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Latest by Brad Jones

BBC Micro:bit

At long last, pre-orders for BBC Micro:bit now open to the public

The BBC Micro:bit is now available to pre-order, following its successful rollout in schools earlier this year.
fable may endure as a crowdfunded game fortune

Fable may live on as a crowdfunded card battler

Lionhead Studios may be no more, but the Fable franchise could be resurrected if a new crowdfunding campaign is successful.
microsoft flashback system high quality vr content

Microsoft Research project could bring quality VR to phones

The FlashBack system could make high quality VR possible on less powerful hardware like smartphones and low-end PCs.
street fighter 2 characters mystery ii intro

Who threw that punch? Capcom puts 25-year-old ‘Street Fighter II’ mystery to rest

Players have often wondered who the two characters in the intro of Street Fighter II are, and now developer Capcom has spilled the beans.
cryorig printable heatsink ruler origami checker

Origami-inspired case depth checker takes the guesswork out of CPU cooler installation

PC peripherals specialist Cryorig has released a new printout tool to remove some of the confusion from your next PC build.
acer previews hybrids a smartphone and more for computex header

Acer details new products ahead of Computex 2016

With Computex 2016 just days away, Acer has detailed some of the its new products scheduled to be showcased at the expo.
Floppy Disks

Report blasts U.S. for controlling nukes with floppy disks, but it’s not all bad

A new report from the Government Accountability Office raises questions about whether federal agencies need to upgrade their tech.
Hacker

Determined, mysterious attack hits major DNS provider, causing service outages

DNS provider NS1 has shared details about a string of anonymous attacks that threatened to cause chaos last week.
Zotac Mobile VR

Zotac teases new mini PCs ahead of Computex 2016

Zotac has given an early briefing on some of the products it intends to show at Computex 2016 next week.
Comcast

Comcast sets limit of $200 per month for data overage costs

For once, Comcast is making a change to its policies that might actually save some customers money.
Best VR Headset

Valve gives developers access to the Vive’s front-facing camera

The latest update to the OpenVR SDK gives developers the ability to utilize the Vive's front-facing camera.
german researchers wireless data record access transmission

Researchers break wireless bandwidth record with 6-gigabit connection

A research team in Germany has broken a world record by beaming data across a distance of 23 miles at previously unmatched speeds.
1158836 autosave v1 2 overwatch gall

Get your rig ready for ‘Overwatch’ with new drivers from Nvidia

Nvidia has released its latest set of Game Ready drivers, which feature special optimizations for use with Overwatch.
daily app deals ios 07 21 2016 iphone 6 plus and

Planned obsolescence has led to ridiculous product cycles, and it’s time to say enough is enough

As Apple continues to prepare the iPhone 7, it's time to question whether or not the current pace of hardware revisions is consumer-friendly.
destiny rise of iron dlc gjallarhorn

Leaked poster reveals new ‘Destiny’ expansion, ‘Rise of Iron’

Marketing materials posted on Reddit have leaked the title of the next Destiny expansion: Rise of Iron.
googles new custom processor designed to power artificial intelligence google tpu

Google's new processor fast-forwards machine learning technology

Google has detailed a specially designed chip intended for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications.
Conseil d'État

Memory hole: Google battles back against France over right to be forgotten

While Google's I/O 2016 showcase concentrated on the road ahead, the company is still embroiled in a privacy dispute regarding search engine results.
linkedIn

Report: Hacker puts data from 167 million LinkedIn accounts up for sale

There's word that 167 million LinkedIn accounts are included in a package of stolen user data being shopped around online.
Windows 7 retirement

Microsoft's new Windows 7 patch bundles five years of updates in one easy download

Microsoft has detailed a 'convenience rollup' that will bring PCs running Windows 7 completely up-to-date.
bell labs 10 gigabit cable internet coax

New cable technology could give you fiber Internet performance over existing lines

Nokia's Bell Labs has demonstrated new coaxial cable technology that offers a huge increase in symmetrical connection speeds.
kevin smith buckaroo banzai tv series mallrats 2

Kevin Smith is adapting 1980s cult favorite ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ for television

Buckaroo Banzai is set to be resurrected as a television series by Mallrats director Kevin Smith.
finger aware shortcuts

Could posture-based inputs soon replace keyboard shortcuts?

A new research paper suggests that we could be more efficient if we replace traditional keyboard shortcuts with a finger-aware alternative.
amazon open source product recommendation tech prime price increase

Amazon’s DSSTNE machine learning tech is now open source

Interested in machine learning? Amazon just made the platform that powers its product recommendations open-source.
advertising blitz windows 10 anniversary update will double start menu ads windows10startmenu big

Get ready for more ads in Windows 10 after the Anniversary Update

Microsoft has confirmed that there will be twice as many promoted ads present in the Windows 10 Start Menu once the Anniversary Update is applied.
whatsapp

WhatsApp beta suggests video calling could be right around the corner

A new beta build of WhatsApp on Android gives new evidence that video calls are on their way to the app and its billion monthly users.
microsoft bans it support ads bing surface

Microsoft outlaws all tech support ads on Bing

A change to the Bing Ads User Safety Policy will ban ads for tech support services on the search engine.
amd am4 desktop platform bristol ridge apu a series hp lenovo at gdc 2016

New AMD Crimson driver adds support for Doom and Battleborn

AMD's latest update to its Radeon Software adds support for Doom and Battleborn, and a bevy of fixes and usability tweaks.
upcoming xbox one games mirror s edge catalyst gall

Chvrches releases ‘Warning Call’ from Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

Scottish synth pop band Chvrches have debuted a new song called 'Warning Call,' written for the upcoming Mirror's Edge Catalyst.
fable 4 lionhead studios microsoft fablelegends

Former Lionhead art director reveals what Fable 4 might have been

Former Lionhead art director John McCormack has described what players could have seen from the studio's rejected Fable 4 pitch.
western digital offices

Flash memory news flash: Western Digital buys SanDisk for $16B

Western Digital has announced the completion of a big money deal to buy flash memory manufacturer SanDisk.
nintendo mh rumor

Nintendo’s next smartphone releases will be free-to-play

The chief executive of DeNA has confirmed that Nintendo's upcoming smartphone releases will both be free-to-play.
A close up of a woman using a laptop that is displaying Kaspersky software on its screen.

After update, Kaspersky tool no longer combats CryptXXX ransomware

The tool released by Kaspersky to combat CryptXXX has been counteracted by a new version of the ransomware.
Windows 10

Edge browser gets ad blockers and other features alongside latest Windows build

Users enrolled in the Windows Insider Program will soon receive Build 14342 of Windows 10, which continues to improve upon the Edge web browser.
house of representatives

Ransomware threat spooks House of Representatives

The threat of a ransomware attack has apparently led to some added cybersecurity efforts for the House of Representatives.