Latest Technology News

Amazon will sell private-label brands to Prime subscribers

Amazon is preparing to expand its business with the addition of several new lines of private label brands that it will begin selling in the coming weeks.

The company’s private brands will initially be available to Amazon Prime subscribers and will include perishable foods, tea and coffee, vitamins and baby food as well as other household items such as laundry detergent and diapers.

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HP unveils 13.3-inch aluminum EliteBook 1030 with Skylake Intel Core M and up to 16GB RAM

When someone asks me for advice on buying a laptop, there are two questions I often ask them -- what do you want to do with it? and what is your budget? Once I get the answers to those questions, I steer them towards a reputable brand that meets their needs. One such brand that I always consider -- especially for a Windows machine -- is HP. Not only does the company make notebooks that are powerful, but beautiful too.

Today, that manufacturer unveils a beautiful new laptop -- the HP EliteBook 1030. Featuring a capable Skylake Intel Core M processor and up to 16GB RAM, it should meet the needs of both home and business users. It can be configured with either Windows 10 or the older-yet-popular Windows 7.

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It may not be new, but Microsoft scheduling unwanted Windows 10 upgrades is still scummy behavior

I’ve been suffering with a shoulder impingement for a while, and seeing an osteopath to try and fix the problem. After today’s session, the osteopath tried to book me in for a new appointment, but the on-screen calendar was obscured by another appointment that had popped up -- this one for a Windows 10 upgrade. An upgrade that -- surprise, surprise -- the osteopath had neither asked for, nor wanted.

Not content with popping up at inconvenient times -- like during a live TV broadcast, for example -- Windows 10 upgrades are now being scheduled for a random date and time. You can cancel them but, like the best crapware, Microsoft has done its best to hide that option.

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98 percent of Brits are happy with their bank

Happy mobile user

Pretty much everyone in the UK is satisfied with their banks and the services those banks offer, Juniper Research confirmed this week.

According to the market analysts' research, 98 percent of those surveyed said they were either "happy", or "quite happy" with their service. Juniper failed to mention the size of the group it surveyed, though.

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The Intercept cracks open the Snowden archive including internal NSA newsletters

There can be few people who have had such an impact on people's perception of the government as Edward Snowden. Having exposed the convert spying activities of the NSA, he opened up a worldwide debate about privacy and surveillance that is still going on today. His revelations have shaped public opinion and changed the course of history.

Just as the likes of the Guardian have already helped to educate the world about what the NSA has been doing, so The Intercept is releasing a huge cache of internal NSA documents that give an intriguing insight into the agency's operations. The documents shed light on the NSA's work relating to terrorism, Iraq, and general surveillance.

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Apple Watch leads the smartwatch market, Fitbit dominates wearables

Even though it is not Apple's most important product, Apple Watch is actually a market leader. In Q1 2016 shipments totaled 1.5 million units, according to a new IDC report, making it the undisputed king of this market.

Apple Watch actually holds a healthy lead over its Samsung-made rivals, having a market share of 46 percent as opposed to 20.9 percent share for the second place player. As you can see, the market as a whole is rather small, with total shipments of just 3.2 million units in an entire quarter.

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9 tips to improve your smartphone's battery life

You’re really concerned about your battery life, aren’t you? That’s right, when it’s time to travel or go out, you always remember two things -- your toothbrush and your charger! The toothbrush to make your morning fresh and the charger to save you from the irritation of the diminishing smartphone battery during your working day.

Battery life has been one of the most important concerns for users, app developers, and manufacturers. On average, most smartphone batteries last 1-2 days before being completely depleted. In smartphone reviews we see how battery life can outrank other features -- after all, if the battery’s dead we can’t use them for those important calls or emails! While we wait for any latest technology to come to market, let’s look at some easy ways to conserve battery life. These tips will definitely help to make you feel relaxed and anxiety-free till you return safely to your charger.

