IT Executive news

• Why Ford's CIO is shifting gears to bimodal IT

  15-12-2015 23:24
  
  Ford's technology department has officially shifted into second gear under CIO Marcy Klevorn. The automobile maker has restructured its IT processes to incorporate technology experiments that can be hastily abandoned alongside more traditional, measured technologies and systems that fuel the company's operations. Klevorn says Ford's adoption of bimodal IT, as it is known in some tech circles, is designed to help Ford winnow out bureaucracy, making IT service delivery more efficient."We're a sett
  
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• New LinkedIn job listings help you find the right gig

  15-12-2015 21:42
  
  LinkedIn will soon add more details and insights to its job postings, in an effort to find more fitting career opportunities for users. The move is designed to enhance job listings with details about a user's connections within a hiring company; a list of LinkedIn applicants the organization went on to hire; and details on the people the job seeker would work with if they got the gig. LinkedInLinked first rolled out the updates to a test pool of 10 percent of job postings in the United Stat
  
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• Microsoft pulls Windows 10 Mobile update after users hit snags

  15-12-2015 21:15
  Microsoft has pulled an update to Windows 10 after users reported a wide variety of issues with the upgrade process, according to a post on the company's Answers technical support forum. The patch, which was the first cumulative update Microsoft made to its mobile operating system after launching it, has been pulled from public update channels, moderator Mike Mongeau said. Users were reporting that the update wasn't being offered, that it appeared to get stuck at 0 percent and that low stor
  
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• This big-data startup wants to manage your data lake in the cloud

  15-12-2015 21:04
  
  Big data may offer companies a world of untold potential, but realizing the benefits is typically no walk in the park. That's why "big data as a service" platforms have begun to emerge, and it's also why Bigstep is taking a like-minded approach to the increasingly common data lake.Launched last year, U.K.-based Bigstep has been offering big data as a service through its Full Metal Cloud platform, which already includes compute instances, block storage and network components. Now, the Full Metal
  
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• Google rewrites its Angular JavaScript framework

  15-12-2015 20:00
  
  Angular 2, a re-architected, rewritten version of the popular JavaScript framework also known as AngularJS, goes to a beta release stage today, with general availability planned for early-2016.
  The upgrade features enhancements for speed in rendering and updating pages, near-initial rendering, and support for building cross-platform native mobile apps for Google Android and Apple iOS. "It's eight times faster than Angular 1," said Brad Green, Google director of engineering in charge of Angular.
  
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• Small Massachusetts town will offer blazing 2Gbps fiber Internet for $40 a month

  15-12-2015 19:54
  
  Leverett, Mass., will improve its existing fiber-optic network by the start of the new year, boosting peak speeds from one gigabit to two gigabits, and dropping the price from $45 per month to $40, according to a report in the local Recorder newspaper.
  A small town in central Massachusetts, just north of Amherst, Leverett has fewer than 2,000 residents, making it among the smallest in the country with its own municipal gigabit fiber network.
  +ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Dell maneuvers toward EMC tak
  
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• Google empowers Android Pay to handle in-app purchases

  15-12-2015 19:17
  
  Android Pay may speed up your next impulse buy from your smartphone. That’s because Google’s mobile payment service can now handle in-app purchases.
  This means you can pay for a Lyft car or an Instacart grocery order without the need to meticulously enter in your credit card data or save a profile of your card across 20 different services. Google says initial partners include OpenTable, Fancy, Jet, Instacart, and Lyft. You can view the full list in the Play Store.To read this articl
  
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• Apple is working on the future of iPhone displays at a secret new lab in Taiwan

  15-12-2015 19:01
  Apple has long relied on partners like Samsung, LG, and Sharp for cutting-edge technology to use in iPhones and iPads, but the company is is quietly developing its own brighter, lighter, and thinner iPhone and iPad displays at a new, top-secret lab in Taiwan.
  Apple took over a production facility once occupied by Qualcomm and has recruited some 50 workers to develop new OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays, according to a Bloomberg report. Engineers at the lab are also working on improv
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How I fell in love with the iPhone 6 Plus again

  15-12-2015 18:50
  I'm a bit of an odd duck when it comes to the size of my iPhone. I went from an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 6 Plus and then down to an iPhone 6s. I even tried an iPod touch 6 for the 4-inch screen at one point, and thought I liked it better than my iPhone 6s. But now I'm back to using my iPhone 6 Plus.What happened?How I fell in love with the iPhone 6 Plus againWell, when I got my iPhone 6s I sent my iPhone 6 Plus to a friend who was interested in buying it. She had it for a couple of months, and fina
  
