Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » janvier 28, 2015

BetaNews.Com (16 non lus)

Microsoft's decision to ditch Surface is a long-overdue mercy killing for Windows RT

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 10:18pm CET par Mark Wilson

For too long it was the metaphorical unwanted litter of kittens tied in a sack just waiting for someone to ditch it in the river. Windows RT is dead, having enjoyed a cancer-ridden 'life' for longer than many people expected. Microsoft announced that it is no longer going to manufacture Surface devices, all but signing the death warrant for Windows RT.

Hear that sound? No? That's the sound of everyone caring about it. To be fair, the writing has been on the wall for quite some time. Windows RT was always the sickly twin sibling of Windows 8 and now Microsoft has done the decent thing. It might not quite have delivered the lethal shot to the brain yet, but the gun has been cocked. And not before time.

If you're a fan of the Surface Pro -- running proper, full fat Windows -- there's no need to panic; this version of the hybrid laptop is going nowhere (in the positive sense of the phrase). It's just the Windows RT-packing non-Pro version that has been dropped like a hot stone. It's not like there haven't been plenty of clues for some time.

The original Surface was an out and out flop while the follow-up Surface 2 fared little better. When the Surface Pro 3 was released without even a mention of a Surface 3, it really should have become clear to anyone who hadn’t already realized that Microsoft had given up on its limited tablet. As far back as 2013, Microsoft had indicated that the days of having three operating systems -- desktop Windows, Windows RT and Windows Phone -- were numbered. More recently a Microsoft spokesperson said:

We are no longer manufacturing Surface 2; however, those still eager to buy Surface should visit Microsoft Retail Stores, MicrosoftStore.com, third-party retailers and resellers for the latest availability.

I'm not sure people will be beating down shop doors to snap up the last few remaining units. Windows RT was dead in the water from the very beginning, and as the flagship RT devices are killed off there is just going to be a slow, spluttering death until the end of the lifecycle (April 2017 for first generation Surfaces, and April the following year for the second generation).

Microsoft's attempt to muscle in on the tablet market with Windows-lite was misguided. Of course, creating a version of Windows for ARM processors was going to mean making compromises, but there were just too many of them. Part of the problem, once again, was apps. While Google and Apple have a strong infrastructure, a solid ecosystem in place, the same cannot be said for Microsoft with its app stores. Things may have improved somewhat of late, but the damage was already done -- Surface users were left with devices crippled by a lack of apps. The same problems affected Windows Phone, but things have started to improve slightly for phone owners. However, it's too late for Surface and its need for specially made apps.

When talking about Windows RT, one of the virtues of the OS that has been extolled is its 'inability' to be infected with viruses. Well that's just not true. While it is extremely unlikely for RT to be infected thanks partly to the fact that (unless devices are jailbroken) only apps from the official store can be installed -- although that's not to say that a rogue app couldn't slip through the net. There's also the fact that the viruses that affect desktop Windows simply cannot run on RT, but that’s like claiming that Android or iOS can’t be infected with desktop Windows viruses -- it's true, but meaningless.

So RT is breathing its last. There will be few tears shed, and Microsoft will probably mop its brow in relief when it no longer has to consider the disastrous product. Possibly because of the time remaining in the support lifecycle, RT users are in line for an update to their operating system. When Windows 10 is released later in the year there will be an update that offers "some of the functionality of Windows 10". It's not entirely clear what this means -- without further details, it is essentially meaningless. Windows 8 has "some of the functionality of Windows 10", and the statement could be fulfilled by simply updating the calculator in Windows RT to match the one found in Windows 10. I exaggerate, but the point is still a valid one.

The modern Microsoft has shown that it is ready to start listening to its customers, and those customers have said loud and clear that Windows RT is not something they want. It's an operating system that has been on death row for quite some time, and the kindest thing to do now is to pull the plug. Let's put us and it out of our respective miseries and forget it ever happened.

