Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » avril 7, 2015

BetaNews.Com (16 non lus)

Microsoft and Getty Images bury the hatchet after legal action and form partnership

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 9:45pm CEST par Mark Wilson

Late last year Getty Images hit Microsoft with a lawsuit for using its images without license in the Bing Image Widget. Getty had complained that Microsoft turned its images into "a vast, unlicensed clip art collection". In a bid to avoid trouble, Microsoft opted to take down the widget and now -- seven months down the line -- it seems that it may just have paid off.

Today, the two companies announced that they are forming a partnership to bring properly licensed images to products such as Bing and Cortana. Technologies from both Microsoft and Getty images will be used together to enrich services on both sides.

Neither company has revealed any specific details about what will be born of the partnership but Getty Images is pleased that properly licensed images can now be provided to Microsoft customers. Craig Peters, Senior Vice President of Business Development, says that his company will "take search experiences to a new level". Most importantly, however, is the fact that photographers will be correctly attributed.

Microsoft's Executive Vice President of Business Development Peggy Johnson says:

This collaboration enables Microsoft users to take full advantage of Getty Images' speed to market, structured metadata and unrivaled content. We look forward to working with Getty Images to provide the next generation of image depth and breadth for our users.

A statement issued by Getty Images implies that Microsoft is getting the best deal out of the new arrangement. Microsoft gains access to Getty Images' APIs that will provide new ways to work with images and metadata.

Photo credit: Marta Paniti / Shutterstock
Before our buying polls close, please answer: Will you buy Apple Watch or Chromebook Pixel?

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 9:00pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

If you haven't responded to either of our most-recent buying polls—Apple Watch and Chromebook Pixel—it's not too late. Preorders for the timepiece start April 10. The laptop is available now, but with long-wait ship times. I purchased the higher-end Pixel, which review is underway. Whether or not one of our writers will test the smartwatch is uncertain.

Polls of this nature are meant to gauge what a specific audience, BetaNews readers, plan to do. Often what respondents would like to buy isn't what they do. For lots of reasons: Budget; spousal or partner objections; availability; competitive pricing; early product reviews; and more. Results better reflect your intentions as the sample size increases. So, please, take a few seconds to answer each poll, if you haven't already.

Pixel Perfect?

As I write, 469 people have responded to the Pixel poll, which is okay sample size. But larger number would be more revealing. Much as I like Chromebooks, the results don't ring true. Do you believe that as many people plan to buy Pixel (42 percent) as who won't (40 percent)? I don't. For a readership favoring Microsoft products, the findings feel wrong.

Polls like this one are unqualified. While posted here, aimed at BetaNews readers, anyone can answer. Chromebook fans rallying to respond can change everything. That's one reason sample size matters—and how responses track over time, which is more easily examined as numbers rise.

For example, the Yes answers to the Apple Watch poll help validate the results possibly identifying a real trend. From the first responses until today, the split between those people saying they will purchase either the Sport or standard models is consistently fairly even, while the percentages of buyers' intentions is remarkably consistent over time.

Reader comments suggest considerably more receptiveness to Pixel in 2015 than when the original debuted two years ago. "I'm tempted, Joe, very tempted", CLM3Chip comments. From Vin:

There's another cost involved that should be considered. Microsoft Office versus Google Apps. A big reason I made the switch is that I don't have to pay for upgrades or be stuck with obsolete software. Google Apps and the Chrome OS are continuously incrementally upgraded for free and I don't have to worry about virus protection. I do have to worry about downloading malware from the Chrome Store, but that is not a big deal to get rid of, so I am also not paying McAfee or Symantec. Chrome still has growing pains, but I won't go back.

Reader oneleft1:

I've read the arguments that it's a lot of money for a browser. Like that is some kind of negative. The only thing a Chromebook can't do (actually, it can now) is install single-purpose programs. One-trick ponies. That 'only a browser' argument is laughable. The browser is the most flexible program ever built. So there's only two questions: do you need single purpose programs and if not is the Pixel too high priced?

Infinite_Reality gives the answer many other readers do: "I like it, but the cost is too high for a super Chromebook".

"If I get $1000 to put towards a computer, it's going to be towards a gaming desktop build, and a 120Hz or higher gaming monitor", Bob Grant comments.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
"Anyone that pays more than $200 for Chromebook is a complete and total idiot", Jack Bnimble opines. "Buy Windows PC or Mac and run the Chrome browser and get all of the app support that Windows or OS X has at the same time".

Do you agree? Would you buy Chromebook Pixel?

Google has both models in stock, shipping by April 17. For $999: 12.85-inch touchscreen, 2560 x 1700 resolution, 239 pixels per inch, 400-nit brightness; 2.2GHz Intel Core i5 processor; 8GB RAM; 32GB flash storage; Intel HD graphics 5500; backlit keyboard; glass touchpad; Bluetooth 4; WiFi AC; two USB Type-C ports; two USB 3.0 ports; SD Card slot; and, of course, Chrome OS. The $1,299 LS model doubles RAM and storage and swaps the processor for 2.4GHz i7.

As I write, 29 percent of respondents say they will buy the LS model and 23 percent the sub-$1,000 pixel.

