IT Executive news

• Microsoft's Solair acquisition could expand its IoT services

  03-05-2016 23:13
  
  Microsoft dove deeper into Internet of Things technology on Tuesday with the acquisition of Solair, an Italian company that operates a cloud-based IoT platform. According to a Microsoft blog post, Solair's technology will be used to upgrade the company's Azure IoT Suite, a collection of cloud services meant to help companies use the Internet of Things. Microsoft and Solair didn't disclose the financial terms of their deal. Solair's technology, which already uses Microsoft's Azure
  
  Read more

• India has shot down Apple's plan to sell refurbished iPhones

  03-05-2016 22:13
  
  India reportedly has rejected Apple’s plan to sell refurbished iPhones in the country, a blow to the company’s hopes for growth there.The government turned down Apple’s application to import and sell the older, refreshed phones, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed official. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Apple looked to refurbished handsets as a way to attract more buyers in India. An earlier application was rejected last year by India’s
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: CII’s Best Practices badge program is making open source projects more secure

  03-05-2016 22:11
  
  The Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII), a Linux Foundation collaborative project, has announced the first round of CII Best Practices  badges. The recipients include Curl, GitLab, the Linux kernel, OpenBlox, OpenSSL, Node.js and Zephyr.CII is a result of collaboration between many industry players including Microsoft, Bloomberg, Facebook, and Qualcomm, among others. The primary goal of the project is to determine security, quality and stability of open source software.While open source pr
  
  Read more

• 6 tips to help IT execs write remarkable resumes

  03-05-2016 21:43
  
  When it comes to resumes, I've seen all the types: the 7 pagers; the ones with thin margins; those without dates; and the resumes with type so small that my eyesight gets worse with every read. I look at hundreds of resumes each week, and I have strong opinions on this topic. How to write an effective CIO resume1. Keep it short
  Your resume should not be longer than three pages. I don't care how old you are, or how many jobs you've had. Your resume should demonstrate your ability
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 21% off LG Nexus 5X Unlocked Smartphone 32GB - Deal Alert

  03-05-2016 21:27
  
  Averaging 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 480 people (read reviews), this LG Nexus 5X unlocked, multi-mode phone will work on all US carriers including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, as well as MVNO's (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) and most international carriers. It features Android 6.0 Marshmallow, a fingerprint sensor, new USB Type-C charger, and a powerful camera. Under its 5.2-inch display is a hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor for world-class speed at an a
  
  Read more

• Users describe pros and cons of hyperconverged storage products

  03-05-2016 20:22
  
  When evaluating hyperconverged infrastructure products, IT Central Station users most often examine their price, simplicity and ease of manageability, compared to more traditional storage systems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• Report: HTC to finally launch Android Wear smartwatch in June

  03-05-2016 20:22
  
  A big hole in HTC’s product portfolio is an Android Wear smartwatch. Rumors have floated around about one for a while, but we now have a few indications this may getting closer to reality. 
  According to the typically spot-on Evan Blass, the company’s first watch will launch in June. However, that’s a bit of a delay from original expectations that it would be out earlier in the year. 
  FYI, this has been pushed to the week of June 6th. #htcwearablehttps://t.co/Ei1lT4aW
  
  Read more

• South Dakota law will be a test case for a US Internet sales tax

  03-05-2016 20:07
  
  A new South Dakota law may end up determining whether most U.S. residents are required to pay sales taxes on their Internet purchases.The South Dakota law, passed by the Legislature there in March, requires many out-of-state online and catalog retailers to collect the state's sales tax from customers. The law is shaping up to be a legal test case challenging a 25-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibits states from levying sales taxes on remote purchases.Unless courts overturn the South
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• IDG Contributor Network: Why Nvidia Shield could rule the living room

  03-05-2016 19:55
  
  Major tech companies are fighting to control your living room. Apple has Apple TV. Microsoft has Xbox One. Sony has PlayStation. Amazon has its Fire and Echo devices. Google is banking on Nexus Player and Chromecast.I have most of these devices... and I also have Nvidia Shield [ Find it on Amazon – *What’s this?* ]. So far, none of them have become my "one device to rule the living room."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• How to perform a risk assessment

  03-05-2016 19:54
  
  Without a complete and thorough risk assessment including all its component parts (discussed herein), you might as well open all your data assets to unbridled exfiltration via Port 80 without any security checks at all. In the end, attackers and criminal digital profiteers will get what they came for in either case.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
  Read more

