Latest Technology News

Windows 10 is very much a work in progress. While certain elements of the forthcoming OS appear close to how they will be in the finished release, much of what’s in the Technical Preview is early and very buggy. There’s been talk of the new operating system coming out in Spring 2015, but the latest rumors, based on what Kevin Turner, Chief Operating Officer at Redmond, told the Nikkei news service, a September release is looking a far more realistic prospect. That’s a smart move, as the last thing Microsoft should be doing is rushing out an unfinished OS -- as it did with Windows 8.

You won’t have to wait too long for your next big batch of Windows 10 goodness though, as Microsoft will be holding an event at its Redmond campus on January 21 to talk about the "next chapter" of the OS.

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Consumerization of IT is gaining hold and customers are looking to deliver user-friendly enterprise applications to employees who are accustomed to a "there’s an app for that" mentality.

So application producers are realizing the need to alter their monetization models so that they can cater to an "appified" enterprise -- capturing revenue from customers who want task-specific applications and the flexibility to pay based on how they are actually using an application.

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Fans of Linux-based operating systems have been experiencing a deluge of quality releases in the last quarter of 2014 -- Ubuntu, Mint and Fedora to name a few. While I still think there are too many distros nowadays, the lesser-quality releases can be tuned-out as noise.

Today, one of the most significant enterprise Linux distributions, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), reaches Beta for the upcoming 7.1 version.

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Ever wondered how much mobile traffic those two behemoths of the mobile (and indeed desktop) world, Facebook and YouTube actually use?

Well, as far as North American traffic goes -- as measured by a Sandvine report compiled by BI Intelligence for Business Insider -- in September, Facebook accounted for 19 percent of mobile traffic, and YouTube snagged almost as much at 18 percent.

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Perhaps the biggest news of the past week came out of Sweden, where police raided and shut down The Pirate Bay. The site was the most enduring symbol of BitTorrent, though not necessarily in the best of ways, given the technology can be used for many good things. Still, the site stood for much of what, to some, seems right about the internet -- the free and open access to what you want.

Since the raid, several mirrors have popped up, and yesterday a fake substitute had people talking, and some fooled. We'd advise you not to use that, though we also don't advocate piracy in general. It likely will not be the last such site to crop up, as there is really no end to either piracy or online crooks looking to get malware distributed to unsuspecting victims.

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As businesses move their systems to the cloud security becomes a major concern but often applications don't offer the flexibility and ease of access that administrators need.

To address this need for users of Office, cloud security automation company Palerra has announced a partnership with Microsoft to add an extra layer of security to the Office 365 suite.

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We're entering the season of giving and receiving, and it's safe to assume that one of the most popular electronic gifts this year will be tablets. With three key platforms to choose from, various price-points, different sizes, and a bewildering array of manufacturers, which one should you opt for? One factor that's well worth considering is durability.

SquareTrade, a company offering extended warranties on electronic devices, has drop-tested ten of the most popular tablets to see which can handle the abuse. The results might surprise you. Perhaps most startling is how poorly some of the big names fared.

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Intel Security has released the McAfee Labs Threats Report for November 2014, which includes an analysis of the threats which hit in Q3, and the upcoming specters we’ll be facing in 2015.

So, during the third quarter, McAfee detected some 307 new threats every minute, with overall levels of malware up a worrying 76 percent year-on-year. Mobile malware grew as well, up 16 percent.

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We've heard that 2015 could be the year of cryptocurrencies, and now it seems that Microsoft is getting in on the action ahead of the New Year. There is yet to be a formal announcement, but Microsoft now accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment for apps, games and other digital content.

The virtual currency can be used to make purchases in the Windows Stores, Windows Phone Store and the various stores that exist for Xbox. While Microsoft is yet to issue a statement about the acceptance of Bitcoin, a page has been added to its customer support site that gives some details.

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Technology has had a major impact on the world of marketing, making it possible to target customers more accurately than ever before.

However, when it comes to selecting the best tool to deliver a message there's still confusion, especially since the rise in importance of social networks. A new survey by email marketing brand Campaigner looks at the technologies businesses see as most effective as part of their marketing effort.

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Whenever I read about a company deploying a certain number of smartphones for internal use, it is usually Windows Phones which are given to employees. And Microsoft is the company that proudly does the official announcement on behalf of (or together with) its customer. This time around things are (very) different.

US airline United Airlines has announced that it will deploy iPhone 6 Plus to over 23,000 flight attendants, with the initial goal of giving them the ability to access company resources -- like email, Intranet, policies, and procedures manuals -- and also to handle retail transactions during flights.

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Stories about companies going to all manner of lengths to minimize or completely avoid tax payments are nothing new. Google is no stranger to this, and following new legislation in Spain, the company is shutting down the Spanish version of Google News. This is a bid to avoid paying what has been dubbed the "Google Tax".

The Spanish government is about to bring in legislation that would require Google News to make payments to publishers whose content it uses. The news service will close on 16 December, but the consequences go beyond Spanish web users missing out on Google News.

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Iowa is first in the nation when it comes to selecting the candidates for the US Presidential election. Soon it will be the first to offer digital drivers licenses to residents in a mobile app, too.

In a budget hearing Wednesday, Iowa Department of Transportation chief Paul Trombino told state lawmakers in a budget hearing Wednesday that the app is set to launch next year. While the department still plans to issue old fashioned plastic licenses in the near-term alongside the app, Trombino says the app-based ID will be acceptable as identification for law enforcement and airport security officers in the state.

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Xiaomi has enjoyed great success in its home market of China, becoming the largest vendor in the country in Q2 2014, beating Samsung for the title. The company also was the third-largest smartphone maker worldwide in Q3 2014. And things appear to only be looking up for Xiaomi, with shipments expected to grow at a still rapid pace.

One of the reasons why Xiaomi has managed to reach the top spot in its home country is the permissive local legal system, in relation to patents. The company hasn't really been challenged locally by any of the big non-Chinese players, as quite likely any suits filed against it for patent infringement would be lost by the plaintiffs. Western companies have been dealing with this problem for (too) many years. However, as Xiaomi expands into India, it has to deal with a different legal system, one which just sided with Ericsson in a case of patent infringement. The outcome?

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Microsoft Minesweeper may have been an extremely basic game, but it was also easy to play, and a fun way to pass a few minutes, which is probably why it came bundled with Windows for around 20 years.

The game was finally dropped in Windows 8, but you can get it back with the free Logyx Pack, along with 107 others: Tetris, Battleships, Reversi, Checkers, Simon Says, and many more (see below for the full list).

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