Watch Me

Our sample size for Apple Watch is quite good, with 1,478 responses as I write. Twenty-nine percent say they won't buy the timepiece, which, honestly, is lower than I expected. As previously mentioned, those saying they will buy the Sport and standard Apple Watches are fairly evenly split—22 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Sport is the lower-cost option in 38mm and 42mm cases, starting at $349 and $399, respectively for aluminum case. Apple Watch standard ranges from $549 to $1,049, for stainless steel enclosure.

Two percent of respondents—27 people—plan to buy one of the gold Apple Watch Editions, which prices range from $10,000 to 17,,000. At launch, the wristwear will be available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States. To repeat: Preorders open at Midnight on April 10 and sales start on the 24th.

Reminder: Whatever price paid, the internals and functionality are identical among all Apple Watches. Casing and styling determine pricing. From that perspective, the $349 timepiece is just as good as the $17,000 one.

"It's also scary how many people will most likely buy this piece of crap for considerably more than it's worth", Infinite_Reality contends.

By contrast, oic pleads: "Curses, Apple, stop trying trying to make product that forces me to voluntarily give up my hard-earn money for it. We need to put a stop to it!"
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Reader mildmanneredjanitor: "Suggest a new poll. When the Apple Watch battery dies, will you still wear it around for the rest of the day or take it off?" For $10k or more, I must add: Would you?

"I think the real key isn't how many will buy it, but of those that buy it how will they like it", mshulman wonders. "I have a feeling expectations of many will not meet the reality".

One last time (promise), I ask: Will you buy Apple Watch?

Please take both polls, and provide your reasons in comments.

Photo credit: Fabio Alcini / Shutterstock
Gamestop wants you to have an Xbox One and will pay you to trade in Xbox 360 or Sony PS3

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 7:49pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

The sales business is always tough, and when things are going downhill then sellers come up with better, more enticing offers. We're not saying Microsoft's new console is in trouble, but it is currently behind its rival in recent sales figures. And while the company will still happily sell you the previous generation model, it really, really wants you to get that spiffy new box, and a third-party is here to help out.

With business seemingly slow, GameStop has a deal to offer you. All you have to do is trade in that old Xbox 360 or, gasp, Sony PS3 to get Microsoft's latest and greatest. To be fair, the offer doesn't come directly from Microsoft, but is through GameStop, though behind the scenes deals are always a possibility.

This isn't a new business for GameStop, which takes many devices in trade. However, in this instance, you'll get a $125 credit towards that new console. There's a few caveats involved in the deal, so read carefully before trading in the old box.

"Credit must be applied toward the purchase of a new Xbox One. Hardware must have all necessary components for trade. Systems with External hard drives are not eligible to receive the promotional value. Not valid toward cash trades. Trades must be in full working condition to receive full value. Defective items may be eligible for trade at a lesser value. Trades subject to manager approval. Cannot be combined with any other offer. See store associate for details. No dealers. Offer valid in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam only. Void where prohibited. GameStop, Inc. reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the offer for any reason without notice. Offer valid 4/6/15 through 4/25/15".

Given that the occasional Xbox 360 deal can reach as low as $99, this is a pretty good offer for many customers. You could actually buy a console and get more in trade for it -- something our own Brian Fagioli is considering, as he actually did get a $99 deal.
New endpoint protection offers instant detection and response to unknown threats

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 5:14pm CEST par Ian Barker

Traditional endpoint protection is usually reliant on the use of signature-based detection systems. But of course these don't spot zero day attacks that can slip in before the antivirus software catches up.

Security solutions provider Endgame is using its extensive experience providing security intelligence and analytics solutions to the US government to offer an enterprise solution focusing on protecting critical infrastructure, enabling customers to detect and respond faster to unknown threats, and preventing damage and loss.

It uses detailed attack-chain analysis to allow enterprise security teams to accelerate detection, investigation, containment and remediation. Endgame Enterprise captures and analyzes the details of an attack, giving incident responders attack-path intelligence and insight into the consequences of cyber threats. Endgame Enterprise features military-grade adversary intelligence and state-of-the-art threat detection algorithms. These are designed to detect zero-day and advanced threats without the use of signatures -- using an inherent ability to detect suspicious behavior.

"Attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but you don't need to have a PhD in computer science to stay one step ahead of them. Companies need to quickly assess the extent and potential impact of relevant incidents, which is where many traditional solutions fail," says Endgame CEO Nate Fick. "Our research on advanced threats, vulnerabilities and attack patterns, and our history protecting some of the nation’s most sensitive national security assets, allows us to understand defenses from the adversary’s perspective. Endgame Enterprise empowers existing security teams to accelerate the investigation and remediation of threats that would otherwise go undetected".

By building a profile of malicious behavior, the software provides advisories to an administrative console, without impacting performance or user experience. Security teams are presented with a comprehensive picture of the attack to support rapid containment and allow remedial action. These advanced visualizations complement forensic tools and help forensic analysts understand, in detail, how a breach occurred and help prevent future occurrences.

You can learn more on the Endgame website and the company will be at the RSA Conference.

Photo Credit: watcharakun / Shutterstock
LG reveals G4's camera and Android Lollipop-based software

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 3:34pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Announcing a new top-of-the-line smartphone around the same time rival manufacturers are also showing off their latest flagships is not an inspired move, which is why LG has decided to unveil its upcoming G4 after MWC 2015, leaving HTC, Samsung and the like fighting for the public's attention.

