As tech companies increasingly rely on analyzing and selling user data to boost revenue, trust is emerging as one of the defining issues of the year for the IT sector. Tech vendors say that by collecting user data, they can offer better, personalized services. However, user wariness about exposing personal data may throw a wrench in plans for such new services, which are fueling growth not only for tech companies but, industry insiders say, the larger global economy as well. “The transition to the digital world raises a new awareness of security and privacy issues,” said Michel Combes, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, in an interview at last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. “We all know that if we don’t solve these issues we’ll face a trust issue in the usage of digital networks, which will be of major concern, because the whole economy is moving toward digital.”
Texas Instruments is tapping into the growing trend among enthusiasts who want to make their own wearable devices and small electronics, announcing the Tiva C Series Connected LaunchPad mini-computer. The $19.99 mini-computer has a microcontroller to which sensors, displays, connectivity and memory components can be independently attached via expansion cards. The expansion cards, called “Booster Packs” by TI, can help in prototyping devices and testing applications. The board could help in the creation of sensor gateways, home automation products, and other sensor devices that could serve as data-collection instruments. The board could aid in the creation of “cloud-enabled gadgets,” according to TI. Such cloud-enabled gadgets could include wearable devices, such as health monitors and Wi-Fi-connected electronics.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission should investigate Facebook’s proposed 19 billion acquisition of mobile messaging app WhatsApp—and possibly block it—because of the potential impact on users’ privacy, two privacy groups said in a complaint filed Thursday. While WhatsApp has demonstrated a “strong commitment to user privacy,” Facebook’s current messaging service collects and stores “virtually all available user data,” the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy wrote in their complaint. WhatsApp has promised users that it would not retain or sell personal information, and many users selected the service based on its privacy protections, but Facebook has collected user data from companies it acquires.
Documentation allegedly associated with the "Windows 8.1 with Bing" release appears to show that, from a product sense, very little will differentiate it from a standard Windows implementation. Noted Windows leaker Wzor
The rate of increase in tablet shipments is expected to slow this year after unabated growth during the product category’s first three years of existence. Research firm IDC is projecting tablet shipments to grow at 19.3 percent this year compared to 2013, when tablet shipments increased 51.6 percent compared to 2012. IDC is projecting tablet shipments this year to be 260.9 million units. The numbers include both tablets and hybrids that can function as a tablet or laptop. The slowdown in shipments is due to a maturing tablet market, along with stabilizing prices and a decline in purchases of cheap tablets, IDC said. The blazing growth in tablets during the prior years was partly driven by inexpensive tablets made by no-name makers—also called white-box makers—that shipped devices running on slower processors and older versions of Android.
Cisco Systems released new firmware versions for some of its small business routers and wireless LAN controllers in order to address vulnerabilities that could allow remote attackers to compromise the vulnerable devices or affect their availability. A vulnerability found in the web management interface of the Cisco RV110W Wireless-N VPN Firewall, RV215W Wireless-N VPN Router and CVR100W Wireless-N VPN Router can be exploited by an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain administrative access to the affected devices. "The vulnerability is due to improper handling of authentication requests by the web framework,” Cisco said in a
Figures released by the European Patent Office (EPO) Thursday showed the European Union IT sector lagging, but global tech giants also did not lead the way in patents last year. China led in applications to the EPO for digital communication patents, but the EU also trailed behind Japan and the U.S. in the tech sector. Samsung topped the list for most applications with 2,833. Google came in 50th and Apple did not make the list. Flying the flag for Europe, Ericsson was listed 10th. Nokia was 19, showing a trend toward communications and mobile innovation, while Microsoft was 28th and Intel was 48th. Of the 10 top technical fields for patent applications, digital communication was number three, with 9,101 applications, down 7 percent compared to 2012. In a close fourth position, computer technology was up 5 percent with 9,045 applications.
Bitcoin's biggest mystery has finally been solved: The crypto-currency's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, has finally been unmasked. Well, maybe. Over the course of Bitcoin's troubled and short history ( To hear
Digital comic service says usernames, e-mails and passwords were stolen.
