Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » octobre 23, 2014

BetaNews.Com (15 non lus)

Bluesmart debuts its intelligent 21st Century suitcase

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 11:51pm CEST par Ed Oswald

There are a few things that annoy the modern jet-setter more than anything. It is those pesky baggage restrictions for some. For others, it’s the airline’s uncanny ability to lose your luggage at the most inopportune times. Or maybe its those pesky TSA security lines or a lack of power outlets to charge your electronic devices.

Bluesmart Technologies wants to solve those problems in a new high-tech carry-on suitcase, and from the looks of it, the traveling public is ready to give the firm their hard-earned money.

Within two hours after the suitcase debuted on crowd-funding site Indiogogo, Bluesmart surpassed its $50,000 funding goal. Over 1,300 funders have contributed more than $310,000 to the project as of Thursday afternoon.

The suitcase connects to a user’s smartphone via Bluetooth. The user can lock and unlock the suitcase, weigh the contents within, track its location, and be alerted if the suitcase is left behind, all from Bluesmart’s mobile app.

"We came up with the idea for Bluesmart after suffering a couple of bad experiences with our luggage, when airlines forced us to check bags only to have them mishandled or lost," co-founder Tomi Pierucci says. "Suitcases haven’t seen much innovation in decades, so we decided to design a suitcase for this century".

Bluesmart adds specialized protected compartments for electronic devices to the standard clothing compartments, and goes even further by tapping into the suitcase’s internal battery for charging needs. The company claims a standard smartphone can be charged fully six times over.

The weighing mechanism is contained within Bluesmart’s handle. To weigh the contents, all the user needs to do is pick up the suitcase and access the weighing option within the app. Other features include TSA approved locking mechanisms and content exposure methods for smoother security experiences.

We did find the location services option a bit problematic, at least as its been explained so far. It appears the service will rely on other users to track your lost luggage, meaning once it's out of range it may be difficult for early adopters to effectively use this feature.

Of course, with all this technology comes some fun features, too. Bluesmart will track your travel information, giving you real time updates on miles traveled and countries visited, time away from home, and even updates on your flight information so that you don’t miss your flight.

The Bluesmart is expected to launch in July 2015 at a retail price of about $450 USD.
Ello pockets $5.5 million, legally pledges to never feature ads

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 6:48pm CEST par Mark Wilson

Out of nowhere, Ello exploded, ninja-style, into the public eye. The social network shot to fame after Facebook's real name policy sent many users scuttling off in search of a new home, and the spartan, "beautiful" (Ello's word, not mine) social network welcomed an influx of new users. In addition to the "use whatever name you want" philosophy, users were happy to find that Ello offered a completely ad-free experience.

Now the lack of ads has been enshrined in law. While pocketing $5.5 million in a new round of venture funding, Ello has converted to a State of Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). The social network vows to never show nor sell ads, and requires this commitment to transfer to any future owner, should the company be acquired.

In a document signed by Paul Budnitz and Ello's co-founders, the social network responds to "speculation in the press since our launch eleven weeks ago that Ello will someday be forced to allow paid advertising on its network". Despite conceding that the internet is "turning into one giant billboard", Ello remains committed to its "better way" of doing things. Ello explains that in converting to a PBC, it "is legally obligated to take its impact on society into account in every decision it makes".

While Ello enjoyed a massive boost in popularity a few weeks ago, interest seems to have trailed off slightly in more recent weeks. The round of venture funding was headed by Foundry Group, and Bidnitz says that the money will enable Ello to "take [its] time and build rather than rushing ahead and trying to make some money".
Amazon rolling out Fire OS 4.1.1 to its tablets

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 3:56pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

Amazon recently released a new line of Kindle products, featuring two new tablets and readers respectively. With the release came an update to the retailer's version of Android, known as Fire OS. It's a highly customized take on Google's mobile platform -- almost unrecognizable, in fact.

Now Amazon is rolling out an update to it, bringing the system to version 4.1.1. The update doesn't seem to have hit the 2013 models yet, but those with the latest tablet should be seeing it now, or at least very soon.

