Latest Technology News

The impact of the coronavirus is being felt around the world in many ways. The pandemic is forcing people to work from home, impacting on deliveries and production in addition to being a health threat to many.

Now Google has announced that updates for both Chrome and Chrome OS are currently on pause. While the company does not say that this is a direct consequence of the spread of COVID-19, it says that the delay comes because of "adjusted work schedules at this time".

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'Write once, run anywhere' was the promise that Sun Microsystems made for Java in the mid '90s. But front-end development trends suggest that it's really JavaScript -- and its fast-evolving libraries and frameworks -- that are executing on that promise today.

To learn more about the JavaScript trends that are delivering an ever-faster, device and browser-agnostic web experience to users, we spoke with Guillermo Rauch, co-creator of the popular Next.js web framework.

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We all know that hackers and cybercriminals are keen to cash in on any opportunity to spread their wares. Researchers at Check Point have uncovered that hackers are using COVID-19 to offer specials and discounts on the dark net.

In similar fashion to Black Friday or Cyber Monday discounts, hackers are using the coronavirus pandemic as a special promotion to sell their malicious goods to hungry cyber attackers.

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Earlier today, Apple shocked the world with its newest iPad Pro. While that tablet is very nice, it was an accessory for it that caused true excitement. You see, the all new Magic Keyboard has an integrated trackpad, meaning the iPad can do double duty as a tablet and a laptop. It's like a Microsoft Surface, only much better. Unfortunately, both the new iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard are quite expensive, making the combo nothing more than a dream for many consumers.

Thankfully, this trackpad support is not limited to any specific iPad, meaning it can work with a non-Pro model too. In fact, any iPad that gets the upgrade to iPadOS 13.4 will also get the compatibility. If you are someone like me that owns a meager 7th generation iPad (which will get iPadOS 13.4), I have some really great news -- Logitech has announced a keyboard case with trackpad that works with the lower-end Apple tablet. Called "Combo Touch Case," it isn't just compatible with the the 7th-gen iPad -- there is also a model for the older iPad Pro 10.5 and the 3rd-gen iPad Air. The keyboard is detachable too, offering a more comfortable experience when using the iPad as a tablet. There is even a holder for the first-generation iPad Pencil. Best of all, it will protect against drops and bumps.

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When wireless charging went mainstream a few years back, it was expected to usher in a new era of convenience for consumers. It sounded irresistibly cool -- one of those things you just HAD to try. But when people finally did get their hands on a wireless charger, opened the box, and gave it a shot, the sparks just didn’t fly. This prophesied technology had finally arrived … and it was a letdown.

Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: wireless charging itself was not the problem. The concept wasn’t flawed, but the implementation was. We had been promised unparalleled convenience, but what we got was a solution with a fairly large margin of error.

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The past few Windows 10 Insider builds haven’t been hugely exciting, but that’s probably no surprise given the state of the world at the moment and the number of people switching to working from home.

Today’s new Insider release for those on the Fast ring, Build 19587, is no exception, but it does come with a number of improvements and fixes.

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Though they seem like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie, deepfakes are very much a reality. In fact, developers have been experimenting with deepfake technology as far back as the late 1990s. Today, deepfakes have become so advanced and believable that they can cause some serious damage in the wrong hands.

"Deepfake" is a term used for the process of replacing someone in an existing image or video with someone else’s likeness. If you’ve watched Former U.S. President Barack Obama giving a lecture about cybercrime or follow the hilarious thread of videos in which various actors have their faces replaced with that of Nicolas Cage, you’ve seen a deepfake. As entertaining as they are, deepfake algorithms are getting more sophisticated every day. When we stop being able to differentiate this synthetic media from reality, a real problem arises.

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Your friends and followers aren't the only ones looking at what you Like.  In 2017, CareerBuilder revealed that 70 percent of employers review social media during the hiring process. Today that number may be even higher: one survey by First Advantage found that nearly two-thirds of employers choose to screen all employees and applicants for "red flag" behavior on websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The primary peril of vetting candidates by examining their online profiles remains the same as when this trend first rose to prominence: employers performing "social media background checks" may inadvertently uncover sensitive or protected information which compromises their ability to make an unbiased hiring decision. Not hiring a candidate based on such information, from sexual orientation to religion to race, could expose a business to accusations of unfair or discriminatory hiring practices.

