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BetaNews.Com (19 non lus)

Netflix unveils October Speed Index Report, Comcast still middle of the pack

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 9:27pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Netflix

Every month streaming video provider Netflix announces its speed results for the biggest ISPs in the US and other nations. The report is aimed to let customers know why their video may be dodgy and also to praise those that get it right. The order tends to vary each and every time, but there is some relative consistency seen in the results.

This time around, the October report reveals that Verizon Fios remains in the top spot. Comcast also retained its position, though sixth is still not great given the provider is getting paid by Netflix to provide the best service. In between those positions you will find Cablevision, Bright House, Cox and Charter.

Speeds in the US range from Verizon Fios at 3.24 Mbps down to Clearwire at the bottom with 1.06. Meanwhile up north Bell Canada Fiber Optic topped the list, registering a 3.30. Both countries were shamed by the tiny nation of Luxembourg with a top speed of 3.98 average among all providers and Austria which came in with a 4.2 Mbps average.

"The Netflix ISP Speed Index is a measure of prime time Netflix performance on a particular ISP and not a measure of overall performance for other services/data that may travel across the specific ISP network", says Anne Marie Squeo of Netflix.

We now just have to wait for what next month brings, but hopefully it will be better performance for all customers given that video consumption continues its move to broadband.

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I would use Nokia Lumia Icon, if not for Windows Phone

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 8:07pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Steampunk

Over the weekend I started to seriously review my photos from Comic-Con 2014. Goddamn, there are some good ones—each and every one taken with Nokia Lumia Icon, which is essentially identical to the 930 model reviewed by colleague Mark Wilson. He panned the device because of Windows Phone 8.1; I'm in love because of the camera. But sometimes love is lost, and regretted. My sister has the Icon now.

I lug around iPhone 6, which camera by every measure that matters to me is inferior but one—startup shooting speed. Apple's shooter can't compete with the Icon. Fanboys will disagree, but, hey, they always will. The difference isn't fewer megapixels—eight compared to 20—but the intelligence and usability baked into camera and editing apps, lens, sensor, and choices the device makes when auto-shooting.

iPhone 6 is not a bad shooter; the images are quite good and more satisfying than many affordable compacts could produce. The camera also manages conflicting areas of contrast—say, when there are adjacent/overlapping areas of bright light or shadows—and delivers excellent low-light shots. If evaluated on its own, iPhone 6 offers the right balance of photography benefits for most any smartphone user.

What's missing, for me: Fun. I really expected to enjoy using iPhone 6 more. But I have, okay had, more fun using Icon. It's not a single reason, but many little things that, combined, are a big one. Among them:

Focus is spot-on every time. Often that single shot is more than good enough, and setting or moving the focal point is touch-friendlier. That was one of the lessons coming out of Comic-Con.

Nokia Camera app is just better—simple where needed, yet provides more complex options for taking control of settings like ISO. Last week, Microsoft rebranded the app as Lumia Camera. Yuck. I oppose the name changing. Nokia is a globally recognized brand. Lumia is, well...you know.

On-device editing shouldn't be better on Icon, but it is for me. On the Nokia, my tendency is, or was, to use Adobe Photoshop Express or Nokia apps to crop, fix, enhance, and share. Strangely, I am more likely to edit iPhone 6 photos on the computer, once they've synced to cloud. Don't ask me why, because I can't pinpoint one reason. But something about the experience is better, and that may not be true for everyone.

RAW images are available as DNG, which Adobe, the format's creator, supports handsomely in its apps. Icon captures DNG and JPG together.

Hillywood Show Video shooting is fantastic, particularly the audio, which four microphones capture. iPhone 6 slo-mo mode is totally cool, but for day-to-day stuff I prefer Icon's shooting experience. But, again, most people should be happy with the Apple handset's video capture, which finally offers continuous focus.

I could go on, but won't because this post isn't meant to compare Icon and iPhone 6 photography. My point is something else: I really enjoyed the Nokia camera experience, yet gave it up. Windows Phone 8 irked in too many ways; there were too many gaps where apps should be; and iOS is the maturer platform by most measures that should matter to the majority of smartphone users (Go ahead, Google fanboys, that's your cue to disagree).

I loved Icon, for the hardware and Nokia apps. But I couldn't love, let alone like, Windows Phone. Oh, I tried. I wanted to embrace the OS and believe in the future. But Microsoft's murky Windows plans, where one platform unifies them all, created fear, uncertainty, and doubt. (What right-minded company FUDs itself?) I find the tile interface to be inhibiting rather than liberating; that's me, someone else might coo. Meanwhile, movie Interstellar might come to Blu-ray in a 16-hour director's cut before Verizon graces Icon with Windows Phone 8.1.

So now I use iPhone 6, while longing for the kind of camera experience that made Icon so much fun. I switched for the iOS platform, which doesn't disappoint. Neither would Android. Maybe in an alternate universe Nokia flagship phones run Android, and I am a satisfied customer. But in this one...well, you know the answer.

Photo Credits: Joe Wilcox

Google is fighting Ebola with money -- will you donate to the cause?

