Oracle has released its new version of VirtualBox-5.1

Oracle has released its new version of VirtualBox, Version 5.1. The update is relatively large, with significant improvements, such as better performance, enhanced hardware support.

VirtualBox, the free virtualization client offered by Oracle, had arrived in version 5.0 there about a year. A series of relatively minor updates had been announced with time for better performance, improvements and new hardware. 

The new version 5.1 offers some more substantial contributions. On a technical level, the software completes its full migration to QT5, which makes possible a better overall responsiveness. It has a better implementation of Side virtualization and inputs / outputs of the APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller).  Processor virtualization has been redone from top to bottom. Oracle also promised of better network performance.

Other than these improvements, the interface of virtual machines has been redefined for better responsiveness. Now a Linux guest OS can also access the HDA (High Definition Audio), while the overall consumption of CPU resources has been reduced and support for Python 3 is improved.  According to Oracle, there is much more in this new release and it will be a feature rich update of Oracle VirtualBox.

The new version, available as usual for Linux, macOS, Solaris and Windows, can be downloaded from the official website . The full list of new features is available on this page .

Read More

SanDisk has launched fastest Flash Drive

SanDisk has presented the fastest USB flash drive in the world. The drive can transfer data at a rate of about 100 MB / s. 

Flash Card SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I, whose volume is 256 gigabytes, is by far the fastest in the world. The developers told the news that the drive can store up to 14 hours of video in the 4K format, as well as the rate at which it transmits data, is about 100 MB / s. These characteristics allow the use of a USB flash drive for much more mission critical operations. Its expected price is $200 and eventually decrease with the passage of time. It is worth mentioning here that Samsung has also unveiled its EVO PLUS, its speed is 95 MB / s.

We will see very high-speed Flash Drives in near future and definitely they are the good substitute of conventional hard disks and SSDs.

Read More

Acer TravelMate X349 laptop unveiled.

Acer has introduced his new laptop TravelMate X349. It is noteworthy that this device is aimed at the business audience. It is a feature-rich laptop with a very good price tag.

It has an aluminum body, which makes it a very robust and eye-catching notebook. Dimensions of Acer TravelMate X349 are also very practical. Its thickness is 18 mm and weighs less than 1.5 kg. An interesting feature is the ability to expand it to 180 degrees and battery life is up to 10 hours without recharging. There is also a connector USB Type-C and backlit keys. The laptop has a 14-inch screen with screen resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. It is equipped with Intel Core processor of the sixth generation and 8 GB RAM. It should be noted that the configurations are different in different versions, which will be presented to the public, but the presence of DDR RAM 4 is a must, as well as chips from Intel. It will use more modern and fast SSD of 512 GB and everything works on Windows 10 Pro operating system. The release of Acer TravelMate X349 is scheduled for the autumn-winter 2016.

Read More

Up to ten years in prison for online copyright infringement

The British government has a proposal for a new "Digital Economy Bill" introduced in parliament, with which it intends to extend the maximum prison sentences for copyright infringement on the Internet from two to ten years.

Distinctly, the British government wants to take action against copyright offenders on the Internet. A draft for a revised law for the digital economy provides that copyright infringement in the online environment can be a maximum punishable by ten instead of two years in prison in the future.

The government has placed the draft for parliamentary procedure and it is expected to be implemented in coming months.

In addition, all operators of porn websites or providers of porn apps will be obliged to check the age of their users based on credit cards or ID cards. Operator or owner that can't demonstrate such a verification, will be fined 300,000 euros. It is a good move to control pornography in the under-age group.

These are good measures and other governments should follow them. 

Read More

Skype Meetings: Video telephony in the browser for small businesses

With Skype Meetings Microsoft wants to address especially smaller companies. The service will give customers, the well-known VoIP features and collaboration tools at hand.

Under the name, Skype Meetings Microsoft has launched a new service, which is primarily intended for small businesses. The platform for video telephony is termed as Skype for The Web. It will open directly in the browser and thus no client installation is required.

Besides the well known VoIP and messaging capabilities, the company has also integrated collaboration tools. This allows users to share content such as documents with other participants. A new participant can be invited with a simple link. The administrator also has tools for controlling the calls, for example, during a presentation he/she can force the audience to silence.

So far, Skype Meetings is available only for customers in the US and is also included in Microsoft's cloud environment Office 365. The service provides free calls with up to three participants. For paying users, this number increased to 250.

Read More

Apple has launched MacBook

Apple takes a little ahead: While rumors suggest that Tim Cook could present new MacBook during the keynote of June 13, 2016 , the Apple brand has already introduced improvements to its latest model. Apple has announced on Tuesday that the MacBook is now available in rose gold . The firm and unifies its range of different products and leaves the possibility to fashion victim to attach their notebook to their iPhone or iPad.

Apple also proposes improvements under the hood with the launch of a new configuration. With this update, the MacBook should be significantly boosted. It will now be equipped with a latest-generation Intel processor (Intel Core dual-core 1.3 M Hz - 3.1 GHz Turbo Boost), flash storage faster and more powerful graphics chip (Intel HD graphics 515). Apple also promises that updated MacBook will hold the charge longer.

The new rose gold color as the boosted MacBook configuration are available from Tuesday online. To find the store, it will be Wednesday. The price of the latest Macbook? It is proposed from 1149 euros to 1799 euros and 256 GB to 512 GB. That is also the MacBook Air 13-inch will now have 8GB of memory in its standard configuration.

Read More

US Nuclear Facilities are using Obsolete Computers

You are not watching some scene of an old movie. It is today's working of US Nuclear Facilities. According to documents recently released by the US Audit Chamber, most of the nuclear arsenal of the country are still running the old computer, created back in the 70s of the last century. It's hard to imagine it, but the American system of nuclear weapons are being controlled by a computer IBM Series / 1, running on an 8-inch floppy disk. Intercontinental missiles with nuclear warheads, nuclear bombers, and many other appliances depend largely on the physically and morally obsolete computers.

If you are surprised that the Pentagon is still using such ancient "Mammoth", you will be surprised even more when you know that technical support for this and many other outdated computer technologies annually costs US taxpayers $ 61 billion. This figure is three times higher than the costs that the government spends on the maintenance of works of modern computer systems. What exactly makes war "blind eye" to the current state of affairs? What prevents them from upgrading their computers to the current models? Well, the answer to these questions is simple: They don't want to change the systems as it may involve some risks. Security concerns is another reason for not upgrading.

Let us for the sake of interest we compare the technology of the US Nuclear Facilities and today's home computers. At the 8-inch floppy disk, we can store 237.25 KB of data, and a modern 32-gigabyte flash drive will fit more than 130 000 of these disks. If you add as many diskettes in one pack, it will raise a tower of 200 meters.

Read More