Apple releases macOS 10.12.3 with MacBook Pro GPU and battery fixes

 Apple has just released an update to macOS Sierra. 10.12.3 is a bugfix update, but it brings some much-needed changes for the new MacBook Pro released late last year. With today’s update, Apple has issued a couple of fixes for the graphics chipset in the 15-inch model. Apple has also fixed the Safari icon fetching bug that was affecting battery life. There are many screenshots and videos… Read More

Civil War short ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ touts bleeding-edge VR cinematography at Sundance

 Filmmakers are still trying to wrap their heads around VR, and the results are a mixed bag — but as the technology to create catches up with cinematic techniques honed over decades, new and interesting experiences are popping up right and left. One recent example is this short film shot for viewing in VR that had to vault a few of the technical challenges that have held the medium back. Read More

Bromium mobilises endpoints to fight cyber attacks

Bromium evolves its micro-virtualisation security technology to gather threat intelligence from endpoints and automate checks and responses across an enterprise

GDS signals intent to move public sector off PSN

Government Digital Service’s Technology Leaders Network determines that the internet is an adequate solution to support the vast majority of public sector work

Stockholm offers sustainable datacentre safe haven to hyperscale cloud firms

Sweden's capital city looks to capitalise on recent country-wide tax breaks for datacentre operators, to encourage cloud and colocation firms to set up shop in its new environmentally-friendly business parks

TechUK outlines its Brexit negotiation priorities

IT industry body TechUK outlines what it believes are the Brexit negotiation priorities for the UK IT sector

SAP 2016 results: cloud revenue almost €3bn, 5,400 S/4 customers

SAP declares full-year 2016 revenue of €22bn, of which nearly €3bn was cloud – almost 14%

Executive interview: Kirk Bresniker, chief architect, HPE

HPE has developed a concept computing architecture which it says will power future generations of applications. We find out how it will change IT

Post Office offers banking for all UK accounts as bank branch closures continue

Customers of all UK banks can receive branch services through the Post Office after a deal agreed last year takes effect

Amazon’s new Echo wake word makes your Star Trek dreams come true

 Amazon has a new wake word for its Echo speakers, letting you trigger the Alexa voice assistant by uttering “Computer” aloud. It’s far more susceptible to accidental activation, yes, but it’s also a dream come true for Star Trek fans who watched both original series and TNG crew members address the Enterprise’s on-board computing systems directly. I have tried… Read More

Apple releases first iOS 10.3 beta with “Find My AirPods”

 The ultimate first world problem is finally solved. Apple just released the first beta of iOS 10.3 to developers. Among other changes, the beta includes a way to find your lost AirPods in the Find My iPhone app. As you know, Apple’s AirPods only have tiny W1 chips in each earbud. These chips only support Bluetooth — there’s no Wi-Fi, there’s no GPS and, of course… Read More

Google launches the fifth and final dev preview of Android Wear 2.0 ahead of February launch

 After a bit of a delay, the launch of Android Wear 2.0 is finally drawing near. Today, Google launched the fifth and final developer preview of Wear 2.0 ahead of its consumer launch in early February. There aren’t any major surprises here, but with this release, Android Wear 2.0 is finally getting full iOS support, too, which was missing from the previews — but not Wear 1.x… Read More

Doppler Labs taps former Microsoft corporate devices head for COO, says Here One will ship Feb. 21

 Doppler Labs is growing its executive team as it prepares to ship its first major product release. Today, the company announced that Brian Hall, former Corporate VP of Devices at Microsoft, will be joining Doppler Labs as its COO. Hall joins the smart earbud company after 20 years at Microsoft where he was most recently tasked with working on products like the Microsoft Surface, Surface Hub… Read More

Bots_alive kit imbues toy robots with charming, lifelike AI

 There will be no shortage at Toy Fair next month of robots and gadgets promising artificial intelligence — and generally falling short. But a more modest approach from an actual AI researcher has produced a clever and accessible way to create lifelike behavior through a simple and elegant modification of a popular existing robot. Read More

Aldo uses Salesforce to drive ‘customer delight’

Luxury retailer is using Salesforce to drive engagement, a seamless experience and customer loyalty