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Devout followers pay heed: The Catholic Church is offering indulgences for those who take the righteous step of following Pope Francis on Twitter The granting of indulgences, a centuries-old practice, is believed to reduce the time that one must spend in purgatory. Traditional means of obtaining indulgences include, among other things, making confe...

The U.S. Department of Commerce is planning a major upgrade of its customer relationship management capabilities, which is likely to include a multiyear contract opportunity for a cloud-based CRM system. The project underscores the increasing awareness of federal agencies of the potential use of cloud configurations for CRM projects One of the maj...

In a move that surprised me, at least, Amazon last week announced that it was lowering its fees for on-demand infrastructure by as much as 80 percent. Should we be rejoicing, or is this a sign that something is amiss? Back around the turn of the century, something similar happened in at least two situations. The first was that telecommunications ...

Two genres of augmented reality tools are prevalent on the mobile device. The first AR genre is geolocation, which uses built-in hardware sensors and phone features like the compass and GPS chip to create a heads-up display -- think movie fighter-pilot cockpit, where the plane's instrumentation is superimposed on the windshield.

A wearable tech device that could make it easier for dogs to communicate with their handlers is in development at the Georgia Institute of Technology. FIDO, or Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations, could have far-reaching practical applications. It could improve communications with guide dogs, as well as with search and rescue dogs,...

AT&T on Tuesday introduced AT&T Next, a plan that lets users upgrade their handsets and tablets every 12 months Beginning July 26, the new service will let customers purchase a smartphone or tablet with no down payment and agree to pay monthly installments for the device. After 12 payments, they can trade it in and upgrade to a brand-new device -- ...

AT&T on Tuesday introduced AT&T Next, a plan that lets users upgrade their handsets and tablets every 12 months Beginning July 26, the new service will let customers purchase a smartphone or tablet with no down payment and agree to pay monthly installments for the device. After 12 payments, they can trade it in and upgrade to a brand-new device -- ...

The White House and eight companies including Google and Microsoft announced a joint effort to mobilize against online piracy and counterfeiting Monday with the help of a set of best practices developed in conjunction with the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The effort is designed to limit the revenue gained from displaying ads on sites that offer...

Microsoft has slashed the price of its Surface RT by some 30 percent, or US$150, putting the price of the tablet now at approximately $350, depending on the version The price cut follows hard on the heels of news that the company will undergo a reorganization, in part to bolster its still-flagging efforts in mobile and tablet computing....

European Union justice commissioner Viviane Reding implored EU member states to get on board with Germany's call for tougher and more unified data protection laws German chancellor Angela Merkel spent the weekend clamoring for EU-wide regulations that would force more transparency from Internet companies. Merkel complained that companies incorporat...

Indefatigable tech pioneer Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla electric car fame is poised to publish the alpha design of his proposed "Hyperloop" futuristic transportation technology "Elon Musk will hold a media conference call after his Hyperloop announcement on Aug. 12," Christina Ra, communications director of SpaceX, told TechNewsWorld.

For most technologists in the enterprise nowadays, cloud is a pretty big deal -- and securing it can be an even bigger deal still. Security was the top concern of 46 percent of respondents to a recent survey by North Bridge Venture Partners (The Future of Cloud Computing). While this number is actually down from last year's 55 percent, it does underscore the relative importance of security in these efforts. ...

ClearSlide has already released several mobile apps targeting salespeople on the road, and recently it rolled out another key piece of its platform in mobile form. ...

BoxTone's enterprise mobility management platform is designed to bring Android security up to levels better-suited to the rigors of the business workforce, but in making Android enterprise-hardened, the company left Android's open source trappings intact As part of that EMM platform, BoxTone delivers its service in three categories of functionality...

The definition of sportmanship may lie to some extent in the eye of the beholder, but on Monday the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service reportedly recognized the video game League of Legends as a professional sport The decision enables the most elite of players in the field to qualify for Internationally Recognized Athlete visas, also known as...

In an effort to catch up with their data-swamped online counterparts, brick-and-mortar retailers are turning to a new tool to help them better monitor shoppers and maximize sales: shoppers' cell phones Approaches include tracking shoppers as they move about the store using their phones' connection to the store's WiFi system and sensors that recogni...

While not many taxpayers consider the Internal Revenue Service a friend, most do expect the agency to protect their data like a brother That's why news revealed last week about a database the IRS posted online of filings for so-called Section 527 organizations, such as political campaign committees, was particularly disturbing. (see Breach Diary be...

Two researchers at cybersecurity firm iSec Partners have cracked the security of a Verizon femtocell Femtocells, also called "small cells," are low-power cellular base stations that wireless carriers, including Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, either sell or give to consumers. They connect to the service provider's network through broadband and support mu...

After initially revealing its new Ativ Book 9 Lite ultraportable PC in June, Samsung on Monday announced that it is now accepting preorders for the Windows 8 device, which will be available in the U.S. on July 28 for US$799.99. Weighing 3.5 lbs. and measuring less than an inch thick, the Ativ Book 9 Lite offers a 13.3-inch touchscreen LCD display...

Ma Ailun, a 23-year-old woman from northwest China, died after being electrocuted by her iPhone, according to relatives. Ma died while using the device, which was charging at the time, according to reports. Local police confirmed that electrocution was the cause of death, but stopped short of pinning blame on the iPhone....