IT Executive news

• Alexa voice commands can now be spoken into Amazon's smaller Echo Dot

  03-03-2016 23:41
  
  Amazon on Thursday announced a sleek new hockey-puck shaped, Alexa voice-controlled device called Echo Dot, a smaller $89.99 version of the larger, more expensive Echo tower.
  The tower was first introduced in November 2014.
  Both the Echo and the Echo Dot are promoted as being able to easily control lights, music and other functions in a home or small office via Alexa voice commands.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• HP hopes its 3D printers will drive the 'next industrial revolution'

  03-03-2016 22:26
  
  HP wants to drive the "next industrial revolution" and spark a change in the way products are manufactured with its new 3D printers.The company's first 3D printers will ship later this year, said Cathie Lesjak, chief financial officer for HP, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week.HP first announced 3D printers in 2014, and is now preparing for the big launch. HP is looking to hire materials experts, mechanical engineers, managers and sales people
  
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• VMware CEO Gelsinger talks exec changes, Dell deal and his big security focus

  03-03-2016 22:20
  
  At this week’s RSA Conference, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger is positioning the company’s NSX network virtualization product as a tool for encrypting data in flight and at rest, in the public cloud or on premises.
  It’s an attempt to showcase NSX – one of the two major network virtualization platforms on the market along with Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) – as not just enabling software-defined networking (SDN), but being a serious security tool
  
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• SSD prices plummet again, close in on HDDs

  03-03-2016 22:19
  
  The price computer makers paid for solid-state drives (SSDs) dropped by as much as 12% over the last quarter, and the most popular drives are now within striking distance of their hard disk drive (HDD) counterparts.
  In the first quarter of this year, MLC-based and TLC-based SSDs respectively saw price declines of 10%-to-12% and 7%-to-12%, respectively, according to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce.
  A 128GB SSD now retails between $38 and about $49 (Amazon price). A 250GB SSD runs anywhere
  
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• This new wireless tech lets monkeys control a wheelchair using just their thoughts

  03-03-2016 22:10
  
  New wireless technology makes it possible for monkeys to control a robotic wheelchair using just their thoughts, without the need for EEG electrodes on the scalp or wires connecting to an external computer.Developed by neuroscientists at Duke University, the new brain-machine interface relies instead on hair-thin microfilaments implanted in two regions of the monkeys' brains. Using those microfilaments, the wireless BMI -- a device that gets affixed to the monkey's head -- simultaneously records
  
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• Mozilla brings WebVR closer to reality

  03-03-2016 21:32
  
  Mozilla is offering this week the 1.0 release of its WebVR API proposal for displaying virtual reality content in the browser.
  The proposal features interfaces to VR hardware like sensors and head-mounted displays, aiding developers in building VR experiences, according to the editor's draft of WebVR. "Recent VR technology advances and community feedback have allowed us to improve the API to address developer needs," said Mozilla's Casey Yee, a virtual reality designer and developer, in a blog
  
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• IBM’s one-month severance offer means a bitter end, say laid-off workers

  03-03-2016 21:29
  
  IBM has been a bellwether employer that has often embraced workplace trends, sometimes good, sometimes ominous.
  It was, for instance, an early adopter of equality measures and same-sex benefits. It also became a leader in globalizing its workforce, hiring aggressively overseas as it reduced its U.S. headcount.
  IBM may be starting new trend: Reduced severance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Facebook's new Live Video could wreak havoc on your data plan

  03-03-2016 21:08
  
  Live video can be really compelling, and Facebook is making it easier than ever to watch live content on your smartphone or tablet. The social network said this week that it plans to bump up live videos to the top of users' news feeds with its new Live Video feature, which lets people broadcast live video via Facebook.But there's something you need to keep in mind. If you don't have an unlimited data plan, that live video could burn through your monthly allotment quickly, unless you only wa
  
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• Good security begins with the endpoint in mind

