IT Executive news

• Pressed by falling numbers, Apple adds iPhone and iPad Pro to back-to-school promotion

  06-07-2016 23:27
  
  Apple is including the iPhone and iPad Pro in this year's back-to-school promotion because the company must manage a slumping smartphone as well as a stuck-in-decline tablet market, an analyst said today.
  Apple kicked off its annualback-to-school sales campaign last month, handing over Beats headphones to buyers of most Macs, all models in the 2015-2016 iPhone 6 and 6S series, and any iPad Pro.
  The inclusion of the iPhone (6, 6 Plus, 6S and 6S Plus) and the iPad Pro (9.7-in. and 12.9-in.) was n
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 reasons why robots will never manage projects

  06-07-2016 23:15
  
  With all the talk about advances made in robotics lately and how many jobs may soon be lost to robots, I thought it might be interesting to consider why – at least from my humble perspective – robots will never manage projects. There are some jobs, maybe even some tech positions, that could be performed by robots. But I don't believe that the personal touch and interaction that is needed many times on project engagement will lend itself very well to being handled by the likes of robo
  
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• 60% off iKross Tablet and Cellphone Adjustable Car Cup Holder Mount - Deal Alert

  06-07-2016 22:51
  
  This 2-in-1 cellphone and tablet mount from iKross is fairly unique in that it mounts into your car, truck or SUV's cupholder. It averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 1,300 customers (read reviews), and with the current 60% off deal its list price has been reduced from $60 to just $24. The iKross mount will simply "twist to fit" into most sized cupholders (up to 3.7" diameter), so installation is quick and requires no tools. Once installed, the mount stays secure, stable, and absorbs
  
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• It’s not technology, but humans that may not be ready for self-driving cars

  06-07-2016 22:11
  
  The news last week that the owner of a Tesla Model S was killed after the car crashed into a tractor-trailer while its Autopilot feature was engaged raises an obvious question: is the self-driving technology safe?The accident, however, raises an equally important question. Are people prepared to responsibly use semi-autonomous driving technology?The accident, which took place May 7 in Williston, Fla., is the first known fatal crash involving a vehicle using autonomous technology based on compute
  
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• Opera’s 4 standout features that make it competitive with Chrome, Edge, and Firefox

  06-07-2016 21:54
  
  When you talk about major browsers for PCs, you usually mention Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer or Edge. Then most people throw in Opera as an afterthought. While it’s still considered to be part of the “big four,” Opera often gets ignored because the usage base for the other browsers is so much higher.
  It shouldn’t be.
  Over the past year, Opera's beefed up its browser with killer performance and compelling new features. If you haven’t looked at Opera in a w
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 4 reasons why healthcare needs a digital code of ethics

  06-07-2016 21:50
  
  In the wake of the HITECH Act of 2009, office-based physician adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) has nearly doubled as providers have taken advantage of meaningful use incentives. While the trend toward implementation of systems to maintain, manipulate, and share data has been palpable, there is no cohesive code of ethics addressing the issues related to the use of aggregated data. Informatics is by its nature multidisciplinary, and these varied stakeholders are governed by value syst
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Test drive SUSE Enterprise Linux on Azure cloud for free

  06-07-2016 21:36
  
  Linux vendor SUSE today announced it has joined Microsoft’s Enterprise Cloud Alliance to bring cloud-based SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) to enterprise customers using the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
  SUSE is also offering a free test drive of SLES for High Performance Computing (HPC) through the Azure Marketplace.
  “SUSE’s growth on Azure means more options for customers,” said Naji Almahmoud, vice president of cloud and software alliances for SUSE in a press sta
  
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• Microsoft’s new app can bring your toy car collection online

  06-07-2016 20:22
  
  One of the tough things about having an awesome collection of physical objects is that it can be difficult to share them with people far away. After all, what good is having a collection of dolls action figures taking over your house if you can't foist them on someone halfway across the globe?That's a problem that Microsoft Research Cambridge is trying to solve with the private beta of a new iOS app called Thinga.Me. It's an app that lets users clip objects out of digital photos and then arrange
  
