Creative Sound BlasterX Katana gaming soundbar [Review]

As a younger man, I was obsessed with audio equipment. I invested in expensive stereo receivers, multiple large speakers, and countless components -- turntable, cassette, CD, mini-disc, and more. Of course, I also connected my television and computer. Over time, however, with the explosion of downloadable and streamable media, all of that went away. Now, my living room just has a soundbar and subwoofer hooked to my TV -- Apple TV handles video and music. It is simple, and I like that. So yeah, soundbars are great for living rooms, but what if there was one that was designed for… [Continue Reading]

Get 'Front-End Performance' ($29 value) FREE for a limited time

Performance matters. Technology may allow us to "go bigger", but maybe not necessarily be better when it comes to performance. Servers and Internet connections are getting more sophisticated, and as a result, we feel the need to keep filling them. However, this isn’t the time to become lazy. This is the time to utilize the amazing tools that are available for making websites faster, and to learn how to improve user experience and satisfaction. Front-End Performance is a practical collection of tutorials on front-end website performance for web developers. It’s packed with useful, real world hints and tips that you… [Continue Reading]

OnePlus 5T officially receives Android 8.0 Oreo

OnePlus today kicked off the roll-out of OxygenOS 5.0.2, which finally brings Android 8.0 Oreo to its latest flagship killer, the OnePlus 5T. This build also adds a couple of changes to the UI and updates a number of the built-in apps. The official Android 8.0 Oreo release lands nearly a month after OnePlus introduced the first public beta. Given the nature of such major under-the-hood changes, it will reach a limited number of OnePlus 5T users on day one, with a broader roll-out set to start in the next couple of days. The move to Android 8.0 Oreo has… [Continue Reading]

More than half of decision makers think digital transformation has changed their roles

A new survey of business and IT decision makers reveals that more than half (56 percent) believe their job roles have been changed by digital transformation. The study by the Cloud Industry Forum and Ensono research finds 51 percent reporting an increase in their responsibilities and 47 percent saying they have greater pressure to deliver. The effect isn't the same across departments, however, business decision-makers report they have more freedom to innovate (45 percent compared to 24 percent of IT decision-makers), but the IT department is more likely to report a faster pace of work and increasing workloads. 92 percent… [Continue Reading]

DDoS threats and bot attacks are biggest threats to API security

APIs power many of our digital experiences, but because they provide a window into applications they also present a security risk. A new study from cyber security company Imperva reveals that 69 percent of companies have public-facing APIs which offer a route to the sensitive data behind applications. The results show 80 percent of organizations use a public cloud service to protect the data behind their APIs with most using a combination of API gateways (63.2 percent) and web application firewalls (63.2 percent). When asked about threats, 63 percent of respondents are most worried about DDoS, bot attacks, and authentication… [Continue Reading]

LibreOffice 6 unveils OpenPGP support, ePUB filter and many more new features

The Document Foundation has unveiled LibreOffice 6.0 64-bit and LibreOffice 6.0 32-bit, a major new release of its open-source office suite for Windows, Mac and Linux. LibreOffice 6.0 adds a host of new and improved features, including support for OpenPGP signing and encryption, an ePUB filter and a new icon set. In addition, Writer users gain a powerful new spell-checking tool with professional-grade features. LibreOffice 6.0 is packed with new features. Suite-wide improvements include a new ePub filter, allowing users to save documents in the popular eBook format. Users wishing to customize the LibreOffice interface (right-click the toolbar and choose… [Continue Reading]

Facebook bans ads for cryptocurrencies and ICOs

Facebook has announced new advertising policies which ban ads for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The ban also applies to ICOs because they are "frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices." The social networks says that the new policies are part of a drive to improve the "integrity and security of financial product and services ads," but it explains that it is keeping its guidelines "intentionally broad" to start with. See also: Facebook's latest News Feed update gives local news a boost Hackers hijack YouTube ads with Coinhive to mine Monero cryptocurrency Ahead of GDPR laws, Facebook publishes privacy principles… [Continue Reading]

CORSAIR launches water-resistant K68 RGB Cherry MX mechanical gaming keyboard

If you don't have a mechanical keyboard, I straight up feel sorry for you. I mean, look, if you like your current non-mechanical keyboard, then more power to you, but there's a good chance you simply don't know why you are missing. If you are a millennial in particular, you probably missed out on the good ol' days of computing when keyboards weighed a ton and were built like tanks -- the throw-in keyboards that desktop manufacturers include nowadays are largely garbage. Mechanical keyboards are just so much more rewarding and satisfying to use. Today, CORSAIR launches its all-new K68 RGB… [Continue Reading]

Has your Gmail icon turned blue? Here's why, and how to change it back (if you want to)

