Technology Simplified

Samsung unveils a vertical TV for millennials Samsung is attempting to stand out in the crowded TV market by turning it on its head – literally. via https://fxn.ws/2We5QzT

Oculus has finally told us the release date for the new Oculus Rift S and standalone Oculus Quest headset that will be available starting on May 21.  Both headsets will be available for $399 / £399 (around AU$730) and are available for pre-order starting today.    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement of the Rift S's arrival during Facebook's' F8 2019 event that was held today in San Jose, Calif. right outside the company's main headquarters in Menlo Park.  Previously, Oculus has announced that the Quest will arrive with more than 50 titles available on day one, while the Rift S will have access to every title in the Oculus store that can be played with the previous-gen Rift headset.  Developing... from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2GTRI9G

IT professionals are still struggling to secure their organizations according to new research from McAfee which revealed that 61 percent have experienced a data breach at their current employer. The firm's new Grand Theft Data II – The Drivers and Shifting State of Data Breaches report surveyed IT professionals from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Singapore, the US and the UK across a wide range of industries to learn more about today's security landscape. The report found that data breaches are also becoming more serious as cybercriminals continue to target intellectual property putting the reputation of company's brands at risk and increasing their financial liability. The true cost of a data breach McAfee and Dell team up to protect consumers from growing cyber threats Remote working is leading to a rise in data breaches McAfee's study shows the need for a cybersecurity strategy that includes implementing security solutions combined with employe...

Pokémon Go: the world's first augmented reality app to become a household name. Niantic's mobile AR game is still going strong two years after it first released, with a constant drip of events and updates keeping budding trainers glued to their phones and pounding the streets. And while it hasn't managed to top the peak of its popularity in 2016, it's still going strong and finding plenty of new ways to improve its player experience. So what's the latest news for Pokémon Go? As you'd expect, brand new features are being added all the time and community events are still going strong. So without further ado, here's our guide to all the latest Pokémon Go news and updates. Pokémon Go tips and tricks : how to get better at the game How to fix the biggest problems with Pokémon Go Pokémon Gone: how Pokémon Go can bring back lapsed trainers Pokémon Go news and Pokémon Go updates What's new? Pokémon Go has released three legendary Pokémon into the ga...

New research has revealed that almost all of the upcoming 2020 presidential candidates in the US are falling behind when it comes to email security despite the fact that Hillary Clinton's email accounts were targeted and breached by Russian hackers just three years ago. The email security company Agari confirmed that only the Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren is using domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance policy or DMARC to protect her email accounts. This email security features resides on top of the Sender Policy Framework (SKF) and the DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) security protocols which use cryptography to verify a sender's email  and can mark emails as spam or reject them if an email fails to be properly validated. Banish those winter blues with email security Email security is greater threat than ever How to make your email more secure According to Agari, the other 11 candidates whose email security it investigated, including B...

Apple says parental control apps were pulled for security reasons Apple's attempts to help parents fight smartphone addiction among children should've been a PR win. via https://fxn.ws/2Y36BML

Facebook’s social graph is aging, full of long-lost acquaintances and hometown friends you don’t care much about seeing in the News Feed any more. But Facebook is now testing a pivot away from its core identity of connecting you with existing friends so it can revitalize the social graph and keep people coming back. Facebook’s “Meet New Friends” lets you browse people from shared communities such as your school, workplace or city who’ve also opted in to the feature. It’s now in testing in a few markets before it’s rolled out more widely soon. Meet New Friends could give people fresh pals to follow in their News Feed, or help recently registered users grow their network until they have access to enough content to keep them busy. And eventually, Facebook could layer on monetization features similar to dating apps where users pay to be shown more prominently to potential connections. Fidji Simo, the head of Facebook’s main app, tells me Meet New Friends was based on emerging behaviors...

