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BetaNews.Com (17 non lus)

Nokia sues Apple over alleged patent infringement

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 9:52pm CET par Mihăiță Bamburic

Nokia just announced that it is suing Apple in the US and Germany because the iPhone maker is allegedly infringing some of its patents. According to the Finnish company, Apple rejected any licensing offers that would have allowed it to legally take advantage of the infringed patents. "Through our sustained investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in today's mobile devices, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple's use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights", says… [Continue Reading]
Back up, restore or migrate an Oculus Rift install with AOMEI vrBackupper

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 7:30pm CET par Mike Williams

Oculus Rift may be a powerful and well-designed VR system, but its file and application management abilities aren’t so smart. Early versions would only install on your system drive, games and apps are always installed to a library in the same location, and if you uninstall Oculus then all your software disappears as well. AOMEI vrBackupper is a 64-bit Windows 10 program which can back up, restore or migrate your Oculus Rift installation or just your installed games and applications. Backup is simple. The program automatically detects your Oculus installation folder, and after pointing to your destination you can back… [Continue Reading]
Employee engagement is crucial to a modern CEO

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 7:27pm CET par Ian McVey

The recent proposed Green Paper, and in particular its element on "stakeholder engagement", called for the voices of employees and customers to be heard in the Boardroom. It followed the PM’s U Turn on her commitment to put employees on company boards, but echoed the Chancellor’s sentiments on UK productivity. As Mr Hammond reminded us in his Autumn Statement, UK productivity lags behind that of the US and Germany by some 30 percentage points. According to research from Qualtrics, British workers think a third of their working day is wasted. Giving employees a "voice", however, dramatically improves outcomes, because low… [Continue Reading]
Acer offers both Windows 10 and Linux on new Aspire C Series all-in-one desktops

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 7:14pm CET par Brian Fagioli

Even though more and more people are choosing laptops and tablets for their computing needs nowadays, there is still a place for desktops. All-in-one machines in particular can be a cost-effective way to get both a PC and monitor. This design will also save space on a desk or table -- a good thing for those without a lot of space. Today, Acer announces its Aspire C Series all-in-one desktops. The machines come in two screen sizes, both with 1080p resolution -- 21.5-inch (22) and 23.8-inch (24). What is particularly cool, however, is the operating system that they run. Of course, Windows 10 Home is… [Continue Reading]
Hybrid clouds make it easy to deploy new technologies

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 7:11pm CET par Joao Crespo

According to IDC, by 2018 at least half of IT spending will be cloud based, reaching 60 percent of all IT Infrastructures, and 60 to 70 percent of all software, services, and technology spending by 2020. As cloud has become a standard way of doing business, organizations globally are using it as a tool for innovation and business transformation. Those who successfully use the cloud to achieve growth will have a mature, strategic view of how best to implement and integrate it across their organizations. All approaches to cloud have advantages. From the straightforward simplicity of public cloud services, versus… [Continue Reading]
South Carolina government eyes a porn block on new computers

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 6:43pm CET par Alan Buckingham

On a day that we expect to see the repeal of North Carolina's controversial passage of House Bill 2, which cost the state millions of dollars in lost revenue thanks to performers cancelling concerts, businesses moving out and the NBA changing the venue for its All-Star game, we have one more state looking for a problem where one doesn't exist. A representative in the state of South Carolina wishes to place a porn block on all new computers sold within its boundaries. Ostensibly, this proposal is designed to "fight human trafficking". But Bill Chumley is offering an olive branch --… [Continue Reading]
IObit Advanced SystemCare Ultimate 10 strengthens protection, tweaks optimization tools

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 5:45pm CET par Nick Peers

IObit has released Advanced SystemCare Ultimate 10, a major new release of its flagship system security and optimization product for Windows. The new release centers around offering a larger anti-virus database through the integration of a new BitDefender antivirus engine. Elsewhere, the application includes a number of new features already introduced when its little brother, IObit Advanced SystemCare Free, was updated in October. These include a new FaceID feature and component for managing start-up items. The headline new feature is the promise of expanded protection against a broader base of threats thanks to the integration of the latest Bitdefender antivirus… [Continue Reading]
Raspberry Pi's Linux-based PIXEL desktop now available for PC and Mac

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 4:39pm CET par Wayne Williams

If you own a Raspberry Pi, you’re probably familiar with PIXEL. The desktop environment is included in the Raspbian OS. The Raspberry Pi Foundation describes PIXEL as the "GNU/Linux we would want to use" and understandably so. It offers a smart, clean interface, a decent selection of software, the Chromium web browser with plug-ins, and more -- and from today it’s available for PC and Mac. The version of Debian+PIXEL for x86 platforms is described as "experimental" but having taken it for a spin, it seems pretty stable to me. To run PIXEL on your PC or Mac, download the… [Continue Reading]
Twitter search gets an overhaul to place more emphasis on relevance

