IT Executive news

• CIO.com and Drexel to honor 50 analytics innovators

  18-05-2016 23:36
  
  Gone are the days when business decisions were made based on gut instinct and qualitative information. It's now the Age of Analytics — data is big, real-time and actionable. IDC forecasts the big data technology and services market will reach $41.5 billion worldwide in 2018. The predicted 26.4 percent compound annual growth rate would be about six times the predicted growth of the overall IT market. The research firm also estimates spending on business analytics will reach $89.6 billion in
  
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• Google's Tensor Processing Unit could advance Moore's Law 7 years into the future

  18-05-2016 23:08
  
  Forget the CPU, GPU, and FPGA, Google says its Tensor Processing Unit, or TPU, advances machine learning capability by a factor of three generations.
  “TPUs deliver an order of magnitude higher performance per watt than all commercially available GPUs and FPGA,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the company’s I/O developer conference on Wednesday.
  TPUs have been a closely guarded secret of Google, but Pichai said the chips powered the AlphaGo computer that beat Lee Sedol, th
  
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• Got privacy? If you use Twitter or a smartphone, maybe not so much

  18-05-2016 23:03
  
  The notion of online privacy has been greatly diminished in recent years, and just this week two new studies confirm what to many minds is already a dismal picture.First, a study reported on Monday by Stanford University found that smartphone metadata -- information about calls and text messages, such as time and length -- can reveal a surprising amount of personal detail.To investigate their topic, the researchers built an Android app and used it to retrieve the metadata about previous cal
  
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• Android N at Google I/O: No new features announced, so Google turned to name-calling

  18-05-2016 22:15
  
  Google was so busy creating a WhatsApp rival and a chatbot on steroids that it didn’t have any new Android N features to share with us during Wednesday morning’s Google I/O keynote. Instead, the company decided to introduce the first “beta-quality” build of the new mobile operating system. Plus, Google wants your input on what Android N should be named when it rolls out later this summer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click
  
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• Google I/O 2016: Android N hits beta, boasts VR and more

  18-05-2016 22:11
  
  Google’s been hard at work under the hood of its Android operating system, announcing performance, security and productivity updates in the new Android N alongside a swanky new suite of VR capabilities called Daydream and version 2.0 of Android Wear.
  Android N is available for select devices in beta today, and will be released in a stable version this fall. It’s been publicly available as an open alpha for developer use for some time, but Google’s presentation offers the compa
  
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• In pictures: How Google's Daydream VR apes Oculus' hardware and software design

  18-05-2016 21:52
  
  At Google I/O 2016, the company revealedDaydream, an ambitious new virtual reality platform seemingly designed to rip the premium VR experience away from Samsung’s clutches and back into the open Android community.Daydream will still rely on Android phones slotted into a viewer—like Google Cardboard—but the platform will be powered by Daydream-certified phones, running in GearVR-esque virtual reality headsets based on a Google reference design, with software hooks directly in A
  
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• A big update to Google's Android Wear will make fitness tracking easier

  18-05-2016 21:29
  
  Android Wear, Google’s operating system for smartwatches, is getting its biggest update yet with an upcoming 2.0 release that brings improved features for messaging and fitness.Among the improvements, Android Wear 2.0 will detect when you're starting to exercise and automatically fire up an app such as Strava. That means you can start jogging or cycling and not worry about remembering to turning on the app.Google is also taking aim at how the Apple Watch displays information from appl
  
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• Google gets smart with Google Assistant and Google Home

  18-05-2016 20:51
  
  Google is launching a smart personal assistant that uses artificial intelligence and search to let people not just get answers to their questions but to even control their devices.
  Google wants users to be able to do more than ask Google Assistant what the weather will be that day.
  Google says its new assistant will make movie suggestions based on what films you've liked before. Going to the theater with your kids? Google Assistant will change its recommendations accordingly. It'll offer up mov
  
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• Google takes the wraps off Allo and Duo

  18-05-2016 20:46
  
  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Watch out, Facebook. There’s a new rival to your Messenger app.
  During the opening day keynote Wednesday at Google I/O, the company’s 10th annual developer conference, Google announced two new communications apps.
  Google’s Allo is a new chat app that uses artificial intelligence to learn how users like to communicate and express themselves. The appis set to be released on both Android and Apple's iOS this summer.
  Allo has a feature that will let users
  
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• Google is taking another shot at messaging with its new Allo app

  18-05-2016 20:39
  
  Google is taking another swing at the messaging space with a new app called Allo. It's yet another way for users to talk with their friends, but with a couple of neat twists including a "smart replies" feature that even works with photos.Using Allo, people can quickly reply to a conversation using artificial intelligence-driven Smart Replies that Google lifted from its Inbox email product. That means instead of typing a reply, you can tap on bubbles that show up to suggest responses.Smart R
  
