Articles about COVID-19

Three-hundred-and-eighty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store in the past seven days.

Microsoft continues to work on the company's Your Phone application. The latest version, released this week to Insider systems, adds support for controlling music on Android devices from within Windows 10.

Continue reading →

The technology industry has always moved quickly, but COVID-19 is putting companies’ flexibility and adaptability to the test. Although employees are increasingly working remotely, few organizations were prepared to go 100 percent virtual within the matter of a week or two while attempting to understand what life in a pandemic looks like.

As the shock and awe of self-isolating practices and quarantines wears off, there are some things enterprises need to consider in order to not just remain in business but ultimately emerge "healthy."

Continue reading →

The latest State of the Cloud report from Flexera reveals that 59 percent of enterprises expect their cloud usage to exceed prior plans due to COVID-19.

Organizations are over budget for cloud spending by an average of 23 percent, and expect cloud spend to increase by 47 percent next year. However, respondents estimate that 30 percent of their cloud spend gets wasted.

Continue reading →

As COVID-19 has spread around the globe, governments everywhere have been taking extraordinary measures to try to contain the pandemic.

There are fears though that some of these measures could become the new normal. The CyberNews.com website decided to ask people in the US how they feel about possibly giving up their privacy during the government's response to the coronavirus.

Continue reading →

It's only a matter of weeks since Apple revealed the 2020 iPhone SE, but many people are holding out for this year's flagship from the company -- the iPhone 12 range, some of which will be 5G devices.

But it seems like anyone waiting to get their hands on the handset will have to wait a little longer. The chaos caused by the spread of COVID-19 around the world is said to have forced Apple to delay the launch of the phone by a month.

Continue reading →

Facebook, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, has launched a new interactive map to help people keep up to date with the spread of coronavirus across the US.

For now, the map is based on surveys carried out around the country and it enables you to see how many people are experiencing symptoms associated with the disease. The map only covers the US at the moment, but there are plans to expand it to cover other countries soon.

Continue reading →

With the coronavirus pandemic gripping the attention of the world, there are endless sources of information to help you keep up to date with the latest developments regarding the disease. Now Microsoft has added a COVID-19 tracker, news and resources directly in Windows 10.

Thanks to integration into the operating system, the latest factual information about the coronavirus -- including maps to track the spread -- is just a couple of clicks away.

Continue reading →

As the world struggles to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, there is another battle taking place online -- the battle against misinformation. Well-aware that its platform is being used to spread false and misleading information about the disease, Facebook is taking action to try to stem the flow.

The social media giant, like other technology companies, has already taken steps to ensure people have access to reliable information, but now it is going further. Facebook will now retroactively alert people who have interacted with "harmful misinformation about COVID-19".

Continue reading →

It’s sometimes hard to imagine life returning to normal. Nevertheless, this pandemic, like those of the past, will eventually recede, but it won’t leave us unchanged. COVID-19 has already had a dramatic impact on our lives and how we interact, conduct business and obtain the products and services we need.

As chief technology officer of a technology service provider, it’s my job to consider how such events will shape business so we can adjust the services we deliver accordingly. Naturally, I have specific thoughts on topics like backup and disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS), but I also have to consider societal changes and the ways in which businesses and consumers will utilize technology moving forward. So, what will a world after COVID-19 look like? Here are a few observations and thoughts.

Continue reading →

Having already extended the end of service date for Windows 10 version 1709 because of coronavirus, Microsoft has now announced that it is doing the same for Windows 10 version 1809.

Just as with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, the October 2018 Update will now be supported for an extra six months. Previously due to reach end of service on May 12, 2020, the Home, Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, IoT Core and Server editions of the operating system will now be supported until November 10 this year.

Continue reading →

There are privacy concerns following the revelation that confidential data from UK coronavirus patients is being used by technology firms and government to build predictive computer models to help fight the pandemic.

US big data firm Palantir and UK AI startup Faculty are working together to put together what has been described as a "COVID-19 datastore". Pulling together information from government databases as well as information from health services, the project also makes use of highly personal data relating to individual patients according to documents seen by the Guardian.

Continue reading →

The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has been incredibly varied, but few people would have considered that the spread of the disease around the world would lead to a delay in the release of new emoji. But that's precisely what's happening.

If you were looking forward to a new batch of emoji from the Unicode Consortium early next year, you're going to have to wait a little longer. Unicode 14.0 has been delayed by half a year. But while this delay is a disappointment, there are a couple of pieces of good news.

Continue reading →

Coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it is also known, is playing havoc with the world. Worldwide there are over 1.5 million cases and just under 100,000 deaths to date. Although measures are in place, it's going to be a rough ride for some time to come.

Not helping is the disinformation that is being used to scam the people who have the virus or are afraid of it. Most are existing scams repurposed for a new fear.

Continue reading →

With the current COVID-19 pandemic leading to increased demand for online services there have been concerns about the web's ability to cope.

New analysis by Fastly of traffic patterns between January and March looks at regional trends for key US states and countries around the globe that are some of the most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continue reading →

In times of crisis, billionaires are often criticized for failing to help out. But when it comes to fighting coronavirus, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is digging deep and offering up more than a quarter of his personal wealth.

In all, Dorsey is donating $1 billion to help fund global COVID-19 relief. The philanthropic venture sees the Twitter chief executive moving $1 billion worth of shares in his payments company Square into a charitable fund, called Start Small LLC.

Continue reading →