Photo credit: Minerva Studio / Shutterstock
Internet censorship: The worst offenders

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 9:34pm CET par Barclay Ballard

In the UK, policies that restrict the flow of information across the Internet are generally met with outcry and consternation for contradicting our fundamental right of free speech, but for many individuals widespread Internet censorship is the norm.

However, online censorship is much more pervasive than one might initially think, with Ethiopia, Russia and even the UK currently listed as Enemies of the Internet by the French non-governmental group Reporters without Borders (RWB).

The most high-profile example remains of course China, which has monitored and regulated online use almost since the Internet's introduction in the country back in 1994. The Golden Shield Project, often referred to as the Great Firewall of China, was officially begun in 1998 and attempts to restrict the distribution of what it calls "sensitive" information.

Websites referring to Tibetan or Taiwan independence, the Tiananmen Square protests or freedom of speech, amongst other topics are all outlawed. Well-known Western sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are also banned. Despite the rise of domestic social media platforms like Sina Weibo and attempts to circumvent censorship via VPNs and proxy servers, China remains one of the most stringently censored countries in the world.

Another country influence by a Communist regime, North Korea's general level of secrecy may make its censorship programme less well-known, but in many ways it is even more authoritarian. All media is controlled by the government and estimations suggest that just four per cent of the population have Internet access.

Aside from high-ranking government officials, most citizens must use the national intranet Kwangmyong. Unsurprisingly, Kwangmyong is a heavily watered-down version of the World Wide Web, containing between 1,000 and 5,500 websites compared to a figure of more a billion than for the global Internet. As a result, the head of the Internet desk at RWB Julian Pain described North Korea as "by far the worst Internet black hole".

Aside from issues of political sensitivity, the Internet's free exchange of ideas can also place it at odds with countries that have a more strictly religious society.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, all Internet traffic first goes through a government run filter which, according to the country's Internet Services Unit, blocks all material of an "offensive or harmful nature to the society, and which violate the tenants of the Islamic religion or societal norms". In reality this often means any sites of a pornographic nature or which are supportive of LGBT rights, any found to be promoting Shia ideology, and any that are critical of the national government.

Interestingly, the government encourages the Saudi people to be complicit in the censorship programme by asking them to actively report immoral pages to the government's website. Other Middle Eastern nations known to implement at least some form of online censorship include Syria, Iran, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

While large scale censorship programmes may be restricted to a few high-profile countries, many nations have blocked or threatened to block popular websites in isolation. Social media is often targeted due to the way it encourages discussion and the transfer of information. In the past year for example, Pakistan, Iran, Eritrea, Turkey and Vietnam, alongside China and North Korea, have all blocked Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

However, while Western nations generally allow their citizens to freely browse social networks and the majority of other sites, it is easy to forget that many of these countries have experienced some form of online censorship in recent times. For example, both the United Kingdom and the US were listed as "Enemies of the Internet" by RWB in 2014, with the former dubbed the "world champion of surveillance".

The UK's use of a web filter known as Cleanfeed to block child pornography is surely beyond criticism, but over the last couple of years the UK government has taken steps to increase its control over the World Wide Web. Since 2011, UK ISPs have been ordered to block websites that infringe upon copyright laws such as file sharing site the Pirate Bay.

However, it is Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial decision to enforce a filter on pornography as well as abusive material such as violent and suicide-related content, that has drawn the most criticism. For many, censoring what content an individual can privately access is a slippery slope to more proactive Internet control.

Worryingly, Cameron looks set to continue on this path, telling the Australian parliament in November that "we must not allow the Internet to be an ungoverned space", if the threat of religious extremism is to be thwarted. With British citizens continuing to join the extremist group Islamic State in Iraq, a government-backed decision to place further limits on this kind of narrative is not entirely unfeasible.

It is clear that Internet censorship is not an issue restricted to China, the Middle East or even countries that unashamedly place limits upon freedom of speech. When Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales questioned whether the West was losing its "moral leadership" regarding online censorship, he hit upon a very pertinent point. It is the responsibility of every nation to appraise its barriers to free speech so that, not only the safety, but also the freedom of its citizens is ensured.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo Credit: AR Images/Shutterstock
Microsoft OneDrive is now the place for your photos

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 8:22pm CET par Wayne Williams

Microsoft wants its cloud storage service to be the best place for all of your photos, and so is debuting new ways to import, organize, find, improve, and share them.

