Social intranet allows anytime, anywhere workplace collaboration


Teams need to communicate in order to work effectively, but in the modern work-anywhere world with a scattered workforce this isn't as easy as just popping over to someone's desk for a chat.
Social intranet provider Incentive is helping organizations and enterprise teams stay in touch, with the announcement of its new mobile apps for iOS and Android and desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Chrome.
How the mobile security landscape is changing [Q&A]


As our mobile phones become increasingly central to both our personal and working lives, securing them and the data they hold has become paramount. The nature of the mobile space means that threats are more dispersed and change fast, so traditional security solutions are struggling to cope.
How does this change in the security landscape affect businesses who may be faced with supporting a range of different devices and operating systems thanks to BYOD policies? We spoke to Gert-Jan Schenk, VP for EMEA at mobile security specialist Lookout, to get his view.
Google Play welcomes 100MB APKs


Google is increasing the maximum APK size in Google Play from 50MB to 100MB. The move comes in response to developers creating apps which offer richer experiences, and helps to avoid the need to download additional data after the initial APK download.
Expansion Files can still be used to allow for apps that exceed the 100MB barrier, but the aim in increasing the base limit is to speed up the installation for users. Now, rather than downloading an app followed by additional updates once the installation is complete, larger apps can now be downloaded and installed in one fell swoop.
Google's Customer Match and Universal App Campaigns bring closely-targeted mobile ads


Google is making it easier for advertizers to very closely target mobile users, homing in on the 'moments that matter'. The company is launching two new ad products -- Customer Match and Universal App Campaigns -- in a bid to convert more views into sales.
The aim with Customer Match is to target people with ads based on what they are doing, where they are, and the device they are using. It ties in with searches, Gmail, and YouTube to enable businesses to create highly tailored ad campaigns. Universal App Campaigns helps advertisers gain greater reach across the Google network.
Internet.org app is dead, Free Basics from Facebook rises from the ashes


The Internet.org project from Facebook has not been without controversy. Created with the aim of getting everyone in the world online, the program has been widely criticized and many partners pulled out. Now a rebranding has been unveiled for the mobile app and website.
With the launch of the Internet.org Platform, Facebook has taken the opportunity to rename the portal through which people can access a range of free services. Changing the name to Free Basics by Facebook is described as a way "to better distinguish the Internet.org initiative from the programs and services we’re providing", but it's hard not to think that it is also an attempt to move away from the controversy of Internet.org, and it comes ahead of serious push into India.
VisionTek High Power 40W Five Port USB Car Charger [Review]


Smartphone battery life has improved over the years, but it is still largely deficient. For many consumers, it is still impossible to make it through a full day without needing a charge.
Luckily, for those of us with cars, we can charge it while traveling. The problem? Most chargers will only accommodate one phone at a time. Yeah, some can handle two, or even three, but what if your family is larger than a trio? Ahh, well, that is where VisionTek's 40W Five Port USB Car Charger comes in. Yes, it offers five USB ports with simultaneous charging. Should you buy it?
Google launches Brotli, a new open source compression algorithm to speed up the web


As websites and online services become ever more demanding, the need for compression increases exponentially. Fans of Silicon Valley will be aware of the Pied Piper compression algorithm, and now Google has a more efficient one of its own.
Brotli is open source and is an entirely new data format that offers 20-26 percent greater compression than Zopfli, another compression algorithm from Google. Just like Zopfli, Brotli has been designed with the internet in mind, with the simple aim of making web pages load faster.
Mobile messaging helps businesses connect with customers


A new infographic from enterprise mobile specialist OpenMarket looks at how companies are using mobile messaging to improve marketing and awareness, and make a positive impact on customer experience.
Findings include that mobile messaging is the most frequently used communication channel on the planet and that 90 percent of texts are read within the first three minutes of opening. The millennial age group is 40 times more likely to react and respond to a business via text.
Why companies need to embrace mobile marketing


With mobile overtaking desktop as the main way of accessing the internet, brands have new opportunities to reach their customers on their preferred platform.
Mobile technology company Zumobi has produced an infographic looking at the opportunities for brands to harness the power of mobile content marketing strategies.
Microsoft shows increased interest in Android by buying Echo Notification Lockscreen


For a company with its own mobile operating system to worry about (yes, there is a new build of Windows 10 Mobile on the way soon) Microsoft shows an awful lot of interest in the competition. After making an appearance at Apple's iPad Pro and iPhone 6s launch event, Microsoft has made an Android-related acquisition.
The newly-purchased Echo Notification Lockscreen is the second Android lockscreen app that the company now has to its name; Echo Notification Lockscreen joins Microsoft Next. The company says it is about taking "productivity to the next level" and improving users' experience.
The rise of telecommuting: 45 percent of US employees work from home


The traditional 9-5 working day of driving to an office, sitting in a cubicle for hours and then forgetting all about work at the end of the day is all but extinct.
Thanks to telecommuting and the rise of millennials on the workplace, employees are now able to work from pretty much anywhere at any time of day, with little or no disruption or sacrifice in productivity.
WhatsApp Web app vCard vulnerability leaves 200 million users at risk


A security researcher at Check Point has discovered a vulnerability in the WhatsApp Web app. The app -- which allows for WhatsApp messages sent to a phone to be viewed on a desktop computer, as well as syncing data -- can be exploited if a malicious user sends a specially-crafted vCard contact to someone.
A problem with WhatsApp's filtering of the contact card means that it could be used to "trick victims into executing arbitrary code on their machines in a new and sophisticated way". What's particularly worrying about this vulnerability is the fact that all an attacker needs is the phone number associated with a WhatsApp account. With an estimated 200 million WhatsApp Web users, there are a lot of potential victims.
BlackBerry buys mobile security company Good Technology


BlackBerry has announced its purchase of Good Technology, a mobile security company. The deal was sealed with $425 million (£280 million) heading Good’s way. The Good Dynamics platform provides encryption, advanced data loss prevention and secure communication between applications.
But BlackBerry is already good at that, isn’t it? It is one of the safest, if not the safest smartphone out there, so what good can Good do (pun definitely intended)?
Fujitsu's 300GHz, 10+ Gb/s receiver could transfer 4K and 8K videos 'instantly'


Fujitsu has revealed details of a new wireless receiver capable of data transfer rates of "several tens of Gigabits per second". Operating on the terahertz band, the receiver is over 100 times faster than current devices that use the 0.8-2.0 GHz range.
Described as "the world's first 300 GHz band compact receiver", the receiver is ten times smaller than previous models, opening up the possibility of use in mobile devices. Shrinking the unit has reduced its size to under one cubic centimeter and Fujitsu says that it "enables mobile devices to instantly transfer 4K or 8K HD video".
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 launches in India starting at Rs 53,900 ($800)


At an ongoing media event in New Delhi, India, Samsung today launches the Galaxy Note 5, its latest flagship phablet device, in the country. Unlike the Note 4, and several other Galaxy smartphones and phablets, the Note 5 is comparatively well priced. The South Korean technology conglomerate announced that the Note 5 will be available for purchase starting Rs 53,900 (roughly $800), and will go on sale starting September 20.
Unveiled at an event last month, the Galaxy Note 5 is the company's latest flagship phablet device. It sports a 5.7-inch QHD Super-AMOLED display with a pixel density of 515ppi. It is powered by a 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7420 SoC with four Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.1GHz, and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5GHz, coupled with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. It comes in two storage variants: 32GB and 64GB, and doesn't support microSD card. On the software side, it runs on Android Lollipop with TouchWiz UI on top of it.
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