​Apple to invest $1B in SoftBank's tech fund

Apple has said it will invest $1 billion in one of the world's biggest future-tech funds.

The iPhone-maker confirmed Wednesday that it plans to invest the money in the SoftBank Vision Fund, according to The Wall Street Journal. The investment fund, created by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Group, is scheduled to launch in the next few weeks with a focus on emerging technologies.

 

US government sues D-Link over alleged security flaws

The Federal Trade Commission is taking D-Link to court, accusing the company of poor security practices for its routers, web cameras, baby monitors and other products.

The lawsuit (PDF), filed in San Francisco's district court, argues that D-Link failed to meet security standards from 2007, leaving widespread vulnerabilities open to hackers.

The commission alleges that D-Link coded easy to crack login credentials into its camera software, enabling hackers to easily spy on the company's customers.

 

Uber challenged on diversity by Jesse Jackson

A long list of big-name tech companies have released statistics on the racial and gender makeup of their workforces, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

Uber isn't on that list. And on Thursday, civil-rights leader Jesse Jackson wrote a letter to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick pushing the ride-hailing company to make its diversity figures public.

"As we enter the new year...we urge Uber to 'lean in' and join the ranks of technology companies that are reporting your diversity and inclusion data," Jackson wrote, referencing the title of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's book about women in the workplace.

 

10 ways the iPhone changed everything

Ten years ago, Nokia was the world's largest phone maker. Microsoft was gearing up to launch Windows Vista. And the best new products at CES included a wireless TV and an MP3 player that streamed internet radio.

Then, on Jan. 9, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a device that went on to change the world -- a $499 iPhone that came with 4GB of storage. It was a mobile phone, a music player and an Internet device.

 

10 things to tweak when setting up a Windows 10 laptop

Start the new year off right by setting up your new laptop right. Here are 10 settings to check or change.

1. Check for updates

Microsoft releases a steady stream of Windows updates. Your new laptop checks for updates automatically, but you can check manually by going to Settings (click the gear icon above the Start button), choosing Update & Security from the left-hand column and then clicking the Check for updates button. Or just type "updates" into the search box and click Check for updates. You can update your laptop this way instead of waiting for updates to install the next time you go to shut down your laptop.