According to Douglas Pearce, OneDrive’s Group Program Manager, major updates coming over the next couple of weeks include: "the ability for customers to curate photos from their phone, desktop and inbox quickly and simply; a new feature that allows you to view, manage, and share photos with Albums; and finally, through a partnership with Bing, customers can now search for their files and photos in a new and exciting way!"

You can already automatically upload photos and videos to OneDrive using the relevant Android, iOS, or Windows Phone app, but over the next month Windows 7 and 8.x users will also be able to automatically import and upload photos from connected devices -- such as digital cameras, USB memory sticks and external hard drives. And if you take screenshots, those will be uploaded to OneDrive automatically too.

From today OneDrive gains an Albums feature to make it easier to view, manage, and share your snaps. Albums have larger photo thumbnails, and images arranged attractively edge to edge, like a collage. And that’s not all. As Douglas Pearce explains, "Albums also let you bring photos and videos together from anywhere in your OneDrive. You don’t need to copy files from other folders. That means you can easily create an album using photos from your phone in your camera roll folder, your camera in your 'European Vacation 2012' folder, or from your email, with the photos you saved to your attachments folder. And even more, you can also add to your albums after they’ve been created and shared".

Albums is available from today on the web and the OneDrive iOS app. It will be followed shortly by Android and Windows Phone (Microsoft once again prioritizing iOS over its own mobile platform, which will annoy the Windows Phone faithful, but is the smart business choice). Users will also be able to receive Weekend Recap emails -- these contain sample photos that you took over the weekend, ready for sharing with friends.

Finding files in OneDrive is getting a boost too thanks to a close partnership with Bing. Users will be able to find Office documents and PDFs by searching for text inside them, and track down images based on time, location, and even text recorded in your photos (street signs, for example, or menus). In addition you can search for photos based on tags you’ve added yourself, or which Microsoft has automatically generated.

This is great news for photographers, although the 30GB you get for storage (if you turn on the camera backup) looks rather stingy compared with the 1TB Flickr offers for free. Maybe if Microsoft is really serious about appealing to photographers it will up the quota at some point in the future.
Pandora achieves 50 billion 'thumbs' -- users vote on what they like and hate

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 7:21pm CET par Brian Fagioli

Listening to streaming music services can be a very rewarding experience. Unlike listening to vinyl or a CD, which can be a very private experience, streaming can feel more communal. In other words, it can provide the user with the feeling of a shared experience.

Pandora is very successful in this regard, as it allows users to vote with a thumbs up or down to make their voice heard. Ultimately, this allows the service to customize the listening experience, but more importantly, it supplies the company with valuable insights. You see, Pandora is tracking all of the user data on thumbs up and down, and using it for analysis. The company has now received over 50 billion thumbs (both up and down) -- impressive. To celebrate, it is sharing an infographic that tells the story of what music people respond to.

"Just a few years ago, Jason Derulo stopped by our offices to celebrate receiving the 10 billionth thumb on Pandora. Today, I am proud to share that we have passed 50 billion thumbs. 50 billion. That's roughly seven thumbs for every person on Earth", says Tim Westergren, Founder, Pandora.

Westergren further explains, "as milestones go, this one is particularly meaningful. Our entire mission is to give listeners the ability to personalize their experience. Thumbs give each listener the power to make Pandora personal to them. Every thumb up and thumb down has not only made your stations better, but helped us make better song choices for every listener. This is a serious group effort -- so, thanks!"

Take a look at the below infographic; are you surprised by any of the results? Tell me which ones in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock
Xiaomi: Hand over your iPhone, get a Mi Note flagship for free

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 7:04pm CET par David Curry

Xiaomi is going hard against Apple in 2015. CEO Lei Jun recently gave several shoutouts to the Apple's inferior design quality on the iPhone 6 when compared to the Mi Note.