So, the new G4 will debut later this month, at a dedicated event that LG is holding on April 28. The flagship will arrive 11 months after its predecessor, G3, and, unlike its rivals, the South Korean maker has already revealed some details about the camera and software.

When G4 launches you can expect to see a main camera with a very large aperture lens, for a smartphone shooter, of f/1.8. Samsung's Galaxy S6 gets pretty close, with its main camera's lens featuring an f/1.9 aperture, but G4 is clearly more advanced in this regard.

The benefit? G4 should perform better in low-light conditions than any other competitor. That's the theory at least; in practice the optical image stabilization -- which will undoubtedly be offered in G4 -- also plays a key role here, as well as software algorithms. We'll have to wait and see if that's really the case until we can get our hands on a review unit.

There is no word yet on the number of megapixels that G4's camera packs, but it's fair to assume that it will at least match last year's G3, which comes with a 13 MP shooter on the back. If it opts for a 13 MP sensor again, this would be LG's third flagship with the same MP count, which doesn't seem likely -- I suspect G4's camera will have at least 16 MP, even if only to match Galaxy S6.

As I said above, LG also revealed some details about the software. Looking at the press release, the company isn't even mentioning that it runs Android, or which Android version its distribution is based off. However, LG's UX 4.0 is derived from Android 5.0/5.1 Lollipop; it retains the visual elements that we have come to expect from LG. It's far from elegant; I think it still looks too cartoonish in this day and age, even when compared to Samsung's TouchWiz.

LG claims that its new Android skin will be "simpler and more intuitive and will better understand and respond to the needs of each user". In this iteration, the main features are a manual mode for the camera and Smart Notice.

The camera will still offer auto and semi-auto modes, which I suspect will be used exclusively by most. While useful, the manual mode should only be needed for certain types of photos (like long-exposures); on smartphones, the auto mode -- which is the default on every smartphone -- must be faultless, so I hope that LG is making it a priority, with regards to calibration, rather than putting too much effort into the manual mode.

There's also Quick Shot, which lets users take photos with a double-tap on the G4's so-called rear key (a trait of the G line) even when the smartphone's in sleep mode, and Smart Bulletin, which is a Flipboard-like feature that offers aggregated information -- news, editorials, tips, etc -- content. LG also says it has improved the calendar and gallery apps.
AlienVault delivers extra layer of security for Amazon Web Services

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 3:06pm CEST par Ian Barker

Amazon's AWS cloud offering is hugely popular, with over a million users. But it presents a security challenge for IT teams as it uses a 'shared security model' protecting the underlying infrastructure but relying on users to secure anything they place on there.

Security startup AlienVault is aiming to make protecting AWS systems easier with the launch of its Unified Security Management for AWS, offering asset discovery, vulnerability assessment, behavior monitoring, alerting and integrated threat intelligence.

USM for AWS takes the burden off IT teams -- particularly those with limited resources -- by providing the essential security capabilities needed to quickly identify and respond to malicious behavior and secure AWS environments. It's a cloud-native product and offers full visibility into AWS environments using the AWS API, providing analysis of the use of built-in security features like CloudTrail and Security Groups to improve the environment's security from day one.

"USM for AWS is a great way to meet your shared security responsibilities on top of the reliability and protection already offered by AWS," says Russ Spitler, VP of Product Strategy at AlienVault. "USM for AWS significantly reduces complexity and deployment time so that you can go from installation to first insight in about 15 minutes".

Key features of the product include maximum visibility of potential threats or misconfigurations in the AWS environment, making it easier to use Amazon's standard features like CloudTrail and Security Groups. Built-in security capabilities offer asset discovery, vulnerability assessment, behavior monitoring, log management, alerting and event correlation. This enables IT or security practitioners to quickly update and respond to malicious behavior and insecure AWS configurations. It also includes threat intelligence to identify the most significant issues targeting an organization's network, with context-specific remediation and threat mitigation guidance, powered by AlienVault Labs and AlienVault Open Threat Exchange (OTX).

USM for AWS will be on display at the RSA Conference later this month or you can find out more on the AlienVault website.

Photo Credit: jörg röse-oberreich/Shutterstock
Microsoft vs. Apple -- Which has the most loyal and satisfied customers?

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 2:35pm CEST par Wayne Williams

When you think of the great tech rivalries, it’s unquestionably Microsoft vs. Apple that springs to mind -- after all the two firms have been battling it out for close to 40 years. Microsoft was the dominant force for much of that time, until Apple surged ahead to become the most valuable company in the world.

Both tech giants have massive, and incredibly loyal fan bases. When we write something negative or overwhelming positive about either company’s products on BetaNews, the fanboys come out in force, accusing us of bias or being on one of the firm’s payrolls. So surely it’s time to find out which company has the most loyal and satisfied customers -- will it be Microsoft or will it be Apple? Place your bets now…

SurveyMonkey has launched a new Benchmarks product that is designed to let businesses of any size understand how they stack up to their closest competitors when it comes to key metrics. And to show off its capabilities, SurveyMonkey looked at the Customer Loyalty and Customer Service Satisfaction data for Apple and Microsoft.

