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Spaceships, castles and Steve Jobs’ abandoned mansion: The houses that tech built

Jul30
by on July 30, 2014 at 10:23 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Roundups

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The biggest names in the technology world generally had humble beginnings – many were started in garages or basements and gradually grew into the powerhouses we know today. But with technology now one of the largest business sectors, how can the demands of finding or building ‘homes’ for fast-paced technology companies be married with the sometimes glacial pace of architectural practice and construction? One of Brazil’s hi-tech hubs. Image via Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images Whether a company is building a bespoke HQ, leasing an existing building or repurposing a different structure entirely, the only constant remains the growing need to find…

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Wikipedia scores a key victory against paid-editing services, using cybersquatting legislation

Jul30
by on July 30, 2014 at 9:38 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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The Wikimedia Foundation, the not-for-profit responsible for Wikipedia and a number of other wiki-based projects, has gained a small but notable victory in its fight to stamp paid-editing on its flagship online encyclopedia. To recap, the Foundation recently changed the terms of Wikipedia editing, requiring anyone who has been paid to edit articles to disclose this. Editors must make this clear through a statement on their profile page, as part of the edit summary, or on the talk page alongside the relevant edits. The reason? Well, it seems that many companies have been paying to have information about their services…

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Driverless cars will be trialled in up to three UK cities from January

Jul30
by on July 30, 2014 at 9:31 am
Posted In: Around the Web, UK

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The UK government will trial driverless cars in up to three cities from January next year. Business Secretary Vince Cable today announced a £10 million competition that municipalities can bid for to host one of the trials. The government wants projects to be drawn up in collaboration with businesses and research firms; selected cities will host tests for 18 to 36 months. “Today’s announcement will see driverless cars take to our streets in less than six months, putting us at the forefront of this transformational technology and opening up new opportunities for our economy and society,” Cable said. The competition has been funded…

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Sky’s NOW TV movies and entertainment offerings land on Xbox One

Jul30
by on July 30, 2014 at 8:23 am
Posted In: Around the Web, NOW TV, Product Updates, UK, xbox one

BSkyB has announced that its NOW TV streaming service, which lets subscribers access movies, entertainment and sports content on-demand, is now available on Microsoft’s Xbox One. This comes just a few days after NOW TV landed on Sony’s PlayStation 4. If you have an active rolling monthly subscription to one of NOW TV’s packages, you will now be able to access the streaming service from Microsoft’s latest-generation console. A Movies pass costs £8.99 per month (after a free 30 day trial), an Entertainment pass costs £4.99 per month and a Sports pass costs £9.99 for 24 hours. NOW TV can currently be accessed…

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Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant is coming to China, UK, Canada, India and Australia

Jul30
by on July 30, 2014 at 8:17 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Mobile, Product Updates

Cortana

Microsoft has announced its first update to its Windows Phone 8.1 platform, which will most notably see its Cortana digital assistant expand outside of the US for the first time. The company says that the service is being launched as a beta in China (where it is named ‘Xiao Na’) and the UK, while users in Canada, India and Australia will be able to access an alpha version. The new versions will include localized spelling, pronunciation, accent and other data that Microsoft hopes will make Cortana “more locally relevant”. Though Windows Phone accounts for a minority of smartphone sales in China, Microsoft has…

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