And now the next step in the battle will focus on swapping iPhones for Xiaomi Mi Note and Mi Note Pro at no extra cost, according to a new report citing Xiaomi's media development director.

Users will be able to trade in iPhone 5s (or an older model) for a free Mi Note and trade in an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus for a free Mi Note Pro, Xiaomi's two new smartphones launched earlier this month.

The Mi Note and Mi Note Pro are already half the price of the iPhone alternatives, making it quite a gamble in the price department.

If a user is able to get a Mi Note from an iPhone 5 it might be worth it, but we doubt Xiaomi will have any large success with the Mi Note Pro trade in offer.

Xiaomi has added a 5.7-inch full HD display, quad-core Snapdragon 801, 3GB of RAM, 16/64GB of internal storage and 3000mAh battery to the Mi Note, or an upgrade to a QHD display, octa-core Snapdragon 810 and 4GB of RAM on the Mi Note Pro.

Both exceed specifications for price, beating Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus without much of a fight, however Apple has made it an objective to never compare specs and always test the feel and software.

Apple's total iPhone marketshare is up to 16 per cent in China. Xiaomi is no longer the de-facto ruler of mainland China, so it needs to pick up the pace if it wants to be competitive against the leading Apple in 2015.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
It's Data Privacy Day and Facebook knows you're reading this

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 5:32pm CET par Ian Barker

A new global study conducted by Microsoft across 12,000 people shows that most internet users still don't believe they're aware of all the data that's being collected about them.

For example, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ know you've read this page, as they track your visits to any website with a 'Like', 'Tweet' or '+1' button, whether you click that button or not. Information gathered can include anything from your IP address and general geography, to insights into your age, gender, income, hobbies, health status and financial situation, by way of your browsing and purchase history.

All of these bits of data may not be much use on their own, but according to the Internet Society's Privacy and Identity Director, Robin Wilton, companies are increasingly putting them together to create a bigger picture. They can then use this to predict your behavior, including your habits, preferences, values, aspirations and intentions.

This can have significant implications for your finances. Wilton says, "According to one study, you may pay more than others when shopping online based on your web browsing history or the kind of smartphone you own. Some consumers have seen their credit limits reduced by their credit card companies because they shopped at stores frequented by cardholders who don’t have good repayment histories. From there, it’s possible insurance companies might eventually string your data together to determine if you’re insurable (and what kind of premium you should be charged based on your perceived risk) and credit card companies could use it to determine your creditworthiness (and charge you higher interest)".

What can you do about all this? Wilton suggests fragmenting your online identity. "Strategically use different email addresses, browsers, credit cards, and maybe even devices, for different web activities (like personal, work and online shopping) to make it more difficult to collect one cohesive data set about you".

You can also adjust your browsing habits by using Do Not Track or Incognito settings to prevent cookies from being left on your system. That doesn't prevent your searches from being tracked by the provider of course. To stop that you could switch to a non-tracking search engine like DuckDuckGo, or Boston-based privacy company Abine is about to launch a private search service for Google -- with Yahoo and Bing to follow soon -- integrated into its Blur product that protects passwords and payments.

"By the end of 2015, anybody who wants to use the Internet safely should be using Private Search, alongside a password manager and a secure payments service," says Rob Shavell, CEO of Abine. "Blur users can use the best search engine the way it used to be -- simple and not nosy".

Using the internet is a balance between convenience and privacy. It may be inconvenient to use additional privacy tools, but do remember that someone somewhere knows you're reading this.

Image Credit: Stuart Miles / Shutterstock
Google Fiber expands, new markets on the horizon

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 4:57pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Everyone wants access to high-speed internet, as it seems to feel like a human right these days. Sadly the US lags behind other nations in this department, but things are slowly improving, thanks in large part to Google introducing its own broadband in the form of Google Fiber.

That offering is now expanding to new markets, with Google announcing four locations set to have their internet speeds increased dramatically. Thus far, the service has existed in Kansas City, Provo, and Austin.