Facebook built Dating to be privacy-safe, hoping to avoid the awkwardness of friends or family checking out your romance profile. But now Facebook has found a way to let you silently express your affection for a friend without them knowing unless they reciprocate. Facebook Dating is opening in 14 more countries, bringing the total to 19. It will launch in the US before the end of the year. Dating brings with it a new feature called Secret Crush that expands it beyond strangers and friends-of-friends. Choose up to 9 friends you like-like. If they’ve opted into Facebook Dating, they’ll get a notification that some friend has a crush on them. If they add you as a Secret Crush too, you’re both notified and can chat on Messenger. Facebook Dating product manager Charmaine Hung tells me that “I have 2000 Facebook friends. I’m not best friends with all 2000 people, and there’s a good chance that one of that could be a really good match with me. I trust them, I appreciate them, and I know w...

Would we feel less envious, shameful and competitive if Instagram didn’t tell us how many Likes a post received? That’s the idea behind Instagram now hiding Like counts from both a post’s viewers and its author as part of an experiment in Canada. A post’s creator can still open the Likers window to see the names of everyone who hearted their post, but they’d have to count them manually. Even though Like totals would still impact how the algorithm ranks a post in the feed, if rolled out, the change would refocus Instagram on self-expression instead of being a popularity contest. Users might be less likely to delete a photo or video because it didn’t get enough Likes, or resort to their Finsta account to post something authentic but less “perfect.” It could make us less likely to envy-spiral because we wouldn’t see friends or influencers getting more Likes than us. And people might be more willing to post what truly represents their complicated identities because they’re not battling f...

To win chat, Facebook Messenger must be as accessible as SMS, yet more entertaining than Snapchat. Today, Messenger pushes on both fronts with a series of announcements at Facebook’s F8 conference, including that it will launch Mac and PC desktop apps, a faster and smaller mobile app, simultaneous video co-watching and a revamped Friends tab, where friends can use an emoji to tell you what they’re up to or down for. Facebook is also beefing up its tools for the 40 million active businesses and 300,000 businesses on Messenger, up from 200,000 businesses a year ago. Merchants will be able to let users book appointments at salons and masseuses, collect information with new lead generation chatbot templates and provide customer service to verified customers through authenticated m.me links. Facebook hopes this will boost the app beyond the 20 billion messages sent between people and businesses each month, which is up 10X from December 2017. “We believe you can build practically any uti...

Alexa will start speaking Spanish this year In the list of most spoken languages around the world, English comes in third behind Spanish in second. via https://fxn.ws/2GU5Hw4

Swashbuckling has come back in a big way with Rare's sandbox multiplayer pirate adventure, Sea of Thieves. Since first hitting Xbox One and PC in March 2018, the developer has been working on a host of post-launch patches and free DLC – with more staff working on the title now than in the run-up to its original release – and the seafaring title continues to attract more players by offering continual improvements and additional content to the game's community. According to Rare , within the game's first year, Sea of Thieves players collected and cashed in almost 750 million chests, skulls and items of cargo to amass a collective fortune of 642 billion gold.  As an open-ended online service game, there's plenty more to come. To help you keep on top of what's new and what's coming up, we've put together this handy page which will be updated with all the latest announcements. As we said in our full Sea of Thieves review : "Sea of Thieves is still in it...

Dell is apparently bringing back the bigger-screened XPS 17, as spotted in a leaked product roadmap reportedly found by Tweakers . Dell's XPS lineup of laptops has stood out for years as a high bar for other laptops to aim at, with the XPS 13 and XPS 15 series consistently among the best laptops on the market. Today, it's been the better part of a decade since we've seen a Dell XPS 17 laptop. Dell's focus with the XPS line has seemed to be on a blend of portability, performance and design. Of course, 17-inch laptops in the past have been among the least portable laptops, with huge screens flanked by large bezels and considerable weight. See our review of the Dell XPS 13 Check out our Huawei MateBook 13 review These are the best Ultrabooks available now That formula for laptop design has been changing, though, and a future Dell XPS 17 laptop could likely use Dell's InfinityEdge display style to fit a 17-inch display into the form factor of past 15-inch lap...

