IT Executive news

• IDG Contributor Network: Keep your business relevant on social media

  15-01-2016 21:08
  
  Social media is driving our lives right now. You may say that is untrue, but I say you are in denial unless you are one of those emasculated men who share a Facebook account with your wife or you are part of the 1 percent who spends little to no time online. This is 2016 and Facebook has more than one billion daily active users. One billion. Daily. Active. Users. Amazing.When researching a business we go online first. And where online do we go? Facebook. Organizations have info about themselves
  
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• New job realities ahead for IT workers

  15-01-2016 21:07
  
  The change in IT hiring was illustrated this week by General Electric Co., which announced it is moving its headquarters from Fairfield County, Conn., to Boston. In doing so, Jeff Immelt, GE's CEO, said Greater Boston is home to 55 colleges and universities, and "attracts a diverse, technologically fluent workforce."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 moves to make your IT group more responsive to business demands

  15-01-2016 20:07
  
  There’s no denying the stakes have been raised for CIOs and IT groups. As I’ve previously blogged, speed is the new currency, and the ability to quickly respond to the business users’ requirements is paramount. Here are five actions you can take to turn your IT group into a powerhouse with great potential for success in meeting business demands in 2016.1. Look for the integrated services play
  An example is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering where you get the infrastructure
  
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• Read CIO's January 2016 Digital Magazine: State of the CIO

  15-01-2016 20:03
  
  Download the CIO January 2016 Digital Magazine.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Microsoft certifies new PCs with Windows 7 to ease enterprises onto Windows 10

  15-01-2016 19:36
  
  Businesses are rushing toward Windows 10 as fast as they can, but they simply need more time. To accommodate them, Microsoft is trying something different: creating a transitional list of PCs built on the latest Intel Skylake hardware, but certified to run the tried-and-true Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 operating systems for now.
  The program tacitly acknowledges that enterprises have a hardware budget they need to spend, and migrating a company from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 can lit
  
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• Test your Super Bowl picks with this new machine-learning prediction tool

  15-01-2016 19:28
  
  There's been no end in sight to the advance of machine learning into the world of enterprise software, but this week a new online tool debuted for the purpose of sheer fun: predicting the winner of the Super Bowl.Built on WS02's open-source Machine Learner technology for predictive data analysis, BigDataGame uses Apache Spark and random forest regression to compare teams and make predictions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Microsoft could give Windows on ARM another chance

  15-01-2016 19:01
  Microsoft may revive its efforts to run Windows on ARM-based processors with this year’s upcoming Redstone update.
  “Windows across all device categories is readying for the introduction of 64 bit computing with the ARM instruction set (ISA),” a new Microsoft job posting says.
  Responsibilities for the job include building a “plan for ARM64 aligned with the Redstone wave.” This refers to a major Windows 10 update that will arrive in two waves, one in June a
  
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• Automakers will collaborate to try to stop car hacks before they happen

  15-01-2016 18:25
  
  Major automakers plan to work with the U.S. government to try to deter hacks of connected cars before they become a major issue.To date, there haven't been any major cyberattacks on cars, but a number of security researchers demonstrated potentially serious attacks in 2015, and that has the government worried.So the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is hoping it can get the auto industry to mirror proactive safety work that already takes place in the aviation industry. The agreement h
  
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• It's server chip season for Intel

  15-01-2016 18:14
  
  When you post on Facebook or Twitter, watch a movie on Netflix, or play an online game, a server somewhere is powering it.Most of those servers today have central processing units from Intel. The chip maker is now preparing to release a plethora of server chips in the next three months.The highest-profile chips that will come later this quarter are the Xeon chips code-named Broadwell-EP for single- and dual-socket servers. The family of processors will be the latest in Intel's family of largest
  
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• Apple's Mac continues to buck PC industry's contraction trend

  15-01-2016 18:02
  
  While the personal computer business overall contracted another 8% to 11% in 2015, Apple continued to grow shipments of its Mac line, one of only two manufacturers in the top five to do so throughout the year, according to estimates from researchers IDC and Gartner.
  Global PC shipments during 2015 declined by 11%, said IDC, or 8% by Gartner's measurements. The difference in the two estimates stemmed from the ways each firm tallied shipments: IDC did not include so-called "2-in-1" devices, table
  
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• Here are the most malware-ridden cities in America

  15-01-2016 17:34
  Anti-virus firm Enigma Software has released a list of cities to avoid if you don’t want your PC to catch malware.
  Just kidding. There’s obviously no correlation between where you live and your risk of a computer infection. Still, some U.S. cities do appear to be far more malware-ridden than others in terms of infections per capita, according to Enigma’s analysis of more than 25 million infections across 150 cities.
  Little Rock Arkansas, for instance, saw infection rates that
  
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• Hyatt hackers hit payment processing systems, scooped cards used at 250 locations

