Archive

So you just got Windows 8 and you're missing the Start button? No problem, just add one -- for free. If there's one user interface design choice that has caused the most hands-in-the-air bewilderment in the tech industry during 2012, it's got to be the omission of the Start button and Menu in Micros...

Instagram has changed the way photographs on its site display in tweets, the latest salvo in its ongoing feud with Twitter. Instagram photos viewed on Twitter appear cropped or otherwise changed because Instagram has disabled its integration with Twitter Cards, Twitter said. Trouble between the tw...

The United States and Canada faced a setback on Wednesday as a joint proposal from the two nations, which was also backed by some European countries, failed to win approval at an international meeting. The proposal aimed to protect the Internet from international regulation, and its rejection could ...

Facebook on Tuesday introduced a new messaging app for Android smartphones that can be used by members and non-Facebookers alike, a move aimed at building an alternative to SMS text messaging. Initially, the distribution of the Messenger app will be limited to Australia, India, Indonesia, South Afri...

Facebook has elaborated on the changes it wants to make to its Data Use Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. This new explanation is in response to the user feedback it has received thus far on a proposal it made late last month. The crux of its proposed change is to scrap its user ...

TECH TREK

China Toughens Smartphone Standards

New smartphone regulations in China have caused concern among technology companies. The regulations, which would add a new layer of licensing and testing for smartphones, reportedly were filed to a WTO database of technical barriers to trade. They were submitted by China's Ministry of Industry and I...

The rural broadband delivery business is rapidly changing. When Dish Network's super-cheap broadband-via-satellite service, dishNET, went live in October, it prompted a satellite Internet price-war. dishNET download speeds reach 10 Mbps. Service starts at $39.99 a month for 10 GB of data at 5 Mbps i...

American and British intelligence agencies on Tuesday were warned by the NDB, Switzerland's federal intelligence service, that some shared information related to counterterrorism had been stolen. Last summer, an NDB IT technician reportedly downloaded terabytes of data that had been shared between t...

The iTunes store has opened up in Russia and a slew of other countries that were previously left off its coverage map. The 56-country expansion nearly doubles the number of countries in which iTunes is now available. Turkey, India and South Africa were also part of the launch, which Apple says will ...

Researchers at MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms have created milli-motein -- a manifestation of raw digital data that could create transformable robots. However, instead of pop-culture robots that can transform into giant cars or airplanes, these could result in material changes that might one day tr...

The Tumblr microblogging, social networking and online sharing site was hit on Monday by a group that harasses blogs and practices Internet trolling -- the posting of provocative or off-topic messages online. The hackers created an offensive posting that propagated itself relentlessly on Tumblr's ne...

The World Conference on International Telecommunications kicked off Monday behind closed doors in Dubai to a chorus of opposition from corporations, governments and civil-liberties groups worldwide. The conference, organized by the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations body, will r...

The UN-sponsored World Conference on International Telecommunications, which will feature government regulators from 193 countries, opened Monday, prompting fears that the meeting could ultimately damage Internet freedom. The UN's International Telecommunications Union reportedly is trying to allay ...

SPOTLIGHT ON SECURITY

Bill Closing Email Privacy Loophole Clears Committee

A bill to protect email privacy cleared a key U.S. Senate committee last week, buoying the spirits of privacy advocates. The proposed law would close a loophole in the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which allows the government to peep on email more than 180 days old without a warrant. "...

OPINION

How Lenovo Is Resurrecting the PC

I spent much of last week hanging out with Lenovo. Although much of what we chat about in those meetings can't be repeated, one thing I can talk about is how Lenovo almost stands alone in defending the PC. While there seems to be a consensus that the PC is dead and being stomped into its grave by wa...


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