• Twitter’s Connect tab takes another shot at the 'who to follow' problem

  03-05-2016 19:22
  
  Twitter is trying to get better at recommending people to follow with a new Connect tab for iOS and Android.
  The Connect tab replaces a previous Find People section, and does more to explain why it is recommending particular people and accounts.
  Trending accounts no longer have their own section, but are instead featured in a carousel at the top of the screen. Below that, there’s an option to connect your address book for finding people you know in the real world.
  The meat of the new Conn
  
  Read more

• Quantum computers pose a huge threat to security, and the NIST wants your help

  03-05-2016 19:15
  It's no secret that quantum computers could render many of today's encryption methods useless, and now the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology wants the public to help it head off that threat.The federal agency recently published a report focusing on cryptography in a quantum world that outlines a long-term approach for avoiding the problem before it happens."There has been a lot of research into quantum computers in recent years, and everyone from major computer companies to the
  
  Read more

• PwC’s CIO on the power of collaboration

  03-05-2016 19:06
  
  Like so many veterans of GE’s IT organization, Sigal Zarmi rotated through multiple leadership roles. She held six different C-level titles there before leaving to become vice chairman and network CIO at PwC, the $35.4 billion professional services powerhouse.  Along the way, Zarmi learned countless executive leadership lessons, including the need to understand the underpinnings of her business units and to build trusting relationships. But during a short stint in London wit
  
  Read more

• Trend Micro: 6 most popular homebrewed terrorist tools

  03-05-2016 18:07
  
  Terrorists are developing and distributing encryption tools that protect privacy of their communications, as well as other homegrown apps that include a news-feed compiler and DDoS attack software, according to a Trend Micro report.
  The tools have been made to give less tech-savvy members of terror groups the ability to use known technologies without having to trust or invest in commercial products that can perform the same functions, the report says.
  Some of the tools are still being updated,
  
  Read more

• EMC's latest VCE nodes aim to make clouds easy

  03-05-2016 18:00
  
  One way to get enterprises and service providers to adopt cloud infrastructure is to make it easier to set up and use. That’s what EMC is doing with Neutrino, a new type of hardware-software node for the VCE VxRack platform.The VxRack System 1000 with Neutrino nodes can run any workload on any node in the rack, and on any of several cloud software stacks. If OpenStack is best for one job, Hadoop is best for another, and VMware Photon is ideal for a third application, each can run on the ap
  
  Read more

• NYC scowls at LTE-U in open letter

  03-05-2016 17:55
  
  The City of New York became the latest entity to weigh in on the subject of LTE-U, as an open letter from the mayor’s office to policymakers at the 3GPP standards body pushes for thorough protection for existing Wi-Fi.
  LTE-U, a carrier technology designed to take the load off of existing networks by using the unlicensed frequency bands where Wi-Fi lives, has provoked widespread concerns about interference and disruption. The technology’s inventors, Qualcomm and Ericsson, and the car
  
  Read more

• Amazon.com shows European Commission one way to eliminate geoblocking in e-commerce

  03-05-2016 17:06
  
  With its latest distribution initiative, Amazon.com might achieve what the European Commission has struggled with for years: the creation of a borderless online marketplace where the price of goods and the cost of shipping them is the same for all European Union citizens.The e-commerce giant has long used its knowledge of shopping trends to ensure that its warehouses across the U.S. maintain stock close to expected demand, for Amazon itself and also for merchants using its fulfillment services.N
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Addappt makes your address book smart

  03-05-2016 16:27
  
  I remember the days before smartphones when managing your contact list was a herculean task. I used to maintain a notebook where I would add phone numbers, email IDs and physical addresses. But people change their contact info all the time and it was close to impossible to keep up.When we moved to smartphones, the physical address book was gone and along with it the crossed out or hastily erased names and numbers, but the challenges of staying updated remained.I had been looking for a solution w
  
  Read more

• Windows 10 on pace to reach 20% share by June

  03-05-2016 15:44
  
  Windows 10 is on pace to power 20% of all Windows desktop systems by the end of June, or around the time Microsoft issues its next major upgrade, according to data published this week.
  Data from U.S.-based analytics vendor Net Applications pegged Windows 10's user share -- a proxy for the percentage of personal computers worldwide that ran the OS -- at 15.3% in April, a 1.2-percentage point increase from the month prior. Net Applications tallied unique visitors to clients' websites to come up w
  
