Latest Technology News

A study by analysts Vanson Bourne for self service automation specialist SnapLogic looks at the data priorities and investment plans of IT decision makers, along with what's holding them back from maximizing value.

Among the findings are that 80 percent of those surveyed report that outdated technology holds their organization back from taking advantage of new data-driven opportunities. Also that trust and quality issues slow progress, with only 29 percent of respondents having complete trust in the quality of their organization’s data.

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I vividly remember the first time I witnessed a video game controller with an alternative color. My father took me to the mall to buy Nintendo 64. I was a huge Mario fan back then -- I still I am -- and Super Mario 64 had me wanting the console badly. The salesman suggested a second controller, which was a must for playing with friends back then -- online multiplayer wasn't an option for N64. That's when I saw it -- a green controller. Oh my goodness. They came in colors other than gray?! I had to have it.

In the grand scheme of things, the color of a controller doesn't really matter. I mean, it does not affect gameplay. Still, it’s fun to choose a color and make the controller your own. Microsoft is no stranger to controller colors -- it releases many special edition options. Not to mention, the company also offers the ability to create a custom design using Xbox Design Lab. Its latest such controller is called "Sport White Special Edition." As you can see, it is mostly white, but it features a mint color on the rear. There are also cool line patterns on the front.

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Paragon Software GmbH has released Paragon Backup & Recovery 17 Free 64-bit (also available for 32-bit), a brand-new version of its free (for personal use) backup and restore tool for Windows PCs.

Version 17 sees the program gain support for incremental and differential backups for more faster backups and more efficient use of available drive space. It also unveils a brand-new user interface with slick, user-friendly modern UI. This has made certain aspects of the program -- restoring selected parts of a backup, for example -- trickier to find.

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You know the score. You’re in the middle of cooking dinner and realize you’re missing a vital ingredient, but home alone. Do you have enough time to jump in the car and fetch it or can you leave it out?

If only there was a social network which enabled you to reach out to other people and ask them if they could pick the item for you, dropping it off on their way home.

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Even if you’re not a soccer/football fan, it probably hasn't escaped your notice that there's a World Cup going on in Russia at the moment.

We expect big sporting events to be exploited to launch phishing and malware campaigns but researchers at Enigma Software have spotted an interesting new phenomenon -- malware infections actually drop on match days.

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The sprawling and complex set of subjects we call cyber security can all be tied to one fundamental concept -- time. The time it takes a cyberattack to penetrate, the time from initial compromise to lateral movement across the network, the time it takes for an attack to be detected, to be analyzed, to be responded to and remediated.

Time is one of seven base quantities in the International System of Units upon which all other measures are constructed. No surprise then that it’s the single most important factor in cybersecurity program success.

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It’s been 28 years since England reached the semi-finals of The World Cup, and England fans across the nation have been glued to pub and living room screens, anxiously watching their team beat a path to success.

This year’s summer of sport has been an epic one for fans of England who have seen them win against Costa Rica 2-0, thrash Panama with a historic 6-1 score and beat Sweden 2-0. Not only that, but sports fans have also been tuning in with strawberries and cream to watch Djokovic and Federer return to the tennis courts at Wimbledon -- and strapping themselves in to watch Lewis Hamilton take on Sebastian Vettel on the Silverstone Circuit during Formula 1. But whilst action-packed summers are great for sports fans, they can create a dilemma for businesses: should they carry on with 'business as usual' or let their employees watch as the drama unfolds?

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Social media background checks are slowly becoming the norm. According to CareerBuilder, 70 percent of employers use social media in some way to vet their employees. In most cases, these checks are innocent -- or at least well-intentioned. Employers want to make sure the people they hire are conducting themselves online appropriately and respectfully. No brand wants one of their employees sending out offensive tweets on a regular basis or badmouthing his or her boss on Facebook.

Intention is not the only thing that matters with social media background checks. In fact, employers can, and do, stumble into a mess of legal and ethical implications by looking at a job candidate’s Facebook page or Twitter account. Here are some of the biggest dangers of social media background checks.

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The XBMC/Kodi Foundation is still working hard on the next big update to its popular home theater software, Kodi 18 "Leia", but whether you’re running the alpha, or are still on Kodi 17, we’ve some great news for you.

Unofficial add-on repository TVAddons has released a new tool for Kodi called Batch Installer which allows users to create their own custom "templates" for configuring Kodi to new devices in seconds.

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Microsoft owns the desktop with Windows -- it is undeniable. You know what? That's fine. But the success of Windows is not a failure for Linux. What I mean to say is, the open source kernel is omnipresent, whether you know it or not.

To highlight the ubiquitous nature of Ubuntu in particular, Canonical today releases an all-new infographic showing how this distribution "connects everything." I urge you to give it a look, as it will open your eyes to just how important Ubuntu -- and Linux overall -- really is. Apparently, this is an update to a previous infographic released in 2016, refreshed for 2018 following the release of Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver.

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Chrome's Incognito Mode is handy for those times you want to hide your browsing history from others on a shared system -- whether it's because you want to keep a birthday gift secret, or there are just sites you visit that you’d rather keep private.

Now the same feature is coming to YouTube. Having already undergone a period of testing, Incognito Mode is rolling out to Android users around the world, making it easy to hide evidence of the videos you have been watching, or the type of content you have been searching for.

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Apple is working away on iOS 12 at the moment, but it's still pushing out updates for iOS 11. As promised just a few weeks ago, a new update aims to block the use of iPhone passcode cracking tools, such as those used by law enforcement. But the patch has already been found to be flawed.

The latest update to iOS introduces a new USB Restricted Mode which is supposed to prevent the Lightning port of an iPhone or iPad being used to transfer data an hour after the device is locked. However, security researchers discovered that it is possible to bypass this security feature by plugging in an "untrusted USB accessory" -- and Apple sells such a device for just $39.

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There might be interest in a Surface Phone, but for now there's the Surface Go to enjoy. Revealed late yesterday, the Surface Go is described as Microsoft's "smallest, lightest Surface yet" -- and it's available to pre-order right now.

Unfortunately, there's no discount for jumping on a pre-order, but if you're quick, you should be able to guarantee that you'll get one when it launches on August 2. The tablet will cost you $399, but you'll need to purchase a Signature Type Cover separately if you want to type rather than using the on-screen keyboard, and a Surface Pen if you like the idea of stylus operation.

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Penetration testing company Positive Technologies has released some alarming figures surrounding the vulnerability of corporate networks to insider attacks.

During testing performed as an internal attacker, the company's researchers were able to obtain full control of infrastructure on all the corporate networks they attempted to compromise. Only seven percent of systems were assessed as having 'moderate' difficulty of accessing critical resources.

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Google continues to expand the capabilities of Google Pay, and today the company launched a new series of updates. Catching up with the likes of Apple Pay, Google's own digital wallet can now be used to store boarding cards and tickets.

While this is something that is already catered for by other apps -- such as those from airlines and box offices -- Google is clearly hoping that its "everything under one roof" approach will attract users. In addition to the new ticketing option, Google Pay is also combining the Google Pay and Google Pay Send apps.

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