IT Executive news

• Azure August Roundup: New high-performance compute instances and more

  06-09-2016 23:45
  
  August was a slow month for tech news, but Microsoft continued to update its Azure cloud platform with a variety of new features, including a new type of instance for high-performance computing. Here's the breakdown of all the features you need to know about:A new instance type powered by Nvidia Tesla GPUsMicrosoft announced the private beta of a set of new compute instance types to power applications that need a lot of parallel processing. The new N-series virtual machines are powered by Nvidi
  
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• What to do when the cloud eats your hardware vendor

  06-09-2016 23:18
  
  In the first quarter of 2016 Amazon reported that revenue for its Web Services division grew 64% from the same period a year earlier. Salesforce.com reported a 33% increase in revenues compared to a year earlier.
  Meanwhile, global storage revenues declined 32% between 2007 and 2015 and server revenues dropped 13%, according to research firm Forrester. The trend is clear: Cloud revenues are up, on-premises hardware revenues are down.
  A new report from Forrester titled “Evolve or Crumble: P
  
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• On eve of iPhone 7, a third of iPhones are 3+ years old

  06-09-2016 22:27
  
  A third of the iPhones now in use are three or more years old, an app analytics vendor said a day before Apple unveils the new iPhone 7.
  According to Boston-based Localytics, 32% of all iPhones used in August were models that debuted in 2013 or earlier, with that year's iPhone 5S the third-most popular device at 17%. Others, including 2012's iPhone 5 and 2011's iPhone 4S, accounted for single digit shares.
  Localytics measured share by tallying the models among more than 100 million iPhones that
  
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• AT&T and Qualcomm to research drone use on LTE networks

  06-09-2016 22:07
  
  AT&T and Qualcomm said Tuesday they will be testing drones on commercial 4G LTE wireless networks.
  The companies want to test how drones can operate safely and more securely on commercial 4G LTE and upcoming 5G networks, they said in a joint statement. Trials begin later in September at Qualcomm's San Diego campus.
  Researchers said the goal is to help enable future drone operations, including when regulations evolve to allow drones to fly beyond anoperator's line of sight. With that capabil
  
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• LTE is hitting the field in the IoT game

  06-09-2016 21:56
  
  To get small, low-power IoT devices online, it’s no longer necessary to saddle them with full-scale cellular radios. Independent players like Sigfox and Ingenu are expanding their specialized networks, and now a low-power version of LTE is coming to major operators.So-called LTE Category M1 is making a big splash at the CTIA Super Mobility show in Las Vegas this week. The biggest U.S. carriers just announced their plans for the new technology, with Verizon Wireless promising a commercial C
  
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• Volvo, Autoliv to form self-driving car software company

  06-09-2016 21:54
  
  Volvo Cars today announced a partnership with Swedish-American vehicle safety systems supplier Autoliv Inc. to form a new jointly-owned company to develop autonomous driving software.
  The planned company, which has yet to be named, will have its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden and an initial workforce of about 200 taken from both firms. The new company is expected to start operations in early 2017, and then grow to more than 600 employees.
  Autoliv develops and sells automotive safety systems
  
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• AWS August Roundup: Now you can query streaming data with SQL

  06-09-2016 21:51
  
  The dog days of summer are over, and it's time to get back to work. While you were out enjoying the sunshine and sipping margaritas, Amazon continued to update its cloud platform with new services like Kinesis Analytics, which lets users query streaming data with SQL. There were also a ton of updates to existing services, with the company's load balancer service moving up the stack, hourly billing coming to virtual desktops and support for customers bringing their own encryption keys for Am
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Understanding data governance

  06-09-2016 21:30
  
  Whether implementing self-service dashboards, developing reporting processes to meet regulatory compliance, or defining BI strategy, one common challenge seems to arise: governance. When evaluating both business and technical challenges that exist, the following questions come up consistently:How can we ensure that source data can be trusted?
  How do we develop strong data quality parameters that are consistent and repeatable?
  Can our current data support better customer experience initiatives?
  H
  
