IT Executive news

• 30% off WeMo Wi-Fi Smart Plug, Works with Amazon Alexa - Deal Alert

  30-01-2017 23:15
  
  Did you forget to turn off the window A.C.? How about that curling iron? Want the living room lamp to turn on when the sun goes down—automatically? The Wemo Switch gives you control of your lamps and small appliances whenever you want, wherever you choose, with tons of options for scheduling and automation. Paired with Amazon Alexa, you can control your lamps and appliances with just the power of your voice. When Wemo works with Nest Thermostat, you can set your lights to turn off automati
  
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• Starbucks can now take your order via a voice-controlled iOS bot

  30-01-2017 23:10
  
  Starbucks has a new barista—and it’s a virtual assistant.
  On Monday, Starbucks launched a new feature for its iOS app that lets certain customers place their orders ahead of time via a voice-controlled bot. My Starbucks Barista uses artificial intelligence and a messaging interface so that customers can place their order using natural-language voice commands or text.
  The feature is currently in beta and will roll out initially to 1,000 iOS users. The company plans to expand My
  
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• F5 Networks taps versatile Ciena higher-up to take over as CEO

  30-01-2017 23:07
  
  F5 Networks CEO and President John McAdam, thrust back into that role in late 2015 under unusual circumstances, has announced that Ciena SVP and COO Francois Locoh-Donou will succeed him on April 3.
  McAdam joined F5 in 2000 and served as CEO and President until July 2015, when he handed the reins to Manuel Rivelo. But Rivelo stepped down in December of that year for unspecified personal conduct issues, and McAdam jumped back into the fray at the Seattle company, which he has helped to build int
  
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• 33% off SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive 32GB for iPhone and iPad - Deal Alert

  30-01-2017 23:05
  
  The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive lets you quickly free up space on iPhones, iPads, and iPods; automatically back up photos and watch videos straight from the drive. The flexible Lightning connector works with most cases, while the USB 3.0 connector makes it easy to move content between devices. This flash drive also includes encryption software to password protect files, so you can share content while keeping sensitive files secure. Plus, the SanDisk iXpand Drive app provides a fast and simple way
  
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• New 'Made in China' chip on the way as country boosts indigenous tech

  30-01-2017 22:36
  
  The number of powerful chips coming out of China keeps growing as a war of words on semiconductors with the U.S. escalates.A joint venture between Qualcomm and China's Guizhou province, called Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology, has started the development of a new server chip based on ARM technology.The joint venture is "now busy developing a customized server CPU product based on our technology and designs for the China market," said Derek Aberle, president at Qualcomm, according to a Seeking
  
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• Privacy worries are on the rise, new poll of U.S. consumers shows

  30-01-2017 22:01
  
  A recent IDC survey found 84% of U.S. consumers are concerned about the privacy of their personal information, with 70% saying their concern is greater today than it was a few years ago.
  These concerns of consumers should also alarm businesses: Consumers are willing to switch to another bank, medical center or retailer if they feel their personal information is threatened, the survey found.
  "Consumers can exact punishment for data breaches or mishandled data by changing buyer behavior or shifti
  
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• Ahead of Apple earnings, analysts focus on next iPhone

  30-01-2017 21:49
  
  While Wall Street waits for Apple's earnings report on Tuesday, industry analysts are already pondering the next iteration of the California company's iPhone line.
  Those analysts agreed that this year's iPhone will have special significance. After all, this month was the 10th anniversary of the iconic smartphone's introduction by Steve Jobs, and come summer the same milestone for the iPhone's on-sale date will arrive.
  But how will Apple present -- and promote -- the next iPhone? Will the compan
  
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• Microsoft's mysterious 'Windows Cloud' could be the second coming of Windows RT

  30-01-2017 21:43
  Windows Cloud: That name has appeared in system files deep within some of the most recent Windows 10 Insider builds. While a few experts guess it could be a new version of Windows, what it actually is remains a mystery. 
  As far as evidence goes, it’s pretty slim pickings. Two names, “Windows Cloud” and “Windows Cloud N,” appear in a list of Windows versions as early as the recent Windows 10 Insider Build 15002, as originally reported by the Walking Cat Tw
  
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• Facebook tries to revamp password recovery by supplanting email