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The cloud has revolutionized making it easy to build, launch, and scale a service. That's driven a wave of spending on the major cloud providers, as made evident by the latest earnings reports from Microsoft (Azure), Amazon (AWS), and Google (Google Cloud). Microsoft just reported 62 percent QoQ growth for Azure, AWS brought in nearly $10 billion for Amazon in Q4 2019, and Google reported cloud earnings for the first time in January.

Companies of all sizes are clearly investing billions on the cloud and there doesn't seem to be a ceiling. Gartner predicts that by 2022 overall cloud spend will reach more than $330 billion, and that number grows every year. But at the same time, current estimates reveal that billions of this spend is the result of needless and wasted outlay. A recent survey of companies that spend at least $5 million on the cloud annually found that a vast majority (69 percent) regularly overspend on their cloud budget by 25 percent or more.

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Today, Apple announced the death of the Mac. Well, sort of. Actually, the company released an all-new iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard with a trackpad. In other words, the iPad is finally an official laptop. No longer must you touch the screen when using a keyboard -- you now have an official trackpad that can manipulate the interface with an on-screen pointer.  Yes, iPad has finally reached its apex, becoming the thing consumers have been clamoring for. Let's be honest, most home consumers would be better served by an iPad Pro and this new keyboard than they would with a Mac.

Keyboard and trackpad aside, this looks to be the best iPad ever. Apple promises that the A12Z Bionic chip is so powerful, that the new iPad pro is actually faster than most Windows laptops! The  Liquid Retina display can achieve an insane 120 Hz refresh -- adjustable to conserve battery. It even gains an ultra-wide camera and five studio-grade microphones, making the iPad pro an even better tool for photographers and other creators. Most exciting, however, is the new LiDAR Scanner.

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Desktops have largely fallen out of favor with home consumers, as they instead opt for laptops. Really, it isn't hard to see why this is -- a desktop PC often takes up a lot of room in a home, as it usually requires its own dedicated desk. Not to mention, you then have to add a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. You are then tethered to one place, unable to realistically work outdoors or at a coffee shop.

And yet, despite all the benefits a notebook has over a desktop, many people -- including yours truly -- prefers them. If you like the idea of a desktop, but prefer one that is very small (and won't take up a lot of space), there are plenty of options such as Intel NUC and Apple Mac mini. Today, we get another diminutive desktop option, but this one is designed for Linux and privacy. Yes, Purism is finally launching a tiny desktop, and it will come pre-installed with the Debian-based PureOS. Called "Librem Mini," the cute bugger has 4 USB-A ports on the front, along with a 3.5mm audio jack, and the power button. On the rear, there are two more USB-A ports, a single USB-C port, Ethernet, HDMI, DisplayPort, and the power port.

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Almost 65 percent of security professionals surveyed at the recent RSA conference admit to accessing documents that have nothing to do with their jobs.

The study by risk analytics specialist Gurucul also reveals that nearly one in five (19 percent) of respondents admit to having abused their privileged access to view sensitive data. That number increases to 36 percent among those who've had a poor job performance review.

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Fintech darling and banking disruptor Revolut is launching a new product designed with 7- to 17-year-olds in mind, but it is not a standalone service.

A Revolut Junior account can only be set up by a parent who already has a Revolut account, and it gives younger people the ability to use a digital app and a payment card which can be used online and in the real world. Parents are in control at all times, choosing where payments can be made.

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It is somewhat surprising that the Microsoft-owned GitHub has been around for so long without there being a mobile app, but now this is changing. After a period of beta testing, GitHub for mobile is now available.

The app makes it possible for development teams to keep in contact on the move, as well as merging code from the comfort of a smartphone or tablet.

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The Google Translate application for Android may now be used to transcribe speech; the new functionality allows anyone to "transcribe foreign language speech as it's happening", according to Google.

Google Translate Product Manager Sami Iqram describes the motivation behind the new feature.

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