Computing News & IT News

If you've watched television shows about space or the universe in the last decade, chances are, you've likely seen Michio Kaku. He's one of the more famous theoretical physicists in the United States and a co-founder of String theory, which is the leading theory on how our universe works. He's quite active in PBS, Discovery, and blogs all across the Web. In this video, he speaks with Big Think to discuss what he sees as… Read More

Let’s face it: we all have “sensitive” files that we would go to great lengths to protect. But rather than bury your secrets deep within the recesses of your computer or slapping on some intricate password you’ll probably forget, why not take it one step further (and more awesome) with this ultra-cool voice-activated USB thumb drive? This USB thumb drive keeps all your most sensitive material, and even stuff you don’t particularly care about,… Read More

  Google employees knew that the company's Street View cars were scraping a plethora of personal information from private Wi-Fi networks over a two-year period, a full Federal Communications Commission report on the matter shows. The revelation flies in the face of Google's earlier claims that the collection of such information, which included emails and text messages, was an unknown accident. On Sunday, Google released the… Read More

Welcome to the inaugural Ask DT post, where we’ll be answering reader questions you’ve sent in. This week we've got a rather technical question about chargers, some ways to placate your Timeline troubles, and the age-old developer query about whether to go Android or iOS. Check out our answers, and be sure to keep sending in your questions to [email protected].  The need for a voltage converter when abroad Q: I recently moved from… Read More

Google and Oracle are in their second week of a trial that's expected to last for about two months, as Oracle tries to make the case that Java technology used in Google's Android operating systems violates patents and copyrights its acquired along with Sun Microsystems back in 2010. For the technology world, the case represents high drama: It's already seen the CEOs of two of the world's highest-profile technology… Read More

I don't use Bing very often. Neither does the majority of the Internet — a fact that must upset Microsoft. In the last 14 years, Google has snapped up the vast majority of the search market by being the fastest, cleanest, most accurate way to search. Some may debate whether Google is still the best today, but I can't imagine Bing is going to win any points today.  On Monday, Microsoft pushed out a new optional update to… Read More

Yesterday, we were all busy comparing Google Drive to its various competitors (no exception here). The anticipation has built over the past six (six!) years, so the fury over the compare and contrast was to be expected. The usual players appeared in most charts: Dropbox, SkyDrive, Box, and Amazon took their seats for obvious reasons. And the general consensus has been that they have a formidable opponent in Google Drive. By the numbers and… Read More

The tablet market has been pretty chill in early 2012. Every phone and PC manufacturer jumped onboard the new hot trend, but few of them have seen much success so far. It's still the iPad's market to lose, though Amazon and Barnes & Noble have put forth some good low-cost challengers. If you have a bit more money to spend, we recommend you check out some of the odder sized tablets like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 , 8.9, or Motorola… Read More

As usual, Apple reported record breaking earnings yesterday. Nothing new there. However, CEO Tim Cook did make the news with a few interesting comments he made during the first-quarter earnings call. For starters, he said that he hates litigation, hinting that Apple is more willing to settle its patent infringement cases in a Post-Steve Jobs era. But his comments on devices and operating systems that attempt to merge tablets and PCs may become… Read More

Battery life is arguably becoming a laptop’s most important metric. Processor speed is confusing – different architectures have different performance at different clock speeds. Discrete graphics is even worse. But the battery? More is better! Everyone knows that. And manufacturers have latched on to it as an important marketing tool. This has led to amazing claims. Six, seven, eight hours or more – some modern laptops pose with endurance… Read More

You've heard it before: In the future, machines will rule us all. To some extent, they already do. We are increasingly tied to our gadgets and gizmos. They answer our questions, provide entertainment, and connect us with one another. But as technology advances, these machines will become staggeringly intelligent. Not long from now, teaching machines artificial intelligence, or how to learn on their own, will become as important as… Read More

The smug smile so often worn by Mac users whenever the subject of malware and viruses comes up was wiped unceremoniously from their faces recently when news of Flashback hit the headlines. The malware had reportedly found its way onto some 600,000 Mac computers around the world and had the potential to collect passwords and other personal information before forwarding it to a remote server. Despite Apple and a number of other security companies… Read More

By now you know that Google Drive is here, and that means its time for another round of versus. The cloud storage client's launch means that market veterans have some new competition, including Dropbox and Microsoft's SkyDrive. It's important to remember that how you're going to use this service will sway your decision: want immediate Gmail and Google Docs tie-ins? Google Drive might make sense. Need public link access… Read More

As one of the most-connected countries in the world, computers in the United States have historically been the biggest source of spam on the Internet. That doesn't mean the U.S. is full of spammers, but rather that the United States is comparatively packed with computers, and a significant number of those have been infected with malware and botnets that put them in the control of spammers. Those spammers, of course, can be located… Read More