  30-01-2017 21:37
  
  Forgot your password? Well, Facebook wants to help you recover your internet account.
  The company is releasing an open source protocol that will let third-party sites recover user accounts through Facebook.
  Typically, when people forget their password to a site, they’re forced to answer a security question or send a password reset request to their email. But these methods of account recovery can be vulnerable to hacking, said Facebook security engineer Brad Hill.
  He recalled a time w
  
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• F5 Networks unveils new application security services

  30-01-2017 21:25
  
  With security now topping the priority lists of organizations using application services to monitor and maintain their applications, F5 Networks  moved to update its security services."Historically, we're an application delivery controller," says Mike Convertino, CISO of F5 Networks. "That puts us right in front of these applications as they reside in data centers. It's a very natural transition for us to talk about securing those apps."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, pl
  
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• After AppDynamics sale, is anyone going to snap up the rest of the APM market?

  30-01-2017 20:37
  
  Cisco’s purchase last week of application performance management vendor AppDynamics for $3.7 billion in cash and assumed equity awards could signal that the APM sector in general is a potential M&A target, according to industry analysts.
  The APM market, which Gartner last summer said grew to $2.7B billion in 2015, is fragmented, and has been for some time. That means that consolidation may be overdue, with Cisco’s AppDynamics buy marking the start of the race.
  +ALSO ON NETWORK W
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Trump's executive order on immigration: Open source leaders respond

  30-01-2017 20:04
  
  Donald Trump started delivering on his campaign promises last week. Perhaps the most striking move was an executive order temporarily banning visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries.
  When the news of the executive order broke, many open source companies and projects came out with statements opposing it.
  Jim Zemlin, the executive director of The Linux Foundation wrote:The Linux operating system underlies nearly every piece of technology in modern life, from phones to satellites to web sear
  
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• BrandPost: DR/BC

  30-01-2017 20:04
  
  For a business, disasters come in all shapes and sizes: a downed server, power outage, flood, fire, and even a plague of frogs. But while all of these have varied consequences, especially the frogs, each one shares a common theme—they put your data at risk.If you haven’t already, an important subject that all businesses need to learn about is business continuity and disaster recovery. Or, simply, BC/DR. DR is exactly as it sounds and is a measure of your ability and time spent recove
  
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• BrandPost: Public vs. Hybrid Cloud: Which One to Choose?

  30-01-2017 19:50
  
  The cloud environment is dynamic and highly scalable, and can respond flexibly to your business needs. Public or hybrid cloud? That is the question. To decide which is right for you, you’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of each regarding your business needs.Build IT YourselfA private cloud is dynamic and scalable, and enables self-service provisioning. The private cloud brings that kind of experience that's always on, always available, always up to date, and responds to changing business
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 industries robots will transform forever

  30-01-2017 19:49
  
  This year is expected to be a great leap forward in automation and the development of artificial intelligence, as machine learning and neural networks mean that robots can learn and understand more than ever before. But with this rise in automation has come a fear that the robots will completely supplant humans in the workforce. A YouTube video called “Humans Need Not Apply” released in 2014 has argued that much of the human workforce could be supplanted by robots, and that robots co
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How tech experts can lead in 2017

  30-01-2017 19:44
  
  The “intelligent digital mesh” is a moniker recently applied by Gartner to the construct of our collective future. It’s a future where the skills of IT specialists -- from the cloud architects and web developers to IT administrators and software engineers – will be in high demand. Recruiters are already racing to find the most talented candidates. But companies are now asking for more than technical expertise to help them keep pace with technological change. The best comp
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Should you do program synergy differently in the digital era?

  30-01-2017 19:37
  
  Many business elements, including technology, must come together and contribute to generate the strategic outcomes that organizations need. This means many projects (or program) are needed to discover, design and implement those elements. Wherever multiple projects are involved, synergy becomes a useful goal. Synergy is about executing projects in such a way that they will together eventually generate business outcomes greater than the sum of the outcomes from their individual performances.
  In
  
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• Dropbox highlights productivity enhancements in rollout of new services

  30-01-2017 19:00
  
  Dropbox kicked off its 2017 product launches with a pair of major announcements Monday aimed at improving users’ productivity at work. The cloud storage company announced the general availability of its Paper document collaboration service, along with the closed beta of a Smart Sync feature that gives users easy access to every file shared with them in Dropbox.
  Paper , first announced in 2015 , gives users a shared workspace to work with one another on documents. It’s designed to be
  
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• Dropbo highlights productivity enhancements in rollout of new services

