Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » décembre 2, 2015

BetaNews.Com (19 non lus)

Facebook's Page plugin ventures into CRM territory with new Events and Messages options

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 11:02pm CET par Mark Wilson
Facebook has done an excellent job of becoming the social network, connecting people all over the world. More recently, it has tapped into business markets by providing companies with a quick, easy, and -- importantly -- free way to create an online presence. Now, with an update to its Page plugin, Facebook is making it easier for businesses to connect and communicate with customers.

The update makes it possible to better integrate Facebook with an existing website. Companies can easily add the ability to send a message via their website, and the communication will appear on Facebook on the Messages tab. The update also makes it easier to share news about upcoming events, keeping all-important customer engagement going.

Facebook points out that as well as making it simpler for customers to get in touch via the Facebook app, website, or company site, life is also made easier for admins. With the Plugin it's possible to update event information on Facebook and automatically have it updated on a linked website. Introducing the feature in a post on the Developer blog, Facebook's Yugal Jindle writes:

Event organizers and promoters have told us that they'd like a more integrated experience managing their events on and off Facebook. With events in the Page plugin, people can now discover and interact with events from your Page, right on your website. For example, if you're promoting an upcoming concert, you can create an event from your Page and feature it on your website, while managing the details from one place.

The following benefits are highlighted:
- One place to manage event details: Any modifications you make to the event on your Facebook Page will automatically be reflected on your website within the Page plugin.
- Subscribe functionality: People can now subscribe to your events directly from your website, and they'll be notified whenever you create a new event in their area.
- A more social events calendar: People who are connected to your Page can now see  which of their friends are going to the same event, bringing social context to the event calendar on your website.
- A localized experience: For events being organized in multiple cities, the most relevant event will be highlighted for a given person based on where he or she is located.
Photo credit: dolphfyn / Shutterstock.com
Facebook will stop tracking Belgian web users who shun the social network

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 10:12pm CET par Mark Wilson

Privacy issues in relation to Facebook make frequent appearances, but they tend to focus on instances of the social network using the browsing and account data of logged in users. However, a recent court case in Belgium highlighted the fact that the site was tracking people who accessed public Facebook pages either without a Facebook account, or without logging into one.

This change has a couple of implications for people. Firstly, it means that people who are trying to stay off Facebook's radar will be better able to do so, but it also means that previously accessible content will only be available to those willing to log into their account. Facebook is complying with the Belgian court order that was handed down last month, but the company is not happy about it and intends to fight back.

Belgium had told Facebook that it would face daily fines if it failed to comply, and this is the reason for bowing to the demands -- a charge of €250,000 euro, or $265,000 each day would quickly mount up). While Facebook users would reasonably expect the site to track the pages they 'like' whilst logged into their account, the same cannot be said for those who are not logged in, or those who don't have an account at all.

Facebook uses a 'datr' cookie which it says is used solely to gather information about web browsers, but it is something that can concern privacy activists, as well as the Belgian Privacy Commissioner (BPC). Facebook says:

We had hoped to address the BPC's concerns in a way that allowed us to continue using a security cookie that protected Belgian people from more than 33,000 takeover attempts in the past month. We're disappointed we were unable to reach an agreement and now people will be required to log in or register for an account to see publicly available content on Facebook.

Compliance with the ruling means that Facebook will not only stop tracking the activities of non-users and non-logged in users, but will also have to delete existing datr cookies from affected systems.

While the ruling only affected Belgium, the fallout from the changes will be closely watched by other European countries as well as around the world.

Photo credit: Yeamake and totallyPic.com / Shutterstock.com
Sling TV updates it Roku app, adds new UI and more

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 9:07pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Slowly over the past couple of months, Sling TV has been rolling out an update. It has already hit Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Android TV, Mac, PC and also mobile platforms Android and iOS. Now the reach of this release will become complete, as Roku is on tap.

This is happening now, as Sling TV is officially announcing the update for the tiny set-top boxes. The company labels this as phase one of its plan. This brings a brand new user interface which contains a revamped channel guide that Sling claims gives a quicker response and easier access to live channels and on-demand content.

The new guide also contains a filter ribbon which allows users to scan through channels by category. Sling instructs users to "just highlight the filter ribbon and your channels will automatically be filtered. If you prefer a select view, like 'HBO/Premium' channels, just click the 'OK' button on the 'HBO/Premium' option, and your mini guide will remain filtered with these channels every time you open it until you change it again".

There are also a number of changes to remote control functionality. These include moving menu access from the star button to the OK button, clicking the up button for access to the mini guide, the down button produces the full guide and left and right allow for navigation between channels.