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• By the numbers 2015: The year in security research

  15-12-2015 18:05
  
  The year in security researchImage by CSOSecurity researchers were busy in 2015 — almost as busy as the criminals whose work they studied.Among the notable numbers this year: Low tech 'visual hacking' proves to be successful nine times out of ten, most websites had at least one serious vulnerability for 150 or more days, click fraud costs businesses $6.3 billion a year in wasted ad money, and oh so much more!To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Microsoft warns of 'diminished experience' in Office 365 on IE's soon-to-be-obsolete editions

  15-12-2015 18:00
  
  Microsoft has deployed a new tactic in pushing users of older versions of Internet Explorer (IE) to upgrade, telling Office 365 customers that some IE versions would see a "significantly diminished experience."
  "Beginning January 12, 2016, we are implementing changes across Office 365 workloads, which will result in a significantly diminished experience for Office 365 users on Internet Explorer 8 and Internet Explorer 9," the company said in a support document on Office 365 system requirements.
  
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• How Netflix plans to curb its massive thirst for bandwidth

  15-12-2015 17:58
  
  Online audio and video streaming now takes up more than 70 percent of downstream bandwidth during peak periods in North America. A big chunk of that 70 percent belongs to Netflix, which is easily the most popular premiere streaming service in the U.S. and Canada. Now engineers at Netflix are looking to reduce the service’s bandwidth footprint by as much as 20 percent while drastically improving the image quality for some users, according to a recent report by Variety.To read this article
  
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• Attacks using TeslaCrypt ransomware intensify

  15-12-2015 17:44
  Over the past two weeks security researchers have seen a surge in attacks using a file-encrypting ransomware program called TeslaCrypt, known for targeting gamers in the past.TeslaCrypt first appeared in March and stood out because over 50 of the 185 file types it targeted were associated with computer games and related software, including game saves, custom maps, profiles, replays and mods -- content that users might have a hard time replacing.In April researchers from Cisco found a weakness in
  
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• Better together: Qualcomm says no to split despite declining profit

  15-12-2015 17:28
  Breaking Qualcomm up is not the best way to turn its performance around, the company's board has decided.Qualcomm designs and makes chips, primarily for the booming smartphone and connected devices markets. But in July the company reported lackluster results for the three months to June 28, with a 14 percent year-on-year decline in revenue and 47 percent drop in net profit.CEO Steve Mollenkopf said then that he planned on "right-sizing" the company's cost structure -- a phrase that turned out to
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Will HPE Synergy change the way we think about servers?

  15-12-2015 16:15
  
  There are big shifts happening in enterprise data centers right now to simplify the way applications are deployed and to reduce technology complexity in order to better serve the business. To address the need for simplicity, many in the industry are beginning to look at “infrastructure as code” deployment approaches that are made possible by an emerging category of products called composable infrastructure. Companies like Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Intel have
  
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• IBM opens Watson IoT global headquarters

  15-12-2015 16:05
  
  IBM has made its biggest investment in Europe in more than two decades with the opening of its new global headquarters for Watson Internet of Things (Iot) in the HighLight Towers in Munich. To accompany the opening, Big Blue also launched a series of new offerings, capabilities and ecosystem partners all geared to combining the power of cognitive computing with the connected devices, sensors and systems that make up the IoT.
  Also on CIO.comTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, plea
  
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• U.S. must continue improving the patent process

  15-12-2015 16:00
  
  For the past several weeks, the ongoing series of lawsuits between Apple and Samsung over smartphone patents has been back in the news. Last week Samsung announced that it plans on paying up, but expects to be reimbursed should other patents in the dispute be invalidated, which is likely based on U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) proceedings thus far.  
  This followed a 2-1 vote by a panel of a federal circuit court of appeals to grant Apple an injunction against
  
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• Cloud adoption soars in regulated industries

  15-12-2015 15:54
  
  The past year-and-a-half has seen a steep increase in the rate of adoption of cloud computing applications, with some of the biggest movers found in the government and regulated industries.That's according to a new study by the cloud security firm Bitglass, which analyzed traffic from some 130,000 organizations in North America and reported a 71 percent surge in cloud usage across the board in the verticals it evaluated.Within the government sector, Bitglass reported a spike of more than 300 per
  
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• 2 apps to help find the perfect movies, TV for your holiday video binge

  15-12-2015 14:39
  
  At some point during the next couple of weeks, you'll very likely have had your fill of family, food, and festivities. It will then be time to curl up on a sofa, pop in your earbuds, and catch a movie on your smartphone or tablet.
  But which moview should you watch? And where can you find them? Lots of apps exist that can help you search for and browse movies and TV programs, and guide you toward streaming options (such as Netflix) or paid sources (such as iTunes). Here are two of my personal fa
  
