IT Executive news

• Apple leads tablet sales, but the iPad Pro is not its best seller

  01-11-2016 22:18
  
  Tablet sales continue to slip, and not even the iPad Pro has helped salvage the market.
  Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and other tablet vendors shipped just a combined 43 million units in the third quarter of 2016, according to a new report by IDC. These figures mark a year-over-year decline of 14.7 percent, and more evidence that the worldwide tablet market continues its slump. IDC analysts blame the tablet sales slump to low-cost two-in-one laptops flooding the market.
  “The race to the bo
  
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• 20% off Ring Wi-Fi Enabled Video Doorbell - Deal Alert

  01-11-2016 22:05
  
  The Ring Video Doorbell is the world's first battery-operated, Wi-Fi enabled, HD video doorbell. The device enables homeowners to see and speak with visitors from anywhere in the world by streaming live audio and video of a home's front doorstep directly to the free iOS or Android app. The doorbell's built-in motion sensors detect movement up to 30 feet, and HD video recording stores all recorded footage to the cloud which can be accessed via the Ring app. The Ring Doorbell is quick and easy to
  
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• Instagram is finally making it easy to buy stuff

  01-11-2016 22:00
  
  If you’re anything like me, scrolling through your Instagram feed triggers an impulse to buy. A nice pair of jeans, a cool bag, a stylish pair of glasses, the perfect phone case—I see beautiful product shots and immediately start hunting for details on where to buy them. But as natural a fit as shopping from an Instagram image seems to be, the network has always made it incredibly difficult. Even if the user tags the image with the manufacturer’s Instagram handle, tracking dow
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 3 steps for driving change in an IT-led transformation

  01-11-2016 21:20
  
  There is a joke about three frogs on a log. Two of them decide to jump off. How many frogs are left? The answer is three — because deciding to do something and doing it are two very different things. This is one of the very significant issues associated with IT-led transformation.Few IT executives don’t want to increase the agility and speed of their IT. Yet, year in and year out, the pace of putting technology in place hasn’t really changed. Yes, companies now have SaaS rather
  
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• Facebook hit by civil rights grievances

  01-11-2016 21:04
  
  It's been a tough week for Facebook when it comes to civil rights allegations against the world's largest social network.
  First, the news site ProPublica alleged that Facebook was enabling advertisers to exclude users based on race.
  Now Facebook is dealing with an open letter from 73 civil rights organizations to company CEO Mark Zuckerberg who say they are "deeply concerned" about cases where Facebook allegedly censored posts about possible human rights violations -- particularly postings abou
  
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• Cisco pits modular storage servers against public clouds

  01-11-2016 21:00
  
  Cisco Systems is finding its way into storage through its successful server business. On Tuesday, it’s introducing modular systems that can be deployed with many different combinations of computing and storage capacity.Though it’s not Cisco’s first foray into storage, the UCS S3260 Storage Server offers a density and a freedom of configuration that stands out against other systems, even competing on cost with public cloud services, the company says.The server was announced at t
  
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• Mobile is now mission critical for e-business

  01-11-2016 20:49
  
  Web traffic from smartphones will make up 43% of all web traffic next year and will reach 52% globally in 2019, according to research firm Forrester.
  The implications of such mobile web growth are profound, especially for e-businesses trying to effectively reach their customers and partners.
  Such widespread reliance on mobile devices instead of desktops means that enterprises next year should begin a dramatic shift to in-house mobile developer teams, Forrester said in a new report, Mobile is th
  
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• Microsoft stops sales of Windows 7 Professional to OEMs

  01-11-2016 20:34
  Microsoft today quietly put an end to sales of Windows 7 licenses to computer makers, marking a major milestone for the seven-year-old OS.
  According to Microsoft's rules, the Redmond, Wash. company stopped selling Windows 7 Professional or any version of Windows 8.1 to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) as of Oct. 31.
  The end of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 left only Windows 10 as a long-term choice for OEMs that pre-load Windows on their wares.
  The original end-of-sales deadline for Windows
  