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 7:29pm CET par Brian Fagioli

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Many people accuse me of being both paranoid and a hypochondriac. Well, they are probably right; I tend to get caught up in the media hype and ignore common sense. Am I likely to catch Ebola on Long Island? No, but that did not stop me from buying masks and gloves from Amazon. Hell, after the Fukushima disaster I bought iodine pills too. Do I feel stupid afterwords? A bit, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

While Ebola in the USA is not probable, it is a disaster in Africa. Remember, love and humanity are borderless, and even though these Africans are not our countrymen, they deserve our support and compassion. Today, Google announces an initiative to raise money and fight the horrific virus. Will you give to the cause?

"For every dollar you give, Google will donate two dollars. In addition, we're donating $10 million right away to support nonprofits such as InSTEDD, International Rescue Committee, Medecins Sans Frontieres, NetHope, Partners in Health, Save the Children and U.S. Fund for UNICEF", says Larry Page, CEO, Google.

Page further explains, "these organizations are doing remarkable work in very difficult circumstances to help contain this outbreak, and we hope our contribution will help them have an even greater impact. Separately, our family foundation will also be giving $15 million. Our hearts go out to everyone whose lives have been touched by this tragedy".

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To give, it is very easy; just click here. From there, you simply click "Donate" and make the donation using Google Wallet. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to give much, but my $10 donation is actually $30 thanks to Google!

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Will you donate to fight Ebola? Tell me in the comments.

Photo Credit: Nolte Lourens/Shutterstock

Happy 10th Birthday Firefox -- Please keep fighting for a free and open web

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 7:12pm CET par Brian Fagioli

foxbday

The web browser is a very under-appreciated program. While the web is not the Internet in its entirety, for many people, the web is all they know. In other words, people live in the web browser, and enjoy it immensely, but don't think about the software that is acting as a portal to their favorite websites.

Mozilla's Firefox is certainly not the first web browser, but it is responsible for many design cues and technologies found in other browsers. Not to mention, Mozilla is on the forefront of fighting for an open web and Firefox shares that ideology -- by using the open-source browser, you are choosing to support a free web. Today, Firefox celebrates its 10th Birthday and to celebrate, I ask you to think of it fondly. Well technically, Firefox's Birthday was yesterday, but who cares, let's party!

"10 years ago we built Firefox to give you a choice. The Web was a monoculture and the only way in was through the company that controlled your operating system. We believed then, and so did many of you, that the Web deserved an independent alternative. Today hundreds of millions of people trust Firefox because they understand that we’re different; that our independence lets us put you first", says Johnathan Nightingale, VP, Firefox.

Nightingale further explains, "10 years in, you know where we stand. Mozilla is a non-profit, global community, and our values are clear: choice and control for our users, openness and innovation for the Web that has become so central to our lives. On values, all browsers are not created equal, and your choices make a big difference. On our 10th birthday, we want to thank you for your support and your trust. When you use Firefox, you make our voice louder; you become part of a community of millions building our shared values into the fabric of the Web. We couldn't do it without you, and we hope you enjoy the new release".

Sadly, while Firefox still has huge usage share, many people have abandoned it for the closed-source Chrome browser from Google. Hell, I am guilty of this myself, rarely firing up good ol' Firefox anymore. With that said, even if you no longer use it, you should definitely support it, as a world without Firefox is a sad place. Do you really want to live in a world where webkit is the only option?

So, Happy Birthday, Firefox! Please keep fighting for a free and open web. Wishing you many more years to come.

Photo Credit: kostolom3000/Shutterstock

Surprise Firefox 33.1 release for desktop and Android boosts privacy controls

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 7:01pm CET par Nick Peers

Firefox

In a surprise move, Mozilla has unveiled Firefox 33.1 FINAL for desktop alongside Firefox for Android 33.1, introducing some major new privacy features in the process.

The update adds a new Forget button for wiping activity over a user-defined period at the click of a button, plus introduces DuckDuckGo searching, which allows users to search without being tracked.

The new features are introduced courtesy of a three-step tour that launches by first prompting the user to add the Forget button to their browser toolbar. Clicking this button gives users the option of forgetting the last five minutes, two hours or 24 hours of activity. Once the time period is selected, users click 'Forget!' and all tabs and windows are closed, recent cookies and history are wiped from the record and the browser opens with a new single window.

Users are then shown the new DuckDuckGo anonymous search feature, which is basically a new search engine option that is added to the user’s existing list. Using this tool allows users to search without their results tracked, boosting privacy as a result. The tour concludes by reiterating Firefox’s existing 'New Private Windows' option.

Firefox 33.1 also introduces a new enhanced New Tab feature, where existing tiles have been "enhanced" based on the user’s browsing history. They replace the site’s default screenshot with what Mozilla describes as a "better" image, which is supplied by the site or partner and includes a logo with rollover image -- one such example is Amazon.com.

The feature also means that new Firefox users won’t be confronted by a set of blank tiles, but instead will be shown content from Mozilla and its partners, clearly marked as "sponsored". Users retain control over the tile, and can remove individual tiles by rolling their mouse over them and clicking the remove button.

