Bodhi Linux 4.2.0 Ubuntu-based operating system now available

Bodhi is an interesting Linux distribution thanks to its lightweight nature. If you have an older PC that isn't particularly powerful, the operating system could breath new life into it. Unlike some other distributions that are light on resources, Bodhi is not ugly -- its Moksha desktop environment looks rather modern. I highly recommend giving the OS a try. Today Bodhi reaches version 4.2.0. It is quite the boring release, as there isn't much to it. It is merely a rollup, incorporating many of the updates that were released since the previous stable version, 4.1.0. If you are already run Bodhi and have… [Continue Reading]

Why UK businesses can't take full advantage of Office 365

The advantages of Office 365 are being hindered by poor connectivity, bandwidth and latency issues, according to new reports coming out of Zscaler. As it turns out, Office 365 is a great service with many benefits which businesses all over the UK are very well aware of. However, due to issues with connectivity and latency, many organizations can't take full advantage of the service. According to Zscaler, almost two thirds (64 percent) have reported network and cost issues. More than half (58 percent) had to increase their bandwidth, while 65 percent upgraded their firewalls as they prepared to deploy Office… [Continue Reading]

Wacom unveils two new Bamboo styluses -- 'Ink' for Windows 10 and 'Sketch' for iOS

Drawing and writing on a computer are both important features for creative types, but not everyone has the need. If you do have the need for a quality stylus, however, both Windows 10 and iOS are optimized for such things. The Surface line of personal computers and the iPad Pro, for instance, have official stylus accessories. If you find yourself needing a third-party stylus for your Windows 10 or iOS device, Wacom has two new products that may interest you. The first such device is called Bamboo Ink, and it is named quite appropriately, as it is designed for Windows… [Continue Reading]

The cost of cyber attacks will rise to $8 trillion in five years

Cyber attacks will cost businesses across the world $8 trillion in the next five years, according to a new Juniper Research report. Just to put things in perspective, India's entire GDP crossed $8 trillion two years ago. The report says that we'll hit that threshold very soon due to higher levels of Internet connectivity, and inadequate enterprise-wide security. Juniper's report, entitled The Future of Cybercrime & Security: Enterprise Threats & Mitigation 2017-2022, says the number of personal data records stolen this year will hit 2.8 billion, and is expected to hit five billion, almost double, by 2020. Businesses are trying… [Continue Reading]

ARM unveils high-performance Cortex A75 and energy-efficient A55 chips

ARM has revealed its latest series of mobile processors, promising its most advanced performance yet. The company has unveiled its new Cortex-A55 and Cortex-A75 chips, which will make smartphones and other mobile devices smarter, more powerful, and longer lasting when they begin appearing in devices from next year. The Cortex-A75 is now ARM’s most powerful product, with the company claiming that it offers 22 percent better performance compared to the previous flagship, the Cortex-A73., which was revealed almost exactly a year ago. The new flagship A75 offers a "huge jump lift in power," the company says, offering laptop-esque experiences and… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft Surface Hub is a huge success, finally gets Windows 10 Creators Update

Whether or not the Surface Hub is a success has been a big question mark. After all, Microsoft hasn't shared exact sales figures. Obviously, the company doesn't have to sell a ton of them to be considered successful, since it has a narrow focus and large price tag. While we still do not have exact sales figures, today we can confidently call the product a success. Why? Well, Microsoft announces something very impressive -- 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies have purchased at least one of them. Keep in mind, this is in addition to companies outside of that group. True, that could… [Continue Reading]

Bitdefender Home Scanner checks your network devices for vulnerabilities

Bitdefender has released Bitdefender Home Scanner, a free tool which scans your wireless network, identifies connected devices and checks them for vulnerabilities. The program claims to spot devices with poorly encrypted or insecure authentication, weak login credentials and "hidden back doors." This works at a basic level as a simple network scanner. The finished report lists all connected devices, their IP and MAC address, device type, manufacturer and more. Bitdefender Home Scanner also highlights any issues it finds, for example flagging some devices on our test system as "potentially at risk." Clicking the warning displayed more information, including a section… [Continue Reading]

OnePlus 5 will be 'the thinnest flagship phone' says CEO

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has just let a little more slip about the upcoming OnePlus 5. According to a Weibo post by the company founder, the OnePlus 5 will be "the thinnest flagship phone" when it launches later this summer. Importantly, Lau says that the thinness does not mean compromises have been made. There have been all manner of leaks and rumors about the latest version of the so-called "flagship killer," but this comes straight from the horse's mouth. OnePlus has started a teaser campaign for the smartphone, inviting social media users to guess which of two photographs was shot… [Continue Reading]