  03-03-2016 21:00
  
  Let's begin today with a quick quiz: What percentage of the PCs in your business or organization have all of the required patches for the operating system and application software? I'll bet you are tempted to say 100%, since you probably assume that your workstations are set to get updates automatically.
  Here is an easier question: Does YOUR workstation have all of the available patches? If you are like most, the answer to either question is no. 
  I have performed security assessments for a
  
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• US says cyber battle against ISIS will 'black these guys out'

  03-03-2016 20:06
  
  The U.S. is aggressively targeting ISIS in cyberspace, attempting to halt the group's ability to communicate electronically, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said Thursday.
  His comments build on those from earlier this week when, for the first time, the Department of Defense admitted to an active offensive cyberspace mission.
  "There is no reason why these guys ought to be able to command and control their forces," Carter said Thursday morning at a Microsoft-sponsored event in Seattle.
  Drawing a
  
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• Carter says cyber battle against ISIS will 'black these guys out'

  03-03-2016 20:06
  
  The U.S. is aggressively targeting ISIS in cyberspace, attempting to halt the group's ability to communicate electronically, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said Thursday.His comments build on those from earlier this week when, for the first time, the Department of Defense admitted to an active offensive cyberspace mission."There is no reason why these guys ought to be able to command and control their forces," Carter said Thursday morning at a Microsoft-sponsored event in Seattle.Drawing a para
  
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• VS goedkoopste locatie voor public cloud services

  03-03-2016 20:02
  Prijzen van publieke clouddiensten zijn in de VS het meest concurrerend. Europese afnemers betalen gemiddeld tussen 7% en 19% meer voor dezelfde diensten. Sinds oktober is er wereldwijd een prijsdaling van 6% te zien, maar niet alle diensten dalen even snel. Dat zegt 451 Research naar aanleiding van de publicatie van... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The pipe dream of 80% resource availability

  03-03-2016 19:11
  
  Project success today is threatened by the fallacy of 80 percent resource availability for project work. A look at your typical employee’s calendar, full of recurring meetings, would prove that assumption wrong. Yet this erroneous assumption still persists. The net is that we are being overworked. Studies show that personal productivity rates fall dramatically when an employee works over 40 hours per week for a long period of time. It doesn’t have to be this way. Leveraging the data
  
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• Five things you need to know about AI: Cognitive and neural and deep, oh my!

  03-03-2016 18:55
  
  There's never any shortage of buzzwords in the IT world, but when it comes to AI, they can be hard to tell apart. There's artificial intelligence, but then there's also machine intelligence. There's machine learning, but there's also deep learning. What's the difference? Here are five things you need to understand.1. AI is basically an umbrella term for it allArtificial intelligence refers to "a broad set of methods, algorithms and technologies that make software 'smart' in a way that may seem h
  
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• RSA: Verizon details data breaches from pirates to pwned water district

  03-03-2016 17:58
  
  In one case pirates – actual pirates – boarded cargo ships armed with a list of which shipping containers contained jewelry and went straight to them, stole the gems and left.
  In another, attackers took control of the mainframe at a water district, mixed sewage with the drinking water, boosted the chlorine to dangerous levels and stole customer information.
  These are two of 18 representative case studies in Verizon’s new Data Breach Digest, a compendium of anonymized customer
  
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• HP wearable effort turns serious as new Titan smartwatches go on sale

  03-03-2016 17:46
  
  Is the consumer wearables market just a sideline for HP, as the company has claimed? As new smartwatches -- like Titan's Juxt -- keep rolling out, that doesn't seem to be the case.
  Two new Titan Juxt smartwatches now on sale are built on HP technology. The US$250 Juxt Stainless and $285 Juxt Titanium look like analog smartwatches, but have black-and-white OLED screens that serve up digital features.
  The watches can show calendar alerts or text, call and social media notifications. The devices c
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Apple uncripples the Apple Pencil in iOS 9.3 beta 5