  30-01-2017 19:00
  
  Dropbox kicked off its 2017 product launches with a pair of major announcements Monday aimed at improving users’ productivity at work. The cloud storage company announced the general availability of its Paper document collaboration service, along with the closed beta of a Smart Sync feature that gives users easy access to every file shared with them in Dropbox.Paper , first announced in 2015 , gives users a shared workspace to work with one another on documents. It’s designed to be t
  
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• Google strengthens Android relationship with Intel in IoT

  30-01-2017 18:43
  
  Intel may have cut ties with Android on smartphones and tablets, but the company's partnership with Google on Android for the internet of things is growing stronger.Google's Android Things, a slimmed down version of Android for smart devices, will be coming to Intel's Joule 570x computer board.The combination will allow makers to cook up Android-based gadgets or smart devices for use in home, retail, or industrial settings.The Intel board adds a lot of processing and graphics muscle to projects.
  
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• Spear phishing tough to block, even when using automation tools

  30-01-2017 18:25
  
  Trying to filter out phishing emails is tough work, even for organizations trying to find a better way through automation, according to a new study from security software company GreatHorn.
  The company makes software that seeks out phishing attempts and can autonomously block them, but even its customers don’t switch on all the features, according to GreatHorn’s study of how customers dealt with just over half a million spear phishing attempts.
  The most common autonomous action, tak
  
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• Tim Cook: ‘Apple would not exist without immigration’

  30-01-2017 17:58
  
  Apple has championed the causes of marriage equality and environmental sustainability in recent years, so its employees looked to the company’s leadership in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration from predominantly Muslim countries. The order, which restricts immigration from seven countries and outright bans refugees from Syria, was handed down late Friday and led to protests in several U.S. cities and at airports where refugees were being detained.
  &l
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Mac: Lack of hardware updates costing Apple customers

  30-01-2017 17:34
  
  Apple is beginning to get a bad reputation when it comes to Mac hardware updates. The company has gotten quite a bit of criticism recently for not updating its Mac line of computers on a regular basis.And now Apple is beginning to lose customers as folks tire of waiting for updates to the Mac Pro, Mac mini and other Mac products. Two interesting articles have appeared recently that I wanted to share here with my readers.The first article covers a user's move from macOS to Linux (elementary OS),
  
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• Skyrocketing memory prices may get worse before getting better

  30-01-2017 17:28
  
  The price of desktop RAM keeps on going up, and the disappointing trend is expect to continue for a good chunk of 2017.
  Right now, the best price you’re going to find for 2 x 8GB desktop DDR4 RAM modules on Newegg is about $73. But if you want something from a larger brand like G.Skill or Corsair, expect to pay more—those 16GB kits are frequently selling for more than $100. 
  The price increases began around mid-2016, as Newegg Business noted in a blog post in August. PCPar
  
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• Ransomware disrupts Washington DC's CCTV system

  30-01-2017 17:25
  
  About 70 percent of the cameras hooked up to the police's closed-circuit TV (CCTV) system in Washington, D.C., were reportedly unable to record footage for several days before President Trump's inauguration due to a ransomware attack.The attack affected 123 of the 187 network video recorders that form the city's CCTV system, the Washington Post reported Saturday. Each of these devices is used to store video footage captured by up to four cameras installed in public spaces.To read this artic
  
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• 10 principles of a successful IoT strategy

  30-01-2017 17:13
  
  The internet of things (IoT) presents an opportunity for enterprises to rewrite the rules of their industry. The potential upside is massive: According to research firm Gartner, there will be nearly 20 billion devices on the IoT by 2020, and IoT product and service suppliers will generate $300 billion+ in revenue.By bringing together sensors, connectivity, cloud storage, processing, analytics and machine learning, IoT may well transform countless industries, from healthcare to manufacturing to u
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The year of Alexa and the coming decade of A.I.