The release of Firefox 33.1 has come out of left-field -- it’s the first time Firefox has introduced significant new features in a minor revision since switching to the rapid-release schedule that sees a major new version unveiled every six weeks.

Firefox 33.1 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux is available now as a free, open-source download, as is Firefox 33.1 FINAL for Android.

What enterprise app developers need to know about iOS 8 and iPhone 6

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 6:36pm CET par Richard Stone

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The iPhone 6 and iOS 8 have well and truly captured the public's imagination. The opening weekend sales of the latest iPhone were the best ever for a new Apple model, selling close to 10 million units, and over 52 percent of existing Apple users have upgraded to iOS 8.

Consumer adoption is bound to spill into the enterprise, just like with every other iPhone, but when it does, what new features will enterprise developers have at their disposal when developing for Apple's latest hardware and software? After sifting through over 4000 new APIs, here are the top highlights for enterprise developers.

App Extensions

App extensions will make it simpler to add common actions such as storage choices, Photo editing and cloud storage access, custom keyboards and social sharing apps. Of course, this will save development time, but it will also further standardize the user experience making the app more appealing to users expecting the same experience from their consumer apps.

Time to play with new "Kits"

Apple introduced a range of new "kits" with iOS 8 which have received a lot of coverage across consumer and technology press, and for good reason: They are a game changer for users and developers alike.

PhotoKit will offer manual camera controls, making it easier than ever for budding photographers to take professional-grade photos. A new API architecture for thumbnails and full-sized assets, along with the ability to edit content, takes this extension to the next level. The new API will also simplify integration with enterprise apps.

HealthKit is more complicated. At the foundation, Apple now offers a place for users to store, track and share health and fitness information in a secure environment. As yet, it remains to be seen how data privacy legislation will affect third-party integration, but the potential impact on healthcare is extremely significant.

From the development side, there will be a lot of opportunity and many teams are focused on this space. For instance, VitalBox is using Corticon to build rules into its Personal Health Platform, which benefits both patients and caregivers by providing a health map that uses a patient's medical history and lifestyle to calculate the chance of developing chronic conditions, and then proposing actions to reduce risks.

Alerts are delivered to the patient if bodily measurements reach certain thresholds. Apple's HealthKit will help give developers a framework to start developing with and no doubt we will see a whole new generation of innovative healthcare apps in the not-too-distant future.

Finally, there is HomeKit, which controls connected devices in a user's home. Apps can discover devices and subsequently configure them. Users can also create actions and groups of actions to control devices or groups of devices. Such actions can then be triggered using Siri (which is very much improved in the latest release).

This falls in line with the IoT world being built around us such as intelligent locks and automated lighting control. This will change how consumers manage their personal lives. From the enterprise perspective, IoT holds a lot of potential beyond automatic door locks. At the foundation is Node.js -- the first step in building a bridge to IoT -- and from there, businesses can look to features such as the HomeKit to transpose more consumer innovations into enterprise breakthroughs.

Games get a 1UP

With the introduction of Metal, Apple has improved graphics performance ten times, bringing console-class 3D games to iOS 8. Developers will find ways to leverage these new capabilities and frameworks and adapt them to the increasingly visual enterprise.

ApplePay

After lining up agreements with the major credit card companies MasterCard, Visa, and American Express, Apple Pay has now started to be adopted throughout the United States.

No official date has been set for Apple Pay to 'cross the pond' to Europe, but many believe it will be around Spring 2015. Apple Pay offers contactless payment using the iPhone, using the phone's built-in security, such as the fingerprint reader. The concept of contactless payment is nothing new but Apple has developed a solution that is elegant, simple and secure.

Once again, this demonstrates how Apple can still innovate and disrupt segments where many others have tried and failed. This is in turn laying the foundations for a range of promising opportunities which will allow enterprises to innovate and capitalize.

Richard Stone is product marketing manager for Rollbase Mobile at Progress

Clipbor is a very configurable clipboard manager

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 5:19pm CET par Mike Williams

Clipbor

If you’re frustrated by the Windows clipboard and its one item limit then you’ve probably already tried a few clipboard managers, and we’ve covered plenty in the past (CopyQ, Clipboard History and Remembr, for instance).

Looking at yet another example probably isn’t high on your list of priorities, then -- but Clibor just might be worth the effort.

Setup is easy, as it’s free and entirely portable: download, unzip, and its sub-2MB installation is ready to use immediately.

Right-clicking Clibor’s system tray icon displays no less than 20 functions, options and settings, too, giving you an immediate idea of its power.

Basic usage is simple enough. Copy text to the clipboard, as usual; press Ctrl twice to view your clipboard history (up to 1000 items); double-click any item and it’s ready for immediate pasting.

But then there’s more, like an optional FIFO mode. Enable it, copy "first", "second" and "third" to the clipboard in succession, and your next three pastes will insert "first", "second" and "third" (no other actions required).

Maybe you’ve copied three separate paragraphs of text, and would now like to reuse them elsewhere? Clipbor can combine them, in the original or some custom order, and paste them all at once.

The program supports the use of "Set Phrases": names, addresses and other common text that you regularly need. These can be organized into groups so they’re easier to find, and even exported/ imported for sharing with others.