  03-03-2016 17:45
  
  Apple has gotten lots of criticism for removing iOS navigation functionality from the Apple Pencil in one of its last betas for iOS 9.3. Thankfully, the company has listened to its user base and wisely restored the Apple Pencil's ability to navigate iOS in beta 5.Neil Hughes reports for Apple Insider:
  As promised, beta testers can once again use the Apple Pencil to navigate on iPad Pro with the latest build of iOS 9.3, with functionality restored before the software is released to the public.The
  
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• Billboards can track your location, and privacy advocates don't like it

  03-03-2016 17:26
  
  The next time you see a billboard on the side of the road, it may also be scanning you.
  A geolocation-tracking feature on billboards owned by Clear Channel Outdoor gives the company new ways to target advertising and measure its effectiveness. The service has caught the eye of privacy advocates, who worry that the so-called Radar tracker will be able to collect massive amounts of information from smartphones in cars driving past.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click he
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How the Linux Foundation is increasing the woman force in open source

  03-03-2016 17:14
  
  I have been attending LinuxCon since 2009 and since last year they have started a ‘childcare’ at the event so moms and dads can drop their kids there and attend the events. The Linux Foundation is now partnering with Women Who Code to increase participation of women in the foundation’s events.
  “Increasing diversity in technology takes more than one approach. From our partnership with Goodwill to support people from disadvantaged backgrounds to our work with Women Who Cod
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: CIO decisions enabling strategic IT innovation

  03-03-2016 16:16
  
  When CIO Sam Esfahani took over the reins of the IT environment at PSCU Financial Services with a mandate from the executive team to turn the organization into an innovation powerhouse, it wasn’t just a matter of orchestrating process change and directing wise technology investments and implementations. As is the case with many new things bearing the warning “some assembly required,” he had to make decisions about identifying new areas where the company could grow by innovating
  
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• CEOs force CIOs, CMOs into digital transformation bunker

  03-03-2016 15:58
  
  Healthy tensions between CIOs and CMOs are very much alive, with the former building hardy IT systems and the latter rapidly acquiring new marketing technology. But IT and marketing are going to have to work more closely together if they are going to deliver on the digital transformations their CEOs are demanding, says Kevin Cochrane, CMO of marketing software provider Jahia Solutions Group. A big reason is big data, which requires the CIO's technical proficiency to collect and analyze data from
  
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• Google's new Hands Free payment app lets you buy stuff with your face

  03-03-2016 15:55
  
  Google hopes to make in-store smartphone payments even easier with a new app called Hands Free that doesn’t require you to take your phone out of your pocket. The new system is available on Android and iOS devices and is currently being tested in the South Bay area near San Francisco.
  Hands Free uses your face and your phone’s location as two identifying factors to ensure it’s you making the payment. Let’s say you wanted to pick-up a (still VR-free) Happy Meal at a
  
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• Cisco issues critical patch for Nexus switches to remove hardcoded credentials

  03-03-2016 15:21
  
  Cisco Systems has released software updates for its Nexus 3000 and 3500 switches in order to remove a default administrative account with static credentials that could allow remote attackers to compromise devices.
  The account is created at installation time by the Cisco NX-OS software that runs on these switches and it cannot be changed or deleted without affecting the system's functionality, Cisco said in an advisory.
  The company rated the issue as critical because authenticating with this acc
  
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• Big data-applicatie voor naleving regelgeving door banken

  03-03-2016 15:16
  Ict-dienstverlener Atos en Quartet FS, leverancier van een in-memory analytisch platform, gaan een big data-toepassing lanceren waarmee snelle data-analyse mogelijk is. Financiële instellingen kunnen zich zo beter voorbereiden op toekomstige aanpassingen in de regelgeving. Banken moeten door aanscherping van de... lees meer
  
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• This Russian all-in-one desktop is just quirky enough to be interesting

