses not prepared for the risk from mobile and IoT apps

Internet of things

Despite widespread concern about the security of mobile and IoT applications, organizations are ill-prepared for the risks they pose, according to new research.

The study from threat prevention company Arxan Technologies, IBM Security  and the Ponemon Institute reveals that 60 percent of respondents believe it’s either certain or likely their organization has experienced a material data breach or cyber attack over the past 12 months that was caused by an insecure mobile app.

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What we learned from predicting the 2016 US presidential election

As we approach the end of 2016, what feels like a very long election cycle in the US is finally coming to an end, complete with what, for many, was a surprising conclusion based on the pre-election polls (or, more accurately, how those polls were interpreted). Given the pre-election polls and the subsequent critical press coverage, it is natural to wonder whether the data presented in various 2016 presidential election predictions had some "issues".

Four years ago we were interested in how data analytics could be used in pre-election polling to make it statistically more accurate so we created an analytic app that was based on Gallup polling data to predict the winner (Barack Obama or Mitt Romney) of the election. It was a simpler application, but we got some accurate results, predicting 85 percent of the counties correctly.

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Many consumers don't care about the impact of piracy

Almost a third of consumers watch pirated content even though they know it's illegal to do so and that it deprives the content creators of revenue.

The study for platform security company Irdeto conducted by YouGov finds that 74 percent of US consumers know that sharing pirated content is illegal and 69 percent that downloading it is.

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