IT Executive news

• A look at Oracle’s 10 biggest acquisitions

  28-07-2016 23:40
  
  Oracle is back at it again today, announcing one of the largest acquisitions in company history with the purchase of enterprise resource planning (ERP) company NetSuite for $9.3 billion.
  +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Details of Oracle’s NetSuite takeover | Can Oracle buy its way into the cloud? +
  Larry Ellison and crew are no strangers to acquisitions. The company has made many over the past few decades. For Ellison though, cloud acquisitions are particularly noteworthy, given that not too long
  
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• Amazon's cloud business continues upward march

  28-07-2016 23:12
  Amazon reported another surge in revenue for its cloud business last quarter, though the growth is slowing as the division gets bigger.Amazon Web Services revenue for the second quarter was $2.87 billion, up 58 percent from the same period in 2015, Amazon announced Thursday. Operating profit was $863 million, up from $391 million a year earlier.It's another positive sign for AWS, which is still the leader in public cloud services, even as IBM, Microsoft and Google step up their efforts to c
  
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• Databricks unveils commercial support for Apache Spark 2.0

  28-07-2016 23:07
  
  Databricks this week became the first company to make Apache Spark 2.0 generally available on its data platform.The company, founded out of the UC Berkeley AMPLab by the team that created Apache Spark, says this latest release builds on what the community has learned in the past two years. It marks the first major release of open source Spark since the Spark 1.6 release in 2015.[ Related: Review: Databricks makes big data dreams come true ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, plea
  
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• 22% off iHealth Oxygen level, Pulse rate, and Perfusion Index Monitor - Deal Alert

  28-07-2016 22:53
  
  This handy meter gives fast and reliable readings of your oxygen level, pulse rate, and perfusion index, wirelessly on your smartphone or tablet. Using the iHealth app, easily record and save your data to the secure, HIPPA compliant iHealth cloud for meaningful results you can track over time for yourself or a caregiver. This iHealth monitor typically lists for $69.95, but is currently discounted 22% to $54.33. See the discounted item now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a
  
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• Bugs & Bugs: National Moth Week, PHP, Black Hat & more

  28-07-2016 22:32
  
  National Moth Week, Black Hat exploit presentations, edible insects, Pornhub's bug bounty, Flash vulnerabilities and Zica prevention at the Rio Olympics all came up on this week's Bugs & Bugs Facebook Live event, the program on which we discuss the latest in computer bugs and real insects (view saved version of video below).
  As my colleague Tim Greene, our resident IT security editor discusses, next week's Black Hat event in Las Vegas will be filled with intriguing presentations by white ha
  
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• CSC announces layoffs in advance of HPE merger

  28-07-2016 22:00
  
  Computer Sciences Corp. is laying off workers as it shifts some work overseas, according to a federal application for employment benefits.
  A federal Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) benefit application, filed on July 14, claims "CSC merging with HP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise) caused services to be shifted to India. This included teleworkers in the US."
  It says 500 workers are affected. The types of jobs are not described.
  In May, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise announced it would spin off its enterprise
  
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• Intel has quietly snuffed out its Project Tango smartphone as it rethinks augmented reality

  28-07-2016 21:46
  
  Intel's RealSense 3D camera technology was the star of last year's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. Along with robots and drones that used RealSense to "see" the world around them, CEO Brian Krzanich showed the first prototype smartphone to incorporate the technology.The phone went on sale in January for US$399, along with a software kit that allowed developers to built augmented reality applications using RealSense and Google's Project Tango platform. It put Intel on the front edge
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Oracle buys NetSuite: What does this mean?

  28-07-2016 21:45
  
  Question 1: What does Oracle's acquisition of NetSuite mean for companies that are looking to move their finance function into the cloud?
  Overall, this is not a great development for companies that are in the market for new finance and accounting systems. It leaves organizations with less choice. NetSuite traditionally played in the midmarket space and competed with companies like Intacct, Infor, Epicor and other vendors of traditional on-premises systems. As Oracle began to develop its Oracle
  
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• Google lets third parties extend its productivity software on Android