According to the results, it was an overwhelming win for Apple, which shows the Cupertino, Calif.-based company scoring 28 in Custom Loyalty (this is measured using the net promoter scores (NPS) metric which looks at whether or not customers are recommending a product or service), Microsoft suffered badly here, with a score of -8.

Apple also managed 41 percent in Customer Service Satisfaction, ahead of Microsoft on just 19 percent.

The chart doesn’t just look at those two companies though, it also includes Samsung, Adobe and Intuit, all of which apparently have more loyal customers than Microsoft, and most of which (with the exception of Adobe), have more satisfied customers too.

You can view the full infographic here. Feel free to pour scorn on the findings in the comments below.
Samsung investigates itself, finds it's innocent of hiring 'fans' for Galaxy S6 Shanghai launch

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 2:29pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

While Samsung has been basking in the glory of its successful launch of the latest Galaxy model known as the S6, other news has been circulating. Most recently, reports have surfaced that the company hired people to pose as fans during the big Shanghai, China event. Probably not an unheard of practice for many companies.

The news spread quickly, with such major outlets as Daring Fireball and WantChinaTimes running with the story, though the former has now issued an update because Samsung is denying the reports, claiming it conducted a thorough investigation into the matter.

The speed of the investigation could be questioned, given that it was completed within two days of original reports. The fact that Samsung investigated Samsung could also be called into question. As my colleague Mark Wilson put it -- "Did we do this?" "No". "Oh, that's good".

The response came in an announcement from the company that states, in part "Samsung investigated a media report on April 3 that claimed people were temporarily hired and paid to attend the Galaxy S6 launching event in Shanghai, China and later found that the story was totally groundless and bogus".

Well, OK. There isn't much that can be said to refute the claim, short of a real investigation into the matter and perhaps some "fan" coming forward. Neither is it really worth the time and effort, as there isn't anything illegal going on.

Samsung concludes "our findings have indicated that under no circumstances has anyone been hired or given money to attend the event. In fact, the more than 1,100 attendees, including consumers and industry officials, have all been formally invited to the Shanghai Culture Square where the event took place".

Both report and response seem largely unsubstantiated. We'll honestly never know the truth, and that's fine because it's really not the big deal that it was made out to be.

Photo Credit: Faraways/Shutterstock
Nexmo helps brands engage with consumers via chat

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 2:21pm CEST par Ian Barker

Companies are constantly on the lookout for new methods of interacting with their customer base but it can be hard to integrate these with existing systems.

Cloud communications firm Nexmo is launching a new API that allows a chat application to interact with a customer service platform.

The Nexmo Chat App API helps brands consolidate all chat messages into their existing communication platforms, eliminating the need to manually manage communications over individual chat applications. The Chat App API does this by automatically detecting and connecting brand messages with the appropriate chat application in real time.

It lets marketing, sales or customer support staff send one message and have it appear on all relevant chat applications at once. Nexmo also works directly with each chat application to ensure messages appear correctly on all platforms. In addition it informs brands which features are available on each chat application. Through Nexmo's carrier relations it knows the cultural restrictions in play on each network and can make them clear to brands.

"We live in an always-on world, where customers expect to be engaged anytime, anywhere and on their preferred channels," says Nexmo CEO and co-founder, Tony Jamous. "This means the bar for customer engagement has risen dramatically. At the same time, solutions that are put in place need to be scalable, near real time and cost efficient, and that’s where we see the tremendous opportunity for the Chat App API. Adding the Chat App API to our portfolio of industry-leading messaging and voice APIs transforms Nexmo from a company helping brands navigate the current landscape of mobile communications to a resource that brands can come to as customer communications dynamically changes shape".

The Nexmo Chat App API currently supports messaging on WeChat and Line. The company will be adding support for additional chat apps, service platforms and new features in the coming months. You can find out more and sign up for beta access on the Nexmo website.

Image Credit: Rawpixel / Shutterstock
Google reported to FTC for 'unfair and deceptive' ads in YouTube Kids

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 12:49pm CEST par Mark Wilson

A number of consumer groups have filed a complaint with the FTC suggesting that Google is targeting children with "unfair and deceptive" ads in YouTube Kids for Android and iOS. A letter signed by Children Now, Consumer Watchdog, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, and others says that ads are displayed in a way that would not be permitted on broadcast or cable television.

The letter makes three main complaints about the app. The first suggests that Google mixes programming and ads, while another says that the relationship between Google and the manufacturers of advertised products is not clear. The groups ask for the FTC to take action to stop the advertisements.

The YouTube Kids app has only been available for a couple of months, and came shortly after Google announced plans to target children with specially-designed versions of YouTube and Gmail. Another claim made by the letter is that although Google says all of the ads have been carefully vetted to ensure they meet YouTube's policies, a lot of the content in fact violates these policies. It also voices concern at "the large amount of commercial material that was presented as programming".

The groups say that there should be a far clearer distinction between what is advertising and what is programming, as younger children may not be able to tell the difference. There is the complaint that "there is no 'bumper' before the ads as there would be on children's television" as the app plays programming and ads in a continuous stream.

The letter asks a couple of questions in relation to the app's "recommended" sections. "Is Google tracking children’s online viewing habits to make the recommendations? If so, has it given direct notice and obtained verifiable parental consent before tracking them as required by the COPPA Rule?" The presence of a McDonald’s channel in the app in which sections that might be considered advertising are not identified as such is said to "take advantage of children".

