Latest Technology News

New AI product combines human and machine intelligence

Machine learning

A number of major companies including IBM, Microsoft and Amazon have launched new machine learning platforms in the past year.

But data enrichment company CrowdFlower believes that to be effective and commercially viable machine learning needs more training and better data.

Continue reading

HP and 3M join forces to fight visual hacking

If you are like me, you do a lot of work on the go. Not a day goes by where I am not typing away on my laptop in a public place like Starbucks or on a bench. Unfortunately, this opens me up to visual hacking. In other words, devious people can simply glance at my laptop to see what I am doing. If you work with sensitive information, this is a huge problem.

According to a recent 3M-funded study, 90 percent of visual hacking attempts are successful. Luckily, HP has teamed up with 3M to fight this visual hacking scourge. Rather than use clunky screen covers, the computer manufacturer will integrate the 3M technology directly into the laptop display. Whoa.

Continue reading

Adobe and Dropbox team up for easier PDF management

Adobe and Dropbox have announced a partnership, bringing stronger integration between the two products which will surely be beneficial for users on both sides.

The new partnership means people using Adobe products will be able to save files directly to their Dropbox folders, while those going into their cloud locker first will be able to edit PFF files directly in the cloud.

Continue reading

Apple faces $862 million bill as iPhone and iPad chips infringe patents

A jury has decided that Apple infringed on patents owned by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The A7, A8, and A8X processors used in iPhones and iPads since 2013 included technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm.

US District Judge William Conley had previously indicated that Apple could be hit with a bill of up to $862.4 million, but it is now down to the jury to determine the levels of damages that must be paid. The chips feature efficiency-improving technology, and can be found in some iPads as well as the iPhone 5s, 6, and 6 Plus.

Continue reading

Hear the recordings Google stores of the voice commands you've said to your phone

OK Google, Siri, and Cortana all make it possible to control a phone simply by speaking to it. In the case of Google, what you might not be aware -- it's hardly something the company shouts about -- is that recordings of every command, question, and request are stored online.

Listening back through these could well be interesting, embarrassing, perhaps even nostalgic. You can step back in time and remind yourself of trips abroad, fun nights out, and the like, but you might also be concerned about privacy. If you would rather these recordings were not stored online, you can delete them; here's how.

Continue reading

USB Killer can fry any computer in seconds -- watch it in action

Just as sharing floppy disks in the 1990s carried the risk of infecting your PC with a virus, so sharing USB flash drives carries the same risk today. Fortunately you can easily protect against that kind of threat by disabling autorun and also installing a decent anti-virus program.

However, a Russian security expert has created a new, far more dangerous USB stick, which doesn’t carry a virus, but rather a deadly charge of power which can fry any device with a USB port in a matter of seconds.

Continue reading

Time is crucial in dealing with cyber security threats

Security time bomb

Of 430 security and risk professionals surveyed, 55 percent were dissatisfied with the length of time it takes them to contain and recover from attacks.

This is according to information security training and analysis organization SANS, which has released the results of its latest report into data center and cloud security.

Continue reading

IT professionals express doubts over IoT security

According to a new survey, 64 percent of consumers are confident they can control the information access of Internet of Things devices, but 78 percent of IT professionals say security standards are insufficient.

The findings come from the 2015 Risk/Reward Barometer of global cyber security association ISACA and suggest a major confidence gap about the security of connected devices between the average consumer and cyber security and information technology professionals.

Continue reading

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10565 introduces support for nested virtualization

Even though Windows 10 was officially released months ago, development has not stopped at Microsoft. The software giant is actively working on new updates as part of its Windows-as-a-service strategy, employing the help of Windows Insiders to test all the major changes.

One such change is support for nested virtualization, a feature that allows users to run virtual machines inside virtual machines. While Microsoft has initially kept quiet about its availability, a version is actually part of Windows 10 Insider Preview 10565, which was released earlier this week.

Continue reading

ESET 9 ships with new banking and payment protection

ESET has released the latest editions of its consumer security tools, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 9 ($39.99) and ESET Smart Security 9 ($59.99).

Smart Security now includes Banking & Payment Protection, a secure and isolated browser which uses multiple techniques to protect online financial transactions from attackers.

Continue reading

Instart Logic helps eCommerce sites gear up for the holiday season

eCommerce

The holiday season is peak selling time for online businesses, so it's imperative that websites optimize their shopping experiences to acquire first-time visitors as customers.

Cloud application delivery specialist Instart Logic is launching new performance solutions designed to optimize website experiences for retail and e-commerce sites.

Continue reading

iPhone 6s camera isn't the best there is, but that's fine

No matter which flagship smartphone you get, you are very likely to be happy with its camera quality. According to DxOMark, this year's crop of premium handsets from Apple, Google, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony is extremely close in terms of photo and video quality.

But, while other makers have shown major improvements in this area over their previous efforts, Apple seems to have stagnated with its new iPhone 6s, which is no more better than last year's iPhone 6 despite having a new rear-facing camera. (DxOMark has not yet tested the iPhone 6s Plus phablet, but it is unlikely to be significantly better than its predecessor either.)

Continue reading

FBI and GCHQ investigate Dridex malware after millions stolen from bank accounts

Bank card security

An investigation spanning the US and Europe is under way after tens of millions of dollars was stolen from bank accounts. The thefts are believed to have been facilitated by a strain of malware known variously as Dridex, Bugat, and Cridex, enabling a group known as Evil Corp to siphon off funds.

The malware has been known of for some time, but law enforcement agencies have only just started to make significant inroads that could thwart the activities of the botnet. An arrest has now been made in connection to the malware which hijacked online banking login pages on infected computers. After stealing usernames and passwords, taking money from accounts was a simple task.

Continue reading

Apple's no longer court monitored in ebook antitrust case

Apple’s e-book division will no longer be overseen by a court-appointed monitor after the US Justice Department ruled that the company had made improvements to its antitrust compliance program.

Despite the positive outcome for Apple, the Justice Department was critical of the company’s "challenging relationship" with the appointed monitor Michael Bromwich, claiming that the iPhone maker "never embraced a cooperative working relationship".

Continue reading

Hillary Clinton wants Edward Snowden to stand trial

Hero or villain? Opinion is very much divided about Edward Snowden. For Hillary Clinton there is no question -- he is a villain who broke US law and should face trial. The NSA contractor became a topic for discussion between Clinton and Bernie Sanders at last night's presidential debate, and the two candidates had slightly differing views of how he should be treated.

Snowden has said that he would be willing to serve time in jail, going as far as offering himself up to the government. He says that he has received no response -- something that would apparently be very different if Clinton succeeds in her presidential bid. While Clinton is taking a hard line, Sanders offers more leniency.

Continue reading

© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.