IT Executive news

• Report: Bank of America and Wells Fargo exploring Apple Pay ATMs

  28-01-2016 23:50
  As the Wu-Tang Clan wisely pointed out, cash rules everything around me, and if a report from TechCrunch is correct, Apple Pay will someday be my ticket to withdrawing real legal tender from an NFC-equipped ATM.
  TechCrunch reports that representatives of Bank of America and Wells Fargo admit they’re working on adding NFC to ATMs, to let users “authenticate and complete transactions.” Wells Fargo says it’s first working on connecting its ATMs to Android Pay, but “th
  
  Read more

• Microsoft's revenue falls, but cloud remains a bright spot

  28-01-2016 23:25
  
  Microsoft is betting on reinventing itself as a cloud company, and the financial results it released Thursday show that its push is paying off despite an overall decline in revenue. Azure revenue rose 127 percent from a year earlier, and sales of Azure Premium Services like Machine Learning were three times higher during the last quarter of 2015 than in the same period of 2014. (Not counting the effects of currency exchange rates.) The company also bragged that more than one-third of the Fo
  
  Read more

• Amazon's cloud is flying high, but profits disappoint overall

  28-01-2016 23:02
  Profits from Amazon's cloud division jumped 69 percent last quarter, but the rest of its business fared less well.Amazon Web Services generated an operating profit of $687 million in the three months to Dec. 31, on sales of $2.4 billion, Amazon said Thursday. That was up from $240 million in profit and sales of $1.4 billion the year before.AmazonAmazon started breaking out its cloud numbers last year and it's proved to be the most profitable part of its business. Operating margins were 29 percen
  
  Read more

• Amazon's cloud is flying high, but profit disappoints overall

  28-01-2016 23:02
  Profits from Amazon's cloud division jumped 69 percent last quarter, but the rest of its business fared less well.Amazon Web Services generated an operating profit of $687 million in the three months to Dec. 31, on sales of $2.4 billion, Amazon said Thursday. That was up from $240 million in profit and sales of $1.4 billion a year earlier.Amazon started breaking out its cloud numbers last year and it's proved to be the most profitable part of its business. Operating margins at AWS were 29 percen
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Facebook masters mobile, carrying company to record earnings

  28-01-2016 22:01
  
  Facebook's efforts to figure out how users want to connect when they're on the move is paying off.
  According to the social network's latest earnings report released Wednesday, mobile is carrying the company, pushing it to record fourth-quarter results.
  Investors were pleased, and the stock price surged 15.5%, closing Thursday at $109.11 a share.
  It's an impressive pivot for Facebook, which a few years ago struggled to figure out its mobile strategy and listed it as its biggest challenge. In 201
  
  Read more

• Verizon to let SMBs buy smartphones on the installment plan

  28-01-2016 21:44
  
  Verizon announced Thursday that small business customers can now take advantage of monthly payment plans for new smartphones and other devices, avoiding a big cash outlay upfront.
  The new installment plans for businesses are interest-free, spread over 24 months and mimic what Verizon already offers to consumers, Verizon said in a statement.
  Monthly payments for smartphones have been adopted by many carriers partly as a way to ease the cost of upgrades borne by buyers as carriers and smartphone
  
  Read more

• 8 ways IBM Watson Analytics is transforming business

  28-01-2016 21:35
  
  8 ways IBM Watson Analytics is transforming businessImage by ThinkstockIBM says Watson represents a new era of computing — a step forward to cognitive computing, where apps and systems interact with humans via natural language and help us augment our own understanding of the world with big data insights.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• Apple steps back in time to patch OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

  28-01-2016 20:50
  
  Apple yesterday took a trip back in time when it offered an update for OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, an edition it last patched in September 2013.
  The "Mac App Store Update for OS X Snow Leopard" -- quite a mouthful, even for Apple's naming conventions -- was issued Wednesday so that 10.6 users could continue to access the Mac Apple Store, the apps available there, and most importantly, the upgrade to OS X 10.11, or El Capitan.
  Included in the update was a renewed digital certificate required by
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• What’s next? 2016 priorities for high-performing CIOs

