With security and privacy in mind, will more browsers follow Opera's lead and offer free VPN?
The modern internet user is somewhat paradoxical -- looking to be more connected and contactable than ever before, whilst simultaneously seeking privacy. Can the two ideas live side by side? It's a tricky balancing act, but many people turn to VPN tools to increase their security and privacy online.
Opera is the first web browser to bundle a free VPN tool as standard (with unlimited VPN data, no less), and it's hard to imagine that the competition won’t follow suit. Nothing has yet been announced, but the appearance of versions of Chrome or Firefox with integrated VPN would hardly be a surprise -- or would it? And how would you feel about a VPN tool supplied by Google?
Oukitel aims to shake up the budget smartphone market with the sub-$50 C3
Not everyone wants or can afford a premium smartphone and Chinese makers have been busy carving out a niche at the lower end of the market with a whole raft of models that provide smartphone features at dumbphone prices.
Launching next week the Oukitel C3 is the latest entry into an increasingly crowded market. What makes it stand out is that unlike most cheaper phones which rely on older versions of Android, the C3 runs the latest 6.0 Marshmallow.
StableBit CloudDrive is a secure virtual drive for your cloud storage accounts
StableBit CloudDrive beta ($34.95) is an interesting tool which creates a secure virtual drive on your PC, and stores the data on your choice of local, network or cloud storage.
The program currently supports Amazon S3, Box, Dropbox, Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Microsoft Azure, OneDrive and OneDrive for Business accounts.
Free Wi-Fi hotspots are a major security threat for businesses
Free Wi-Fi hotspots are the biggest security threat for mobile workers, according to new reports.
The recently released iPass Mobile Security Report says that 62 per cent of organizations are banning their mobile workers from using free Wi-Fi hotspots, with another 20 percent planning on doing the same in the future.
Digital divide is holding back the UK economy
New research by business organization the CBI in conjunction with IBM shows that a digital divide is opening up across the British economy, with just over half (55 percent) of 'pioneer' firms adopting digital technologies and processes, while the remaining 45 percent are falling behind.
Despite the UK taking top place globally for e-commerce and fifth place for the availability of technology, it ranks only fourteenth in the world for company-level adoption of digital technology, with many companies struggling to digitize their businesses at the rate of peers in other countries.
Deja Vu! Google's antitrust offenses are like Microsoft's (and the defense, too)
Once again, as it has done in the past, Google makes the classic monopolist defense for its competitive—or anticompetitive, depending on perspective—behavior with respect to Android. Today, the European Union's Competition Commission formerly charged Alphabet and its major subsidiary, which has 12 weeks to provide satisfactory legal response before the Commission issues corrective sanctions.
Simply stated, the EC finds that the company abused its dominant position, in part by contracts compelling Android licensees to preload Google apps and related services, including search. Microsoft ran into similar bundling headaches starting in the late 1990s with respect to Windows. Responding today, Kent Walker, Google general counsel, claims that licensees and consumers can choose to install third-party apps. Microsoft made like-claims during its antitrust defense here and in Europe; they fell flat.
Text an emoji, get free porn
Want to watch some pornography on your phone but can’t be bothered to actually search for it? From today you can receive links to free adult content just by texting an emoji.
Pornhub’s new "Emoji 4 Porn" service offers a selection of 30 public emoji (plus an unspecified number of secret unlisted ones to find) that you can use to request whatever sort of pornography you’re into. Send them a taco emoji, for example, and you’ll receive Latina videos. A camcorder emoji will give you links to amateur content. You can probably work out what sort of videos you’ll get if you send them a melon.
AI platform better predicts cyber attacks thanks to human experts
Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have collaborated alongside the machine learning startup PatternEx to demonstrate how an artificial intelligence platform that makes use of continuous input from human experts would be able to predict cyber attacks better than the systems that exist today.
CSAIL and PatternEx are calling their new AI platform AI² due to how it combines the intuition of analysts with artificial intelligence.