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• Microsoft's new Dynamics 365 will bundle ERP and CRM in the cloud

  06-07-2016 20:13
  
  Microsoft is working on a new offering called Dynamics 365 that will combine its current ERP and CRM cloud services into a single bundle and include applications purpose-built for specific business functions.Due to be available this fall, Dynamics 365 will feature apps for functions including financials, field service, sales, operations, marketing, project service automation and customer service. The apps can be independently deployed, allowing users to buy only what they need.Microsoft's Power
  
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• Google fixes over 100 flaws in Android, many in chipset drivers

  06-07-2016 20:04
  
  Google released a new batch of Android patches on Wednesday, fixing over 100 flaws in Android's own components and in chipset-specific drivers from different manufacturers.Android's mediaserver component, which handles the processing of video and audio streams and has been a source of many vulnerabilities in the past, is at the forefront of this security update. It accounts for 16 Android vulnerabilities, including 7 critical flaws that can allow an attacker to execute code with higher privilege
  
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• Study: More than 50% of SMBs were breached in the past year

  06-07-2016 19:14
  
  A new study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by password management provider Keeper Security analyzed the state of cybersecurity in small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and found that confidence in SMB security is shockingly low (just 14% of the companies surveyed rated their ability to mitigate cyber attacks as highly effective).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Do you really need a degree to break Into IT?

  06-07-2016 19:00
  
  Students aspiring for a career in the IT industry are often presented with an apparent paradox: technology careers represent readily-available and well-paid work, but are gated by the increasingly inaccessible costs of a four-year degree. Thankfully, this is only half-true. More and more, employers are turning to certifications, internships and apprenticeships to identify and hire capable workers.For students, this skill-focused alternative to traditional four-year degrees may seem counter-intui
  
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• Intel scales back Android development

  06-07-2016 18:57
  
  Android was once a big part of Intel's plans in mobile devices, but the company is now paying much less attention to the OS.Intel is moving away from developing Android for x86 processors used in smartphones, since it is exiting the handset market. The company's commitment to Android development for tablets, however, is also under question.The company still has a strong partnership with Google, with an Intel spokeswoman saying in email, "We continue to work with Google on supporting their OS for
  
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• Robots go the extra mile to deliver restaurant orders

  06-07-2016 17:32
  
  The robots are coming, and they're bringing dinner.Food delivery company Just Eat will begin testing a mostly self-driving robot from Starship Technologies this month, using it to carry orders to customers within a few kilometers of participating restaurants in the U.K.Despite the high-flying name, Starship Technologies has a down-to-earth ambition: Automating local logistics over the "last mile" between retailer and customer, for a cost of around £1 per delivery. It plans to do that with
  
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• BlackBerry Classic death marks end of key(board) era

  06-07-2016 17:04
  
  It seems like every other week, some bit of news hits the web about BlackBerry's ongoing struggles to remain relevant. Late last month, the company released some less than encouraging financials, for example, and earlier in the spring, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said he planned to soon stop making BlackBerry 10 smartphones altogether. (Chen also stressed that the company would continue to make its own Android phones at the time, however, and BlackBerry is expected to release at least one low- to m
  
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• Is Evernote or OneNote better for use with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil?

  06-07-2016 16:41
  
  I've used Evernote for years. The note-taking service does a lot of things really well on mobile devices, such as clipping web content without mucking up article layouts. 
  When it comes to helping me justify my expensive, mega-sized iPad Pro ($799 and up) and Apple Pencil ($99), however, Evernote should take a few notes from its arch rival, Microsoft OneNote. 
  Drawing outside the lines on iPad Pro with Apple Pencil in OneNoteTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please c
  
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• Spending on public cloud IT infrastructure to hit $23.3 billion

  06-07-2016 16:26
  
  The first quarter of 2016 may have shown some softness in hyperscale cloud service provider (CSP) demand for IT infrastructure products for deployment in cloud environments — server, enterprise storage and Ethernet switches — but it's coming back with a vengeance in the second half, according to the latest forecast from IDC).The IDC Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, released yesterday, forecasts that total spending on IT infrastructure products for deployment in cl
  