Included is Profiles, allowing each family member to have his or her own account. That includes email, social media accounts, videos and game levels. This feature is available to those in the US, UK and Germany.

Customers will also be able to view and edit documents using WPS Office, receive a new weather app, full screen mode for apps and games, and device settings backup. The latter includes wireless settings, email, bookmarks and more. All of this will be stored in the cloud.

Perhaps the biggest thing about this update is the claims for battery life. Amazon says it is using a new "Smart Suspend", which was introduced in 4.0, and is being tweaked now. This will turn wireless off when the device isn't active, but it periodically turns it back on to grab your email so you're up to date when you turn the Fire on.

If you haven't yet received the update then stay tuned, as it should be coming very soon. It certainly seems to be one that you'll want. Some of this was introduced with the 4.0 release of Sangria, so it's just fixes and improvements. Still, it's an update to grab.
Top 5 tips for avoiding project failure

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 3:48pm CEST par Eric Winquist

How can I avoid project failure? That's a question I'm asked all the time. There's no doubt things today are complex -- products have millions of lines of code, dozens of variations, and projects usually have hundreds or even thousands of stakeholders, often all in a perpetual state of development. But, the reality is that failure isn't usually a result of all this complexity. Rather, it's generally caused by a collaboration meltdown.

Research from Forrester paints a clearer picture. According to the firm, the biggest problem in product development is a mismatch between the expected and actual value of a product, and the number one reason that products are delayed is unclear or changing requirements. In addition, more than 40 percent of companies cite an inability to agree on product requirements.

Combine these challenges with the fact that many large technology companies work with teams dispersed across the globe and it becomes easy to see the pivotal role of collaboration in delivering today's software applications and other technologies.

But the good news is you can avoid a lot of heartburn by understanding the major pitfalls which lead to project failures. So, before you embark on your next project, consider these five reasons it could fail:

11th hour swoop-in

This happens when a stakeholder or executive comes onto the scene at the last minute with all types of questions or input, throwing a spanner in the works. In these cases, the relevant teams have likely been trying to communicate with this person all along, but he or she hasn't been paying attention.

Development misunderstandings

It's no surprise that your customers and your development teams speak a different language. However, problems arise when developers are not given enough information to really understand what the customer wants, and they make poorly-informed decisions along the way, which result in a product that doesn't meet customers' needs.

Decision recollection disorder

People often find themselves spending a lot of energy going back in time to both explain and substantiate how decisions were made when another stakeholder or manager says, "I was expecting something different".

The missing vault

While it's great to have a mastermind with deep insights working on your project, it can be devastating when that person goes on vacation, moves to a different team, or -- worse yet -- leaves the company. When the subject expert is gone, so is the invaluable knowledge.

CYA syndrome

Everyone has been in meetings where a decision is made, resulting in a lot of nodding heads. But when there is no documentation showing how these decisions were made along the way, teams run the risk of later being asked, "Wait a minute, why are you doing that?"

Effective collaboration is a critical element, because the project management process goes a lot more smoothly when every person is on the same page throughout the entire course of the project, and they all persistently share the same ultimate goal. This requires letting go of the typical command and control model, where only the necessary information is dispersed to each contributor. Managers need to trust that people make better decisions when they have as much information related to the project as possible. In addition, projects need airtight review cycles that bring key decision-makers into the process, offering them richer context about the previous decisions that were made. Collaboration systems that use social media constructs can provide stakeholders with a central framework for easily capturing knowledge and decisions into a central repository.

In today's environment, emails, spreadsheets and weekly status meetings just aren't enough to help your team avoid these major mishaps which can put your project at risk. Collaboration systems can get information out of people's heads and make it accessible for everyone involved in a project. Ultimately, this shared information will greatly improve the likelihood of success.

Eric Winquist is the CEO of Jama Software

Photo Credit: ollyy/Shutterstock

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
Microsoft launches lockscreen apps for Android, Windows Phone

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 2:18pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Microsoft app launches are usually predictable. Most are offerings which aim to get us hooked on the software giant's most-prominent products, like Office, OneDrive, Outlook.com and Xbox. But, every once in a while, Microsoft does something out of the ordinary, like it wants to tell the world that, much like startups, it too is capable of intriguing and exciting things.