  28-07-2016 21:41
  
  Google is using third parties to make its productivity apps more useful on Android. The company announced Thursday that it's now possible to bring functionality from apps like Scanbot, DocuSign, and ProsperWorks into Docs and Sheets on its mobile operating system.The third-party add-ons will let users do things like access CRM data, start to electronically sign a document, and create mobile apps based on data they have stored in a spreadsheet. The new add-ons are aimed at making it easier for pe
  
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• Verizon, AT&T find new markets as traditional revenues flatten

  28-07-2016 21:05
  
  With their purchases of DirecTV, AOL and Yahoo, the nation's two biggest wireless carriers -- AT&T and Verizon -- have pivoted beyond their traditional business in the search for alternative revenues.
  Those purchases -- the latest being Verizon's announcement Monday to snap up Yahoo for $4.8 billion -- came about because the carriers realized more than two years ago that traditional wireless services are becoming saturated in the U.S.As a result, wireless services revenues have shrunk or re
  
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• Long-running malvertising campaign infected thousands of computers per day

  28-07-2016 20:51
  
  Security researchers have shut down a large-scale malvertising operation that used sophisticated techniques to remain undetected for months and served exploits to millions of computers.The operation, dubbed AdGholas, has been running since at least October 2015. According to security vendor Proofpoint, the gang behind it managed to distribute malicious advertisements through more than 100 ad exchanges, attracting between 1 million and 5 million page hits per day.The Proofpoint researchers e
  
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• Microsoft opens up Node.js to other JavaScript engines

  28-07-2016 20:48
  
  Moving ahead with plans for its ChakraCore JavaScript engine, Microsoft is developing a standard interface to enable different virtual machines to access the Node.js server-side JavaScript platform. Now running on Linux and MacOS, ChakraCore is an alternative to the V8 engine underlying Node.js.
  Microsoft said this week that it has a preview ready of Node-ChakraCore on Linux, which links ChakraCore to the popular Node.js server-side platform. The company also is featuring an experimental implem
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: New law lets German internet users connect with their own routers

  28-07-2016 20:41
  The European arm of the Free Software Foundation, Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE, has won a major battle against German ISPs.
  Starting August 1, a new law will prohibit ISPs from dictating what routers users connect to the internet with. Users are free to use any router they choose. But FSFE fears that ISPs may find ways to discourage users from using their own routers.
  I talked to Max Mehl, FSFE Germany Coordinator, to understand some of those concerns, the problem with using routers su
  
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• BrandPost: A CIO’s Biggest Security Challenge May Surprise You: Cloud Compliance

  28-07-2016 20:30
  
  More and more, cloud is everywhere in IT — and increasingly, throughout the business. Today, 72 percent of organizations have at least one application in the cloud or a portion of their computing infrastructure in the cloud, according to IDG’s Cloud Computing Survey 2015, while 56 percent of organizations are still identifying IT operations that can move to the cloud.However, with the cloud comes concerns: Two-thirds (67 percent) of survey respondents said security is a signific
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Canonical joins the Document Foundation Advisory board

  28-07-2016 20:06
  
  Canonical, the sponsor of the Ubuntu operating system, is joining the advisory board of the Document Foundation (TDF). TDF is the non-profit organization that manages the development of free and open source office suite LibreOffice and also the home of The Document Liberation Project.
  The relationship between Canonical and TDF goes back to the early days of the foundation. In 2010 TDF was formed by the members of the OpenOffice.org project, after a spat with Oracle over the future of the projec
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: CORD becomes a Linux Foundation project

  28-07-2016 19:44
  
  Central Office Re-architected as a Data Center (CORD), an open source integrated solutions platform for service providers leveraging merchant silicon, white boxes, and open source platforms such as Open Network Operating System (ONOS), OpenStack, Docker, and the cloud operating system XOS, is now part of the Linux Foundation as a new independent project.
  The Linux foundation is already home to many open source networking projects, including OpenDaylight and ONOS, so CORD is a natural fit for th
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to build your own Netflix and Spotify with Nvidia Shield and Raspberry Pi

  28-07-2016 19:37
  
  I run a file server at home that houses all of my files, including documents, images, videos and films, TV shows and music that I purchase. It also doubles as a media server, running Plex. But this is a damn expensive machine (by my standards). It cost me over $800 to build this system with an eight core CPU and 16GB of RAM.
  I did run a Raspberry Pi file server briefly, and it served me very well as as file server. But it could not be used as a media server because my favorite Plex Media Server
  
