Latest Technology News

Considering the very rocky start Microsoft’s slate got off to after it launched in 2012 (middling reviews, a $900 million charge relating to Surface RT inventory adjustments when no one bought it, etc.), you can’t blame Microsoft for being a bit boastful now that it’s finally getting things right with Surface Pro 3.

So when Microsoft releases a video called 'Accolades -- Surface Pro 3' you’d expect it to be filled with, well, accolades for the Surface Pro 3. But instead of a video offering up quality trumpet blowing, we get the equivalent of someone tooting on a kazoo.

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When your working life involves being bombarded with information about new technology it's easy to become a bit blasé about it all. For something to really impress therefore it has to be pretty good or fill a niche that others have missed.

You've already read Alan and Wayne's picks for the year, so here are some of the things that ticked the right boxes for me in 2014.

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So what technological marvels can we expect to see next year?

We spoke to Mark O’Neill, VP of innovation at Axway, about his predictions for 2015, which include Bring Your Own Internet of Things, B2B in the cloud, and connected vehicles.

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There is a lot of tension in America currently, between citizens and the police. Sure, this is not a new concept; police violence and the distrust of officers has a history, whether misplaced or not. There are bad people in all facets of life, including in the police force, but I want to believe that the great majority of the officers are good. In other words, I respect the police and want them to make it home safe to their families every night.

Unfortunately, the recent deaths of unarmed citizens, regardless of race, has opened up old wounds, and police distrust is on the rise. President Obama called for body-worn cameras to curb violence, and it is not a terrible idea. There are pros and cons to all things you see, and while body-worn cameras can be abused, they should not be dismissed entirely. With that said, 75 percent of Americans are fearful of these videos being misused, including leaks to YouTube and social media.

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The Cloud world is evolving fast, furiously gaining greater momentum as we go into 2015 and leaving legacy/on premise systems light years behind. Cloud has the ability to transform the way organizations work, but with any change comes a time of adjustment and the process of cloud adoption comes with its own set of challenges.

Questions about expected service levels, support contracts and technical flexibility are just some of the issues keeping IT leaders awake at night. So, what solutions can we expect to see sprinting to the rescue in 2015? What are our predictions?

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In March a new exhibition opened at the US National Archives in Washington DC. On display you could find, among other things, Adolf Hitler’s marriage certificate, witnessed by Goebbels, a greeting card from Saddam Hussein to George Bush, and a patent application from Michael Jackson for floor-lock shoes that allow the wearer to lean forward without falling over.

The exhibition called ‘Making Their Mark’ aimed to show how the story of the world can be told through signatures. In the months leading up to the opening, while the US archivists were busy trawling through the millions of documents available to them, a very different look at signatures was taking place across the Atlantic.

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My colleague Alan Buckingham has already listed his favorite tech of the past year, and now it’s my turn. I’ve taken all sorts of new products for a spin over the past 12 months, so narrowing the selection down is actually pretty tricky. Apple disappointed me a little this year -- as the owner of an iPhone 5s I needed a big reason to upgrade to the iPhone 6, and a larger screen and Apple Pay wasn’t it. The iPhone 6 is an excellent phone, but I think I’ll hang on to the 5s for another year. Similarly, the iPad Air 2 just wasn’t different enough for me to consider that either. Thinner is a feature, not a benefit for me.

But fortunately, there was plenty of other new tech around that I did love, and here’s my top selection, in no particular order.

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In theory, it should be easy. A quick drag and drop starts the process of copying a folder tree from one location to another, and all you have to do is watch as Explorer transfers each file.

Normally this works just fine, too -- but there can be problems. In particular, if the destination path plus the file name is longer than 255 characters then you’re likely to see an error message suggesting you "shorten the file name and try again". (And if you think that’s unhelpful, it could be worse: in some situations the copy operation fails without generating any message at all.)

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Samsung has unveiled a new version of its Galaxy Note 4, featuring support for LTE Advanced Tri-Band Carrier Aggregation and Category 9 cellular networks. Dubbed Galaxy Note 4 LTE-A, it promises much faster download speeds over 4G LTE compared to the regular models, which the South Korean maker announced in early-September.

Galaxy Note 4 LTE-A is capable of offering download speeds of up to 450 Mbps. To put things into perspective, that is 50 percent faster than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805-equipped Galaxy Note 4 -- which is no slouch to begin with -- and a whopping 200 percent faster than the Exynos-powered model.

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There are a vast number of alarm clock apps available for every platform, most of which are tired variations on the same thing: choose a skin, set a wakeup sound/ method, and that’s about it.

Wakie is an iOS and Android alarm clock app with a difference. Forget custom audio files or complicated snooze functions, instead you’re called by another Wakie user, who chats, sings songs, ask you questions, or otherwise gets your day off to a much more interesting start.

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Imagine if in the 1990's, there were CDs that only played on certain players. In other words, what if Warner Brothers released the Red Hot Chili Peppers' iconic album, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", and it only worked on CD players made by, say, Pioneer? Not only would it harm consumers, but also limit the reach of the artist. If you did not own a Pioneer CD player, you could not hear the album.

If a new rumor by the New York Post is to be believed, Apple is planning such a thing, but rather than CD players, its iTunes and Beats Music would be the means of harming the consumer. Yes, the fruit-logo company may be working with artists (and ultimately record labels) to bring album-exclusives to its own music services.

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China is one of the more 'interesting' counties when it comes to its attitude to allowing unfettered access to the internet. The Great Firewall of China is famed for the restrictions it places on the online activities of Chinese citizens. New data seems to suggest that Google's Gmail is currently blocked in the country.

Dyn Research, a web traffic research company, reports that Gmail traffic is being blocked at the IP level rendering Google's email service inaccessible within most of China. The disruption appears to have started late on Christmas day and is still on-going.

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There are few films that have caused as much controversy -- justified or not -- in recent times as The Interview. The Seth Rogen and James Franco movie upset North Korea, was shunned by major cinemas, and earned itself poor reviews when it was screened online and in independent cinemas. Now Apple has announced that the movie can be bought or rented from iTunes.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said simply, "We're pleased to offer The Interview for rental or purchase on the iTunes Store." Anyone who wants to see the movie and doesn't fancy opting for one of the numerous versions available through BitTorrent or other sources, can rent it for $5.99 or buy it for $14.99 -- in the US and Canada, at least.

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You must have seen them whilst browsing your Facebook feed, you probably even have one of your own. Facebook took it upon itself to produce a Year In Review post for users, pulling together photos from throughout the year into one delightful, cheery look back at the previous 12 months. But for some people things weren’t quite so cheerful.

The algorithm that was used to collect photos for inclusion in the posts picked out not only photos of the happy family get-togethers, the unforgettable vacations and so on. Some users were distraught to find that some of the bleaker moments from the year had been highlighted in a presentation entitled "It's been a great year!". Now Facebook has apologized for the upset.

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The news the past couple of days has been filled with security, or lack thereof, as the case may be. Really, it has surrounded DDoS attacks launched against gaming networks. Both Sony and Microsoft experienced outages beginning Christmas day. The attacks have been credited to hacking group Lizard Squad.

According to security researcher Brian Krebs, the group has done a poor job hiding its members' identities. "While most of the group’s acolytes are known to U.S. enforcement investigators, many are minors, and the sad truth is that federal prosecutors don't really know what to do with underage felons except to turn them into informants".

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