2016 was another fantastic year in mobile technology where we find people using their smartphones as their primary source of information and social interaction. I’ve been blessed to now write here on ZDNet for more than a decade and look forward to an exciting 2017. This year-end post includes my ten most viewed posts from 2016, some “best of” titles for this year, answers to last year’s […]
There are probably those who fail to see the appeal of playing games in a portable computer. But this list of best gaming laptops for 2016 might just change your mind. Aorus X5 v6 Let us begin with the relatively unknown commodity: the Aorus X5 v6. This laptop can slug it out with the best in this list and emerge unscathed in the process. You can expect […]
A new report indicates that Samsung will be rolling out different versions of its upcoming Android 7.0 Nougat update to different models of the company’s flagship Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in different regions of the world. While some owners of the smartphones will be getting the latest version of the update, Android 7.1.1 Nougat, others will be receiving the older version, Android 7.0 Nougat. Samsung […]
Owners of the Honor 8 smartphone – which debuted to an overwhelming response, raking in 1.5 million unit sales worldwide within a few months of its release – will be pleased to learn that the handset is poised to benefit from the much-awaited Android 7.0 Nougat software update in early 2017. Come February 2017, the 5.2-inch phablet is set to receive a bump-up from Android Marshmallow and get […]
A recent want ad for a job at a professional services companies had this interesting description: Photo: Joe McKendrick “Robotic Process Automation Analyst: Key responsibilities include: work with business teams to simplify and improve operations by analyzing as-is processes and create end-to-end automation solution designs… Work with process owners/SMEs and technology teams to analyse and assess automation feasibility… Document business requirements, processes and work instructions…. Operate as […]
Weakening encryption is against US nation interests, says a congressional working group. Image: iStockphoto Any attempt to weaken encryption is against the national interest, a group of US lawmakers has warned. The widespread use of strong encryption has lead to complaints from law enforcement agencies that they are unable to access to communications of criminals – the so-called ‘going dark’ issue. This has lead to calls for […]
A hundred years ago, an arms race between the dominant global superpower the (British Empire) and a rising power (Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany) culminated in the mass slaughter of World War One. The deep mistrust between the United States and the People’s Republic of China has all the potential to spawn a traumatic chapter in international relations. Despite its “pivot” to Asia, the Obama White House was cautious […]
Honda R&D and Waymo are in discussion over self-driving car tech. Honda is in discussion with Google’s autonomous vehicle division Waymo about integrating self-driving technology into Honda vehicles. Honda said the technical collaboration between researchers at its Honda R&D subsidiary and Waymo’s self-driving technology team would allow both companies to learn about the integration of Waymo’s fully self-driving sensors, software and computing platform into Honda vehicles. As […]
IDC predicts that 35 percent of leading organizations in logistics, health, utilities, and resources will explore the use of robots to automate operations by 2019. What does the future hold for robotics? It’s hard to say, given the rapid pace of change in the field as well as in associated areas such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. But one thing seems certain: Robots will play an […]
What a difference a year makes. Having ended 2015 as the worst performing sector on the S&P 500, energy stocks are on track to become this year’s biggest winners as this month’s rally in crude prices further extended the sector’s gains. Despite falling 0.1 per cent on Friday, the S&P 500 energy index is still up more than 25 per cent this year, making it the top […]
Dubai, United Arab Emirates- December 22, 2016-(ME NewsWire) Space Imaging Middle East (SIME) is pleased to announce that Crime Prediction- its latest predictive policing software- has been successfully launched by the Dubai Police force. The software, which is the first of its kind in the region, was developed in support of the UAE’s Smart Governance Initiative, and specifically designed to complement the Dubai Police force’s modernized approach […]
Roy Zipstein | Apple Apple has given app developers more time to turn on App Transport Security (ATS) after originally insisting that software submitted to the App Store utilize the feature by the beginning of 2017. According to a brief note posted on the Apple developer website on Wednesday, ATS, first introduced in iOS 9 and OS X v10.11, will now not become mandatory for apps to […]
Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: VW buy-back: Volkswagen agreed to pay around $1 billion to repurchase or fix an additional batch of diesel-powered vehicles tainted with emissions-cheating software, resolving what had become a sticking point more than a year into Volkswagen’s diesel-emissions crisis. [WSJ] Unrevealing: A newly unsealed search-warrant application in the Clinton probe confirms the FBI found thousands of emails potentially linked to […]
Although students at Abu Dhabi’s Future Rehabilitation Centre achieve varying degrees of independence after they graduate, the ideal is to land a job. One such graduate to have achieved this is Eid Al Shamsi, a 21-year-old Emirati who is now working at the Ministry of Interior’s human rights department. When he was a boy, Mr Al Shamsi had initially been enrolled in a private school, where he […]
(Image: file photo) Earlier this year, we were sent a series of large, encrypted files purportedly belonging to a US police department as a result of a leak at a law firm, which was insecurely synchronizing its backup systems across the internet without a password. Among the files was a series of phone dumps created by the police department with specialist equipment, which was created by Cellebrite, […]
The Beyond the Net Funding Programme is proud to announce the results of our November 2016 grant application cycle. This cycle, we received 39 amazing applications from around the world. The project ideas were varied, original, and focused on helping local communities. It was hard, but the Selection Committee managed to pick six projects for funding. These projects were selected for their uniqueness, structure and the benefits […]
Constellation Research hopes you all have a great holiday season this year with friends and family. In the spirit of recognizing memorable achievements in the tech industry, we also want to use this occasion to announce the winners of Constellation’s first annual Enterprise Awards. The winners were selected through a combination of internal voting and heated debate among Constellation’s analyst team. Each category also includes a number […]
If you pay attention to the narrative following every Apple product announcement, it’s loaded with disappointment and declarations that Apple has lost the innovative touch to create a “magical” experience consumers have come to expect from the company. Some of the complaints are warranted, such as those about the TouchBar on the new MacBook Pro. It’s useful, sure, but it’s nowhere near as profound as the Apple […]
The stock market is an odd place. Red Hat, the leading Linux company, saw its third quarter of fiscal year 2017 grow by 18 percent year over year to $615 million. Up. Still, Wall Street had expected Red Hat to make $618.5 million — and the market immediately punished it with a 13.9-percent stock price drop. Red Hat headquarters presides over Linux’s first $2 billion company. I’ll […]
A study by RMIT University has found that around 2 million Australians are often risking data breaches by logging into internet banking and conducting other financial transactions on unsecured public Wi-Fi networks. In compiling its report [PDF] Practicing safe public Wi-Fi: Assessing and managing data-security risks, RMIT surveyed 1,200 adult Australians, asking explicitly what they do on public Wi-Fi networks, as well as what they know about […]
Dec 22, 2016 12:33 pm IST India’s business world has had its share of scandal and success this year and that has been reflected in headlines and during heated discussions on nightly news shows. From Cyrus Mistry’s unceremonious ousting as Tata Sons chairman to Vijay Mallya’s ongoing battle with Indian authorities from the U.K., there has been plenty to write and talk about. To quantify the business […]
Nokia was the world’s leading mobile phone maker from 1998 until 2011 when it bet on Microsoft’s Windows mobile platform, which proved to be a flop Nokia announced Wednesday it is suing Apple in German and US courts for patent infringement, claiming the US tech giant was using Nokia technology in “many” products without paying for it. Finnish Nokia, once the world’s top mobile phone maker, said […]
Queensland-based image-recognition startup TrademarkVision has landed the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) as the first customer of its new deep learning algorithm. Following a successful beta trial, the EUIPO will now be integrating TrademarkVision’s new deep learning algorithm into its eSearch platform to cut down the time it takes to search EU image trademarks. Previously, trademark searches and monitoring required the use of descriptive — and […]
BlackBerry’s big bet on software and services is making progress — albeit slowly. The Canadian former phone maker turned software developer posted Tuesday a fiscal third-quarter profit of just one cent for the quarter, beating Wall Street expectations, which predicted a two cent loss (statement). No longer a smartphone company, BlackBerry is investing in software and services. Read more. However, the company did miss on revenue, bringing […]