Still can’t locate the text you need? A powerful search tool will help (it even supports regular expressions).

Advanced features include the ability to change the format of clipboard text, again using regular expressions. Your clipboard history may be backed up and restored as required, with optional encryption for your history file (a major plus if there’s any chance it could hold sensitive information). And it’s amazingly configurable: the Preferences dialog has no less than 14 tabs to explore.

Clibor’s sheer weight of features and functionality means it’s really not for beginners, but if you’re used to text-based clipboard managers and need some extra configurability (or specific features, like FIFO), then it’s certainly worth half an hour of your time.

Preparing the enterprise for the wearable technology revolution

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 5:15pm CET par Jonathan Temple

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The future of wearable technology is so bright we’ll soon all be wearing Google sunglasses. Juniper Research expects worldwide spending on wearable devices to jump from $1.4 billion this year to $19 billion by 2018.

In another report, ABI Research claims that sales of wearable computing devices will exceed 485 million shipments worldwide by 2018. "Wearable technology such as smart glasses and those used for healthcare are better suited for the enterprise as corporate-liable devices. Smartwatches, on the other hand, will most likely follow the trend of BYOD into the enterprise," according to Jason McNicol, senior enterprise analyst for ABI Research.

In just five years, the BYOD revolution has morphed into an explosion of "BYOx," the "Internet of Things" and now "Wearable Tech". According to Gartner, there will be over 30 billion connected devices by 2020. The obvious question is, "How are we going to manage this proliferation of new devices?"

From an IT Service Management perspective, forward-looking CIOs and IT Directors are evaluating the bigger picture of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) and Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solutions that go well beyond device control and configuration. The larger issues of governance and compliance, viewed through the lens of service delivery and service management solutions, will be evaluated on the basis of providing adequate levels of application control and security for this mobile device sprawl.

Balancing an employee’s device freedom and the need for corporate control, security and compliance will be best met by a unified endpoint platform approach that provides centralized and remote monitoring, deployment, provisioning, and management.

This is especially true in vertical markets including healthcare, manufacturing, retail and law enforcement, where the benefits of hands-free technology are far-reaching. Given evolving trends in health fitness, messaging, retail and social media, it’s no surprise the wearable technology ecosystem is attracting significant levels of interest. OEMs, wireless carriers, health insurers and retailers are all vying for a stake in this market. The adoption of wearable tech is not a "maybe," it’s a given.

Despite this snowballing trend, a current EMA survey has determined that only 15 percent of enterprises are fully prepared to meet increasingly demanding mobility management and wearable tech requirements, while citing UEM solutions as the next major trend in IT Service Management. A recent blog by ITSM expert, Mareike Fondufe, demonstrates the advantages of a UEM strategy by citing a common use case.

The growing popularity of wearable tech creates an increasingly heterogeneous array of mobile devices, virtually all of which will inevitably be used for business purposes. A consolidated UEM approach is the logical choice for provisioning and managing this sprawl as the workforce adds yet another device to their everyday toolset.

ITSM needs to evolve from simply being a tactical service to a strategic business enabler and there is a growing consensus that these needs are best met by a UEM approach that provides centralized and remote monitoring, deployment, provisioning and management.

Image Credit: JMicic/Shutterstock

Jonathan Temple is the President and CEO of FrontRange Solutions. Jonathan is responsible for setting the overall vision and strategy for the company as well as managing all day-to-day operations. He has more than 25 years' experience in the software industry with an impressive track record of leading and accelerating the growth of both established and emerging software companies.

US government's top security contractor took months to notice it had been hacked

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 4:53pm CET par Paul Cooper

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The US government's leading security clearance contractor has been the victim of a cyber-attack that took months to even be noticed, according to recent reports. USIS, which specializes in "providing information and security services to government agencies and commercial enterprises", has come under fire for failing to spot the potentially harmful infiltration into its computer systems.

The breach, which was first revealed by the company and government agencies in August, is said to have compromised the personal records of at least 25,000 employees at the Homeland Security Department, and is reported to have cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars in lost government contracts.

As well as raising the usual questions about who was behind the hack and why, the recent compromise has raised concerns about why the company's internal security systems failed to identify and prevent the attack earlier.

Many commentators have also questioned why the company and the government failed to ensure that outdated background reports containing personal data weren't regularly deleted from the company's computers.

An analysis of the company's computer forensics by consultants hired by USIS's lawyers defended the company's handling of the breach, arguing that it was the firm that reported the incident in the first place, something which they clearly think deserves some kind of kudos. According to reports, though, USIS reported the cyber-attack to federal authorities on June 5, more than two months before acknowledging it publicly. The analysis said government agencies regularly reviewed and approved the firm's early warning system.

Joseph Demarest, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, described the hack against USIS as "sophisticated" but said "we're still working through that as well." He added, "There is some attribution" as to who was responsible, but no word yet on who they think was behind it.

Earlier this month hackers apparently breached computer systems at the White House.

White House authorities say they have taken steps to address suspicious activity detected on the network, which is part of the unclassified portion of US government networks, but White House computer systems were down for hours.

