Social networks' interest in video show no signs of abating. As talk mounts about a video tool from Twitter, Facebook has acquired video compression startup QuickFire Networks. This acquisition comes just days after the social network acquired speech recognition firm Wit.ai, so 2015 has already been a busy year.

Facebook upset some mobile users by introducing videos that played automatically, and this latest acquisition may go some way to calming those upset by increased data usage. QuickFire boasts using a "proprietary technology that dramatically reduces the bandwidth needed to view video online without degrading video quality".

Continue reading →

Over the years we've grown used to Windows being the target of viruses, hacks and other forms of attack. Although other systems like Android are now coming under attack too it’s still Windows that gets the most attention.

Researchers from security company ESET have released a report showing the major trends in Windows exploits over the past year.

Continue reading →

Set up an email, web or FTP account in any internet software and it’ll probably store your login details, ensuring you won’t have to remember them in future.

You’ll still need your user name and password at some point, though, if only to reinstall your software or enter your details elsewhere.

Continue reading →

The good news is that your company is growing -- sales are up and you are hiring more employees. However, there are some challenges that go along with that growth. As your company grows, so does the number of employees and customers, which can put more strain on the IT system that supports all those new people. IT systems can get taxed and overloaded. For example, you could have a large increase in visits to your website during a successful product launch, but that could lead to slow performance or even a total outage. Any type of delay or disruption can lead to lost customers, lost revenue and could hurt your company’s overall reputation.

Managing this type of IT strain is especially challenging for small companies and startups that often have only one person working in IT. Some aren’t even that well-staffed, with 27 percent of small businesses having no IT support, according to a 2014 SMB Group study. So, how does a growing startup business survive its success and keep IT systems running properly? To do that, they first need to understand the potential issues that could arise, and then examine what they can do to fix or prevent them.

Continue reading →

If you want the features of a smart TV but don't want to have to buy a new set or spend $99 on Fire TV then the MK808B, which offers Google TV for less than $35, might be the answer.

It's basically a tiny Android PC that you hook up to your TV set and your Wi-Fi to allow you to stream media from the web or from another device on the same network or via Bluetooth.

Continue reading →

HD, with its 1080p picture took off, albeit a bit slowly at first. But in the long run, almost all content moved to the format and customers bought sets. It was a boon for manufacturers, but it was one that ended quicker than they hoped. Once everyone had that new TV, the rush came to a screeching halt and companies began puzzling over what to do next, desperate to get back those sales figures that had become a bygone era.

Enter 3D, people must want that experience, right? Not so fast. The platform fell flat on its face when nobody rushed to buy a TV that required wearing glasses -- worse, expensive ones at that. To quote my colleague Derrick Wlodarz, "the hurdles for 3D TV are plentiful. By far, the biggest, nastiest one has no doubt got to be content. And more specifically, breadth and reach of such content. Not just across movies, but television channels too. And this is one nagging factor that 3D TV proponents can't seem to come to grips with".

Continue reading →

Audi has become the first automotive firm to launch its own brand in-car tablet computer, as revealed at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

The German company will offer the device alongside its new Q7 car, in the hope that it will provide a more fulfilling rear seat entertainment service.

Continue reading →

Let's get one basic thing out of the way -- incidents are sometimes used for political maneuvering. That's not always the case and I'll be making no accusations, as the information simply cannot confirm nor deny anything about the recent Sony hack, or North Korea's possible role in it. We can, however, defer to more expert opinion.

As for background, if you could possibly have missed this story, Sony was hacked rather badly and the big thing that came out of it was the movie The Interview, which ends with the death of Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea. The US government, in turn, accused the nation of perpetrating the act. That seems an odd thing, given that those responsible released the ending of the movie, which would be detrimental to North Korea.

Continue reading →

There are around six weeks to go until the 87th Oscars, and the nominations are due to be announced very soon. TorrentFreak reports that over the last 24 hours there has been a huge jump in the number of big name movies leaked to torrent sites. In the run-up to the movie ceremony preview discs are sent out to critics, reviewers and industry insiders, and it's all-too easy for these to fall into the wrong hands.

We're not talking about dodgy torrents of movies shot on shaky camcorders or mobile phones -- these are DVD quality copies known as screeners. Near perfect copies of the likes of The Hobbit, The Imitation Game, and Birdman, in spite of security and watermarking put in place by movie studios.

Continue reading →

Human beings are bombarded with too many options nowadays. Whenever I hear someone say they are bored, I just want to shake them; we live in an exciting time where there is essentially an infinite amount of multimedia at our fingertips. Between TV, movies, music and books, not a second of your day should be empty.

Unfortunately, the problem with having so many options, is actually narrowing them down to one. Whenever I decide to buy a new book, I fire up my Kindle and explore. You know what happens? I can't decide on what to download! An easy way to stay on top of the most popular and relevant books is to check the New York Times Best Seller List. Today, Microsoft announces that Bing can now help you search for best-sellers.

Continue reading →

Kickstarter projects are ten a penny these days, as startup after startup vies for attention and financing. While many projects fall by the wayside, just a handful come to fruition and one of the latest is a handy USB dongle that allows for secure, anonymous web browsing. In just 45 days the campaign reached its target of $60,000, meaning that larger scale production can now go ahead on the line of security-focused USB sticks.

Webcloak is designed as an alternative to the likes of Tor, offering users a secure, self-contained browsing environment. This not only helps to keep browsing anonymous, but also protects against the threat of viruses, and its blend of hardware, encryption and "secure access" software has been designed with ease of use in mind.

Continue reading →

The year 2014 proved wonderful for Linux; however, it was not the fabled 'Year of the Linux Desktop". Quite frankly, that year may never come, but that is OK. The open-source kernel is dominating the mobile space with Android, and that is arguably more important anyway.

Linux Mint in particular shone brightly last year, with wonderful releases and updates. Today, the distribution is continuing that trend in 2015 with the all-new Linux Mint 17.1 'Rebecca' KDE Edition. If you are a fan of KDE, your time is now -- get downloading!

Continue reading →

We're only eight days into 2015, and Apple is already celebrating bumper sales in the App Store. Buoyed by impressive pre-Christmas hardware purchases, New Year's Day proved to be the biggest day ever for App Store sales. And in the first week of January, Apple enthusiasts spent almost half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases.

Sales and income are very much on the rise. Last year was a record-breaker for developers who managed to pull in more than $10 billion in revenue. iPad, iPod and iPhone owners have already helped to earn developers $25 billion, and spending shows no sign of slowing down.

Continue reading →

Keeping your Windows software up-to-date is almost always a good idea, bringing new features, perhaps improving security and fixing bugs.

The benefits of updating your device drivers aren’t quite as clear-cut: it may be worthwhile, but if the new driver is buggy -- or you just make a mistake during the update process -- then you could seriously mess up your PC. It can still be worth checking for updates, though, especially if you’re currently having any hardware-related problems, and DriveTheLife is a free tool which automates the process for you.

Continue reading →

Solid state drives are commonly used nowadays in premium ultrabooks, laptops and desktop PCs, mainly because they are faster and more energy-efficient, and run cooler than traditional hard drives. They are also favored by those who build their own PCs, and as aftermarket upgrades for older devices. SSDs are commonly connected using SATA, but, for the best results, PCIe is the better option.

So, naturally, Samsung has chosen to use PCIe with its latest SSD for ultra-thin laptops and workstations. Dubbed SM951, it promises lighting-fast performance, with speeds over 1000 MB/s, and excellent energy-efficiency, consuming less than 2mW in standby. It will be offered in 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB storage options.

Continue reading →