  28-01-2016 20:40
  
  In the new year, many CIOs may find themselves at a critical juncture. They can either build themselves into successful business leaders or they can risk being relegated to second tier “care and maintenance” roles in which they will provide technology support for the strategies and goals of others.Khalid Kark.Based upon hundreds of conversations we’ve had with CIOs over the past 12 months, it is clear which path high-performing IT leaders will take in 2016. We predict CIOs will
  
  Read more

• Data destruction 101: There's more to it than wiping your drive [Infographic]

  28-01-2016 19:50
  
  In 2009, a team of journalists who were investigating the electronic waste, purchased a computer in a Ghana market that was found to contain "sensitive documents belonging to U.S. government contractor Northrop Grumman," wrote Robert McMillan in a story at the time. "Northrop Grumman is not sure how the drive ended up in a Ghana market, but apparently the company had hired an outside vendor to dispose of the PC."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story
  
  Read more

• Interest in smartphones is flattening

  28-01-2016 19:42
  
  Both Apple and Samsung this week predicted slow growth for smartphone and mobile phone sales in early 2016, making investors queasy.
  Apple's stock dropped 6.5% at Wednesday's market close after CEO Tim Cook told investors he expects iPhone unit sales to decline for the current quarter compared to a year ago. Apple's iPhones make up the majority of its revenues. Trading in Apple was flat this morning.
  Samsung's stock also dropped by 2.5% late in the day of Thursday trading after the South Korean
  
  Read more

• U.S. carriers stay tight-lipped on LTE-U deployments

  28-01-2016 19:35
  
  America’s big four wireless service providers are enthusiastic about the prospect of delivering data over unlicensed frequencies via LTE-U, but they’re playing their cards very close to their chests when it comes to specific plans.
  LTE-U, which is a wireless protocol designed to let carriers use their LTE signals over the same unlicensed frequencies as Wi-Fi, is a controversial technology. Advocates, which include the wireless carriers, insist that coexistence features built into th
  
  Read more

• Increasingly popular update technique for iOS apps puts users at risk

  28-01-2016 19:17
  An increasing number of iOS application developers use a technique that allows them to remotely modify the code in their apps without going through Apple's normal review process, potentially opening the door to abuse and security risks for users.The technique is a variation of hot patching, which is a way of dynamically updating a system or application without restarting it. In this case, an iOS application is updated without the developer having to submit a new version to the official iOS app s
  
  Read more

• Passwords continue to be a security problem

  28-01-2016 19:15
  
  Ten CISOs from across industries have predicted that the days are numbered for the password as the sole authentication method. They see enterprises moving to augment or supplant the traditional password with advanced technologies, such as biometrics.
  Security Current, an information and collaboration company, talked with various CISOs to find that they agree that passwords are inherently flawed because they depend on users to create and remember complex sequences of letters, numbers and charact
  
  Read more

• 4 key marketing automation features Marketo lacks

  28-01-2016 19:13
  
  Marketo, the popular marketing automation software maker, has a loyal user base of more than 4,300 customers, and many marketers swear by the platform. (Read, "The 7 best marketing automation features in Marketo" for details.) However, it's not perfect, and we spoke to a handful of customers who shared their personal wish lists for new Marketo capabilities. We also asked Marketo for a response to each suggestion.1. Marketo lacks content creation tools
  Many marketers use other software tools in a
  
  Read more

• Google will mark non-encrypted websites with a scarlet letter

  28-01-2016 18:59
  Google Chrome users may now enable a mark of shame when visiting websites that don’t use HTTPS encryption.
  As Motherboard reports, these sites will have a red “X” and gray padlock icon next on the left side of the address bar. Google currently uses this icon to flag instances where encryption doesn’t work properly, but may also expand it to unencrypted HTTP sites.
  For now, the icon is available as an optional flag in Chrome. Users can enable it by visiting chrome://flags
  
