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Twenty years ago Monday, Bill Gates officially released Windows 95, ushering in a new era. The operating system featured a graphical user interface, along with a task bar and multitasking support, and it introduced the now-iconic Start button to launch applications. Those Windows 95 features made using a PC a whole lot easier. The Windows 95 launc...

Samsung last week filed a motion to stay the U.S. Court of Appeals' order in its multiyear patent war with Apple, indicating that it plans to take the case to the United States Supreme Court Samsung will ask the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a 2012 federal jury's verdict that it violated Apple's iPhone patents, the San Jose Mercury News repor...

We are living in an amazing time, but many of us seem to take it for granted. We have private spaceships (although they blow up more often than I'd like). Self-driving cars are on the road, even though we can't buy them yet, and there are plans for a 12-mile-high inflatable building Granted, a number of us are kind of convinced it will end up looki...

Welcome to Gadget Dreams and Nightmares, the column that searches for the gadget announcements that'll put a spring in our step while attempting to steer clear of those that'll make us drag our heels On the trail this week are a fitness tracker for swimmers, clever goggles to keep you on track, a Bluetooth stick for cocktails, and a ring that track...

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek on Friday issued a public apology for poor communications regarding the company's new privacy policy The new policy, which took effect Wednesday, immediately triggered alarm. Several tech publications railed against the terms, and Minecraft creator Markus Persson engaged Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in a Twitter debate that ended wit...

Samsung on Friday kicked off the Samsung Ultimate Test Drive, a new promotion aimed at drawing iPhone users into its fold. For just one dollar Samsung will provide iPhone users with a Galaxy smartphone -- models available include the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, as well as the S6 edge+ and Note 5 -- plus a month of cellular service....

A "mother" robot has demonstrated natural selection and the process of evolution in action, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge, who recently published their findings in PLOS One. Scientists typically have to go back in time to study evolution -- it's rarely observable over the course of a human lifetime. However, for robots ...

China experienced the first-ever downturn in its smartphone market in the second quarter of 2015, and it was enough to drag global sales to a two-year low, Gartner Research said Thursday The rest of the Asia Pacific smartphone market saw substantial growth in the quarter....

Sony on Thursday unveiled its SmartBand 2 fitness tracker It has an advanced heart rate sensor and a variety of communications capabilities. It informs wearers when they get calls, messages, emails or notifications on social media sites.

Point Linux 3.0, dubbed "Agni," combines a solid operating system with a traditional no-frills approach to performance and reliability.In several ways, Point Linux belies the criticisms of Linux desktop newcomers who find that Linux not simple and straightforward to use. Point Linux is easy to install. It has a clear interface. Everything works ou...

It appears both AT&T Mobility and Sprint deserve congratulations on their great performances, based on two just-released studies on the wireless wars. J.D. Power and RootMetrics revealed some interesting and surprising new information on this changing marketplace. For the fifth time, AT&T won first place with J.D. Power. For its part, Sprint showe...

The Ashley Madison hacker gang will be tough to apprehend, based on our informal survey of security experts. The hackers this week dumped nearly 10 gigabytes of stolen personal data onto the Web -- details gleaned from accounts established on the site, which is dedicated to matching up people who want to engage in extramarital affairs "In this case...

Google on Monday announced the official SDK for Android 6.0, aka "Marshmallow."It also opened Google Play for devs to publish apps that target the new API Level 23 in Marshmallow Google further updated the Android Support Library to v23, giving devs an easier way to make new platform APIs, such as permissions and fingerprint support, backward compa...

Razer on Tuesday introduced a camera that incorporates Intel's RealSense technology, suggesting use cases as a depth-sensing accessory in PC gaming and beyond. The company described its camera concept at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, which was chock-full of big announcements....

Growth of the Internet of Things in broadband households extends the life, utility and functionality of all connected solutions in the home. It also puts new pressures on existing support solutions to meet consumers' expectations Sixteen percent of U.S. broadband households owned a smart home device, and nearly 40 percent planned to buy a smart hom...

Hackers on Tuesday dumped personal data of about 37 million members of the Ashley Madison website onto the Dark Web. The data was stolen last month in an attack on the site, which aims to hook up people who want to cheat on their spouses Parent company "Avid Life Media has failed to take down Ashley Madison and Established Men," the Impact Team wr...

Google on Tuesday unveiled OnHub -- a router that is not only good looking but also fast, secure and easy-to-use. It developed the router in partnership with TP-Link "Many of us keep our router on the floor and out of sight, where it doesn't work as well," said Google Group Product Manager Trond Wuellner. "We replaced unruly cords and blinking ligh...

Apple might be working on a heads-up display for windshields, Trip Chowdhry, managing director of equity research at Global Equities Research, said in a note sent last week to the firm's clients. It will have built-in sensor technology, and the entire surface will function as a HUD. It may be a "completely new device," he wrote....

The United States Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday announced that Smart City Holdings had agreed to pay a US$750,000 fine to settle allegations that it blocked personal mobile hotspots in several convention centers, forcing exhibitors and attendees to use its services instead, at $80 a day Blocking FCC-approved WiFi connections is "pate...

Thoth Technology last month won patents in the U.S. and U.K. for a space elevator -- a 12-mile-high tower that could herald a new era ofspace transportation If all goes as planned, the freestanding ThothX Tower will be the tallest structure in the world by far. Dubhai's Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building, is a mere half mile in he...