What do you think? Should USIS be commended for reporting the breach in a timely manner, or were their systems just not up to scratch in the first place? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Darkhotel steals data from traveling executives

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 3:36pm CET par Ian Barker

Hotel wi-fi business

Darkhotel sounds like it ought to be one of those budget hotel chains you find on the outskirts of towns -- possibly one built without windows to keep costs down.

In fact researchers at Kaspersky Lab have revealed that it's an espionage campaign, which has been operating for almost a decade, that steals sensitive data from corporate executives traveling abroad.

It works by hitting its targets while they're staying in luxury hotels. Never going after the same target twice it operates with surgical precision, obtaining all the valuable data it can from the first contact, then deleting traces and fading into the background to await the next high profile victim. 90 percent of the infections seen by Kaspersky have been in Japan, Taiwan, China, Russia and Hong Kong, but it has also detected infections in Germany, the USA, Indonesia, India and Ireland.

The Darkhotel perpetrator places software on hotel networks and the unsuspecting victim downloads it with the welcome package when connecting to the hotel's Wi-Fi. Once on a system, the backdoor may be used to further download more advanced tools such as keyloggers and Trojans. These tools collect data about the system and the anti-malware software installed on it, steal all keystrokes, and hunt for cached passwords and other private information. Victims lose sensitive information likely to be the intellectual property of the businesses they represent. After the operation, the attackers carefully delete their tools from the hotel network and go back into hiding.

Kurt Baumgartner, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, says, "For the past few years, a strong actor named Darkhotel has performed a number of successful attacks against high-profile individuals, employing methods and techniques that go well beyond typical cybercriminal behavior. This threat actor has operational competence, mathematical and crypto-analytical offensive capabilities, and other resources that are sufficient to abuse trusted commercial networks and target specific victim categories with strategic precision".

Kaspersky Lab recommends that when traveling, all networks should be treated as suspicious. Executives are advised to use VPN to get a secure network channel to their company systems and to treat any software updates they may be offered when on unfamiliar networks as potentially harmful.

You can find more information about Darkhotel on the Kaspersky Lab blog.

Image Credit: Dragon Images / Shutterstock

Facebook is taking over from Google as gatekeeper of the internet

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 2:37pm CET par Mark Wilson

Facebook is taking over from Google as gatekeeper of the internet

Google is widely regarded as being one of the controllers of the internet. It is by far the most popular search engine and if a site does not appear in the first few pages of results, it may as well not exist. But Google is far from being the only gatekeeper to the internet; Facebook is increasingly vying for that crown, whilst making efforts to make access more secure through Tor. But what does this mean?

Facebook accounts for a terrifying percentage of web traffic -- it is the second most visited website in the world according to Alexa. This means that it has a huge influence online, giving the social network the opportunity to shape the web and holds great sway in determining which sites, services, and stories rise to popularity. To many people, this influence is all but invisible, and this is perhaps the most concerning part of the story. So how does Facebook's influence present itself?

There have been several high-profile stories in recent times, such as the real name scandal, the on-going battle over whether photos of breastfeeding mothers can be published, as well as the time that Facebook admitted to tinkering with users' timelines in a 'social experiment'. But Facebook is a free service and its business model is at the heart of the way it operates -- it exists to make money. Much of this money comes from ads and Facebook needs to tread a careful line between keeping advertisers happy and avoiding annoying users.

There used to be a time when your Facebook timeline filled up in quite a logical way: it comprises a simple chronological list of status updates from your friends. But factor in shares, pages, sponsored posts, ads, Facebook's own content, and those pesky algorithms that try to promote content that is either of greater interest or likely to be the best money-maker, and things get rather more complicated. Facebook is no longer just a social network, it is a platform. Or, as Felix Salmon puts in in the Guardian, "it is growing into a kind of parallel internet".

Part of the reason for this thinking stems from changes that have been made to the mobile app -- and phone and tablets remain one of the most common ways to access Facebook. You may have noticed that when you click (or tap) a link in the app, that it’s not your default web browser that springs into action, but that the page is rendered within the Facebook app. On the face of it, this is not a problem -- if anything, it should help to improve performance. But there is a more sinister side; it places Facebook in control of the appearance of sites.

Facebook is free to change the layout of stories, strip out any content it doesn't like, even remove ads. The removal of ads from websites might seem like a good idea at first glance, but from the point of view of third-party websites, it's terrible news. Ads exist to generate revenue, and if this is curtailed, smaller websites run the risk of being priced out of the market. Facebook needs to keep its own advertisers sweet, and this is easily done by reducing the chances of stumbling across rival ads.

Keeping people within the Facebook app rather than defaulting to a 'proper' web browser, stops people from being distracted by other sites, making them more likely to see more ads and sponsored content. Already it should be clear that there is scope for abuse here, but there is further cause for concern.

As mentioned before, it would be reasonable to expect that one's timeline would be made up of a chronological list of posts from friends and companies you follow. But, ever fearful that you might miss important content, companies and individuals are given the opportunity to promote their content to ensure that it reaches a wider audience. Left to its own devices, a post might 'organically' only be seen by a couple of dozen people, but for those willing to stump up some cash, the net is cast wider. In many ways this goes against the ideology of the internet. It is supposed to be a democratising tool where everyone is placed on as equal a footing as possible, but in reality it is those with the money who are granted the larger audiences.