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• Detachable tablet market set for growth in 2016

  15-12-2015 14:22
  
  Detachable tablets are growing in popularity as sales for standard tablets wane, according to a recent report from IDC. IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker forecast reports that tablet shipments will reach 211.3 million by the end of this year, which is an 8.1 percent decline from 2014. This marks a three-year trend in declining growth for tablets, while detachable tablets and hybrid devices continue to increase in popularity.
  Two-in-one tablets have been popularized by offerings like the M
  
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• UK police arrest man suspected of Vtech toy hacking

  15-12-2015 14:10
  
  UK police arrest man suspected of Vtech toy hackingPolice investigating the hacking of Chinese toy company Vtech have made an arrest in the U.K.In the attack on Nov. 14, someone gained access to information about Vtech customers, including names, email addresses, birth dates, photos and weakly encrypted passwords, the company said.The information was stored in a database for its Learning Lodge app store, used by many of the company's educational toys.Later last month, Vtech said the data breach
  
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• Nuance tames IoT interface woes with new developer tools

  15-12-2015 14:00
  
  While the Internet of Things is gaining in popularity, makers of smart devices like robots, intelligent appliances and online-connected thermostats still need to straighten out their user interfaces. Right now, companies build physical interfaces into their products like dials and buttons, but those aren't great for executing complex commands like "go sweep the living room."
  That's why Nuance is launching a beta version of Mix, a new service to help developers create devices that recognize
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Top 5 reasons agile is a good idea

  15-12-2015 13:53
  
  Still running waterfall projects or development initiatives and need the push to go agile? Contemplating agile but you need some easy to explain reasons to go to your senior management with in order to get them to say “yes” to the conversion? Don't mention completing projects on budget because the whole concept with even estimating development costs on an agile project is a tricky one – we will cover that in another discussion soon. Right now I want to help those project or dev
  
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• 7 ways to conquer holiday stress

  15-12-2015 13:41
  
  Conquering holiday stressImage by ThinkstockWorkplace stress is a fact of life, especially in the always-on, world of IT. But the holiday season can add an extra layer of anxiety for many who already are stretched to the limit - but there steps you can take to mitigate it.
  "For so many companies, this is the busiest time of year. But in addition to the heavier, more frenetic workload, there's the expectation that people will be merry, jolly and having a lot of fun, and that's an added stressor i
  
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• How CIOs can ensure M&A projects pay off

  15-12-2015 13:35
  
  There are two ways to grow an established company. The first option is organic growth – increase existing sales and explore ways to develop new sales. Organic growth is a worthwhile goal, yet it is often difficult to achieve. Proctor & Gamble, for example, saw negative organic growth in 2015 as management decided to eliminate low performing products.In other cases, some companies are able to achieve small gains through organic growth. Estée Lauder Cos, a cosmetics company, incre
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The 'fog' of war and cloud implementations

  15-12-2015 13:34
  
  The fog of war is a concept written by military analyst Carl Von Clausewitz in the mid-1800’s. The term implies a lack of information during a military operation. This uncertainty can lead to poor decision making by leaders and decrease the chance of the operation’s success. The risk of the fog of war is mitigated through intelligence and planning.The exact same concept applies for your cloud-based accounting application. During a go live, you may not have an “adversary”
  
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• 5 apps to help you make better decisions

  15-12-2015 13:30
  
  It’s a well-established fact that business performance is tied to good decision-making. (You can read all about this in a landmark study by Harvard Business Review.) Make smart decisions about market trends and international expansion, and your business units will grow. Avoid business intelligence dashboards and wise counsel, and you’ll make bad decisions that drive your business into the ground. In fact, it’s a series of micro-decisions that lead to good strategy. Fortuna
  
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• Why are we racing to DevOps?

  15-12-2015 13:18
  
  Over the past three years, DevOps has gone from a little-known term to a buzzword on lips of everyone in the industry. Pioneered by so-called “webscale” companies like Etsy and Amazon, DevOps is now something that is widespread across the enterprise market – it seems to be something everyone wants to do. There’s just one question: Just what is DevOps? Some people characterize it as refashioned agile development practices; others describe it as new supporting tooling
  
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• Werknemers van alle leeftijden dragen digitale transformatie

  15-12-2015 12:15
  In tegenstelling tot de heersende gedachte dat vooral millennials verantwoordelijk zijn voor digitalisering, dragen werknemers van alle leeftijden bij aan digitalisering van de organisatie waar zij werken. Nederlandse werknemers staan echter minder open voor het leren van nieuwe vaardigheden. Daarop duidt onderzoek in... lees meer
  
