Latest Technology News

Feeling unwell? Not sure whether you’re coming down with a cold or something much more serious? One of the worst things you can do is Google your symptoms, as there’s a good chance that after 10 minutes of browsing you’ll have read enough to convince yourself it’s not flu but rather the early stages of Ebola, and you’re actually going to DIE, HORRIBLY. Time to Google "writing a will…"

Despite this being a BAD IDEA, millions of people still Google their symptoms on a daily basis -- the search giant says it amounts to roughly 1 percent of all queries -- but there is some bright news on the horizon as in the very near future those worried individuals should start seeing some more reliable results.

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The success of Oracle’s cloud computing business this year allowed the company to post better than expected results during the fourth fiscal quarter.

The company’s cloud business is made up of two parts: software as a service and platform as a service. Oracle’s customers pay to access its applications online as well as to have access to tools that allow them to program and manage apps and analyze data. Its software as a service segment added 1,600 customers and its platform as a service segment added 2,000 customers during Q4.

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You’ve downloaded what looks like an interesting program, but it’s not working. Is it for 32, or 64-bit Windows? Maybe it needs a different Windows version? There’s no built-in way to find out. ExeProperties is a tiny free Explorer extension which displays an EXE or DLL’s minimum requirements in a couple of clicks.

The program has no interface, doesn’t add any background processes or system tray icons. Install it and there’s no immediate sign that anything has changed at all.

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With the increasing move to the cloud, it may seem that USB storage devices are becoming obsolete. However, research by endpoint protection company CoSoSys suggests that USB still has a place.

The survey of 2016 Infosecurity Europe visitors looks at the use of USB storage devices in the enterprise and the policies governing them.

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With the unstoppable growth of chat apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and the like, emoji have become an incredible phenomenon. The Unicode Consortium is due to publish the Unicode 9.0 spec tomorrow, and it seems that objections from Apple and Microsoft means we're not going to see a rifle emoji included.

The intervention is slightly surprising, yet not entirely unexpected. With the large number of high-profile mass-shootings such as in Orlando, debate about guns has come to the fore once again and the censorship of emoji is perhaps not completely unexpected. But at the same time, there is already a pistol emoji and there are not -- yet -- calls for it to be removed.

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Sandboxing makes it possible to isolate programs from the rest of your system for testing or security purposes. Sandboxie 5.12 is the latest build of such a shareware tool for Windows.

Version 5.12 now adds support sandboxing Microsoft Office 2013, 2016 or 365’s ClickToRun installer for paid users, while improving performance on earlier versions of Windows.

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You’re probably familiar with the free version of the CCleaner system clean up tool. What you might not know is that there’s also a Business Edition aimed at ensuring small and medium business endpoints run efficiently.

Like the standard version it can remove unneeded files, recovers hard drive space, speed up Windows, reduces crashes and helps protect privacy and security. Business Edition adds the ability to clean multiple user profiles, it updates itself automatically, supports scripting, and comes with priority technical support.

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Windows 10 saw Microsoft replace the old-style Solitaire with a Windows app which pesters you with ads every time it runs.

This could be much worse -- the ads are only at launch, not while you’re playing -- but if you’re looking for an alternative anyway, here are three fun competitors for Windows XP/ Vista and later.

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Unicorns are breeding in Britain. The country is now home to more than a third of European unicorns (tech companies valued at over $1 billion), but the whole of Europe is faring well.

A new report by GP Bullhound, an investment banking firm, reveals that there are 47 unicorns in Europe and 18 of them are to be found in Britain. The number of European unicorns has jumped by more than 20 percent in the last year, and the overall valued is placed at $130 billion (around £90 billion).

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Several readers have asked for my take on Microsoft’s purchase last week of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion -- a figure some think is too high and others think is a steal. I think there is generally more here than meets the eye.

Microsoft definitely needed more presence in social media if it wants to be seen as a legit competitor to Google and Facebook. Yammer wasn’t big enough. LinkedIn fits Redmond’s business orientation and was big enough to show that Satya Nadella isn’t afraid to open up the BIG CHECKBOOK.

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When you are constantly on the go -- and who isn't, nowadays? -- your smartphone becomes an indispensable tool. With all of this phone usage, you will probably need to charge the device a lot. This means having a charger and cable ready in your car, bag, or pocket.

The problem? These cables tend to take a lot of abuse and can become damaged over time. Quality cables -- especially MFI certified Apple Lightning variants -- are expensive, and buying replacements can become costly. A new cable -- the ZUS Kevlar Charging Cable by nonda -- is both affordable and built to last. It is available in Type-A to Type-C, micro USB, or Apple Lightning. I have been using the Lightning variant for a couple weeks now, an I am ready to share my impressions.

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Windows package managers like Npackd provide a single interface where you can find, install, update or remove hundreds of popular PC applications.

Sounds great, but there can be complications. PowerShell dependencies, a GUI to explore, command line switches to learn, repositories to browse– not so easy, after all.

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If you're in the market for an Apple Watch but you've been put off by the price, Best Buy might just have a deal that will tempt you to part with your cash. How low would the price have to be to convince you? How does $49 sound?

There is, of course, something of a catch. It's certainly not the case that anyone who wants an Apple Watch could walk into Best Buy, hand over 49 notes and walk about with an Apple Wearable; there's a little more to it than that.

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By their very nature, remote access tools represent something of a security risk. It's only a couple of weeks since TeamViewer users complained about account hijacking, and now GoToMyPC has been hit by hackers.

The service has been hit by what is being described as a "very sophisticated password attack", and the company is advising all users to reset their passwords. Details are a little thin on the ground at the moment as an investigation is currently underway, but users are warned to monitor their account and change their passwords.

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Ever since Google developed and released both its Android and Chrome operating systems, there has been some confusion as to why the two platforms weren't combined. So far the company has been mum on plans to merge the two, but that process seems to be starting.

Just this week Android apps were released to the Asus Flip, and now two more devices will be getting the added features soon.

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