China car app Didi updates safety measures after murder

BBC News - Technology

China car app Didi updates safety measures after murder

The country's equivalent of Uber is overhauling a service following the murder of a female passenger

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Xbox Adaptive Controller a 'first' for disabled gamers

Newsbeat's been given exclusive access to Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller, a 'first' for disabled gamers.

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Graduation Gift Ideas: The 16 Best Gifts For Your Recent College Grad

Here are 16 of the best graduation gift ideas for the newly-minted grad in your life.

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TechNewsWorld

How to Back Up iPhone Data to an External Drive

A recent incident reminded me of the importance of backing up one's phone regularly. Soon after carrying my recycling out to the curbside, I realized I had misplaced my 6-month-old iPhone. Cue brief panic, followed by deep concern that I'd somehow tossed my device into that transparent bag I'd left outside for the world to see. That led me to yelling "Hey, Siri" a few times around my apartment until the familiar chime sounded, revealing my trusty phone was hiding on a stepladder underneath a coat. Phew.

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Smart SoPhy socks send data to your physiotherapist

BBC News - Technology

Smart SoPhy socks send data to your physiotherapist

The socks have three sensors reading weight distribution, movement and orientation of the foot.

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Synth suspense

Gemma Chan and Emily Berrington on the return of Channel 4's Humans.

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TechNewsWorld

Highly Sensitive Encrypted Email at Risk of Exposure

A newfound flaw in email clients that use PGP and S/MIME to encrypt messages can be exploited to expose the plain text of the missives, according to a new paper. By injecting malicious snippets of text into encrypted messages, attackers can use the flaw to make the email client exfiltrate decrypted copies of the emails, explained the authors, a team of researchers from three European universities. Malicious action is triggered as soon as a recipient opens a single crafted email from an attacker, they wrote.

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Shuttleworth on Ubuntu 18.04: Multicloud Is the New Normal

Canonical has released the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS platform for desktop, server, cloud and Internet of Things use. Its debut followed a two-year development phase that led to innovations in cloud solutions for enterprises, as well as smoother integrations with private and public cloud services, and new tools for container and virtual machine operations. The latest release drives new efficiencies in computing and focuses on the big surge in artificial intelligence and machine learning, said Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth.

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Gear Latest

RAVPower Wireless Charger Deal: Save 30 Percent

Grab a discount on RAVPower's fast, beautiful wireless chargers until the end of May.

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Want an Xbox One X? It's $100 Off Right Now

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Want an Xbox One X? It's $100 Off Right Now

For a new console like the Xbox One X, this $100 discount is pretty amazing.

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BBC News - Technology

Is this a pigeon? A 2011 meme reincarnated in 2018

"It's like my son got elected president and then got a full face tattoo," says translator of 'Is this a pigeon?' fame.

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TechNewsWorld

Tech Career Checklist: Aggressive Diversity, Cold Cash

I've become convinced that too many of us don't prioritize our employment choices properly. What recently drew my attention to this was a conversation I had with Dell's CFO Tom Sweet at Dell Technology World. We were chatting about Dell's problem attracting employees. Because Dell is a private company, few employees get stock or stock options -- they get cash instead. It seems that has put Dell at a disadvantage when competing for top folks. However, I started to wonder whether Dell's employees were at an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

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Twitter fails to take down Xanax adverts

BBC News - Technology

Twitter fails to take down Xanax adverts

Pfizer experts say the fake pills have been found to contain rat poison, insecticides and lead paint.

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Best Pet Cameras: Furbo, Petzi, Petchatz, Pawbo

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Best Pet Cameras: Furbo, Petzi, Petchatz, Pawbo

These cameras developed especially for pet owners let you check up on your dog or cat—and feed them treats—over the internet.

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TechNewsWorld

Spotify's New Anti-Hate Policy Muzzles R. Kelly

Spotify has announced a new policy governing hate content and hateful conduct. The service identified as hate content anything that expressly and principally promotes, advocates or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual, based on characteristics including race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status or disability. It may remove that content, in consultation with rights holders, or refrain from promoting or including it on its playlists.

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Google to warn when humans chat with convincing bots

BBC News - Technology

Google to warn when humans chat with convincing bots

Humans will be told if they are talking to bots that can convincingly mimic human speech.

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Best 4K Streaming Device (2018): Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast

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Best 4K Streaming Device (2018): Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast

We compare the best 4K HDR TV media streaming devices from Roku, Google, Apple, and Amazon.

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Are Air Fryers Worth It?

