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Regular readers will know that we love the functionality that comes with smartphone cameras, including inherent portability, powerful processors, and imaginative post-processing app solutions. However, what we supremely dislike -- with a vengeance -- are the little software-driven lenses that phone makers see fit to slap on the devices....

Following reports of adware being distributed through extensions for Google's Web browser Chrome, the search giant has removed two applets from it its online store Pulled from the Chrome Web Store were "Add to Feedly" and "Tweet This Page." Both extensions were mentioned in an Ars Technica report Friday about adware vendors buying popular Chrome ex...

Microsoft is rolling out a fix for a troubled firmware update that caused several problems for Surface Pro 2 owners in December Many of those who installed the December patch saw battery-life issues and trouble with the sleep and shutdown functions on the tablets. Some users reported that battery power drained more quickly, and that their Surface e...

The wife of Shashi Tharoor, an Indian minister and member of parliament, was found dead in a luxury hotel in New Delhi days after exposing her husband's alleged infidelity via Twitter The cause of death is not known, but a forensic expert reportedly dubbed it a "sudden, unnatural death."

NextBee has spent the last several months developing integration links to connect its referral and customer service products to the major CRM applications, including Salesforce, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics. The general idea of the integration is to combine NextBee's ability to track activities and provide incentives with the CRM system's custo...

Pardon the pun, but there's nothing elementary about IBM's Watson Business Unit. IBM's Watson initiative takes cognitive computing to the head of the class IBM last week announced it was committing US$1 billion and 2,000 employees -- as well as its considerable research and development talents and marketing muscle -- to Watson. This effectively pu...

IBM is putting a massive amount of resources into Watson, which has the capability to dramatically improve the quality of our decisions. Since most don't know how Watson works, I thought it would be interesting to emulate how it might think when tied to a topical subject. As the U.S. approaches its next election circus, two candidates have jumped to the top as both frontrunners and targets. ...

The Internet of Thingsis a key driver of accelerated growth of cloud-based alternatives to traditional on-premises systems and software, and as the new year begins to unfold, it is gaining momentum The idea of the IoT evolved from the more narrowly focused concept of machine-to-machine communications, which has been floating around for a while and ...

In a keenly anticipated speech, President Obama on Friday announced reforms to the United States National Security Agency's surveillance activities, but his pronouncements failed to please just about everyone ...

Rdio announced Thursday that its Web users will have free, unlimited access to content, an update that came on the heels of similar news from Spotify Spotify started offering free streaming music for iOS and Android mobile devices last month, and on Wednesday announced that it was eliminating time limits for all of its Web users. There were never r...

Facebook on Thursday announced Trending, a new product designed to surface relevant and timely conversations occurring on the network Trending, displayed to the right of the user's News Feed, will feature a list of topics that have recently spiked in popularity, personalized according to subjects of interest to the user. It will include topics that...

Google is taking the wearable tech trend to a new level. The company has announced it is working on smart contact lenses that measure the level of glucose in one's body Diabetes affects around one in 19 people in the world, many of whom struggle to control the levels of blood sugar in their bodies, Google said. Blood sugar imbalances can lead to is...

For the second time in less than a year, Apple has agreed to reimburse its customers for purchases within applications made by children without their parents' consent In a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday, Apple agreed to pay at least US$32.5 million in refunds to consumers who incurred charges on their iTunes accoun...

Syed Farhan Hussain, a 22-year-old from Luton, UK, was hit with additional jail time for refusing to divulge the password for a memory stick that police were eager to take a peek at Police were unable to crack the password themselves and therefore sought Hussain's help; Hussain declined, prompting a guilty verdict under Britain's Regulation of Inve...

"Customers do not want a relationship with your business, they want the benefits a relationship can offer to them." Mitch Lieberman, managing partner at DRI and an all-around bright thinker, first said this around 2009. He wasn't trying to smash anyone's illusions about the value of CRM. He was trying to reset business' thinking back to reality abo...

Software developers have long been able to protect their innovations by virtue of a favorable provision of U.S. patent law that gives them almost monopoly power to maximize financial returns. The law also enables developers to take action against any other party that comes close to duplicating or imitating their software programs through court litigation on charges of infringement -- or, alternatively, to obtain handsome licensing fees...

The hottest rumor for Microsoft Xbox Halo fans has taken on a life of its own: The voice and text-based virtual assistant service -- code-named "Cortana" and planned for release with Windows Phone 8.1 -- actually might be created with the real-life voice behind Cortana, Jen Taylor The rumor comes from MSFTnerd, and while there is no evidence to bac...

A federal appeals court's Tuesday ruling on Net neutrality has sparked dire predictions: Streaming video will cost more; Internet-based multiplayer games could get expensive; and innovation might be stifled Credo Mobile is gathering names for a petition to Federal Communications Commission Chair Tom Wheeler....

Starbucks has admitted storing users' passwords in plain text on its mobile apps, creating security and privacy risks Anyone with access to a customer's phone could obtain that person's user name, password and email address by connecting the device to a computer and opening a file. The clear text also displays a string of geolocation data that coul...

HP unveiled two new mobile devices Wednesday that are set to launch in India as the company attempts to gain traction in the global mobile market ...