IT Executive news

• Qualcomm enters server CPU market with 24-core ARM chip

  08-10-2015 23:39
  
  Qualcomm has revealed its plans to enter the server CPU market with a custom processor based on a design from U.K. chip company ARM.Qualcomm becomes the latest vendor to build a server chip using the ARM architecture, which is widely used in smartphones and tablets. Some believe ARM can challenge x86 in the data center because of its low-power characteristics.It's aiming the chip at hyper-scale customers such as Facebook and Google, as well as service providers and large enterprises. It says the
  
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• Amazon aims to make AWS a better home for IoT devices

  08-10-2015 23:15
  
  The Internet of Things is transforming the way companies do business by making it easier to connect objects in the physical world to monitoring, control, and analysis systems via the web. But actually starting up an IoT implementation can be difficult, especially when it comes to developing all of the web services necessary to get the thing off the ground. Cloud providers have been working on bundled IoT services designed to make that transition easier, and now Amazon is aiming at the same
  
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• Dell's next 'AFTE' software robot will offer cognitive intelligence

  08-10-2015 23:09
  
  The word "robot" may conjure up images of R2-D2 and other three-dimensional hardware creations, but there are also software robots out there, and they're getting smarter.Case in point: Dell’s Automated Full-Time Equivalent (AFTE), a software agent that's programmed to perform repeatable, rules-based tasks in business processes. In healthcare, for example, the tool can speed claims processing from 4.5 minutes down to 45 seconds by automating many of the time-consuming and "boring" tasks, De
  
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• BrandPost: Getting Users to Take Security Threats Seriously

  08-10-2015 22:32
  
  Many security professionals believe that end users are the weakest links when it comes to data security. In many ways, that’s true. In the course of a normal day, employees using company-issued or their own devices will come and go from the corporate network, browse the web and click stuff, and disable protections that make it hard to do their jobs—all while accessing sensitive corporate data. Plus, many are posting information online that makes social engineering and targeted phishi
  
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• We now know when Windows 10 Mobile will 'launch'

  08-10-2015 21:44
  
  Between the launch date of the Microsoft Lumia 950XL and comments made by Microsoft’s official Lumia Facebook account, we now know when Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile will roll out. 
  Microsoft said Tuesday that the company plans to launch the its new Lumia 950XL and Lumia 950 “in November,” according to a slide shown during Microsoft’s launch event. Microsoft exhibited those phones running with Windows 10 Mobile (which Microsoft sometimes simply calls Windows 1
  
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• AWS Mobile Hub streamlines app dev

  08-10-2015 21:41
  
  Amazon Web Services is launching its Mobile Hub for accessing cloud services to build and monitor mobile apps.With today's debut at the Re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, Mobile Hub features a console integrating discovery, configuration, and access to AWS for bulding, testing, and monitoring mobile apps. It features AWS options, client SDKs, and client integration code, as well as capabilities for push notifications and analytics. Mobile Hub supports both Android and Apple iOS mobile platforms.
  
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• Microsoft's Surface Book to reignite OEM hostility

  08-10-2015 20:37
  
  Microsoft's foray into notebooks with the Surface Book is certain to tick off its computer-making partners, but there's little recourse for the latter except to grin and bear it, analysts said today.
  "If I'm an OEM, I'm not happy," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research. "The big difference between [the Surface Book] and the Surface Pro three years ago is that the Surface Pro was claiming to be a new category. Now Microsoft is saying the Surface Book is the best, thinnest Windows PC
  
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• HP, SanDisk partner to bring storage-class memory to market

  08-10-2015 20:32
  
  Hewlett-Packard and SanDisk today announced an agreement to jointly develop "Storage Class Memory" (SCM) that could replace DRAM and would be 1,000 times faster than NAND flash.
  The two companies will market their SCM products for use in enterprise cloud infrastructures based on HP's memristor (a revolutionary form of resistor), which it has been developing for at least five years, and SanDisk's ReRAM memory technology.
  The resulting non-volatile memory technology is expected to be up to 1,000
  