  Read more

• The 7 best marketing automation features in Marketo

  28-01-2016 18:55
  
  Marketing automation software maker Marketo recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.With 4,300 customers, it is among the most widely used marketing tech platforms. Its integration with other SaaS providers via its 550-partner LaunchPoint ecosystem makes Marketo an invaluable tool for many modern marketers.However, Marketo is packed with features and functionality, and the average user isn't likely familiar with them all. To help you find some of these advanced capabilities, we asked digital ma
  
  Read more

• Real estate firm CIO moves on amid shifts to shared services

  28-01-2016 18:03
  
  Colliers International CIO Durgesh Sharma has left the commercial real estate firm, joining long-time CEO Doug Frye and other senior managers who have also moved on since parent company FirstService spun it off last April."The new leadership has gone in a different direction," says Sharma, who spent more than seven years at Colliers. "I've got no regrets or complaints about them."Colliers International former CIO Durgesh Sharma.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click her
  
  Read more

• Verizon told to remove huge Super Bowl ad in San Francisco

  28-01-2016 17:48
  
  Verizon has been told it must remove huge ads that are blanketing two sides of a building in downtown San Francisco a stone's throw from the city's Super Bowl celebration.The company, which has a deal with the NFL to stream games to smartphones, has been told the ads run afoul of a city ordinance that dates back more than 50 years regulating advertisements in San Francisco to "promote the public health, safety and welfare by reducing visual distractions to pedestrians and motorists," according t
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Why I'm replacing my son’s Nexus 6 with iPad Mini

  28-01-2016 17:45
  
  I am a heavy Linux user, but lately I find myself getting even deeper into the iOS world. My wife was shocked when I gifted her the iPhone 6S on Christmas. Her shock was justified. She was a Mac user before I converted her to Linux. And she has been a full-time Android and Chrome OS user until now.
  The migration from Android to iOS in my household doesn’t stop there. I am soon going to replace my 4-year-old son’s Nexus 6, which he uses to watch Handy Manny and Octonauts, with an iPa
  
  Read more

• Get set for a choice of flagship smartphones with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 chip

  28-01-2016 17:43
  
  Smartphones will get 4K video playback and unprecedented wireless speeds with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 820, and users who want these high-end features should get ready for flagship handsets with that chip to be announced soon.Many such smartphones with Snapdragon 820 will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress trade show in early March, said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, on an earnings call on late Wednesday.One of the highest-profile smartphones with the Snapdragon 820 could be Samsung'
  
  Read more

• Circuit City stores are coming back in 2016

  28-01-2016 17:39
  Seven years after its physical incarnation died out, electronics retailer Circuit City is ready to be reborn in 2016. New owners acquired the brand, domain name, and trademarks in October and are cooking up some big plans for Circuit City’s return, according to consumer electronics news site Twice.
  The new Circuit City is expected to debut in June with its first store in Dallas, Texas. Don’t expect the big box stores of old, however. Circuit City will roll out as smaller retail
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Is Wall Street too stupid to understand Apple and the iPhone?

  28-01-2016 17:23
  Apple recently released its latest earnings report, and the Web was immediately flooded with click-bait headlines about iPhone sales being in decline, etc. If you went by the headlines and Wall Street analyst comments, you'd think that the iPhone was a dead product and that Apple as a company is doomed (for the umpteenth million time).But isn't it really just a case of Wall Street not understanding Apple and the iPhone? This question came up on a recent thread in the Apple subreddit, and reddito
  
  Read more

• 3 misconceptions small business have about the cloud

  28-01-2016 16:36
  
  Starting a small business, or trying to grow it is a daunting affair. Thankfully, cloud services have sprung up to help business owners better leverage technology.However, the cloud can be confusing and surrounded by myths and misinformation. With this in mind, we take a closer look at some of those common misconceptions, specifically in the context of using the cloud to host websites, email services and online file storage.1. Distrusting the security of the cloud
  An age-old concern with cloud s
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: OwnCloud passes 8 million users

  28-01-2016 16:25
  
  The humble open source project that started in Germany has grew tremendously in the last few years. Yesterday, ownCloud announced that they estimate the number of users has exceeded the 8 million mark. In addition, the company achieved 100% year-over-year growth in 2015 and is on track to double these numbers again in 2016.
  When I asked ownCloud community manager Jos Poortvliet about the basis of the user count, he told me that, unlike Android, iOS or Windows, there is no tracking mechanis
  