Can the trendy, expensive countertop air fryer outperform a simple sheet pan in an oven?

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TechNewsWorld

Android P Tackles Phone Addiction, Distraction

Google has revealed some major new features in the next version of its Android operating system for mobile devices. Now in public beta, the OS known as "Android P" includes features designed to address growing concerns about phone addiction and distraction. For example, a dashboard will show users how often, when and for how long they use each application on their phone. What's more, they can set time limits on usage. With the help of artificial intelligence, Android P also will watch how a user handles notifications.

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BBC News - Technology

Self-driving pods for the Lake District and other news

BBC Click's Marc Cieslak looks at the some the best technology news stories of the week.

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BT cuts 13,000 jobs to slash costs

BBC News - Technology

BT cuts 13,000 jobs to slash costs

The telecoms giant will axe many back-office and middle management roles in the next three years.

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TechNewsWorld

Circadian VP Keenan Skelly: Changing the Cybersecurity Paradigm

"It's only a few times in the history of the U.S. and in specific domains do you have the opportunity to make decisions and have a lasting effect on that domain," said Circadence VP Keenan Skelly. "In terms of information cybersecurity, we're right in the middle of it right now. We're just figuring out what global norms should be. The things that we put in place -- whether they're policies or advanced technologies, are going to shape this domain for many years to come. That's really exciting to me, being able to be part of that change and influence this domain."

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Gear Latest

Google and the Rise of 'Digital Well-Being'

Google wants to unglue people from their phones. But like other wellness trends, "digital well-being" promises more than it can deliver.

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Google I/O 2018: How Google’s Duplex Demo Stole the Show

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Google I/O 2018: How Google’s Duplex Demo Stole the Show

Google's new "Duplex" technology presents a significant tipping point for machine intelligence–powered virtual assistants.

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Google I/O 2018: All the Big Announcements From Android to AI

Google is harnessing its AI to power self-driving cars, surface apps before you ask for them, and make voice assistants sound indistinguishable from humans.

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TechNewsWorld

Echo for Kids, Retro Voice Assistants, and a Second Snap

Amazon is trying to rope in younger members of the family to use its Alexa voice assistant with the release of a smart speaker for kids. The Echo Dot Kids Edition has a rubber case protecting a standard Echo Dot and a two-year, no-questions-asked replacement policy. It includes a one-year membership for FreeTime Unlimited, Amazon's subscription service for kids' books, videos, games, education apps and Alexa skills. FreeTime Unlimited has parental controls and optimizes the Alexa experience with kids in mind.

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With Custom Skills, Alexa Inches Closer to Being One of the Family

Amazon has introduced Alexa Skill Blueprints, adding personalization capabilities to its smart speaker devices. The new tool provides pre-crafted templates for users to create customized experiences. Among the possibilities are answers to specific questions, or skills for particular users. With Alexa Skill Blueprints, users can build into their devices experiences that are personalized for themselves, their friends and their families. The experiences they create will appear only on the devices registered to their Amazon account.

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BBC News - Technology

Vodafone makes €18bn swoop on Liberty Global cable networks

The European deal will allow the UK telecoms group to take on Deutsche Telekom in Germany.

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Solving Tech's Diversity Problem

TechNewsWorld

Solving Tech's Diversity Problem

I recently attended Dell Technology World, which shone a light on one of Michael Dell's passions: addressing the lack of gender diversity in the tech industry. Some time back he asked the most powerful woman at Dell, CCO Karen Quintos, to spearhead an effort to fix the problem. I was one of a few analysts who were invited to hear a talk by a leading expert on the problem, Howard Ross of Cook Ross. In a nutshell, he said that fixing gender inequality was impossible, and all of the metrics indicated it was getting worse -- not better.

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Gear Latest

Google I/O 2018: Watch Live Video of the Keynote Right Here

Google kicks off its annual developer conference in Mountain View, California on Tuesday, May 8 at 10 am Pacific. Watch it live.

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BBC News - Technology

World of Warcraft attacker jailed in US

A man accused of disrupting the video game's computer servers faces a year in prison.

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Could Trump's 'Space Force' become a reality?

BBC News - Technology

Could Trump's 'Space Force' become a reality?

"We're getting very big in space," says the US president. What would a new branch of the military do?

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Facebook privacy: Survey suggests continuing US loyalty

A Reuters/Ipsos survey indicates most US users remain loyal, despite the Cambridge Analytica row.

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Gear Latest

How to Watch Microsoft Build 2018

Microsoft's developer conference kicks off with a keynote address at 8:30 am PST on Monday May 7. Here's how to watch.

