The smartwatch wars are heating up, and LG is sending out new troops. Today the company announces the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition -- the first Android Wear smartwatch that offers LTE/3G connectivity.

LG describes the latest wearable as 'breaking the limits of a watch', and with the prospect of making phone-free calls with the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition, this would seem to be a fair description. The watch is compatible with iOS and Android, but it is the fact that it can be used on its own that is its real selling point.

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These days, patent lawsuits are ten a penny and big players like Google, Apple, and Microsoft are frequently involved in litigation. Out of the blue, Microsoft and Google have announced that they are burying the hatchet and will no longer pursue patent issues between themselves in the courtroom.

But more than just kissing and making up, the two companies have announced that they will "collaborate on certain patent matters". Quite what this means moving forward remains to be seen, but it could mean that there are some interesting joint ventures on the horizon.

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While some people have the luxury of a beautiful office, not everyone is so lucky. Many people, myself included, work wherever they can -- Starbucks, in a parked car, or a kitchen table to name a few. This is actually freeing, and can be conducive to creativity, but I digress. The downside, of course, is having to work with a single laptop display -- a multiple monitor setup can be a godsend for productivity.

Believe it or not, there are portable secondary monitors, which you can attach with USB to a laptop, tablet, or desktop if need be. Today, AOC announces a 16 inch USB 3.0 variant, featuring 1080p. It supports both Windows and OS X, but Linux distros may work too. Best of all? Not only is video transmitted by USB, but so is the power -- a single cable! Plus, the price is very affordable.

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Facebook today announced a series of updates to user profiles on mobile devices, and one of the first candidates for a revamp is the humble profile picture. There are a couple of interesting options to play with, including temporary profile pictures that change after a certain number of days.

This is an idea that was born from the popularity of banners which Facebook users added to their profile pictures to show support for a particular cause. Also in the pipeline are profile videos, which Facebook says will "add a new dimension to your profile". Forget static images, a looping video clip is now an option. But the profile updates don’t end there -- and, oddly, iPhone users are first in line to try out the new goodies.

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After updating my iPhone 5s to iOS 9 and then using the backup to set up my new iPhone 6s I encountered an annoying bug that prevented certain apps from being able to use mobile data. The bug was so crippling that it (temporarily at least) had me regretting my recent purchase. You can read the full story here.

I wasn’t alone in suffering from this bug and Apple promised frustrated users that a fix was on its way. Well, today that fix arrives. And that’s not the only iOS 9 issue it addresses.

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When I leave my house, I always wonder what's going on inside. No, I don't want to spy on my family (not the humans, at least), but I do want to spy on my dog! Sometimes I go out for a few hours, come home, and she is still laying in the same spot. Maybe she is running around and playing in between; I'd love to know. In all seriousness, it would be nice to check on her well-being while I am away.

Logitech, or should I say "Logi", has created a new product that meets my puppy-watching needs, but is so much more -- security, communication, etc. The Logi Circle Portable Home Connection Camera is an Internet-connected camera that can be used in a stationary spot (including mounted to the wall if you choose) or portable. It even stores recorded content in the cloud. Very cool.

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Thousands of critical medical systems such as MRI machines, completely out in the open and vulnerable to a hacker’s attack, have been exposed online, the media reported on Tuesday.

According to a report by The Register, more than 68,000 medical systems from a "very large" unnamed US organization have been exposed. That institution has some 12,000 staff and 3,000 physicians, it says in the report.

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If you’re a Windows 7 user, you might want to check carefully which updates you install. Users on Windows forums, Reddit and Twitter are concerned about a new "important" update that looks more than a little suspicious.

The update appears to be a language pack, but the details that accompany it are far from the usual information you’d expect to see, leaving many to wonder if Microsoft's update servers could have been compromised.

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Both Microsoft and Apple Stores are freakin' awesome. While the latter usually has more foot traffic, the former is no slouch. I rather enjoy playing with all of the cool stuff in the Microsoft Store, such as Surface, Band, Xbox One, and more.

Sadly, a flagship Microsoft Store has been absent in one of the world's busiest places -- New York City. The company has been working on changing this, however, and today it announces the official grand opening date for the flagship location. In addition to Manhattan, the first-ever "International" Microsoft Store in Australia receives an official opening date too.

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Samsung’s unloved video streaming service is shutting down on November 20th, after a lukewarm start and plummet in usage in the months after.

In a market dominated by YouTube, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Samsung Milk Video. The service worked with BuzzFeed and College Humor, but could not attract the viewers Google, Vimeo, and Twitch have won over the years.

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Teams need to communicate in order to work effectively, but in the modern work-anywhere world with a scattered workforce this isn't as easy as just popping over to someone's desk for a chat.

Social intranet provider Incentive is helping organizations and enterprise teams stay in touch, with the announcement of its new mobile apps for iOS and Android and desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Chrome.

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On the day that Apple releases El Capitan details of an exploit that makes it possible to bypass the Gatekeeper feature of OS X have emerged. Designed to combat various forms of malware, the security feature can be bypassed using a simple trick involving the use of a signed binary.

Even when Gatekeeper is configured to use its highest level of protection, the ease with which the fortifications can be slipped through is staggering. Using a file that has already been deemed trustworthy by Apple, it is possible to trick OS X into executing a malicious file stored in the same folder as the signed one. No patch is yet available, and it is believed the problem affects all versions of OS X.

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Yahoo is moving forward with its plan to spin off its Alibaba shares, even though it risks a tax bill of a couple of billion dollars.

In a filing posted with the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week, Yahoo said that the company’s board authorized it to continue with the proposed spinoff. Yahoo added that it’s hoping the process will go without any hiccups.

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If you have been keeping an eye on the Microsoft rumor mill, then you know that the software giant is expected to take the wraps off two Windows 10 Mobile flagships soon. These would be its first premium smartphones since taking over Nokia's phone business, and also the first new high-end Lumias to arrive in one and a half years.

We expect Microsoft to announce both smartphones at its upcoming media event on October 6. However, the team at Microsoft Store UK has decided to jump the gun, having just listed Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL on the site.

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As our mobile phones become increasingly central to both our personal and working lives, securing them and the data they hold has become paramount. The nature of the mobile space means that threats are more dispersed and change fast, so traditional security solutions are struggling to cope.

How does this change in the security landscape affect businesses who may be faced with supporting a range of different devices and operating systems thanks to BYOD policies? We spoke to Gert-Jan Schenk, VP for EMEA at mobile security specialist Lookout, to get his view.

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