After launching a lovely keyboard for Android Wear, Microsoft just released a whole bunch of apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone, made by an in-house team of "hackers, makers, artists, tinkerers, musicians, inventors" called Microsoft Garage. The most interesting offerings are Torque, which my colleague Brian Fagioli just covered, and two lockscreen apps, for Android and Windows Phone.

The Android lockscreen app is called Next Lock Screen. It is designed to offer much more useful information, compared to typical Android lockscreens, and provide intelligent access to certain apps.

You can see calendar entries, emails, missed calls and messages, and open the most-used apps based on location. It also gives you the option to connect to conference calls right from the homescreen. It also looks quite nice.

For Windows Phone users, Microsoft launched Tetra Lockscreen. It is very different compared to the stock Windows Phone lockscreen, that is still very sparse feature-wise, and the ones offered by Microsoft through its Live Lock Screen beta app, as, like Next Lock Screen, it shows a tremendous amount of information.

It even supports widgets, which, currently, show your calendar entries, location and give access to a stopwatch. There is swipe support, which works nice with the calendar functionality.

Even though both apps are quite decent from the start, Microsoft is looking to improve such offerings further through your feedback. "Tell us what rocks, and what doesn’t", says the team behind these apps.

Next Lock Screen is available to download from Google Play. Tetra Lockscreen is available to download from Windows Phone Store.
Understanding how decisions affect the enterprise

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 1:34pm CEST par Ian Barker

In large companies it can be difficult for decision makers to see the full impact their choices have. A new product from decision support specialists Mu Sigma aims to provide a holistic picture of how things are connected.

The product, called muUniverse, is designed to give decision makers at Fortune 500 companies a complete view of their business decisions, allowing them to navigate an increasingly complex set of interconnected problems they face in areas such as sales, marketing, finance, supply chain, risk, and others.

It's based on the patterns found in nature where problems occur in clusters rather than isolation and organisms increase in complexity over time. MuUniverse maps the decision foot print within the organization and is claimed to be the only solution available today that can provide an intelligent path to drastically improve decision making and impact the outcomes that are necessary for growth and survival.

"In the age of big data, companies often lack the tools they need to appreciate and understand the complexity of problems they face. A new art of problem solving is needed to address this. The big goal of our new platform is to automate dynamic thinking that is often baked into the DNA of innovators like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, but now make this available to any major corporation," says Dhiraj Rajaram, CEO and founder of Mu Sigma.

It builds on the company's existing muPDNA business intelligence platform and is aimed at helping businesses improve problem solving and planning by allowing the creation of better insights. It can also assist in prioritizing and engaging with the correct stakeholders, as well as investigating the relationship between problems allowing the impact of decisions to be anticipated. Eliminating risk is another benefit as is the ability to spot new opportunities based on data analysis.

You can find out more on the Mu Sigma website.
How to combat cyber attacks using speed and sophistication

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 1:10pm CEST par Paul Nguyen

During a cyber attack, every second counts. While an attack can happen in an instant, it can take months to remove it from an organization’s infrastructure. For some organizations, there can be more attacks in one hour than a well-staffed security team can address in an entire day. That's a big problem.

Historically, attackers have had the advantage over defenders by being able to choose from a broad array of tools, around-the-clock attack windows, and innumerable attack types. If one type of attack failed, an attacker could simply try again and again until vulnerabilities were discovered. Moreover, cyber attacks are easy to organize and cheap to enact.

Any computer anywhere can become the front line of an attack, which is not only difficult to defend against but leads to the need for constant vigilance and flexible defensive moves. Attacks often come in looking like one piece of software code only to rapidly mutate and adapt to the target environment, proliferating at machine speed to expose weaknesses.

Because bad actors currently have the upper hand in cyber warfare, organizations need to find effective, innovative ways to combat them. They need speed. They need the power and control to change networks on the fly. They need to respond in seconds. They need to shift dynamically to spoof attackers with defensive tactics that appear as random to malicious actors as attacks so frequently appear to them.