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Microsoft Build 2018: What to Expect From the Big Show

Cloud computing, artificial intelligence, mixed reality—it's all happening at Microsoft, and this is the place to hear about it all at once.

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Apple Beats Headphone Sale: Studio3, Solo3, PowerBeats (and Other Tech Deals)

The new Beats Studio3 Wireless and other headphones are on sale, along with other great deals this weekend.

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Google Assistant Gains Momentum in Smart Home Race

TechNewsWorld

Google Assistant Gains Momentum in Smart Home Race

Google Assistant, the artificial intelligence software built into Android handsets and the Google Home smart speaker system, now can control more than 5,000 smart devices. That's up from just 1,500 products in January -- and the list of supported products includes everything from cameras and security systems to doorbells, locks and lights, to dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators. Google's smart home platform has grown exponentially since its released in the fall of 2016.

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BBC News - Technology

YouTube stars' fury as videos promoting cheating removed

Following a BBC investigation, YouTube has taken down hundreds of videos promoting an essay-writing company.

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V2, the Second Coming of Vine, Is on Indefinite Hold

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V2, the Second Coming of Vine, Is on Indefinite Hold

V2 got everyone's hopes up, but there's just not enough money to move the project forward, says one of Vine's original co-founders.

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Facebook's Clear History Privacy Option: Boon or Sop?

TechNewsWorld

Facebook's Clear History Privacy Option: Boon or Sop?

Facebook plans to offer members a tool that to prevent tracking of their online activity outside the network. The Clear History feature will allow users to see which websites and applications send Facebook information when they use them, delete the data and prevent Facebook from collecting and storing it in the future. Although that information would not be associated with a user's account, it still would be used in anonymized form to provide website operators and app developers with analytics about Facebook users use of their wares.

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The Electronics Industry: A Pawn in the US vs. China Chess Game

Rising tensions between China and the U.S. have led to growing concerns that a tariff war will have a negative impact on the electronics industry. Amazingly, the industry has been spared thus far, and with good reason. However, even if tariffs aren't imposed, there is a silent battle between the two countries that already has impacted the global electronics ecosystem. Watching the countries levy their recent tariffs has been like watching two opponents playing chess. Each has made a move intended to weaken the other's political position.

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BBC News - Technology

New kids on the block

From goal-line tech to Video Assistant Referees, football is always on the look-out for new tech.

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Gear Latest

Star Wars Day Deals: Funko Pop, Sphero, ThinkGeek, Loungefly

Save some credits on Star Wars swag this May the 4th.

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TalkTalk broadband worst for customer service, says Ofcom

BBC News - Technology

TalkTalk broadband worst for customer service, says Ofcom

TalkTalk comes last for the second year running in a broadband service report from Ofcom.

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TechNewsWorld

Fitbit's Health Alliance With Google Could Be a Risky Experiment

Fitbit and Google have announced a new partnership on healthcare. Fitbit will develop consumer and enterprise health solutions that will use Google's new Cloud Healthcare API. Fitbit also will move to the Google Cloud Platform to innovate and advance its products and services. Most Google Cloud products support HIPAA compliance; the move will allow Fitbit to leverage Google Cloud's infrastructure and security features, as well as Google's artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, and its new predictive analytic algorithms.

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Everything Facebook Announced Today at F8

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Everything Facebook Announced Today at F8

Oculus Go, Facebook for dating, and a suite of new features for Instagram and WhatsApp.

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Facebook's New 'Dating' Feature Could Crush Apps Like Tinder

Mark Zuckerberg announced at Facebook's annual developer conference in California on Tuesday that the company is building a matchmaking service.

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BBC News - Technology

The US town banning new Bitcoin mines

Bitcoin mining has been eating up Plattsburgh's electricity quota and pushing up bills.

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Autonomy ex-executive guilty of fraud

BBC News - Technology

Autonomy ex-executive guilty of fraud

An ex-financial officer is found guilty in the first legal judgement over the UK software firm.

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TechNewsWorld

Could BlackBerry Displace Apple?

I spent a day with BlackBerry last week and it brought back memories of how Apple displaced the company around a decade ago. I, like a lot of folks at the time, thought what Apple was attempting was impossible. However, after the fact, it didn't even look difficult. BlackBerry largely has completed its pivot to software and services, but a wave of new phones from its partners apparently will be coming to market shortly. Now, BlackBerry isn't even going to try to displace Apple, so what follows is "what if" speculation.

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