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 4:10pm CET par Mark Wilson

Twitter has given its search results a tweak just in time for the New Year. The change sees a move away from displaying tweets in reverse chronological order to showing them in order of relevance instead. The company recognizes that the site is "live and real-time, so naturally Twitter search must surface recent, yet still relevant, results", so time of posting is still factored in to determine the display order -- it is just no longer the only factor used. With a dash of machine learning thrown in, Twitter thinks it has things sorted. The changes come as the result… [Continue Reading]
The benefits of a multi-cloud strategy

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 2:12pm CET par Tony Connor

Multi-cloud has been discussed within the cloud computing industry for a while, but there is still confusion and disagreement about what it is. What most can agree on is that multi-cloud is about mixing and matching the best-in-class technologies and services from different cloud providers to create the best possible solution for a business. This flexibility is what will define the industry in the coming years, allowing organizations to leverage the relative advantages, price-points and geographic locations of the solutions to their best advantage. However, the transition to a multi-cloud solution can be fraught with risks if improperly managed. As… [Continue Reading]
Super Mario Run is bad news for everyone -- especially Android users

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 1:12pm CET par Mark Wilson

When Apple announced that Mario was making his way to iOS, there was much rejoicing. But the excitement soon gave way to disappointment for several reasons. Firstly there was the price, with many feeling $9.99 was just too much to ask for what is, ultimately, a very basic, one button platformer. Next there's the complaint that Super Mario run requires constant access to the internet -- many users have also grumbled that the game has eaten through large chunks of their monthly data allowance. Nintendo may have made a pretty penny from sales of the title in the first few… [Continue Reading]
'General and indiscriminate retention' of data ruled illegal, threatening Snooper's Charter

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 12:28pm CET par Mark Wilson

The UK government's Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (also known as the Snooper's Charter) has been dealt a blow after the European Court of Justice ruled that the "general and indiscriminate retention" of internet data and communication is illegal. This is a serious setback for Theresa May's government which introduced legislations that not only requires ISPs to store customers' browsing history for a year, but also make this data available to a large number of agencies. The European court made the ruling following a legal challenge made by MPs David Davis and Tom Watson which gained the support of privacy groups.… [Continue Reading]
Ransomware gets into the Christmas spirit with a festive discount

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 11:45am CET par Ian Barker

Christmas is a time of goodwill and it seems that the people behind the CryptXXX ransomware aren't immune as they're offering a seasonal discount for victims who intend to pay up. Researchers at data security company Forcepoint have discovered that where previously, victims infected with CryptXXX, also known as UltraCrypter were asked for a payment of 1.2 Bitcoin, in keeping with the season of goodwill, the cyber criminals are now offering decryption at a Christmas discount. Victims paying their ransom demands can now unlock their files for only 0.5 Bitcoin. The 0.5 Bitcoin rate -- around $395 at the current exchange… [Continue Reading]
Facebook introduces Live Audio in conjunction with the BBC

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 9:48am CET par Mark Wilson

It's not all that long since Facebook started to allow users to broadcast live video to their friends and followers -- now the social network is doing the same with audio. Things are looking good for mobile users, particularly those with Android devices. Starting off with partners such as the BBC World Service, LBC and Harper Collins, Live Audio is something of a blend of podcasts and radio. To start off -- just as happened with live video -- audio broadcasting will only be available to a select group of companies, but there are plans to open it up to… [Continue Reading]
Best Windows 10 apps of 2016

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 9:17am CET par Martin Brinkmann

Welcome to this special episode of best Windows apps. This article looks back, and lists the best applications released for Windows 10 in 2016. I went through all "best of Windows apps" post of the year, cross-referenced the popularity of apps on Windows Store, and read user comments to create this list. Note that apps refers to applications and extensions only. An article covering games will be published next week. I'd like to encourage you to post your best apps of the year in the comment section below to improve this post for all readers. Without further ado, lets get… [Continue Reading]
Apple's 'lump of coal in your stocking' Christmas

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 6:05am CET par Joe Wilcox

Apple sure knows how to keep its store stocked for the holidays. Ho, ho, ho, bah humbug. The shelves are bare, and you can get your must-have pretty thing some time next year. If you're lucky. Let's start with the delayed AirPods, which went on sale online last week. They arrived in stores on Monday, and whoosh were gone before the waiting line ended. My local shop had about 30 pairs. If you want them, first available retail pickup date is—cough, cough—February 8th. That is 2017. I had to confirm not 2018, because you never know with these dumbfounding delays.… [Continue Reading]
FINsix DART-C is world's smallest USB-C laptop charger -- for MacBook Pro (2016) and more

Publié: décembre 21, 2016, 1:35am CET par Brian Fagioli

USB-C is proving to be quite the wonderful connector. It is being used on many devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This means you can often charge multiple devices using a single power adapter -- very convenient for those that like to pack light. You can also connect things like flash drives to both PCs and mobile devices -- very cool. Apple recently released its newest MacBook Pro, and it only has USB-C ports for connectivity; it even charges using these ports. The power brick is surprisingly chunky, however, meaning it can take up a good amount of room in a bag.… [Continue Reading]