  30-01-2017 16:52
  
  I mentioned in a blog last year that we are at the dawn of a new age of artificial intelligence (A.I.). And 2017 certainly is the beginning of a world that is rapidly embracing A.I. The halls at CES were filled with talking devices, many powered by the same presence, Alexa, Amazon’s slowly evolving virtual assistant. There were several conversations about the impact the impending robot revolution would have on our lives, jobs and future occupations. IDC predicts that spending on A.I. will
  
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• Leaked images reveal the LG Watch Style, Google's first Android Wear 2.0 device

  30-01-2017 16:34
  
  Next week Google is due to release Android Wear 2.0, finally bringing its wearable OS to the masses after several months of delays, but it won’t be the most exciting release of the day. Also rumored to be unveiled on Feb. 9 is Google’s first foray into wearable hardware, in the form of a watch co-developed with LG. We may have just gotten our first clear look at the device (and its price).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Consciously overcoming unconscious bias

  30-01-2017 16:30
  
  When YouTube launched its iOS app video upload feature, about 10 percent of the initial videos were uploaded upside-down. The engineering team was baffled. How could such a large percentage of users be shooting their videos incorrectly? They realized that they had inadvertently designed the app for right-handed users only. They never considered the fact that phones are usually rotated 180 degrees when held in a user’s left hand. Here is an example of unconscious bias where the engineering
  
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• 40% off iPazzPort Backlit Wireless Mini Keyboard and Touchpad for PC, Android TV Box, Raspberry Pi 3 - Deal Alert

  30-01-2017 16:15
  
  Wireless long distance control of your PC, Android TV box, or Raspberry Pi 3. The iPazzPort features a 92 key wireless QWERTY keyboard with touchpad supporting multi-touch function, mouse left and right buttons, and easy copy/paste. Backlight can be turned on & off, and its Li-ion battery provides long play and stand-by times in between charges. Its typical list price of $30 has been reduced 40% to just $18. See it on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click he
  
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• German consumer groups sue WhatsApp over privacy policy changes

  30-01-2017 16:12
  WhatsApp's privacy policy change allowing Facebook to target advertising at its users has landed the company in a German court.The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBZ) has filed suit against WhatsApp in the Berlin regional court, alleging that the company collects and stores data illegally and passes it on to Facebook, the federation said Monday.Facebook acquired WhatsApp in October 2014, but it wasn't until August 2016 that WhatsApp said it would modify its privacy policy to allow
  
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• Snapchat redefined social media, but can it compete post-IPO?

  30-01-2017 15:55
  
  Snapchat is a radically different app than it was five years ago when it burst on the social media scene. However, through all of its changes, the app continues to blend communication and entertainment unlike any of its competitors. The ephemeral -- or short-lived -- pictures and messages that Snapchat popularized has evolved into “stories” that can be shared in sequences or broadcast live.Snapchat continues to lead much of the industry. Its most well-known features have been copied
  
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• The controversial 'six strikes' Copyright Alert System for piracy warnings is dead

  30-01-2017 15:37
  Pirates can breathe a little easier in the knowledge they no longer have to ignore warnings from their Internet service provider (ISP). The Copyright Alert System (CAS) is officially over, according to the program’s managing group the Center for Copyright Information (CCI).
  The CAS was an anti-piracy partnership between the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, and their partner ISPs.
  “After four years of extensive consumer education a
  
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• 50% off Fallout 4 - Deal Alert

  30-01-2017 15:34
  
  Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, welcome you to the world of Fallout 4 – their most ambitious game ever, and the next generation of open-world gaming.  As the sole survivor of Vault 111, you enter a world destroyed by nuclear war. Every second is a fight for survival, and every choice is yours. Only you can rebuild and determine the fate of the Wasteland.  Currently Amazon has the PC and XBOX ONE versions discounted b
  
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• BrandPost: The Innovation Dilemma: DIY or Ride the Cloud Coattails

  30-01-2017 15:31
  
  The digital revolution that is transforming every aspect of our lives — work, learn, live or play — is being driven by the accelerating pace of innovation.
  Digitization — AKA digital disruption, digital transformation (DT), DX, Digital Cohesion or Industry 4.0 — is changing everything, and while tools like cloud, mobility, Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics are powering that transformation, it is innovation that will determine the winners and losers.To read this arti
  
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• How to stay relevant as a CIO

  30-01-2017 15:07
  
  “All technology positions are migrating towards having to be hands-on,” Christopher Barron, CIO at Zander Rose LLC, told the audience at the December 2016 CIO Perspectives event in Houston. “That classic perception of a strategic CIO as being someone who always sits away, who tells other people what to do [is going away] …. All the leadership positions in IT, even if you are strategic, you’re going to have to be hands-on. Your customers will demand that.To read thi
  
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• Apple's iOS 10.3 beta includes tool to find AirPods

