IT Executive news

• 25% off Petcube Interactive Wi-Fi Pet Camera - Deal Alert

  29-04-2016 23:03
  
  Petcube is an interactive pet camera that lets you watch, talk to and play with your pets from your smartphone when you’re away from home. Access and control the Petcube Camera through our mobile app for iOS or Android and check on the live HD broadcastTo activate a real laser toy on the camera, drag your finger across your phone screen or simply point to the area you would like the laser to go.Engage and join the conversation with thousands of pet lovers across the globe. Share your
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Overcoming presentation nerves

  29-04-2016 22:29
  
  Asked to identify three concerns they have when called upon to deliver a business presentation, the tech managers I survey most often identify “nerves” as one of their top concern. Whether they call it nerves, anxiety, stage fright, or fear, the experience they describe is one of physical discomfort. It is an experience many of us associate with giving a presentation and it is an experience most would rather not have. Certainly, it is an experience we want to keep hidden from the au
  
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• How a medical device maker took control of its sales data

  29-04-2016 22:25
  
  For medical diagnostic equipment maker Alere, master data management was the key to unlocking its digital transformation."In hindsight, we carried our legacy process for years and years," says Jason Jarrett, senior director of business intelligence and solutions at Alere. "If I could do it again, I would have done this sooner. You're skeptical about disruption, but it would have been better to go ahead, bit the bullet and implement."As a medical device company with annual revenue of about $3 bil
  
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• Save $800 on Samsung UN60JS7000 60-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV - Deal Alert

  29-04-2016 22:12
  
  With a regular list price of $2,099, this 38% off deal puts the JS7000 at just $1,297.99. Enjoy an exceptional home theater experience with the Samsung JS7000 60-Inch 4K SUHD Smart TV. The Samsung JS7000 features 4K UHD resolution (3840 x 2160) and Nano-crystal technology for vivid colors, enhanced contrast, and a brighter, more true-to-life picture. The JS7000 Smart TV absorbs ambient light and reduces reflections to minimize glare for a great picture from any angle. With Smart TV and Smart Vie
  
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• White House releases study on how to spur smart-gun tech

  29-04-2016 20:46
  
  The White House today released the findings from a study by the Defense, Justice and Homeland Security Departments on ways to spur the development of smart-gun technology, which restricts who can fire a weapon.
  Smart-gun technology uses RFID chips or biometrics, such as a fingerprint scanner or grip recognition, to release a locking mechanism on a weapon. The technology was initially developed to prevent police officers' weapons from being grabbed in a struggle and used against them. The milita
  
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• Intel is on the verge of exiting the smartphone and tablet markets after cutting Atom chips

  29-04-2016 20:07
  
  Intel could be on the verge of exiting the market for smartphones and standalone tablets, wasting billions of dollars it spent trying to expand in those markets.The company is immediately canceling Atom chips, code-named Sofia and Broxton, for mobile devices, an Intel spokeswoman confirmed.These are the first products on the chopping block as part of Intel's plan to reshape operations after announcing plans this month to cut 12,000 jobs.The news of the chip cuts was first reported by&n
  
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• Microsoft develops IFTTT rival called Flow for connecting apps and services

  29-04-2016 19:59
  
  Apps like IFTTT (If This Then That) connect services in logical ways: texting your spouse, for example, when you leave work. Microsoft has created a business-oriented preview service called Flow that acts in much the same way, but with its own software and partner apps.
  Flow isn’t an app, but a way to connect apps and ask them to do specific tasks. To help users get started, Microsoft has created a series of “templates” of common use cases: for example, having Twitter tweets s
  
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• 5 (more) reasons to be a data scientist

  29-04-2016 18:51
  
  "Data scientist" has already been declared this year's hottest job, and now a new report offers several more reasons to consider it as a career.For the past three years executive recruiter Burtch Works has been surveying data-science professionals about salaries and other related topics. Burtch Works defines data scientists as professionals who can work with enormous sets of unstructured data and use analytics to get meaning out of them. Published on Thursday, this year's report is based on inte
  
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• BrandPost: What Did Our Security Survey Reveal?