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• Researchers: Facebook makes you as happy as getting married

  06-09-2016 21:25
  
  Connecting with family and friends, and having them comment on Facebook posts, can be as uplifting as getting married or having kids, according to a new study.
  Facebook and our friends' comments have come to inspire intense feelings of happiness, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
  "We're not talking about anything that's particularly labor-intensive," said Moira Burke, a research scientist at Facebook who earned a Ph.D. in human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon
  
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• Big data is already a $46 billion market, but you ain't seen nothin' yet

  06-09-2016 21:20
  
  Big data has been a big buzzword for more than a few years already, and it's got some solid numbers to back that up, including US$46 billion in 2016 revenues for vendors of related products and services. But the big data era is still just beginning to dawn, with the real growth yet to come.So suggests a new report from SNS Research, which predicts that by the end of 2020, companies will spend more than $72 billion on big data hardware, software, and professional services. While revenue is curren
  
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• New Siri commands smarter, but not smart enough

  06-09-2016 21:05
  
  Apple last week proudly rolled out some new capabilities for Siri, which will presumably take effect with iOS 10’s rollout on Wednesday (Sept. 7). The changes address one of my long-sought capabilities, which is to make getting a ride a lot easier. Alas, it demands more specificity than would be optimal. 
  Apple’s announcement promised transportation ease but didn’t quite deliver it. From Apple: “You can ask Siri to call a friend or colleague or b
  
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• Microsoft's new kit makes gadget development with Raspberry Pi easier

  06-09-2016 20:51
  
  If developing a cool gadget using the Raspberry Pi 3 seems like an insurmountable challenge, Microsoft's got your back.Microsoft's IoT Grove Kit has the ingredients needed to make the development of gadgets with Raspberry Pi boards much easier. The kit is a small collection of must-have components and connectors commonly used in making smart devices, drones, or robots.It doesn't come with the Raspberry Pi 3 board, which can be acquired separately for US$35.The kit is listed for $154.99 on the we
  
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• BrandPost: Mobile ERP: A 2-Way Experience That Provides Real Manufacturing Intelligence

  06-09-2016 20:51
  
  Cloud ERP is the great enabler when it comes to manufacturing mobility. Enterprise data—from all plants, all users, and all geographies—are kept in one central database. This means there is one source of truth that all users access, whether in the office or on the road. No more pockets of disconnected data locked in different locations.
  Mobility enabled by cloud ERP delivers:
  1.    Untethered Access
  Users with untethered mobile ERP access have comprehensive informatio
  
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• Enterprise IT pros see most workloads in cloud by 2018

  06-09-2016 20:18
  
  Within two years, a majority of enterprises expect to be running their workloads in the cloud.
  After getting past considerable concerns about privacy and security, companies are increasingly placing their faith -- and their information and services -- in the cloud.
  The level of enterprise workloads in the cloud is expected to go from 41% today to 60% by mid-2018, according to technology research firm 451 Research, which surveyed more than 1,200 IT professionals worldwide in May and June. 451 th
  
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• Ad-blocking Brave browser tests users-to-sites micro-payments

  06-09-2016 20:05
  
  Makers of the controversial Brave browser last week began testing a payment system that ultimately will be used to compensate websites when their revenue-generating ads are blocked, then replaced by Brave with its own.
  Brendan Eich, CEO and president of Brave Software -- and for a short stint in 2014, CEO of Mozilla -- announced the Bitcoin-based payment system last week.
  "We've heard from many people who say that they are tired of the current ad-tech ecosystem that clogs their web pages and da
  
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• Apple reportedly will add Sony's Felica RFID to iPhone 7

  06-09-2016 20:03
  
  Apple will add support for Sony's Felica RFID communications technology to the new iPhone 7 that is expected to be announced on Wednesday, according to a report in The Nikkei newspaper.Felica is the defacto standard on which all contactless payment cards and commuter passes in Japan are based. It's a standard feature in most phones on the market and Felica readers are in hundreds of thousands of stores, railway stations, on buses, taxis, and vending machines.By adding a Felica chip to the iPhone
  
