Latest Technology News

Yes, the cloud seems to be crushing it, but according to Ellen Rubin, CEO and co-founder of ClearSky Data, as many as 50 percent of cloud customers have brought workloads back on-premise due to latency and performance issues in production applications for dispersed workforces. This makes it a pressing issue for dispersed teams, and threatens forward momentum.

I spoke with Ellen about the problem, how latency affects businesses, and what CIOs can do to address the challenge.

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In a continued effort to strengthen the software and services behind its mobile division, Samsung Electronics has decided to purchase US cloud services company Joyent for an undisclosed sum.

The company plans on integrating Joyent into its own mobile business, but it will continue to operate independently with its top management remaining in charge of its day to day business. This is Samsung’s third major acquisition of a US-based startup over the last two years after acquiring SmartThings for its connected home technology and LoopPay for its contactless payment service.

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One-hundred and eighty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

Microsoft rolled out a Windows Store update for Insider Builds this week that allows you to choose install locations for very large applications and games.

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Acronis International has released the first public beta of Acronis True Image 2017, its popular backup and file sync suite. The new edition adds support for wirelessly backing up iOS and Android devices to your desktop.

An Archiving module moves large or old files to an external drive, or the Acronis cloud. They may now be protected with 256-bit AES encryption.

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There's quite a lot to get excited about with regard to the newly announced OnePlus 3. After lots of teasing, the 'flagship killer' handset was revealed earlier this week as a 5.5-inch, dual SIM beast packing a Snapdragon 820 and 6GB of RAM.

But among all the specs that seem familiar, or at least make sense, there is the display. This is a 1080p panel powered by an Adreno 530 chip, with protection coming courtesy of Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It's described as being an Optic AMOLED, but what does that actually mean?

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The Canadian media company VerticalScope, which operates a number of support forums on a range of topics, was targeted by hackers who were able to obtain user information from around 45 million accounts.

Although news of the massive security breach has just surfaced thanks to LeakedSource, which collects information on data breaches, the actual hack took place in February when over 1,000 support forums and websites on tech, sports and other topics were infiltrated by unknown attackers.

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A new report by business communications provider Fuze challenges everything we think we know about the office of the future.

While there’s been much talk about mobile and flexible working, and how the office is essentially dead, Fuze’s research states the exact contrary -- office will remain strong, if not stronger than before.

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Cloud storage has become a prominent part of everyone's life these days, with services abounding. But what happens when one either goes out of business or sets an end-of-life date for support for one of its apps?

Amazon is encountering that very situation right now, with older versions of its Cloud Drive app. The company is now sending notifications to customers explaining the situation.

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Holy cow, Microsoft. We are just a couple days removed from the release of build 14366 for PC and 14364 for Mobile, yet here we are with a fresh build. Apparently Dona Sarkar and the Windows team like to keep things moving swiftly on the Fast Ring, which makes a lot of sense given the name!

Today, Microsoft releases Build 14367 for both PC and Mobile. If you have OCD, the shared build number should bring you some serenity. As usual, there are both improvements and known issues. Sadly, the mobile "Kids Corner" feature for children is being killed, but that is probably a good thing.

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It feels like everything charges by USB nowadays. I suppose that's because a lot of things do -- well, most mobile devices at least. It is actually very cool that regardless of your smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, or something else, you can probably utilize a USB charger.

The problem? Wall outlets can fill up quickly. In a big family, this can lead to fighting. Even if you utilize a power strip, it can be a huge eyesore. Luckily, there are a lot of multi-port USB chargers nowadays. These turn a single wall outlet into a neat-looking powerful charging hub. Today, Satechi announces one that stands out. You see, rather than just offer USB Type-A ports, the 60w Multi-Port USB Charging Station has USB Type-C too. In other words, it is more versatile, and more "future proof" compared to its competitors.

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I don't consider myself a millennial, but according to some sources, my year of birth makes me one. Other sources list me as a "Gen Xer". No matter the box in which you put me, I love emojis -- something often associated with millennials. Why do I love them? As someone who recognizes the value of body language in communication, the written word can often lack sentiment, leading to misunderstandings. Emojis can enhance your emails, texts, and tweets, helping the reader to better understand your intention. In other words, they aren't inconsequential.

As emojis become more popular, companies will undoubtedly try to somehow monetize their use. Today, Twitter announces just that. The social network will offer targeted advertising based on a user's emoji use. This is significant, as according to Twitter, more than 110 million emojis have been used in tweets in the last couple years. Whoa.

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The average cost of a data breach has jumped 29 percent since 2013, a new report by IBM Security and the Ponemon Institute says. This brings the figure up to $4 million per breach.

The number and the severity of these incidents keeps on growing, the two companies said in the report.

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Android tablets are rather boring and uneventful nowadays. While the Nexus 9 was great, the 2013 Nexus 7 remains the best such tablet ever. This is a very sad state of affairs for the Android community. Google and manufacturers have just never been able to produce the elusive "iPad killer". Apple's line of tablets remain the best after all these years.

Today, ASUS announces a tablet that actually has me excited. Seriously, I haven't felt this way about an Android tablet in a while. The 7.9 inch LTE-enabled ZenPad Z8 -- which is a Verizon exclusive -- has a hexacore processor, USB Type-C, expandable storage, and Android M. While it may not be the Android tablet that "kills" Apple's tablet, the specs are quite impressive, and the price is amazingly low.

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Nokia has decided to unite all of its connected-device technologies and products to form a new Internet of Things (IoT) management platform called Impact.

Impact, which stands for the Intelligent Management Platform for All Connected Things, is the company’s new tool for managing all of the devices powered by IoT technology. During its unveiling this week, Nokia pointed out the platform already supports 80,000 different device types.

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The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has done much to cut credit card fraud by ensuring that businesses comply with the rules.

But Charles White founder and chief executive of UK-based risk consultancy Information Risk Management (IRM) argues that it has now become little more than a tick box activity which enterprises go through to gain accreditation.

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