Popular technologies such as firewall, antivirus, encryption, and authentication tools provide basic layers of protection, but they do not adapt in real time to combat malware that is infinitely flexible, adaptable, and patient. Instead, they behave like stationary sentries, unable to move, pivot, or otherwise adjust to an intruder whose infiltration tactics shift in milliseconds. These tools perform the grunt work of detection and protection, but when attacks come in looking like legitimate network traffic, how can the system detect them? How can a system know what to defend against when the code behind the attack can change its approach at will and at machine speed to escape detection?

Today's state-of-the-art security operations require well-honed protocols, advanced data gathering and analysis tools, and modern threat-identity infrastructures. But integrating multiple point security tools is expensive and does not scale when the tools are supported by manual processes. Security teams need a way to tie their tools together with proven processes and protocols and a dose of automation to make everything work at machine speed.

Smart organizations are building incident response plans with digitized cyber playbooks to support automated and semi-automated courses of action that can be synchronized across the security ecosystem. Playbooks are powered by automation and orchestration tools that enable security teams to counter attacks using coordinated defensive strategies; they contain all of the relevant workflows, tools, and processes necessary to respond quickly to a cyber threat.

Instead of analyzing and reacting to specific attacks as they happen, these forward-looking organizations maintain playbooks of active responses built from the proven protocols they use on a regular basis. An intuitive and effective playbook outlines courses of action and orchestrates them to execute specific threat-response scenarios, which allows organizations to reuse proven automation tools and workflows within larger threat-response strategies.

Over time, such playbooks can become digital libraries of approved actions that can be linked together to create active defense environments. Playbooks can continually collect organizational wisdom around security measures and provide security analysts with tested and adaptable sets of responses to multiple attack scenarios.

The use of playbooks offers immediate benefits to security teams, in part because automation tools allow them to keep pace with all incidents that penetrate the network. Orchestrated automation reduces the backlog of security incidents and decreases risk to network and data assets. It also enables security analysts to determine which issues pose the most threat or require the most investigation. Combining incident response plans with digitized playbooks allows organizations to automate repeatable processes that shore up the weak links in the security chain, which in turn enables highly trained staff analysts to focus on taking the steps necessary to maintain a continuously secure operating environment.

After all, many highly-specialized analysts spend significant amounts of time dealing with the manual aspects of the many advanced tools at their disposal. Countless personnel resources are expended on updating helpdesk tickets, uploading malware protections, testing hyperlink safety, and gathering information from infected machines.

In fact, many organizations spend more time on repeatable manual tasks than they do on analyzing actual incidents or supporting more advanced security measures.

Playbooks and other tools in the threat-response framework combine an organization’s best personnel, processes, tools, and workflows and organize them into a dynamic, flexible, real-time security-response engine, forming the cornerstone of a more effective and holistic security strategy. And in a world where organizations fend off millions of attacks every, speed and agility matter.

Paul Nguyen is president of CSG Invotas

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
B&O PLAY introduces BeoPlay A2, its first Bluetooth speaker

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 11:26am CEST par Wayne Williams

Bluetooth speakers can be a mixed bag, audio-wise. I have a Cambridge Audio speaker which I’m very happy with, but I may be tempted to stray now that B&O PLAY has launched the BeoPlay A2.

The stylish new speaker is designed be carried and has a leather strap/handle on the side. It features Bang & Olufsen Signature Sound and delivers 180W power, with True360 omni-directional performance so the audio should sound good no matter where you are in the room. It has two speaker drivers on each side -- a 3/4-inch tweeter and a 3-inch full range driver.

B&O Play says the rechargeable Li-ion battery allows for 24 hours of music and can be fully recharged in just three hours. The BeoPlay A2 can remember up to eight paired devices and will allow two devices to pair at once.

The speaker measures 256x142x44mm and weighs 1.1Kg. It’s available in black, gray/rose gold and green finishes.

"BeoPlay A2 is an honest product. It is what it looks like: a functional and likable speaker you can easily take with you", says Cecilie Manz, the speaker's designer. "The fact that BeoPlay A2 was designed for a life on the go has influenced every aspect of the speaker in terms of its design. There is no front, there is no back -- and there is no up or down, but there’s sound everywhere".