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• Airlines want compulsory registration of drones and pilots in Europe

  06-09-2016 19:59
  
  If your drone weighs more than 250 grams, airlines and pilots think you should get a drone pilots' license before you fly it in the European Union.They're worried about the number of near misses between drones and helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft, and they see greater regulation of drone use as the best way to improve safety.They also want more tests to be conducted to determine the damage that drones may cause to manned aircraft, much as is already done to reduce the threat of bird strikes.In
  
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• 15% off APC 650VA 8-outlet Uninterruptible Power Supply and Surge Protector - Deal Alert

  06-09-2016 19:32
  
  The electronic devices you rely on every day for communication, security, and entertainment are at risk of damage and disconnect due to unexpected blackouts, voltage fluctuations, and other power disruptions. The BE650G1 from APC provides instant battery power to your critical electronics when the power goes out, keeping you connected and available both personally and professionally. Or at the very least, allowing you time to save your work and safely shut down. This model has 8 t
  
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• GE to pay $1.4B for two 3D printing companies to expand manufacturing

  06-09-2016 19:29
  
  General Electric today announced plans to spend $1.4 billion to acquire two of the world's top suppliers of metal-based 3D printing manufacturing equipment, Arcam AB and SLM Solutions Group AG.
  Both companies will become part of GE's Aviation division, where the technology will be used to increase GE's production of aircraft components and other parts through additive manufacturing. SLM Solutions GroupTurbine blades with internal conformal cooling channels to improve performance of jet engines
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why Pixar open sourced its 3D graphics technology

  06-09-2016 19:17
  
  Pixar Animation Studios has open sourced its Universal Scene Description (USD) technology. USD is an extremely powerful toolset that helps filmmakers in reading, writing, editing, and rapidly previewing 3D scene data.
  “USD is the core of Pixar's 3D graphics pipeline, used in every 3D authoring and rendering application, including Pixar's proprietary Presto animation system,” according to Pixar. 
  USD is aimed at performance and large-scale collaboration among many artists that m
  
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• Can cybersecurity save the November elections?

  06-09-2016 19:04
  
  The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s disclosure earlier this month that foreign hackers had infiltrated voter registration systems in Illinois and Arizona came as no surprise to some cybersecurity experts.
  “Given where cybercrime has gone, it’s not too surprising to think about how information risks might manifest themselves during the election season to cause some level of either potential disruption, change in voting, or even just political fodder to add the hype cycle,&rdq
  
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• Google's 3-level Android patch could cause confusion

  06-09-2016 19:00
  
  Google has released another large monthly batch of security patches for Android, this time fixing 55 vulnerabilities, eight of which are rated critical.The novelty of this release is that the fixes are split into three different "security patch levels" -- date strings that indicate to users how up-to-date their devices are. While this could make it easier for device manufacturers to integrate patches applicable to their devices, it could lead to confusion among regular users.Since August 2015 Go
  
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• Facebook tests a Twitter-like feature to encourage more conversation

  06-09-2016 18:05
  
  Facebook makes a habit of borrowing features from Twitter such as hashtags, a live feed, verification badges, and followers. Now, the company is testing a new feature that is about as close as Facebook could get to creating a version of Twitter.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How transparency should play a role in marketing

  06-09-2016 17:15
  
  As new modes of communication have opened up and it’s become easier than ever to convey timely and relevant information to the masses, the very messages being transmitted have become less and less transparent. It’s as if the simplicity of communicating has made it more difficult to be honest and forthcoming.One area where we see a lack of transparency is marketing. As much as we’d all like to say that our brands are 100 percent transparent in their marketing efforts, this simpl
  
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• US investigates Russia for attempting to hack the election

  06-09-2016 17:02
  
  Intelligence and law enforcement agencies are reportedly investigating whether Russia has launched a broad, covert operation to disrupt the U.S. elections in November.Officials believe that Russia appears to be attempting to spread disinformation and hack into U.S. political systems in an effort to undermine confidence in the upcoming election, according to a report in the Washington Post. Investigators do not have "definitive" proof of a Russian operation, but there is "significant concern
  