With the exception of content which 'accidentally' goes viral, the content promoted by Facebook is limited to that which has been paid for -- smaller companies and individuals without available finances are priced out of the market. This is bad news not only for anyone looking to gain an audience, but it's also bad news for Facebook users who invariably find their newsfeeds clogged with crap such as listicles from Buzzfeed, nonsense health and wellbeing posts, and endless inane videos from the latest viral site.

I may be peering into a bleak and hypothetical future, but the level of control Facebook is starting to gain over what people see online is concerning. Facebook has, thankfully, showed itself to be largely free from a political agenda, but this may not always be the case. If an advertiser is willing to pay for posts with an anti-Obama slant, would the cash talk loudly enough to compel Facebook to promote biased articles? If users start to share content en masse that goes against Facebook's agenda, could it be stifled?

Perhaps referring to Facebook as a 'platform' was incorrect. Maybe it's more like a modern-day broadcaster, What's worrying is that this is a self-governing broadcaster that wields great power, and power without responsibility is a dangerous thing.

Photo credit: Dave Clark Digital Photo / Shutterstock

HTC One (M8) for Windows arrives at T-Mobile

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 2:21pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

HTC One M8 Windows
As you may know, HTC One (M8) launched as a Verizon-exclusive in late-August. Shortly after its introduction, both AT&T and T-Mobile revealed that they would too carry the Windows Phone, but at a later date. The former was the first to get it, last week, but now you can also buy it from the magenta carrier.

While things were pretty clear about the cost of buying One (M8) for Windows from AT&T, T-Mobile left this information for the day when it is actually available through its stores. Luckily, if you have waited this long, you will not be disappointed.

The off-contract cost of One (M8) for Windows at T-Mobile is $585.60. In comparison, AT&T asks for $699.99 to get the Windows Phone from its stores off-contract. The difference is pretty substantial. Also, at Verizon it can be had for $599.99 in the same configuration.

T-Mobile also gives prospective One (M8) for Windows buyers the option to get the Windows Phone for $0 down coupled with $24.40 monthly payments for two years.

The highlights of One (M8) for Windows include: 5-inch Super LCD display with a resolution of 1080 by 1920; 2.3 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor; 2 GB of RAM; 4 MP "Ultrapixel" main camera; 5 MP secondary camera; 32 GB of internal storage; microSD card slot; 2,600 mAh battery, and Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1.

HTC One M8 for Windows | FindTheBest

How to use Microsoft's new tool to create a Windows 8.1 installation disc or flash drive

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 1:14pm CET par Wayne Williams

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For some strange reason, when Microsoft released Windows 8.1 it forced Windows 8 users to update through the Windows Store. If you wanted to download an ISO file for installing how and when you liked, you either had to be an MSDN subscriber or use a couple of clever workarounds (as detailed here and here).

Thankfully, better late than never, Microsoft has finally come up with an official tool which will let you create your own Windows 8.1 installation DVD or USB flash drive. If you need to install Windows 8.1 from scratch, no longer do you need to install Windows 8 first, and then update through the store.

All you need to do is insert a blank DVD into your drive, or plug in a USB flash drive. Next go here, and click the Create Media button to download the Media Creation Tool (it’s a small 1.3MB file).

Choose the type of installation file you want to create by using the drop down boxes to select the Language, Edition (Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 N, Windows 8.1 Pro and so on) and Architecture (x86 or x64).

choose

Next choose where to save the installation file -- to a USB flash drive (you’ll need at least 4GB of free space and ideally the drive should be blank), or to your hard disk as an ISO ready for writing.

Click Next and the file will be downloaded. If you’re writing an ISO you'll need to enter the save location.

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When it’s complete, you’ll be able to install the OS directly from the flash drive, or write it to DVD using any authoring tool.

If you’re running Windows 8, Microsoft still recommends you update your OS through the Windows Store although, frankly, using this tool is a much better -- and more reliable -- method.

If you’re running Windows 7, you’ll need to enter a Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 product key. You'll also need a product key if you're running Windows 8 and trying to upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro.

Image Credit: ValentinT/Shutterstock

What the digital skills gap means for your business

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 12:40pm CET par Nathan Chai

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I'm sure you're aware of the looming "digital skills gap" and the terrifying figures attached to not addressing the problem. However in order to find a solution to the digital skills crisis, we must first define exactly what digital skills are.

In this article we spoke to Nick Millman, managing director at Accenture Digital UK, about defining what digital skills are and how the gap will affect your business.

What are digital skills?

Something often skipped over or simply avoided is explaining what is meant by "digital skills". The reason for this is that the term "digital skills" encompasses a broad range of subjects and fields. Millman told us that the "foundational level of digital understanding" is comprised of four key areas:

"How you use digital to improve the customer experience".
"How you use digital to improve business efficiency".
"How to make it easy for employees to accomplish tasks in a fulfilling way".
"How to use digital skills for social good".