  03-03-2016 15:00
  
  Russia isn't known as the PC capital of the world, but when a new homegrown machine comes along it's sometimes curious enough to get our attention.
  Last year brought the Elbrus-4C, a PC with a processor so slow that it might have been left over from 1999. The latest entrant seems more promising but is still one to file under "curiosity."
  It's a 21.5-inch all-in-one desktop from Russia's T-Platforms, and it's another example of how Russia -- like China -- is trying to be more self-sufficient in
  
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• How to improve employee performance by focusing on strengths

  03-03-2016 14:56
  
  What if everything you thought you knew about improving your IT workers' performance was wrong? Chances are, even if you're using 360-degree performance assessments and gauging performance against core competencies, you're focusing on the negatives instead of the positives, you're not seeing the performance gains you'd expect.[ Related Stories: 16 employee engagement trends that will shake up IT in 2016 ]Show me the dataIn 2011, after years of data collection, global management consulting firm M
  
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• How Apple could turn News into an industry leader

  03-03-2016 14:50
  
  At first blush it seemed like my lengthy, App Store-wide search was over. While everyone else was talking about Apple Music in the days following last year’s WWDC keynote, my attention was squarely focused on News, Apple’s answer to the Flipboards and Feedlys of the world. Before my love of music comes my love of the written word, and the idea that Apple was finally making an app dedicated to the articles I want to read was way more exciting than an overdue streaming service.
  Admitt
  
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• Why it's OK for social collaboration to encourage shadow IT

  03-03-2016 14:00
  
  The use of unsanctioned social collaboration tools in the enterprise can be a real challenge for any IT organization, but they also often spark productivity and help teams focus. In fact, many CIOs and IT professionals say workers who use apps such as Yammer and Slack can both raise the threat associated with shadow IT and drive productivity gains. Companies must understand the unique strengths and weaknesses of popular social tools if they want to see real value, according to business leaders.S
  
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• Amazon targets compliance-driven markets

  03-03-2016 13:54
  
  Heavily regulated industries with lots of regulation compliance rules, such as healthcare and finance services, have found the cloud to be a bridge too far, since they had such strict controls over data, where it resided and how it was protected. Late last year, Amazon sought to fix that issue with its Amazon Web Services EC2 Dedicated Hosts, which provide dedicated physical servers, along with the management and visibility tools, to ensure a more granular control over which VMs certain app
  
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• Fear, Loathing and ITIL in Las Vegas

  03-03-2016 13:39
  
  Short's keynote at the Pink16 ITIL/ITSM conference covered his early life, tragedy, his career in Hollywood and a few life lessons about overcoming adversity, and was liberally sprinkled with his trademark dry wit and deadpan humor. But it didn't have anything to do with ITIL - sorry.What I learned, though, from the other sessions I attended, was more relevant - that creating an atmosphere of trust and engagement in the workplace can be a grueling journey, but it's one well worth the effort even
  
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• CAK kiest voor Dataplace en Bytesnet

  03-03-2016 13:13
  Het CAK, de publieke dienstverlener die in opdracht van de overheid regelingen uitvoert, heeft na een Europese openbare aanbesteding Dataplace geselecteerd als leverancier voor zijn twin datacenter-oplossing. Het CAK gaat gebruikmaken van afgesloten ruimten in beide datacenters en Bytesnet Rotterdam gaat de... lees meer
  
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• 5 great Android app alternatives to Gmail

  03-03-2016 13:00
  
  Gmail is the lifeblood that drives the Android experience. All the data that flows through your inbox powers Google Now recommendations, fills up your calendar, and even tells Google Play what apps you you’re probably into.
  But there’s nothing to say you’re stuck with the stock Gmail app. There are plenty of other good email apps for Android, many of which will also let you stay connected to your Microsoft Exchange account, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, or other providers.
  Each of
  
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• Cybersecurity no longer merger afterthought