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• How one CIO became a corporate board director

  06-09-2016 17:01
  
  LinkedInJean Holley, CIO, Brambles
  Are today's boards appointing more CIOs than in the past? I've been hearing (and responding to) that question for years. However, when I asked Jean Holley, CIO of supply chain logistics company Brambles, about her board service, she suggested that the question may actually be irrelevant.
  Martha Heller: What is your corporate board experience? To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Box unveils new Relay workflow tool in partnership with IBM

  06-09-2016 17:00
  
  Companies that want to try simplifying the tangled mess of their internal workflows will be able to use a new tool from Box to help.Box Relay is a new product the enterprise storage company announced on Tuesday that's aimed at giving employees a way to manage and track the process of doing  repetitive work, like submitting expense reports and getting agreements approved.Using Relay, power users will be able to design workflows that they can then share with co-workers inside an organization
  
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• What is phishing success?

  06-09-2016 16:58
  
  In putting together awareness programs for dozens of clients, the potential to integrate phishing simulations always comes up. For the most part, it seems like a staple of awareness programs. But when the concept of phishing is raised, I always ask, “Why?”
  Yes, the question potentially costs me money. Also while most people perceive the phishing simulations as a direct way to decrease phishing susceptibility, the decrease might not be relevant or significant. So when I looked at a r
  
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• Why Microsoft's Edge browser is missing its edge

  06-09-2016 16:57
  
  The introduction of Windows 10 in October 2014 also brought along a new default web browser named Edge. The company has been touting Edge as a replacement for Internet Explorer (IE), which is now into its third decade of service for the company. But user adoption of the new browser isn’t piling up the way the company would probably like.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Chromebooks may add fingerprint scanning, following Android and Windows

  06-09-2016 16:43
  
  Google appears to be planning some added security for upcoming Chromebooks. The company’s Chromium code repository mentions a fingerprint sensor for Chrome OS, as first spotted by Chrome Unboxed.
  Led by Apple, Samsung, and others, fingerprint sensors are currently the most popular—not to mention fastest—method of biometric authentication. Windows 10 PCs also use biometric authentication via Microsoft’s Windows Hello feature. Microsoft favors facial recognition and retina
  
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• Stealthy, tricky to remove rootkit targets Linux systems on ARM and x86

  06-09-2016 15:47
  Security researchers have identified a new family of Linux rootkits that, despite running from user mode, can be hard to detect and remove.Called Umbreon, after a Pokémon character that hides in the darkness, the rootkit has been in development since early 2015 and is now being sold on the underground markets. It targets Linux-based systems on the x86, x86-64 and ARM architectures, including many embedded devices such as routers.According to malware researchers from antivirus firm Trend M
  
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• I don’t like being force-fed Windows 10

  06-09-2016 14:08
  
  I’m a Linux guy, but I kind of like Windows 10. However, its luster has been wearing thin. First, there was Cortana’s eavesdropping. Then there was the insanely buggy Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Adding insult to injury, Microsoft now force-feeds us updates and gives us only 10 days to roll them back.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• What this expensive ‘secure’ phone tells us about mobile hacking

  06-09-2016 13:30
  
  Mobile security is a bit of a misnomer. Few of us can say we’ve been attacked by a piece of malware or have quarantined an actual virus. The odds are stacked against us. Mobile operators like Verizon and Sprint routinely scan for threats, and both Google Android and the Apple iPhone include multiple security measures on their devices, from fingerprint scanners to full encryption.
  Yet, there’s a sneaking suspicion that mobile security is a bigger concern. According to one HP report,
  
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• IoT catches on in New England fishing town

  06-09-2016 13:00
  
  Fifty miles south of Boston, the Internet of Things is taking hold in the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts.
  It isn’t something you’d expect in this fishing and agricultural area. But thanks to INEX IoT Impact Labs, Dell and the companies’ many IoT partners, small and midsize enterprises here are discovering the power of IoT-enabled sensors and monitoring—and the data that comes from them.
  There’s a type of industrial revival taking place among those types of busi
  