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• Florida men sue Microsoft over 'coerced' upgrades to Windows 10

  28-07-2016 19:26
  
  Three Florida men have filed a lawsuit in a Florida federal court against Microsoft, charging that the company "coerced" them into upgrading to Windows 10 and that the "unintentional" upgrades damaged their PCs, resulting in lost time and money.
  The three -- Al Khafaji, Ahmad Abdulreda and Robert Stahl -- were the first to sue Microsoft at the federal level for running a campaign to get Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users to accept the free upgrade to Windows 10. That offer expires Friday.
  "Microso
  
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• BrandPost: What Does Large-Scale Automation Look Like for a Digital Business?

  28-07-2016 19:17
  
  Digital businesses need to deploy new functionality into production on an almost-daily basis to take full advantage of the flexibility offered by the virtual world. Why? Because the business demands it. As you see every day, today’s digital technology projects happen on a much faster timeline than ever before, where typical projects last days-to-weeks rather than months-to-years. Large-scale automation makes it possible to deploy this new business functionality early and often - while sig
  
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• Google beefs Linux up kernel defenses in Android

  28-07-2016 19:13
  
  Future versions of Android will be more resilient to exploits thanks to developers' efforts to integrate the latest Linux kernel defenses into the operating system.
  Android's security model relies heavily on the Linux kernel that sits at its core. As such, Android developers have always been interested in adding new security features that are intended to prevent potentially malicious code from reaching the kernel, which is the most privileged area of the operating system.
  One older example is S
  
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• Asana's new feature lets users mark what tasks are holding them up

  28-07-2016 19:01
  
  One of the biggest issues with collaborative work is sitting around twiddling your thumbs while waiting for someone else to get their work done. Asana announced a new feature on Thursday that's aimed at cutting down on emails asking when a particular task will be finished. Users of the collaboration and tracking software will be able to mark that a task they're assigned to is waiting for someone else to complete their work, using the new Dependencies feature. That way, for example, a design
  
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• How one CIO navigated the path from sales to IT leader

  28-07-2016 18:38
  
  Long before Tom Miller became CIO of Anthem, the $79 billion healthcare giant, he led a sales team that, in 1990, had pulled off an improbable feat: selling an unprecedented 38,500 cases of Coca-Cola products in a day.[ Related: CIOs who took an alternative route to the top ]In one day, the team overcame a revenue shortfall for the year. But then came the really hard part. The warehouse team would have to work overnight to essentially empty their warehouses and deliver the products. Mind you, th
  
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• Facebook’s Birthday Videos are another attempt to repackage your life for social sharing

  28-07-2016 18:14
  
  Now that Facebook’s Memories function has taken over the world—at least if my News Feed is any indication—the social giant’s grafting its central concept onto birthdays.
  Facebook’s new 45-second “Birthday Videos” will show up in your feed the day after your big day, displaying “a magical birthday cake that lights up and comes to life” before bursting open to show the “top” happy birthday posts and videos sent by your pals. Take n
  
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• After 20 years of Windows Server, Microsoft looks to agile future

  28-07-2016 18:01
  
  Windows Server hasn’t quite reached its silver anniversary (the first version, Windows NT 3.1, shipped in July 1993, although it first saw the light of day in a demo in 1991). But 23 or 25 years later, depending on how you want to count, Windows Server is becoming a very different server operating system. Part of that is due to a new focus at Microsoft on supporting the platforms that customers want to use.
  The change in focus at Microsoft reflects a move in the industry towards new devel
  
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• Oracle and NetSuite: Longtime 'sweethearts' united at last

  28-07-2016 17:51
  
  Oracle's US$9.3 billion purchase of NetSuite may be the most anticipated acquisition in the history of enterprise software."It’s like the high school sweethearts you always knew would get married but they had to get through four years of college first," said analyst Frank Scavo, president of Strativa.There's no denying the two companies share a long history. Not only was Oracle chairman and chief technology officer Larry Ellison an early backer of NetSuite, but both NetSuite founder Evan G
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Mastering and managing data understanding

  28-07-2016 17:19
  
  Our first two articles in this series, "5 Critical Success Factors to Turn Data Into Insight" and "Business Alignment Strategies to Turn Data Into Insight," introduced the essential capabilities that contribute to the success of analytics-based initiatives. To review:Business alignment: Determine context and value of using information.
  Data understanding: Seek to better understand data assets and manage accordingly.
  Data quality: Define accuracy for the purpose for which data is being used.
  Dat
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Who should manage IT?