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• Faced with a bunch of obstacles, this robot got creative and surprised its makers

  18-05-2016 20:29
  
  Dealing with obstacles is an inevitable part of life, and it looks like robots may be surprisingly adept at applying creativity to the challenge.Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University developed software that not only helped a robot deal efficiently with clutter but also revealed considerable creativity in solving problems. Their new study is due to be presented Thursday at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Sweden.A research team led by Siddhartha
  
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• Meet Google Assistant, Siri and Google Now's conversational lovechild

  18-05-2016 19:54
  
  While Facebook and Microsoft are busy building discreet bots to squawk at you in messenger programs, Google’s taking another angle. Google Assistant—a new smart assistant announced by CEO Sundar Pichai at Google I/O 2016—weaves together the complex information that Google already has about the world and the detailed information that the company already has about you to create a helpful voice-driven AI that revolves your world.To read this article in full or to leave a comment,
  
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• Arbeidsmarkt IT’ers flink uit evenwicht

  18-05-2016 19:12
  De arbeidsmarkt voor IT-professionals is volledig uit balans: voor elke starter of mid-career op de arbeidsmarkt staan minimaal 12 vacatures open en deze situatie is nog sterker in de randstad en de regio Eindhoven. Daarop duidt een enquête van Sterksen en Intelligence Group.
   
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• Team Smiles Advances to the Finals at the ServiceNow Knowledge16 Hackathon!

  18-05-2016 18:45
  
  We are pleased to announce that our ServiceNow Knowledge16 conference Hackathon team – Team Smiles – has advanced to the finalist round in the innovation category after an 8-hour competition last night. They received the coveted golden ticket to present Linium’s application to Knowledge16 attendees today.
  
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• Microsoft issues cumulative roll-up pack for Windows 7

  18-05-2016 18:17
  
  Microsoft yesterday threw a bone to Windows 7 users by releasing a cumulative roll-up that collects all the bug fixes from February 2011 to April 2016, making it easier to update a PC running the still-standard OS.
  The Redmond, Wash. company has ditched the "service pack" moniker, and so named Tuesday's collection a "convenience rollup update." The label was meaningless, however: The update was identical to a service pack.
  "This convenience rollup is intended to make it easy to integrate fixes
  
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• Nieuwe samenwerking biedt overheden financieel-administratieve ondersteuning

  18-05-2016 18:16
  De bedrijven Step in Control en Unit4 gaan samenwerken en bieden lokale overheden en overheidsondernemingen een nieuwe financiële oplossing voor allerlei administratieve omgevingen in het overheidsdomein.Unit 4 en Step in Control hebben een nieuwe oplossing gelanceerd, GRIP genaamd, waarmee overheden... lees meer
  
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• How 4D printing is now saving lives

  18-05-2016 18:00
  
  ORLANDO -- Sixteen-month-old Garrett Peterson's airways collapsed daily.Peterson was born with bronchomalacia, weak cartilage in the walls of the bronchial tubes, and had spent his entire life at the University of Utah Hospital on a high-pressure ventilator to keep him alive.Meanwhile, at the University of Michigan, biomedical engineer Scott Hollister had  developed a 3D printed splint that could absorb into the body over time but could hold open airways in newborns for two to three years;
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Where did that strategy go?

  18-05-2016 17:22
  
  If, as Heraclitus said, “everything changes and nothing remains still,” how can we ever get anything accomplished? A couple of weeks ago I read an excellent article from Bain & Company, Building Efficient Organizations that summed up the issues nicely. Leaders spend entirely too much time and effort chasing the next “bright shiny object,” “next big thing,” “squirrel” or whatever your phrase of the day is, instead of preparing to win the ma
  
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• 10 ways law firms can make life difficult for hackers

  18-05-2016 17:06
  
  In the world of cybercrime, everybody from individuals to nation states is a target – some more attractive than others, of course. Health care organizations have gotten the most headlines recently, and the Internet of Things (IoT) offers an almost unlimited attack surface.
  But law firms are attractive too. They hold sensitive, confidential data ranging from the personal (divorce, personal injury) to the professional (contract negotiations, trade secrets, mergers and acquisitions, financia
  
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• Environmental Protection Agency kiest voor Be Informed

  18-05-2016 16:33
  Het federale agentschap voor milieu in de VS, de EPA, heeft Be Informed gekozen voor het registreren, afhandelen en handhaven van milieumaatregelen. De ontdekker van Dieselgate wil hiermee de administratieve lasten voor bedrijven die aan milieuverplichtingen moeten voldoen aanzienlijk verminderen.
   