  Read more

• Why your outsourcers’ cost of living adjustments don’t work

  03-05-2016 15:36
  
  For years, most large outsourcing contracts have included standard provisions for annual pricing adjustments based on consumer price indices and other economic indicators. These cost of living adjustments are intended to normalize services fees with economic conditions over the life of long-term deals. The impact on pricing can be significant—in the millions of dollars for a large deal. A $50 million annual services contract with a 2.75 percent cost of living adjustment could mean a $1.37
  
  Read more

• How to identify, engage and nurture high-potential talent

  03-05-2016 15:10
  
  In a tight talent market, succession planning should be a core part of any business's workforce management and development plan. Building a pipeline of talent ready to take on progressively greater responsibility and leadership in an organization is key to driving success, especially in the constantly evolving IT market.
  Building a strong "bench" of strong talent starts with identifying, engaging and nurturing high-potential employees at all levels, and then working to develop their strengths an
  
  Read more

• 10 best-paying companies in tech

  03-05-2016 14:18
  
  Best-paying companies in techImage by ThinkstockThe modern business world runs on technology, which means companies need people to manage it. Getting a job in STEM is a great way to not only ensure job security, but also earn a six figure salary. Glassdoor -- a website that offers reviews, salaries and benefits information provided by employees on companies from all industries -- collects salary data on the biggest tech companies in the U.S. to determine the 10 highest paying tech companies. Usi
  
  Read more

• Think that printer in the corner isn’t a threat? Think again

  03-05-2016 13:20
  
  They sit off in the corner, some of them collecting dust. Yet, a printer is a legitimate attack surface. Many companies don’t bother to update the firmware on older models, or don’t include every model in a security audit (such as the one in the CEO’s office everyone forgot about), or the organization assumes a hacker won’t bother with an Epson or HP that is barely even connected to Wi-Fi.
  Interestingly enough, because a printer is so innocuous and seemingly harmless, th
  
  Read more

• Why you need DRM for your documents

  03-05-2016 13:01
  
  If you pay $1.99 to download an ebook for your Kindle, it’s protected by DRM that stops you sharing the contents, and if Amazon wants to, it can revoke the document so you can’t read it any more. Is your company’s current price list protected nearly as well?With information rights management (often known as enterprise DRM, short for digital rights management), you could make sure that price list was only shared with your customers, blocking them from sending it on to your compe
  
  Read more

• IDG Contributor Network: Enough with the political propaganda, Apple!

  03-05-2016 13:00
  Apple is a company that has a reputation for being on the far-left in terms of its politics. The company is well known for this and some of its marxist...er...more "progressive" customers even delight in having Apple share their political goals and perspectives.But I’m not one of them.My politics tilt to the libertarian right and, frankly, I’m rather tired of Apple pushing its politics in my face at every given opportunity. I have no problem with individuals like Tim Cook that work a
  
  Read more

• Appellate court ruling will make a lot more work for Web designers

  03-05-2016 13:00
  
  E-commerce leaders take note: If you want to force your customers to do anything via your terms and conditions, you need to give the T&C its own checkbox. So help me, that is the edict just handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The specific ruling involved getting customers of TransUnion to waive their right to sue, but attorneys watching the case point out that it could apply to almost anything. Want customers to sign over their salary direct deposits t
  
  Read more

• The IoT company behind the curtain

  03-05-2016 12:08
  
  Greenwave Systems is sort of the BASF of Internet of Things: It doesn’t make the IoT products you buy, it makes them better. Greenwave (one of Network World’s recently named IoT Companies to Watch) provides software and services that help consumer-facing companies like Verizon deliver IoT features to their customers. IDG US Media Chief Content Officer John Gallant talked recently to Greenwave’s Chief Scientist, Jim Hunter, about how the company is empowering IoT applications an
  
  Read more

• Solar shift: Falling costs make owning better than leasing

  03-05-2016 12:01
  
  The price of rooftop solar systems for residential and small business continues to drop precipitously, and consumers are increasingly choosing to buy their systems rather than lease them to reap the full financial benefits.
  Rooftop solar systems that used to cost as much as a luxury car five to 10 years ago now cost about the same as an economy car, or about $15,000 or $18,000 on average. And, the return on investment for a solar system is now estimated to be from three to five years, depending
  
  Read more

• Why Windows 10 wants your feedback and diagnostics, and how to control them

  03-05-2016 12:00
  
  We now know the tradeoff for free Windows 10: Microsoft wants data about what you do with your device. But you don't have to send everything you do back to Redmond.
  You can control the data you send back, and how often, by delving into Windows 10's privacy settings (we've taken you here before) and looking specifically at Feedback frequency and Diagnostic and usage data. The former is typically just an automated survey, but the diagnostic component actually peers into your machine.
  These featur
  