Everyone on the Internet should use a password manager, and But you're not always at your computer. You'll inevitably want access to your password database from your smartphone, as well.
Following in the footsteps of Firefox and Chrome, Opera has jumped on board the WebRTC bandwagon.
Intel’s Bay Trail-class Atom processors make it easy for PC manufacturers to build powerful tablets with a key feature that competitors like Google’s Nexus 7 and Apple’s iPad mini can’t deliver: The ability to run Windows 8.1 and all the apps available for that OS. Lenovo's Miix 2 8 has that to its advantage. But while it delivers impressive performance, it falls short in features. Lenovo picked Intel’s quad-core Atom Z3740, pairing it with 2GB of low-power DDR3/1066 memory and 32GB of storage to power its Miix 2 8. Surprisingly, the Miix 2 8 delivered a WorldBench 8.1 score of 164, outperforming Dell’s Venue 8 Pro by a margin of 12 percent, even though Dell’s tablet is equipped with a very similar Atom processor and faster memory (it uses an Atom Z3740D and low-power DDR3/1333 RAM).
Documents such as business plans or other sensitive files (say, a copy of your birth certificate) should be protected. You can utilize a special, ultra-secure provider such as Wuala or Tresorit, or you can encrypt files yourself before uploading them to larger storage services, such as Dropbox.
Sie sind die Arterien des weltweiten Datenstroms und das Rückgrat des Internets: Eine zoombare Karte zeigt auf, wo die Glasfaser-Unterwasserkabel weltweit verlaufen.
Ein 64-jähriger Computercrack mit japanischen Wurzeln soll die «Hacker-Währung» Bitcoin erfunden haben. Für diese Behauptung wird ein Magazin scharf kritisiert.
Ubisoft hat, zumindest in der Schweiz, das neue Spiel mit Cartman und Co. veröffentlicht. Das Game bietet weit mehr als nur virtuell verpackte Schenkelklopfer.
Noch immer läuft ein Drittel aller PCs weltweit mit Windows XP. Dies könne zu gravierenden Sicherheitsproblemen führen, warnt der Konzern.
Weil Gäste sich beobachtet fühlen könnten, verbannt der Besitzer einer Bar in San Francisco Googles Datenbrille aus seinem Lokal.
Britische Psychologen sind überzeugt: Die visuelle Stimulation während des Spielens von «Tetris» soll das Verlangen nach Zigaretten, Alkohol und Essen verringern.
Das Entwicklerteam hinter dem Anonymisierungsdienst Tor arbeitet an einem neuen Messenger. Für dieses Projekt kooperiert man mit dem OpenSource-Dienst InstantBird.
In «Lords of Shadow 2» schnipselt sich Dracula elegant durch seine Feinde. An den Bossgegnern beisst er sich aber die Zähne aus.
Gerüchte, Enten, Geflunker: Europäische Forscher arbeiten an einem Lügendetektor, der Falschmeldungen im Netz in Echtzeit erkennen soll. In drei Jahren soll die Software fertig sein.
Der Markt mit Krypto-Handys boomt. Die deutsche Antwort auf den NSA-Skandal heisst Simko 3. Ende März soll das Hochsicherheitshandy auch in der Schweiz auf den Markt kommen.
Obwohl bereits entschärft, ist die deutsche Fassung von «Der Stab der Wahrheit» noch immer verfassungswidrig. Ubisoft zieht das Game in Deutschland und Österreich zurück.
Um Nutzern die «beste personalisierte Erfahrung» zu bieten, streicht Yahoo sukzessive bei all seinen Angeboten die Möglichkeit, sich auch über Google oder Facebook anzumelden.
Telefonieren, navigieren, SMS diktieren: Mit CarPlay lässt sich das iPhone im Auto bedienen, ohne dass man es während der Fahrt in die Finger nehmen muss.
Als Apple sein iPhone ankündigte, hatte sich der Microsoft-Chef Steve Ballmer darüber lustig gemacht. Nun räumt er ein, dass er die Entwicklung im Smartphone-Markt unterschätzt hat.