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• Intel buys chip maker Movidius to help bring computer vision to drones

  06-09-2016 12:53
  
  Intel's RealSense computer vision platform has been lacking a low-powered way of recognizing what its depth-sensing cameras are seeing -- until now.The chip giant is buying Movidius, the designer of a range of system-on-chip products for accelerating computer vision processing.Movidius supplies chips to drone makers such as DJI and to thermal imaging company FLIR Systems, itself a supplier of DJI.Its chips help computers figure out what they are seeing through cameras like Intel's RealSense by b
  
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• New Wi-Fi features in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

  06-09-2016 12:30
  
  Last month Microsoft debuted its first major update to Windows 10, technically called version 1607 but generally known as the Anniversary Update. You may have seen stories around the web delving into the update's general improvements including a smarter Cortana, Edge extensions and Windows Ink, but rarely have the Anniversary Update's new Wi-Fi and networking features and interfaces been discussed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• How to create a data-centric security infrastructure

  06-09-2016 12:11
  
  Data everywhere Image by ThinkstockFirewalls, APT protection, antivirus, etc., are all necessary to protect an organization’s integrity. But when you get down to the nitty gritty, it’s about the data – the intellectual property, the customer PII, the M&A info, your customer data and all the information that keeps the business running. With today’s multiplatform environment, your sensitive information may no longer completely be under your control. It could be on any d
  
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• How to control your privacy in Chromebooks vs. Windows 10

  06-09-2016 12:00
  
  When it comes to privacy, both Google’s Chrome OS and Microsoft’s Windows 10 take an “opt-out” stance.
  By default, both platforms collect a variety of data about your usage, but the way they go about it is often different. While Microsoft presents users with a long list of privacy-related toggles, Google’s controls are less granular. Both companies, however, make you jump through additional hoops to disable the kind of personalized ads that help them turn a profit.
  
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• Essential certifications for smart security pros

  06-09-2016 12:00
  
  If you’re pursuing a career in IT security, certifications can only help you. Certification-critics often say a certification means nothing, and acumen and experience are the true differentiators, but as a holder of dozens of IT security certifications, I beg to differ. So do employers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Ubuntu 16.04 kisses the cloud, disses the desktop

  06-09-2016 11:45
  
  With Ubuntu 16.04LTS (Xenial Xerus), Canonical has introduced incremental improvements to the popular server and cloud versions of its operating system, but if you were looking for exciting changes to desktop Ubuntu, this version isn’t it.
  The 16.04 release is an iterative, not necessarily massive improvement. But this is an Long Term Service (LTS) version, which means that there’s a team working on keeping it solid for five years. So, into the next decade, 16.04 gets patched and fi
  
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• 7 tips for making a good impression at your new job

  06-09-2016 10:30
  
  The first month in a new job is arguably one of the most critical, as it can set the tone for your entire tenure with the company. Your actions and reactions can make or break your reputation at your new company and can impact your entire career, says Todd Dean, co-founder and CMO of mobile employment app Wirkn. Here are Dean's six tips for making your first month at a new role one of your best.
  1. Do your homework
  Before you head into the office for your first day, you should have done extensiv
  
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• 5 tips to better understand millennial managers

  06-09-2016 10:05
  
  Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce, which means they're quickly infiltrating every rank in corporate America -- especially middle management. While millennials want much of the same things as previous generations, they also have different values and expectations for their employers.And chances are, if you haven't been managed by a millennial yet, you will be soon. A survey from Future Workplace and Beyond found that 83 percent of respondents said they have seen mill
  
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• Obama aims to avoid a ‘cycle of escalation’ in cyberattacks by countries

  06-09-2016 07:08
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama said his country has had problems with cyber intrusions from Russia and other countries in the past, but aims to establish some norms of behavior rather than let the issue escalate as happened in arms races in the past.Obama’s statement on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China, after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not refer specifically to a recent hack of the Democratic National Committee of the Democratic Party that the U.S. Federal Burea
  
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