Now you need to buy a TV licence to watch BBC iPlayer, and privacy advocates are concerned
As of today, Thursday 1 September, if you stream any content from BBC iPlayer without owning a TV licence, you are breaking the law. But as with licences for televisions, it's not clear how -- or, indeed, if -- the BBC will be checking to see whether watchers have paid up or not.
If you fire up BBC iPlayer now, you'll be greeted by a nag screen that asks: "Got a TV licence? You need one to watch any BBC programme on iPlayer -- live, catch-up or on-demand. It's the law". Viewers need to click to indicate whether or not they have a licence, and of course there is nothing to stop people from lying. What is not known, though, is whether privacy-invading snooping will be used to perform licence checks.
What impact has no longer being free had on Windows 10 adoption? (Spoiler: A surprising one)
Earlier this week Microsoft updated its Windows Trends page to show Windows 10 now having a whopping 39 percent of the global market, with a share of 50 percent in the US and 51 percent in the UK. What made these figures so impressive/unbelievable (delete as applicable) is they showed the standings as of June.
Today, NetMarketShare releases its desktop operating system usage share figures for August and, as you might expect, they paint a very different picture.
Tim Cook hits back at 'maddening' European ruling on Apple tax
Apple CEO Tim Cook, talking to Ireland's RTÉ News, says that allegations put forward by the European Commission that his company owes $14.5 billion in back tax are 'maddening'. He is also very confident that the Commission's ruling will be overturned on appeal.
Echoing an open letter published earlier in the week, Cook said that the claims that Apple was given preferential treatment and special tax arrangements in Ireland have "no basis in fact or in law". The Irish cabinet has already met to discuss how to tackle the appeal that Apple is expected to launch, but has yet to reach a decision. The appeal will see Apple restating Tim Cook's claim that the tax figure put forward by Europe is "false".
Most websites have security vulnerabilities
Dangerous vulnerabilities are present in a large number of today's websites, and the percentage is only going to keep on growing, according to a new report by Acunetix.
The automated web application security software company released its annual Web Application Vulnerability Report 2016, based on 45,000 website and network scans, done on 5,700 websites over the past year. The results are worrying.
HP unveils fashionable Pavilion Wave home desktop and modular Elite Slice workstation
Windows laptops and tablets are constantly improving. They get thinner, faster, and more beautiful every year. But what about home desktop PCs and business workstations? Save for some wild-looking gaming rigs, these desk-bound and often-rectangular PCs have become quite stagnant. Quite frankly, their conservative designs can stifle inspiration.
HP is looking to change this. With what the company calls a 'reinvention', it unveils the fashionable Pavilion Wave home desktop PC and modular Elite Slice business workstation. While calling these machines a desktop PC reinvention might be a bit of an exaggeration, they are certainly interesting.
HP announces trio of cloud-oriented business products
HP has launched three new products to help businesses move their workloads into the cloud computing environment easier. The trio includes the t630 Thin Client, ThinPro 6, and VMware Blast.
The t630 Thin Client allows for the streamlining of current cloud-based deployments, comes with next generation, x86 quad-core systems-on-a-chip developed by AMD, and offers AMD Radeon graphics.
Geekbench 4.0 arrives, offers new GPU Compute benchmarks
Primate Labs has announced the release of Geekbench 4.0 for desktop, Android and iOS. Geekbench 4 sees the benchmarking app merge its mobile and desktop datasets into a single, cross-platform workload.
Other changes see a redesigned user interface on both mobile platforms, plus new workloads across the suite’s CPU and GPU benchmarks, including a new GPU Compute category.
What businesses need to know about a mobile strategy
Mobile was once the concern of IT managers. But now that the responsibility for business mobility has spread to every part of the enterprise, with a mobile first strategy becoming increasingly prevalent, it’s essential that the CEO sits up and pays attention.
Mobile is now an intrinsic part of everyday life and has spilled into the workplace via Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Chose Your Own Device (CYOD). As a consequence the CEO needs to have mobile as a key consideration, because as the old adage goes "not having a plan is planning to fail".
PewDiePie kicked off Twitter for joking about ISIS
YouTube 'personality' (or walking, talking, narcissistic ego with a webcam, depending on your point of view) PewDiePie has been kicked off Twitter -- just like @Nero. It comes just a day after the internet star was stripped of his blue verification checkmark.
The debacle kicked off when Pewdi… sorry, Felix Kjellberg... lost his blue badge and he subsequently posted a video in which he revealed the 'reason' for this. A fake news story had popped up suggesting he had links with ISIS, and Kjellberg used his video to 'joke' that he had in fact joined ISIS. The ban hammer swiftly followed.
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14915 for PC and Mobile arrives on the Fast ring
It’s been a while since Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 preview build for Insiders on the Fast ring. The software company has been busy putting together future plans for the new OS, and promises we’ll see the results of these endeavors in the coming months.
Today, however, Microsoft rolls out new Build 14915 for PC and Mobile, with the primary focus being on improving app and update downloads.
How much does it cost to start a business in UK?
How much money do you think it needs to kickstart a business in UK? A couple of thousands? Maybe go straight into five figures? Wrong. According to a new report by cloud accounting software provider FreeAgent, you probably don't need any money.
The company surveyed micro-business owners and freelancers in the UK, and according to the results 44 percent of business starters required no funds at all. Almost the exact same percentage (43 percent) used their personal savings, and that was enough. Four percent borrowed money from friends or family, two percent used either credit card or bank loan, while just one percent used government assistance.
Samsung unveils two new Tizen-powered smartwatches -- Gear S3 Classic and Frontier
Smartwatches are curious products. Consumers are not flocking to the segment as they did for smartphones and tablets. Why? Some would say it is because the wearables duplicate the functionality of their existing devices. Fitness aside, many consumers seem to be awaiting some sort of "must have" aspect before jumping into the smartwatch waters. With that said, the Apple Watch seems to have the brightest future with its focus on medical conditions and overall well-being. It is not clear if health can drive segment growth, however.
Today, Samsung announces its latest smartwatches -- the S3 Classic (top right) and Frontier (top left). These Tizen-powered wearables feature a 1.3 inch circular Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 360 x 360. The exciting aspect, however, is the always-on nature of the screen. Lifting your arm to see a blank screen is no longer a thing -- it will always display the time. The question becomes, which of the two will you pick? Keep in mind, the differences are not just skin deep.
Samsung's Galaxy Note7 delayed due to quality issues -- exploding batteries suspected
The Galaxy Note7 has received some extremely positive reviews. The Guardian described it "as without doubt, the best phablet going" and Engadget declared it "Samsung’s best phone yet". High praise indeed.
If you were hoping to get your hands on the new smartphone there’s some bad news. Shipments of the new devices are being delayed while Samsung conducts additional quality control testing.
Syncwire's four-port USB charger is great for traveling [Review]
Multiport USB chargers are great for topping up the battery on a couple of mobile devices at the same time when you are on the go. They do not take much space in a bag, only require a single wall socket, and support a wide range of smartphones and tablets. Some are better than others though.
Syncwire's four-port USB charger is designed with travelers in mind. The main benefits, over many other multiport USB chargers that you can find, are the included travel adapters that allow it to be used with US, UK, and EU sockets and its cord-free design that allows it to be plugged right in and take up even less space.
Forty percent of enterprise networks show evidence of DNS tunneling
DNS tunneling is a significant security threat that can enable cybercriminals to insert malware or pass stolen information into DNS queries, creating a covert communication channel that bypasses most firewalls.
A new report released by network control company Infoblox reveals that 40 percent of the enterprise files it tested in the second quarter of this year show evidence of DNS tunneling.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.