  15-01-2016 16:48
  Hackers managed to compromise payment cards used at 250 Hyatt Hotels locations in around 50 countries after infecting the company's payment processing systems with malware.Hyatt announced the data breach back in December and launched an investigation. On Thursday, it published the full list of affected locations and the time interval during which the payment cards were exposed: Aug 13. to Dec. 8.Most of the potentially compromised cards were used at restaurants in the affected locations, bu
  
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• Bitcoin is a failed experiment, says major Bitcoin developer

  15-01-2016 16:40
  Fissures in the Bitcoin community appear to be turning to chasms, with one prominent developer abandoning the cryptocurrency for good.
  Mike Hearn, a longtime developer who often speaks about Bitcoin to the press and in presentations, wrote on Medium that he’s sold all his coins and will no longer participate in development.
  “What was meant to be a new, decentralised form of money that lacked ‘systemically important institutions’ and ‘too big to fail’ has beco
  
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• Apple moves its iAd platform to self-service model

  15-01-2016 16:32
  
  Apple's six-year effort to build a new advertising business that targets iOS users this week hit a major bump in the road. The company plans to abandon significant components of its iAd platform, and it will no longer sell or create mobile ads, according to a report on BuzzFeed.com. The company will also reportedly eliminate its iAd sales force, and replace it with an automated process and updated mobile ad platform that publishers can access directly. Publishers will also gain full rights
  
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• Acquisitions help IT service providers in India stay relevant

  15-01-2016 15:53
  
  India’s leading IT outsourcing companies made a significant number of acquisitions in 2015 in order to help them manage costs, increase automation, and protect market share in an increasingly difficult environment.From Infosys (notoriously averse to growth by acquisition) buying U.S.-based automation provider Panaya in February for $200 million to Wipro’s $130 million purchase of capital market’s business process as-a-service provider Viteos in December, it was a busy year for
  
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• Amazon Prime price slashed 25% this weekend to celebrate Golden Globe win

  15-01-2016 15:45
  This weekend Amazon is celebrating its Golden Globe wins for the series Mozart in the Junglewith a price drop on an annual Prime membership. Starting at 9 p.m. Pacific on Friday and lasting until 11:59 p.m. local time on Sunday, Amazon is selling an annual Prime subscription for $73—a $26 dollar price cut. Amazon raised the regular price of Prime subscriptions from $79 to $99 in early 2014.
  This is the second time Amazon has dropped the price for Prime memberships in recent months. In Sep
  
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• 6 quick tips to boost iPad Pro battery life

  15-01-2016 15:45
  
  I exactly can't prove it, because I haven't done any formal tests, but I'm fairly sure my iPad Pro battery drains more quickly than my previous iPad's batteries, even though Apple says all iPads get "up to 10 hours" of life. To make matters worse, the "Low Power Mode" in iOS 9 isn't available for iPad.To mitigate these challenges, I found a number of simple tweaks you can use to extend your iPad Pro's battery life.1. Turn on iPad Pro Auto-Brightness
  An obvious way to reduce drain on your iPad Pr
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The era of cognitive mobile and IoT is upon us

  15-01-2016 15:37
  
  Last week at CES, IBM’s CEO Ginni Rometty offered a few impressive examples about how partners like Under Armour or Softbank are leveraging IBM Watson in their mobile and wearable solutions. This announcement, represents one of the latest examples of how cognitive computing is transforming mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.Cognitive computing is one of the most exciting developments in software technology in the past few years. Conceptually, cognitive computing focuses on enabl
  
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• What’s next for patent trolls, and can the Supreme Court stop them?

  15-01-2016 15:13
  
  Apple and Samsung rang in the new year right where they ended last year, in federal court, resuming their years-long patent litigation over smartphones. On Tuesday, a federal appeals court expressed skepticism over several Apple claims, such as its “quick link” and “pinch-to-unlock” patents. But this week’s hearing was just a sidebar in a larger story. 
  In December, Samsung appealed to the Supreme Court to resolve a distinct and particularly interesting questi
  
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• OpenSSH patches information leak that could expose private SSH keys

  15-01-2016 15:13
  If you're connecting to servers over the secure shell (SSH) protocol using an OpenSSH client, you should update it immediately. The latest version patches a flaw that could allow rogue or compromised servers to read users' private authentication keys.The vulnerability stems from an experimental feature known as roaming that allows SSH connections to be resumed. This feature has been enabled by default in OpenSSH clients since version 5.4, released in March 2010, but is not present in the OpenSSH
  
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• State CIOs agenda targets cybersecurity

  15-01-2016 14:56
  
  The association representing state CIOs has an ambitious policy agenda in the nation's capital this year, when members and their advocates will be appealing to Congress for help in securing critical infrastructure and for relief from a thicket of federal regulations.At the top of the list is cybersecurity, perhaps unsurprising given that members of the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) ranked that issue at the top of their own set of operational priorities late last year.[ Related: Sta
  