The expansion is set to include Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh-Durham. These are metro areas and Google claims they engulf 18 cities, which will get the big upgrade.

"Bringing Google Fiber to these cities is a long-term investment. We’ve been working closely with city leaders over the past year on a joint planning process to get their communities ready for Google Fiber -- and now the really hard work begins. Our next step is to work with cities to create a detailed map of where we can put our thousands of miles of fiber, using existing infrastructure such as utility poles and underground conduit, and making sure to avoid things like gas and water lines", say Dennis Kish, vice president of Google Fiber. Yes, avoiding those gas lines will be much appreciated.

The company is also looking at five additional cities for its gigabit broadband service. Those include "Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and San Jose, and will have updates on these potential Fiber cities later this year".

No official schedule for any of this was put forth by Google. Certainly these things take a bit of time, but at least knowing it is on the way is a step in the right direction for residents of these areas.
Securing business applications in real-time

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 4:09pm CET par Ian Barker

As demand to access company information on the move and from mobile devices increases it places extra strain on security resources.

Existing web applications firewalls (WAFs) monitor traffic but don't have an understanding of the logic of data flows and the behavior of applications. This can make it hard for them to distinguish between legitimate traffic and attacks on apps such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

Israel-based security company Checkmarx is launching a run-time application self-protection (RASP) tool called CxRASP which will monitor an app’s bidirectional data flow, enabling the detection of and defense against real-time attacks.

Checkmarx's technology 'listens' at each interaction junction of the app, covering access points between the application and the user, the database, the network, and the file system. With complete visibility into the app's input and output, CxRASP tailors the protection mechanism to the specific flow within the application to achieve high detection accuracy in real-time. Suspicious activity is flagged when it enters the app, and then verified to see if it is actually malicious at the output to minimize false positives and false negatives. If an attack is identified, the organization is alerted and instructions are sent on how to fix the vulnerability.

"The fast increasing number of applications and the resulting vast amounts of insecure code written and released into production means that we need a more intelligent way to ensure software security," says Emmanuel Benzaquen, CEO of Checkmarx. "CxRASP is the ultimate way to protect applications as it lets applications do the work of protecting themselves so that security vulnerabilities are revealed and blocked in real-time".

The product can be integrated with static application security testing tools from Checkmarx and elsewhere to ensure application protection throughout the development process.

For more information on Checkmarx products you can visit the company's website.

Imaged Credit: soliman design / Shutterstock
Pushbullet now shares files and notifications between iPhone, iPad and Mac

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 4:06pm CET par Mike Williams

Pushbullet is a great app which makes it easy to send files, links, notifications and more from one of your devices to another.

The latest release adds full Apple support. Just as with Android devices, you’re now able to have iPhone or iPad notifications automatically pushed to a Windows or Mac desktop (or anywhere else you’ve installed the system).

"Universal copy and paste" now supports Apple devices, too: just copy something to the clipboard on one computer and it’s available to paste on another.

Support for Facebook as well as Google login makes it simpler to get started.

If you’ve not used Pushbullet before then everything works much the same way on Android and PC hardware.

On a PC, for example, right-click a link or a file in Explorer, select Pushbullet, and a list of your devices appears. Choose one and it’s sent right away, without the need for workarounds like emailing it to yourself.
VoltDB looks to simplify database app development

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 3:33pm CET par Ian Barker

As the need for real-time data increases thanks to the Internet of Things and growing demand for mobile services, organizations are looking for new ways to capture and process information.

In response to this demand database company VoltDB is launching version 5.0 of its in-memory database application offering increased support for the Hadoop ecosystem, expanded SQL support and a new Management Center.

"Developers are in need of better tools with which to develop fast data streaming applications with real-time analytics and decision making across industries," says Bruce Reading, President and CEO of VoltDB. "As the popularity and adoption for Hadoop continues to surge, there is an increased need for integration between fast and big data so developers can focus on the applications and not the infrastructure. Version 5.0 meets that demand".

