AMD Radeon RX 480 brings premium VR to the everyman

When NVIDIA announced the GTX 1080, the PC gaming community was largely in awe, and rightfully so. Its performance was impressive, and many folks wanted it. The problem? It has an MSRP of $600. At that price, the card -- while amazing -- is simply unobtainable for many. In fact, many high-end cards which are needed for a premium VR experience are too expensive for ordinary folks on a budget. AMD was not satisfied with VR being a luxury reserved for those with deep pockets. Instead of focusing on raw performance regardless of price, the company set its sights on… [Continue Reading]

HP DeskJet 3755 is world's smallest all-in-one printer -- has shockingly low price

Believe it or not, printers are still relevant. True, smartphones have reduced the need for printing on pieces of paper, but there still could be times where it is necessary. All-in-one variants in particular can find a place in both homes and businesses, thanks to the scan and copy functionality. If you have modest all-in-one printer needs, and don't want to break the bank, HP has you covered. Its all-new DeskJet 3755 for home use is small, cute, and affordable. Just how affordable is it? You are going to be shocked at the price. The HP DeskJet 3755 is downright cute -- looking like… [Continue Reading]

Xiaomi pre-installing Microsoft Office and Skype on its Android smartphones and tablets

Both Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile are inconsequential in the mobile market. In other words, Microsoft has largely failed with its mobile platforms. With that said, Microsoft is not a failure in mobile overall. Its applications and services work brilliantly on the mobile platforms that matter -- Android and iOS. Today, the Windows-maker announces that Xiaomi will be pre-installing both Office and Skype on its Android devices. "Microsoft Corp. and Xiaomi Inc. have expanded their global partnership to provide innovative user experiences on mobile devices. As part of the agreement, Xiaomi will ship Microsoft Office and Skype on Xiaomi Android smartphones… [Continue Reading]

G.SKILL unveils RIPJAWS KM570 MX and KM770 RGB mechanical gaming keyboards

PC gaming is so much more than graphics cards and powerful processors. Once you build your rig, you need to get quality accessories too. Things like keyboards, mice, and headsets contribute to the overall experience. The latest rage in keyboards are the mechanical variants. While they can be more expensive than a rubber dome style keyboard, they are certainly worth the extra cost. Mechanical keyboards offer more precise and satisfying keystrokes, which is not only ideal for gaming, but all uses, really. Today, famed memory manufacturer, G.SKILL, announces two new mechanical keyboards -- the KM570 MX and KM770. "The RIPJAWS KM770 RGB… [Continue Reading]

How to secure your open source code

It’s an open source world. Black Duck and Northbridge’s recent 2016 Future of Open Source Survey found that 78 percent of the over 1300 respondent companies said they run open source software. The number is likely much higher. Black Duck finds open source software (OSS) in over 95 percent of the applications we analyze for clients. It’s easy to understand why. Open source adds needed functionality while lowering development costs and accelerating time to market. But securing and managing open source code still remains a challenge for many organizations. And with use increasing, open source vulnerabilities are also on the rise. Since… [Continue Reading]

Going out of business: An important, but forgotten security precaution

It takes a lot to launch a business in today’s competitive landscape. Unfortunately, not all find success and some end up shutting their doors for good. A company could be going through a merger or acquisition, as is the case with Office Depot, which is in the process of closing up to 400 locations following its 2013 merger with OfficeMax. Of course, there’s another reason -- a company could be facing mounting debts and a decline in sales. That’s what is happening to the once popular fashion retailer American Eagle, which has seen its net income take a huge dip… [Continue Reading]

Three steps to BYOD bliss

BYOD has now become so prevalent that 29 percent of UK secondary schools are now operating some sort of BYOD policy including asking students to bring their own devices. While the enterprise world has been talking about BYOD for years, it’s this kind of mainstream use that confirms BYOD as a way of life, and of business. While there are clear benefits in terms of productivity for example, unfortunately, security still remains a key concern. In order to take advantage of the potential benefits and avoid the security risks, organizations need to do three core things: develop a robust BYOD… [Continue Reading]

Samsung tells users to just say no to Windows 10 upgrades

A lot has been said about Windows 10, Microsoft's latest operating system. That's both good and bad because, while it's an improvement over the previous 8.x offering, the company is trying hard to foist the new OS upon users. Really hard. To the point that it has led to embarrassing high-profile situations. Undaunted, the company continues with its strategy, but now one hardware maker is telling its users to say no to the nagging messages. Samsung is advising customers that its drivers just don't work with the new desktop OS and that they should avoid installing it. This is after… [Continue Reading]

In BYOD companies trust -- or should they?

