Bento database app for iOS and Mac is 'discontinued'

FileMaker has announced that it’s discontinuing Bento, its consumer-level database for the Mac and iOS. The app will be available for purchase until September 30.

NSA’s XKeyscore program has nearly limitless access to all Internet activity

The Guardian has detailed new revelations from NSA-leaker Edward Snowden about a program known as XKeyscore that has been described as the agency’s “widest-ranging” tool for online data collection.

Global cybercrime costs billions

Cybercrime and espionage could be costing the world between £45 billion and £260 billion a year from a total global economy of £45 trillion, a new estimate by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has calculated.

Apple acquires wireless chip-maker to bolster Bluetooth

Like celebrity deaths, Apple acquisitions seem to come in clumps. Last month the company acquired two mapping-related companies, Locationary and HopStop; on Thursday, Cupertino mixed it up by snagging a maker of low-energy computer chips, Passif Semiconductor. News of the deal was first reported and confirmed by former Wall Street Journal writer Jessica Lessin.

Review: Illustrator CC

Illustrator CC is the first release of the famous illustration and vector graphics app under the company’s new Creative Cloud subscription-based brand. With this latest iteration—the 17th version of the software—the company puts greater emphasis on improving existing tools than on rolling out new ones, and the application is better for it.

Some privacy advocates question mobile apps agreement

A proposed code of conduct for mobile app developers intended to make them explain how user data is collected and used does not have a clear enforcement mechanism,  one privacy advocate said.