New Windows 10 Mobile Preview Build 14327 lets you send and receive texts from a Windows PC
Microsoft released Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 14322 less than a week ago, introducing numerous improvements and changes to Action Center, notifications, Cortana, Settings, emoji, Microsoft Edge, lockscreen, and more.
Today, the software giant rolls out another new build to the Fast ring, Build 14327, which, as well as fixing various known issues, also introduces a couple of noteworthy additions, including a Messaging Everywhere preview which lets users send and receive text messages from a Windows 10 PC.
Migrating Oracle apps to the cloud
With companies of all sizes across the globe waking up to the benefits of moving some or all Oracle applications to the cloud, the cloud is rapidly becoming a star in many IT strategies of organizations. The benefits include the reduced need for up-front capital investment in order to accelerate return on investment, as well as gaining greater business insight and an excellent user experience.
The reality of today’s cloud technology is now matching -- or even exceeding -- the hype of a few years ago. However, some organizations are still cautious about moving business-critical applications to the cloud, based on perceived risks that are often overstated and based on outdated concerns.
Google Chrome turns 50
Dog years is too slow a measurement when it comes to the Internet, which pace maturing makes Moore's Law look like a skeleton sitting at a feast (it's too feeble a metric). Case in point: Google Chrome 50 officially releases this fine Wednesday, which is a long way from its late-2007 alpha. Whew, where did the years go?
Now before you quibble about who's how old when, let's clarify. By my math, and an official blog post, Chrome turned 50 one week ago. Maybe none of us noticed. I write this the afternoon before Big G rolls out the birthday cake, and Chrome was v49 when I checked but updated to 50. Perhaps this is a push comes to shove thing: Pushing the official day a week later when automatic update shoves the new version out to most users.
Google Inbox makes it easier to manage links, newsletters and calendar events
When it comes to email, Google is about more than just Gmail. With Inbox, Google has looked to simplify and automate email, and today the company announces three new features that take this further.
But Google doesn't think that 'features' is strong enough a word; instead these are 'experiences'. Specifically, there are new experiences that make it easier to keep track of calendar events, manage the links you email to yourself, and view all of the newsletters you subscribe to.
Canonical releasing Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS 'Xenial Xerus' tomorrow -- will you download it?
Ubuntu is one of the best -- if not the best -- desktop Linux-based operating systems. Many people, including me, trust it for their computing needs every day. Best of all, Canonical releases special LTS versions every two years, offering a super-long five years of support.
Tomorrow, the latest such LTS version, 16.04, will see its official release. I've been running pre-release versions of this operating system for a while now, and it has been brilliantly stable. Tomorrow's release will be the best Ubuntu ever, featuring things like new snap packages, CephFS, and ZFS-on-Linux.
ITIF says Europe is 'misguided' in bringing antitrust allegations against Google
The EU may be bringing an antitrust case against Google in relation to its Android operating system, but the ITIF (Information Technology & Innovation Foundation) thinks that this is 'misguided'. Rather than Google harming customer choice, the institute says that it is the case against Google that should be in the spotlight.
Google has made much of the fact that Android is open source, and the ITIF says that "holding 'open' operating systems to higher standard only hurts consumer choice". Vice President Daniel Castro says that the Android ecosystem reduces costs for consumers, increases choice, and complains that the European Commission has failed to give details of precisely how consumers are being harmed by Google.
MobileDemand xCase for Microsoft Surface 3 [Review]
Microsoft's Surface 3 and Surface Pro 4 are among the best tablets for enterprise use. A full-blown version of Windows, light and sturdy build, adjustable kickstand, good battery life and optional keyboard enables them to work equally well at the desk and on the go. In harsher conditions, however, some extra protection is required.
For use in the field, MobileDemand has introduced a rugged case, called xCase. It promises "unparalleled durability and superior protection" for Surface 3 and Surface Pro 4. Offered in two versions, basic and premium, I have tested the latter in a Surface 3 trim -- here are my impressions.
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