IT Executive news

• Researchers discover hydrogen treatment brings better batteries

  06-11-2015 22:53
  
  Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have discovered lithium ion batteries can last longer and charge faster if their electrodes are treated with hydrogen.
  The breakthrough could lead to significant improvements in the performance of the batteries, which are commonly used in smartphones, digital cameras, electric cars and home energy storage systems.
  Batteries have positive and negative electrodes and electrons flow between them when the battery is providing electricity or
  
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• Google could enrich AR, VR experience on handsets with custom chips

  06-11-2015 21:49
  
  Google appears to be striving for richer augmented and virtual reality experiences on Android mobile devices with an effort to internally develop chip designs for hardware partners.Google has shared homegrown designs with partners, hoping the chips would be implemented in Android smartphones in the coming years, according to The Information, citing sources.Sharing the chip designs could drive processor development and lead to a better experience on Android smartphones. Google may also want to sm
  
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• Autonomous cars aren't nearly as clever as you think, says Toyota

  06-11-2015 21:19
  The head of Toyota's billion-dollar U.S. artificial intelligence research center delivered a reality check on Friday for anyone over-enamored by autonomous car technology: the cars aren't as clever as you think."I want to help the press and the public understand that when they see a car that does not have a human being behind the wheel and it seems to be driving, that the car is not as intelligent as a human being behind the wheel, even though it seems it might be," he said.He was speaking in To
  
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• Verizon may be looking to shed its enterprise business for $10 billion

  06-11-2015 21:15
  
  Enterprises that use Verizon might find their service provider under new ownership if reports that the carrier wants to get out of the corporate game are true.Verizon Communications is considering a sale of its enterprise assets for as much as US$10 billion, according to a Reuters report on Friday. It's still exploring how to structure a sale, and no deal is imminent, the report said.The enterprise business has its roots in long-distance giant MCI, which Verizon acquired in 2006. It operates a g
  
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• BlackBerry Priv sales begin, but will they be enough?

  06-11-2015 20:24
  
  AT&T started selling BlackBerry's first Android-powered smartphone, a slider called the Priv, on Friday for $250 with a two-year contract, a price that could entice buyers who are reluctant to pay BlackBerry's own $699 off-contract price.
  Pre-orders for the slider smartphone with a 5.4-in. display, started two weeks ago.A BlackBerry spokeswoman declared in an email that pre-orders for the Priv "far surpassed"pre-orders for BlackBerry'sClassic and Passport phones, but she declined to offer a
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Thinking algorithm ready to take on conventional medicine

  06-11-2015 20:05
  
  Deep learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, could be in the medical mainstream in months.San Francisco software startup Enlitic is preparing to send software engineers to about 80 medical imaging centers in Australia and Asia.  These “forward deployed engineers,” as company founder Jeremy Howard calls them, will install a deep-learning algorithm on IT systems, called Picture Archiving and Communications (PAC) systems. Once on board, the algorithm will begin learning how
  
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• Android device updates: T-Mobile Galaxy Note 5 update brings battery life improvements, security fixes

  06-11-2015 19:54
  
  The wheels move slow on the Android update wagon, but at least they turned favorably for the T-Mobile Galaxy Note 5 this week. 
  It’s not getting Marshmallow, but it picked up some key updates that should give you a smoother experience. You’re also getting that monthly security fix for your Nexus device, which is one of the perks of going all Google.
  Each week, we compile all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and tablets on U.S. carriers,
  
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• Comcast data caps aren’t about congestion, leaked memo shows

  06-11-2015 19:05
  Comcast is making sure its customer support agents stay on message as the cable giant rolls out data caps in more markets.In a memo leaked to Ars Technica, Comcast arms its representatives with a list of Dos, Don’ts, and taking points, all aimed at making new 300 GB data caps seem more palatable. Among those recommendations: Don’t actually use the term “data cap,” and instead say “data usage plan.”The memo is full of these kinds of linguistic gymnastics. Comca
  
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• Google is seeking test pilots for Project Wing, Project Titan

  06-11-2015 18:14
  
  Google is looking for a couple of people with the right stuff: test pilots for its Project Wing drone delivery project and Project Titan airborne Internet service.The jobs, both posted on Google's website, are additional signs of the rapid pace of research and development into aerial automation going on at the Mountain View company. Google recently said it hopes to start commercial drone delivery operations in 2017.For Project Wing, the company is looking for an expert remote-controlled aircraft
  
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• The ironic history of the hybrid cloud

  06-11-2015 18:07
  
  I was asked to do a talk on the history of the hybrid cloud, so I figured I’d better do my homework and was surprised at what I found. I think how all this came about, and how early it started, is fascinating. What follows is mostly my script on that talk, I hope you find it as interesting to read as I did to research and write.The ‘Intergalactic Computer Network’
  The underlying concept of cloud computing goes back to the 1960s and the concept of an “Intergalactic Compute
  
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• Dell, HP support agents advise callers to ditch Windows 10