BeoPlay A2 will be available from 3 November, priced at £299/€349.
Oculus Rift owners will be able to go to the moon

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 9:19am CEST par Barclay Ballard

US scientists have developed a robot that will allow Oculus Rift owners to see the surface of the Moon as if they were really there.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed the project to compete for the Google Lunar XPrize, which is offering $30 million to a team that can send video back from the Moon.

Carnegie Mellon has collaborated with Astrobotic Technology, an off-shoot of the university, to secure a deal with SpaceX, Elon Musk's private space company, to launch the robot in 2016 using its Falcon 9 rocket.

Daniel Shafrir, the project's team leader, said that their idea was based on a simple premise.

"We weren't just going to go to the Moon. We are going to bring the Moon back," he said.

The telepresence robot, which has been named Andy after university founder Andrew Carnegie, is controlled via an Oculus Rift headset, with the movements of the operator's head being tracked and sent to Andy's camera to mimic the user.

"Imagine the feeling of looking out and seeing rocks and craters billions of years old. Turn your head to the right and you see the dark expanse of space. Turn your head to the left and you see home, Earth," Mr Shafrir told the BBC.

The team leader added that the project became a "day and night hackathon," as scientist tackled coding challenges and the fact that the Oculus software can only receive one live video stream at a time.

There's no guarantee that the Oculus-driven robot will secure Google's prize, with 18 other teams competing, but that hasn't dulled the ambition of the Carnegie Mellon project.

Mr Shafrir said the goal is to ultimately have "hundreds of robots on the Moon".

"With an Oculus headset in every classroom, allowing kids to experience what, to this date, has only been experienced by 12 human beings".

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
Google Earth for Android gets perhaps its biggest update yet

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 8:11am CEST par Dilraj Singh

Google Earth has never been too highly publicized, besides maybe a couple seconds in a Nexus tablet commercial here or there. A lot of the awesome use cases for Earth have also been slowly integrated into Google Maps. Maps is new and stylish where Earth feels antiquated, Maps is light and fast where Earth is slow and laggy. Hence, Earth hasn't had wide appeal, especially when Google showered Maps, its prodigal son, with attention.

Google has finally shown Earth some love with a significant update for Android. You can see the change right from the get-go, as the icon has been redesigned to fit in with the material guidelines (although looks a lot like AT&T now).

The 3D technology in Earth is getting its first major upgrade since the launch of Earth a decade ago. This will result in sharper views, as well as smoother and faster 'zooms'. Google Earth will now get the same updates as Google Maps, so you will be viewing the newest information and imagery. Further, the roads and labels have been redesigned to better blend into the terrain and make viewing more pleasant. Lastly, if you've made your own Map, you can open them directly from Drive inside the Earth app.

There is nothing revolutionary, but everything about your experience is being refined. It promises be a pleasure to use, and provide a much easier workflow for the more involved users creating their own maps, thanks to Google Drive support.

The update (read Google's blog here) will be rolling out in stages, as always -- so practice patience if you don't have it yet, or download an APK from a source you trust.
Microsoft releases Torque -- a Bing-powered Android Wear app

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 3:03am CEST par Brian Fagioli

When the smartwatch concept started to take off, I was dubious to say the least. I mean, I own a smartphone, so why do I need another device that essentially duplicates functionality of my phone? It is an honest argument, but I'll concede that I was wrong -- smartwatches rock. Well, to be more specific, Android Wear in particular kicks major ass. I love my Samsung Gear Live which I recently got.

As great as Google's watch concept is, it is a bit limited. It tells me the weather, checks my heart rate and alerts me to Android notifications, and that's cool, but clearly the sky is the limit for the new platform. Today, an unlikely company, Microsoft, releases a new Android Wear app called "Torque" and it is powered by Bing. Yes, a Bing app on a Google watch -- are pigs flying?

Microsoft explains, "Xuedong Huang is wearing a smartwatch. It's a Google smartwatch, and he wants to ask it a question: What's the weather in San Francisco? 'OK, Google', he says to the watch, following the protocol needed to get the watch’s microphone turned on before making a query, which he subsequently does. Then Huang tries another approach, one that's faster, using Torque, an app he helped create. He gives his wrist with the watch a slight twist, and asks the question to Bing. This time, there is no 'OK, Google' needed; the twist turns the microphone on, and the Bing answer arrives quickly: 90 degrees", says Microsoft.

