Intel Security to become McAfee in April 2017

Intel Security has detailed a wave of product innovations at Focus 2016, but promises more to come when it is spun out as an independent company under the McAfee banner

Climate hackathon aims to use tech to save the planet

London joins cities around the world to seek technology solutions to tackle climate change and help the environment

Data is the ‘biggest battle ground’ in marketing, says McKinsey expert

Global lead for marketing and tech at McKinsey, Jason Heller, says data science is the area of marketing that can make or break campaigns

Police forces struggle with complex IT and a lack of digital skills, says watchdog

The latest report from police watchdog HMIC discovers that a lack of skills in digital and complex IT systems are major challenges for modern police forces

Check Point, Huawei join Intel Security Innovation Alliance

Intel Security Innovation Alliance continues to grow as security firm opens up McAfee data exchange layer

Failure to prepare for cyber attack could be catastrophic, warns Ted Koppel

Veteran investigative reporter Ted Koppel says a cyber attack on the US power grid is likely, but preparations for such an event are not up to scratch

Collaborative Team in Office 365 paves way to AI-augmented business

Microsoft Team offers a way for businesses to improve collaboration. It is also pushing its AI research in a way to augment humans

Twitch’s new video ads can’t be blocked

 Twitch, the Amazon-owned video streaming platform which is today used by over 2 million broadcasters, announced today its plans to begin selling video ads in its partners’ live streams which can’t be blocked by third-party ad blockers. These ads will roll out this week, and will be delivered through Twitch’s new SureStream video technology platform, which also offers… Read More

Discord chief executive on distribution and the importance of the PC in gaming

 The global video game industry is exploding in popularity. Companies such as ESPN, Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts have formed their own e-sports divisions in recent months, and the gaming market exceeds $90 billion, up 9 percent in the last year. It is bigger than the movie industry and predicted to expand with new emerging platforms like VR. Greylock investment partner Josh Elman… Read More

Pokémon GO introduces daily bonuses to keep players coming back

 Now that the insane, oh-my-god-it’s-everywhere hype cycle has tapered off a bit for Pokémon GO, Niantic gets to crack the classic startup conundrum: How the heck do they keep people coming back? The company is about to take its first swing at the problem by way of daily bonuses. The more regularly you play, the more you’re rewarded. Read More

To IP or not to IP, that is the question

 The rise and fall of Pokémon GO begs us to ask many questions regarding how to launch a game to position it for success. One specific question it raises is whether branded intellectual property is something game makers should consider prior to launch. Branded IP is one of the most time-tested ways to launch games that go on to become immensely popular. Read More

Learn to code startup pi-top pulls in $4.3M to fund a global edtech push

 London-based computing and learn-to-code startup pi-top has closed a £3.5million ($4.3M) Series A round of funding, led by Hambro Perks and with Committed Capital also participating. Read More

How Yo inspired the Jonas Brothers to create apps

 Remember that silly app, Yo, where you could ping someone with just a tap? Well, Kevin Jonas does. At the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York, the Jonas brothers talked about why they are creating apps. After seeing the Yo app raise over $1 million in funding, Kevin said it made launching startups look easy. “If they could do that, look what I can do,” said Kevin, about… Read More

Sony shares a list of 39 titles that will be optimized for the PS4 Pro at launch

 Next Thursday is PS4 Pro day. Announced two months ago at an event in New York, the souped up version of Sony’s console has been designed with 4K and high dynamic range gaming in mind, featuring amped up specs, including an eight-core x86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU, a GPU offering double the power of the earlier PS7 and a 1TB hard drive. Until now, however, Sony hasn’t offered up a list… Read More

Philip Hammond goes on the attack to target cyber threat to UK economy

Speaking at the Microsoft Future Decoded event in London, the Chancellor revealed how Britain would take an offensive stance to protect infrastructure

Software maker leaves Russia for India to increase resources and reduce risk

Commodities trading software company has moved its software development resources to Bangalore from Moscow

Nexsan adds mobile app access to Unity file sync and share

Nexsan Unity can now be accessed by iPhone and Android mobile users, as well as from desktops and laptops, to provide Dropbox-like functionality within the firewall

Sweden’s Civil Contingencies Agency updates document management system in digital push

Public sector agency modernises core system through an IT outsourcing agreement that will support digital transformation

Intel Security shifts channel strategy

Intel Security adjusts its channel strategy in response to a market shift towards services-based security

Unilever puts digital transformation in the hands of IT

The global IT director of digital marketing at Unilever explains how the firm has managed digital transformation by shifting the role of the IT team

Axonify raises $27M to gamify employee training without wasting your time

 Think back to the last time you had to do a corporate training. More likely than not it was a frustrating experience that you simply tried to survive rather than learn from. (If you feel otherwise, I’m genuinely worried about you). With $27 million in fresh funding led by JMI Equity and BDC Capital, Axonify, wants to hack your brain to help everyone get away with doing less while taking… Read More