  29-04-2016 18:18
  PC Connection recently partnered with industry-leading technology research organization IDG to learn more about today’s top security trends and challenges. In an industry where the situation can change on an almost daily basis, keeping up with the latest security developments is paramount. That’s why we asked IT decision makers from organizations across the country (and a wide variety of industries) what their biggest security concerns are.The results of the survey reveal the types o
  
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• BrandPost: Business Is Calling: How Will You Answer?

  29-04-2016 18:09
  Your communications system is the backbone of business success: an always on, robust communications infrastructure is a must-have. For many, however, that means an upgrade or overhaul to take advantage of today’s cloud-based technologies, from VoIP, videoconferencing, and collaboration to software-defined networking, file sharing, and telepresence. Here are a few key data points and some aspects to consider to ensure your communications system will be there when your customers—and s
  
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• FCC wireless auction hits spectrum target, paving way for fast, reliable 5G

  29-04-2016 17:58
  Television stations have volunteered to sell off 126MHz of "beach front" wireless spectrum to mobile carriers in an ongoing U.S. Federal Communications Commission auction, potentially bringing higher speeds and more reliable networks to customers.The 126MHz of spectrum was the highest amount anticipated by the FCC in the so-called incentive auction, agency officials said Friday. In most areas of the country, the agency will be able to auction 10 blocks of 10MHz to mobile carriers and other inter
  
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• Google Play now warns users of apps that contain advertising

  29-04-2016 17:30
  
  Google Play is now warning users when apps contain in-app advertising.
  The “contains ads” designation appears in the store right beside an app’s icon, alongside the spot where Google Play lets users know if an app contains in-app purchases. The company had warned developers last year that the move was coming; a sharp-eyed Reddit user noticed this week that the policy had finally gone into effect.
  Google’s new policy requires that developers declare when their offerings c
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Cloud Foundry launches fellowship program

  29-04-2016 17:22
  
  Cloud Foundry Foundation has launched a new fellowship program to bring subject matter experts to the foundation. Under the program the foundation will select expertise from member companies, including Pivotal, EMC, HP, IBM, VMware, Intel and SAP, to help drive critical Cloud Foundry needs. In other words Cloud Foundry has essentially created a think tank for the cloud industry.“The Fellowship program was designed to foster and encourage membership engagement for the Cloud Foundry communit
  
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• Google’s $999 Chromebook Pixel is no longer for sale

  29-04-2016 17:18
  
  With HP announcing a line of slick-looking Chromebook laptops, Google may be closing the door on the Chromebook Pixel—at least for now.
  As VentureBeat reports, the $999 Chromebook Pixel has gone out of stock at the Google Store, which had been the only place to buy the laptop in the United States. Attempting to purchase this model—which comes with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 32GB of storage—brings up a message saying it is “no longer available for sale.&rdqu
  
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• BrandPost: CIO Interview with Barry Toubin, CIO of Benjamin Moore

  29-04-2016 17:16
  Paint isn’t usually associated with cutting-edge technology or security concerns, but Benjamin Moore is taking the digital era seriously. CIO Barry Toubin shows how a smart tech platform can both inspire creation and encourage sales.As CIO, what is your primary concern at Benjamin Moore? It’s important to note that Benjamin Moore is a 130-year old paint manufacturer and distributor. All products are sold through independent retailers, and those are our direct buying customers –
  
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• IBM offers advice on how to secure blockchain in the cloud

  29-04-2016 17:07
  
  Cloud providers hosting blockchain secure transactions technology should take additional steps to protect the records, IBM says.IBM's new framework for securely operating blockchain networks, released Friday, recommends that network operators make it easy to audit their operating environments and use optimized accelerators for hashing -- the generation of numbers from strings of text -- and the creation of digital signatures to pump up CPU performance. Along with the security guideline
  
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• BrandPost: Keys to Innovative Disruption? Digital Vision, Tech Roadmap

  29-04-2016 16:52
  
  It’s happening, fast and furious: Disruptive consumer and enterprise technologies continue to rapidly transform the way we work and live — across verticals and throughout the consumer experience, the business-to-business world and the entire supply chain. From cloud, mobile, and Big Data and Analytics to IoT, 3D printing, biotech and cybersecurity, entire industries and business models are quickly shifting as emerging technologies gain momentum, moving from experimental options to ma
  