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• Nvidia brings its Grid virtual desktop to the masses

  18-05-2016 16:30
  
  Nvidia is introducing a new graphics card option for its Grid virtual desktop system, promising to cut the costs of streaming graphics-intensive applications to employees.The new card, the Tesla M10, includes 4 GPUs and 32GB of memory, or enough compute power to stream desktop apps to 64 end users, according to Nvidia.Customers buy the graphics hardware in Grid servers from partners such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell, Cisco Systems and Nutanix, along with virtualization software such as VM
  
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• Extreme Networks bolsters ‘customer intimacy’ to spur growth

  18-05-2016 16:15
  
  Ed Meyercord just wrapped up his first year as the top executive of Extreme Networks, a company that helped launch the gigabit Ethernet market 20 years ago. In this installment of the IDG CEO Interview Series, Meyercord spoke with Chief Content Officer John Gallant about how Extreme is capitalizing on its acquisition of Enterasys Networks and the company’s tighter focus on the mid-tier of the network market. He outlined how Extreme’s hands-on customer service is spurring growth and
  
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• Microsoft just implied it may never release another Lumia

  18-05-2016 16:13
  
  When it comes to parsing Microsoft’s public statements, most company watchers know you have to read between the lines to get at what Microsoft is saying without really saying it. The Verge’s Tom Warren just spotted one such statement that implies Microsoft is killing the Lumia lines of phones. 
  The recent suggestion that the Lumia era was truly over appeared in Microsoft’s press release announcing the sale of its feature phone business—which was acquired from N
  
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• 5 things Apple's Tim Cook needs to do on his trip to India

  18-05-2016 16:08
  
  Apple CEO Tim Cook is on his first visit to India, a market where the company's revenue has grown but whose market share is still small because of price-sensitive consumers. The trip is important as Apple looks for markets where it can  expand. In April, the company reported its first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years as iPhone sales dropped year over year. Meanwhile, India is the world's third-biggest smartphone market, after China and the U.S. Here are five things Cook will be aiming
  
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• Quip is taking another swing at Excel with better spreadsheet features

  18-05-2016 16:00
  
  Quip, a Silicon Valley startup that's taking on the giants of the productivity software market, announced a major update to its spreadsheet capabilities Wednesday that's aimed at bringing its service more in line with Microsoft Excel. The service's spreadsheets now include features like the ability to merge cells, validate data and filter information in a sheet. With this update, users can also insert spreadsheets into documents so data and commentary can reside in the same place. It's all
  
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• 85% off Foundations of Front-End Development Course - Deal Alert

  18-05-2016 15:39
  
  This course covers the basic programming concepts and languages required for creating engaging websites from scratch. It's $199 list price has been dramatically discounted to just $29.
  
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• 33% off Mophie Juice Pack Protective Charging Case for iPhone 6/6s - Deal Alert

  18-05-2016 15:25
  
  Just attach this case to your iPhone 6 or 6s, and the next time you catch yourself low on juice, don't panic -- just push a button and the built-in rechargeable 1,840mAh lithium-ion polymer battery gets you an additional 22 hours of talk time, 16 hours of internet use, and 17 hours of video playback. Plus, it provides level 2 high impact protection while also being compact, adding only .3 inches to your phone's thickness and less than 3 oz. It currently averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon
  
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• 33% off Mophie Juice Pack Protective Charging Case for iPhone 6/6s

  18-05-2016 15:25
  
  Just attach this case to your iPhone 6 or 6s, and the next time you catch yourself low on juice, don't panic -- just push a button and the built-in rechargeable 1,840mAh lithium-ion polymer battery gets you an additional 22 hours of talk time, 16 hours of internet use, and 17 hours of video playback. Plus, it provides level 2 high impact protection while also being compact, adding only .3 inches to your phone's thickness and less than 3 oz. It currently averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon (
  
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• You might be using Office 365 without even knowing it

  18-05-2016 14:56
  
  Over the years, Office has expanded from the original desktop applications (and their mobile and Web equivalents) and the Exchange and SharePoint servers that add more business features, into full-fledged services. Many businesses treat Office 365 as an efficient way to get hosted Exchange or a cheaper way to volume licence the Office software. But they’re missing out on the advantages of Office 365 being a cloud service; like the Delve analytics that help people find out what colleagues
  
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• Nonprofit’s cloud migrations boost business agility