Fake News: Half of Donald Trump's Twitter followers are bots

This story isn’t actually "Fake News", but rather news about fakes. We all know Donald Trump loves Twitter (more than covfefe itself!), and with over 31 million followers it appears the 45th President of the United States of America is hugely popular on the social site. Except, well, his 31 million followers aren’t quite what they seem. According to twitteraudit, half of Trump’s followers are fake. The site, which takes a sample of 5,000 followers and calculates a score based on their Twitter activity, found that 15,044,248 of his followers were fake, with the other half, 15,910,994, considered to be… [Continue Reading]

China's QR codes changing the way young people perceive money

QR codes are "changing social behavior" in China, according to a new story published on the South China Morning Post. As a payment technology, QR codes are going through a renaissance in mainland China, where mobile payments are now 50 times greater than those in the US. Mobile payments in the States have reached $112 billion last year, the report states, calling on a Forrester Research report. A single QR code is capable of storing 300 times more data than a traditional one-dimensional code. iResearch claims payments made via mobile devices in China reached 38 trillion yuan. "China has started… [Continue Reading]

The first Windows 10 ARM devices will come from ASUS, HP, and Lenovo

Microsoft and Qualcomm announced late last year that Windows 10 will be available on ARM-based Snapdragon devices. And, unlike with Windows RT, this time around x86 programs are welcome, giving users the ability to run full-blown software like Office 2016 and Adobe Photoshop CC. And now Microsoft and Qualcomm have provided an update on the project, announcing the hardware partners that will release ARM devices with Windows 10 and the sort of benefits that users can expect to receive from the "Always Connected PCs" that will arrive. The first Windows 10 devices powered by Snapdragon chips will come from ASUS,… [Continue Reading]

DirecTV NOW comes to Roku

DirecTV is a popular satellite service for those who don't or can't get cable TV. Many people love it, especially because NFL Sunday Ticket is exclusive to it. Roku is also a bit of a darling to people. The tiny box continues to add new "channels" that enhance the functionality of the device. Now the two are coming together as DirecTV NOW launches on Roku. The service was created by AT&T and it will be available on Roku TV 4K models, the Roku Ultra, Roku Premiere+, Roku Premiere, Roku Express, Roku Express+, Roku Streaming Stick (model 3600R), Roku 4, Roku 3… [Continue Reading]

IT analytics platform uses machine learning to improve VMware efficiency

Maintaining performance of business systems is essential, particularly as more applications move to virtual environments. IT analytics specialist SIOS Technology is expanding the capabilities of its SIOS iQ platform to optimize VMware environments. A new flexible, API-driven integration architecture enables SIOS iQ to integrate data from a range of sources. These include application monitoring tools and data aggregation systems such as Splunk, Hadoop and Elasticsearch. By providing a more comprehensive view of the IT infrastructure, SIOS iQ empowers IT to automatically and quickly identify and correct the root causes of application performance issues, and to predict future application performance. "The… [Continue Reading]

YouTube keeps Android users guessing, updates app

If you have automatic updates enabled on your Android phone, your index fingers and your brain may have hit a moment of panic and confusion as you realized everything was rejiggered from top to bottom, literally. Par for the course with Google, you will now have to get used to a new interface, different placement of on-screen buttons, and more confusing navigation streams to get to the menu you want. That is, until you get used to it all, at which point you'll appreciate that they were all actual improvements after all. Previously, the home screen of the YouTube app… [Continue Reading]

Cloud-native controller streamlines web app delivery

Getting the best performance, and thus return on investment from their app projects is essential for an increasing number of organizations. But in traditional delivery models the optimization layer is either separate from the application servers in the form of a content delivery network (CDN), or requires constant manual management and operation. Web application control specialist Webscale is launching a cloud application delivery controller (ADC) for web applications that delivers access to essential, real-time capabilities for application performance, availability, and security. "In our core markets of e-commerce, e-learning, and financial services, where application delivery is mission-critical, customers' needs vary dramatically,"… [Continue Reading]

LXtory shares screenshots to Imgur, Gyazo, Puush, Dropbox, Google Drive and FTP

LXtory is an open-source tool for capture screenshots, saving the results locally or uploading them to Imgur or other sites. It’s a familiar idea, and the program interface didn’t impress us, either. Calling it "unfinished" would be a compliment -- it’s so basic that it barely looks started. Despite its lack of visual appeal, LXtory does have some interesting features. There’s support for capturing the complete desktop, specific windows or a chosen window. It also captures windows using Direct3D, and can record what happens in a selected area as an animated GIF. Your captures can be saved locally or uploaded… [Continue Reading]

Unsecured IoT devices pose major security risk

New research from the Ponemon Institute and risk assurance body Shared Assesments reveals a high level of concern among organizations about the security of IoT, yet a gap in understanding of how to mitigate and communicate the risks, especially as it relates to third parties. The study of 553 individuals in industries such as financial services and healthcare reveals that 76 percent say a DDoS attack involving an unsecured IoT device is likely to occur within the next two years. In addition, 94 percent of those surveyed say that a security incident related to unsecured IoT devices or applications could… [Continue Reading]