A basic level of digital skills (i.e. how to use a computer, how to choose the right software for a task, how to stay digitally safe) is already imprinted in the next generation of graduates as they've grown-up using digital tools. When we talk about digital skills we're actually talking about the ability to process, interpret, and utilize information, skills such as:

Data requirement analysis: the ability to and define what information is required to complete a task
Data assessment: the ability to determine data's quality, value, and relevance in different contexts
Data interpretation: the ability to turn information into business insights, analyze trends and how to compare or combine relevant data sets
Data application: the ability to implement the data into real-world strategies Collaboration: the ability to communicate effectively with others and work toward a common goal
Digital creation: the ability to produce digital-based objects such as; apps, websites, engaging interfaces and so on

You'll notice that the majority of the skills relate to the manipulation of data, this is due to the rise of the raw data provided by both the Internet of Things and businesses leveraging big data.

Why do I need people with digital skills?

Unless you begin to integrate digital technology into your business you'll be playing catch-up with enterprises that adopted these technologies. As over-hyped and seemingly meaningless the terms "the Internet of things" and "big data" seem they are evolving how business is conducted.

The level of insight that big data can provide is revolutionary in terms of understanding consumer-behavior, quickly spotting market trends, and risk comprehension. Similarly the amount of monitoring achievable through the Internet of Things makes increasing employee productivity, maximizing logistic efficiency, and knowing how to make the most of your resources possible.

When asked about the kinds of roles that businesses will need to fill in order to operate competitively Millman gave three examples; "some of those new roles will be things like data scientists. A role that will certainly grow in importance is developing the user experience and graphical design... there's another role for people who can take data and turn it into something visual making it easier for people to use".

It's unlikely you'll need these sorts of people immediately, every business will have unique needs and tasks requiring those with digital skills. Therefore a digital strategy should be developed before looking to fill these roles. For example if you operate a retail business, you may be more interested in producing an attractive, usable website to enhance your online channel which would require someone with graphical design prowess and web development knowledge.

Another broader example that applies to most enterprises is setting up a system to analyze how clients or customers use your product or service, which would require someone who could interpret user data. This person would translate the user data into a way to discover and enhance particularly useful features of your product and discover why other features of your product are underutilized.

What can my business do to help?

"The key thing is awareness and some kind of hands-on experience" Millman stated. Your business should develop a digital strategy and relay to universities the kind of skills you require to fill the roles you identify.

If you've already got a digital strategy in play, talk to students about what skills and knowledge base they need to develop to have a career in your enterprise.

"Organizations and the education sector need to be clear about the prospects of digital skills" Millman revealed.

Ultimately your organization's role is developing awareness about the necessity of digital skills and influencing the next generation of employees to develop skills that your organisation can use. This can be accomplished by attending career days, giving educational institutions advice on creating employable students, and thinking about how your business can take advantage of the level of data analysis now available to you.

Raspberry Pi introduces the better, and cheaper Model A+

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 11:51am CET par Wayne Williams

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Raspberry Pi, the hugely popular credit card-sized ARM GNU/Linux computer, is available in two versions -- the Model A and the Model B. Four months ago the Raspberry Pi Foundation launched an updated version of the latter called the Model B+, which added more USB ports, more GPIO and microSD support (among other features). Impressively, the price remained the same -- $35.

Today the foundation announces an upgrade to the cut-down Model A called -- can you guess? -- the Model A+, and while it’s better than the A in several ways, it’s also smaller and cheaper.

While Model A retails for $25, the A+ is $20. It uses the same BCM2835 application processor and has the same 256MB of RAM, but it’s much smaller. Just 65mm long, compared to 86mm for the older Model A. It’s also more energy efficient, and gains many of the same improvements introduced in the Model B+ including:

More GPIO -- The GPIO header has grown to 40 pins. The Model A+ is compatible with the HAT standard for add-on boards.
Micro SD -- The old friction-fit SD card socket has been replaced with a much nicer push-push micro SD version.
Better audio -- The audio circuit incorporates a dedicated low-noise power supply.

You can buy the Model A+ today from Farnell in the UK, and MCM in the US.

Fileless malware runs entirely from memory to make detection harder

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 11:49am CET par Ian Barker

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Traditional malware infections usually require a file object to be placed on the system which makes it relatively easy for them to be detected and removed.

Now though there’s a stealthier threat uncovered by security company Malwarebytes. Poweliks is an infection that runs without a filesystem object, completely from the registry and memory using rundll32.exe, javascript and a create on-the-fly dll.

Code can be injected into the machine via a fake landing page which makes traditional security solutions like white listing ineffective in combating it.

It doesn't place a physical file on the system, instead Poweliks injects code into processes which are currently running, like Internet Explorer. This allows it to run on the back of the legitimate process and thus avoid detection.

Security researcher Jerome Segura says, "There are many advantages of doing that. For starters, by never dropping anything onto the hard-drive, you reduce your payload's footprint on a system and chances for it to get detected. It is typically much easier to detect a piece of malware on disk than one hiding in memory".

To ensure that it can survive after a system restart it places code in hidden registry keys allowing it to execute and infect the legitimate process again after a reboot.