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• BrandPost: Data Center by the Numbers

  29-04-2016 16:39
  Not long ago, TechPulse conducted a poll on Converged Data Center Trends in real-world IT organizations. I thought that some of the responses were extremely interesting and shed some light on what’s going on today with the journey to the modern data center. Take a look for yourself to see what your peers are saying.My take away from this poll is that businesses are facing a very dynamic mix of old and new challenges, and are looking at modern solutions to the business drivers facing IT tod
  
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• 4 key takeaways from Samsung's Developer Conference

  29-04-2016 16:30
  
  SAN FRANCISCO —Samsung yesterday closed out its fourth annual developer conference. Coders and other attendees packed up their gear and left the City by the Bay with few doubts about the company's priorities moving forward; the clear focus during the two-day event was not surprisingly on Galaxy smartphones, virtual reality (VR), smart home and Internet of Things (IoT).However, if you paid close attention, Samsung also sent some less-obvious, yet just as important, messages. I attended both
  
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• How to deal with a manager who hates you

  29-04-2016 16:22
  
  Last week I discussed 15 ways to not get fired from your dream job and I actually got a decent amount of thank you email. One email, however, got me thinking. It was from a guy who was not getting along with his manager -- and man I’ve been there. I had this one manager who was a nightmare and I kind of went a little off the rails myself. Now when I spoke to others who had worked for him, something I should have done before I took the job, I found that not only wasn’t he a good manag
  
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• Toy maker Maisto’s website pushed growing CryptXXX ransomware threat

  29-04-2016 16:19
  Attackers are aggressively pushing a new file-encrypting ransomware program called CryptXXX by compromising websites, the latest victim being U.S. toy maker Maisto. Fortunately, there's a tool that can help users decrypt CryptXXX affected files for free.Security researchers from Malwarebytes reported Thursday that maisto.com was infected with malicious JavaScript that loaded the Angler exploit kit. This is a Web-based attack tool that installs malware on users' computers by exploiting vulnerabil
  
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• Twitter dives as Facebook continues to thrive

  29-04-2016 16:07
  
  Facebook and Twitter, the pioneers of social media, aren't even in the same league anymore. The two companies' performance and outlook could not be more different: Twitter continues to stall out, while Facebook keeps pushing into higher gear.This week's Twitter and Facebook first quarter 2016 earnings reports indicate the gap between companies is widening. Facebook's net income nearly tripled year over year to $1.51 billion; revenue jumped 65 percent to $5.38 billion; and mobile represented 82 p
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Dark cloud looms over ownCloud as founder resigns

  29-04-2016 16:00
  
  Frank Karlitschek founder and CTO of ownCloud Inc., has resigned from the company that he founded. According to my sources a few engineers have also left the company following his resignation.Karlitschek founded the ownCloud project some six years ago. In his own words, the goal of the project was “to enable home users, companies, universities and big enterprises to host their own cloud services and files. In a world with growing threats around security, surveillance and espionage, this id
  
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• From tacos to HR, chatbots make it personal

  29-04-2016 15:56
  
  Automated software assistants, or chatbots, are moving into the mainstream, helping you more efficiently order tacos, manage human resources tasks and generate sales leads from a messaging interface. As the latest plot point on artificial intelligence’s long timeline, chatbots simulate natural language to make it seem as if you are engaging in a discussion with a human concierge who is acting on your behalf.Andy McCraw, Taco Bell's manager of digital innovation.To read this article in full
  
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• Here's why analytics is eating the supply chain

  29-04-2016 15:00
  
  A peculiar thing happens in northern Florida every year in the springtime. That's harvest season on the many fern farms scattered across the region, and it's also the time when demand for rattlesnake antivenom skyrockets there.
  That's no coincidence. Rattlesnakes like to form dens under fern crops, it turns out. That means trouble for those who harvest the plants, and it puts urgent pressure on local hospitals and healthcare providers, which must come up with the highly perishable antivenom on
  
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• Rovi to acquire TiVo for $1.1 billion

  29-04-2016 14:37
  
  Online entertainment listings company Rovi plans to acquire digital video recording firm TiVo for US$1.1 billion in a stock and cash deal, the companies said Friday.TiVo has cloud-based technology for integrating live, recorded, on-demand and Internet television into one user interface, with search, discovery, viewing and recording options from a variety of devices. Its technology has been deployed by operators such as Virgin Media and Vodafone Spain.Rovi announced in March that Sharp’s ne
  
