The Google Gmail email service tops 900 million global users

Michael Hatamoto | Internet & Websites | May 29, 2015 1:35 AM CDT

The Google Gmail email service now has 900 million users across the world, a drastic increase over the 425 million monthly active users the company reported in 2012.

At least 75 percent of Gmail users access their accounts on a mobile device, and now is a good time for Google to launch Inbox. The service, which is available on Google Play or from the Apple Store, allows users to better organize their mobile Gmail inboxes. Inbox is available to anyone interested in downloading it and giving a shot, which features "Highlights" so information is more easily viewable in the email feed.

Outlook.com has at least 400 million active accounts, while Yahoo Mail has 225 million monthly active users - with many users owning multiple email addresses, sometimes spread across different email providers.

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IDC: PC sales dropping ahead of Windows 10, as competition tightens

Michael Hatamoto | Software & Apps | May 29, 2015 12:40 AM CDT

Worldwide PC shipments will drop 6.2 percent in 2015, marketing the fourth consecutive year of declining market volume, according to the IDC research group. Microsoft will release Windows 10 this summer for the PC, and additional rollouts will take place shortly after, the company has confirmed.

"Microsoft and PC vendors still need to convince users of the advantages of the new OS and new PCs, which will take some time," said Loren Loverde, VP of worldwide PC trackers at IDC. "In addition to educating clients, they'll face tough competition from other devices, and weak spending in many regions. As a result, we see PC shipments stabilizing in 2016, followed by limited growth for the next few years."

Looking ahead, Microsoft expects Windows 10 to be on more than one billion devices in just three years, and will help consumers upgrade. When do you plan to install or upgrade to Windows 10?

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Robots used to help keep the elderly active and engaged in retirement

Senior citizens are finding motivation and entertainment out of a 22-inch humanoid robot leading physical therapy classes. The Zora robot was originally poised to become an assistant in hotels, but designers and programmers found a more appealing market in healthcare.

Previously, Zora has been used to interact with young children, helping teach them basic motor function and keep them stimulated. There are more than 6,000 elderly citizens in Belgium, France and the Netherlands use the robot to stay engaged, listening to news articles, weather forecasts, and following dance and exercise routines.

"A lot of elderly people are actually feeling alone. Solitude is something which is horrible for the moment for a lot of elderly people," said Fabrice Goffin, co-creator of the Zora robot, in a statement to Washington Post. "People don't have all the time to visit their families and they can find some kind of relationship with the robot and that is a nice thing to do."

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Making sense of Taylor Swift's decision to pull music from Spotify

Michael Hatamoto | Business, Financial & Legal | May 28, 2015 8:40 PM CDT

Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify, with her record label showing little interest in working with the music service. Unfortunately, her decision doesn't actually hurt Spotify, and leaves her music fans with one less outlet to listen to her music.

It's unknown how much money Spotify actually paid out to Swift's record label, Big Machine, though most of her money is made from live music concerts and promotional appearances.

Spotify, the No. 1 streaming service, pays a whopping 70 percent of revenue directly to the music labels - writing a check for around $1 billion in 2014 - with the number of subscribers increasing in 2015. However, the record labels only collect less than one penny for each song played through the popular service.

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Lian Li hopes consumers at Computex like its unique desk PCs

Michael Hatamoto | Computer Systems | May 28, 2015 2:52 PM CDT

Computex 2015: Lian Li is inviting Computex attendees to visit its booth to check out the DKQ2 and DK03 desk chassis models. The models are full-size desks likely won't be a quick impulse buy for PC enthusiasts, but offer an extremely unique - albeit pricey - alternative to a regular PC case that just collects dust under your desk.

Both the DKQ2 and DK03 were showcased at CeBit and other computer shows in the past, but Lian Li has made a few changes - including a more sturdier look, so it no longer looks like it will fall over. There are now four adjustable legs as opposed to just two, along with showcasing the tempered glass surface and aluminum body.

The updated models offer better ergonomics, cleaner finished aesthetics, and easier ability to adjust and upgrade hardware.