The length of ads is also an issue. The letter points out that Google's own policy states that children will only be subjected to non-skippable ads up to 30 seconds in length, or skippable ads up to 60 seconds in length. Despite this promise, there are instances of ads longer than one minute.

Singled out for particular attention are unboxing videos. These are described as program-length commercials which are not identified as ads despite the fact multiple products may be endorsed throughout them.

Google disagrees with the allegations. In a statement to BetaNews, a YouTube spokesperson said:

We worked with numerous partners and child advocacy groups when developing YouTube Kids. While we are always open to feedback on ways to improve the app, we were not contacted directly by the signers of this letter and strongly disagree with their contentions, including the suggestion that no free, ad-supported experience for kids will ever be acceptable. We disagree and think that great content shouldn’t be reserved for only those families who can afford it.
Swoosh: deliver presentations with a wave of the hand

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 11:28am CEST par Mike Williams

Great presentations aren’t just about the content -- how they’re delivered matters, too. Android app Swoosh helps you stand out by stepping through your slides with just a wave of the hand.

The $2 app needs a server component on your Windows, Mac or Linux system. There’s no installation or configuration required, just run the download, launch Swoosh, and as long as they’re both on the same Wi-Fi, they should find each other automatically.

With the setup complete, just swipe your hand left or right above the screen, Swoosh uses the device camera to detect your gesture, and steps forwards or backwards through your presentation.

The system is compatible with PowerPoint, Google Slides, Acrobat Reader, Slidely, Prezi and more.

Potential catches? Gestures need to be quite precise -- your full hand has to move around 12 inches above the screen -- and of course you won’t look quite so smooth if you have to go back several slides. Although you don’t have to use Swoosh as the sole controller, of course -- you can always switch to your laptop or some other system when it’s more appropriate.

As we write the developer is also warning that "some 'Guest' Wi-Fi networks will not work", although apparently this is only "temporary". Presumably an update will appear to fix the problem soon.

Swoosh won’t suit everyone, then, but it’s a neat idea for some situations, and can work well.
Cisco launches new Advanced Malware Protection for enterprises

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 11:09am CEST par Ian Barker

Enterprise security is a constant battle between good and evil which means that businesses can't afford to be complacent when it comes to guarding against threats.

Networking specialist Cisco is unveiling a number of new capabilities and services designed to give security professionals the edge in protecting against and dealing with attacks.

These changes come from the addition of AMP Threat Grid to the Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) portfolio. This integrates innovation gained through the company's acquisition of ThreatGRID last year. It provides the latest malware threat intelligence and dynamic malware analysis capabilities, both on‐premise and in the cloud, to strengthen Cisco AMP's continuous analysis and zero‐day detection capabilities.

Plus to help bridge the gap between the availability of security practitioners and industry needs, Cisco is introducing Incident Response Services. This aims to equip organizations with teams of information security experts who can leverage threat intelligence and best practices for readiness and response.

"Every day, organizations are faced with advanced threats that infiltrate and persist in company environments for months before they are discovered," says Marty Roesch, Vice President and Chief Architect of Cisco Security Business Group. "We believe that the most effective way to address these real‐world challenges is continuous threat protection against these attacks. Further enhancements like advanced correlation of indicators of compromise, vulnerability mapping and expanded retrospective security further differentiate Cisco AMP and strengthen security teams’ responses before, during and after an attack".

As well as providing intelligence at a high level with AMP Threat Grid the company aims to protect at all levels. AMP for Endpoints provides a list of hosts that contain vulnerable software, a list of the vulnerable software on each host, and the hosts most likely to be compromised. AMP identifies vulnerable software being targeted by malware and the potential exploit, and provides customers with a prioritized list of hosts to patch. It also continuously monitors file activity allowing it to pick up suspicious behavior and track back to the origin of potential threats.

AMP Threat Grid will be demonstrated at the RSA Conference in San Francisco on April 20-24 or you can find out more on the Cisco website.

Image Credit: alphaspirit/Shutterstock
Is the UK government's plan to fund IoT and Smart City apps a waste of £40 million?

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 9:35am CEST par Zahid Jiwa

With Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s announcement that the government will pledge £40 million in funds to develop applications for the Internet of Things and Smart Cities as part of the 2015 budget, it got me thinking about how this funding could be utilized to best effect.

Every app development provider around the country must be putting together their proposals as you read this, but is this really the best use of tax-payer’s money?

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see such a big investment in connectivity and Smart Cities as the type of futuristic opportunity that gets voters excited in time for the General Election, but are these applications really going to have an impact on our daily lives and more importantly, will they make a difference at the local council level?

With the rather lofty goal of getting 97 percent of government and local council services online by 2020, the UK government’s 'digital by default' strategy advocates digital self-service to be the first port of call for citizens or businesses accessing public services. It is estimated that this approach will save £1.7 billion per annum across the public sector.

Widely publicized stories indicate that local councils have not been making much progress compared to central government functions. Therefore would it not be better to plug funding into the 'digital by default' strategy and enable self-service portals for the services people regularly use?

What about case management tools to help social services work more effectively, or a customer relationships management system that allows councils to provide a more efficient and better customer experience for citizens rather than being pushed from one department to another? What about school or citizen self-service portals?