  Read more

• AngularBeans brings together Angular and Java for Web dev

  03-05-2016 12:00
  
  AngularBeans, a Web framework tying the AngularJS JavaScript framework to enterprise Java, will move forward with accommodations for the planned AngularJS 2 framework and multiple containers.
  Begun in January 2015, AngularBeans allows developers to use Google's AngularJS for front-end Web development with Java EE on the back end. The developer of AngularBeans, Bessem Hmidi, sees the project filling a need in the Java space for an alternative to JavaServer Faces Web UI technology, which has been
  
  Read more

• Hot products at Interop 2016

  03-05-2016 11:51
  
  Interop 2016The 30th version running this week in Las Vegas features a trade show with more than 160 vendors displaying their wares and where its interoperability mission ventures far outside the show’s signature InteropNet Demo Lab. This year it is focused on promoting interoperability among Internet of Things devices, a category of gear unheard of that first year. (See Network World's preview story of the show.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• Uber faces more lawsuits for classifying drivers as contractors

  03-05-2016 08:50
  
  Uber Technologies faces more class-action lawsuits from drivers seeking reclassification as employees, even as its settlement in two other suits with drivers in California and Massachusetts has been submitted to a judge for approval.In the new cases filed in Florida and Illinois, both aiming to be national class-action lawsuits unlike the earlier ones, the drivers have asked the court to address the alleged misclassification by the company of its drivers as independent contractors.The settlement
  
  Read more

• China’s booming middle class augurs well for Apple, says Tim Cook

  03-05-2016 06:56
  
  Apple CEO Tim Cook still sees great potential in the Chinese market despite a drop in its revenue from the country in the first quarter.In an interview to Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money program, Cook said Monday that the middle class in China is expected to boom from 50 million people five years ago to almost 500 million in the next five years. “This is an unprecedented growth of the middle class,” said Cook, adding that he “could not be more optimistic about China.”To a
  
  Read more

• Intel's Atom architecture to live on despite smartphone chip cancellations

  03-05-2016 04:38
  Intel's Atom processor architecture will live on despite the recent cancellation of next-generation smartphone chips.
  The chip maker will continue the development and use of the processor architecture, which stresses power efficiency, though the chips may not necessarily carry the Atom label. Last week Intel canceled upcoming Atom smartphone chips code-named Broxton and Sofia.
  The next-generation Atom architecture, code-named Goldmont, will first appear in future Pentium and Celeron processors,
  
  Read more

• Why your iPhone-unlocking fingerprint is susceptible to FBI search warrants

  03-05-2016 02:59
  Should you be able to plead the Fifth when a judge forces you to use your fingerprints to unlock an iPhone?
  That’s the latest ongoing debate in a Los Angeles courtroom after a judge compelled a woman in custody to use Touch ID to unlock an iPhone. Legal experts are arguing that this goes against the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination because the authorities would then have access to potentially-incriminating personal data stored on the device.
  The debate started
  
  Read more

• Disney files patent for near instantaneous 3D printing

  03-05-2016 02:57
  
  Disney Research has filed a patent for a 3D printing technology that uses high-intensity light to harden photo-sensitive resin in a single process, removing the need for layer-by-layer printing.
  The patent describes a machine for printing in "a nearly instantaneous manner."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
  Read more

• Microsoft's CEO explains why his company sued the U.S. government

  03-05-2016 02:26
  
  Microsoft surprised the world last month when it filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging that the frequent practice of attaching gag orders to search warrants for customer data violates the U.S. Constitution.On Monday, CEO Satya Nadella told a group of tech luminaries why the company did so: Microsoft has a strong view on its privacy promises to users, and the company will fight to prevent government overreach that, in its view, compromises the principles of privacy.&nbs
  
  Read more

• Can Oracle buy its way into the cloud?

  03-05-2016 01:56
  
  It wasn't so long ago that Oracle dismissed cloud computing as "gibberish." Today, it's singing a different tune.Through a string of acquisitions, the database giant has been buying a presence in the cloud in much the same way it built up its on-premises portfolio decades ago. What remains to be seen is whether that strategy can work as well in this new setting.Acquisitions of companies such as PeopleSoft and Siebel played a key role in fleshing out Oracle's traditional applications portfolio ba
  
  Read more

Follow @ITExecutiveNews on Twitter!