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• 'Refined' iPad Air 2 gets custom body, Qi wireless charging

  08-10-2015 20:29
  
  Whether you're a diehard Apple loyalist or you've never even touched a Mac, iPhone or iPad, you probably know the company makes some beautiful products. Top-tier design has always been one of Apple's core values, and the new iPad Air 2 is a shining example of this ethos.
  However, if matte metal and shiny glass simply aren't your bag, and a bulky case won't do the trick, Brinell's new "iPad Air 2 refined" might be for you.
  Brinell is a German company that makes a number of fashionable memory sti
  
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• Verizon will tack on $20 monthly fee to unlimited data subscribers

  08-10-2015 19:59
  
  Verizon really wants to move everyone off its unlimited data plans.The carrier is tacking on another $20 to the monthly bill for such packages, which it stopped offering to new customers in 2011.
  The first increases are to show up after November 15. A small subset of those still on a contract won’t see the jump until their contract expires, according to a CNET report. This means the price for unlimited data will leap from about $30 to $50 per month. If you add in voice calling, a bill for
  
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• CIOs: ‘We have a platform for that’

  08-10-2015 19:39
  
  Following in the footsteps of technology giants, companies are building software platforms to broaden their reach among consumers whose demand for digital services is growing. A cornerstone of the strategy includes giving third-party developers application programming interfaces, or APIs, with which to build applications for the platforms.Platform strategies, as they are known in business technology parlance, are becoming table stakes for growth at a time when companies are relying on softw
  
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• Microsoft links Power BI to Alteryx for deeper analytics

  08-10-2015 18:51
  
  Microsoft has bolstered Power BI several times already since the business intelligence service became generally available in late July, but on Thursday it announced a particularly interesting partnership with Alteryx, provider of a platform for data blending and analytics.Alteryx offers a simple, drag-and-drop workflow and can accommodate many types of data. Its platform is designed to cleanse, transform and enrich data and then perform advanced predictive, statistical and spatial analytics.Now,
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Qualcomm unveils intelligent protection component of Snapdragon security suite

  08-10-2015 18:28
  
  When they download apps, smartphone users sign up for all kinds of terms and conditions they never read, often legally allowing applications to do whatever they like. Most applications behave well, but some don’t.
  Why does Flashlight need to know my location? It’s just a bright screen used for finding things in the dark. If I’ve given it permission, it could be sending my global positioning system (GPS) data to a server in Uzbekistan every 10 seconds, which would give a perfec
  
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• IP was Middle School, Named Data Networking is College

  08-10-2015 18:08
  
  Much of the Named Data Networking (NDN) project codebase is still at the Version zero-dot-something level. But things are nevertheless starting to get real for this content-centric architecture designed to blast past today’s host-based and point-to-point Internet scheme to one more suited for accessing applications across hugely scalable networks that are mobile and extend to all sorts of sensor-equipped things.
  The NDN project team hosted more than 100 people from 63 institutions and 13
  
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• Firefox-maker Mozilla devises three laws for responsible ad blocking

  08-10-2015 17:41
  
  Online content blocking is a hot topic thanks to Safari Content Blockers in iOS 9 and the recent news around AdBlock and AdBlock Plus. Now Mozilla is jumping into the issue with a set of guidelines the Firefox-maker will use, and hopes others will adopt, in deciding when and how to apply the banhammer to online content.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Enhanced Harry Potter books aren't worth buying in the iBooks store

  08-10-2015 17:25
  Apple has scored a big win in the competitive ebook market by managing to get exclusive enhanced editions of the Harry Potter books in iBooks. The new versions include animations, illustrations, interactions and even annotations by author J.K. Rowling, and are available only in Apple's iBooks store for $9.99 for each book.
  Here's a list of the enhanced Harry Potter books available in iBooks:
  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
  Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsTo read this article in ful
  
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• Facebook 'Reactions' test adds six emojis to the Like button