  Read more

• EU Commissioner: Please ask me to investigate Google’s tax affairs

  28-01-2016 15:02
  The European Union's top antitrust regulator is looking for an excuse to investigate Google's controversial deal with U.K. tax authorities -- and a Scottish legislator is ready to give her one.Google's dominance of the search and online advertising market has brought it plenty of attention from the European Commission's competition directorate, but the company has until now avoided becoming embroiled in the Commission's investigation into the way companies move their profits to the countries tha
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Six CIO rethinks

  28-01-2016 14:56
  
  2016 brings many CIOs to a fork in the road when they must make major decisions regarding the direction they will take to evolve their IT organization to better address business demands. The decisions are all about speed, and quickly responding to the business and its requirements is paramount. Here are six important areas where you’ll need to rethink how to evolve your team and accommodate the realities of the new business world.1. Rethink IT governance
  In today’s business world, th
  
  Read more

• 7 things small businesses need to know about Windows 10

  28-01-2016 14:48
  
  Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that more than 200 million devices (PCs, phones and tablets) were now running Windows 10. Many of those 200 million devices belong to business users, who upgraded to Windows 10 (in many cases for free). And while Microsoft’s latest operating system touts many benefits for small business users, such as improved security, Windows 10 may not be right – or right for right now – for every small business. So before you consider upgrading or rol
  
  Read more

• 6 key questions to ask before you buy a new TV

  28-01-2016 14:41
  
  If you're planning to upgrade your TV, but just haven't had the right motivation, the upcoming Super Bowl could be just what you need to inspire a purchase. A big, bright, and crisp picture with a wide viewing angle, and sound so clear you hear all the hits and the grunts can make the big afternoon even better.Television aren't the most expensive electronics, nor are they the most complicated. However, selecting the right TV is an art, and you want to make sure to choose a set that delivers the
  
  Read more

• Why the ad industry will never win the war on ad blockers

  28-01-2016 14:00
  
  PALM DESERT, Calif. — A "flamboyance," or a large group, of pink flamingos this week greeted guests as they approached the Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB) Annual Leadership Meeting, an industry event for marketers, publishers and ad tech providers. The resort's bucolic grounds and peaceful surroundings, however, was more like a mirage than an appropriate backdrop for the battle cry the group used to kick off the event.President and CEO of IAB Randall Rothenberg delivered a fiery ope
  
  Read more

• How Apple's new speed bump could make it a stronger company

  28-01-2016 13:51
  
  By the time the markets closed on Wednesday, Apple had lost about $37 billion of its market cap. It’s a big number, but one that was totally expected; despite setting another quarterly record for revenue, income and iPhone sales, its outlook for the second quarter was uncharacteristically weak, and investors are preparing for the unthinkable: the first ever period of non-growth for the iPhone.
  It was bound to happen. Nothing grows forever—particularly something that has gotten so bi
  
  Read more

• Mingis on Tech: Retailers embrace technology to save their bacon

  28-01-2016 13:09
  
  If one thing was clear from the National Retail Federation's Big Show this year, it's this: Retailers are rushing to figure out how to use technology to keep their doors open.
  Executive News Editor Ken Mingis talks with Sharon Gaudin (who attended the Big Show in New York City for Computerworld) and Keith Shaw about just what's coming. In the not to distant future -- say, around 2025 -- you may well walk into a store and be greeted by a salesperson who already knows what you're interested in. O
  
  Read more

• How to measure the success of enterprise mobile apps

  28-01-2016 12:51
  
  Got a mobile app? If you're not using key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of those apps — and your investment in them— your company could be falling behind. That's the message from Red Hat 2015 Mobile Maturity Survey, which surveyed IT decision makers from 200 private sector companies with at least 2,500 employees based in the U.S. and Western Europe. They found that almost everyone was using this key data to see how their mobile apps are doing. "The us
  
