IT Executive news

• Apple sues Qualcomm over patent licensing and $1B in payments

  20-01-2017 23:23
  A nasty spat between Apple and Qualcomm broke into public view on Friday when the smartphone maker accused the chip supplier of charging "exorbitant" licensing fees for its cellular technology.Apple is asking a Southern California court to order Qualcomm to pay it nearly $1 billion that it says Qualcomm is holding back. Apple says it is owed the money but Qualcomm is holding it back because Apple cooperated with a South Korean government investigation into Qualcomm's licensing practices.The laws
  
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• New details emerge about Intel's super-small Euclid computer for robots

  20-01-2017 23:04
  
  Intel is getting proficient at developing small computers. First, came its Compute Sticks and then its credit-card-shaped Compute Cards.But nothing's quite like the mysterious Euclid, which is a self-contained computer the size of a thumb designed to be the brains and eyes of a robot.More details have emerged about the computer, which was announced in August and has yet to be released.The Euclid is so small and light that's possible to hold like a pen. It has a built-in 3D RealSense camera,
  
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• Microsoft will soon end Office 2013 distribution through Office 365

  20-01-2017 22:51
  
  Get ready, Office 365 administrators: Microsoft is ending support for the Office 2013 client apps that it previously distributed through its cloud-based productivity service. Instead, administrators and users will be pushed to use Office 2016, the latest version of the productivity suite that includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  Starting on Feb. 28, users won’t be able to download the Office 2013 apps from the Office 365 self-service portal, and they won’t be downloadable through t
  
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• Researchers propose a way to use your heartbeat as a password

  20-01-2017 22:46
  
  Researchers at Binghamton State University in New York think your heart could be the key to your personal data. By measuring the electrical activity of the heart, researchers say they can encrypt patients' health records.  The fundamental idea is this: In the future, all patients will be outfitted with a wearable device, which will continuously collect physiological data and transmit it to the patients' doctors. Because electrocardiogram (ECG) signals are already collected for clinical diag
  
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• Augmented reality is more than just holograms

  20-01-2017 22:31
  
  Holographic headsets are a central theme to augmented reality (AR) today, but the recent AR in Action Conference demonstrated the diversity of the field and the potential to include many more technologies to augment humans.
  The AR in Action Conference, held at the MIT Media Lab, expanded the definition of AR through a TED conference-like lens, delivering 70 diverse curated talks and 32 panels over two days to over 1,000 experts and practitioners in the field.
  As Chris Croteau, general manager o
  
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• Trump likely to see the birth of an exascale system

  20-01-2017 22:30
  
  President Donald Trump's administration has outlined some of its agenda, and has said nothing as far as supercomputing is concerned. Will it participate in the global race to develop an exascale supercomputer? It's been silent on this.
  The supercomputing race is going to turn very real for the Trump administration. An exascale supercomputer -- a 1,000 petaflop system -- will likely be delivered somewhere in the world before Trump's first term ends. This may be a Sputnik moment for the new admin
  
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• If your data lake turned into a data swamp, it might be time to take the next step

  20-01-2017 21:45
  
  As the leader of Deloitte’s analytics practice, Paul Roma directs the company's analytics offerings across all businesses, so he sees companies struggling with a range of issues.  Network World Editor in Chief John Dix recently talked to Roma about everything from what analytics problems companies are facing (Hint: the swamp reference above), to tools that help extract more value (cognitive analytics and machine learning), and even the executive management roles that are evolving (th
  
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• How does China respond to US chip threats? With a $30 billion factory

  20-01-2017 21:30
  
  For China, actions speak louder than words, especially in the escalating chip battle with the U.S., which has been hurling out verbal threats in recent months.The Chinese chip infrastructure is getting a serious boost from Tsinghua Unigroup, which is investing US$30 billion in a new foundry to make chips. The state-owned Tsinghua Holdings is a majority shareholder in Tsinghua Unigroup.This news comes just two weeks after U.S. accused China of rigging the chip market and artificially reducing the
  
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• Microsoft to retire original Windows 10 on March 26

  20-01-2017 20:56
  
  Microsoft has set March 26 as the end date for support of the original Windows 10 edition.
  "After March 26, 2017, Windows 10, version 1507 will no longer be serviced, as only the two most Current Branch for Business (CBB) versions are actively serviced," Nathan Mercer, a Microsoft senior product marketing manager, wrote in a post to a company blog Thursday.
  Version 1507 was the original Windows 10 release of July 2015. It abides by the year-month labeling that Microsoft has assigned to the Wind
  
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• BrandPost: Moving Exchange to the Cloud