  08-10-2015 16:01
  It’s not a dislike button, but Facebook is testing a new set of reactions for Facebook posts that go beyond the simple Like button. Users in Ireland and Spain are currently testing a new set of emojis called Reactions that are built into the Like button.
  Instead of giving a post the thumbs up alone, users can express love, laughter, happiness, amazement, sadness, and anger. For those not interested in expressing any specific emotion the Like button is still there as your first choice.
  It&
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The CFOs case for moving to a cloud-based accounting system

  08-10-2015 15:30
  Our CFO had a challenge. His company was rapidly growing. They had used basic systems in the past, but realized that their systems became cumbersome. Some of the core challenges were:They had to add new instances of their software to support different geographies and business lines.
  They had to consolidate information into excel on a daily basis.
  None of the systems talked to each other.
  They had to keep “throwing bodies” at the problem because their technology solutions were not onl
  
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• Microsoft hopes to wow with Surface Book and Surface Pro 4

  08-10-2015 15:23
  
  Microsoft generated some long-awaited buzz this week when it announced an updated Surface Pro 4 and the new Surface Book. Microsoft has been relentless in its battle to stay relevant in a world of iPads and Macbook Pros, and its tenacity may finally be paying off with these new devices.
  With Microsoft's long-entrenched history in the business world, it's no surprise that new Windows 10 devices are designed to appeal to both consumers and enterprise customers. Both devices offer a host of powerfu
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: In the war for talent, who are your rock stars?

  08-10-2015 15:22
  
  Everyone is in the ‘war for talent’ looking to attract and retain those “A” players, the rock stars, that move the team forward and keep them ahead of the game. However, not all “A” players are winning the “Presidents Club” awards, working with your top customers or in a high profile role. The challenge is knowing what a rock star looks like in your office, and especially your team, and identifying the unsung heroes who may be delivering outstandin
  
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• IBM chases Intel with new Power-based Linux servers sold over the Web

  08-10-2015 15:00
  
  IBM is gunning for a slice of Intel's x86 server chip business with a new family of Power systems that run Linux and will be sold directly to customers over the Web.The LC family of servers, which went on sale Thursday, is aimed at organizations deploying clustered or cloud environments, particularly for running Hadoop, Spark and other workloads that involve crunching large volumes of data.IBM already sells Power servers running Linux, but these new boxes differ in a number of ways, and mark the
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Survival of the fittest: Platforms beat products

  08-10-2015 14:46
  
  If you chose your PC in the 1990s because you wanted specific software applications (and not based on how much you liked the operating system), or if you made the jump to an iPhone from a Blackberry a few years back, chances are a successful platform strategy won you over.Platform strategists call the cycle in which an ecosystem of developers attracts more end users – which in turn attracts more developers (and so on) – a “network effect.” Network effects often generate h
  
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• How the cloud gives Major League Baseball a new world of stats

  08-10-2015 14:42
  
  In Major League Baseball, statistics like batting average and pitch speed are so yesterday. In this day and age, MLB has advanced stats to give fans more detail than ever when watching the game. And much of it is powered by Amazon Web Service’s cloud.
  When an outfielder guns down a runner at third base, how fast was the ball thrown? When a batter smacks a fastball out of the ballpark, how far did it travel and what was the arch of the ball? Where does that home run rank in terms of others
  
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• Wacom Bamboo Spark elegantly digitizes handwritten notes, drawings

  08-10-2015 14:35
  
  Japanese company Wacom, known for its stylish and popular drawing tablets and input devices for graphics professionals, recently released the fashionable Bamboo Spark ($160). It's an interesting hybrid of paper and digital, and it offers the best of both worlds — though it also has some limitations.Bamboo Spark is a handsome, Japanese-minimalist-style, charcoal gray folio (8.1 inches by 10 inches by 1.2 inches) that fits well in corporate conference rooms. Inside, you find a paper not
  
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• Amazon touts improved cloud security at re:Invent

  08-10-2015 14:31
  
  Las Vegas - One of the first breakout sessions at Amazon’s re:Invent cloud conference was an “AWS Security State of the Union” standing-room-only address by the company’s Chief Information Security Officer Steve Schmidt.
  “Enterprise security is not where it needs to be,” Schmidt said in the opening moments of the presentation. Why? Because security in the cloud is hard. One of the biggest problems, Schmidt says, is that there is a lack of automation. With the
  
