Latest Technology News

ISIS has its own secure messaging system -- this illustrates the futility of communication surveillance

Moves by governments to monitor web-based communication with a view to thwarting terrorism is utterly, utterly futile. Just like the NSA's dragnet-style dredging for intelligence, mass communication surveillance does little to home in on target -- the ones that government should be concerned about are the very ones who know who to evade detection.

This is something that was perfectly demonstrated this week when it became apparent that ISIS has developed its own secure messaging system. No longer reliant on the likes of WhatsApp, ISIS is using a custom-built, Android-based encrypted messaging tool that is incredibly difficult -- if not impossible -- for the FBI and NSA to monitor.

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Microsoft gets aggressive -- after 18 months nextgen CPUs like Skylake will only support Windows 10

Microsoft's aggressive pushing of Windows 10 is becoming legendary, with everything from irritating nag screens, to automatic downloading of set up files. Now things are taking a slightly different turn as the company says that after July 17, 2017, 6th generation Intel Core Skylake processors and other nextgen CPUs will no longer be supported for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

The announcement comes somewhat out of the blue, and is all the more surprising considering Microsoft's track record of lengthy support periods. Once the new deadline is reached, Microsoft says that it will only release the "most critical" security patches to these now-unsupported platforms, and even then the patches will only be made available if they do not "risk the reliability or compatibility" of other systems.

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Prediction #8: Apple WILL NOT buy Time Warner

If my last prediction about the Internet of Things becoming a security nightmare seemed a no-brainer to half of my readers, as some commenters suggested, this prediction that Apple won’t buy Time Warner will probably be a no-brainer for the other half, simply because it is always easier to say an acquisition or merger won’t happen than that it will. But I think there is something to be learned from why I don’t think this acquisition will take place -- something that says a lot about Apple as a company.

That this topic comes up at all is because, as frequently happens these days, activist investors are trying to bully Time Warner into selling all or part of itself, this after having already bullied the company into spinning-off its cable TV operation and then its print publishing operation. So now what’s mainly left at Time Warner are cable TV networks, TV and film production and distribution, and a modest online operation. All of this, but especially premium cable channel HBO, is supposed to appeal to Apple’s eye for quality.

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Google overtakes Facebook in advertising spend

Online advertising

A new report from marketing technology company IgnitionOne reveals the latest trends in digital advertising spend for the final quarter of 2015.

Among its key findings are that Google passed Facebook in growth and conversions, seeing an increase of 37 percent in programmatic display advertising spend and a 34 percent increase in conversions. In comparison, Facebook saw an increase of 22 percent in growth and 17 percent in conversions.

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Interactive Advertising Bureau 'dis-invites' Adblock Plus from annual conference

Adblock Plus has been blocked from attending the IAB's (Interactive Advertising Bureau) upcoming leadership summit. The company has attended the meeting in the past, and had received an invite to this year's conference too -- but the IAB had a change of heart and retracted the invitation.

The meeting would have been an opportunity to meet with advertisers and to discuss Adblock Plus' Acceptable Ads guidelines later this week, but the IAB -- for reasons as yet undisclosed -- feels differently. In the interests of transparency (or airing dirty laundry in public, depending on your opinion), Adblock Plus has decided to go public with what's been happening.

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Seagate introduces 10TB enterprise HDD for data centers

Seagate is looking to increase its presence in the data center market as it unveils a new hard disk drive.

The Seagate Enterprise 3.5 Capacity HDD offers 10 TB of storage and, according to the company’s press release following the announcement, the disk is quiet and energy-efficient.

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The 2017 Hyundai Elantra gets both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

Here's the deal, folks -- I love cars and technology. Heck, I am sure many of you dear BetaNews readers do too. Unfortunately, it just isn't feasible to buy a brand-new car every time the latest technology comes out. While I love my Ford Focus, it doesn't even have Bluetooth. My iPhone gets connected to the stereo by way of an analog cable. I would absolutely love a car with Apple CarPlay.

While I am a Ford fan, I am also a fan of value and quality regardless of make. Hyundai is a company that overcame much to become one of the best-bang-for-your-buck vehicle brands, and its Elantra is one of the smartest buys for those on a budget. Today, Hyundai announces that the 2017 model of the aforementioned car will be getting both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

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Error 404: Security insights found

This year has been another brutal one for breaches and data loss, with 400 new threats emerging every minute by some reports. Most security administrators and architects have been shoring up defenses inside networks in order to better detect places of compromise and attacker movement. Many organizations recognize that one of the fastest ways to beef up detection capabilities is to add context-based network analytics like those provided by Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems and NetFlow security analyzers.

Adoption has been brisk, the SIEM market is one of the strongest with a forecasted growth of 12 percent annually reaching $4.54 billion by 2019. And recently, Cisco further highlighted the importance of network telemetry to security with the acquisition of NetFlow analysis veteran Lancope for $453 million.

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Sophos Home: super-simple free antivirus for Windows and Mac

Avira, Avast, Baidu: plenty of developers offer free antivirus these days, and it can be as reliable as the commercial competition.

It’s tough for a new product to stand out from the crowd, then -- but the new Sophos Home has found a way.

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At long, long last, Google Play gains promo codes for apps and games

Google has finally caught up with Apple, and is now offering support for promo codes in Google Play. This is a feature that has long been available to iOS users, but it's only after years of complaining that Android users are, at long last, being afforded the same luxury.

Oddly, Google has decided to place some restrictions on how promo codes can be used. While developers can generate codes that can be used to purchase apps or to make in-app purchases, they are limited to creating 500 codes per quarter.

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Microsoft offers free Office 365 subscription to Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL users

If you are looking for another reason to purchase one of Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile flagships, the software giant has just announced that it is now offering a free, one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal to Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL users.

The offer cannot only be redeemed by new customers, but also by existing users. There is one caveat though: it only applies to users in a select number of markets. Here is what you need to know.

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IT workers want an early retirement

Beach sunset

It seems as nobody wants to work, and that’s a real bummer. Everyone wants to retire early, but that’s a particularly important problem in the tech industry, as it is already lacking staff, and people leaving early will only cause even more trouble.

According to a new report by Randstad Technologies, almost half (49 percent) of all tech workers want to retire before state pension age. In other industries, that percentage is at 35.

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Majority of Windows 10 users are happy with the OS

When we look at how many PCs across the globe run Windows 10, we see Microsoft's latest operating system having a relatively modest usage share of around 10 percent. That is even though it is offered as a free upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, both of which have remained more popular so far.

However, things are quite different in US, where a new IDC survey claims that nearly 30 percent of PC users have embraced Windows 10. That figure may not accurately represent the entire PC user base in the country, due to the nature of the survey, but it certainly can be seen as a vote of confidence for both Windows 10 and Microsoft.

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BT's merger with EE gains official clearance -- and industry objections

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given BT the go-ahead for a takeover of EE. The merger of the largest mobile provider in the UK with the country's largest landline provider creates a giant that rivals are concerned about.

The newly conceived communications behemoth has fingers in not only mobile and landline pies, but also TV and broadband. While the CMA's decision is not a surprise, rivals such as Vodafone, TalkTalk and Sky have voiced their disapproval, saying that the merger will have a negative impact on competition.

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Best Windows apps this week

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

Just like last week, the second week of the year 2016 was slow in terms of new releases or updates.

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