Latest Technology News

Mostly everything that Microsoft has revealed about the forthcoming Windows 10 Creators Update to date has focused on the "creator" side of things, and 3D in particular.

Not wishing to completely alienate users with no interest in 3D and mixed reality, the company today reveals how the update will improve security and better "protect, defend and respond to threats".

Gaaiho Reader is a lightweight and feature-packed PDF reader for Windows. The program opens with a more cluttered interface than Adobe Reader -- menus, buttons, sidebars -- but basic viewing remains very straightforward.

Drag and drop a file, scroll through it as usual, and you can use page thumbnails or bookmarks to jump directly to whatever section you need.

Insurance companies are mostly reluctant to use big data analytics to rate their customers’ driving habits, but the trend is slowly picking up pace, a new report by PTOLEMUS Consulting Group says.

The report is based on an analysis of the world’s 27 largest usage-based insurance (UBI) policies, including those of Admiral, Allianz, Allstate, AXA, Generali, Desjardins, Direct Line, State Farm, The Hartford, UnipolSai, Uniqa and Zurich. It says the number of UBI policies reached 14 million at the end of Q3 this year, but things are still slow.

Instagram can be a very rewarding experience. If you have never tried it, please know that the concept is rather simple. A user posts either a picture or video, and then other people can comment on it. It is a refreshing alternative to other social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Unfortunately, Instagram isn't always a safe space. As you can imagine, trolls will make fun of people's appearances in the photos by leaving negative comments. Not only does this harm someone's self-esteem, but it contributes to an overall declining society that feels to be increasingly dominated by negativity. Some of these users may even post images of themselves self-harming as a result. Today, Instagram announces upcoming changes to make the platform safer.

Here's the deal. Apple doesn't want to publish smartwatch sales data in its quarterly financial reports. So, to tell us where Apple Watch stands in relation to the competition in the wearables market, analysts come up with estimates, which may or may not be close to the truth. IDC did the same thing this week, claiming that Apple Watch sales nosedived in Q3 2016.

Apple typically does not comment on such claims, as it prefers to keep quiet and not add any fuel to the fire. It's a strategy that works, because, first of all, the Apple Watch was never in any real kind of trouble to begin with. So far, it's been considered the market leader in its segment. But now that IDC announces a major decline, Tim Cook decides it is time to tell us that Apple Watch is actually "doing great".

Big companies like to be seen to be doing their bit, particularly when it comes to the environment, and tech companies are no different. Google -- being one of the biggest companies in the world -- has huge energy requirements, and it's looking to help address the problem of climate change.

The company has already done a lot to increase the energy efficiency of its data centers, but in 2017 it is going further. It says that it will be fully powered by renewable energy from next year, and that includes both data centers and offices.

With more of us than ever doing our shopping online over the holiday period we want to feel that we can do so safely.

But a new report from security ratings company SecurityScorecard exposes cyber security vulnerabilities across 48 of the biggest US retailers.

It’s almost 2017 and many organizations are still using tape to archive their data. According to a new report by Kroll Ontrack, that can be challenging, risky and expensive.

After polling 819 IT administrators, more than a quarter (27 percent) don’t have clear insight into which information is being backed up on legacy tapes. It can also be quite costly.

The switch to as-a-service models for delivering software gives organizations a wide range of providers to choose from, but it can lead to a proliferation of different solutions and a challenge for management.

Cloud management specialist BetterCloud is launching a new unified software-as-a-service (SaaS) management platform to give IT departments powerful automation and governance capabilities.

The past year has been a pretty eventful one for many reasons, not least in the area of cyber security which has seen attacks gaining in sophistication and persistence.

If you were expecting 2017 to be an improvement you may be in for a disappointment according to the Information Security Forum (ISF) which is today publishing its outlook for the threats businesses will face in the next year.

Identifying a file type is often very easy. A glance at the icon gives you a general idea -- VLC Media Player tells you it’s a media file, for instance -- and the extension tells you everything else.

Life isn’t always that simple, though. File extensions might be lost, changed, or maybe you’ve just found a mystery file in a folder somewhere and would like to know what it is.

A third of enterprises, globally, are completely unprepared for the process of digital transformation, a new report by global data, market research and advisory firm Ovum says.

Six in ten (60 percent) of enterprises say that the process of digital transformation is "well advanced" or "in progress". However, just seven percent say the process is "complete". The financial services sector seems to be spearheading the charge, with 60 percent of enterprises saying the process is "well advanced".

Thanks to technology, remote working is easier and more popular, with both workers and employers, than ever before. But does being able to work remotely lead to a happier workforce?

Time management specialist Time Doctor has produced an infographic based on research by employee engagement company TINYpulse into remote working habits.

Terrorism is a daily threat to our freedoms. It is unfortunate, as we used to be able to go throughout our days without the thought of violence. Now, it dominates the news. Heck, when I am in Penn Station in NYC, I see soldiers with machine guns. Sigh.

Unfortunately, terrorists thrive on the internet too. Using social media and video platforms like YouTube, these evil-doers look to recruit new members while sharing propaganda. Today, Google announces that it is partnering with some major players -- Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter -- to fight online terrorism with a special database. The partners will look to protect user privacy in the process.

Windows 10 offers a lot of personalization options. Go to Settings > Personalization and you can change the background, alter the color scheme, pick a different Lock screen background, and apply themes.

If you want Windows 10 to show a splash of color, go to the Colors section and toggle the 'Show color on Start, taskbar and Action Center' setting to On. There’s not an option to only change the taskbar’s color unfortunately, but it is possible to do this.