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• RIP: The BlackBerry Classic (and its iconic keyboard) is dead

  06-07-2016 16:13
  
  BlackBerry isn’t giving up on phones with physical keyboards, but the company does appear to be backing off the concept.
  The company recently announced that it will no longer make the BlackBerry Classic. The handset was first launched in late 2014 as a replacement for the BlackBerry Bold.
  This may be the end of the Classic handset but it isn't the end of physical keyboards for BlackBerry. The company still produces the Passport, which features a smaller physical keyboard to create more sp
  
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• 21% off SentrySafe Fire-Safe Waterproof File Storage Box - Deal Alert

  06-07-2016 16:13
  
  Where do you store your most important CD's, DVD's, USB drives and documents? Are they protected from fire and water damage, if that "worst-case scenerio" actually happens? SentrySafe's HD4100CG storage box is UL classified with 1/2-hour fire protection and ETL verified 1/2 hour fire protection for CD's, DVD's, USB drivers and memory sticks up to 1550F. It’s also ETL verified waterproof. It measures roughly 11x8 with a 9-inch depth. It currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Am
  
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• New Tor-powered backdoor program targets Macs

  06-07-2016 16:11
  
  Security researchers have found a new backdoor program that allows attackers to hijack Mac systems and control them over the Tor network.The new malware has been dubbed Backdoor.MAC.Eleanor by researchers from antivirus vendor Bitdefender and is distributed as a file converter application through reputable websites that offer Mac software.The rogue application is called EasyDoc Converter. Once installed it displays a fake interface where users can supposedly drag and drop files for conversion, b
  
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• MOOCs put a new spin on professional development

  06-07-2016 16:00
  
  Massive open online courses, or MOOCs, bring to enterprise training and professional development some of the same qualities that companies seek in their IT systems and infrastructure: agility, efficiency and cost effectiveness.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Finding, retaining IT talent still a struggle

  06-07-2016 14:58
  
  What's the biggest threat to IT organizations today? According to global human resources and staffing solutions firm Randstad Technologies' 2016 Workplace Trends Report, it's the scarcity of skilled talent and an increasingly competitive landscape in which to attract and hire that talent.Of the 2,004 hiring managers and hiring decision makers surveyed between November and December 2015, 55 percent say finding the skilled talent they need is the biggest threat to meeting their revenue or business
  
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• Google buys sneaker-scanning machine learning company Moodstocks

  06-07-2016 14:42
  
  Someone at Google really likes sneakers: The company has just bought a French machine learning startup that taught a computer how to recognize 15,000 different types of them.Paris-based Moodstocks builds image and object recognition software using deep learning techniques, and offered an Android app and visual search API that could recognize certain kinds of object. By analyzing video from a smartphone camera, and correlating it with accelerometer readings to determine how the camera is moving a
  
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• 8 things you need to know about Google AMP

  06-07-2016 14:00
  
  Last year, the search engine optimization (SEO) community was all abuzz about "Mobilegeddon," or Google's mobile-friendly search engine algorithm.This year, the mobile SEO buzz is focused on Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), though this time there's less "doomsday" urgency. But what exactly is AMP? Who needs to implement it and why? What are the potential pitfalls? And what role does the IT department play? We asked a number of SEO experts for answers.1. What is Google AMP?
  AMP is an
  
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• 9 best technology jobs in the U.S.

  06-07-2016 13:57
  
  The best tech jobs in 2016Image by ThinkstockComputers, smartphones, tablets, e-readers -- technology touches every aspect of our daily lives. It facilitates business, communication, travel, entertainment and healthcare, just to name a few, and the industry boasts high salaries and low unemployment rates. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that technology jobs will grow at a rate of 12 percent this decade, almost twice the growth rate of jobs growth overall.Here, based on the number of
  
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• Rio Olympics pose security risks to travelers

