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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied without comment Apple's petition for a review of a lower court ruling that it engaged in price-fixing of e-books The company now must comply with a US$450 millionsettlement it reached with 33 states and territories and a private class of e-book purchasers that, together with the U.S. Department of Justice, su...

I hate the idea of chopping our population into generations: the Greatest Generation, the baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, millennials and so on. The assumption is that everyone born during an arbitrarily selected time period shares certain traits It also results in people projecting ideas -- often romantic ones -- onto huge groups of peop...

Amazon last week announced that it had reversed a previous decision to drop support for local encryption on version 5 of its Fire tablet operating system The disclosure came one day after the company joined 14 others to support Apple in itsfight against the FBI, which wants the company to create a tool or code to unlock an iPhone that belonged to o...

The disease management industry, which focuses on reducing or delaying the use of expensive treatments or costly procedures, has passed its prime as a unique approach to controlling escalating costs attributed to chronic conditions It worked on the sickest of the sick, but as patient conditions progressed and engagement levels decreased, it gradual...

Google last week announced it would contribute US$1 million to theUN Children's Fund to support the global fight against the mosquito-borne Zika virus A team of Google engineers has volunteered to work with UNICEF to analyze data in an effort to figure out the viral infection's path. It also will match employee donations with the goal of giving an ...

Amazon launched two new versions of Echo last week: the Echo Dot and the Amazon Tap. I've actually had the chance to look at both, and they flesh out the line nicely -- but I think the Dot actually could outshine the original Echo. I'll share some of my reactions to both devices and speculate about what could come next as Amazon expands this prod...

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'Ad Al-Hussein on Friday weighed in on the Apple-FBI dispute, asking U.S. authorities to proceed with great caution. The legal fight centers on a court's order that Apple help the FBI access encrypted iPhone data to aid its investigation of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. Such a move could lead to ...

The Korora Linux desktop is a solid computing platform that's loaded with options to suit a wide range of user needs....

Apple on Thursday launched a Twitter channel to field support questions from users of its products, as well as to offer them tricks and tips By Friday, the@AppleSupport account had 134,000 followers and had sent more than 3,000 tweets....

In the world of computer security, fingerprints are found in more places than where the tips of hands touch That's because the term is applied to any data set that can be used to make a unique identification....

Hello Games on Thursday began taking preorders for No Man's Sky, its procedurally generated journey to the center of the universe. ...

Vivek Kundra, the former federal CIO, envisioned that 25 percent of the funds the federal government spends each year on information technology could productively be deployed through cloud-based systems "The adoption of cloud computing will play a pivotal role in helping the government close the productivity gap between the public and private secto...

Amazon on Thursday announced two products, Echo Dot and Amazon Tap, that extend the range of the Alexa-enabled home automation products anchored by the company's Echo device, which uses voice recognition to manage routine tasks The Echo Dot is a small, hands-free device that uses the same far-field voice-recognition technology as Amazon Echo.

Google on Wednesday announced that it has begun testing an app dubbed "Hands Free," which allows Android and iOS smartphone users to make purchases via their devices without taking them out of their pockets or purses Early adopters in Silicon Valley can use the payment system at a small number of McDonald's, Papa John's and other eateries....

TheAssociation of Computing Machinery on Tuesday named Whitfield Diffie and Martin E. Hellman recipients of the 2015 ACM A.M. Turing Award for their contributions to modern cryptography Their invention of public key cryptography and digital signatures revolutionized computer security, the organization said....

The GermanCartel Office on Wednesday announced the launch of an investigation into Facebook over allegations that it abused its market position by infringing data protection rules, specifically in connection with the terms of service governing user data The investigation is aimed at Facebook Inc. USA, the company's Irish subsidiary, and Facebook Ge...

There are two sides to every coin -- a good side and a bad side. One side helps you and the other side hurts you. The Internet is a great example: The good side lets you learn anything, about anything, anytime, any place. The bad side targets you with scams. They are running rampant, and there is not a damn thing we can do about it Have you recentl...

Meta on Wednesday began taking preorders for its Meta 2 augmented reality headset, and announced it would begin shipping the US$949 product in the third quarter of this year Meta has been working on an experience that blends "the art of user interface design with the science of the brain," CEO Meron Gribetz said during a session at last month's TE...

A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered the release of Facebook Regional Vice President Diego Dzodan, one day afterBrazilian police placed him under arrest forWhatsApp's failure to produce messages the government believed relevant to a drug ring investigation. Judge Ruy Pinheiro concluded the exec's detainment amounted to coercion, according to press reports...

Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell on Tuesday testified before the House Judiciary Committee that his company should not be required write new code for software that would weaken the security of the iPhone in the wake of the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attacks The FBI wants Apple to take action that would put the privacy and security of m...