Latest Technology News

Sling TV becomes more user-friendly

sling-tv

Sling TV is a name familiar to many people, especially those who no longer use cable or satellite for their TV service. The alternative brings cable-like live TV to the home, it just comes in through an internet connection. It also works with most devices you have -- phones, tablets, Roku, Fire TV and more.

Now Sling is rolling out an update designed to make things just a bit more user-friendly. It is rolling out now and includes several key items.

Continue reading

How will ARM support impact Windows 10?

Question

Microsoft can be surprising at times. After ditching Windows RT, the software giant has announced that it is working with Qualcomm to bring ARM support to Windows 10. In practice, that means that we will see Snapdragon-powered machines running Microsoft's latest operating system which, and this is key, can run proper x86 software.

Windows RT did not have that, as it was limited to apps available from Windows Store. And we all know how that worked out. However, x86 software on Snapdragon-powered Windows 10 devices can be seen as a game-changer as, in theory, it could pave the way to running resource-intensive programs, like Adobe Photoshop, on smartphones. And I am talking about the true Photoshop, not some dumbed-down mobile version. That could be huge, no doubt.

Continue reading

Microsoft now officially owns LinkedIn

microsoft-linkedin

Six months after news of the acquisition was released, Microsoft's takeover of the professional social network has closed.

The aim had been to complete the deal by the end of the year, and the two companies managed to hit the deadline after the European Commission gave it the go-ahead. The $26.2 billion acquisition is being billed as helping to accelerate the mission to "connect the world's professionals".

Continue reading

DreamObjects improves enterprise cloud storage

DreamObjects cloud storage

The cloud is becoming the first place many businesses turn to when looking to increase their storage capacity.

Web hosting and cloud services company DreamHost is looking to give enterprises more scalable, reliable, and high performing cloud storage with the launch of its latest DreamObjects storage hosting service.

Continue reading

Snipaste: screen capture for designers

Snipaste.200.175

Snipaste is an unusual developer and designer-oriented screen capture tool for Windows. Basic operations are simple and you’ll feel at home right away. Press a hotkey, left-click and drag to capture a rectangular area: easy.

The program also captures UI elements, like menus, panels, toolbars and buttons. Move your mouse cursor around the screen, Snipaste highlights the underlying UI area, and it can be captured with a left-click.

Continue reading

Microsoft aims to take 'mixed reality' mainstream in 2017

Windows10-MR-Devices-1024x576

Virtual Reality arrived properly in 2016, although it has yet to really make any mainstream impact. Augmented Reality did enter our lives via Pokémon Go, but that’s been about it so far.

Microsoft is targeting 2017 as the year that mixed reality starts to become a thing, and at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC) in Shenzhen, China the company shared the PC specifications (co-developed with Intel) that will power the first MR headsets from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo set to arrive next year.

Continue reading

Facebook reveals the biggest trending topics and Live videos of 2016

2016

We're nearing the end of the year, so expect to be inundated with retrospectives for 2016 -- Facebook has just released its look back at the year that's (nearly) gone by.

The social network's review of 2016 comprises two top 10 lists: the most popular trending topics of the year, and the most popular Live videos of the year. It should come as no surprise that the trending topics list is dominated by major political events such as the US election and Brexit, as well as celebrity deaths.

Continue reading

Conexant and Amazon bring Alexa to Raspberry Pi with 'AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit'

PiAlexa

Amazon's Echo devices are incredible. I'll admit that I was a skeptic at first, but once I got my own, I was hooked. Not only can the Alexa voice assistant provide me with important data like weather, news, and traffic, but it can play music too. Most importantly, it serves as a brilliant IoT control unit. My house has several WiFi connected power outlets, and I can verbally tell Alexa to turn off my lamps. It can even control my television!

Much of Amazon's success with Echo and Alexa is thanks to third-party developers and hardware. Today, Conexant and Amazon announce the AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit. This add-on for the Raspberry Pi should enable easier development of devices using Amazon's Alexa voice technology. This could ultimately lead to further growth and adoption of the Alexa voice assistant.

Continue reading

Windows 10 coming to ARM -- paving the way for always connected, more power-efficient PCs

win10 snapdragon thumb

There’s a fair amount of news coming out of the Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC) in Shenzhen, China at the moment, but potentially the most exciting announcement is that Windows 10 is coming to ARM.

A partnership with Qualcomm means that we’ll soon see a range of Snapdragon-powered Windows 10 PCs with integrated cellular connectivity that run x86 Win32 and universal Windows apps.

Continue reading

Senior leaders holding new tech adoption back

Stop

IT managers in UK organizations believe their senior leaders are intentionally holding back the adoption of new technologies, as they fear that could endanger their position within the company. This is according to a new report by global cloud communications provider 8x8, which surveyed 260 IT managers in UK organizations.

Almost half (45 percent) of IT managers are suspicious senior leaders are holding technology back for reasons of "self-preservation". Same IT managers, a third of them (34 percent), believe their company is making full use of the latest technology. Among C-suites, that percentage is up to almost a half (49 percent).

Continue reading

BBC trials 4K Planet Earth II in HDR on iPlayer -- but you probably can't watch it

frog

There are a growing number of ways to enjoy Ultra HD content on your 4K TV or monitor. Just a couple of days ago, Google added 4K movies to Google Play.

Now the BBC announces it is trialing 4K high dynamic range (HDR) video on its iPlayer streaming platform, and I can confirm, having watched it, it's absolutely stunning stuff. However, you shouldn’t get too excited about it, yet -- there are a couple of big catches that will mean you probably won't be able to watch it.

Continue reading

Facebook granted European license for electronic payments in Messenger

Facebook Messenger app iOS iPhone

Payments through Facebook Messenger have been available in the US for some time now, and they're about to make their way to Europe.

Facebook has just been granted a license for 'payment services' and 'e-money issuance' with the Central Bank of Ireland. As a member of the European Union, holding a license in Ireland means that Facebook will be able to offer its payment services in all of the EU member states.

Continue reading

Microsoft and Intel’s Project Evo will 'raise the bar for what’s possible with Windows PCs'

Project Evo

At the Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC) in Shenzhen, China, Microsoft made several announcements, including news that it is working with Intel on a new venture, called "Project Evo".

The aim of this, according to Microsoft, is to "deliver all-new ways for devices to light up with the latest in advanced security, artificial intelligence and Cortana, mixed reality, and gaming".

Continue reading

Junk food ads targeting children to be banned online

boy-fries-oven

Advertisements for junk food that are aimed at children are to be banned from non-broadcast media, including online. The Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP) announced the measures, which will affect advertisers in the UK, as the government tries to tackle childhood obesity.

The ban means that foods high in fat, salt and sugar cannot be advertised on social media, YouTube channels and gaming websites in ways that will specifically appeal to children.

Continue reading

Google OnHub Soars, Apple AirPort Crashes

Google OnHub

We all make mistakes. The challenge is recognizing and correcting them quickly enough. So comes admission: I bought Apple AirPort Time Capsule to replace Google OnHub—what a bad decision.

My tale starts with a chance sighting on Kinja Deals for the 2TB Apple WiFi router on sale at Amazon for $199; one-hundred bucks off. I ordered on Nov. 16, 2016, and the device arrived two days later. At the time, I had 45Mbps AT&T Internet (which has changed since). Placed in the same location where OnHub had been, about 3 meters away from my desk in the same room as the router, throughput consistently came in at 15Mbps, occasionally a little more, as measured by Fast.com or SpeedTest.Net. By contrast, Google's router wirelessly pumped 40Mbps or more. Ah, yeah.

Continue reading

BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.

© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.