  20-01-2017 20:35
  
  With Microsoft Exchange on-premises systems, determining price was fairly easy because the choices were largely the same. But cloud changes the pricing equation: Enterprises lease rather than own equipment, which alters the comparisons from apples-to-apples to apples-to-oranges.An enterprise needs to consider factors such as electricity costs, bandwidth needs, and staffing expenses before deciding whether to upgrade existing infrastructure rather than migrating to a cloud-based solution. Co
  
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• BrandPost: The Age of Remote Server Managing

  20-01-2017 20:18
  
  Once upon a time, but not that long ago, data center servers were much like their own self-contained cities. Getting them to talk to one another on a reliable, sure-fire basis was akin to wizardry. And making sure they ran trouble free 24 x 7 was a constant battle. It was an age where IT professionals dreaded the sound of their pager signaling an issue—usually at two in the morning. It was an age of solder and steel, of magic blue screens, and of issues of draconic proportions that needed
  
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• BrandPost: Retailers' Increased Cyber Security Budgets

  20-01-2017 20:07
  
  Like nearly every business today, retail and consumer companies are under siege from a near-constant barrage of phishing emails, SQL injections, insider attacks, and other nefarious cyber threats.We’ve all read about the high-profile attacks—like a massive security failure in 2015 when cyber criminals accessed the personal data of up to 15 million individuals, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birthdates, and more.Security incidents like that are increasingly commo
  
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• Spanish police nab suspected hacker behind Neverquest banking malware

  20-01-2017 20:03
  
  Spanish police have arrested a Russian programmer suspected of developing the Neverquest banking Trojan, a malware targeting financial institutions across the world.The 32-year-old Russian citizen known as Lisov SV was arrested at the Barcelona airport, Spain's law enforcement agency Guardia Civil said on Friday.The FBI had been working with Spanish authorities to track down the suspect through an international arrest warrant, according to a statement from the agency. The FBI, however, declined
  
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• Kotlin 1.1 beta adds JavaScript compilation

  20-01-2017 19:37
  
  Kotlin, JetBrains' statically typed language, is bolstering its JavaScript and Java standing with the 1.1 beta release this week, adding JavaScript compilation and coroutines on both the JVM and JavaScript.
  JavaScript compilation had been in an incomplete, experimental phase, even as builders have had JavaScript ambitions for Kotlin for several years. "There were many things missing from the standard library and things such as proper interop with package systems weren't production-ready," said
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Voodoo project management

  20-01-2017 19:34
  
  In 1987, I was in the army and stationed at Camp Red Cloud in the Republic of Korea. One weekend morning, I had to track down a colleague whom I knew to be shacking up with one of the bar girls from our favorite hangout in Uijeongbu (의정부시). We’ll call him Sgt. Bob and we’ll call her Miss Kim. They were both really nice people and made a cute couple. Miss Kim answered the door and WHOOOAAA!!! Holy Cow!!! 아이고! I had only seen her at nigh
  
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• Users greet Avaya bankruptcy with shrugs

  20-01-2017 18:53
  
  The news that sprawling networking company Avaya has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy is being greeted with nonchalance by at least some of its customers, for whom the saga of the firm’s financial troubles has been a reality for some time.
  Avaya’s a big company with several focus areas – some lines, like networking products, are performing well. Others, including unified communications and phone systems, are not, and it’s these that have dragged the company into Chapter 1
  
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• Half of work activities could be automated by 2055

  20-01-2017 18:03
  
  Fears that accelerating automation is going to eat its lion's share of jobs continue to plague corporate sectors. However, new research from McKinsey Global Institute may talk folks afflicted with automation phobias down from the ledge.The research group says that although half of today’s work activities could be automated, it may not happen until 2055. Or 2035. Or even 2075. Where the statistic falls along the S curve depends on various factors, such as breakthroughs in artificial intelli
  
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• 46% off ZeroLemon ToughJuice USB-C 30000mAh Power Bank, Dual Layer Rugged External Battery/Portable Charger for Apple MacBook, iPhone, Google Pixel XL, Samsung & More - Deal Alert

  20-01-2017 17:19
  
  ZeroLemon describes their ToughJuice power bank as the world's toughest external battery pack, with 30000mAh capacity and a rugged anti-shock exterior. With enough juice to get you up and running again and again on a single charge, ToughJuice provides up to ten charges to a smartphone, two charges to a tablet or multiple charges to nearly any other device. It features four USB ports (1 QuickCharge 2.0 port, with legacy 5V/2A support and 3 Ports for 1A charging) but more importantly it
  
