Latest Technology News

Back in the day, Dell disrupted the PC industry with its direct sales and low prices. What really made Dell stand out, however, was its quality and attention to detail. I remember being a computer salesman in a brick and mortar retail store, trying to sell Compaq and Emachine laptops. Without fail, after helping someone for 30 minutes, they would say "but can you match Dell's prices?" Of course, we usually couldn't and they would leave the store to buy from Dell direct.

Things have changed quite a bit over the years -- manufacturers have come and gone. While the PC market is not as strong as it once was, Dell remains a significant player, offering both value and power machines. Today, the manufacturer refreshes the popular Venue 11 Pro, with a fanless Broadwell processor.

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With the increased popularity of the cloud, lines are becoming blurred between what is local and what is stored online. One of my favorite cloud services is Google Drive, as it integrates perfectly with Chrome OS, while also working well with both Windows and OS X.

It can be problematic though, when I am navigating Drive in the browser, and want to open a file. Sure, I can save the file locally, but this is tedious and messy -- my desktop is full of such files. Today, Google blurs the lines even further, allowing both Windows and OS X programs to be launched directly from the Chrome web browser with an extension.

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Cloud backups are all the rage at the moment, but they do raise security concerns, particularly for businesses that deal with sensitive information.

Cloud to cloud backup specialist Backupify has added some new features to its service to make it more secure. These include HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance as well as new features for admins.

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When CIOs talk security they often use words like "firewall" and "antivirus." Here's why today's technology landscape needs a different vocabulary.

Modern businesses are more open than ever before, but that doesn't mean they are more secure. On the business side, companies are taking advantage of cloud computing by focusing on their internal competencies and outsourcing what they can to third-party vendors. On the consumer side, employees armed with devices are increasingly demanding flexible and frictionless access to data from anywhere.

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As many as four out of five internet-connected households in the US could be at risk of attack through their wireless router.

This is among the findings of a study by security specialist Avast which found that more than half of all home routers are poorly protected using default or easily hacked password combinations such as admin/admin or admin/password.

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If you’re considering buying a 27-inch monitor, you really need to be looking at one which offers WQHD resolution (2560 x 1440), rather than the standard Full HD (1920 x 1080) found in a lot of models. The pixels per inch difference (108.79 PPI vs 81.59 PPI) will result in a much greater level of detail and clarity which, if you’re working with images, you’ll definitely notice and appreciate.

The problem with buying a 27-inch WQHD screen is cost, but AOC’s offering is a lot more affordable than most -- just £360 from Ebuyer including VAT and delivery -- and it offers an awful lot for the money, including a fully adjustable stand, so you can use the screen in both landscape and portrait modes.

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A working Apple-1 computer, sold by Steve Jobs out of his parents' garage in 1976, is to be auctioned in December, with estimates suggesting it will sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Earlier this week, Christie's claimed that the machine could reach more than half a million dollars, with an auction last month seeing another Apple-1 device sell for $905,000.

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Many businesses are put off moving their systems to the cloud by the complexity and time involved to complete the transfer process.

To help overcome this problem management tools specialist Metalogix is launching a Cloud Acceleration Suite along with a Partner Program to help businesses deploy collaboration abilities on their chosen cloud platform.

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Inmatrix has released Zoom Player Free 9.5, a major new build of its lightweight, format-friendly media player for Windows.

Version 9.5 revamps its full-screen navigation interface to make the player friendlier to use with mice and touch-screen displays, plus adds a new text file viewer and includes various other tweaks and improvements.

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When you buy a Galaxy Note 4 or Galaxy Note Edge you don't just get a great phablet. On top of all the powerful features that Samsung packs in its stylus-toting flagships, it also throws in a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of freebies, most of which you may not even be aware of.

And by freebies I mean freebies that you may want to take advantage of, not free stuff that is nice to have but hardly useful. This is something that Samsung has been doing for quite some time, as it applies to other flagships in its portfolio like Galaxy S5, but is only now detailing the freebies for its Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge customers. The best known perk is probably the 50 GB of free Dropbox storage, which is good for two years.

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Secure communication is something we all crave online, particularly after Edward Snowden's NSA revelations increased public interest in privacy and security. With dozens of messaging tools to choose from, many claiming to be ultra-secure, it can be difficult to know which one to choose and which one to trust. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has published its Secure Messaging Scorecard which rates a number of apps and services according to the level of security they offer.

It's a fairly exhaustive list that includes numerous well-known names, as well as several more niche products. What is concerning, however, is that many of the most popular tools -- WhatsApp, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, SnapChat, and Facebook chat -- received very low ratings for failing to protect users and their communication data.

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If you’re desperate to get your hands on a consumer version of Oculus VR’s flagship virtual reality headset, there’s good news and bad.

Speaking at the Web Summit technology conference in Dublin on Tuesday, Brendan Iribe, founder and CEO of Oculus VR, said that it would be "months, not years" before the highly anticipated product is made available to buy. But before you get too excited, Iribe clarified his statement by adding he meant "many months" -- so not any time soon.

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Jawbone is expanding its collection of activity trackers with the newly-announced UP Move and UP3. The two new devices target different ends of the market, with the former being designed as a clip-on for basic activity tracking, while the latter is a fitness band meant for demanding users, who wish to have access to a comprehensive feature set.

UP Move is, as you might expect, the cheapest of the two, being priced at just $49.99. Its low cost makes it an attractive first choice for folks on a budget who wish to get into activity trackers. In fact, undoubtedly because of the low asking price, Jawbone markets Up Move as a "great option for anyone at the beginning of a fitness or weight loss journey".

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Fancy a spot of retro gaming? Never mind faffing around with emulator software, these days you can play the oldies and goldies right in your browser -- and a new site which has just launched offers almost a thousand arcade classics.

The Internet Arcade boasts some 900 arcade games, and runs them via a modified version of the JSMESS emulator, which was tinkered with by the site curator Jason Scott.

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TeamViewer has unveiled TeamViewer 10 beta, the latest edition of its popular remote access and control tool.

New integration with Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box makes it quicker and easier to share files in meetings or remote control sessions.

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