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• What security pros want for the new year

  15-12-2015 12:01
  
  It’s that time of year when we ask security executives in a variety of industries what they would like to include on their holiday wish lists.
  Some of the responses we received were in the realm of pure fantasy. For example, one security chief asked for technology tools that address all of the major security threats, don’t cost anything and have top-notch 7x24x365 support with response times inside 15 minutes!
  Most of the wishes submitted are a bit closer to reality, and some might
  
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• Tech companies give it up for charity

  15-12-2015 12:00
  
  Corporate giving is on the rise, and the tech industry is keeping pace. One big reason? It’s what the people want.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• An IT lesson from Anonymous: Even lawless groups need rules

  15-12-2015 12:00
  
  Anonymous’ global cyberwar on ISIS — which we recently noted has the potential for undercutting the terror group’s recruitment and fundraising efforts by making social media useless for it — has been running into some structural problems. Mostly, it involves volunteer supporters going off in different directions and thereby diluting the overall mission.
  But the problems that Anonymous has been having in its ISIS war offer some good lessons for enterprise IT. IT
  
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• IBM adds to Watson IoT arsenal with new APIs, 'experience centers'

  15-12-2015 10:00
  
  Strengthening its push into the Internet of Things, IBM is making a range of application programming interfaces (APIs) available through its Watson IoT unit and opening up new facilities for the group.The unit, formed earlier this year with a US$3 billion investment into IoT, will have its global headquarters in Munch, IBM announced Tuesday.IoT will soon be the largest source of data in the world but, IBM officials point out, almost 90 percent of that information is never acted on -- at least no
  
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• Fuel cell keeps drones in flight for hours, not minutes

  15-12-2015 09:05
  
  A British company says it may have a solution to one of the most frustrating issues of drone flying: short battery life.In tests, a DJI Matrice 100 drone fitted with a hydrogen fuel cell from Intelligent Energy was able to stay in flight for more than an hour -- significantly longer than the 20 minutes available with its standard battery.Hydrogen fuel cells convert hydrogen gas into electricity through a chemical process that has water vapor as its only by-product. The fresh fuel comes in c
  
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• Dell maneuvers toward EMC takeover with no rivals in sight

  15-12-2015 05:45
  
  It looks like the Dell-EMC wedding is on: EMC says it hasn't gotten any better proposals, and Dell reportedly is trying to shed Perot Systems to trim down for those photos.The companies announced their engagement in October, when Dell agreed to buy the massive storage, cloud virtualization and security company for about US$67 billion. That kicked off a "go-shop" period in which EMC asked for alternative bids to make sure it wasn't selling itself short. The period ended early Saturday morning wit
  
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• 6 sneak peaks that give you a taste of what CES will be all about

  15-12-2015 02:49
  
  With CES only a few weeks away, gadget makers are sending the usual flood of invites and meeting requests to try to drum up interest in their products. It's clear the big themes this year will be smart appliances for the home, drones, robotics, and all kinds of car tech, along with the usual monster TVs and gaming rigs.
  Here are six announcements we heard about that give you a taste of what to expect from this year's electronics orgy in the desert.Faraday FutureA teaser shot of Faraday Fut
  
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• Communication is a problem that can’t be fixed

  15-12-2015 02:47
  
  Have you started thinking about what you’re going to do with the coming new year? Most people in IT spend at least a little time reflecting on how they will best take advantage of the year ahead. Whether you have or not, I invite you to take a few seconds right now to think about what problems you’d like to solve and what opportunities you’d like to make the most of in the coming year.
  I’ll bet that one of the things that just crossed your mind was fixing “the comm
  
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• Sometimes you have to protect your customers

  15-12-2015 02:46
  
  As a security manager, I naturally feel a great responsibility to protect my company’s assets and employees, but I also have a responsibility to protect our customers. This came home to me recently with renewed force when I read a news article about a few customers of an online service company whose credentials were compromised after they were victims of a phishing attack. The attackers were then able to create some financial havoc by making unauthorized payments and stealing personal ide
  
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• Joomla patches critical remote execution bug

  15-12-2015 00:00
  The open-source project behind the widely used Joomla content management system has issued a patch for a vulnerability that is now being widely used by hackers.
  Sucuri, a company that specializes in securing websites, wrote on Monday that attackers have been trying exploit the flaw for the last two days.
  As of Monday, Sucuri said "the wave of attacks is even bigger, with basically every site and honeypot we have being attacked. That means that probably every other Joomla site out there is being
  
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