Privacy issues will likely stay at the forefront of the FTC's focus next year thanks to the commission's appointment of Lorrie Cranor as its new chief technologist. Cranor, who is currently a professor of computer science and engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, directs the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory. She will succeed Ashkan Soltani, the privacy expert who assumed the role in November 2014, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Cranor will join the FTC in January.
The first tip that something wasn’t quite right about the open-box tablet I had purchased from Fry’s Electronics was that fact that I had sought out the most run-down, crappiest tablet I could buy for our buying guide on productivity tablets, as an example of what Almost as soon as the tablet connected to my local Wi-Fi, a notification popped up: “Account Action Required” for the user’s account, and that there was a corresponding sign-in error as well. The user had obviously changed his or her password after sending back the tablet, meaning that anyone who had purchased it (me) couldn’t access any critical personal information. Nor did I want to; I factory reset it, sending whatever personal information was stored on the tablet into oblivion.
Here's a look at all the Android apps you can't miss this week.
Streaming services continue to lead the way when it comes to 4K content delivery.
Bendgate is back. But this time it’s not Apple that’s under the gun for It appears that select third-party CPU air cooling systems are putting too much pressure on Skylake processors and sockets resulting in damage, as first reported by German-language site
Google started working on a great new print option for Chrome early in November called “simplify page.” This feature will strip out all the superfluous items on a page that you really don’t need to print, like ads, logos, and menu options. The result is not only easier to read, but also saves on costly printer ink. Sadly, simplify page isn’t ready for prime time yet and is only available in Chrome beta right now. But you don’t have to wait a few months or weeks for the feature to show up in Chrome to stop wasting printer ink. Here’s how to print a simplified page on Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. With Chrome cooking up its own print option, the best option right now is to use an extension such as
AMD’s Tonga GPU powers some great mainstream Radeon graphics cards, including the But even that card wasn’t Tonga running on all cylinders. Last Thursday night, AMD confirmed to
The stolen credentials are then used to inject malicious code into legitimate websites with the goal of redirecting their visitors to an installation of the Angler exploit kit. This is a Web-based attack tool that includes exploits for various vulnerabilities in Windows and browser plug-ins, such as Flash Player and Java.
Samsung Electronics has agreed to pay Apple US$548 million in damages in a patent infringement lawsuit in California, which will be the first shot at compensation Apple will get in the dispute that has dragged on for several years with many twists and turns. The move by Samsung follows the rejection last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of a full-bench hearing to review the damages award in the patent dispute in the light of new information about an Apple patent. The South Korean company has confirmed to Apple that it will pay the iPhone maker the damages within 10 days of the delivery of Apple’s invoice to Samsung, according to a joint case management statement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose division on Thursday.
A three-year-old vulnerability in a software component used in millions of smart TVs, routers and phones still hasn't been patched by many vendors, thus posing a risk, according to Trend Micro. Although a patch was issued for the component in December 2012, Trend Micro found 547 apps that use an older unpatched version of it, "These are very popular apps that put millions of users in danger; aside from mobile devices, routers, and smart TVs are all at risk as well," he wrote.
The FCC's net neutrality rules go on trial Friday as oral arguments begin in 10 lawsuits that could dramatically change the way Internet service providers are regulated. In February, the Federal Communications Commission The rules went into effect in April but soon faced a barrage of lawsuits by carriers and industry groups that want to see them gutted. The suits were combined into one proceeding in the federal appeals court in Washington, where opening arguments will start Friday.
Microsoft said Thursday it aided law enforcement agencies in several regions to disrupt a four-year-old botnet called Dorkbot, which has infected one million computers worldwide. The Dorkbot malware aims to steal login credentials from services such as Gmail, Facebook, PayPal, Steam, eBay, Twitter and Netflix. It was first spotted around April 2011. Users typically get infected by browsing to websites that automatically exploit vulnerable software using exploit kits and through spam. It also has a worm functionality and can spread itself through through social media and instant messaging programs or removable media drives. Microsoft didn't provide much detail on how Dorkbot's infrastructure was disrupted. The company has undertaken several such actions over the last few years in cooperation with law enforcement.
Scheduling meetings with multiple people can be a pain. Finding time between a maze of competing schedules is frustrating at best, and Microsoft is trying to make that a little bit easier with a new tool the company released Thursday.
Stop ruining your sexy phone with an ugly case.
WorldsAway was born 20 years ago, when Fujitsu Cultural Technologies, a subsidiary of Japanese electronics giant Fujitsu, released this online experiment in multiplayer communities. It debuted as part of the CompuServe online service in September, 1995. Users needed a special client to connect; once online, they could chat with others while represented onscreen as a graphical avatar. I was already a veteran of BBSes (I even started my own), Prodigy, CompuServe, and the Internet when I saw an advertisement for WorldsAway in CompuServe magazine (one of my favorite magazines at the time). It promised a technicolor online world where you could be anything you wanted, and share a virtual city with people all over the globe. I signed up to receive the client software CD. Right after its launch in September, I was up and running in the new world. It blew my young mind.
Another holiday season is approaching -- time to panic! Wait, here's a better idea: Check out our annual gift guide -- we've come up with some great ideas for tech gear to give and get. We have recommendations for more than 45 gifts in every price range, from a $5 phone-holding strap to an $800 premium smartphone. You'll find envy-inducing speakers and smartwatches, keyboards and cameras, chargers and tchotchkes -- and a host of other fun and useful products. You can also check out the table below for the complete list of products included or, to see some of these products in action, watch our "
The Lola’s cool design and bass-rich sound will appeal to millennials, but its audio performance falls just short of knocking more expensive headphones off their perch.