Vodafone has revealed that it found security flaws in equipment provided by Chinese hardware maker Huawei to its Italian business in 2011 and 2012. The world's second largest mobile operator said that it had found security vulnerabilities in two products though both incidents were quickly resolved by the Chinese firm. Huawei has faced increased scrutiny as the US has told its allies not to use its technology over concerns of Chinese spying. Back in January, Vodafone paused the deployment of the firm's equipment in its core networks as it waits for Western governments to give the Chinese company full security clearance. Huawei revenue soars despite US allegations and restrictions Vodafone: UK Huawei ban would be disproportionate Huawei security slammed by UK government report The British government is still deciding what role Huawei's equipment will play in a future 5G network but it plans to announce its final decision in the next month. A government report re...

What is Death Stranding about? Despite being in development for years, most of the chatter around Hideo Kojima's upcoming PS4 game – the first from his new studio Kojima Productions, after a much-publicized departure from Konami – is still about how hard the game is to define. We saw an in-depth showcase at E3 2018 , showing a game that was broadly sci-fi, but featuring elements of trippy horror, melding the techno-future trappings of the Metal Gear series with Kojima's own mind-bending Silent Hill series. A recent panel discussion at Tribeca Film Festival also gives more hints as to the kind of gameplay we can expect. At this point, though, it's almost all entirely conjecture. Sony and Kojima are playing up to the mysterious nature of the game, letting very few details be revealed. As the first game from Kojima Studios, there's a lot riding on its success, and the PR campaign to drum up interest is already creating a fever-pitch of anticipation. While the entire ga...

2017 marked Nokia's renaissance year. After stunning us by announcing it was revamping the Nokia 3310 and then releasing a further three mobiles, it ended the year by releasing its first high-powered smartphone in three years - the Nokia 8 . Almost two years on and although it's never going to challenge the power of Samsung and Apples newer devices, it does have the kind of price tag that will appeal to people who want to get a bargain mobile phone. Especially excellent value, considering the stunning design, premium screen and chipset, and new 'Bothie' camera mode. Unlike most flagship phones released in the last 12 months, you can now get your new Nokia 8 for less than £20 per month! Check out our comparison tool to see the best tariffs that have been announced. Considering the standalone handset costs around £400, the contract prices are looking like a much better option. See more: Nokia 3310 deals | Nokia 3 deals | Nokia 5 deals | Nokia 6 deals | Best m...

When you buy a smartphone it'll likely have a plastic, glass or metal body, but in the future you might not get these options – instead, your handset could be made of a new custom polymer. Researchers at MIT recently unveiled a new polymer material, after several years working on it, that could have a big impact on what future smartphones, and other tech products, are made of. What new features will the iPhone 11 bring to the table? This is what we know about the OnePlus 7 This is what we want to see in the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 The most important feature in the custom polymer is that instead of containing heat, like the back of your smartphone will do when the device heats up, the material will conduct it much more efficiently. This means a phone will be able to cool much easier, and won't heat up as much when used intensively. On top of that the researchers have spent a long time working on an efficient and cheap manufacturing process. The material would be a lot ch...

The HTC U11 had the hard task of attracting consumers' attention away from the vice-like grip on the phones market of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 . But HTC managed to create a device that rivalled those devices when they were released. A year has passed now and yet this phone is still a serious contender in the mobile phone market.  The HTC U11 (don't forget that all important 'U') is another push from the manufacturer to keep its name as a front-running handset manufacturer. Edge Sense is the new element that the brand is pushing as its latest big innovation - as you'll see from our HTC U11 review below - it's certainly alternative. And the phone now comes with Alexa integration, too. It's now a little cheaper, too, with monthly tariffs starting at less than £30. That's a lot cheaper than HTC U11 deals were when the handset went on sale. Check out our comparison chart to tailor-make your perfect HTC U11 deal. See also: Samsung Galaxy S8 dea...