  06-07-2016 13:15
  
  Police officers held up a sign saying "Welcome to Hell" at the Rio airport last week, according to local and international news reports, and the region's acting governor warned of a total collapse in public security. More funding is on its way, but it might not be enough to make a difference in time for the Olympic games. Meanwhile, physical safety isn't the only thing that travelers need to worry about -- security experts warn that travelers need to be extremely careful when they access comput
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The art of maximizing work not done

  06-07-2016 13:12
  Most of us in the Information Technology world are busy people.  We are certainly in the age of push technology overload and minimizing wasteful work at personal, professional and corporate level is a constant goal.From the Agile Manifesto, there are twelve principles[1] related to software delivery.  All the principles still have deep meaning 15 years after the establishment of them, but one that repeatedly resonates with me is the tenth principle: "Simplicity--the art of maximizing t
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The best Mac games of 2016

  06-07-2016 13:00
  Despite what some critics seem to think, the Mac is a decent gaming platform for most casual gamers. While it may not have quite as many games as Windows, the Mac still offers gamers some great gaming experiences.Mac Gamer HQ has a list of the best Mac games of the year so far, and there's definitely some fun stuff to play:
  Every year, Mac gaming gets better, and 2016 is no exception. First of all, there’s the sheer quantity of new games released (did you know there are over 3,000 Mac game
  
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• 13 top paying cities for software engineers

  06-07-2016 13:00
  
  High demandSoftware engineers are in high demand across the United States, and depending upon where you live, you can make a killing at this job. But don’t overlook what you’re really making, when you factor in the cost of living. Online jobs marketplace Glassdoor has crunched the numbers by looking at the ratio of each city’s local median software engineer base salary to its official cost of living figures from the federal government.To read this article in full or to leave a
  
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• 10 cool searches to try with Google's Now on Tap

  06-07-2016 13:00
  
  Now on tap keeps getting betterImage by Derek WalterGoogle Now on Tap came in with a roar, but after the initial excitement, it didn't find a place in the day-to-day use of my phone.While it was nice to be able to do a rapid-fire Google search from any screen, it usually didn’t produce the kind of “wow” moments to make me a regular user, unlike when I first discovered Google Now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• For Facebook, violating users’ privacy is going to backfire someday

  06-07-2016 12:18
  
  A settings change at Facebook has once again put the social site in a negative light concerning users’ privacy. Someday, users just might decide that they have had enough. 
  The change happened in October but was only recently noticed, according to The Guardian: “Facebook rolled out an update to its internal search engine, letting users search the entire network for the first time. All public posts became searchable for everyone, but private posts weren’t affected. Wh
  
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• Review: Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS shines

  06-07-2016 12:00
  
  Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) represents the first release from Canonical to deliver long-term support since 2011 (version 14). While the latest improvements may not be entirely revolutionary, Ubuntu 16.04 rounds up exciting features to fortify the server base and enhance the desktop experience. InfoWorld reviewed the new desktop release in April. In this review, I’ll focus on the server.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Private jets, personal security and more pricey CEO perks

  06-07-2016 12:00
  
  Compensation extras add up for tech CEOsTech CEOs enjoyed a wide range of perks, from corporate aircraft and auto usage to home security, club memberships and financial planning services. Here are the 12 tech CEOs who indulged the most.RELATED: 20 highest paid tech CEOs | Biggest raises and pay cuts | single-page chart of 62 tech CEOs' total pay |To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Court decision raises issues about sharing passwords

  06-07-2016 08:56
  
  An appeals court has ruled that a former employee of a company, whose computer access credentials were revoked, had acted “without authorization” in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, when he and other former employees used the login credentials of a current employee to gain access to data on the employer’s computers.The opinion of the court is likely to be controversial as it is expected to have implications on commonplace sharing of passwords by husbands, co-worke
  
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• Adultery website Ashley Madison is being investigated by the FTC

  06-07-2016 01:09
  
  Ashley Madison encouraged its users to cheat on their partners. But did it also cheat its own customers?
  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating the service, which suffered a devastating hack last year that exposed details of millions of customers who signed up in the hope of engaging in extramarital affairs.
  Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley Madison, told the New York Times Tuesday it doesn't know the focus of the inquiry. But the company said it's been sharing informati
  
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