Articles by John P. Mello Jr.

A computer virus over the weekend disrupted the operations of the Asian manufacturer that makes chips for the iPhone and other devices offered by top shelf high-tech companies The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Sunday said that a virus outbreak Friday evening affected a number of computer systems and fab tools at its facilities in Taiwan...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday announced the National Risk Management Center, part of a new effort to combat cyberthreats to the nation The new agency's mission will be to defend the U.S.' critical infrastructure through greater cooperation between the public and private sectors....

IBM and currency trading utility CLS on Monday announced a new platform that enables financial institutions to deploy, share and consume services on a hosted blockchain network Nine financial institutions, including Barclays and Citibank, have agreed to participate in the initial launch of the platform, which is sort of an app store for solutions t...

Hundreds of U.S. utilities were penetrated by Russian hackers who could have disrupted the nation's power grid The attacks were launched last year by threat actors belonging to a group known as "Dragonfly" or "Energetic Bear," which is sponsored by the Russian government, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday....

Mobile phone cameras are about to get a significant performance boost Sony on Monday introduced a 48-megapixel sensor for cellphone cameras that measures less than one-third of an inch diagonally. The sensor is slated for release in September....

Microsoft on Monday announced a new version of its Skype messaging app, along with a warning that previous versions of the software will be disabled after Sept. 1 "As we roll out improvements, there comes a time when we must shut down older services and application versions," wrote the Skype Team in an online post. "This is done to ensure that all ...

Roku has earned a reputation for making streaming TV products that are easy to set up and use, and that deliver above-average quality at affordable prices -- and that's the approach it has taken with its new Roku TV Wireless Speakers The company unveiled the speakers on Monday, although it doesn't expect to start shipping them until October, when t...

A new feature in iOS 11.4.1, which Apple released earlier this week, is designed to protect against unwanted intrusions through the iPhone's Lightning Port. However, the protection may be weak at best The feature, called "USB Restricted Mode," disables data transfer through the Lightning Port after an hour of inactivity.

A popular fitness app provided a convenient map for anyone interested in shadowing government personnel who exercised in secret locations, including intelligence agencies, military bases and airfields, nuclear weapons storage sites, and embassies around the world The fitness app, Polar Flow, publicized more data about its users in a more accessible...

Network devices with better security will be hitting the market this year, thanks to Wi-Fi Certified WPA3, which the Wi-Fi Alliance launched Tuesday. The announcement paves the way for the proliferation of devices that support the new, more secure protocol for WiFi communication, which is designed to replace the 14-year-old WPA2 "WPA3 takes the le...

Apple plans to expand its audio product line next year with new AirPods, HomePods and possibly studio-quality over-the-ear headphones The new generation of AirPods will feature noise cancellation, be water resistant, and have greater range, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the developments....

Some logistics and mobility industry heavyweights have formed a group committed to improving the lives and opportunities of working Americans through adoption of autonomous vehicles The roster of the Partnership for Transportation Innovation and Opportunity includes the American Trucking Associations, Daimler, FedEx, Ford, Lyft, Toyota Motor North ...

The next version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 12, automatically will share location data for iPhones used to make emergency calls, the company announced Monday The system will use an IP-based data pipeline developed by RapidSOS to share location data from iPhones with 911 centers....

Sony gave PlayStation fans a hefty sampling of what's coming to its gaming consoles this year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles It gave them a long look at a relatively few offerings in its Monday presentation -- a marked contrast from Microsoft's deluge of game announcements a day earlier....

Microsoft made a big splash at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles with its announcement of more than 50 games for its Xbox One gaming console Among the games unveiled by the company were 18 designed to run exclusively on Xbox, including Forza Horizon 4, Halo Infinite, Gears 5, Session, Below and Ashen....

Apple on Monday gave the world a peek at macOS Mojave, the next version of its operating system for Macintosh laptop and desktop computers. The preview took place at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California Mojave has a mix of new features that add to its good looks and utility as a...

The next version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 12, will include a new feature that allows you to customize the way Siri works with applications on phones and tablets. The announcement was one of the highlights at the kickoff of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, on Monday Call...

Apple on Tuesday released iOS 11.4, the latest version of its mobile operating system, with some beefed-up features for its HomePod wireless smart speaker The update allows users to create a stereo pair with two HomePods. It also supports multiroom streaming through AirPlay 2 connections. Music can be played in every room with a HomePod. It can be ...

The FBI has disrupted a network of half a million routers compromised by the group of Russian hackers believed to have penetrated the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign during the 2016 elections, according to reports The hacker group, known as "Fancy Bear," has been using a malware program called "VPN Filter" to compromi...

Apple has ramped up production of its new 7-nanometer processor for its upcoming crop of iPhones The new processor will be smaller, faster and more efficient than the 10nm processor in Apple's current iPhone line, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with matter....