The company further explains that the app "represents Microsoft's evolving culture, where experimentation is encouraged, failure is an option, apps are platform-agnostic and getting them to customers quickly for review is key to learning what will work and what won't". This is a really refreshing thought model and Microsoft deserves major kudos.

I installed the app on my Samsung Galaxy Note 4, and it syncs to my Android Wear smartwatch. At first, you aren't sure that it worked, until you turn your wrist, almost like you are screwing in a screw with a screwdriver. Now, the face of the watch is replaced with the Torque app, which displays the message "how can I help you?", followed by "listening...", as the mic is activated. From here, I can ask Bing for the weather, the time, and things like that. What is really cool though, is that I told it "find me a pizza" and it displayed the 3 nearest pizzerias to my home.

Unfortunately, not all is roses. It often got my location wrong, and on more than one occasion, I activated Torque in error while scratching my head or doing other activities. Even worse, the twisting motion hurts my arm after a while, and I worry that such an action is not sustainable without potentially damaging my wrist or elbow. You can see me using it below:

UPDATE: As some have pointed out, a much gentler twist can be used to activate Torque; no need to damage your arm violently twisting as I do in the above video. This makes the feature far more enjoyable and I look forward to seeing this amazing app evolve. Check out the proper way to do it in the below video.

If you have an Android phone and Android Wear watch, you can try the app here. Tell me how you like it in the comments.
Forget Facebook, Microsoft now has a 'share with Yammer' button

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 2:06am CEST par Alan Buckingham

Okay, that may be a bit over the top. I doubt most users will be forgetting Facebook anytime soon, but it isn't the only social network. Don't forget Microsoft owns Yammer, which is geared more towards business than personal use. That doesn't mean it should be left out of the equation though.

In an effort to cash in on the social sharing craze, Microsoft is bringing Yammer to web sites. Yes, the business network will be included with Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the rest of the set, allowing users to share stories.

"Just like how we have Facebook Share buttons, Microsoft has announced Yammer Share buttons for websites. With the Yammer Share Button, you can share useful web content directly into your network to help your colleagues get the most out of Yammer. Select specific groups or coworkers to share with so the right people are included in the conversation", the company states.

This is early days, so you likely shouldn't expect it in a Wordpress plugin anytime soon. For now, you'll need to handle sharing via code, but Microsoft has made it simple. "Want to use the Share Button on your own sites? We've made the code available on the Yammer Developer Center, so you can easily embed the Yammer Share Button within your own sites for simple Yammer sharing. For developers, the Share Button is our most lightweight tool yet, requiring no developer application registration so users can share quickly and easily".

You can grab the code by following this link.
Employees are distracted by technology -- should employers ban smartphones?

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 1:56am CEST par Brian Fagioli

I will admit that I am addicted to my smartphone -- there, I said it. Quite frankly, I am becoming addicted to my smartwatch too, but I digress. You see, I am not alone in this, as many people seem glued to their devices nowadays. However, I know to put away my devices when it is time to work. Sadly, many people use their smartphones for personal reasons as they do their job. If I go to Starbucks, the barista is usually distracted by her iPhone, and I end up with the wrong drink -- I'll be like "listen lady, I wanted a venti, not a grande, hop off of that Instagram, yo!"

Sadly, this seems to be plaguing society, but businesses are getting hit hard; employees are too damn distracted! Today, a new report explains that a large amount of the workforce is distracted by technology. Should employers start banning smartphones and tablets at work?

"Today's workforce is more productive than ever, but the inability to focus is running rampant in the workplace. New data released today by Virgin Pulse, the market leader in the rapidly-growing employee health engagement category, finds 95 percent of employees report being distracted during the workday. The survey, Driven By Distractions: Why Employees' Focus Is Waning At Work & What You Can Do About It, features responses from 1,000 participants (not Virgin Pulse members). It also revealed that healthy habits, like getting the proper amount of sleep, eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly, help employees stay focused better than old-fashion methods like written to-do lists", says Virgin Pulse.