There is a wide array of application needed for councils to deliver 97 per cent of the services online and integration across the applications and the back-end systems will be key.

In previous years the Government Digital Service (GDS) has it made very clear that they do not approve of the cost of native app development. It is therefore interesting that recent developments in the Internet of Things have caused this U-turn -- especially given the GDS is also being extended to cover local councils who normally operate on smaller budgets.

It is my belief that Government would benefit from investing in an application development platform which would allow for the development of both Smart Cities and self-service portals. Outsourcing each app project separately is not only more expensive but can lead to all sorts of issues including the need to update and manage every single siloed app.

I also believe that mobile web applications is the way to go and we need to avoid the native route. With the budget and resources constraint, the government entities need to think about how they develop once and deliver across all platforms and devices. A single responsive design site that users can access from phones, tablets and PCs is both easier to manage and more easily accessible to the user.

Ever decreasing budgets and tighter time restrictions are going to make point solutions impractical, full of maintenance backlogs and integration issues.

By utilizing an industry leading application development platforms, UK government would be able to allocate funding to more projects by reducing both the time and cost of app development while ensuring that it stays on the cutting edge of both the Internet of Things and Smart Cities.

This will allow the UK to not only keep up with the fast pace of the third sector digital economy but speed ahead of the rest of the world and become a leading light for the digital revolution.

Zahid Jiwa is VP UK & Ireland at OutSystems.

Photo credit: Stuart Miles/Shutterstock

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
Star Wars Digital Movie Collection coming to Microsoft's Xbox Video with exclusive offers

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 6:41am CEST par Brian Fagioli

When the first Star Wars film was released to theaters, I was not yet even born -- my birth was still a few years off. Still, the film franchise greatly impacted my life. How? I saw the films on VHS later on, but more importantly, I had the action figures and other collectibles. My mom even bought me an R2-D2 garbage can for my bedroom that brought me great joy. My story is not unique; people of all ages have been impacted by the films.

Sadly, the six-film movie collection has never been available for digital download -- well... legally at least. Many fans turned to the dark side and downloaded the movies using torrents and other methods. Today, Disney announces that the films will be coming to digital download services, such as iTunes, Google Play and Xbox Video. If you choose to buy it through Xbox Video, you will even get some cool exclusives.

"Since the debut of the first film nearly 40 years ago, Star Wars has become a worldwide phenomenon with legions of fans from every generation. It's only fitting that audiences enjoy this legendary saga and its many fascinating behind-the-scenes stories on a wide variety of platforms, and we're very excited to finally bring all six films to Digital HD for the first time", says Alan Bergman, president, The Walt Disney Studios.

Major Nelson, explains, "Microsoft is offering two exclusive incentives for fans who purchase the six-film bundle on Xbox Video. First, they will receive everyone's favorite scrappy astromech droid, R2-D2, as an Xbox Live avatar companion that flashes characteristics of classic R2-D2 from 'A New Hope'. Also, they will receive the action-packed Star Wars Pinball Pack for the free-to-play game Pinball FX 2, for Xbox One or Xbox 360. The Star Wars Pinball Pack lets players relive the greatest moments of the Star Wars universe on a set of brand new pinball tables".

The entire collection is available for pre-purchase now for $99.99. While the price is not exorbitant, it isn't low either. Let's not forget that many fans of the film already own it; likely on various formats as they upgraded through the years. If you already own the Blu-ray versions, spending an additional hundred bucks for the digital downloads may be a hard pill to swallow. With that said, if you own VHS versions or don't own the films at all, it may be a good value.

The films will be available on all popular platforms, such as iTunes and Google Play. If you are planning on buying the digital films, you might as well buy the Xbox Video versions for the aforementioned exclusive offers though, right? Plus, Microsoft promises a 60 second "featurette" video for Xbox customers only.

You can pre-purchase the films here and they will become available on April 10th. Will you buy it? Tell me in the comments.
Telcos still violating Net Neutrality in India -- fight back by sending your views to TRAI

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 5:54am CEST par Manish Singh

Late February, the Federal Communications Commission announced it would change the way the United States' internet service providers are regulated. It was a major victory for the net neutrality advocates. "The internet is the most powerful and pervasive platform on the planet", said FCC Tom Wheeler. "It's simply too important to be left without rules and without a referee on the field". But elsewhere in the world, things aren't as clear and fair yet. In India -- the world's most populous democracy -- leading telecom operators in the past couple of months have made a number of moves that violate the essence of net neutrality. But thankfully more people are becoming aware of the situation and have started to push back such motions. The good news is that you -- the people -- have a chance to fix it.

Airtel, India's largest telecom operator, has announced Airtel Zero, a platform through which it will offer users free access to select mobile apps and services. The operator said that with this move, it will provide marketers with tools to let them pay for their customers' data access charges to aforementioned apps. “Akin to the established concept of toll-free voice calling, Airtel Zero will allow everyone from big marketers to small-time application developers to make parts or their entire mobile app free for customers – thus reviving interest of dormant customers, attracting new potential users and increasing retention", Airtel said in a statement. "From startups to enterprises, it is an open marketing platform that empowers companies ranging from small businesses to large conglomerates with an equal opportunity to reach out to customers in India", it added.

