Articles by John P. Mello Jr.

Selling location data collected by mobile phones has become a lucrative business, The New York Times reported Monday Location advertising sales are expected to reach US$21 billion this year, according to the article. At least 75 companies receive anonymous, precise location data from applications with the location services feature activated....

The personal data of some 100 million people who have used Quora, a popular question-and-answer website, has been compromised, the company disclosed Monday "We recently discovered that some user data was compromised as a result of unauthorized access to one of our systems by a malicious third party," wrote Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo in an online post....

Nvidia on Monday announced a breakthrough in 3D rendering research that may have far-reaching ramifications for future virtual worlds A team led by Nvidia Vice President Bryan Catanzaro discovered a way to use a neural network to render synthetic 3D environments in real time, using a model trained on real-world videos....

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday revealed an unsealed indictment of eight defendants for crimes related to their involvement in widespread digital advertising fraud The DoJ alleges the eight individuals were behind two global schemes, 3ve (pronounced "eve") and Methbot, which stole tens of millions of dollars through a scam that used fake ...

Digital transformation has become a prime focus for retailers these days. In order to grow, brick-and-mortar stores realize they must use their digital touchpoints to enhance their customers' in-store experiences Online retailers recognize they need to separate themselves from the pack through faster and more informative shopping experiences. And o...

Although retailers are slating some outstanding deals for Black Friday, the shine of the once-feverish shopping day has diminished, as product discounts have started to appear earlier and earlier in the holiday season Discounts formerly found exclusively on Black Friday -- and on its online equivalent, Cyber Monday -- gradually have migrated to ear...

The line between journalism and public relations can be fuzzy, and news organizations have wrestled with that problem for some time. However, that line recently has become more blurred than ever, with some publications enlisting armies of nonprofessional scribes to satisfy an insatiable appetite for content. It's easy to understand why the problem...

The ACLU and others on Tuesday filed charges of unlawful gender-based discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Facebook and 10 employers accused of targeting job ads at males only The ACLU, Outten & Golden, a Washington, D.C. law firm, and the Communications Workers of America brought the action on behalf of thre...

Apple aimed to stretch its lead in the smartwatch market when it introduced its Apple Watch Series 4 last week The redesigned and re-engineered line features a bigger display, thinner and smaller case, an interface with richer detail, and some innovative health applications enabled by new sensor, accelerometer and gyroscope hardware....

The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a directive aimed at protecting the intellectual property of copyright holders on the Internet. It would require online platforms to scrutinize content their users post online and enter licensing agreements with rights holders The Parliament approved the copyright directive with a vote of 438-226, with ...

Getting Sonos' top-shelf speakers to play nice with other connected devices in the home has been challenging in the past, but that's about to change The company has announced the Sonos Sound Platform, which includes new APIs, developer tools, and documentation to make it easier for Sonos products to operate with third-party hardware and software....

An empty chair reserved for Google became the focal point for harsh criticism Wednesday at the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's hearing on Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. After thanking Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for agreeing to testify at the forum, Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., added...

Strong encryption can be a threat to law enforcement and national security, the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand said in a statement issued Sunday "The increasing use and sophistication of certain encryption designs present challenges for nations in combating serious crimes and threats to national ...

Google on Monday announced several new online tools designed to help former members of the military find jobs or attract new customers to their businesses One tool allows vets to type in the search term "jobs for veterans" followed by specific military job codes to see civilian jobs with skill requirements that match their service experience....

Apple will release three new iPhones in September, according to Bloomberg -- the latest media outlet to publish information from unnamed knowledgeable sources about the company's plans Although all the phones will have edge-to-edge displays, like the iPhone X, only two will have OLED screens, Bloomberg reported Monday....

Facebook on Tuesday announced it has removed more than 650 Facebook and Instagram pages, groups, and accounts originating in Iran and Russia for "coordinated inauthentic behavior." The goal is to improve the trustworthiness of Facebook connections....

Microsoft on Monday said it has torpedoed a pair of websites designed to steal credentials from visitors to two Republican Party think tanks The malicious websites were among six the company took down last week. A group of hackers affiliated with the Russian military created the sites, according to Microsoft. The group apparently was the same group...

Nvidia on Monday announced a powerful new graphics architecture with the potential to blur the line between virtual and actual reality. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the new chips at the company's SIGGRAPH 2018 event in Vancouver, Canada The Turing architecture enables a new generation of hybrid rendering that can be used to create cinematic-qua...

The line between journalism and public relations can be fuzzy, and news organizations have wrestled with that problem for some time. However, that line recently has become more blurred than ever, with some publications enlisting armies of nonprofessional scribes to satisfy an insatiable appetite for content. It's easy to understand why the problem...

Artificial Intelligence plays a big role in Android 9, the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, released Monday Called "Android Pie," the OS is designed to learn from its users' behavior, and apply those lessons to simplify and customize their phone experiences....