The company further explains, "for more than half of respondents (54 percent), it’s their fellow co-workers looking to chat and socialize. Nearly 45 percent also cited their inability to hone in on what’s important at work stems from technology distractions like email and text messages. Twenty-two percent said personal stress like worries over relationships, family or money inhibits their ability to focus at work".

OK sure, not all of the distractions are technology-driven, but a staggering 45 percent are! Think about that for a moment -- that is productivity and ultimately money being wasted by nonsense. If text messages and other tech-related distractions are so disruptive, it may be time for more employers to ban smartphones and dumb-phones from the workplace.

True, many people have legitimate needs for having a smartphone at work, such as a sick child at home or any family emergency -- exceptions can be made. Still, for the majority, maybe they should hand in their smartphone at the start of the day and get it back at quitting time.

What do you think? Should employers ban smartphones and other devices in the workplace? Tell me in the comments.

Photo Credit: Solphoto/Shutterstock
Windows 10 to include built-in two-factor authentication

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 1:49am CEST par Mark Wilson

We've looked at the two public builds of the Windows 10 Technical Preview -- the initial, disappointing, embryonic build 9841, and the very slightly less disappointing build 9860 -- but of course the best is still to come. There are many features we expect to find their way into the final build, such as Cortana, and there are sure to be many surprises. One interesting inclusion is built-in two-factor authentication.

The presence of this valuable security feature is revealed by Jim Alkove in a post on the Windows blog in which he talks about the importance of identity protection and general security. He explains that Windows 10 will start to move users away from single factor authentication -- the humble password -- in favor of more secure options.

He is talking specifically about built-in two-factor authentication. This is something that will be of particular interest to business and enterprise customers, but is also of great value to the average consumer. Alkove explains how a cell phone could be used as a login tool:

Once enrolled, devices themselves become one of two factors that are required for authentication. The second factor will be a PIN or biometric, such as fingerprint. From a security standpoint, this means that an attacker would need to have a user’s physical device – in addition to the means to use the user’s credential – which would require access to the users PIN or biometric information. Users will be able to enroll each of their devices with these new credentials, or they can enroll a single device, such as a mobile phone, which will effectively become their mobile credential. It will enable them to sign-in into all of their PC’s, networks, and web services as long as their mobile phone is nearby.

New user credential authentication will be supported by Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, and Microsoft Accounts as standard. Microsoft is keen to move people away from old-fashioned passwords. With other new features such as data loss prevention (DLP) to contain and protect business-related data, and an increased reliance on app signing, Windows 10 is shaping up to be Microsoft's most secure operating system yet.

Photo credit: Johan Swanepoel / Shutterstock
Microsoft is killing Xbox Music free streaming

Publié: octobre 23, 2014, 12:33am CEST par Mark Wilson

Microsoft is pushing music fans towards Music Pass by cutting off one supply of free streaming music. On December 1st, the free streaming feature of Xbox Music will be no more, leaving Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and web users looking for new ways to satisfy their music streaming cravings.

In an announcement posted on the Xbox website, Microsoft explains that it wants to encourage music fans into signing up for a paid Xbox Music Pass. The posts explains that there is a free 30 day trial available, but once this is up, the charge is $9.99 per month. Is this likely to fly with users who have been enjoying music for free? That remains to be seen...

An FAQ page has been set up, which explains that MP3s that were uploaded to a user's Xbox Music collection will remain untouched, and any music that has been purchased will also be unaffected. There is potential for missing out on some music; Microsoft points out that some content will not be available through Xbox Music Pass.

There are likely to be a swathe of upset music fans who suddenly discover that their playlists no longer work:

You may continue to view any playlists or collections you created using the free streaming feature, but you can't listen to the music in those playlists or collections unless you purchase the music or an Xbox Music Pass. If you have an Xbox Music Pass, you will still have access to all the music in your playlists, radio stations, collections, and catalog.

Just under six weeks to go, so fill your boots while you can!

Picture credit: Natsmith1 / Shutterstock