  06-11-2015 18:04
  
  If you call your PC maker to troubleshoot a Windows 10 machine, don’t be surprised if the advice is to roll back to an earlier version.
  In a pair of undercover tech support calls, representatives from HP and Dell both suggested uninstalling Windows 10 as a blanket solution to problems, Laptop Mag reports.
  The call to Dell was most baffling, as the caller was merely asking how to invert the scrolling direction on a laptop’s touchpad. This is an easy fix with the same procedure across
  
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• Amazon will open London datacenter by early 2017

  06-11-2015 17:25
  
  Amazon Web Services will open its third European datacenter cluster by early 2017, CTO Werner Vogels said Friday.The move will "provide ... strong data sovereignty to local users," Vogels wrote in a blog post.Data sovereignty -- or which country has jurisdiction over data -- is a hot topic in the European Union, where the processing of citizens' personal information is subject to strict data protection laws.Those laws require that personal data sent outside the EU be given the same legal protect
  
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• Deploying application whitelisting? NIST has some advice for you

  06-11-2015 16:36
  If you're trying to bar the door to malware infections, automated application whitelisting is a tactic that the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology thinks you should try -- and the agency wants to help you implement it in an effective way.
  The Department of Commerce agency, which is tasked with developing standards and recommendations including in the area of IT security, has published a guide to application whitelisting that explains the technology in detail and offers practica
  
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• Alibaba offers to buy Chinese video service Youku Tudou for $4.4B

  06-11-2015 15:44
  Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba runs its own payment service, Alipay, but executive chairman Jack Ma won't be using it for his latest purchase: streaming video site Youku Tudou.Alibaba agreed Friday to pay around US$4.4 billion for the 81.7 percent of Youku Tudou it doesn't yet own -- it bought the rest last year for $1.2 billion. Alibaba plans to leave Youku founder Victor Koo in charge of the company, it said when it made its initial offer on Oct. 16.It hopes that engaging with the video site
  
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• Comcast, cord cutting and the rise of broadband data caps

  06-11-2015 15:22
  
  At a time when consumers stream more video and more movies than ever before, Comcast wants to limit the amount of data its broadband customers can use. Customers in some states, mostly in the Southeast, will soon have data caps of 300GB a month, and the new pricing model may go national before too long. (Hat tip to DSLReports.com for spotting this news first.)
  Comcast isn't eager to discuss the changes, which are, in effect, price increases. However, its Data Usage CAP FAQ page lists affec
  
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• Health IT use lags despite consumer interest

  06-11-2015 14:56
  
  There is no shortage of interest in new technologies to streamline and improve the delivery of healthcare, but large majorities of consumers are shut out of what would seem like simple services, such as scheduling appointments online and communicating with care providers via email.In a new survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults, the research group Nielsen Strategic Health Perspectives found a significant disconnect between the expectations that consumers have for health IT and the extent to which
  
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• HTC's gorgeous, iPhone-like One A9 is now available

  06-11-2015 14:00
  
  Attention Android lovers: HTC’s stylish, iPhone-like One A9 is officially available from AT&T and Sprint beginning Friday. Anyone looking for an unlocked phone can pick it up from HTC.com for $500—although it’s still available for $400 until midnight on Saturday, November 7 (Friday night).
  The unlocked version from HTC’s site comes with a few extra niceties. HTC’s Uh Oh Protection entitles you to one free replacement within the first 12 months of device ow
  
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• Google Cardboard exec says content will make (or break) VR

  06-11-2015 13:54
  
  BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. — The technologies that let people use their smartphones as virtual reality (VR) viewers are rapidly evolving. The VR content, however, is a big missing piece in the puzzle. Without compelling content, users have little to watch, and they are unlikely to get excited about VR until the situation changes.
  "Content is a big question mark right now. This is where we've got a big bottleneck in terms of just the ability to create content … as well as ideas," said Aa
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Healthcare consumerism is here – or is it really?

  06-11-2015 13:30
  
  I happened to be one of the lucky people who got to go to Nashville this past week. No, I wasn’t there to attend the CMA awards, but to attend another invitation-only event put together by eMids, a healthcare technology company that had organized an exclusive gathering of healthcare leaders across the country. The theme of the event was what healthcare consumerism was going to look like in 2020.The setting was as unique as it was ironic. As the key note speaker, Bill Carpenter, Chairman an
  
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• 6 tips for a better mobile retail experience

  06-11-2015 13:26
  
  Maybe you’re just looking for shopping inspiration. Or, perhaps you want a great deal or some personalized suggestions. So, you load up a retailer’s mobile app or surf to their mobile website. Done and done, right? Wrong. If your experience is like that of a good chunk of today’s consumers, this can be a road to nowhere that is nothing like the elegant mobile experiences you’ve become used to on apps like Uber or sites like Amazon. The retail app might not load prope
  
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• EU tells US it must make next move on new Safe Harbor deal