  Read more

• Credit card security has no silver bullet

  28-01-2016 12:49
  
  The fight to curb credit card cybercrime might seem a bit like trying to force the air out of a sealed balloon: Squeeze it in one place, and it simply bulges out in another.
  That is the image suggested by multiple predictions that, as the shift to EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) technology makes in-person, point-of-sale (POS) transactions more secure, criminals are shifting the bulk of their attacks to online, or card-not-present (CNP) transactions.
  Indeed, Javelin Strategy & Research predi
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: 3 reasons why healthcare CIOs love wearables

  28-01-2016 12:42
  
  They’re the gift that keeps on giving – wearables.  Healthcare CIOs have to love wearables.  I know what you’re thinking.  What value do consumer products have to my healthcare provider organization?  They aren’t accurate, they aren’t FDA approved, and none of my caregivers use them.  Why would I love wearables?  How can they be a gift to the owner of a highly regulated, complex, multi-functional caregiving organization?
  Let me ask you
  
  Read more

• 3 reasons why healthcare CIOs love wearables

  28-01-2016 12:42
  
  They’re the gift that keeps on giving – wearables.  Healthcare CIOs have to love wearables.  I know what you’re thinking.  What value do consumer products have to my healthcare provider organization?  They aren’t accurate, they aren’t FDA approved, and none of my caregivers use them.  Why would I love wearables?  How can they be a gift to the owner of a highly regulated, complex, multi-functional caregiving organization?Let me ask you t
  
  Read more

• Chat happens: Your guide to 8 group-chat services

  28-01-2016 12:30
  
  Everyone knows the secret to success – personal and business alike – is good communication. But in what form? If you're trying to communicate with a group in real time, you're no doubt familiar with the old standby: conference calls. You know: those mind-numbing phone meetings in which talkers overlap, voice quality is terrible, half the people aren't paying attention and somebody's dog barks intermittently throughout the call.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, plea
  
  Read more

• 5 ways to kickstart your infosec job search in 2016

  28-01-2016 12:13
  
  You’re questioning your job—the company, your responsibilities, your salary and more—but is it time to move on?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• 13 frameworks for mastering machine learning

  28-01-2016 12:00
  
  13 frameworks for mastering machine learningImage by W.Rebel via WikimediaOver the past year, machine learning has gone mainstream in an unprecedented way. The trend isn't fueled by cheap cloud environments and ever more powerful GPU hardware alone; it’s also the explosion of frameworks now available for machine learning. All are open source, but even more important is how they are being designed to abstract away the hardest parts of machine learning, and make its techniques available to a
  
  Read more

• Oracle is planning to kill an attacker's favorite: The Java browser plug-in

  28-01-2016 11:54
  
  Oracle will retire the Java browser plug-in, frequently the target of Web-based exploits, about a year from now. Remnants, however, will likely linger long after that.
  "Oracle plans to deprecate the Java browser plugin in JDK 9," the Java Platform Group said in a blog post Wednesday. "This technology will be removed from the Oracle JDK and JRE in a future Java SE release."
  The Java Development Kit (JDK) 9, the reference implementation for the next version of Java SE, is expected to reach genera
  
  Read more

• IT en marketing groeien naar elkaar toe

  28-01-2016 10:22
  Het afgelopen jaar was er aanzienlijk meer vraag naar mensen die werken op het snijvlak van IT en marketing, zoals web developers, user interface designers, en crm consultants: het aantal vacatures in die categorieën steeg met 30% tot 19.000. Dit is een gevolg van het toenemende belang van IT in alle aspecten van... lees meer
  
  Read more

• Smartphone growth at lowest on concerns about global economy, saturation in China

  28-01-2016 06:07
  
  Smartphone shipment growth was at its lowest ever in the fourth quarter of 2015 on account of the maturity of major markets like China and consumer concerns about the global economy, according to a research firm.Samsung Electronics held on to its top position, posting its fastest growth in close to two years, and is expected to consolidate its leading position in the smartphone market with its rumored new Galaxy S7 flagship phone, said Strategy Analytics late Wednesday.Apple's iPhone growth, in
  