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• 12 Windows 10 install issues -- and what to do about them

  08-10-2015 14:12
  
  With Microsoft saying that 110 million PCs run Windows 10, you’ve no doubt encountered a problem or two or three, either with your upgrades or with those of your colleagues, family, or friends. Of course, we’ll never see statistics on the number of folks who were coerced into installing Windows 10, which happens when Windows Update won’t work because it’s frozen on the Win10 payload. We’ll never know the number of systems that were upgraded and rolled back. But even
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why capturing enterprise software requirements is so difficult

  08-10-2015 14:08
  
  When purchasing enterprise software, most project failures can be traced back to faulty requirements. As we often say, requirements are to software selection as foundations are to a building. Get them wrong and there always will be problems.Why is it so difficult to gather requirements when selecting enterprise software, and what can be done to improve the situation? Why doesn’t asking users provide all the requirements? This article attempts to answer those questions.Why gathering require
  
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• 7 new business books you must read this fall

  08-10-2015 13:57
  
  Being a leader is a constant exercise in self-education. You never reach the pinnacle of perfect leadership ability or knowledge, mostly because the world keeps changing – and so do the projects, teams, and objectives of the company you’re leading. To help, these recent and forthcoming books for fall offer some keen insights about leadership, technology trends and personal productivity. They were hand-picked to help business leaders grow, to challenge a rote way of thinking. Som
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Security through simplicity: The fantasy sports scandal and IoT

  08-10-2015 13:51
  
  If it isn't simple, it isn't secure. Almost a security truism, yet we still build layer more and more complexity into our applications and servers and wonder why they have security problems.Instead of adding application security tools to try to figure out if a system is secure, why not simplify the application and platform until it is self-apparent that it is secure?In part 1 of this series, I introduced the notion of building the Internet of Security Things (or Internet of Secure Things) based
  
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• Big data makes a difference at Penn Medicine

  08-10-2015 13:44
  
  The team of clinicians and medical informatics experts led by Mike Draugelis, chief data scientist at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, is busy these days. Using insights from a massively parallel computer cluster that stores a huge volume of data, the team is building prototypes of new care pathways, testing them out with patients and feeding the results back into algorithms so that the computer can learn from its mistakes. Mike Draugelis, chief data scientist at Penn Medicine.To read this article
  
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• Microsoft gets an earful as Office for Mac 2016 users amp ire over crashes

  08-10-2015 13:22
  
  They're restless.
  Users of Microsoft's Office for Mac 2016 who upgraded to Apple's OS X 10.11, aka El Capitan, have become increasingly frustrated by repeated crashes of the Office applications, angrily denouncing Microsoft, and to a lesser extent, Apple, on the former's support forum.
  "It's called Office '2016' because that's the expected date it 'might' work, although when in 2016 is not clear, assuming we are using the Gregorian calendar!" wrote someone identified only as "bluedolphin" in a
  
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• How to give resumes a third dimension

  08-10-2015 13:16
  
  Technology has impacted almost every facet of the job search process from how candidates advertise themselves to how businesses source, recruit and hire talent, but one thing has remained pretty much the same: the resume. It's still one of the best ways job seekers can demonstrate their skills, knowledge and experience to potential employers. And for recruiters and hiring managers, it's a time-honored way to gauge a candidate's value and fit with an organization.SkillgigsBut a resume is both lit
  
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• Amazon takes aim at Etsy with 'Handmade' store for handcrafted items

  08-10-2015 13:14
  
  Amazon.com has made a pitch for the handicrafts market occupied by players like Etsy by setting up its own "Handmade at Amazon" store.Perhaps reflecting the concern of some users that handcrafted items peddled online are often factory-made, Amazon is making a big deal about the artisans and the personalization offered on the products on its new store.On its store page, it invites customers to, for example, connect with the artisan through their profile page "and discover their personal story to
  
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• What Ford's self-parking Edge says about the dubious future of driverless cars