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• 46% off ZeroLemon ToughJuice USB-C 30000mAh Power Bank, Dual Layer Rugged External Battery/Portable Charger for Apple MacBook, iPhone, Google Pixel XL, Samsung & More

  20-01-2017 17:19
  
  ZeroLemon describes their ToughJuice power bank as the world's toughest external battery pack, with 30000mAh capacity and a rugged anti-shock exterior. With enough juice to get you up and running again and again on a single charge, ToughJuice provides up to ten charges to a smartphone, two charges to a tablet or multiple charges to nearly any other device. It features four USB ports (1 QuickCharge 2.0 port, with legacy 5V/2A support and 3 Ports for 1A charging) but more importantly it
  
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• Trump nominee suggests IRS cybersecurity and staffing boosts

  20-01-2017 17:02
  
  Cybersecurity and staffing upgrades at the Internal Revenue Service appear to be in store, assuming Steven Mnuchin is confirmed as Treasury Secretary in the new Trump Administration.
  Mnuchin, a former CIO and executive vice president for Goldman Sachs, told senators in a five-hour confirmation hearing on Thursday that he is "very concerned about the lack of first-rate technology at the IRS" as well as staff cuts in recent years. Mnuchin is expected to be confirmed, and would likely work with Tr
  
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• Report: Samsung puts blame on battery size, suppliers for Galaxy Note7 fires

  20-01-2017 16:52
  
  Samsung is due to finally announce the results of its investigation into the exploding Galaxy Note7s, but a report by The Wall Street Journal has some information about what the company has discovered. According to the publication’s sources, Samsung has concluded that “irregularly sized” batteries are primarily to blame for the debacle, which resulted in a massive global recall.
  The report says that the faulty batteries were made by affiliate Samsung SDI and Hong Kong-based Am
  
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• Google pushed developers to fix security flaws in 275,000 Android apps

  20-01-2017 16:51
  Over the past two years, Google has pressured developers to patch security issues in more than 275,000 Android apps hosted on its official app store. In many cases this was done under the threat of blocking future updates to the insecure apps.Since 2014, Google has been scanning apps published on Google Play for known vulnerabilities as part of its App Security Improvement (ASI) program. Whenever a known security issue is found in an application, the developer receives an alert via email and thr
  
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• Microsoft's latest Windows 10 ad annoys Chrome users with taskbar pop-ups

  20-01-2017 15:58
  Microsoft’s aggressive advertising push inside Windows 10 is going beyond pop-ups for Microsoft Edge.
  Myce recently spotted yet another pop-up ad on the taskbar in Windows 10. This time around Microsoft was advertising its extension for Chrome dubbed the Personal Shopping Assistant (Beta). The extension is a Microsoft Garage project that lets you compare prices across shopping sites.
  Prior to the Chrome extension pop-up, Microsoft was advertising its rewards program for Microsoft Edg
  
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• 5 new and noteworthy features in iOS Evernote

  20-01-2017 15:57
  
  Evernote’s iOS app just received a much-needed interface makeover. It'slighter, easier to navigate, and faster in creating notes, whether they’re audio, photos, reminders, or text.You’ll notice Evernote 8.0’s improvements on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Some of the new features/refinements are already in the Evernote Android app or will be coming soon, a company representative told me. Here are five enhancements you’ll likely appreciate — plus one feature
  
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• Ministerie I&M gunt consortium opdracht voor clouddiensten

  20-01-2017 15:25
  Het ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu heeft een consortium van Ericsson, Siemens en Simacan een opdracht gegund voor de ontwikkeling van clouddiensten die verkeersdeelnemers actuele informatie geven via de cloud.Het consortium, Fortgång gedoopt, komt het versterken, een initiatief van overheid en... lees meer
  
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• 67% off ThermoPro TP03A Digital Food Cooking Thermometer Instant Read Meat Thermometer for Kitchen BBQ Grill Smoker

  20-01-2017 15:06
  
  The ThermoPro TP03A is an effective solution to achieve the most accurate temperature in a matter of seconds. With a simplistic yet practical design, and at the push of the button, the foldaway probe will pop open for quick an easy temperature reading, and when you're done taking the temperature measurement you can fold the probe back into the holding to ensure the probe is kept safe and clean. Stop overcooking or under-cooking your meat and perfect meat temperatures like a professional, ensuri
  
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• Can AI beat the best at Texas hold'em?