What needs to be noted is that Airtel Zero violates the principles of net neutrality. The operator is essentially offering certain companies an unfair advantage in terms of cost of access and promotion of their services. This is the second time Airtel has made to the press for its notorious moves. Late December, the company had started to charge its customers extra and outside their existing internet data pack when using VoIP services such as Skype and Viber. The move received flak from consumers, forcing the company to retract it.

In February, Facebook partnered with RCom to launch Internet.org in India and bring free internet access to millions of people who weren't previously connected to the web. The two companies struck a deal to offer free access to 38 services for free via Internet.org app to users on Reliance's network in select Indian states. The 38 different services the companies are offering includes portals of news, health, weather, music, sports, and search (using Microsoft's Bing). Some of the websites are, Aaj Tak news, BBC News, Reuters Market Lite, Wikipedia, wikiHow, AccuWeather, AP Speaks, Babajob, BabyCenter & MAMA, Bing Search, Cleartrip, Dictionary.com, ESPN CricInfo, Girl Effect, Hungama, Maalai Malar Tamil news, OLX, and TimesJobs. The bundle also includes Facebook's marquee and Messenger apps.

Sure, many consumers will be able to access more services for free. But what shouldn't be overlooked is that it is being done in a way that defies the essence of net neutrality. The companies are favoring certain carriers and select apps or services developed by their partners. In the long run, this could entrench powerful monopolies and devastate the competition and ultimately slow down innovation.

"Of course, (net neutrality) is not just about blocking and throttling. It is also about stopping 'positive discrimination', such as when one internet operator favors one particular service over another. If we don't explicitly outlaw this, we hand immense power to telcos and online service operators. In effect, they can become gatekeepers -- able to handpick winners and the losers in the market and to favor their own sites, services and platforms over those of others. This would crowd out competition and snuff out innovative new services before they even see the light of day.”, Tim Bersners Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web said earlier this year.
But you can fix this
Putting a stop to endless speculations, late last month TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) released the consultation paper (PDF) where it seeks people's views on whether India should have licensing of internet services. The independent regulator of the telecommunications business in India has also proposed some questions that touch critical topics including net neutrality. The questions are as follows:

Question 1: Is it too early to establish a regulatory framework for OTT services, since internet penetration is still evolving, access speeds are generally low and there is limited coverage of high-speed broadband in the country? Or, should some beginning be made now with a regulatory framework that could be adapted to changes in the future? Please comment with justifications.

Question 2: Should the OTT players offering communication services (voice, messaging and video call services) through applications (resident either in the country or outside) be brought under the licensing regime? Please comment with justifications.

Question 3: Is the growth of OTT impacting the traditional revenue stream of TSPs? If so, is the increase in data revenues of the TSPs sufficient to compensate for this impact? Please comment with reasons.

Question 4: Should the OTT players pay for use of the TSPs network over and above data charges paid by consumers? If yes, what pricing options can be adopted? Could such options include prices based on bandwidth consumption? Can prices be used as a means of product/service differentiation? Please comment with justifications.

Question 5: Do you agree that imbalances exist in the regulatory environment in the operation of OTT players? If so, what should be the framework to address these issues? How can the prevailing laws and regulations be applied to OTT players (who operate in the virtual world) and compliance enforced? What could be the impact on the economy? Please comment with justifications.

Question 6: How should the security concerns be addressed with regard to OTT players providing communication services? What security conditions such as maintaining data records, logs etc. need to be mandated for such OTT players? And, how can compliance with these conditions be ensured if the applications of such OTT players reside outside the country? Please comment with justifications.

Question 7: How should the OTT players offering app services ensure security, safety and privacy of the consumer? How should they ensure protection of consumer interest? Please comment with justifications.

Question 8: In what manner can the proposals for a regulatory framework for OTTs in India draw from those of ETNO, referred to in para 4.23 or the best practices summarised in para 4.29? And, what practices should be proscribed by regulatory fiat? Please comment with justifications.

Question 9: What are your views on net-neutrality in the Indian context? How should the various principles discussed in para 5.47 be dealt with? Please comment with justifications.

Question 10: What forms of discrimination or traffic management practices are reasonable and consistent with a pragmatic approach? What should or can be permitted? Please comment with justifications.

Question 11: Should the TSPs be mandated to publish various traffic management techniques used for different OTT applications? Is this a sufficient condition to ensure transparency and a fair regulatory regime?

Question 12: How should the conducive and balanced environment be created such that TSPs are able to invest in network infrastructure and CAPs are able to innovate and grow? Who should bear the network upgradation costs? Please comment with justifications.

Question 13: Should TSPs be allowed to implement non-price based discrimination of services? If so, under what circumstances are such practices acceptable? What restrictions, if any, need to be placed so that such measures are not abused? What measures should be adopted to ensure transparency to consumers? Please comment with justifications.

Question 14: Is there a justification for allowing differential pricing for data access and OTT communication services? If so, what changes need to be brought about in the present tariff and regulatory framework for telecommunication services in the country? Please comment with justifications.

Question 15: Should OTT communication service players be treated as Bulk User of Telecom Services (BuTS)? How should the framework be structured to prevent any discrimination and protect stakeholder interest? Please comment with justification.

Question 16: What framework should be adopted to encourage Indiaspecific OTT apps? Please comment with justifications.

