Latest Technology News

The words "first responders" came to the forefront in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. However, it really just describes the medical, fire and police people who rush to the scene of any problem, hoping to save lives and property. These men and women need every advantage they can get, and modern technology continues to aid them in their work.

You may think of the smartwatch as something that displays the time and messages for you, but it can be a lot more in some cases. Pebble, the former darling of Kickstarter, is now helping these folks out by bringing the CommandWear app to its platform.

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The humble drone has something of a poor reputation. If it's not seen as a tool for surveillance, then it's a silly toy for those with too much time on their hands to strap a GoPro to and record aerial footage. More recently Amazon has trialled fast deliveries by drone, but a new competition aims to show the incredible things than can be achieved with the unmanned devices.

Drones for Good is an international competition which offers a prize of $1 million for the best and most innovative use of drones. The competition was announced at the Government Summit 2014, hosted by the United Arab Emirates, and has attracted interest from around the world, with entrants from dozens of countries. The list of semi-finalists includes some incredible ideas for how drones could be used to make the world a better place.

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

Microsoft revealed this week how it envisions the future of Windows and in particular Windows 8's successor Windows 10. You can check out a video summary here, read why Mihaita is sold on Windows 10 and what Wayne thinks about Microsoft's presentation.

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Microsoft revealed earlier this week that Windows 10 will ship with a new browser, known as Spartan. The venerable Internet Explorer will still be around for enterprise duty and certain sites, but the new kid on the block is the one Microsoft wants you to embrace. However, when it is Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox that you have to leave behind, convincing you to jump ship is not going to be easy.

Spartan is clearly no Internet Explorer. It is designed from the ground up as a modern browser, that works well across multiple form factors. It will be found on all PCs, smartphones and tablets that ship with or are upgraded to Windows 10, which means that it, at least, will be readily available to test. But does it have what it takes to pass the test, and become your new favorite browser?

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The increased popularity of social media, for business as well as personal use, has opened up a new avenue of attack for cyber criminals.

Risk management company ZeroFOX has produced a list of the top social media attacks to look out for this year.

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We can always learn from the public and nonprofit sectors. Many times these organizations must work virtual information technology miracles, without the means available to the enterprise sector. In fact, some of their IT security lessons are particularly important, given how nomadic data has become in the age of the "cloud".

One such standout organization is Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB), a nonprofit based in New Haven, Connecticut. LWOB marshals together hundreds of volunteer lawyers from the world’s most prestigious firms to work on cases worldwide. These legal pros offer their varied services pro bono, in the interest of supporting the rule of law, economic development, conflict resolution, and the promotion of peace.

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IBM’s big layoff-cum-reorganization called Project Chrome kicks-off next week when 26 percent of IBM employees will get calls from their managers followed by thick envelopes on their doorsteps. By the end of February all 26 percent will be gone. I’m told this has been in the planning for months and I first heard about it back in November. This biggest reorganization in IBM history is going to be a nightmare for everyone and at first I expected it to be a failure for IBM management, too. But then I thought further and I think I’ve figured it out…

I don’t think IBM management actually cares. More on this later.

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Windows power plans seem simple, at least in theory. Launch the Power Options applet, then select "High performance" on desktops for maximum CPU speed, "Power saver" on mobile systems to optimise for energy use, or "Balanced" for somewhere in between.

That’s most how it works, too, but Windows also has a hidden setting which can fine tune the results, maybe saving more energy or further improving system speeds.

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President Barack Obama made clear in his State of the Union address earlier this week that he intends to push through new legislation aimed at tightening corporate cyber security standards across the US. Just as the US’s Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, designed to improve the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures in the wake of the Enron scandal, effectively forced companies wanting to partner or do business with US corporations to comply with its rulings, so Obama’s proposed cyber laws are likely to have a global ripple effect across businesses outside America. Companies based in countries like the UK will need to tighten their own cyber security if they expect to do business with American firms which might otherwise see them as a weak link and potential vulnerability in their communications and data networks.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday (January 20th 2015), Obama said: "I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information. That should be a bipartisan effort. If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable".

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Sometimes a product comes along, that makes so much sense, that you wonder how no one thought of it before. For example, the Snuggie. I mean come on, a blanket with sleeves? Genius! Let us not forget about the George Foreman Grill; that thing makes some damn tasty turkey burgers.

From a technology perspective, however, Intel has a new product for education that is so damn awesome, I'm not sure why it never existed before. The company's Education Content Access Point will provide content to devices even when there is little to no Internet access or electricity. Sounds awesome right? Yep. Best of all? It is powered by Linux!

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I was just a young man when the movie Total Recall was released. My dad and I saw it in the theater and it blew my mind. If you aren't familiar, it is an action/mystery/science fiction film that ultimately takes place on Mars. One of the most famous scenes is where a female alien has three breasts, but I digress. The Schwarzenegger film sparked a curiosity in me about one day actually visiting Mars.

Unfortunately, traveling to Mars is pretty much a death sentence; even if you did survive the long trip there, getting home would be almost an impossibility. In other words, with current technology, you could probably never get back to Earth. In 2015, however, visiting Mars might be easier than we think; virtually, at least. Microsoft is empowering NASA to experience Mars with the all-new HoloLens-powered technology called OnSight. Will the Curiosity rover be getting some company?

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Surface got off to something of a stuttering start, but Microsoft's sort-of-tablet/sort-of-laptop has gained quite a following as it hit the third generation. With the launch of Windows 10 on the cards, the company is now thinking about not just software, but also new hardware formats. We've seen HoloLens, but the device that could transform both work and education is the Surface Hub.

Announced as an 84-inch Surface, it would be easy to dismiss this as a headline-grabbing gimmick, but it's more than that. Much more than that. It's a tool for the office, a tool for enterprise, and a tool for schools and colleges. This is Microsoft showing how Windows 10 can be used for collaborative work, bringing the interactive whiteboard kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

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Microsoft made some long expected announcements today -- the return of the start menu, one version of Windows 10 across all devices and an attempt to make Windows apps work across those same devices. Unfortunately, the limited overlap between Windows PC developers and mobile developers makes the latter a weak proposition. On the other hand, Microsoft's HoloLens headset may have some potential.

I have long been a believer in the long-term potential of "field of vision" devices (AR and VR) for one simple reason -- despite their downsides, their potential benefits cannot be matched by existing computing platforms. In my opinion, this is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for triggering a new market disruption. While we are still in the early stages of the technology (think first mobile phone, not first smartphone), I believe we could see increasing consumer interest in this category over the next five years.

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Approximately two-thirds of Britons hate how much time they spend using their smartphone, according to a new survey by Voucher Codes Pro.

A poll of 2,500 UK adults found that 62 percent resent the fact that they find it so difficult to stop using their phone.

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There was a time when Kim Dotcom was hardly out of the news, but it's been a little quieter for him of late. He popped up recently when he apparently intervened and persuaded Lizard Squad to stop attacking the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Dotcom used the opportunity and attention he drew to himself to advertise his Mega storage service, and anyone following him on Twitter can't help but have noticed constant references to MegaChat.

Well, the time for talking about MegaChat is over. The browser-based, ultra-secure chat service that offers end-to-end encryption is now ready for you to talk through. Dotcom refers to it being a Skype-killer, but it remains to be seen just how much trust people are willing to place in the service.

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