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• Google's Daydream View VR headset to ship on Nov. 10 for $79

  01-11-2016 20:34
  
  Google's Daydream View virtual reality headset will start shipping on Nov. 10 for US $79.
  The VR headset will work with phones compatible with Daydream, including Google's Pixel. Users can place a smartphone in the Daydream View to roam virtual worlds, watch movies, or play games.
  The company showed a number of Daydream applications at the Unite 2016 Los Angeles keynote on Tuesday. The applications included a shooter, a kart racing game, a Wall Street Journal financial app, and a social interac
  
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• 11 cool high-tech aerial headquarters photos

  01-11-2016 20:11
  
  High aboveImage by Reuters/Noah BergerApple’s “Spaceship” headquarters building, which is under construction but will soon be completed, gets a lot of attention but there are other high-tech headquarters that look good – especially from above. Here we take a look at just a few of them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Big thinking at the SSA: Lessons in communication and respect from its departing CIO

  01-11-2016 20:07
  
  Did you know that 65.1 million people received benefits from programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) in 2015?  And do you know what the SSA calls those people? Customers. Can you imagine communicating with 65.1 million customers? Pretty daunting. 
  One would think that the main goal of the SSA CIO would be to stay afloat, but Robert “Rob” Klopp aimed for more with his recent Design Thinking initiative. As CIO and deputy commissioner of systems at t
  
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• A peek inside Microsoft Azure’s open source server and rack designs

  01-11-2016 20:04
  Microsoft this week has open sourced the design specifications of servers and racks that make up its hyperscale Azure cloud data centers, contributing the information to the Open Compute Project (OCP).
  OCP was founded in 2011 and now includes member companies such as Facebook, Intel, Google, Apple, Dell, Rackspace, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity and Bank of America, who share design specifications for hardware used in their data centers. OCP is meant to be an open source commu
  
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• Researchers build undetectable rootkit for programmable logic controllers

  01-11-2016 19:51
  
  Researchers have devised a new malware attack against industrial programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that takes advantage of architectural shortcomings in microprocessors and bypasses current detection mechanisms.The attack changes the configuration of the input/output pins that make up the interface used by PLCs to communicate with other devices such as sensors, valves, and motors. PLCs are specialized embedded computers used to control and monitor physical processes in factories, power
  
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• Worried about China, the US pushes for homegrown chip development

  01-11-2016 19:26
  
  The world's fastest computer runs a Chinese chip, and that fact hasn't escaped notice by the U.S. government.So how does the U.S. government bludgeon the Chinese chip threat? A new U.S. government working group aims to encourage domestic companies to use homegrown chip technology and resist the urge to buy inexpensive Chinese semiconductors.The White House this week established the Semiconductor Working Group, a private-public advisory group that will create policy and research guideli
  
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• How CIOs can make Business Relationship Management (BRM) work

  01-11-2016 18:50
  
  You established a business relationship management (BRM) function a few years ago, and it started out great. Your business partners seemed to really value this dedicated liaison between IT and their business functions. But after a few months of periodic system outages and other operational problems, the BRM got stuck in the weeds. She wound up working on issues that were more tactical than strategic, and the dream of a professional positioned to "shape business demand and ensure business value r
  
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• Gartner: Despite the DDoS attacks, don’t give up on Dyn or DNS service providers

  01-11-2016 18:27
  
  The DDoS attacks that flooded Dyn last month and knocked some high-profile Web sites offline don’t mean businesses should abandon it or other DNS service providers, Gartner says.
  In fact, the best way to go is to make sure critical Web sites are backed by more than one DNS provider, says Gartner analyst Bob Gill.
  +More on Network World: Gartner Top 10 technology trends you should know for 2017+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Latest MacBook Pro price reset resembles shift to Retina in 2012