Running a business in today’s digitally-driven world means that most, if not all, of your employees will be using their own personal mobile devices to send and receive work emails, logging into the company’s intranet, posting messages on the corporate Yammer account, sending instant messages to one another and sharing files between computers and the cloud. This BYOD tendency is just a part of corporate life today and there’s no point in trying to fight it. But just as there are pluses to having a BYOD workforce, there are also minuses. On the one hand, your employees are more productive… [Continue Reading]

Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition processors have up to 10 cores and 4 channel DDR4-2400 RAM

When it comes to building a PC, there are many directions you can go. Of course, the most important question you must ask is, what are you going to do with it? Ideally, you don't want to pay for more than you need. If you will just be surfing the web, you probably don't need a hardcore GPU and 32GB of RAM. With that said, some folks with money will just buy the best regardless. If you can afford it, hey, why not? Today, Intel announces its most powerful processors ever -- the Core i7 Extreme Edition chips. They feature support… [Continue Reading]

How to zoom into infinity in any photo in iOS

Occasionally in the past I’ve tried to zoom further into a photo on my phone than is allowed by iOS. It’s usually to try and read some text, or identify a particular object in the background. I’ve often wished there was a way to go beyond the fixed zoom set in the Photos app, and it turns out there is. It’s not a feature, but rather a bug that gives you the ability to zoom into infinity (and beyond!), but it works well and it's easy to do. The trick, like any good trick, involves a little setting up first.… [Continue Reading]

Dell unveils new Windows 10 Inspiron laptops, including world's first 17-inch 2-in-1

Computex 2016 is in full-effect, and news from the event is coming fast and furiously. Windows 10 laptops are a big part of the announcements, and consumers have a lot to be happy about. Not only are many of the new machines thin and beautiful, but powerful too. Windows OEMs are finally understanding the wants of consumers, and delivering the notebooks they have long desired. Today, Dell announces its new line of Inspiron laptops, and they look fabulous. Featuring Skylake processors and multiple chassis color options, consumers should be able to find a machine that both meets their needs and is… [Continue Reading]

The challenge of creating high performance, fault tolerant storage [Q&A]

The growth of the Internet of Things, increased reliance on analytics to support decision making, and greater use of video means businesses are storing more and more data. That data has become a crucial asset and storing it so that it's accessible and safe is a major challenge. Solutions from major vendors are costly but data storage operating system specialist RAIDIX has come up with a product that can offer fault tolerance on commodity hardware. We spoke to Sergey Platonov, product owner at RAIDIX to find out more about the solution and why data storage is now a major challenge.… [Continue Reading]

SWIFT hack affects 12 more banks

Earlier reports of a couple of banks using the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system being hacked are now paired with new reports saying that additional 12 banks using the same system might have fallen victim to the attack. According to security researchers FireEye, which have been investigating the matter, "numerous" other banks have contacted them, including banks from the Philippines, and New Zealand. Even though the majority of these attacks were thwarted, approximately $81 million made it to the Philippines and ended up at casinos, where its trail is lost. At the same time, SWIFT warns that… [Continue Reading]

Research finds critical out-of-the-box vulnerabilities on big name laptops

When you buy a new PC it inevitably comes with a range of extra software -- bloatware if you will -- ranging from the maker's own updater tools to trials of antivirus and other products. Trusted access provider Duo Security has carried out some research into how this extra software could be making users more vulnerable and invading their privacy. It tested a total of 10 new laptops from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo and found that all the vendors had at least one vulnerability that allowed for a complete compromise of the affected machine. Most of the vulnerabilities… [Continue Reading]

Image to PDF or XPS is a portable PDF creator

Image to PDF or XPS is a compact tool which imports multiple image formats, saving the results to PDF or XPS files. Supported source formats include BMP, GIF, PNG, TIF, WMF, EMF, XPS, JPG, JP2 and J2K files. Your chosen images may be imported via an "Add Files" button, or you can just drag and drop them onto the program window. If the images are very different sizes then this could make for a messy PDF, but the program offers plenty of ways to help. You’re able to define your page size and margins, position images in the center of… [Continue Reading]

Updated solution to improve control over enterprise data use

As organizations rely more and more on data, so keeping it secure and making sure it can only be accessed by the appropriate people becomes increasingly important. To address this, identity and access management company SailPoint is launching an updated version of its SecurityIQ solution that provides an integrated and comprehensive approach to governing all data in the enterprise. SecurityIQ will allow enterprises to manage unstructured data that exists in many different formats and locations. This allows them to meet new challenges to both controlling and governing access to information. For example, compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which… [Continue Reading]