Latest Technology News

Bluetooth headsets with Sport in the title usually feature a plastic band which goes around the back of your neck. This not only makes you look a bit strange it can also be uncomfortable.

Inateck's headset does away with this and just has a thin wire between the two earpieces. There's a control unit on the right-hand side to allow you to adjust the volume, accept calls, pair with your phone, etc, and this also houses the built-in mic.

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Hewlett-Packard recently announced HP Helion OpenStack 2.0, the second iteration of the company’s customized version of OpenStack. During the OpenStack Summit Tokyo 2015, HP announced the "production ready, open source based cloud platform designed to meet enterprise requirements".

HP Helion OpenStack 2.0 offers an enterprise grade cloud platform, the company said in a press release, adding that it now offers new features to address organizations’ lifecycle management and security challenges.

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Earlier this year two different research reports came out describing the overall cloud computing market and Amazon’s role in it. Synergy Research Group saw Amazon as by far the biggest player (bigger in fact than the next four companies combined) with about 30 percent market share. But Gartner, taking perhaps a more focused view of just the public cloud, claimed Amazon holds 82 percent of the market with cloud capacity that’s 10 times greater than all the other public cloud providers combined. I wonder how these disparate views can be possible describing the same company? And I wonder, further, whether this means Amazon actually has a cloud monopoly?

Yup, it’s a monopoly.

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The transition from permanent employee to full time freelancer is filled with questions. Are you ready to make the leap? Can you succeed financially as a contractor? Will you be able to find work?

There are many aspects to factor in when it comes to changing your job -- and contracting is no different. It may seem like a move into the unknown as the legislation and practicalities of contracting can seem confusing at first glance.

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As often happens, the internet went nuts over the weekend. The cause? A change to Snapchat's privacy policy. Rumors spread like a disease that the blink-and-you'll-miss-it messaging service was not only storing users' posts, but also taking ownership of them.

Snapchat has responded to the public outcry, explaining that this is simply not the case. But having spread around the world via mainstream media, the rumor may be hard to quash -- perhaps the app's Ghostface Chillah mascot spooked people over Halloween.

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If you want to watch media in your living room or bedroom, there are many options nowadays. The easiest, of course, is to buy a box like Roku, Amazon Fire TV or the popular AppleTV. Some "smart" televisions even have this capability built in.

The more hands-on alternative, however, is to build a HTPC (home theater PC). The problem with that? Windows 10 no longer supports Media Center. While this is a huge pain-point for the HTPC community, the good news is that Linux is -- once again -- here to save the day. Whether you choose to build a computer, or buy a compatible device like the low-cost Raspberry Pi, the mature OpenELEC Linux distribution will give you an amazing media experience.

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As a trained Sociologist who has a few sisters, yet no brothers, I have a keen eye for recognizing sex and gender inequalities -- especially when it comes to females (at least I like to think so). Truth be told, many such claims of girls and women being excluded or underrepresented in certain industries aren't always the case of purposeful oppression. In other words, a certain gender having a larger role in something could be organic -- men and women are different, and that is OK.

When it comes to STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), however, it has largely been a boys-club, due to years of arguably intentional exclusion based on ignorant thoughts regarding the minds and capabilities of women. Actually (and obviously), girls and women can absolutely thrive in the sciences, and Google has long been a proponent of its encouragement. Today, the company continues it its positive focus by making the documentary "CODEGIRL" free for 5 days on YouTube. The film shows thousands of girls competing in a coding competition, which should not only be inspiring for other girls, but all people regardless of sex or gender.

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Windows 10 has been with us for a few months now, and the time has come for its first big update. Known variously as Threshold 2, the November Update, and the Fall Update now has a release date -- 10 November.

In just over a week's time -- according to a Microsoft Support Engineer writing on Microsoft Answers -- the November update is due to launch bringing, amongst other things, Cortana support to India. Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring who have tried Windows 10 Build 10576 already have an idea of what to expect.

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UK customers of Vodafone are the latest victims of a hack attack. The telecoms company said that nearly 2,000 customer accounts had been accessed this week, exposing personal data including phone numbers and bank account details.

The security breach took place earlier this week, but it was only this weekend that Vodafone went public about it. A spokesperson said that the attack "was driven by criminals using email addresses and passwords acquired from an unknown source external to Vodafone". There is warning that the owners of the affected accounts could be subject to phishing attacks.

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The UK government has performed an about-face on plans for controversial internet surveillance plans. The "snooper's charter" may have been kept at bay so far, but plans were afoot to force ISPs to retain the browsing histories of their customers. Prime Minister David Cameron had also strongly hinted at a desire to ban the use of strong encryption.

Today Home Secretary Theresa May told the BBC that security agencies such as GCHQ would not be granted the power to check web browsing histories. She also said that an encryption ban would not be implemented. Dismissed by some as little more than 'spin', the U-turn will be widely seen as the government's response to suggestions that any extension to online surveillance powers would be blocked in the House of Lords. While this is something of a climb-down for the government, it is not the end of the battle for privacy groups.

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The recently released Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book have generated waves of interest, but the devices have not been without problems. Some owners have complained about flickering screens, while others have experienced issues with charging.

There are also some users who complain that their wireless connection is much slower than other devices. If you are one of those affected by the problem, a simple registry hack is all that's needed to get things back up to speed again.

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It’s that time of the month again when NetMarketShare releases its desktop operating system usage share figures and we get to see how well (or not) the various flavors of Microsoft’s operating system are doing. In October, Windows 10 gained usage share, while all other versions of Windows lost share. That’s to be expected of course.

However, it’s far from great news for Microsoft as Windows 10’s growth once again slowed. Making the new OS free to upgraders, and advertising it heavily still doesn’t seem enough to get people to make the switch. No wonder Microsoft has started using bullyboy tactics.

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Malware and viruses always seem to be in the news, and there isn't an end in sight. The latest threats are mostly platform agnostic, attacking the desktop. Email and mobile, as well as the dreaded encryption schemes designed to steal your money. The latter was in the news this week as the FBI claimed it recommends paying the criminals, something security firm Sophos, and just about everyone else, took exception to.

Now Dr. Web is releasing its report for the month of October, and there are few surprises. October was actually a less active month, which is good news, but threats stil lurk out there.

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Microsoft is promoting Skype more than ever before. Not content with desktop and mobile apps, now the company is bringing the voice and video messaging tool to its office suite. Starting with Office Online integration Skype messaging is now available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote Online, as well as Outlook.com.

This is a continuation of Microsoft's increased focus on the cloud, and a recognition of the importance of communication for collaborative projects. There are times when simply being able to work on the same document with colleagues is not going to be enough, and this is where Skype integration comes into play.

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When talk turns to privacy and online anonymity, it isn’t long before Tor enters the discussion. The Tor browser has become famous for its use of .onion domains, making it easier for people to browse the web without fear of being snooped upon.

Now there is a new tool for the security-minded to play with. Tor Messenger Beta is -- as you would expect -- a chat tool that routes traffic through Tor. One thing it has in its favor right from the start is that this is not a weird proprietory app -- it can be used in conjunction with existing networks such as Jabber (XMPP), IRC, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Twitter, Yahoo, and more.

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