Google’s Daydream View VR headset arrives in stores November 10

 Google has announced exactly when you’ll be able to get your hands on Daydream View, the new headset it created for Daydream-ready Android phones, including the Pixel and Pixel XL. The View headset will arrive in the Google Store online, and at retailers in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia on November 10 for $79 US. Pricing in the other countries varies, but is mostly in… Read More

Facebook officially announces Gameroom, its PC Steam competitor

 After losing mobile gaming to iOS and Android, Facebook is making a big push into playing on PC with today’s developer launch of its Gameroom Windows desktop gaming platform. After months of name changes, beta tests and dev solicitation, Facebook opened up the beta build for all developers and officially named it Gameroom. The app is openly available for users to download on Windows 7… Read More

IT industry development is an obvious choice for Bahrain

Bahrain is a gateway to the Middle East for multinationals, and to the world for locally grown IT startups

Around half of customers expect virtual reality to play a part in retail’s future

Consumers and business buyers think virtual reality and artificial intelligence will play a big part in retail experience in the near future, according to Salesforce research

Insurers face same legacy system battle as retail banks

The biggest barrier to insurance companies adopting digital technology is their heavy reliance on legacy IT systems

Lancaster University hails potential of AI software to cut datacentre power consumption

Lancaster University reveals details of its work to create an AI-based, self-assembling software system that could improve the efficiency of datacentres

Using cross-industry collaboration on open standards to address big data in the datacentre

Efforts are under away across the industry to create open standards to ensure datacentre hardware is equipped to cope with the amounts of information datacentres are required to process in real time

UK government re-announces £1.9bn cyber security spend

Five-year cyber security spending increase announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond 12 months after George Osborne did so

Path to telco revenues lies through improved user trust, says KPMG

Report suggests that half of UK adults would switch telecoms and broadband provider in the event of a security breach, and identifies revenue opportunities in building trust among consumers

Tintri adds VMware and Flocker persistent container storage

VM-native storage array maker Tintri will allow customers persistent storage for Docker containers via planned VMware vSphere 6.5 functionality or via bare metal/host OS

Pokémon Go gets a big revenue boost from its special Halloween event

 Pokémon Go had its first special in-game event this Halloween, and the results are promising for people hoping Niantic will run more in the future: Revenue was up 2.3 times from the week before, according to app analytics firm SensorTower, and daily revenue on October 29, in the middle of the event, was at its highest overall level since September 10, according to analytics provider App… Read More

Apple iCloud and Gmail hacker gets 18 months in jail

A US man is given a sentence of 18 months in jail for hacking into celebrity iCloud and Gmail accounts after investigators failed to find a link with the leak of celebrity nude photos online in 2014

Red Cross data breach shows security is still not a priority

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has responded quickly to a breach of 550,000 donor details, but security commentators say the incident shows security is still not a priority for many organisations

Hundreds of IT contractors let go and projects put on hold as DWP denies rumours of overspend

Hundreds of digital and technology projects are under review at the Department for Work and Pensions - but department denies rumours of budget overspend

United Utilities protects field engineering deployment with AirWatch

United Utilities deploys mobile device management software AirWatch to secure Samsung devices running a SAP workforce management app

SDN trailblazer Big Switch Networks launches in UK

Having established a base of paying customers through a key partnership with Dell, SDN supplier Big Switch Networks is opening its first European offices and gunning for Cisco’s ACI business

Minds behind Entiq and Level 39 launch Plexal innovation centre

Founder of Entiq and Level 39 launches innovation hub at Here East space in the London Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Nintendo Switch is the spiritual successor to the Nvidia SHIELD

 Nintendo has revealed its new console, the Switch (which was codenamed the NX prior to its public debut). The thing that makes Switch different from any other console out there by a major game maker is its ability to quickly transition from home console to portable, thanks to a tablet format for the primary gaming hardware, and modular a modular ‘Joy-Con’ controller design. Is… Read More

Zwift merges indoor fitness with massive multi-player online gaming

 At its core, Zwift is indoor cycling software. But layered on top of its functionality is a community that in the two years the company has been operating has grown in both scale and shear strength. At an event at Rapha’s cycling in SF, I found myself surrounded by core users proudly flaunting their team names and meeting, often not for the first time. Even Barry Bonds showed up to… Read More

Six reasons to be hyped for the Nintendo Switch (and four reasons to worry)

 Yesterday saw the introduction — after many leaks and rumors — of the Nintendo Switch, the company’s next game console. It isn’t due to arrive until March of next year, which is infinitely frustrating because it looks amazing for several reasons, not all of them obvious. Here’s why I’m more excited about the Switch than for any Nintendo product in a long time. Read More

Pokémon Go’s first ever in-game event ups the candy count for Halloween

 Pokémon Go players will get the chance to participate in the game’s first ever in-game event this Halloween, starting Wednesday October 26 and running through November 1. The event will feature higher encounter rates for spooky Pokémon, including Drowzee, Zubat, Gastly, Gengar, Golbat, Haunter and Hypno, and trainers will also get more candy for catching, buddy training and… Read More

Xiaomi beefs up its mobile virtual reality push with Mi VR

 Xiaomi has added another mobile VR headset to its portfolio: announcing the Mi VR today — which it says is its first virtual reality headset with an inertial motion controller. Read More