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• Microsoft won't let you use new Cortana features without Edge or Bing

  29-04-2016 14:32
  
  Microsoft has been very pushy about getting people to upgrade to Windows 10. Now the software giant is trying to get consumers to use its Edge browser and Bing search engine.
  In a Wednesday blog post, Ryan Gavin, the Microsoft exec who leads its search team, trumpeted a bunch of cool new things you can do with Cortana, the company's Windows 10 virtual assistant — and then said most of the features won't work well if you use any other browser than Edge or a search engine that isn't Bi
  
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• Phishing apps posing as popular payment services infiltrate Google Play

  29-04-2016 14:20
  Google's efforts to police the Android app store -- Google Play -- are far from perfect, with malicious apps routinely slipping through its review process. Such was the case for multiple phishing applications this year that posed as client apps for popular online payment services.Researchers from security firm PhishLabs claim that they've found 11 such applications since the beginning of 2016 hosted on Google Play, most of them created by the same group of attackers.The apps are simple, yet effe
  
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• Security pros concerned about Facebook payment expansion

  29-04-2016 13:52
  
  Facebook's Messenger app has allowed users to send money to friends using their debit cards since last spring, but recent reports indicate that Facebook may be considering a move into the retail payments space as well, following in the tracks of Apple, Samsung and Google. Facebook will need to be careful, however, not to simply become yet another channel for criminals, security experts say.
  For many users, logging into Facebook is not a major security issue - after all, it's a fun social platfo
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to create a project management infrastructure from the ground up

  29-04-2016 13:32
  
  Your organization is thinking of implementing a project management infrastructure. Till now, you've gotten by on managing “projects” on the fly -- grabbing some info off the Internet to help those who have been forced into managing these one-off and mainly internal projects succeed -- or at least not fail miserably.Now, as you take on more initiatives and your company is expanding, you're becoming more technical, possibly incorporating work you do for outside clients into projects, y
  
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• Microsoft locks down Cortana: Blocks integration with other browsers, search engines

  29-04-2016 13:00
  
  Microsoft is tightening control over Cortana.  Only its Microsoft Edge browser and Bing search engine will work with searches initiated through Windows 10 digital assistant, the company said Thursday.
  Microsoft isn’t prohibiting third-party browsers like Opera and Chrome from working with Windows 10, and you can still configure the operating system to launch those browsers by default, when, say, a coworker emails you a link to a Web page. But, if you launch a search via Cortana, only
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Which is more effective, paid advertising or content marketing?

  29-04-2016 12:59
  
  The online marketing world is a rich and diverse playground, with dozens of different strategies and approaches that companies can use to attract more people to their websites and earn more conversions. However, despite this diversity, most strategies can be categorized as one of two main types: inbound and outbound marketing.Outbound marketing is a more traditional form of advertising, using external ads to entice users to buy a product. For example, a search ad may encourage a user to purchase
  
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• 11 Excel tips for power users

  29-04-2016 12:30
  
  Want to get more out of Excel? At Microsoft's inaugural Data Insights Summit last month, several experts offered a slew of suggestions for getting the most out of Excel 2016. Here are 10 of the best.
  (Note: Keyboard shortcuts will work for the 2016 versions of Excel, including Mac; those were the versions tested. And many of the query options in Excel 2016's data tab come from the Power Query add-in for Excel 2010 and 2013. So if you've got Power Query on an earlier version of Excel on Windows,
  
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• Red Hat ditches effort to port Node.js to Java

  29-04-2016 12:00
  
  Sometimes, the best intentions just don't work out.
  Such is the case with Red Hat-sponsored Nodyn, an open source effort intended to port the Node.js server-side JavaScript platform to the Java Virtual Machine, bringing Java's rich set of tooling to Node. The project is no longer in active development due to an inability to make the popular JavaScript extensions, npm, work with it, said Mícheál Ó Foghlú, CTO of Red Hat Mobile.[ See InfoWorld's full coverage of Java a
  
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• How to tell if you've been hit by fake ransomware