  08-10-2015 13:00
  
  My hands aren’t touching the steering wheel. The car is parking itself. It’s an unsettling experience, but I’m trying to give technology a chance. Even when the 2015 Ford Edge successfully maneuvers itself booty-first into a perpendicular parking spot, all you can do is grip your seat bolsters and think about insurance deductibles.But what happens when the Edge isn’t so successful? Well, then you have to wrest control from the machine, and park your own damn self. Ford&rs
  
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• 5 tips on cloud migration from those who know (with video)

  08-10-2015 12:59
  
  LAS VEGAS -- For enterprises considering a move to the cloud, or even in the middle of a move right now, the transition can be daunting -- even a bit overwhelming.
  IT managers jumping into the arena have to know here to start, what to avoid and how to steer around the minefields that can derail a project.
  The good news is that there are IT pros who've already been through a cloud migration and overcome their own hurdles on their way to becomingseasoned cloud users. These aren't people who have
  
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• Sony ups its motion-detection game with Softkinetic buy

  08-10-2015 12:33
  
  Sony has snapped up Softkinetic Systems, a Belgian developer of distance- and motion-detecting cameras and sensors, it said Thursday.
  Softkinetic uses a technique called time-of-flight measurement to determine the distance of an object from a sensor, or different parts of an object from a camera, by bouncing packets of photons off it.
  The Kinect sensor for Microsoft's Xbox One console already uses the technique to identify players and recognize gestures to control games.
  Sony, on the other hand
  
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• Why have most merchants missed the EMV deadline?

  08-10-2015 12:30
  
  Last Friday’s Oct. 1 deadline for so-called EMV or “chip-and-PIN” credit card technology to replace the 1960s-vintage “swipe-and-signature” magnetic stripe card system should not have been a surprise to any of the major players in the payment card industry (PCI) – merchants, card issuers and banks.
  Visa, one of the three developers of the EMV standard (along with Europay and MasterCard) announced in August 2011 – more than four years ago – that it
  
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• How to be awesome on Twitter in 5 steps

  08-10-2015 12:30
  
  The great thing about Twitter is it’s a way to get a peek into someone else’s stream of consciousness. It’s a way to eavesdrop on someone’s conversations. It’s a way to insert yourself into discussions that interest you.
  The drawback is that anyone can do that to you too. And while you’re probably already well-versed in how not to tweet like a sustained public service announcement against social media, there’s another, subtler form of headache you&rsquo
  
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• The Times’ need for speed on smartphones drives interest in Google’s latest project

  08-10-2015 12:16
  
  At The New York Times, speeding up web page load times on smartphones is a priority, just as it is for any publisher.
  As a result, it made sense for the Times to join other publishers, even some of its competitors, in Google's new Accelerate Mobile Pages (AMP) Project, which kicked off Wednesday.
  "We consistently outperform others in terms of speed, but AMP is a little different opportunity," Kate Harris, director of mobile product at the newspaper, said in an interview. "Speed is always a prio
  
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• Oud-CIO Cinelli stoomt IKEA klaar voor digitale tijdperk

  08-10-2015 12:07
  Digitale technologieën en oplossingen veranderen de manier waarop mensen leven, hoe ze omgaan met bedrijven en tal van andere zaken ingrijpend. De internationale retailer van meubels en woonartikelen IKEA neemt de digitale transformatie zeer serieus. Oud CIO Paolo Cinelli is een van de belangrijkste managers die... lees meer
  
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• Perl 6 is coming soon: What it will bring

  08-10-2015 12:00
  
  Perl 6, a long-awaited upgrade to the well-known scripting language, has gone into beta, with the general release planned for Christmastime.
  The upgrade went to beta late last month, Perl designer Larry Wall told InfoWorld on Wednesday, and the October monthly release will feature the first of two beta releases of the Rakudo Perl 6 compiler. There been having monthly compiler releases for years, but the language definition has now stabilized. Wall added, “At this point we're optimizing, f
  
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• AWS security and compliance tools embrace enterprise clouds

