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You might only just have got your head round the idea of 4G, but a new network is just around the corner, and it could be 100s of times faster – and the new technology could lead to a world where everything from your car to your lightbulbs ‘talk to you’ via apps. When David Cameron first mentioned research into 5G, he suggested 5G-equipped devices could download HD films in a second – but the new network might be so fast it can download 800 films per second, according to University of Surrey researchers. ‘Latency’ – that annoying ‘lag’ when...

Summary: Yes, you still can trick Microsoft into giving you security updates for Windows XP. No, it's not a good idea. You are not protected. Perhaps the most popular story I've written for ZDNet was the one explaining how you can hack the registry in Windows XP and trick Windows Update into continuing to send you security updates. The basis of it is that Microsoft has an embedded variant of Windows XP and support doesn't end on that until April 2016. The hack makes XP look like the embedded version. I have maintained a Hyper-V VM on a Windows 8.1...

I am using WIN 8.1 OS and yesterday the latest version of Firefox was updated on to my computer. I can't access the browser as when I open it, the page is blank and I get the "page is not responding." According to my computer, it is telling me that this latest browser is NOT compatible with OS 8.1. I am unable to go back to an earlier version of Firefox. Any advice would be most appreciated!

Intel CEO Brain Krzanich has announced, in an email sent to employees on Monday, new company plans to merge its loss-making mobile chip unit with its profitable PC business early next year, writes the Wall Street Journal. "The market continues to evolve rapidly, and we must change even faster to stay ahead," Krzanich asserted in the email. It is well known that Intel has struggled to gain a foothold in mobile computing, but even worse for the business its tablet and smartphone chip-making division has lost billions in the recent months. Intel's mobile communication group posted a $1 billion operating...

E-cigarettes may be better for your health than normal ones, but spare a thought for your poor computer – electronic cigarettes have become the latest vector for malicious software, according to online reports. Many e-cigarettes can be charged over USB, either with a special cable, or by plugging the cigarette itself directly into a USB port. That might be a USB port plugged into a wall socket or the port on a computer – but, if so, that means that a cheap e-cigarette from an untrustworthy supplier gains physical access to a device. A report on social news site Reddit...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department has taken the unprecedented step of shutting down its entire unclassified email system as technicians repair possible damage from a suspected hacker attack.

I am walking through my north London neighbourhood on an unseasonably warm day in late autumn. I can hear birds tweeting in the trees, traffic prowling the back roads, children playing in gardens and Wi-Fi leaching from their homes. Against the familiar sounds of suburban life, it is somehow incongruous and appropriate at the same time. As I approach Turnpike Lane tube station and descend to the underground platform, I catch the now familiar gurgle of the public Wi-Fi hub, as well as the staff network beside it. On board the train, these sounds fade into silence as we burrow...

I've researched the heck out of this BUT still don't get it. Just looking for a simple explanation for a simple man.

By implanting 12mm glass computer chips in his flesh Martijn Wismeijer has been able to store Bitcoins inside his body, create a personalised alarm clock and will even be able to install keyless doors in his home. But how painful is the injection? A Dutch entrepreneur has had two wireless computer chips implanted under the skin in his hands to allow him to store digital currencies like Bitcoin inside his body. Martijn Wismeijer is the founder of Mr Bitcoin, a company which installs and operates crypto-currency cash machines in and around his native Amsterdam and across Europe. This month he...

Over the last few years, it’s been tough to pinpoint what Microsoft’s focus is. In 2012, then-CEO Steve Ballmer wrote an open letter to shareholders labeling Microsoft as a “devices and services” company. It was a signal that Microsoft would not only make the software that people use, but the devices that software runs on. That’s a very Apple-like philosophy, but one that hasn’t paid off for Microsoft as we’ve seen with its Surface line of tablets and acquisition of Nokia. The narrative shifted when Satya Nadella took over as CEO in April. Hardware took a backseat to what he...

When was the last time you used your computer's disc drive? What about your DVD player? E-waste is all around us, but as the brilliant Instructables user behind this $60 3D printer proves, there's plenty to be done with it—if you've got some engineering chops. Last week we wrote about the world's smallest 3D printer, which costs less than $300 and prints resin. But an Instructables user named Mikelllc has gone way further, uploading his designs for a 3D printer made from 80 percent recycled e-waste and costing roughly $60. Part of the idea, he writes, is to "help us...