  28-07-2016 17:17
  
  What difference does it make?
  Does it matter who oversees IT? Is there a different outcome if the CIO or IT director reports to a CFO, a COO or a CEO? You bet there is. It really depends more on the individual than the position, but let’s stereotype and make some sweeping generalizations – it’s more fun.CFO overseeing IT
  “David, you’re a cheap bastard.”“Jeffrey, you’re damn right I am. It’s my job.”ThinkstockThat was friendly banter I h
  
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• Microsoft misjudges millennials, spectacularly

  28-07-2016 16:52
  
  Like every other tech firm, Microsoft is desperately seeking millennials, both as customers and employees. But something about that prized demographic makes the uncoolest of tech companies lose its head and become even uncooler — and, even worse, act like the Donald Trump of the tech world.
  Since this spring Microsoft has had to apologize publicly three times for offensive, anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic and racist words and acts, all in the name of getting millennials onboard. One of t
  
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• 1 in 4 desktop owners use ad blockers

  28-07-2016 16:01
  
  Ad blockers have a bad reputation in some circles, but they also get a lot of love.A new study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) found 26 percent of desktop computer users and 15 percent of mobile device owners use ad blocking software to remove advertisements from the sites they visit. Males between 18 and 34 years of age represent about 32 percent of all ad-blocker use, and women of the same age range comprise 22 percent of use, according to IAB. The advertising trade group is
  
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• Oracle to buy cloud software provider NetSuite for $9.3 billion

  28-07-2016 15:18
  
  Oracle has entered into an agreement to buy NetSuite, which provides cloud-based accounting, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and other business software packages, for US$9.3 billion.
  The NetSuite package of products is complementary to Oracle's cloud products and the companies' cloud packages will "coexist in the marketplace forever," Mark Hurd, Oracle's CEO, said in a press release.
  The deal will allow Oracle to serve a broader range of customers, including
  
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• Oracle to buy cloud provider NetSuite for $9.3 billion

  28-07-2016 15:18
  
  Oracle has entered into an agreement to buy NetSuite, which provides cloud-based accounting, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and other business software packages, for US$9.3 billion.The NetSuite package of products is complementary to Oracle's cloud products and the companies' cloud packages will "coexist in the marketplace forever," Mark Hurd, Oracle's CEO, said in a press release.The deal will allow Oracle to serve a broader range of customers, including sm
  
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• Riverbed buys end-user experience monitoring company Aternity

  28-07-2016 14:32
  
  Network and application performance management company Riverbed announced this morning that it would acquire end-user experience monitoring firm Aternity for an undisclosed fee.
  Aternity, a privately held company headquartered in Westborough, Mass., was founded in 2004 as Gelion Networks. Its core technology, which is currently operating on 1.7 million global endpoints, is real end-user monitoring, which detects performance issues by analyzing user behavior. The idea, according to Riverbed, is
  
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• Social media gives customers power (and water)

  28-07-2016 14:03
  
  One of the most frustrating parts of moving, at least for me, is the administrative stuff. Changing my address, making sure electricity, internet service, natural gas, water services are all turned on. For the most part, even though we moved to a different state, everything transitioned smoothly… except for our water provider.
  We officially moved in over the July 4th holiday weekend, so I called on Tuesday, July 5 to switch the service into my name and arrange for online billing. I was tr
  
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• 3 legit reasons why you'll love the Texture magazine app

  28-07-2016 14:03
  
  I recently received a tempting offer (now expired) from Amazon: I could get a free 7-inch Amazon Fire tablet if I subscribed to the Texture digital magazine app for Android, iOS and Windows for six months. I already own four tablets, so I bravely declined.However, it made me curious about Texture, which serves up "all you can eat" magazines for a monthly fee. I reviewed Texture's predecessor, Next Issue, back in April 2012, when it was Android-only, and then reviewed its Wind
  
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• Marketing pros discuss what they want from IT

  28-07-2016 14:00
  
  When marketing and technology collide, too many IT departments react with extreme measures. CIOs and IT professionals can choose to block marketing efforts, get out of the way entirely or embrace strategies that position their technical expertise to have the greatest impact, according to a set of marketing executives who spoke with CIO.com. Businesses fall into two camps, in which IT professionals become "order takers or stonewallers," and these relationships breed resentment among all invo
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Is it worth it to build a Hackintosh?