  03-03-2016 12:52
  
  As little as four years ago, only about a third of companies considered cybersecurity when planning a merger. Today, that percentage has flipped.
  "When you look at mergers where one big company buys another big company, I'd estimate that the cybersecurity teams do get involved about 60 percent of the time prior to the acquisition being executed," said John Pescatore, director of emerging trends at SANS Institute.
  A number of high-profile breaches have alerted corporate executives to the potenti
  
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• VU en QNH willen samen helpen kloof IT-arbeidsmarkt te dichten

  03-03-2016 12:45
  De Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam en IT-dienstverlener en -kennispartner QNH gaan samenwerken om de kloof tussen de theorie van de universiteit en de dagelijkse praktijk in het bedrijfsleven te dichten. QNH biedt duale masterstudenten van de VU relevante praktijkervaring, zodat zij goed voorbereid de arbeidsmarkt... lees meer
  
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• The votes are in: Which mobile data provider is best?

  03-03-2016 12:30
  
  What's most important about your smartphone? Something you don't actually see — the network you use to connect to the Internet, find and use apps, get information and more. So for the third year in a row we set out to discover which mobile service provider gives you the most comprehensive and reliable data network coverage, the fastest upload and download speeds, and the most bang for the buck.
  To do it, we checked with those who know the most about using the networks — you and othe
  
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• Nederlandse IT-professionals komen in beweging

  03-03-2016 12:26
  IT-personeel gaat in beweging komen, althans, dat zeggen werknemers als ze wordt gevraagd naar hun werk op korte termijn. Het merendeel verwacht binnen een jaar een nieuwe functie te bekleden, volgens onderzoek van tech carrière website Dice naar de arbeidsmarkt in de IT-sector.Zoals verwacht, sluiten... lees meer
  
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• Legacy-systemen hindernis voor klantenbinding in financiële sector

  03-03-2016 12:01
  Bijna een kwart (24%) van de financiële dienstverleners wereldwijd dreigt achterop te raken bij de concurrentie omdat hun IT-legacy gepersonaliseerde diensten aan hun klanten in de weg staan. Daarop duidt onderzoek in opdracht van Pegasystems, leverancier van strategische bedrijfsapplicaties en Cognizant,... lees meer
  
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• Report: Intel is developing a RealSense-based version of Microsoft's HoloLens

  03-03-2016 12:00
  Microsoft has a depth camera, which it has embedded in its Surface tablets and HoloLens augmented reality headset. Intel has its own version of the tech, dubbed  RealSense... which it is now apparently building into its own “HoloLens”-style augmented reality device.
  The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Intel is adapting its RealSense depth camera into an augmented reality headset design that it could license to other manufacturers. Intel representatives declined to c
  
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• Make threat intelligence meaningful: A 4-point plan

  03-03-2016 12:00
  
  With data breaches grabbing headlines nearly every week, threat intelligence is shaping up as the next big thing in information security. That, of course, means there’s more hype and confusion to sift through.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• How the next president will change the H-1B visa

  03-03-2016 12:00
  
  Thanks to Disney's IT layoff, the Florida primary -- scheduled for March 15 -- might be the most telling on the H-1B visa issue.
  The displaced Disney IT workers in Florida have given new visibility to the use of the H-1B visa. It has become the marquee case for visa reform.
  Here's an early outlook on how the various presidential candidates may approach this issue if elected.What if Trump wins the presidency?President Donald Trump would change things.
  India is on Trump's list of countries "rippi
  
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• Career makeover: From ops to devops

  03-03-2016 12:00
  
  Long ago, in a IT operations model far, far away, businesses built their data centers. Rows and rows of server racks humming away in closets tangled with cables -- that was IT’s lifeblood. It was a time when virtualization meant that thing a couple of gung-ho admins toyed with on an old HP DL360 server destined for the garbage bin.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 7 ways Windows 10 pushes ads at you, and how to stop them