  01-11-2016 18:23
  
  Apple's new prices for its MacBook Pro laptops were not out of the ordinary for the company, according to the line's pricing history.
  On Oct. 27, Apple introduced three new MacBook Pro models, two of which sport the Touch Bar, a narrow display above the top row of the keyboard that will portray application-specific, touch-sensitive commands and shortcuts.
  The starting price for the 15-in. MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar is $2,399, a 20% increase over the starting price of its predecessor. The ne
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Apple’s new MacBook Pros stink for gaming

  01-11-2016 17:01
  
  Apple’s new MacBook Pro computers have gotten a lot of attention in the media for their cool, new TouchBar feature. But if you are considering buying a new MacBook Pro for gaming then you are in for a rude awakening. The new MacBook Pros just can't hold a candle to cheaper, more powerful Windows computers when it comes to gaming.Chris Mills reports for BGR:
  …it should mean acceptable performance running something like Photoshop, easy playback of 4K video, or gaming at good settings,
  
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• Sukhi Gill (HPE): Transformatie van de maakindustrie

  01-11-2016 16:47
  De manufacturing-industrie zou gebaat zijn met een fintech-achtige dynamiek, waarbij men openstaat voor nieuwe technologieën en businessinnovaties. Sukhi Gill, chief technologist voor de EMEA-regio binnen HPE Enterprise Services, is er veel aan gelegen dit te realiseren. In zijn rol is hij verantwoordelijk voor de... lees meer
  
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• 30% off Anker Phone Camera Lens Kit With Fisheye, 0.65x Wide Angle, 10x Macro - Deal Alert

  01-11-2016 16:44
  
  This multi-functional camera lens kit works on most standard sized smartphones including the iPhone 7 (excluding Plus), and brings even more life to your photos with 180-degree fisheye, 0.65x wide angle and 10x macro lenses. It currently averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, and its list price of $20 has been reduced 30% to just $14. See the lens kit now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Building a nimble workforce to drive technology innovation

  01-11-2016 16:43
  
  IT organizations no longer have a choice between innovating or just operating the business. Ask business leaders what they want from IT, and many of them expect innovation and support for market growth. Ask CIOs what they think their role is, and you’ll find that many prioritize operations — focusing on just keeping the lights on (IDC survey, 2015). The truth for technology leaders lies somewhere in the gray zone of running and scaling IT while making focused, strategic investments i
  
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• Samsung to invest $1 billion in Austin plant to make mobile chips

  01-11-2016 16:33
  
  Samsung is still sorting out the mess connected to the recalled Galaxy Note7, but is nevertheless ramping up mobile chip manufacturing by investing $1 billion in an Austin, Texas, factory.The investment will be applied early next year, and will also be used to expand manufacturing of semiconductors for electronics, the company said on Tuesday.Samsung makes Exynos chips that are used in its smartphones, but also semiconductors for storage, memory and batteries. Most of the components in the Galax
  
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• UK government to spend $2.3 billion to bolster cybersecurity

  01-11-2016 15:54
  
  The U.K. government will spend £1.9 billion (US $2.3 billion) over the next five years to pump up its cybersecurity defenses and pay for new research, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said.
  The goal of the spending, part of a new national cybersecurity strategy, is to make the U.K. one of the "safest places in the world to do business," with a world-class cybersecurity industry and workforce, Hammond said Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a com
  
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• How the White House's social media accounts will transition to the next president

  01-11-2016 15:40
  When President Obama leaves the White House in January he won’t just be handing over the reigns of power. He’ll also give up the presidential social media profiles.
  The White House recently detailed how that digital transition will work, and as you’d expect from anything governmental it’s quite a process. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see how important social media has become to the White House and how the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) pla
  
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• BrandPost: Mitigating the Security Risks of Big Data

  01-11-2016 15:27
  
  Big data implementations are complex, multi-level stacks, encapsulating some of an organization’s most important and sensitive data. As such, when these deployments go into production, they create a high-risk asset. And herein lies the challenge for IT organizations: securing access to big data while still providing end user access for extracting valuable business insights.Here are three big data security risks and a simple approach to mitigating them.Security Risk #1: Unauthorized AccessU
  
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• Up To 36% off Various Amazon Kindle Models, Limited Time Discount - Deal Alert