Along with improved Hadoop support key features of the latest release include new export connectors for HDFS, HTTP, Kafka and RabbitMQ as well as Avro format. There’s also a new Kafka data Import option as well as bulk data import from, JDBC Loader, Hadoop OutputFormat and Vertica Udx. The new VoltDB Management Center (VMC) provides browser-based, one-stop database monitoring and configuration management.

As an example of how effective the product is, VoltDB Developer John Hugg has used version 5.0 to develop a real-time analytics app that counts the number of unique mobile devices/types of devices accessing an application. He was able to do that using only 30 lines of code, while the traditional Lambda architecture would have needed thousands of lines.

The latest version of VoltDB is available to download now. For more information visit the company's website.

Image Credit: wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock
Xiaomi brings its Mi 4 flagship smartphone to India

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 3:06pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

Half a year after it unveiled Mi 4, Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi is bringing its "fastest & most gorgeous Mi Phone ever" to India. Starting February 10, local consumers will be able to get their hands on the flagship device through retailer Flipkart.

Mi 4 is one of the most interesting smartphones unveiled in 2014, in no small part thanks to its $320 starting price. Handsets from rival makers such as Samsung have price-tags twice as high, so it is easy to understand what makes it such an appealing option in the flagship segment. Fortunately for those wanting to get their hands on Mi 4 in India, its price-tag is still as attractive as ever.

Flipkart currently lists Mi 4, in a white 16 GB trim, for INR19,999. For those who are not familiar with the currency, that's about $325 at the time of writing this article. It's only slightly higher than the price Xiaomi's Hugo Barra revealed when Mi 4 was announced in July of last year.

Xiaomi's India head revealed on Twitter that Mi 4 will ship in the country with MIUI 6 in tow, which is the vendor's interpretation of Android 4.4 KitKat. Prospective buyers will have to wait for an upcoming release for MIUI to get Android 5.0 Lollipop underpinnings.

It is worth pointing out that Xiaomi does not appear to also have the 64 GB version of Mi 4 available come launch day, or Mi 4 in black for that matter, on Flipkart. This could, however, be only a matter of time.

The higher-capacity model costs roughly $400 in China, and, judging by the price of the 16 GB model in India, its price-tag shouldn't be impacted much, if it will ever be available officially in India.

To learn more about Mi 4, check out our initial coverage of the device.
Flash is DEAD! YouTube goes all-in with HTML5

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 2:32pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

YouTube introduced the HTML5 player back in early-2010. I remember it quite well. At the time, it was made available through the Try something new! page, only as an experimental feature. I was excited to get rid of Flash, so I flicked the switch. I had high hopes. I thought I would be able to play all videos using the HTML5 player, but, as it turned out, that was years away from happening -- YouTube's HTML5 player was not yet ready for prime time, and Flash would get a few more years to reign supreme.

Fast forward to early-2015 and YouTube finally announces that HTML5 is the default player. Flash might as well be considered officially dead on YouTube. It's a huge step forward for those of us waiting for the day when sites we visit are no longer asking or forcing us to install Flash.

I may be exaggerating about Flash being dead now, as, to default to the HTML5 player on YouTube, your browser has to be Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Safari 8 or a beta version of Mozilla Firefox, according to YouTube's blog post.

But, nonetheless, everyone's free to join the HTML5 party on YouTube, as long as they are willing to use a browser that works.

YouTube says it made some efforts to switch to HTML5 from Flash. This involved working with browser developers to introduce and enable more features, and fine tune the experience so that, among other things, buffering is kept to a minimum.

To give you an idea about the progress YouTube has made with its HTML5 player, playing videos in fullscreen was an unavailable feature at first. Just think about that. We expected it to work, but it didn't until later down the road.

Now, content is played with minimal wait times, high resolutions and frame rates are supported, and so is the real-time streaming that allows for, say, live presentations. Even embedded videos are HTML5 now.
Simplifying enterprise mobility management

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 2:31pm CET par Ian Barker

Mobile device strategy, especially if it involves BYOD, can mean having to manage a wide range of devices and operating systems. That makes it difficult for IT departments to find a single solution to do the job.

