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Google may have contributed to violating the First Amendment rights of three journalists working for WikiLeaks two and a half years ago, when it turned over to the FBI all their email, subscriber information and metadata Google informed the journalists -- Sarah Harrison, Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrrell -- about its actions last month....

Coinbase on Monday launched Coinbase Exchange, the first regulated bitcoin exchange in the United States The firm raised US$75 million last week in a round of funding from new backers including DFJ Growth and BBVA Ventures, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital.

A group of developers made good on their threats to fork Debian Linux late last year after the community's leadership voted to replace sysvinit with systemd, making systemd the default init boot process The Debian Technical Committee's decision spurred several key Debian developers and project maintainers to resign. Some of them formed a new commun...

The humanoid Atlas robot made by Google company Boston Dynamics has gotten an overhaul to be stronger, lighter and more independent, and to be able to function for one hour of mixed-mission operations Designed by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), it stands six feet two inches tall....

Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss on Friday announced Gemini, a regulated bitcoin exchange to be based in the United States The Winkelvoss twins, who shot to fame when they sued Facebook and won US$65 million, have assembled a team of security experts, technologists and financial engineers to build a world-class exchange from the ground up, based on sec...

I was one of the launch analysts for Windows 95, and the launch of that product is widely held -- including by Bill Gates -- as the company's pinnacle. No launch before or since ever came close to that launch, and I remain amazed that no one, including Apple or Microsoft, has ever really attempted to duplicate that effort. Windows 10 has the po...

Welcome to Gadget Ogling, the column that looks at new gadget announcements -- beyond the outright bananas Windows 10 gizmos Microsoft is cooking up -- and offers insightful first impression opinions of them Ahead, for your perusal, are looks at Microsoft's holographic headset and giant next-level Surface, a pocket-sized keyboard, and a smart desk....

Zenwalk Linux is a very usable yet uncommon Linux OS. It is more than a single distribution. The developmental path and sketchy developer website may cast an unfavorable impression about Zenwalk's trustworthiness as a serious computing platform. The ho-hum impression when first running the live edition does little to encourage users to take this Linux OS for a stroll...

Google is planning to set up shop as an MVNO -- that is, mobile virtual network operator -- purchasing bandwidth from Sprint and T-Mobile in order to offer its own wireless service, The Information reported Wednesday Details are sparse, but Sprint is putting a volume trigger into its contract that would allow for renegotiation if Google's customer ...

Ford Motor on Thursday announced the opening of its Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto, a 25,000 square foot facility that will help it accelerate the company's innovation in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big data. This is the latest addition to the automaker's global network of R&D centers, which inclu...

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a slew of new features and capabilities coming in Windows 10: the convergence of the desktop and mobile; the advent of the killer universal app; more power and features for personal digital assistant Cortana, which will be on mobile as well as desktops and laptops; improvements to maps; a new browser, code-named "Project Spartan"; a strong emphasis on gaming; and holographic computing...

As members of the U.S. Congress started to prepare for the upcoming legislative session, President Obama lost little time in putting cybersecurity near the top of a to-do list for lawmakers. During a visit to the federal National Cybersecurity Communications Integration Center, Obama called for additional legislation to improve information technology protection...

Crash Override made its official debut last week, promising a new way to support people who become the targets of online bullying and harassment. Cofounder Zoe Quinn, a video game developer, is one of the better-known people who have been on the receiving end of such abuse....

BlackBerry CEO John Chen set off a barrage of online chatter Wednesday when he proposed that any rules the United States adopts to preserve Net neutrality also should guarantee application neutrality Chen made the proposal in a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of two U.S. congressional panels -- the Senate Committee on Commerce and the Ho...

Acer on Wednesday announced two new ruggedized Chromebooks geared for classroom use. Both will go on sale in February The Acer Chromebook C910 and C740 have a durable design built around reinforced covers and hinges. The new models support multiple user sign-ons and offline file access....

FreedomPop on Wednesday announced a new plan that provides Android smartphone users with access to 10 million WiFi hotspots across the U.S. for US$5 a month That sum will give any smartphone or tablet -- regardless of any carrier service it might have -- unlimited talk, text and data on FreedomPop's WiFi hotspot network....

The most important and daring move that Microsoft made Wednesday is far and away making the upgrade to Windows 10 free. Seems dirt-simple and intuitive on the surface, but it represents a startling and abrupt shift in both how users will relate to Microsoft and how Microsoft innovates with Windows going forward. As long-time readers know, I'm an u...

AT&T recently completed its acquisition of Mexico wireless carrier Iusacell -- so what does that mean for the future of AT&T? The growth potential is enormous, if this is done right The first step is over. AT&T has closed the acquisition. It was one of the quickest deals ever, taking roughly two months from start to finish....

AT&T recently completed its acquisition of Mexico wireless carrier Iusacell -- so what does that mean for the future of AT&T? The growth potential is enormous, if this is done right The first step is over. AT&T has closed the acquisition. It was one of the quickest deals ever, taking roughly two months from start to finish....

AT&T recently completed its acquisition of Mexico wireless carrier Iusacell -- so what does that mean for the future of AT&T? The growth potential is enormous, if this is done right The first step is over. AT&T has closed the acquisition. It was one of the quickest deals ever, taking roughly two months from start to finish....