  01-11-2016 15:11
  
  Amazon has quietly released another good set of deals on its popular Kindle series of e-readers. For a limited time, Kindle's price sinks from $80 to $60, Kindle Paperwhite from $120 down to $100, the Kindle Voyage drops from $200 to just $180, and the worry-free Kindle for Kids Bundle is reduced from $125 to just $80. The Kindle discounts are being offered for a limited time, so if you're in the market for one, you may want to consider the deal.To read this article in full or to leave a commen
  
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• Up To 36% off Various Amazon Kindle Models, Discounted until 11/3 - Deal Alert

  01-11-2016 15:11
  
  Amazon has quietly released another good set of deals on its popular Kindle series of e-readers. For a limited time, Kindle's price sinks from $80 to $60, Kindle Paperwhite from $120 down to $100, the Kindle Voyage drops from $200 to just $180, and the worry-free Kindle for Kids Bundle is reduced from $125 to just $80. The Kindle discounts are being offered for a limited time, so if you're in the market for one, you may want to consider the deal.To read this article in full or to leave a commen
  
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• Europese bedrijven die werken in de cloud lopen voor op concurrentie

  01-11-2016 15:09
  Een meerderheid van de Europese bedrijven die cloud-gebaseerde applicaties gebruikt voor ten minste één bedrijfskritisch proces, zoals accounting, customer relationship management (CRM) of ERP, heeft een voorsprong op zijn concurrenten. Ze groeien sneller en breiden hun dienstverlening efficiënter... lees meer
  
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• Google to untrust WoSign and StartCom certificates

  01-11-2016 15:04
  
  Following similar decisions by Mozilla and Apple, Google plans to reject new  digital certificates issued by two certificate authorities because they violated industry rules and best practices.The ban will go into effect in Chrome version 56, which is currently in the dev release channel, and will apply to all certificates issued by certificate authorities WoSign and StartCom after October 21. Browsers rely on digital certificates to verify the identity of websites and to establish encrypte
  
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• Here's how businesses can prevent point-of-sale attacks

  01-11-2016 14:14
  
  Retailers, hotels and restaurants have all been victimized through the same Achilles' heel that cybercriminals continue to attack: the point-of-sale system, where customers' payment data is routinely processed.  
  These digital cash registers are often the target of malware designed to steal credit card numbers in the thousands or even millions. This year, fast food vendor Wendy's, clothing retailer Eddie Bauer and Kimpton Hotels have all reported data breaches stemming from such attacks.
  S
  
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• How sports execs use tech to improve fan engagement

  01-11-2016 14:11
  
  HALF MOON BAY, CALIF. - If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed much in sports it’s that winning cures a lot of ills. Fans generally don’t want to follow or pay to see a team that’s always losing, but competitive teams with a shot at a championship typically attract more fans and can generate more revenue via merchandise, media and other ancillary deals.But one thing that has changed, sports are not the only game in town. From live performances to outdoor activitie
  
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• Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Mirantis cut OpenStack staff

  01-11-2016 13:55
  
  Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Mirantis - two of the most instrumental companies in the open source cloud computing project OpenStack - have each laid off employees in recent weeks, according to the companies.
  The full extent of the layoffs at HPE is unknown but ComputerWorldUK last week quoted Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth as saying that HPE had laid off their “entire OpenStack team.” An official with HPE confirmed there has been a restructuring but would not say how many Ope
  
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• Why you should buy Apple's Nike smartwatch instead of Watch Series 2

  01-11-2016 13:41
  
  The new Apple Watch Nike+ edition ($369 for the 38mm version and $399 for 42mm) is exactly the same as the Apple Watch Series 2 in terms of core features, but it has some extra Nike goodies designed to appeal to fitness buffs.Based on my tests during the past weekend, Apple Watch Nike+ has a lot to offer athletes (and wannabe athletes). It's stylish and easy to use, and it has a cool sport band you can't get on any other Apple Watch.Here are four reasons why Apple Watch Nike+ could be a good fit
  