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• Intel is rebuilding itself on three pillars—and the PC isn't one of them

  15-01-2016 14:43
  
  Intel isn’t really a PC company any more.
  No, the company hasn’t stopped making PC processors. But Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich said Thursday that Intel has three key areas of growth: the data center, the Internet of Things, and its emerging memory business. 
  Intel reported net income of $3.6 billion from the fourth quarter, down 1 percent from the same period in the prior year. Revenue was $14.9 billion, up 1 percent from the same period. As has been the case, Intel&rs
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 reasons most outsourcing projects fail

  15-01-2016 14:20
  
  Outsourcing is an integral part of today’s work culture. Companies across a wide range of sizes and industries are choosing to outsource some or all of their software development. As David Berry, CIO of Daymon says, outsourcing is no longer about saving money, but primarily about flexibility and getting to scale.While outsourcing has many benefits, it also brings some operational challenges. To get a better sense of the roadblocks that could derail an outsourced project, I interviewed peop
  
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• ServiceMax automates field service with the Internet of Things

  15-01-2016 14:15
  
  There are billions upon billions of machines that keep our world running today, from air conditioning to appliances, cable boxes and security systems, numerous devices in medical operating rooms and more. It takes an army to service these devices, but while the devices themselves grow more intelligent and automated, the systems used by service technicians has remained remarkably manual.
  "There're machines everywhere and there's this army of unsung heroes, more than 20 million of them around the
  
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• Google releases self-driving car performance report as U.S. proposes $4 billion in funding

  15-01-2016 14:05
  
  Driverless cars got a huge boost Thursday, when the Obama administration announced a $4 billion program meant to help the industry get more autonomous cars safely on the road.
  "We are on the cusp of a new era in automotive technology with enormous potential to save lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and transform mobility for the American people," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.Roadblocks in the path of driverless carsIn the past, I've been skeptical about the idea
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: iOS 9.3: Set up Touch ID and password protection for Notes

  15-01-2016 14:00
  
  iOS 9.3 brings with it a number of new features, including the ability to password protect your data in the Notes app. And you also have the option of using Touch ID instead of typing in your password each time your access your notes.In this how-to I'll show you how to set up a password for Notes and how to enable Touch ID.How to set up a password and Touch ID for Notes in iOS 9.3Here's how to set up a password for Notes in iOS 9.3:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click
  
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• IBM to tackle fraud with Iris Analytics

  15-01-2016 13:34
  IBM is going to apply machine learning to fraud busting with Iris Analytics.While that makes it sound as though it will be using Watson AI systems to identify fraudsters by gazing deep into their eyes, this is really about its acquisition of a German software firm called Iris Analytics.Iris monitors banking transactions and uses machine learning to spot previously unknown patterns of fraudulent transactions in real time. The system can work alone or in conjunction with human analysts, according
  
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• Xiaomi misses handset shipment goal, hit by dependence on slowing Chinese market

  15-01-2016 12:30
  Xiaomi said Friday it shipped over 70 million smartphones in 2015, short of an ambitious target it had announced last year, amid growing competition and high dependence on the Chinese market.The Chinese company had forecast last year that it would sell at least 80 million phones during the year. It had sold 34.7 million handsets during the first half of the year.Growth in smartphone sales is slowing down in China because of saturation of the market, said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartne
  
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• Review: The da Vinci 1.0 Pro 3D printer reaches for the higher end

  15-01-2016 12:30
  
  When XYZprinting unveiled its da Vinci 1.0 Professional 3D printer in September, it touted the fact that the printer could used third-party 1.75mm filaments and was positioned for "professional use."
  The printer also featured new software designed for users of all skill levels to print the more "complex, creative ideas."
  What's wonderful about XYZprinting's machines is they're some of the lowest priced 3D printers on the market. The Pro is no different as it retails for $699. At that price poin
  
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• Read this before you hand out an iPad Pro to anyone in the office

  15-01-2016 12:30
  
  Good things come in big packages, right?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• How to use Peach, a surprisingly addictive and confusing new social network

  15-01-2016 12:30
  There are two types of people: Those who’ve heard of Peach, and those who haven’t. There’s no real difference between the two groups, though, because figuring out how to use the new social app for iOS is confounding even those who raced to reserve their username on launch day. If you’re tired of Facebook and want to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing, using Peach is easy—once you figure out how. Let’s get started.What is Peach?Think of Peach&nbs
  
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• IT salaries, job market hit a speed bump

  15-01-2016 12:00
  
  Don't look now, but IT salaries are static and hiring is slowing, according to a survey of the job market.Management consulting firm Janco Associates and eJobDescription.com's 2016 IT Salary Survey found that salaries for IT professionals in North America had increased only 1.39 percent in the past 12 months, with demand for IT professionals waning. The increase in the previous year had been close to 3 percent.[ For more stories about IT jobs, check out "To new beginnings: Techies take a chance.
  