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OCZ to show off Trion 100 SSD series for consumers during Computex

Michael Hatamoto | Storage | May 28, 2015 2:37 PM CDT

Computex 2015: OCZ Storage Solutions plans to leverage Computex to show off its Trion 100 solid-state drive series, utilizing Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND flash. The company says its Trion 100SSDs allow entry-level users to utilize SSDs in their mobile and desktop systems - as the cost of SSD drives continues to drop.

The drives feature 550MB/s of bandwidth with up to 91,000 random read IOPS, powered by the Toshiba Alishan SSD controller and premium A19 TLC flash memory.

"Computex is the ideal venue for us to unveil our upcoming TLC NAND-based Trion 100 SSDs," said Alex Mei, GM of the Client Business at OCZ Storage Solutions. "By leveraging controller and TLC NAND technology from Toshiba, we are pleased to be able to bring to market the exciting new Trion 100 SSD Series which will offer end-users an optimal mix of performance, features, and value, making it easier than ever for value-conscious consumers to leverage the benefits of a high quality yet affordable SSD that delivers improved desktop and mobile computing experiences."

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AP: IRS believes tax data thieves came from Russia

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | May 28, 2015 1:56 PM CDT

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has confirmed more than 100,000 American taxpayer records were compromised in a recent data theft. The breaches took place thousands of times from February to mid-May, and the "Get Transcript" service was the one reportedly vulnerable.

Information taken included tax returns and other data stored on the IRS website, with more than 200,000 reported attempts made to access the agency.

"We're confident these are not amateurs, these are actually organized crime syndicates that not only we but everyone in the financial industry are dealing with," said John Koskinen, IRS Commissioner, during a recent conference call.

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Google makes Android 6.0 'M' official, arrives in Q3 2015

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | May 28, 2015 12:02 PM CDT

Google I/O 2015: Google has kicked off its Google I/O 2015 conference, where the Mountain View-based giant has just unveiled Android 6.0 'M'. The new operating system won't be big on features, as the company has said that "the central theme of M is improving the core user experience".

Google will be using improvements that OEMs have been using in their custom builds of Android directly into Android 6.0, with six things that Google is baking into Android M. First, we have App Permissions getting overhauled. It will be similar to how the iPhone does it, with a smaller set of permissions for your device, where apps will not only ask you permission when you use the feature, instead of when you very first install the application.

The company has also allowed developers to bake Chrome into apps now, which is something Google referred to as "Chrome custom tabs". This allows Chrome inside of Chrome, or Chrome inside of an app. This Chrome-in-a-Chrome also supports saved passwords, autofill and all of the rest of Chrome's features.

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Leaked shots show NVIDIA launching GeForce GTX 980 Ti at Computex 2015

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | May 28, 2015 8:15 AM CDT

We've been hearing whispers of NVIDIA launching its GeForce GTX 980 Ti, but according to WCCFTech, the company will be launching their new video card on June 2 at Computex 2015.

The event itself will be livestreamed over Twitch, as you can see from the image above. But what should we expect from the GTX 980 Ti itself? Well, it's based off of the GM200 core, the same core that powered the GeForce GTX Titan X, but we'll see 6GB of VRAM instead of the 12GB that the Titan X featured. But, this will include a drop in price from the $999 pricing of the Titan X.

The GeForce GTX 980 Ti will feature a 384-bit memory bus, up from the 256-bit bus offered on the GTX 980 which will provide the new GM200-based card with 336GB/sec memory bandwidth. The Core Clock will be at 1GHz, while the Boost Clock will reportedly be set at 1076MHz. We should expect to see an 8-pin + 6-pin PCIe configuration, with three DisplayPort, one HDMI 2.0 and one DVI port on the back.

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Gamers interested in virtual reality should be ready to spend

The Oculus Rift is expected to bring virtual reality to the mainstream, but consumers must be ready to open their wallets and spend. The headset will be available for around $300, but gamers - and anyone looking to test the VR world - needs to spend an estimated $1,500 to be ready.

"We are looking at an all-in price, if you have to go out and actually need to buy a new computer and you're going to buy the Rift... at most you should be in that $,1500 range," said Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus, while speaking during the recent Code tech conference.

It would seem unlikely that gamers interested in VR would be scared away of investing in the headset, but the overall consumer market may be willing to sit back and wait. To help promote the Oculus Rift, the company hopes to see the estimated $1,500 price tag eventually drop to $1,000, but understands that it will take some time.

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