I usually have at least two Gmail windows open in my browser. One for my BetaNews email, and one for my personal account. There’s never been an easy way of knowing which is which in a tab-filled browser without clicking on one of the tabs, but this has now changed. The icon on regular Gmail accounts is still red, but the icon for corporate Gmail accounts (G Suite), or Gmail with a custom domain, has turned blue. Whether this a permanent (and welcome) change, or just something Google is trialing I’m not sure, but enabling or disabling the blue icon… [Continue Reading]

Why blockchain is the real star of the cryptocurrency boom

Bitcoin remains one of the hottest financial topics of the last several years. The digital currency grew from less than $1,000 per coin at the start of 2017, to nearly $20,000 by the end of the year. The buzz around Bitcoin continues to grow despite high volatility -- including a 50 percent drop between December and January -- and condemnation from figures like Warren Buffet who call it a "fraud." But how is it being used? And most important, what value does it really hold as an investment? What’s Behind the Bitcoin Boom? Bitcoin is just one of hundreds of… [Continue Reading]

Apricorn Aegis Bio 3.0: A simple, but super-secure biometric drive [Review]

If you want to keep your personal data safe and secure, then a hardware encrypted drive is your best bet. Secure drives, like the Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3z, require you to enter a PIN into the integrated keypad to unlock the drive. These also come with a variety of security measures to make sure they can’t be brute forced. If you prefer a different way of securing your data -- one that doesn’t require remembering a long PIN -- then you might prefer a biometric solution like the Aegis Bio 3.0. This a USB drive with a built-in finger… [Continue Reading]

White House refutes claims it wants to build its own 5G network

Documents that came to light recently suggested that the Trump administration was considering creating a government-controlled 5G network. It was an idea viewed in a dim light by the FCC, but now the White House has denied it has such plans. Despite the unearthing of a memo to the contrary, the US government insists there are no such plans under consideration. See also: Trump administration wants to nationalize 5G, but the FCC is not impressed Trump was almost ten times more popular with Russian Twitter bots than Clinton Twitter won't ban Donald Trump because he's special Donald Trump wants US… [Continue Reading]

Data professionals waste half their time on futile activities and repeated efforts

Analytics and data science is having a major impact on the commercial world, but a new report shows that data professionals are wasting half of their time each week finding, protecting, or preparing data -- costing organizations significant amounts of money. The research commissioned by self-service analytics company Alteryx, and conducted by IDC, surveyed 400-plus individuals performing data functions across North America and Europe. It finds data analysts spend 60 percent of their time generating insights, but just 27 percent of that time is spent on actual analysis. The remainder is spent searching for and preparing data. These data workers… [Continue Reading]

Privacy: Judges say the UK's Snooper's Charter is illegal

Judges have ruled that the UK government's digital surveillance program -- known variously as the Snooper's Charter and the Investigatory Powers Act -- is illegal. In the case brought by human rights group Liberty, appeal judges found that the preceding Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) -- which ultimately became the Snooper's Charter -- failed to offer adequate protection to people's data. Of particular concern was the fact that private data could be shared between different agencies without sufficient oversight. See also: Privacy: UK government to tweak Snooper's Charter after conceding it is illegal in its current form… [Continue Reading]

Arcserve launches affordable cloud disaster recovery service

Disaster recovery has often been a choice between maintaining system availability at high cost, or choosing a cheaper solution at the expense of longer recovery times. Now data protection and recovery specialist Arcserve is launching a new direct-to-cloud disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) and backup as a service (BaaS) solution aimed at mid-sized businesses. Arcserve UDP Cloud Direct offers sub five minute recovery time objectives (RTOs) and sub 15-minute cloud recovery point objectives (RPOs). Multiple automated backup validations ensure data is fully recoverable and error-free. It transfers directly to and from cloud storage without the need for an appliance,… [Continue Reading]

iPhone X is a best-selling smartphone

The iPhone X was among the best-selling smartphones in major markets like Europe, Japan and US in December, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Apple's flagship helped iOS gain market share in five major European markets. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's report comes just after Nikkei claimed that iPhone X was selling bellow expectations. Nikkei based its analysis on supply figures from Apple's partners, which may not accurately reflect consumers' interest in the flagship. "The full results for the last quarter of the year show that Apple’s decision to release three new handsets over a staggered period, including the… [Continue Reading]

Virgin Mobile to offer cheap, 'pre-loved' iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets

Virgin Mobile has announced plans to offer Certified Pre-Loved iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets in the US. Starting in February, the company will be offering the phones for between $379.99 and $429.99. It is already possible to buy a Certified Pre-Loved iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus from Virgin Mobile, and by adding the newer handsets to the program, the company is offering a cheaper way to buy a more recent iPhone. See also: Tim Cook: iPhone users will soon be able opt out of performance reduction Spectre patch in iOS 11.2.2 is slowing down iPhones Apple to… [Continue Reading]