Now though secure mobility specialist Good Technology is launching its Good Management Suite, a comprehensive cross-platform solution for organizations getting started with mobile business initiatives.

"As mobility continues to assume a larger role in the enterprise, organizations need to plan for both their current and future mobile needs," says John Herrema, senior vice president of product management at Good Technology. "By delivering a comprehensive cloud-based Enterprise Mobility Management solution, we are ensuring that organizations have access to a simple solution that expands as their mobile initiatives evolve".

Good Management Suite is a cloud based solution that can be installed and configured quickly. It provides a unified solution to simplify the deployment of mobile devices across an enterprise.

Unlike traditional MDM products, Good Management Suite is designed to adapt to an organization's growing and changing mobile needs. It can be used in conjunction with other Good Enterprise Mobility Management products for maximum flexibility, while simplifying management of these environments through a single management console called Good Control.

"The rising complexity of the mobile landscape is forcing many organizations to examine how MDM products can integrate with broader mobile management capabilities," says Stacy Crook, research director, mobile enterprise at research company IDC. "While standalone MDM products used to be the entry point, organizations are now looking for more comprehensive EMM solutions with flexible deployment options. We believe this shift is indicative of the growing sophistication of mobility strategies within these organizations".

For more information on Good Technology's mobile management solutions you can visit the company's website.

Image Credit: jannoon028 / Shutterstock
Ex-Opera CEO reveals new Vivaldi browser

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 10:47am CET par Mike Williams

Ex-Opera CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner has revealed a technical preview of Vivaldi, a new Chromium-based browser for Windows, Mac and Linux.

As this is a first release, the big features are mostly "coming soon". There will be extensions support, a built-in mail client, syncing across your devices, but they’re not here yet.

The Technical Preview does provide some smaller practical features. Tab Stacks are a handy way of grouping browser tabs, and work much like buttons on the Windows taskbar. Hover your mouse over a tab, thumbnails appear for each site it represents, and you simply click the one you need.

A Notes panel allows you to take text notes and screen shots for any web page, add tags, organize and search your collection. It doesn’t work as we’d expect at the moment, but the potential is there to build a useful research tool.

Vivaldi’s extended Speed Dials page can organize your favorite sites by interest, context, and even include folders.

A Quick Commands menu (Ctrl+Q) makes it easy to access all the browser’s core functions from the keyboard.

All this is presented in a streamlined and straightforward interface (browser tabs, address and search bar at the top of the page, a menu button top-left, left-hand panels for Downloads, Bookmarks, Contacts, more).

Vivaldi is such a long way from being finished that you won’t want to use it for long, but if you’re a long-standing Opera fan -- or just interested in new browsers -- then it’s worth taking for a ten minute trial.
What Back to the Future II's vision of 2015 got wrong

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 10:35am CET par Jamie Hinks

To celebrate the fact we are now in the year Marty McFly was teleported to, yesterday we had a look back at what Back to the Future II creator Robert Zemeckis got right in his look forward to the year 2015 where he envisaged everything from smart homes and wearables to hoverboards.

There was, of course, also a whole lot he got wrong about the future, and here’s a rundown of the things that didn’t go according to his vision.

1. No Internet

One of the biggest boobs that Back to the Future II failed to notice was the Internet and it is conspicuous by its complete absence from the realization of 2015.

2. Fax Machines Reign Supreme

Fax machines have long been replaced by email as a form of electronically transmitting a form and few organizations still rely on them as heavily as the film foresaw, where faxes were spilling out of machines and there is even the mention of dust-repellent paper. Imagine that!

3. The double tie phenomenon and other fashion faux pas

Marty McFly the 2015 edition decided that one tie just wasn’t going to cut it and took to wearing two separate pieces of material hanging from his neck at once that made it look like he was keeping one to give to his friend later on.

It wasn’t just Marty going double with other people donning the same look and it’s something that hasn’t as yet found its way onto the catwalks. Further to that, most of the clothes worn were hideously old fashioned that people in the real 2015 wouldn’t be seen dead in them. Not even the hipsters!

