Latest Technology News

Galileo has been making headlines once again, and this time not for the right reasons. It was reported on January 18, 2017 that several of the atomic clocks responsible for the satellites’ ability to calculate precise time have failed.

Timing is everything in GNSS -- very precise time is required to calculate an accurate value of the delay in receiving signals that have been transmitted from a given satellite. This allows users to determine their position on Earth accurately. Also, many applications today take advantage of the very precise timing that GNSS can provide via the atomic clocks in use on the satellites.

Historically, I haven't been a huge fan of Microsoft's "Arc" mice. With that said, I have still used them often. Why? They are insanely compact, making them easy to throw into a bag when on the go. The coolest aspect is that bending it into position turns it on, and folding it flat turns it off -- there is no power button needed. While not the best pointing experience, the pros have largely outweighed the cons. My biggest complaint has been the deficient touch scrolling strip -- it is not accurate and can sometimes be maddening to use.

Luckily, it seems Microsoft has finally addressed the scrolling complaints with an all-new product -- the Surface Arc Mouse. You see, the entire clickable part of the mouse is essentially a trackpad that lets the user scroll both vertically and horizontally. Gone is the thin vertical-only strip found on the predecessor -- thank goodness. Quite frankly, it is very attractive too -- it looks pretty darn good.

Global data center company Equinix has bought 29 data centers, along with their operations, from Verizon Communications. Approximately 250 Verizon employees will also become Equinix employees in the process.

The deal, worth $3.6 billion, will be completed in all cash. It includes more than 1,000 customers, 600 of which are net new. Verizon will now, consequently, become a substantially larger customer. It also includes roughly a million square meters of data center space.

Veteran Windows disc burner cdrtfe has been updated to version 1.5.7. This is a maintenance release, though with some worthwhile tweaks, including smarter verification for ISO burning operations and a RAW writing mode for CUE files.

If you’ve not come across cdrtfe before, it’s is simple application for burning data discs, audio CDs, XCDs and (S)VCDs, as well as creating ISO images from discs or burning ISOs to disc.

Big Data is now a $57 billion market, according to a new report from SNS Research. Entitled The Big Data Market: 2017 - 2030 -- Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & Forecasts, it says that vendors will be earning from hardware, software, and professional services revenue.

What’s more, the report says the investments are expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 10 percent over the next four years, reaching $76 billion by the end of 2020.

The Surface Laptop sounds like a confusing proposition. It runs Windows 10 S, which is a lesser version of Windows 10 that competes with Chrome OS, yet it kicks off at $999, which is way above what you'd expect to pay for a Chromebook. It has premium aspirations, featuring an attractive build and high-end hardware, yet it does not come with a single USB Type-C port, like other devices in this segment do.

That last part has some people scratching their heads, because Microsoft has managed to fit a full-sized USB port in that slim profile. USB Type-C would have made more sense, but it chose not to include a single port. However, the software giant has, at least, considered that option at some point in the development process.

Part of the art of making a phishing attack successful is having a domain name that looks sufficiently similar to a legitimate one not to arouse suspicion in the target.

Research by threat intelligence specialist DomainTools has uncovered over 300 registered domains using the names of five of the UK's top high street banks.

Healthcare data breaches hit an all-time high in 2016 resulting in the records of almost 16.6 million Americans being exposed as a result of hacks, lost or stolen devices, and unauthorized disclosure.

But the latest Healthcare Breach Report from data protection company Bitglass shows a sharp decline in breaches over the first quarter of 2017.

Many people don't seem to understand who Windows 10 S is for. That's why you'll read many comments and stories, including here at BetaNews, saying that Microsoft has introduced a crippled version of Windows 10 that will not appeal to anyone or that the operating system is only here to get people to pay an upgrade fee to the "proper" Windows 10. They're missing the point... by a mile.

If you look at the context in which Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 S, which is its #MicrosoftEDU event, you'll understand that this operating system has a specific scope. It's here so that educators and students who have complained of the complexity of using Windows and migrated to Chromebooks can fall in love with Windows again. That's it. There is no conspiracy, and there's nothing more to it.

Industrial robots make many of the things that we use in our everyday lives, from cars to domestic appliances.

If the world isn't to descend into chaos therefore, it's imperative that robots follow their programming. But a new report from the TrendLabs research arm of cyber security company Trend Micro reveals just how easily industrial robots can be hacked.

Social media is powerful, so it's really little wonder that the likes of Facebook are used for propaganda. We already know that advertising can be very carefully targeted for maximum impact, and this can prove important when it comes to getting across a political message.

With the UK on the verge of an early general election -- one that will be fought with Brexit and Scottish Independence looming large -- political campaigns are getting underway, including on Facebook. To help educate voters about how they are being besieged by political parties, a free Chrome extension called Who Targets Me? has been launched. It reveals just how personal information made available on the social network is used.

The Banana Phone is a device that was clearly conceived during an evening in which far too many alcoholic beverages were consumed.

It is, essentially, a phone shaped like a banana. So you can call friends and family members on what appears to be a piece of yellow fruit. It’s an amusing idea made real. But it’s also a device with a big problem.

Yesterday, to a somewhat unexpectant world, Microsoft unleashed a new operating system: Windows 10 S. The company would of course prefer that you didn’t think of this as it having a second stab at Windows RT, but it's hard to ignore the fact that that's basically what's happening.

This is, after all, a copy of Windows that is only capable of running apps downloaded from the Windows Store. Microsoft is placing a good deal of emphasis on the performance and security the operating system offers, but with the option of unlocking Windows 10 Pro (for a fee, of course), is this just a sneaky way for Microsoft to take advantage of unsuspecting laptop-buyers on a budget?

It seems that the Raspberry Pi Foundation can do no wrong. Every new Pi it announces goes on to be a huge hit. The most recent model, the Wi-Fi enabled Pi Zero W, is a great example of this.

Launched just nine weeks ago, the Foundation announces that it has now shipped the 250,000th unit, and it is making the tiny board easier to buy by adding 13 additional distributors.

Yesterday we debated whether interest in the Apple Watch is falling, but Tim Cook says that sales have doubled over the last year. This is an easy claim to make when you don’t reveal the actual sales figures, but the story is definitely less rosy when we look at the iPhone. For the second quarter ever, sales of Apple's smartphone fell.

This was not only a drop in sales, but an unexpected one. While analysts had been predicting sales in the region of 52.27 million, the reality is that the company shipped just 50.2 million in the quarter ending April 1, 2017. It might not seem like a big difference, but the sustained fall in sales saw Apple's stock to follow suit to the tune of 1.5 percent.