  29-04-2016 12:00
  
  Unlike most malware, ransomware is not stealthy. It's loud and obnoxious, and if you've been infected, the attackers will tell you so in no uncertain terms. After all, they want to be paid.
  “Your personal files are encrypted,” the message on the computer blares. “Your documents photos, databases, and other important files have been encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key, generated for this computer.” While the language may vary, the gist is the same: If you d
  
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• Got ransomware? These tools may help

  29-04-2016 12:00
  
  Your computer has been infected by ransomware. All those files -- personal documents, images, videos, and audio files -- are locked up and out of your reach.
  There may be a way to get those files back without paying a ransom. But first a couple of basic questions:Do you you have complete backups? If so, recovery is simply a matter of wiping the machine -- bye bye, ransomware! -- reinstalling your applications, and restoring the data files. It's a little stressful, but doable.
  Are they good
  
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• 10 free tools for API design, development and testing

  29-04-2016 12:00
  
  10 handy no-cost tools for API developmentImage by PeteLinforth via PixabayThe rise of RESTful APIs has been met by a rise in tools for creating, testing, and managing them. Whether you’re an API newbie or an expert on an intractable deadline, you have a gamut of services to help you get your API up and running quick, and many of them won’t cost you a dime.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Supreme Court approves rule change that expands FBI computer search powers

  29-04-2016 06:30
  The Supreme Court has adopted amendments to a rule to give judges the authority to issue warrants to remotely search computers whose locations are concealed using technology.The proposed move had been criticized by civil rights groups and companies like Google that said it threatened to undermine the privacy rights and computer security of Internet users.The top court has approved changes to the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure , including Rule 41, which with some exceptions prohibits a federa
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Cybersecurity: State of the Union

  29-04-2016 03:12
  
  With our quickly evolving digital world there is nothing more important to a financial institution than cybersecurity. In today’s video blog I outline the current state of security and the various new ways nefarious actors are attempting to penetrate our cybersecurity defenses. If there was one domain where radical innovation is needed, it is in cybersecurity. This is Part 1 in a series of three posts. (9 mins.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Walmart finds STEM workers at its stores

  29-04-2016 02:42
  
  The prevailing view of the major employers at a STEM workforce conference here is that there is a shortage, or gap, in the science, technology, engineering and math workforce. Indeed, a large list of corporate leaders recently sent a letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to make computer science training a national priority.
  But, some suggest, maybe these firms aren't looking hard enough.
  "We have to recruit from within," said Sharon Wibben, Walmart's senior vice president of global HR, "and sha
  
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• Google and Fiat Chrysler near deal on self-driving vehicles

  29-04-2016 02:34
  
  Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Alphabet Google's self-driving car division are reportedly in late-stage partnership talks, according to Auto Extremist.
  The talks, which began shortly after the January CES conference in Las Vegas, would offer "the advanced technology partnership" Google has been seeking to sell its autonomous car technology. Google has been working on autonomous car tech for six years, according to the industry blog site.GoogleOne of Google's self-driving prototype SUVs dri
  
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• Take a peek inside Samsung’s vast developer conference

  29-04-2016 02:27
  
  Take a peek inside Samsung’s vast developer conferenceImage by Stephen LawsonSamsung kicked off its massive developer conference in San Francisco this week, where it's trying to get developers excited about its latest software, services and hardwareTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Massive growth shows why Amazon is the public cloud leader

  29-04-2016 01:58
  Amazon showed off its dominance in the public cloud market on Thursday as the capstone to a better than expected quarterly earnings report.Revenue from Amazon Web Services during the first quarter of 2016 was up 64 percent year-over-year, showing the big money that's still out there as companies invest more and more in the public cloud. Amazon's cloud platform generated revenue of $2.56 billion, putting it on pace to make $10 billion this year, in line with a letter from CEO Jeff Bezos sent
  
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• AI looms large in Google's view of the future

  29-04-2016 00:37
  AI technologies such as machine learning will play a key role in shaping the future, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in the company's annual Founders' Letter to stockholders on Thursday.
  "It’s what has allowed us to build products that get better over time, making them increasingly useful and helpful," wrote Pichai, who cited examples such as voice search, translation tools, image recognition and spam filters.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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