4. Self-tying shoes

Marty only has to tap his shoes to make them lace up and, even though Nike did unveil a limited release shoe based on Marty’s sneakers, it definitely hasn’t started to be the standard way we lace our shoes. We have slip-ons for that after all.

5. Flying cars

Look at most films that have a peek at the future and the flying car is one of the standard components in almost every one. We still haven’t been blessed by the flying car and, even though driverless cars are on the way, we will be putting up with roads for some time yet.

6. Automation and robotics

The arrival of robotics and everything being automated was a huge part of Back to the Future II, however, we haven’t handed over dog walking to robots and litter bins are not remote controlled just yet.

Among the other things Back to the Future II got wrong were the cinemas showing Jaws 19, lawyers being completely abolished, the Black & Decker Hydrator, zappers, x-ray vision and the distinct lack of mobile phones even though they had already been invented in full brick form by the time the film came out.

Take a look at what Zemeckis got correct right here.

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How many iPhones did Apple REALLY sell?

Publié: janvier 28, 2015, 6:46am CET par Joe Wilcox

The official number for calendar Q4 2014 (fiscal Q1 2015), ending December 27, is 74.688 million. Got to admit, that sure looks like a rather large number of iPhones. But how big is it? Really? Apple sold in the one quarter more iPhones than during fiscal years 2007-10 (73.946 million) combined, or twice as many as sold (37.044 million) during the same three months in 2012.

On its own, iPhone generated more revenue, $51.182 billion, than all of Apple in any quarter in fiscal 2012 and, singly, three of the four quarters in each of FY 2013 and 2014. The amount also exceeds every fiscal year through 2009, which revenue was $42.905 billion.

iPhone accounted for 68.8 percent of Apple revenue during fiscal Q1. That's up from 56.4 percent a year earlier and 56.2 percent the previous quarter. During Q1 2012: 51.7 percent. To say that iPhone's importance to Apple increased during the holidays understates the drama. Unit shipments rose 46 percent annually and 90 percent sequentially. Revenue: 57 percent and 116 percent, respectively.

Apple shipped its one-billionth iOS device during fiscal Q1 (November 22nd)—half of them iPhones (519 million) within the previous 13 quarters, including the most-recent reporting period.

Some more numbers: "On average we sold over 34,000 iPhones every hour, 24 hours a day, everyday of the quarter," Apple CEO Tim Cook said during yesterday's earning conference call.

"Our strong overall performance in the December quarter resulted in total company revenue of $74.6 billion, and earnings of $18 billion", according to Cook. "Both of these numbers are all-time records for us, with revenues up 30 percent and earnings up 38 percent over last year". To reiterate: iPhone accounted for almost 70 percent of Apple revenues. Add the other major iOS device, iPad, and combined with the handset that's 80.65 percent of the quarter's gross sales.

For fiscal second quarter, Apple projects revenue between $52 billion and $55 billion—a healthy increase from the $45.65 billion a year earlier. iPhone is the growth engine. "We are incredibly bullish about iPhone going forward", Cook said yesterday. "We believe that it’s the best smartphone in the world. Our customers are telling us that. The market is telling us that. We’re doing well in virtually every corner of the world. And so we’re very bullish that it does have legs".

Twelve days ago, I asserted that "Google has lost control of Apple", which headline generated some "What does that even mean?" reactions. Apple's Q1 earnings report cements my point. By the numbers, Android should have vanquished iPhone and iOS by end of 2014. Instead, Android volume leader Samsung, which announces earnings on January 29, already warned of weaker smartphone demand. While low-cost devices made in China are one factor, iPhone's resurgence is another.

How many iPhones did Apple really sell during fiscal Q1 2015? Enough to put Android in reverse position, unless Google shows stronger commitment to the platform and to manufacturing and app development partners. Apple is committed. With iOS generating more than 80 percent of revenues, the company has no other choice.

Photo Credit: abeadev/Shutterstock