  30-01-2017 15:03
  
  Now we know why Apple yanked the Finder for AirPods app from the iOS App Store. It’s because Apple is releasing its own tools for locating one or more of its wireless earbuds, should they go missing.For those just tuning in, AirPods ($159) are Apple’s still-hard-to-get "truly wireless" earbuds, released late last year after a two-month delay. (Currently, there’s a shipping delay of six weeks.)In early January, Apple mysteriously kicked the Finder for AirPods app ($4) to the cur
  
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• 10 most botched Android device launches ever

  30-01-2017 13:00
  
  Sometimes a phone stands out for all the wrong reasonsImage by Ryan WhitwamThere are plenty of Android phones and tablets that sound good on paper, but the experience is not all it’s cracked up to be once you get them in your hands. With so many manufacturers trying all sorts of wacky things and pushing the envelope to stand out, you’re bound to the occasional failure to launch. Maybe the pricing was bad, or perhaps the “killer feature” wasn’t so killer. Here are 10
  
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• How to eliminate insider threats

  30-01-2017 12:46
  
  Insider threats are a major security problemImage by ThinkstockFor years, the primary security objective has been to protect the perimeter—the focus on keeping outsiders from gaining access and doing harm. But statistics prove that more risk exists within an organization. Indeed, many compliance regulations require monitoring of systems to identify and eliminate insider threat. According to Forrester, 58 percent of breaches are caused from internal incidents or with a business partner&rsqu
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Adopt a customer-first strategy during the 'A.I. Spring'

  30-01-2017 12:30
  
  The A.I. Spring has arrived in full force, thanks to a couple of key trends coalescing at the same time.First, prominent industry incumbents have opened up their cognitive platforms. New startups claim to base their entire platforms on machine learning capabilities. Some startups have opted to leverage new artificial intelligence (A.I.) technologies from incumbent enterprises such as Google (Google Cloud Platform), IBM (Bluemix) and Amazon (AWS). A symbiosis has formed between enterprises that o
  
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• Why IT innovation follows failure

  30-01-2017 12:25
  
  All IT organizations strive for innovation. To succeed in today's digital market you to adapt to the needs of your customers, outflanking your competitors and disrupting the status quo. So what's the most important thing IT leaders of innovative IT companies do that set them apart?"Failure is the most important element of innovation. As an IT leader, it's hard enough to know what you want; then you're taking into account what your competitors are doing, what your customers want and need, what yo
  
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• FBI v. Apple: One year later, it hasn’t settled much

  30-01-2017 12:21
  
  Did FBI v. Apple – the most high-profile conflict to date over government access to private, encrypted data – change the world of digital surveillance and personal privacy?
  With the first anniversary of the court fight over unlocking a terrorist’s iPhone approaching, the answer both from evidence and various stakeholders is: Not much – yet.
  According to experts, it did not significantly increase law enforcement surveillance, but certainly didn’t curb it. It di
  
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• The ultimate guide to home Wi-Fi

  30-01-2017 12:00
  
  The home Wi-Fi router market has been red-hot lately, with new entrants and old stand-by companies all promising features such as whole-home coverage, faster speeds, better parental control options and easier setup and management features. Even Google has gotten into the mesh space.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• The best office apps for Android

  30-01-2017 12:00
  
  It's 2017. You shouldn't have to worry about whether that old budget spreadsheet will open on your tablet or whether the document in your inbox will look right on your phone. In this day and age, having office apps that work seamlessly and consistently across devices should be a given. Everything should, as the cool kids say, "just work."
  Yet here we are, in an era where mobile devices are as critical to productivity as desktop computers -- and our virtual office tools are still anything but un
  
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• 10 new UI features coming to Windows 10

  30-01-2017 11:46
  
  The next major upgrade for Windows 10, dubbed the Creators Update, will be released in April. It will add new programs for creating content (like new music composing and painting apps), but there will be many additions addressing the ways you interact with the core OS itself. Here are the most noteworthy, based on what’s we’ve seen in the Insider Preview builds.
  1. Hello, Goodbye: Automatic lock when you step away from your computer
  An addition to the Windows Hello security feature
  
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• About 150 Delta flights in the US canceled after systems outage

  30-01-2017 06:59
  
  About 150 flights of Delta Air Lines in the U.S. were canceled and some others were delayed on Sunday on account of an IT systems outage, the airline reported.Delta said more flight cancellations were expected.The IT systems outage at Delta is the latest of a number that have affected airline operations recently.Delta reported earlier that its teams were working to fix quickly a systems outage that has resulted in departure delays and cancellations. It did not provide information on the systems
  
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