Gaming features in Windows 10 Creator’s Update include native Beam streaming

 Game Broadcasting for Windows 10 is coming, which brings built-in game streaming to the platform at the OS level. The tech for this is built using Beam, the TechCrunch Battlefield company acquired by Microsoft earlier this year. The Game Broadcasting tools provided by Beam incorporate interaction options for spectators, including the ability to make suggestions. On stage at the Windows… Read More

Minecraft comes to Apple TV

 Minecraft, having already come to just about every other platform, is now on Apple TV, or will be soon at any rate. Well, that’s pretty much the news! Read More

John Lewis chooses three retail tech startups to receive 2016 JLab funding

Department store retailer John Lewis selects three retail tech startups to receive their share of the £200,000 JLab funding pot

BT reports solid growth despite weak pound

The collapse in the value of the pound following the EU referendum has not dented BT’s confidence, with strong growth reported across multiple business units

Government launches inquiry into Emergency Services Network

The Public Accounts Committee is to scrutinise the controversial Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme

Schneider Electric praised for positive response to ICS security flaw

Schneider Electric has patched a security flaw that highlights the vulnerability of industrial control systems to cyber attack

Google suspends US FTTP broadband roll-out

Google parent Alphabet calls a halt to its roll-out of FTTP broadband in the US as it embarks on a strategic rethink

World wide web inventor Tim Berners-Lee to join Oxford University

The University of Oxford has appointed Tim Berners-Lee as a professor at its computer science department

Information security set for steep trajectory, says (ISC)2

By helping to create a thriving, diverse and open information security community, (ISC)2 hopes to ensure a steep rise for the profession

Dyn reveals details of complex and sophisticated IoT botnet attack

DNS services provider Dyn, which was the victim of a large-scale DDoS attack perpetrated by an IoT botnet earlier in October, discusses details of its experience

Twitter cuts Vine and jobs as revenue growth slows

Twitter has announced it is to restructure with the aim of achieving profitability in 2017, but in the meantime it is axing its Vine video sharing service and around 350 jobs

Amazon shares fall on disappointing quarter - but AWS up 55%

Amazon reported disappointing quarterly profit but its AWS cloud business grew sales by 55% and is now 10% of the company's revenue

Interview: How Swedish bank prepared robot for customer services

SEB bank is currently integrating artificial intelligence into its customer services channels, following an internal trial of the technology

PlayStation VR is easily the winner in virtual reality right now

 Consumer virtual reality has a clear new leader today, and it’s the just-launched PlayStation VR. Unequivocally, this is the best VR experience currently available outside of the kinds of high-flying, super-secret test rigs that exist out there for army training or whatever that cost millions of dollars. That includes top-of-line hardware like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, as well as… Read More

Six new Sun and Moon Pokémon evolutions revealed

 Pokémon Sun and Moon’s release for 3DS rapidly approaches, and the Pokémon Company is unveiling eight new Pokémon unique to the new games, including six evolutions of Sun/Moon characters and two Alola-region variants of existing pocket monsters. The new Pokémon include two evolutions of a new dragon/fighting type that looks like a good candidate for inclusion in my primary lineup of six. Read More

Rockstar teases Red Dead Redemption follow-up

 Rockstar is toying with the emotions of fans of its popular western adventure game Red Dead Redemption, with a couple of teaser images that are clearly leading up to a big announcement. Fans and industry observers suspect we could finally see the studio announce a sequel to the 2010 Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game. Red Dead Redemption was itself a follow-up to Red Dead Revolver, a… Read More

Razer acquires audiovisual icon THX as it explores growth beyond the games industry

 Razer, the company that develops hardware and services for gamers and the world of gaming, has made an acquisition to catapult it to more platforms and more people: The company has acquired THX, the legendary audio and video quality assurance company that was originally founded by George Lucas as part of Lucasfilm. Razer’s CEO Min-Liang Tan said in an interview that the terms of… Read More

Red Dead Redemption 2 confirmed for Fall 2017

 Rockstar games confirmed a sequel to Red Dead Redemption is on the way for release in Fall 2017, tweeting the date along with the promise of a trailer arriving this Thursday, October 20. The follow-up to Rockstar’s epic Western action-adventure game series has been teased through Rockstar’s account, leaving many to suspect a sequel was planned, but now we know for sure. The… Read More

Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition is a lovely piece of self-contained 80s nostalgia

 Nintendo’s got a gift for repurposing. In the 30+ years since it was first released, the NES and its beloved range of intellectual properties have been repackaged in just about every way imaginable – and heck, even that system’s most beloved protagonist was on-loan from a platformer about a giant ape with a princess-stealing problem. Mind, none of this is a criticism, really.… Read More

HP’s OMEN 17 is an epic gaming laptop that needs just a tweak or two

 HP Inc. isn’t a name that comes to mind when you think of “enthusiast PC gaming system,” but the more endearing folks at HP think that recent tweaks made to OMEN gaming brand can change brand perception in the eyes of PC gamers, like myself. Read More