  28-07-2016 14:00
  
  There’s no doubt that Apple makes some of the finest and most popular computers in the world. The Mac has become an icon of stellar design and ease of use in the computing world.But no company can please everybody all of the time. And some of Apple’s customers have taken to building their own computers and running macOS on them instead of on a Mac from Apple. These DIY computers are called Hackintoshes.Why do people build Hackintosh computers?
  Why would someone build a Hackintosh? We
  
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• How to manage the 7 biggest workplace fears

  28-07-2016 13:47
  
  Workplace stress is common, and at some point in your life, it's likely you'll feel the pressure that can come from maintaining a career. Experiencing anxiety at work is ultimately bad for everyone. Consistent anxious feelings in the workplace can actually lead to underperformance and affect the relationship between employees and their co-workers and managers.Scott Steinberg, bestselling author of Make Change Work for You, cites research around the seven common types of fear people report feelin
  
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• How to stay connected while traveling with cheap and easy mobile access

  28-07-2016 13:00
  
  Staying connected while you travel, especially internationally, is no longer something that’s just “nice to have.” The habits of looking up a restaurant, getting directions, messaging friends or family members, and backing up your photos are a part of everyday life, and you probably don’t want to surrender that convenience when you travel outside the country.
  Fortunately, your ability to stay in touch rather cheaply is better than ever. But what you get for your money, e
  
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• 9 data security tips for cloud migration

  28-07-2016 13:00
  
  New security challengesImage by Les HainesWhen migrating to a cloud-based environment, companies need to take a hard look at their needs and the security of their providers, as well as their own internal policies. Many companies don’t take time to consider the risks of simply sharing cloud space with other organizations, for example, or how to match cloud security policies to those of the data center.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• How to attract a board-level cybersecurity expert

  28-07-2016 12:42
  
  Suzanne Vautrinot’s impressive cybersecurity experience has been in high demand since she retired from the U.S. Air Force in October 2013. As a major general and commander, she helped create the Department of Defense's U.S. Cyber Command and led the Air Force's IT and online battle group.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Microsoft’s Iowa data center cluster to reach 3.2M square feet

  28-07-2016 12:00
  
  From a data center perspective, Iowa has a lot going for it.
  Its industrial electric rates are 5.71 cents per kWh, near the bottom nationally, according to U.S. data. It has experienced “minor earthquake activity” since the U.S. took control in 1803 under the Louisana Purchase.
  It’s also far from hurricane trouble, but Iowa is at higher risk for tornadoes, and that may help explain Microsoft’s data center building plans.
  Microsoft is building a 1.7 million-square-foot da
  
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• The weirdest, wackiest and coolest sci/tech stories of 2016 (so far)

  28-07-2016 11:00
  
  Wacky storiesImage by Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/Beck Diefenbach/Stephen LamYes it's that time again…Time to search the old news-feed and find some of the most interesting and sometimes weird and wacky high-tech stories of the year. This time out we feature a look at everything from fireworks displays in space to Starship Enterprise remakes and mermaid robots – just to name a few cool stories.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Smartphone market inches back to growth with Samsung holding lead

  28-07-2016 07:13
  
  The smartphone market is showing signs of growth again, but barely, with shipments up nearly 1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, according to Strategy Analytics.
  The research firm, which had reported a 3 percent drop in the market in the last quarter, said Wednesday that there are indications that the market had bottomed out in the first half of this year. Multiple new product launches from vendors including Samsung Electronics and Apple could see an improving  growth outlook for
  
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• Pokémon Go craze shows Apple an augmented reality future

  28-07-2016 02:39
  
  With Apple reporting that the company is investing in augmented reality research, some industry analysts say the company is likely to sculpt what the experience will be like for users around the world.
  "This is very important for Apple to be involved in augmented reality," said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy. "More importantly, Apple now will probably be one of a handful of companies to define what a future AR experience should be. This is big."
  During a third-qu
  
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