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Terrorist group Al-Qaeda threatens to murder Microsoft founder Bill Gates

When Al-Qaeda destroyed two World Trade Center buildings, it felt like everything changed. Seemingly overnight, the citizens of the USA went from being fairly care-free to having to constantly look behind their collective backs. It is now 2016 and when I go to Penn Station in New York City, I still see military people with assault rifles. Sadly, this is apparently the new reality.

Now, that same terrorist group is threatening business men and women in America. It is particularly sad that a person must live in fear because of their success. One particular person being threatened is Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates.

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The UK's year in business continuity disasters

laptop on fire

All businesses should worry about how they'll keep going in the event of a disaster. But those disasters aren't always internal, they can be due to outside forces and can be hard to predict.

As part of this week's Business Continuity Awareness Week 2016 organized by the Business Continuity Institute, managed services company IT Specialists (ITS) has produced a list of the top 10 UK business continuity disasters of the last year.

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Google launches Spaces for sharing links, YouTube videos, images and more with small groups [UPDATE: It's live!]

Google is introducing a new way to share content with a group. Spaces is a collaborative tool that Google wants people to use to share everything from articles and images to YouTube videos and messages.

So keen is Google for a huge take up of Spaces, that the service is launching in mobile and desktop web versions, as well as iOS and Android apps. It's billed as an alternative to group conversations, and Google wants to help streamline sharing by eliminating app switching -- this is achieved by integrating Google Search, YouTube, and Chrome into a single tool.

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Security Analytics: What it is and what it is not

There’s a misconception in the cyber security industry that many IT, security executives and vendors subscribe to.  They equate security analytics to SIEM and user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA). They use the three terms interchangeably as if they are all one of the same and solve the same problems. As a result, companies waste time, leave gaps in their visibility, ability to execute and ultimately fail to minimize their cyber risk.

In a report released this month, analyst firm Forrester states, "Security analytics has garnered a lot of attention during the past few years. However, marketing hype and misunderstandings regarding security analytics have confused the market, making it difficult for security and risk leaders to make information decisions". This statement couldn’t be truer. UEBA and SIEM tools are supporting components of security analytics, but are not equivalent.

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Google will pay you $20 an hour to sit in a self-driving car

As Google prepares to deploy its self-driving car fleet to Chandler, Arizona, the company is hiring local drivers to test its vehicles.

The company intends to hire local drivers in Arizona who will act as "vehicle safety specialists" that will be behind the wheel of its self-driving cars and ready to take over should an unforeseen problem or circumstance arise.

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DRaaS is the low-cost insurance policy for 'always-on' IT

disaster plan

Disaster. The term itself inspires worry and downright fear for most IT pros -- and for good reason. Whether it’s a security breach, networking failure, human error or the much-dreaded natural disaster, outages can be financially devastating for IT-centric businesses. While acts of nature are rare, IT failures are inevitable, and most companies experience them multiple times every year.

Despite the pervasive risks, close to 75 percent of companies are failing in their disaster readiness efforts, according to the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council. How you prepare for this scenario and what continuity solution you choose for recovery will determine if your outages lasts for minutes, hours or days.

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GCHQ arrives on Twitter to give a more public face to the spy agency

The UK's GCHQ -- like its US counterpart the NSA -- is an agency traditionally shrouded in secrecy. Tasked with the job of spying on all and sundry in the name of intelligence gathering, the agency has just joined Twitter, greeting other users with an unoriginal "Hello, world".

With the concerns about privacy and security that blew up in the wake of Edward Snowden's NSA surveillance revelation, spy agencies around the world have been on a mission to boost their public image. GCHQ -- complete with the blue tick reserved for verified accounts -- will use Twitter to "provide news, updates, and opinions".

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Emsisoft launches ransomware decrypter page

If your files have been scrambled by malware then a decrypter may be able to save the day -- but you’ll need to find it, first. Emsisoft has announced its own Decrypter page, a single source where you’re able to browse and download any of the company’s 14 free decrypters.

The page provides clues to help you find out exactly which type of ransomware might have infected your PC.

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