  Read more

• Google's VirusTotal now picks out suspicious firmware

  28-01-2016 05:37
  
  Google's VirusTotal service has added a new tool that analyzes firmware, the low-level code that bridges a computer's hardware and operating system at startup.Advanced attackers, including the U.S. National Security Agency, have targeted firmware as a place to embed malware since it's a great place to hide. Since antivirus programs "are not scanning this layer, the compromise can fly under the radar," wrote Francisco Santos, an IT security engineer with VirusTotal, in a blog post on We
  
  Read more

• Verizon is building for the Super Bowl and staying for the boom

  28-01-2016 03:32
  
  Mobile use is growing so fast that cells added for a big event like the Super Bowl are now worth keeping just for daily life.Verizon Wireless is installing nearly 100 cells to make sure its network can handle the crush of a million or more fans around this year's big game in the San Francisco Bay Area. Almost all will stay up after the game's over.The volume of phone calls, selfies, social media posts and videos spikes around an event like the Super Bowl. Verizon expects its traffic to double ne
  
  Read more

• Apple is in a position to overtake Samsung as world's top chip buyer

  28-01-2016 03:25
  
  One indicator of healthy mobile device or PC sales is the amount of money a company spends on chips that go into those devices.So it should come as no surprise that Apple was the world's second largest chip buyer last year, spending over US$29 billion, up by 7.1 percent compared to 2014, according to a study released by Gartner on Wednesday.Apple is now in a position to reclaim its position as the top chip buyer from Samsung, which spent $29.87 billion last year, a 3.6 percent decline.A lot of t
  
  Read more

• Outlook for iOS gets a calendar widget as Sunrise's sunset looms

  28-01-2016 02:44
  
  Microsoft quietly updated Outlook for iOS on Wednesday, with support for a calendar widget that makes it easy to see your schedule at a glance.  Using the widget, users can pull down on their iPhone or iPad's Notification Center, and get a quick look at the remaining events in their calendar for a given day, in the order they'll occur. The widget looks nearly identical to the one in the Sunrise calendar app, which Microsoft acquired last year as part of a string of deals aimed at impro
  
  Read more

• VMware, Cisco SDNs bring home the bacon

  28-01-2016 02:25
  
  In the scramble for SDN supremacy, Cisco and VMware usually bark about users who opt for one of their solutions over the other.
  In all the noise, it’s rare to hear from one that plans to implement both.
  But that’s what SugarCreek, a $650 million, privately-held food processing and packing company based in Washington Court House, OH, is doing in its software-defined data centers (SDDC). VMware’s NSX network virtualization software will be used to secure and automate the VMware-
  
  Read more

• Enterprises eye a fast switch to Windows 10

  28-01-2016 02:24
  
  Enterprise interest in Windows 10, getting onto it and off Windows 7, is at an unprecedented level, research firm Gartner said today.
  Although in virtually all cases tha interest has not yet translated into actual deployments, it signals a faster move to the new OS than for past editions, including Windows 7, Gartner analyst Steve Kleynhans contended in an interview.
  "The level of interest expressed by our customer base, the type of questions they asking, indicates a much more rapid shift to Wi
  
  Read more

• Samsung profit plummets on weak smartphone sales

  28-01-2016 02:21
  
  Weak demand for mobile phones and display panels pushed down Samsung's profits last quarter, and the company doesn't expect much improvement this year.Revenue for the fourth quarter was 53.3 trillion won (US$45.5 billion), up just 1 percent from a year earlier, Samsung announced Thursday in Seoul. Net profit plummeted 40 percent to 3.2 trillion won.A day earlier, Samsung's biggest rival, Apple, said it too was seeing weaker than expected demand for handsets. The Cupertino company reported i
  
  Read more

• FCC to take aim at outrageous cable-box costs

  28-01-2016 01:15
  
  Cable TV subscribers could get some relief from expensive set-top-box rental fees under a proposal from federal regulators.
  The proposal, from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, would put traditional pay TV programming on a wider range of devices and apps, the Wall Street Journal reports. For instance, companies like Google and Roku could offer their own boxes that integrate cable television with Internet programming.
  The Journal’s story doesn’t explain how this
  
  Read more

Follow @ITExecutiveNews on Twitter!