Google gives the people what they deserve -- affordable devices and respect

Earlier today, Google had a special product unveiling. Called "Launch Night In," the search giant showed off a bunch of new devices, wrapping up the whole spectacle in 30 minutes. It was concise, focused, and largely without surprise. Nearly everything that was "revealed," was previously leaked. And so, there is nothing to be excited about, right? Well, not so fast. At the Google event the company unveiled a handful of truly interesting devices -- two phones, a speaker, and even a new media player. None of them are particularly cutting edge, but they all have something in common -- value.… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 20226 with storage health monitoring

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel have a new Windows 10 build to try out today. Build 20226 comes with a number of changes and improvements, the biggest of which is storage health monitoring to protect user data. As Microsoft explains: Attempting to recover data after drive failure is both frustrating and expensive. This feature is designed to detect hardware abnormalities for NVMe SSDs and notify users with enough time to act. It is strongly recommended that users immediately back up their data after receiving a notification. Clicking on the notification when it appears, or navigating to the drive properties… [Continue Reading]

SanDisk launches second generation of fast and rugged Extreme Portable SSDs

You can never go wrong by purchasing SanDisk storage products. From memory cards to solid state drives, they are consistently excellent. Not only are the drives often quite fast, but more importantly, they are extremely reliable too. While not the only company making great flash storage products, I try to only use SanDisk SD cards in my camera when taking family photos -- the content is too important to lose. SanDisk's Extreme and Extreme PRO Portable SSDs are quite popular thanks to their high-end performance and durable housings, and today, the company launches the next generation. Designated as "V2," both… [Continue Reading]

Fraudsters target account takeovers during the pandemic

Attempted account takeovers grew by 282 percent over the last year, while ATO rates for physical eCommerce businesses -- those that sell physical goods online -- have jumped 378 percent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Q3 2020 Digital Trust and Safety Index released today by Sift finds that between Q2 2019 and Q2 2020, ATO attacks happened in discrete waves about a week apart, indicating that fraudsters are turning to bots and automation in order to overwhelm security. Attacks are carried out using credentials either illicitly purchased on the dark web or obtained through techniques like credential… [Continue Reading]

5 generations of SaaS: How the value proposition has changed, and why

SaaS, especially B2B SaaS, has 5 generations (so far) that don’t only show the growth of technology but also the changes in the market. I call them generations because they are not only built one on top of the other, but also co-exist simultaneously, each continuing to bring value as new generations come after them. With each consecutive generation, SaaS has moved from full "hands free" automation towards greater customization and flexibility for the customer. Why has the value proposition changed? And what does it say about the market for SaaS today? The 5 generations of SaaS "At this point, cloud… [Continue Reading]

UK IT leaders plan to migrate SAP apps to the cloud in the next two years

Research released today from managed services provider Ensono reveals that 79 percent of UK IT leaders plan to migrate their SAP applications to the public cloud within the next two years. While the majority of SAP applications are still housed on-premise, 70 percent of those responsible for SAP believe migrating to the public cloud will be more beneficial than keeping it in-house. In fact, 61 percent state that migrating SAP to public cloud is critical for their business success. Almost 20 percent of those surveyed had one or more SAP applications already hosted on public cloud. Benefits of migrating SAP… [Continue Reading]

Developers and security professionals sacrifice security for speed

In order to meet short deployment cycles, 73 percent of security professionals and developers feel forced to compromise on security according to a new report. The study into DevSecOps from open source security and license management specialist WhiteSource, based on responses from over 560 developers in the US and Europe, finds that 20 percent of respondents describe their organizations' DevSecOps practices as 'mature', while 62 percent say they are improving, with only 18 percent being classed as 'immature'. The more mature an organization is in terms of its DevSecOps practices, the more AppSec tools it uses, though the results show… [Continue Reading]

The importance of employee experience in a remote world [Q&A]

Digital transformation initiatives often focus on the customer experience. But in a world where remote working has become increasingly commonplace, employee experience is under the spotlight more than ever. We spoke to Bill Hewitt, president and CEO of digital experience specialist Aternity, to find out more about the importance of making systems work for employees and how businesses can ensure that they do. BN: How do you define the employee experience? BH: Think about it as if you were a customer; you want what you want, when you want it, at the right price. Do employers have the same feeling… [Continue Reading]

The importance of employee experience in a remote world [Q&A]