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• Het einde van Safe Harbour: wat nu?

  15-01-2016 09:51
  Door Tina Shah – Afgelopen oktober heeft het Europese Hof van Justitie bepaald dat de zogenaamde Safe Harbour-overeenkomst de privacy van Europese burgers niet langer voldoende beschermt. Gedurende de afgelopen 15 jaar is de overeenkomst door meer dan 4.000 bedrijven gebruikt om te kunnen garanderen dat ze... lees meer
  
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• Amazon has registered to provide ocean freight services

  15-01-2016 07:28
  
  A Chinese subsidiary of Amazon.com has registered to provide ocean freight services, a move that could help cut costs for Chinese companies looking to move products to U.S. markets, as well as give the retailer greater control over end-to-end delivery.A listing of "Ocean Transportation Intermediaries" by the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission states that a business named Beijing Century Joyo Courier Service Co. Ltd, with the trade names Amazon China, Amazon.CN and Amazon Global Logistics China, wa
  
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• Intel is trying to cut reliance on PCs

  15-01-2016 05:41
  Intel's goal for 2016 is simple: try to break its reliance on PCs.That's because the PC market isn't the money-spinner it once was for the chip maker. As desktop and laptop shipments fall, so also are Intel's overall chip shipments and revenue.To be sure, the Client Computing Group (CCG)-- which deals in PC and mobile chips -- remains Intel's largest business and generates the most revenue. But Intel is pivoting to adjacent growth markets such as data centers, the Internet of Things and memory,
  
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• Apple patents a Watch band that doubles as a case, a stand, and a Mac accessory

  15-01-2016 02:58
  
  Apple might be developing a new magnetic and multi-function Milanese Loop for the Apple Watch.
  According to a new document posted on the U.S. Patents & Trademark Office and first spotted by AppleInsider, Apple has filed a patent application for a new Apple Watch wristband that will double as a protective case, a stand, and a magnetic accessory that can attach to other devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Sony to sell Xperia Z5 and Compact in U.S. on Feb. 7

  15-01-2016 02:57
  
  Sony is signaling that it again wants to be a bigger player in smartphones, especially in the U.S., after announcing a partial retreat more than a year ago.
  Sony announced Thursday that its XperiaZ5 and Xperia Z5 Compact smartphones will go on sale unlocked in the U.S. starting Feb. 7. Thephones will be available at Amazon, Best Buy and other retailers for $600 and $500 respectively.
  The global smartphone market, and especially the U.S. market, is heavily dominated by Apple and Samsung. Sony, w
  
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• Survey says: Almost a third of U.S. consumers on Windows 10

  15-01-2016 02:52
  
  U.S. consumers have fallen for Windows 10, according to a just-published survey done for researcher IDC, with a larger fraction of those polled already running the OS than the predecessors, Windows 7 or Windows 8.
  About 30% of the survey's respondents who confirmed they had a Windows PC said they were running Windows 10, compared to approximately 27% who tapped Windows 8 and 28% who named Windows 7.
  And Windows 10's user satisfaction was impressively high: Of those who said they have the new op
  
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• Lumia 950, Lumia 950XL owners can claim a free year of Office 365

  15-01-2016 02:51
  
  Microsoft doubled down on productivity when designing the Lumia 950, and on Thursday, it threw more chips on the table: If you own either a 950 or a 950XL, chances are that you can get a free year of Office 365 Personal.
  Microsoft made the offer available to current owners of both phones, as well as those who plan to buy one in the future. Normally, a one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal costs $70. But if you live in the approved regions—the United States, the United Kingdom, Germ
  
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• The first fruits of Intel's biggest buy ever will come this quarter

  15-01-2016 00:55
  
  Intel welcomed employees from its massive Altera acquisition this week, and the first products from the deal will come out this quarter.The chipmaker poured out $16.7 billion [B] to buy Altera, which makes FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), or chips that can be reprogrammed for specific tasks. The first chip that combines Intel and Altera technology will go into servers, cars, robots, the Internet of Things, automation equipment and other products, Intel says.Intel will start shipping its f
  
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• Hello, Computer: Just what was that computer Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry used?

  15-01-2016 00:30
  
  His vision of the future inspired legions of engineers, nerds and techies as well as Bluetooth headsets, the iPad, Siri and cell phones.
  But what kind of techie was the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in real life? Or more specifically, what kind of computer did the man use? 
  These questions all bubbled up when Gene Roddenberry’s long-lost floppy disks surfaced. The disks, all artifacts in themselves, were salvaged, but information on the actual computer he used to creat
  
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