  06-11-2015 12:59
  
  The European Union put the onus firmly on the U.S. to make the next move in negotiating a replacement for the now-defunct Safe Harbor Agreement on privacy protection for transatlantic personal data transfers.
  "We need a new transatlantic framework for data transfers," said Vĕra Jourová, the European Commissioner for Justice and Consumers, emphasizing the urgency of the situation. However, she said at a news conference in Brussels on Friday, "It is now for the U.S. to come back with
  
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• This old tech: The Toshiba T1000 was my first step into the world of MS-DOS

  06-11-2015 12:30
  
  Welcome to This Old Tech, a new column devoted to vintage gadgets, electronics, computers, and video games. By “vintage,” I mean things that are generally at least 10 to 20 years old or otherwise obsolete. Most people throw this stuff away, but I know I’m not the only one who likes to keep the tech and their stories alive. I’ll be starting with a classic Toshiba laptop that served as my entry point into the world of primordial computing.But first, a bit about me: I’
  
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• Microsoft risks IT ire with Windows 10 update push

  06-11-2015 12:06
  
  Microsoft has made it clear that it will take on a greater role in managing the Windows update process with Windows 10. The company has also made it clear that it will aggressively push users -- both consumers and businesses -- to upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8 to its latest OS. With that in mind, it's hard to image either predecessor hanging around anywhere near as long as Windows XP.
  The decision to not only push updates out, but also ensure that all Windows 10 devices receive them in a
  
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• 7 serious software update SNAFUs of the last 25 years

  06-11-2015 12:04
  
  WhoopsImage bySam FelderMicrosoft’s Windows 10 eager early upgrade wasn’t the first software update gone way too wrong. Here are seven (more) serious software update SNAFUs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Toyota to make $1B artificial intelligence, robotics R&D push in US

  06-11-2015 06:16
  
  Toyota plans a major push into artificial intelligence and robotics technology research and will invest US$1 billion over the next five years to establish a Silicon Valley research and development center to pursue those goals.The Toyota Research Institute will be led by Gill Pratt, who recently joined Toyota from DARPA where he ran the Robotics Challenge, an event that promoted work on robots that can work with humans."The goal of the Toyota Research Institute is to 
  
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• The pace of innovation is accelerating, says bank

  06-11-2015 02:39
  
  Predictions about future job growth are getting harder to make. Innovation is happening so quickly in so many areas that it's making Moore's Law look sluggish.
  Moore's Law states that computing power will roughly double every two years. But advances in robotics, analytics, sensor technology, 3D printing and other technologies are "radically accelerating" this pace of innovation.
  Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in a new study, looks at the innovations ahead and quantifies what it sees as the grow
  
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• One in four consumers with notebook replacement plans put unconventional designs on wish list

  06-11-2015 02:38
  
  Although tales of tablets replacing personal computers have essentially evaporated, computer makers should pin what hope they can muster for growth on the tablet's close cousins, 2-in-1 devices and convertible notebooks, a Gartner analyst said today.
  A Gartner-conducted survey of 19,000 consumers in the U.S., Brazil, China, France, India and the U.K. found that just 2% of those planning to replace a desktop PC in the next 12 months would pick up a tablet instead of another personal computer, st
  
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• How a mobile app company found the XcodeGhost in the machine

  06-11-2015 02:06
  
  Nick Arnott couldn't figure out recently why Apple kept rejecting an update to a mobile app his company developed.It turned out the problem was a ghost in the machine.His company, Possible Mobile, is well versed in the App Store submission rules and has built apps for JetBlue, Better Homes & Gardens and the Major Soccer League.The rejection came after it was discovered in mid-September that thousands of apps in the App Store had been built with a counterfeit version of an Apple development t
  
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• FAA panel still hasn't decided how to regulate drones

  06-11-2015 01:45
  
  A key task force convened to work out registration rules for consumer drones ended a three-day meeting on Thursday with apparently no final conclusion.While it spent the day discussing how the registration program would work, the task force is yet to decide what types of drones would be covered by a registration program and what types would not.That's hugely important, as drones are expected to be hot holiday gifts this year, so the scope of the registration program could affect tens o
  
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• Salesforce users: Big contracts signed early may get you special discounts, but watch out after that

  06-11-2015 00:44
  
  Volume discounts are nothing unusual in the world of enterprise software, but over the last year or so Salesforce reportedly has been approaching customers early about upcoming renewals and wooing them with considerable extra discounts if they sign on ahead of time for the CRM vendor's full software suite.That's according to a report Thursday in The Register, which attributed the information to an anonymous industry source who advises companies about Salesforce licensing.The discount can be as m
  
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• Must-see Apple TV: Our 15 favorite tvOS apps

  06-11-2015 00:40
  Putting your iPhone on your TVThe biggest change in Apple’s new fourth-generation Apple TV is the launch of an operating system just for the set-top box. Instead of channels, tvOS allows developers to build apps that are designed just for the TV.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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