The Google Pixel 2, the 2017 apple of the search giant's smartphone eye, is almost at an end. The Pixel 2 may soon be dead, but long live the Pixel - the Google Pixel 3 has been here for a little while now and has replaced it entirely. If you've been fancying the Pixel 2 for a while and really don't want to splash the cash on the much costlier new phone, then you'll have to strike pretty swiftly as we're not sure how much longer this device will stay relevant. And the same goes for the Google Pixel 2 XL. Whichever handset you covet, you can use our price comparison below to identify the best Pixel 2 deal for you. Google's quest to build a smartphone as popular as the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy flagship mobiles took a massive step forward when the original Google Pixel launched last year. And its successor - the aptly named Google Pixel 2 - continued the stellar work and now the Google Pixel 3 has stepped that up even further.  Need some more convincing...

Fans of the old Blackberry devices rejoice because the physical keyboard is back - what a comeback story. The BlackBerry KEYone landed on the phone scene almost two years ago and (whisper it quietly) it's still actually rather good. We've been keeping a keen eye on the best Blackberry bargains out there, and the prices continue to slowly fall. Unlike when it was released, you can now get the KEYone on contract for way less than £20 per month - and now even under the £20-mark! And you don't have to scrimp on data either. Check out our price comparison tool and you'll see that these BlackBerry deals compare handsomely with some of the other best mobile phone deals out there. Equipped with an updated version of that keyboard, Full HD screen and 12MP main camera, the Blackberry KEYone runs off Android. It may not quite be a match for the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 , but it's not far off and it's way cheaper.  More options: Samsung Galaxy S9 deals | LG ...

The Samsung Galaxy S7 may now be over two years old but it is by no means a bad device. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is a great handset for bargain hunters. You've probably seen the insanely-great Samsung Galaxy S9 or Note 9 or even Samsung's newest Galaxy S10 , but then also seen the prices and decided to see what else is on offer. Bag a Galaxy S7 deal and you'll get a fantastic phone for a reasonable price. 2016's Galaxy S7 - together with the bigger S7 Edge - is still a very good handset in its own right, sharing a lot of the battery management power and camera smarts from its successor the Galaxy S8 . You can see a potted review under our top handpicked deals below and it's soooooo much cheaper than the newer Samsung smartphones. You can easily get away with bills in the low twenties. Or, if you're prepared to part with around £50 at the outset, you can even get them below the £20 mark. And big data deals now come cheap, too. Excellent value when you ...

Along with the announcement of the Galaxy S10 phone , Samsung also unveiled its newest Galaxy smartwatch, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active. The latest Samsung wearable is available for purchase now, so we've rounded up the best Samsung Galaxy watch prices and deals for from several retailers below. As the name implies, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is focused on fitness, and its new design and features reflect that. The ultra-lightweight Galaxy Active comes in one size and features a 1.1-inch display. The fitness watch continually monitors your heart and will send alerts when an abnormal heart rate is detected. The Samsung watch can also help with your sleep and stress, analyzing your sleep patterns and sending you breathing exercises when high stress levels are detected. The Galaxy Active will also help you keep on track with your health and fitness goals by tracking up to 39 exercises and displaying your health summary on the smartwatch display. The waterproof watch comes in ...

Oof. This isn’t the sort of thing you want to see when you’re rounding the corner of your crowdfunding campaign : There are long shots and then there’s coming up with $15,000 of your $1.2 million goal. The Indiegogo page for the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop understandably focused on the viral sensation the ridiculously beefy phone with the 18,000mAh battery spurred at Mobile World Congress this year. There are even photos of the scrum of journalists elbowing to take a shot of the thing at the event. Understandable that its creators took that approach. Heck, the thing may have outshined all of the foldable and 5G phones that were set to take center stage at the event. We wrote about it. Lucas rightfully called it “basically a giant battery with a smartphone built into it.” The takeaway seems clear, though. Just because everyone’s talking about a product doesn’t mean that anyone intends to buy it. If anything, the devices seemed more a comment on the state of smartphone battery lif...