  08-10-2015 12:00
  
  Once upon a time, the biggest barrier to cloud adoption was security. That is no longer the case, but at the Re:Invent conference, Amazon.com unveiled two new security and compliance tools designed to make it easier for Amazon Web Services users to proactively find and fix security issues.
  Organizations were originally reluctant to move their servers and applications to cloud platforms because they didn't want to run afoul of compliance requirements or commit errors that could result in a massi
  
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• NEC's surveillance system will detect, track drones

  08-10-2015 11:24
  
  NEC has developed a surveillance system that can spot drones from up to a kilometer away. The system is intended to be used around places like sports stadiums, nuclear power stations and government buildings, and can detect drones in several ways.At the heart of the system are two cameras: an ultra-sensitive camera that sees in the visible part of the spectrum and an infrared camera.But it also includes acoustic sensors that can listen for the sounds made by drones, and a radio detection finder
  
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• De nieuwe normaal

  08-10-2015 10:56
  Een browser. Dat is het belangrijkste venster op de wereld waarin Ictivity de Omnia-workplace uitserveert. Data en applicaties van legacy software tot web apps reizen mee met een mobiele gebruiker in een IT-oplossing die teruggaat tot de essentie wat ICT moet zijn: een enabler voor de organisatie.Rol- en... lees meer
  
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• SingPost delivers mail in Singapore using a drone

  08-10-2015 09:01
  
  Singapore Post delivered mail in the city-state on Thursday, using a drone that authenticated the recipient and delivered to a location the user chose.The test flight which took five minutes and flew 2 kilometers carried a letter as well as t-shirt in a packet. See video here.The trial is part of SingPost's strategy to establish itself as an e-commerce logistics provider, including point-to-point last-mile delivery of packages by drones as one of its services.The postal service did not, however,
  
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• Senate bill aims to make it a federal offense to fly drones recklessly

  08-10-2015 07:31
  A bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday that will make it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to a year, for individuals who knowingly operate a drone within 2 miles of a fire, an airport or any other restricted airspace.Introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California, the Safe Drone Act is one of a number of moves at the federal and state level that have been introduced in the wake of concerns about the risks from the reckless use of drones b
  
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• Journalist convicted of helping Anonymous hack the LA Times

  08-10-2015 06:50
  
  A journalist accused of helping a rogue hacking group briefly take control of the LA Times' website was convicted by a federal jury in California on Wednesday.Matthew Keys, 28, of Vacaville, California, was convicted of conspiracy to make unauthorized changes to a computer, transmitting malicious code and attempted transmission of malicious code, according to the Department of Justice.One of Keys' attorneys, Jay Leiderman, wrote on Twitter that "we'll proceed forward to sentencing and look
  
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• Android malware hammers phones with unwanted ads

  08-10-2015 02:46
  
  Android users in more than 20 countries have been infected with a particularly aggressive malware program that bombards devices with unwanted advertisements.Researchers from FireEye found that the malicious component, nicknamed Kemoge, has been seeded inside what appear to be legitimate apps offered on third-party application stores."This is another malicious adware family, possibly written by Chinese developers or controlled by Chinese hackers, spreading on a global scale that represents a sign
  
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• Dell said to be in talks with EMC over possible huge merger

  08-10-2015 02:44
  Dell is reportedly in talks to buy all or part of enterprise storage powerhouse EMC, which would mark a bold and unexpected new chapter in the PC maker's history.A total merger would be one of the biggest deals ever in the technology industry, with EMC holding a market value of about US$50 billion. It would also bring together two of the most important vendors to enterprise IT departments. The report about the deal Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources, and caution
  
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• Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle on the controversy over 'Steve Jobs'

  08-10-2015 02:13
  
  Steve Jobs was by all accounts a complicated man. Apple’s cofounder and former CEO was a technology genius who didn’t code and a visionary leader who commanded great respect from his employees despite a volatile temper. These traits have all been described in biographies, one of which Jobs authorized while he was alive, and in films, like the one opening this Friday in select cities.Steve Jobs is the latest movie about the late icon. Penned by The Social Network screenwriter Aaron So
  
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