A newly released version of Malwarbytes Anti-Rootkit is able to remove Poweliks. There's also more information on fileless infections and how they work on the Malwarebytes blog.

Image Credit: alphaspirit/Shutterstock

Facebook explains why it split Messenger from main mobile app

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 8:37am CET par Fadil Pašić

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finally explained the reason behind the company's decision to split Facebook and Facebook Messenger into two different mobile apps.

He said that the Facebook app was weighing down on messaging, making communication more difficult and slower.

Changing things is never easy. It's a truth that people will always complain about changes -- especially abrupt ones.

Facebook recently decided to free Messenger, a communication app, from the main Facebook app, to users accessing the site on mobile devices. Even though the majority didn't quite welcome the change, and even publicly cried out against it, Facebook stuck to its guns, and Zuckerberg has finally spoken of the reasons behind this decision.

He explained how the Facebook app's primary goal was the news feed, and how sending messages was something that just kept growing.

"Messaging was this behavior people were doing more and more," Zuckerberg explained. "10 billion messages are sent per day, but in order to get to it you had to wait for the app to load and go to a separate tab. Because Messenger is faster and more focused, if you're using it, you respond to messages faster, we've found".

He added that exchanging messages has become more popular than actually using the social network's primary features and that, in some countries, 85 percent of people use Facebook, while 95 percent communicate via SMS or messaging.

"Asking everyone in our community to install a new app is a big ask," added Zuckerberg. "On mobile, each app can only focus on doing one thing well, we think".

Microsoft 'leaks' its Black Friday deals -- $99 HP tablet available now!

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 7:36am CET par Brian Fagioli

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In America, Black Friday is a retail-focused holiday following Thanksgiving. In other words, the day after we spend time with family giving thanks, we rush to the stores to spend money. Yes, it is bizarre and a bit conflicting, but actually, it is a good thing. Not only is a positive for the economy, but it also brings families together; waiting in line together, fighting fellow shoppers together and spending money together -- at least family is together. It is actually rather nice to see a tired, post-shopping family eating omelettes together at 3am at a 24-hour diner.

Another tradition of Black Friday is buying the newspaper and reading the circulars. Normally, the deals are supposed to be revealed the day before; people would make it a point to buy the newspaper on Thanksgiving. The Internet, however, has birthed "leaked" Black Friday deals, where websites publish the deals weeks in advance. While some people may imagine store employees secretly smuggling the information, others hypothesize that it is the stores themselves leaking the deals. Today, Microsoft takes the approach of openly leaking its Black Friday deals weeks in advance, by emailing them to its customers; however, there is a catch.

Microsoft has listed all the products that it will be offering on Black Friday, but there are some oddities. For one, none of the deals start on Friday -- yes, you are reading that correctly, none. One of the deals, a $99 HP tablet, has already gone live, and you can buy it now. There is a deal on the Lumia 635 that will start on 11/21, and all of the rest of the deals go live at 12am on Thanksgiving -- a full 24 hours before Black Friday.

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Even stranger, other than the $99 tablet, Microsoft has not revealed any prices. In other words, it is telling you which products will have reduced prices and when they go on sale, but not what the reduced price will actually be. This is a bit ponderous, as prices are what gets customers interested. For instance, the company lists the Xbox One as being a Black Friday product, but the reduction could be $5, $100, or heck, it could be anything. Consumers need to know, or else they will look elsewhere.

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If you want to see which products Microsoft is listing as 'Black Friday' deals, you can check them out here. Which products are you interested in? Tell me in the comments.

Photo Credit: racorn / Shutterstock

Did you ditch the iPhone for Android? Here's how to finally get iMessage out of your life

Publié: novembre 10, 2014, 1:54am CET par Brian Fagioli

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In the classic movie Rambo: First Blood, Col. Trautman tells John Rambo, "It's over Johnny. It's over!", to which Rambo exclaims, "Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off!" While the interaction is actually regarding Rambo's trouble leaving the Vietnam War in the past, it actually sounds like something an ex-iPhone user would say about iMessage. You see, Apple's messaging platform has been historically difficult to eliminate from one's life -- leading to missed text messages and overall frustration.

Sadly, this has been a huge inconvenience for quite a while, but Apple is finally rectifying the cause of Android-converts' indignation. Today, the company introduces a new tool called "Deregister iMessage". Those that have ditched the iPhone should check it out as soon as possible.

Apple first suggests simply turning iMesssage off:

Transfer your SIM card to your iPhone.
Go to Settings.
Tap Messages.
Turn iMessage off.

Of course, this will only work if you still have access to the iPhone. This issue mostly plagues users that have already moved on, and have traded in or sold their iPhone. This makes the initial suggestion worthless for many. Luckily, option two is here to save the day.

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As seen above, it is a very easy process; enter your mobile phone number and Apple will send a code by text message. Once you get the code, simply enter it in and click on "Submit". Now, iMessage is truly out of your life, and you can move on with your new Android lifestyle.

It really is over. You finally can just turn it off. Rambo is happy. You can access the tool by clicking here.

Photo Credit: 360b / Shutterstock