“Microsoft is the only company that has the capabilities the Pentagon is asking for, is already widely used across the Defense Department, and has the security certifications to handle sensitive military data,” said Alex Rossino, Deltek analyst, to Nextgov. “I really don’t see another choice. Every systems integrator bidding for DEOS will be bidding Office 365.” The contract, which spans a decade, could cover up to 3 million users. With its significant sway in the enterprise and consumer markets, Office 365 is a tool many defense workers are familiar with....

Once again, the obligation of tech companies to hand data over when authorities demand it is in the spotlight. Investigators argue the data is needed for its case against Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. In December, the Saudi-born Air Force cadet gunned down three people at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. Apple has been among a collection of tech giants who refuse to hand over data. Microsoft has been among those companies, arguing if the flood gates open authorities will pick and choose data at will....

For European users, that’s an especially big hit. Legislation means companies must provide roaming at no extra charge across the EU, but you won’t be able to use your Watch’s LTE in any other country. For frequent travelers, that could be a deal-breaker. This information comes from Reddit user learnjava, who was kind enough to share additional detail. “The watch will not support roaming. At all. For Europeans that means your country only, even after the recent (June) law about European roaming freedom,” he explained....

Theoretically, the higher volume of subscriptions should easily make up for any loss in base revenue. At the same time, Mixer’s new pricing makes it competitive with Twitch, which also charges $4.99 at its base tier. For users, paying $5.99 for a service less mature than its competitor didn’t make particular sense. Exactly how much the partner earns per sub will depend on the split previously agreed in their contract....

Google is something different as the brand itself is arguably is most valuable asset. In other words, the name Google is more important to consumers than any individual service the company provides. As we have seen through a turbulent 2020, Microsoft has been able to weather the COVID-19 crisis better than most. Alongside increasing its brand value according to BrandZ, the company has also continued to record bumper financials amid the lockdown....

The company clearly wants to highlight that this is a developer’s event first and foremost. Of course, the consumer goodies will land tomorrow, but today Microsoft is getting technical. Nadella confirmed that Windows 10 is now powering over half a billion active devices around the world. This is the first official update on Windows 10 adoption since last year. However, it is still some way short of Microsoft’s goal of putting the OS in one billion active devices....

Leading the way are two features we have heard about before Sleeping Tabs and Startup Boost. Booth tools have been in preview for several months but will now arrive for all users with Edge 91. Sleeping Tabs brings performance gains to users who have multiple tabs open at once. Edge now automatically turn background tabs idle and consume less power. Microsoft points out it can reduce memory usage by 32% and uses 37% less CPU on average....

Earlier this year, we reported the company had data scraped call and text information for Android users. Facebook quickly denied it was doing this and quickly rolled out new privacy features to appease suspecting eyes. Those privacy changes allowed users on Android and iOS to give Facebook permission (or restrict it) from messages and contacts. However, a UK government investigation shows Facebook did slurp data. Not only that, the company knew it was likely to cause outrage amongst users but decided to do it anyway: “Facebook knew that the changes to its policies on the Android mobile phone system, which enabled the Facebook app to collect a record of calls and texts sent by the user would be controversial,” a summary of the documents written by Damian Collins, Conversative MP and Chairman of the Digital Culture, Media and Science Committee who published the documents, reads....

DigiTimes reports from sources in Taiwan that Facebook is developing a speaker that will also sport a 15-inch touch screen. The outlet suggests the device is already being made and will be launched during the first quarter of 2018. The company’s Building 8 hardware lab was used to design the device. DigiTimes suggests the product uses an LG in-cell touch panel with a magnesium-aluminium-alloy chassis. As this is very much an early tip, there are no more details yet known....

InfraGrad is a program that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses to generate cyber threat information-sharing collaborations with private companies. On the weekend, the cybercrime forum Breached had a new sales threat with the title: “The user database for InfraGard, including names and contact information for tens of thousands of InfraGard members.” InfraGrad essentially serves as a program that shows private sector individuals who have been vetted for both cyber and physical threats....

Android Police reports the new stable version of Chrome comes with a flag (chrome://flags/#add-passwords-in-settings) that will allow users to add a password manually. For example, if you sign into a site or store, you can now add your password without needing to visit the site, enter your details, and have Chrome ask you to save the credentials. It is worth noting this ability has been doing the rounds on Canary builds for a few months and was first spotted back in 2021....

Small businesses can use Spot Platform to develop their online storefront without having to worry about developing applications or websites. Google says the Spot Platform is a “customized and branded experience”. Users can place their store items on Google Pay and customers can use the payment service to buy products. This is essentially a shopping experience within the Google Pay service. Furthermore, retailers can place Spot Codes into their physical stores, which will give customers the ability to scan to pay for goods....

The versions of the photos were copyrighted the company argued and Google Search makes it too easy for people to use the images for free. Finally, Google has decided to bow to the complaint. The search giant says it has introduced changes to image searching to help Getty Images. In fact, the changes will help all intellectual property from photographers. In an agreement between Google and Getty Images, the search will now remove the “View Image” button....

A database was recently put up for sale with around 487 million WhatsApp user phone numbers across 84 countries. There are around 2 billion people who use WhatsApp around the world, so this leak involves around 25 percent of the company’s entire user base. Looking at those phone numbers, 32 million were from the United States, 11 million from the United Kingdom, 5 million from Italy, 29 million from Saudi Arabia, 10 million from Russia, and 20 million from both France and Turkey....

You may be wondering why the race is on to make supercomputers are part of everyday computational output. Well, as datasets become increasingly large and complex, only a supercomputer can efficiently sort the information. For example, simulations of millions of data points run through multiple times to see different scenarios would take years to organize using even the best cloud virtual machines. Instead, the data needs to be distributed so systems work on specific areas....

The housing market has been on fire for the last couple of years, and one of the proponents of this is how easy technologies are making it to find, buy, or sell a house. Not restricted to local listing agents anymore, people can easily go online to get everything that they need and more. It doesn’t come as a surprise that so many people seek these tech-driven solutions to the housing market, given the smart home craze....

1 How to Delete all Emails in Gmail2 How to Delete Emails from a Label3 How to Delete all unread Emails from Gmail4 Delete all Emails using a Search5 Extra: How to Use Email Signatures in Gmail You can free up some online space because your inbox has been clogged with old emails or because you’ve archived all of your emails offline. Whatever the cause, starting over on Gmail is a relatively straightforward process....

1 How to Enable or Disable USB Selective Suspend with Device Manager2 How to Enable or Disable USB Selective Suspend in Windows 10 via Control Panel This is incredibly useful – when it works correctly. You can automatically suspend devices like fingerprint readers without affecting any of the other devices plugged into your ports. Unfortunately, some users report bugs with the feature that make it remain active when they plug back in....

1 Fix Windows Update errors with the Windows Troubleshooter2 Delete the Windows Update cache manually3 Download updates manually with WSUS Offline Update4 Reset Windows Update Client and Windows Update Agent5 Fixing Windows Update in Windows 7 Microsoft informs its customers that they should frequently update their computers via Windows Update. The company issues important security updates, and on top of that, the service is the only way for Windows users to get important OS upgrades....

1 How to Unhide or Hide the Taskbar via Windows 10 Settings2 How to Turn Auto-Hide Taskbar On or Off via Registry Editor3 How to turn Auto-Hide on or off with Command Prompt Whatever the choice, it’s rooted in Windows 10’s Auto-Hide taskbar setting. While turned on, it’ll get rid of your taskbar when you aren’t hovering over it. For reference, the default behavior is having auto-hide off to increase productivity....