Digital transformation initiatives often focus on the customer experience. But in a world where remote working has become increasingly commonplace, employee experience is under the spotlight more than ever. We spoke to Bill Hewitt, president and CEO of digital experience specialist Aternity, to find out more about the importance of making systems work for employees and how businesses can ensure that they do. BN: How do you define the employee experience? BH: Think about it as if you were a customer; you want what you want, when you want it, at the right price. Do employers have the same feeling… [Continue Reading]

Fedora 33 Beta Linux distro with GNOME 3.38 now available for PC and Raspberry Pi

Fedora 33 Beta was scheduled to be released during September, and on the eve of the final day of that month, the pre-release operating system is finally here! Yes, if you love Fedora and want to give an early version of 33 a try, today is your lucky day. As you can imagine, Fedora 33 Beta comes with the excellent GNOME 3.38, which was only released a couple of weeks ago. The biggest change, however, is BTRFS being made the default filesystem -- ext4 is no longer the standard. Wow. Also significant? The new default editor is nano. "Fedora 33… [Continue Reading]

Fedora 33 Beta Linux distro with GNOME 3.38 now available for PC and Raspberry Pi

Fedora 33 Beta was scheduled to be released during September, and on the eve of the final day of that month, the pre-release operating system is finally here! Yes, if you love Fedora and want to give an early version of 33 a try, today is your lucky day. As you can imagine, Fedora 33 Beta comes with the excellent GNOME 3.38, which was only released a couple of weeks ago. The biggest change, however, is BTRFS being made the default filesystem -- ext4 is no longer the standard. Wow. Also significant? The new default editor is nano. "Fedora 33… [Continue Reading]

The tech industry and recycling: The need-to-knows

The tech industry holds the trump card when it comes to innovation surrounding recycling -- considering they are, in fact, the innovators. As the world becomes more environmentally conscious and the EU sets targets to make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030, businesses across the globe are looking for innovative ways to reduce their own waste through the production process and have a more circular economic approach. As the tech industry strives to become a role model for recycling, we discuss the approaches some tech companies have taken and the benefits of taking recycling seriously.   So, what’s new? The… [Continue Reading]

The tech industry and recycling: The need-to-knows

The tech industry holds the trump card when it comes to innovation surrounding recycling -- considering they are, in fact, the innovators. As the world becomes more environmentally conscious and the EU sets targets to make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030, businesses across the globe are looking for innovative ways to reduce their own waste through the production process and have a more circular economic approach. As the tech industry strives to become a role model for recycling, we discuss the approaches some tech companies have taken and the benefits of taking recycling seriously.   So, what’s new? The… [Continue Reading]

Spotify launches new Collaborative Playlist features

Spotify has announced a series of upgrades and additions to its Collaborative Playlists feature, making it easier than ever to compile playlists with friends and family. The changes simplify the process of adding new contributors to a playlist so they can start adding songs, as well as making it easy to see who is working with you on a particular playlist. Spotify says the changes are being introduced to help people feel closer together during the current climate. Announcing the new features, Spotify says: "Over the past six months, music and podcasts have brought people together like never before --… [Continue Reading]

Get 'Cybersecurity for Dummies' ($16.99 value) FREE for a limited time

Cybersecurity is the protection against the unauthorized or criminal use of electronic data and the practice of ensuring the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information. Being "cyber-secure" means that a person or organization has both protected itself against attacks by cyber criminals and other online scoundrels, and ensured that it has the ability to recover if it is attacked. If keeping your business or your family safe from cybersecurity threats is on your to-do list, Cybersecurity for Dummies will introduce you to the basics of becoming cyber-secure. You’ll learn what threats exist, and how to identify, protect against, detect, and respond to… [Continue Reading]

Spotify launches new Collaborative Playlist features

Spotify has announced a series of upgrades and additions to its Collaborative Playlists feature, making it easier than ever to compile playlists with friends and family. The changes simplify the process of adding new contributors to a playlist so they can start adding songs, as well as making it easy to see who is working with you on a particular playlist. Spotify says the changes are being introduced to help people feel closer together during the current climate. Announcing the new features, Spotify says: "Over the past six months, music and podcasts have brought people together like never before --… [Continue Reading]

Get 'Cybersecurity for Dummies' ($16.99 value) FREE for a limited time

Cybersecurity is the protection against the unauthorized or criminal use of electronic data and the practice of ensuring the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information. Being "cyber-secure" means that a person or organization has both protected itself against attacks by cyber criminals and other online scoundrels, and ensured that it has the ability to recover if it is attacked. If keeping your business or your family safe from cybersecurity threats is on your to-do list, Cybersecurity for Dummies will introduce you to the basics of becoming cyber-secure. You’ll learn what threats exist, and how to identify, protect against, detect, and respond to… [Continue Reading]