Articles by John P. Mello Jr.

Government snooping on Americans would be curtailed under a bill introduced Tuesday in the U.S. Senate The measure, sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would ban bulk collection of domestic information, limit the scope of searches by government agencies, and add transparency and reporting requirements. Further, it would ref...

It appears Apple is close to acquiring talk radio app Swell for US$30 million.Much of Swell's development team will be joining Apple, and the app will be shut down sometime this week, Re/code reported Although Swell managed to raise $7.2 million from the likes of DFJ, Google Ventures and InterWest Partners, it hasn't been able to get much traction ...

In a rare move, Apple on Thursday rolled out a beta version of its upcoming desktop operating system, OS X Yosemite, to a million "testers." The company pulled the wraps off Yosemite at the World Wide Developers Conference in June and has been tweaking it for developers since that time, but this latest version is a beta that as many as one million ...

A patent awarded on Tuesday to Apple may be a tip-off of what the company is planning for the smartwatch it's widely expected to introduce this fall The patent (U.S. Patent 8,787,006) for something Apple referenced in its application as "iTime" is for an electronic wristband that contains a recessed area for an electronic device, such as a watch bo...

A failure to communicate between security pros and company brass may be contributing to the inability of a significant number of organizations to reduce the risk of cyberattacks on their systems That was one of the findings last week in a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Websense....

The European Union last year adopted a "common position" on how purchases made within mobile and online applications should be treated by operators of app stores. Now, seven months later, Google has been heaped with praise for striving to comply with EU guidance on in-app buys, while Apple has been rebuked for dragging its feet In its common positi...

It may not be a marriage made in heaven, but the cloud is pretty close Just hours after IBM and Apple announced they had entered a strategic partnership, speculation began to spread about the possible integration of two of their most well-known products: What if Siri and Watson were to hook up?...

Novartis' Alcon eye care division has entered an in-license agreement governing all ocular medical uses for Google's smart contact lenses, it announced Tuesday Google unveiled a prototype of its glucose-monitoring lens in January....

A supply chain compromise is a security pro's worst nightmare. The thought of malware being planted on computer devices before they leave the factory sends shivers down a cyberdefender's spine. A disturbing case of such poisoning was reported last week by researchers at TrapX The researchers found advanced persistent threat malware, which TrapX has...

A trade association including Amazon, Google and Netflix on Monday called on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules banning deals by broadband providers for faster delivery of some Internet traffic The Internet Association, in written testimony submitted to the FCC, called for simple "light touch" rules to ensure an open and neut...

Half a dozen companies this week announced a new organization to ensure that the billions of devices that will be added to the Internet in coming years will be able to communicate with each other The Open Interconnect Consortium was launched to define the connectivity requirements and improve the interoperability of some 200 billion devices expecte...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday mapped out his vision for the company's future, emphasizing cloud and mobile computing, in a letter to all employees. The letter also appeared on the company's website "More recently, we have described ourselves as a 'devices and services' company. While the devices and services description was helpful in sta...

Nearly one-third of the world's computers could be infected with malware, suggests a report released last week by the Anti-Phishing Working Group Malicious apps invaded 32.77 percent of the world's computers, a more than 4 percent jump from the previous quarter's 28.39 percent, the report estimates....

In a move that's bound to raise the power management consciousness of air travelers, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration on Sunday announced a ban on electronic devices that won't power up before they're carried onto a plane During the security examination conducted by TSA officers before passengers board a plane, travelers may be asked...

It's unlikely that Facebook's psych experiment that turned some 700,000 of its users into involuntary lab rats will hurt its brand or advertising revenue However, Facebook's research on the emotional impact of content in the News Feeds of its members has unleashed a torrent of criticism.

As any Android user knows, the version of the operating system you're using can vary widely because it depends on parties other than Google. That's why nearly two-thirds of users are running a version of Android introduced in 2012 or earlier With Android making the leap to wearables and the Internet of Things (IoT), however, Google is aiming to mak...

Ransomware is a growing problem for consumers and businesses alike. In Symantec's most recent quarterly security report, the company's researchers found all targeted attacks -- including ransomware -- grew 91 percent year-over-year That's raising a big question for those targeted by cyberextortionists: Should the ransom be paid? Security experts in...

Twitter on Thursday announced a new addition to its social-TV arsenal: SnappyTV. SnappyTV is an online service that allows content owners to clip, edit and share video from live broadcasts in near-real time....

I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours That's the idea behind a new photo-sharing app Facebook released Tuesday for Android and iOS devices.

Are threats to people made on social media websites protected under the First Amendment? The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider that issue, announcing Monday that it would review the case of Anthony D. Elonis v. United States....