  20-01-2017 13:59
  
  For decades, researchers have been pitting artificial intelligence (AI) against the top game players in the world. The heads-up no-limit Texas hold'em variant of poker may be the final frontier in the battle of man vs. machine over games. And it may be about to fall.In 1997, IBM chess computer Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov. In 2011, IBM Watson defeated Ken Jennings and Brad Ruttner, the two winningest Jeopardy players in that game show's history. In 2015, Google DeepMind
  
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• Cisco wil digitalisering Nederland naar hoger plan tillen

  20-01-2017 13:45
  Gisteren heeft Cisco een driejarig investeringsprogramma bekend gemaakt dat de Nederlandse economie en maatschappij moet helpen digitaliseren. Nauwe samenwerking met overheid, bedrijfsleven en onderwijs is voorzien. Als de uitvoering van de digitale agenda kan worden versneld, kan het bnp groeien en komen er nieuwe... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Darwinian insights on innovation and competition

  20-01-2017 13:00
  
  Consumers buy your products, services and interactions for reliability. Partners sought your alignment for greater stability. Employees joined your company for predictable results. Disruptive innovation can be identified when best practices no longer produce predictable results. Our modern knowledge-intensive economy depends on organizational capabilities. Is your organization having trouble identifying why the margin is eroding? Disruption in disguise may be the answer.To read this article in f
  
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• How fortified is your SAP against security breaches?

  20-01-2017 12:38
  
  FortifiedImage by CrisCan you even tell if a breach has occurred? Have you inventoried its vulnerabilities - and taken steps to prevent, for example, a $22 million per minute loss due to a SAP breach as experienced by one Fortune 100 company? Or have you concluded that the scale of SAP ERP implementations makes it just too big to manage? Ask yourself these 10 questions - compiled by David Binny, vice president of product management at Panaya, and gleaned from its analysis of thousands of SAP lan
  
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• How to wake the enterprise from IoT security nightmares

  20-01-2017 12:09
  
  The IoT security market will reach a valuation of $36.95 billion by 2021, says data from a Marketsandmarkets.com analyst report. Where the cyber security mayhem grows, so flows the security market money.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• iPhone 7 Plus accounts for bigger piece of U.S. pie

  20-01-2017 12:00
  
  U.S. iPhone buyers significantly shifted purchase preference to the larger 7 Plus in 2016, boosting the 5.5-in. smartphone's share of all Apple handsets, a research analyst said Thursday.
  "The U.S. market finally likes these bigger phones," said Mike Levin, of Chicago-based Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).
  Levin cited CIRP's latest survey, which polled 500 U.S. consumers who had purchased between October and December, to prove his point. Of those who bought a new iPhone in the fo
  
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• How to really customize your Alexa Flash Briefing

  20-01-2017 12:00
  
  If you've got an Amazon Echo, Dot, or other Alexa-enabled device, you've probably discovered Flash Briefings. (For those not yet talking to Amazon devices, a Flash Briefing is a customized audio news report.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• How to find, view, and delete everything the Amazon Echo and Google Home know about you

  20-01-2017 12:00
  
  Has Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Google Home taken up residence in your home? If not, you're probably at least considering adding one of these digital helpers. They are supremely useful after all, providing assistance with everything from weather forecasts to smart-home control. All you need to do is ask.
  In order to fulfill your requests, however, both of these voice-activated digital assistants must upload your verbal commands to the cloud. Just what does that entail? The short answ
  
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• Microsoft’s standing to sue over secret US data requests in question

  20-01-2017 08:29
  
  Microsoft’s lawsuit objecting to the indiscriminate use by U.S. law enforcement of orders that demand user data without the opportunity to inform the customer may run into questions about the software giant's standing to raise the issue on behalf of its customers.A government motion to dismiss Microsoft’s complaint comes up for oral arguments Monday and significantly the judge said on Thursday that the issue of whether Fourth Amendment rights are personal or can be “vicariously
  
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• Microsoft kills Cache, its note-taking experiment with Evernote-Google Keep aspirations

  20-01-2017 02:58
  
  When Microsoft launched its Cache note-taking experiment last year, we hoped it could become Microsoft’s version of Google Keep, if Microsoft devoted enough resources to it. Sadly, that’s not the case.
  In a note to users, Microsoft said Thursday that it would shut down Cache at the end of February, and would no longer market it as a standalone service.
  “Over the course of this year, we learned that there was an appetite for a service like Cache, but more importantly,
  
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• New Senate bill seeks sweeping H-1B changes

  20-01-2017 02:27
  
  A new bill in Congress would give foreign students who graduate from U.S. schools priority in getting an H-1B visa.
  The legislation also "explicitly prohibits" the replacement of American workers by visa holders.
  This bill, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act, was announced Thursday by its co-sponsors, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.),longtime allies on H-1B reform. Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which gives this bill an immediate big leg
  
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