John Lister

Google says it should have a network of Internet-carrying balloons circling the Earth next year. It will mean users in some parts of the world will be able to get a continuous Internet connection without access to cabling, phone lines or a cellphone ... network. The idea is to use similar technology to satellite Internet, but at a considerably lower cost. The balloons, which carry radio transmitters and receivers, run on solar power. The balloons will operate 12 miles above the ground, in the stratosphere, which isn't high enough to lock into orbit like satellites. Instead, the balloons will ... (view more)

Facebook is to deliberately slow down the Internet connections of its employees on Tuesdays. It's not designed to deter web use, but rather to help staff think about the needs of users across the world. The program will only affect visits to the ... Facebook site itself, rather than access to the entire Internet. It will also be voluntary: the first time an employee logs on to Facebook on a Tuesday, they'll get a pop-up menu asking them if they want to take the "2G Tuesday option." Site Will Run At One-Hundredth 'Normal' Speed If an employee agrees, then all their use of ... (view more)

An iPhone feature Apple said could help make Internet use faster has led to a proposed class-action lawsuit. The claimants say Apple's decision to switch "WiFi Assist" on by default left them with unexpected cellphone service bills. The idea of the ... feature, introduced with iOS9 (the latest edition of the iPhone operating system) was to solve the problems that come when an iPhone has problems connecting to a WiFi connection, especially if the signal is low. Because most phones are always set to prefer WiFi connections over cellular data when possible, this can lead to the ... (view more)

Apple has told a court that it's impossible to access data in most iPhones and iPads without a password. It could lead to a legal standoff in the 'security versus privacy' debate. The comments came in a case involving a recently-seized iPhone. The ... United States Justice Department is unable to access the contents of the phone and has therefore asked the court to order Apple to help them gain access. In this specific case however, Apple is physically able to access the device's data because the phone itself is running a susceptible operating system (iOS version 7). Nonetheless, Apple has ... (view more)

Microsoft is to display a "nag box" to users of Windows 10 who switch their default browser to Chrome or Firefox. The box will urge users to stick with the built-in Edge browser. The new nag screen came to light in a leaked version of an upcoming ... update to Windows 10. This edition, known as build 10568, isn't supposed to be available to anyone yet, not even those who've signed up to be the first to try out planned updates. However, Microsoft has confirmed that the new notification is genuine. The screen will appear whenever users try to switch the default browser, which is ... (view more)

Facebook is to warn users when it believes a government is trying to hack their account. The company is giving few details about how it will detect such attempts, or which governments may be involved. The warnings will appear when Facebook has ... reason to believe an "account has been targeted or compromised by an attacker suspected of working on behalf of a nation-state." According to Facebook, the message is not meant as an indication that Facebook's own servers or systems have been compromised - whether by a government or anyone else. Early Warning System Instead, Facebook will ... (view more)

Google is to tone down security warnings for users of the Chrome browser. It believes the move won't increase user risk and may instead encourage websites to improve security. The change involves the way secure websites appear in the address bar in ... Chrome. At the moment, a website in Chrome will appear with one of four icons to the left of the address to indicate whether or not it is secure: A plain white 'blank page' icon indicates an ordinary http site, meaning there's no encryption of data passing back and forth between the website and the user's computer. A green ... (view more)

Facebook is tweaking a feature which shows old posts on anniversary dates. The change is designed to let users filter out unwanted or uncomfortable memories. The feature concerned is known as "On This Day" and involves an entry appearing in the ... user's news feed. The entry won't appear for anyone else, unless the user actively decides to share it. It's also possible to access the page directly using a bookmark on the Facebook site or via a dedicated page at facebook.com/onthisday. Users can also sign up so that several such memories are guaranteed to show up in their news ... (view more)

Microsoft has released the next set of updates for Windows 10, including improvements for Skype and Cortana. It's also fixed a problem that was stopping some users from activating their copy as being legitimate. The new set of changes are known as ... Build 10565 and are now available to people in on the Fast Ring setting of the Insider Program - in other words, those who have signed up to be the first to test any new features or fixes in Windows 10. Assuming the feedback is positive, the changes will likely be rolled out to the general public some time next month. Product Keys Can Now Be ... (view more)

Newly-released figures show most 'ordinary' users of Windows 10 seem to have little interest in Microsoft's new Edge browser. Meanwhile the system itself is gradually gaining an audience but doesn't seem to be getting much of a boost from being free ... to install. Previous figures relating to the usage of the Edge browser had been inconclusive at best because they were taken from records of website visitors from all computing systems. With Windows 10, users are still very much a minority, which left too much of a margin of error to draw any firm conclusions. Just One-In-Eight ... (view more)