That an octopus called Paul had a better success rate than Goldman Sachs when predicting World Cup results (credit to the Wall Street Journal for the headline “Octopus Beats Vampire Squid”) tells you something about the wisdom of guessing the future in public. Guessing what the world will look like in 50 years’ time, however, is pretty safe, as I won’t be here to see myself proved wrong. Or will I? If Google’s director of engineering has his way, we’ll all be around indefinitely – in the cloud at least. AI (artificial intelligence) guru Ray Kurzweil is one of a...

From the moment that Sharyl Attkisson met a shadowy source I’ll call Big Mac, she was plunged into a nightmare involving mysterious surveillance of her computers. They met at a McDonald’s in Northern Virginia at the beginning of 2013, and the source (she dubs him Number One) warned her about the threat of government spying. During their next hamburger rendezvous, Big Mac told Attkisson, then a CBS News reporter constantly at odds with the Obama administration, that he was “shocked” and “flabbergasted” by his examination of her computer and that this was “worse than anything Nixon ever did.” Attkisson’s forthcoming...

There's a lot of hype around Apple Pay right now, but not everyone is on board with the new mobile payments system. In fact, a significant number of merchants, including heavyweights like Walmart, Kmart, 7-Eleven, and Best Buy, are in outright competition with Apple Pay. The retailers, through a joint venture formed in 2012, are building their own mobile payment app, called CurrentC. It's expected to launch next year. In the meantime, these retailers have no intention to support Apple Pay. Following Apple's announcement last month, both Wal-Mart and Best Buy confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that customers would...

So my company had a downsize / RIF / layoff and my group got hit. Sad news but hey, it happens. Now I am looking at being an independent IT consultant. Since I have always been an employee, I was wondering if there were any words of wisdom from the Freeper community.

Security experts prove it’s possible to infect USB sticks’ MCU Next time you find a foreign USB lying around, think twice before plugging it into your computer. A pair of security researchers named Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell demonstrated before an audience at Black hat security conference in Las Vegas a fundamental flaw in USB firmware could be exploited to create an undetected malware that cannot be patched. Realizing the kind of power they were dealing with, the pair opted to keep the code secret – until fellow colleagues decided to post it publically on Github. Two other researchers –...

Apple Inc's iCloud storage and backup service in China was attacked by hackers trying to steal user credentials, a Chinese web monitoring group said, adding that it believes the country's government is behind the campaign. Using a method called a "man-in-the-middle" (MITM) attack, unknown hackers interposed their own website between users and Apple's iCloud server, intercepting data and potentially gaining access to passwords, iMessages, photos and contacts, Greatfire.org wrote in its blog post. Greatfire.org, a group that conducts research on Chinese Internet censorship, alleged government involvement in the attack, saying it resembled previous attacks on Google Inc, Yahoo Inc and...

I was the first writer to cover the Web for a popular audience, and it did prove popular. I mean, it must have had hundreds of thousands of users in 1993! Today, Facebook alone has over a billion users. What's Hot on ZDNet Apple releases OS X Yosemite for Mac for free; iWork updated iOS 8.1 available October 20 for iPhones, iPads Apple Pay ready for lift-off and Google 'trying to get it right' Microsoft to 'Connect' with developers at November event in New York You see the problem was that it was really, really hard to use the Web...

Sears Holdings Corp. said Friday that its Kmart stores were hit with a data breach that compromised some shoppers' debit and credit card information. The company is working with federal authorities and security experts to investigate the matter. The Secret Service confirmed Friday evening that it is investigating the data breach. The investigation indicates that the breach occurred in early September and did not affect kmart.com customers, the statement said.

Criminals have discovered a flaw in OS X, the Mac operating system, and are using it to control thousands of Apple computers around the world. The Russian security company Dr. Web first discovered the software, known as "Mac.BackDoor.iWorm." We don't yet know how the software spreads, but Dr. Web has released information on the clever way it connects to the criminals who control the program. When a Mac is infected with Mac.BackDoor.iWorm, the program tries to make a connection to a command server. The iWorm reportedly uses Reddit's search function to find comments left by the criminals in a Minecraft...