  18-05-2016 14:51
  
  The Muscular Dystrophy Association has jettisoned several manual business processes and legacy technologies in favor of cloud software as the nonprofit organization seeks greater operational efficiencies at a lower cost. The IT modernization, which includes email, CRM, human resources and several other business functions, has galvanized the organization's nearly 800 employees, says CIO Jeannine Houlihan, who joined MDA from Motorola Mobility in 2014.Muscular Dystrophy Association's CIO Jeannine
  
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• 7 tips to ensure you meet project deliverables dates

  18-05-2016 14:28
  
  Whether internal or external, successfully meeting client deliverables is a primary goal behind projects. Deliverables may be different for each project depending on industry, nature of the project, project size, company strategy and a host of other variables. That said, there are multiple shared factors that can easily compromise these deliverables and ultimately client satisfaction. Here are just a few.1. Inaccurately defined deliverables is one of the biggest risk factors when it comes to pro
  
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• 6 tips to ensure you meet project deliverables dates

  18-05-2016 14:28
  
  Whether you're talking about internal or external project management goals, successfully meeting client deliverables is a primary objective. Those deliverables may be different for each project depending on industry, nature of the project, project size, company strategy and a host of other variables. However, there are multiple shared factors that can compromise these deliverables and ultimately client satisfaction. Here are just a few.Inaccurately defined deliverablesInaccurately defined delive
  
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• How to manage workers in the gig economy

  18-05-2016 14:16
  
  The gig economy continues its rapid growth, with nearly 35 percent of today's workforce consisting of nonemployee workers as of 2015. The fast-paced growth of these non-traditional workers has businesses scrambling to develop strategies to manage them -- and much of the responsibility has fallen on the desks of HR workers. However, there are efficient ways to manage these atypical workers without overburdening the HR department with more paperwork.
  Enter PEO, or Professional Employer Organizatio
  
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• Fitness band faceoff: Garmin vivofit 3 vs. Fitbit Alta

  18-05-2016 14:16
  
  A lot of writers have published a lot of stories about how Fitbit should be (and perhaps is) worried about Apple and its Watch wearable. The real story, however, is that Garmin is now a serious Fitbit competitor in the world of activity trackers.
  [Related: Garmin vivoactive HR vs. Fitbit Surge]
  Garmin's new vivofit 3 ($100), for example, shares some characteristics with Fitbit's recently released Alta band ($130) — and in a few ways vivofit 3 bests Alta. Here are a number of imp
  
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• A hacker is selling 167 million LinkedIn user records

  18-05-2016 14:05
  
  A hacker is trying to sell a database dump containing account records for 167 million LinkedIn users.The announcement was posted on a dark market website called TheRealDeal by a user who wants 5 bitcoins, or around $2,200, for the data set that supposedly contains user IDs, email addresses and SHA1 password hashes for 167,370,940 users.According to the sale ad, the dump does not cover LinkedIn's complete database. Indeed, LinkedIn claims on its website to have over 433 million registered members
  
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• Microsoft leaves feature-phone business as Nokia moves back in, sort of

  18-05-2016 13:58
  
  Nokia is back in the mobile phone business, after a fashion.It has granted HMD Global an exclusive, 10-year license to the famous brand, allowing the Finnish startup to sell Nokia mobile phones and tablets.Meanwhile Microsoft, which bought Nokia's mobile phone activities in 2013, is finally getting out of the feature-phone business, selling its remaining interests in the Nokia brand and its Vietnamese phone factory to HMD and to FIH, a subsidiary of contract manufacturing giant Foxconn, for arou
  
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• 10 most in-demand Internet of Things skills

  18-05-2016 13:53
  
  Most in-demand Internet of Things skillsImage by PixabayThe Internet of Things (IoT) is in the midst of an explosion, as more connected devices proliferate. But there's not enough talent with the right skills to manage and execute on IoT projects. In fact, insufficient staffing and lack of expertise is the top-cited barrier for organizations currently looking to implement and benefit from IoT, according to research from Gartner."We're seeing tech companies around the globe getting organized and
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: When all eyes are on your project

  18-05-2016 13:16
  
  Do you like to be at the center of attention? Do you like to have hundreds of eyes on your project? Probably not – most would not appreciate that much visibility given to one of the projects they are leading.I thought of this the other night when my wife were on one of our nightly walks. We ran across this 3-inch long wolf spider (see the picture of it above) for the second night in a row and it certainly had all eyes on us. We had to use a flash on my camera phone in order for her to real
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Do you still use Launchpad on your Mac?

  18-05-2016 13:00
  
  Launchpad has been in macOS for years now, but you almost never hear about it in the media. It’s one of those features that is sort of just there, and it makes me wonder if anybody is still using it on their Mac.
  This very question came up in a recent thread on the Apple subreddit:Coufu: “I accidentally hit F4 and Launchpad came up and I’m like, oh I forgot about all this. Does anyone use Launchpad to launch apps?”
  Gwelch: “I think it depends what type of person yo
  
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• Do you still use Launchpad on your Mac?