Question 17: If the OTT communication service players are to be licensed, should they be categorized as ASP or CSP? If so, what should be the framework? Please comment with justifications.

Question 18: Is there a need to regulate subscription charges for OTT communication services? Please comment with justifications. Question 19: What steps should be taken by the Government for regulation of non-communication OTT players? Please comment with justifications.

Question 20: Are there any other issues that have a bearing on the subject discussed?

You can send in your views to TRAI at advqos@trai.gov.in till April 24, 2015. After that, counter comments can be sent till May 8, 2015. The consultation paper is 118-page long and riddled with redundant information. The good folks at MediaNama and others have published an abridged version of it. You can view it here. If you have any questions, you can ask them to enthusiasts and experts in this topic here.

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DevOps can help minimize downtime, fix problems sooner

Publié: avril 7, 2015, 3:38am CEST par John Rakowski

With businesses becoming increasingly reliant on applications to generate revenue, it’s essential that downtime and glitches are kept to a minimum.

Research from IDC and AppDynamics has shown that infrastructure failure costs $100,000 per hour on average in this 24 hour service environment. Although it’s practically impossible for businesses to prevent application failures completely, the time taken both to predict and fix them is one factor that can be improved.

Despite this, in the same report, 35 percent of businesses estimate that IT failures take up to 12 hours to fix, and 17 percent of respondents say that it can take a number of days to fix critical application failures.

As revenue losses mount up rapidly when applications fail, it is apparent that changes need to be made to improve mean time to resolution for a significant number of businesses. However, rather than sub-standard hardware and infrastructure, it is often the processes that businesses use to identify and fix faults which are the main cause of the problem.

Within legacy, enterprise organizations, where there is a clear distinction between the development and operations teams, the working relationship between these two departments leaves a lot be desired. When an application issue occurs, the responsibility of fixing it initially lies with the operations team who will usually use myriad of monitoring and management tools, searching specific and siloed infrastructure components such as CPU, memory and network, before often discovering that the development teams need to be engaged.

The development teams often use their own diagnostic tools, which lead to multiple sources of data, multiple sources of information and ultimately multiple sources of confusion. The end result is that the time taken to find the root cause of the problem is much longer than it should be and unfortunately the impact to the business is almost certainly a loss of customers and revenue. Moreover, as development teams often work different shift patterns and in different locations, even getting hold of the right person on the development team can prove challenging.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The adoption of a DevOps culture, which aims to develop a collaborative relationship between the development and operations teams, has been shown to improve flexibility within the IT department, and also speed up the application fixes too.

With DevOps, the responsibility for application performance is shared between both departments, meaning that the development team is more involved from the start. Rather than simply developing code and passing this over to operations team to place into production, the whole process is shared more equally, with actions taken to make sure both teams have visibility of application performance.

By implementing application performance monitoring (APM) for example, and giving visibility of this to all stakeholders, IT departments can pinpoint problems much quicker. In addition, by using a source control system, which records and tracks any changes to code, this allows members of both teams to understand the other’s way of working and why certain changes have been made.

A DevOps approach also allows bug fixes to be found and added to the production environment far more easily and quickly. Within a traditional set-up, where the development environment is kept separate from the production environment, new features and bug fixes occasionally fail to work correctly when released into the real world due to differences between the two environments.

As a result this increases the likeliness of errors once the code is deployed and can increase the Mean Time To Resolve (MTTR) application errors. The differing environments also mean that configuration often needs to be altered by the operations teams before being placed into the production environment which again increases the time taken for it to be deployed. As a result, the inconsistent data between development and production environments slows down the process of deploying releases and changes, which invariably means increased cost to the business.

By introducing automation as part of DevOps adoption however, many of these problems can be overcome. By automating code testing and the provisioning of environments, this allows time spent on these two tasks to be reduced considerably and ensures the two environments are based on the same configurations.

This means developers can write code in smaller chunks and place these into the development environment much more rapidly, which dramatically decreases the time it takes to deploy new features, changes and fix any bugs in applications. In fact, the IDC and AppDynamics report has shown that businesses expect that DevOps will accelerate the delivery of capabilities to the customer by 15-20 per cent, indicating the improvements in speed that the set-up can bring.

However, as DevOps also enables the speeding up of new applications and features to optimize employee productivity and delight customers, it is important that businesses ensure that this increase in change does not mean more application downtime as a result.

Gartner for example has predicted that in 2015 80 per cent of outages will be caused by people and process issues, and more than 50 per cent of these will be caused by changes configuration and release integration.

By having end to end application visibility for both operations and development teams however, businesses can use APM as a way to feed back and feed forward pertinent information into the software development lifecycle (SDLC). This helps to ensure that new releases and changes don’t generate business-impacting problems in live or production environments.

In order to make DevOps work, CIOs will need to overcome a significant number of cultural challenges in both the working style of the business and in terms of acquiring the right IT talent to support DevOps adoption.

For instance, organizations will now need developers that understand or even have the ability to undertake complex infrastructure automation tasks and operations staff that have the required software engineering skills to know, at least the basics of application coding.

Having said that, the necessity of maintaining the smooth running of applications and the cost savings that can be achieved as a result, means these changes are essential for meeting customer needs and generating revenue.

John Rakowski is a solutions evangelist at AppDynamics.

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

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