  03-03-2016 12:00
  
  Windows 10 may be “free,” but there’s a price to pay for claiming your no-cost upgrade from Windows 7 or 8: Theoperating system’s brimming with adsdesigned to coax you into buying this app or using that Microsoft service.
  Some of the ads are pretty unobtrusive, to be fair. Several get right up in your face, however—an unfortunate experience in any case, but one that hurts even more if you’ve already dropped $100-plus on a Windows 10 license rather than snaggi
  
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• Enterprise IoT: A cost-cutter today, a money-maker tomorrow

  03-03-2016 09:30
  
  The Internet of Things has made many enterprises more efficient. This year it will start making them more competitive.IoT covers a collection of technologies almost as wide as the Internet, and the range of uses is even more broad. Some just help you run your business better, while others can get you into a new business.For example, a shipping company that attaches tracking devices to containers can more easily follow their movements and better understand its operations. If that same company ins
  
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• Uber, Ola compete to take users on motorcycle rides in India

  03-03-2016 08:37
  
  In a bid to expand the market they address in India, Uber Technologies and arch Indian rival Ola have launched on the same day pilots of a smartphone app-based service for booking motorcycle rides.Both operators of ride-hailing apps launched their pilots Thursday in Bangalore, which besides having price-conscious users, has frequent traffic jams that could be more easily negotiated by two-wheeled vehicles.To address more segments of the market than their traditional offerings like sedans and sma
  
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• IBM sues Groupon for infringing its patents, including from Prodigy online service

  03-03-2016 05:19
  
  IBM has sued online deals marketplace Groupon for infringing four of its patents, including two that emerged from Prodigy, the online service launched by IBM and partners ahead of the World Wide Web.Groupon has built its business model on the use of IBM’s patents, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware “Despite IBM’s repeated attempts to negotiate, Groupon refuses to take a license, but continues to use IBM’
  
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• Wearables to grow if they can be fashionable and functional

  03-03-2016 03:31
  
  Interest in wearable tech remains strong, according to analyst firm IDC, despite slower than expected smartwatch sales last year.
  A key factor in the growth of wearables will be how successful vendors are in making their products appealing to consumers, IDC said.
  All types of wearables, including smart watches, smart clothing, footwear and eyewear, saw a 171% increase in shipments in 2015, reaching a total of 78 million devices, IDC recently reported.
  That triple-digit growth shows interest fro
  
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• ACLU: You can kiss trust in software updates goodbye if Apple's forced to help the FBI

  03-03-2016 03:29
  
  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today filed an amicus brief with a California federal court, taking Apple's side in the dispute about whether the company should be compelled to help the government access an iPhone.
  The friend-of-the-court brief set out multiple arguments why Apple should not be forced to assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in brute-forcing the passcode on an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook. Farook and his wife, Tafsheen Malik, killed 14 in San Bernardin
  
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• Samsung ships the world's highest capacity SSD, with 15TB of storage

  03-03-2016 02:59
  
  Samsung Electronics announced Wednesday that it is now shipping the industry's highest-capacity solid-state drive (SSD), the 15.36TB PM1633a.
  Samsung revealed it was working on the drive last August, saying it would use the same form factor as for a laptop computer: 2.5-in.
  The 2.5-in SSD is based on a 12Gbps Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface for use in enterprise storage systems. The PM1633a has blazing fast performance, with random read and write speeds of up to 200,000 and 32,000 I/Os per
  
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• Slack lets coworkers start ringing one another

  03-03-2016 01:38
  
  Companies that use Slack for internal collaboration now have a new way to communicate. The startup began rolling out a voice calling feature on Wednesday that lets people talk to each other one-on-one or in group conference calls.It’s a transition for Slack, which until now has focused mainly on text communication. The company revealed yesterday that allowing people to make calls is a big part of its roadmap for 2016, and this initial beta launch is a first step.Right now, it's available t
  
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