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• Unencrypted pagers a security risk for hospitals, power plants

  01-11-2016 13:18
  
  For most of us, pagers went out when cell phones came in, but some companies are still using them and when the messages are sent without encryption, attackers can listen in and even interfere with the communications.
  According to two new reports by Trend Micro, pagers are still in use in hospital settings and in industrial plants.
  Stephen Hilt, Trend Micro's lead researcher on the project, said they don’t have a concrete percentage on the number of encrypted messages.To read this article
  
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• 5 ways to reduce bias in your hiring practices

  01-11-2016 13:11
  
  Unconscious and implicit biases are a major barrier to diversity and inclusion efforts in the workplace, and they can have far-reaching implications on the success of individual employees and the company as a whole. The key, says Katherin Nukk-Freeman and Suzanne Cerra, employment law attorneys and co-founders of SHIFT HR Compliance Training, is not to say, "are we unconsciously biased?" but rather, "What can we do about our implicit biases?"
  Nukk-Freeman and Cerra offer five bias-busting strate
  
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• I’m going to say no to the new MacBook Pro

  01-11-2016 12:00
  
  Lots of people will buy the new 2016 MacBook Pros. They’ll do it because they’re invested in the Mac and Apple hasn’t updated the Mac line in ages. But I don’t think Mac users, other than the fanboi contingent, are going to love it, or even like it that much.
  I use and like Macs. There are three in my home/office. I also have Apple TVs, iPads and iPods. But I’ve never drunk the Apple Kool-Aid. For example, I recently said AirPods were a bad idea. That got people so
  
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• IT Resume Makeover: Highlighting business and technology leadership

  01-11-2016 11:45
  
  Not everyone has a typical career trajectory where titles, skills and promotions all line up into a neat, concise story. That was the case with Keith Evans. He held varying CIO roles with the same company and had skills that set him apart from other CIOs, which caused some confusion and resulted in a dense resume. Laura Smith-Proulx, career and resume expert, knew that the goal with re-writing Evan's resume was to organize the existing information to build a clear picture of his extensive skills
  
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• 10 ways to make sure your remote workers are being safe

  01-11-2016 11:36
  
  SafeguardsImage by PexelsWith an ever-expanding mobile workforce, infosec teams are increasingly tasked with extending cybersecurity safeguards beyond the physical and virtual walls of their organizations. With endpoints not only increasing but on the move, the challenge is real. In addition to implementing the appropriate technical defenses, there is an important aspect to protecting corporate data and systems: Asking end users to get involved.To read this article in full or to leave a comment,
  
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• WebAssembly now available as release candidate

  01-11-2016 11:00
  
  WebAssembly, the much-anticipated portable code format positioned to boost web performance, proceeded to a release candidate stage Monday. The technology is expected to be shipped on-by-default in browsers after a specification release next year.The WebAssembly Browser Preview is the product of a collaboration between Google's V8 JavaScript Engine group, Mozilla's Firefox group, and Microsoft's Edge browser builders. It serves as a release candidate for WebAssembly's "minimum viable product" des
  
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• Ready for action: 6 big ideas in digital transformation

  01-11-2016 11:00
  
  If you're ready to kick-start your organization's efforts to embrace digital technologies, this editor-curated selection of Computerworld in-depth stories is the place to start. We identified some of our most targeted content on IT-led digital projects, chock-full of fresh ideas for making your organization more digitally competent. You'll read how savvy organizations in industries across the spectrum got serious about using digital technologies to gain a competitive edge, connect better with c
  
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• Google clashes with Microsoft over Windows flaw disclosure

  01-11-2016 01:27
  Google and Microsoft are butting heads over the disclosure of vulnerabilities. On Monday, Google revealed a critical flaw in Windows after it gave Microsoft a ten-day window to warn the public about it.Google posted about the zero-day vulnerability on its security blog, saying Microsoft had yet to publish a fix or issue an advisory about the software flaw."This vulnerability is particularly serious because we know it is being actively exploited," Google said. It lets hackers exploit a
  
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