  18-05-2016 13:00
  
  Launchpad has been in macOS for years now, but you almost never hear about it in the media. It’s one of those features that is sort of just there, and it makes me wonder if anybody is still using it on their Mac.This very question came up in a recent thread on the Apple subreddit:
  Coufu: “I accidentally hit F4 and Launchpad came up and I’m like, oh I forgot about all this. Does anyone use Launchpad to launch apps?”Gwelch: “I think it depends what type of person you
  
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• Country-as-a-Service: Estonia’s new model

  18-05-2016 13:00
  
  Nations have a responsibility to increase the well being and wealth of their residents. As in the private sector, one of the key factors influencing a state’s ability to pursue this goal is the number of customers (people and businesses) that it can generate or attract. Historically, states have tried to maximize their number of customers by promoting population growth, entrepreneurship and immigration.Estonia realistically has little chance of succeeding with those approaches. But in an i
  
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• As the phish, we all need to recognize the baited hook

  18-05-2016 13:00
  
  For the first time in a long time — in fact, for the first time ever, as far as I know — my company has gone a full three months without one of our employees falling for a phishing scam. I hope I don’t jinx this winning streak by telling you about it.
  Last month, I told you about a colleague who had to deal with an outbreak of the ransomware known as "Locky." We found out that that infection happened when an employee foolishly opened a macro-enabled Microsoft Word document att
  
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• 25 best cities for jobs

  18-05-2016 13:00
  
  Looking for a new job and a new city? See which metro areas made Glassdoor's ranking of the best locations in the U.S. for job seekers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Google to shutter SSLv3, RC4 from SMTP servers, Gmail

  18-05-2016 12:44
  
  Mark your calendars: Google will disable support for the RC4 stream cipher and the SSLv3 protocol on its SMTP servers and Gmail servers on June 16.
  After the deadline, Google's SMTP servers will no longer exchange mail with servers sending messages via SSLv3 and RC4. Users still using older and insecure mail clients won't be able to send mail using Google's SMTP servers after that date.[ Safeguard your data! The tools you need to encrypt your communications and Web data. • The tools y
  
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• 10 hopeful startups strut their stuff at TechCrunch Disrupt

  18-05-2016 12:30
  
  New businesses try for successImage by Barbara KrasnoffTechCrunch Disrupt is a city-by-city gathering of technology startups looking for seed money, partnerships and/or media attention; investors looking for possible investments; techies looking for jobs; and tech fans looking for the Next Big Thing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Review: DeepSQL outruns Amazon Aurora

  18-05-2016 12:00
  
  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• ARM acquires Apical to add eyes to IoT

  18-05-2016 11:00
  
  ARM has acquired Apical, a U.K. designer of embedded computer vision technology, and plans to incorporate that technology into future ARM microprocessor and system-on-chip designs, it said Wednesday.The move will open up new opportunities for designers of autonomous vehicles and security systems, among other connected things, according to ARM CEO Simon Segars. Computer vision is in its early stages, and Apical is at the forefront of embedding such technology, he said.Apical's technologies i
  
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• Apple's Tim Cook woos app developers in India

  18-05-2016 08:08
  
  In a bid to win over more Indian developers, Apple on Wednesday announced it would set up by early next year a facility to help developers on best practices and to improve the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform.The facility in Bangalore, called a Design and Development Accelerator, aims to provide specialized support for the “tens of thousands” of developers in the country, who develop applications for the iOS operating system.Bangalore has a large base
  
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• Motorola details three new Moto G smartphones

  18-05-2016 03:39
  
  If one is good, perhaps three are better. At least, that must be the thinking behind Motorola’s decision to split its Moto G into three distinct phones for the fourth-generation run. 
  Tuesday’s announcement features not only a new Moto G4, but a G4 Plus and G4 Play. The Moto G4 offers a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 3,000 mAh battery and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor. It also includes fast charging, which Motorola says will get you six hours after a 15-minute boost. Storag
  
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• Publisher of LA Times and Chicago Tribune sends IT jobs overseas

  18-05-2016 03:38
  
  Tribune Publishing Co., a major newspaper chain, is laying off as many as 200 IT employees as it shifts work overseas.
  The firm, which owns the Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant and many other media properties, told IT employees in early April that it's moving work to India-based Tata Consultancy Services.
  Interestingly, the Tribune IT employees were notified within weeks of a similar announcement involving IT employees at the McClatchy Company, another maj
  
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