All of this comes not long after Roku launched its newest set-top box with a remote that has a dedicated Sling button. You don't need the newest device to take advantage of these remote control changes as they will still work for you. To update your box follow the instructions here.
Hackers make DDoS threats to extort Greek banks

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 8:58pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

A group of hackers is trying to extort money from three Greek banks and is threatening the financial institutions with DDoS attacks unless they comply.

The group, which goes by the name Armada Collective, has asked the three banks which weren’t named, to pay a ransom in Bitcoin or face a distributed denial of service attack.

They had sent websites of all three banks offline briefly, just to show they mean business. At the same time, law enforcement agencies and telecoms have stepped in to help, according to local media, with a number of service providers increasing capacity for the banks to handle traffic, while law enforcement have created a special taskforce to deal with the attack.

The taskforce made up of the Greek National Intelligence Service, Financial Crimes Squad and Bank of Greece.

The banks said that online banking is interrupted, but the banks’ financial transaction systems are unaffected.

According to Greek financial journalist Yannis Koutsomitis, evne the FBI is involved.

The attack comes less than a week after a similar thing happened to UAE-based bank, when a hacker going by the name Hacker Buba, blackmailed the bank and asked for $3 million.

In that case, however, there were no DDoS threats, but instead the hacker threatened to release the bank’s customers’ account statements.

Customers include government entities, private companies and individuals. As it turned out, the bank refused to pay and the hacker kept his word to start doxing confidential bank statements via Twitter.

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

Photo Credit: HomeArt/Shutterstock
AMD on forefront of climate protection -- joins White House in helping humanity

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 6:45pm CET par Brian Fagioli

Regardless of where you stand on climate change, loving the earth and your fellow inhabitants of said planet are always a positive. Yes, it can be confusing that we are told the world is warming while experiencing crazy amounts of snow, but remember -- your experiences aren't indicative of the entire world. If some small changes in our day to day lives can have a positive impact, why argue about it?

Today, AMD announces that it has signed the American Business Act on Climate pledge, joining President Obama and the White House in protecting humanity from man-made climate change. This is on top of the company's existing initiative to protect the Earth.

"AMD has joined the American Business Act on Climate Pledge in a coordination with US corporate climate leaders and the White House Office of Public Engagement. AMD along with the other participating business signatories have pledged their support for a positive, action-oriented outcome at the United Nations Climate Summit negotiations in Paris (Nov 30 - Dec 10), and have created forward-looking corporate goals to help improve climate protection", says Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Tim Mohin, Director of Corporate Responsibility at AMD explains that the company "is proud to join corporate leaders publicly recognizing that a low carbon economy is good for the planet, good for business, and good for all humankind. For 20 years AMD has established climate protection goals for our operations and exceeded these same goals. Today we are extending our climate protection programs to encompass our supply chain and the energy efficiency of our products".

AMD is not signing this pledge as a publicity stunt; the company has already put its "money where its mouth is". It's committed to extremely reducing processor power usage by 2020. Its 6th Generation AMD A-Series APUs can make a positive impact today, when leveraged by businesses.

What do you think of AMD's commitment to the environment? Tell me in the comments.

Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock
Accidental DDoS takes down Google's European cloud

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 6:42pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

Google got accidentally DDoSed by an unnamed European network carrier, sending its cloud service offline on the old continent for about an hour.

The incident occurred last Monday, but it is only now that Google has decided to explain exactly what happened.

According to a Google blog post, the accidental denial of service happened in Google’s Europe1-West region, sending it offline for around 70 minutes. The blog post says that Google’s engineers activated an additional link with an unnamed network carrier with whom the company already shares many peering links globally.

The majority of the addresses affected by the error were located in eastern Europe and the Middle East, and Google saw its traffic decline 13 percent during that time.

As the link was activated, the peer’s network signalled that it could route traffic to many more destinations than Google engineers had anticipated, and more than the link had capacity for, the blog post reads.

"Google’s network responded accordingly by routing a large volume of traffic to the link. At 11:55, the link saturated and began dropping the majority of its traffic".

This would not have happened if automation was operational, Google says, adding that it usually is.

"In normal operation, peering links are activated by automation whose safety checks would have detected and rectified this condition. In this case, the automation was not operational due to an unrelated failure, and the link was brought online manually, so the automation’s safety checks did not occur".

To stop this issue from flaring up again, Google’s network engineers have taken steps to disallow manual link activation.

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

Photo credit: sibgat / Shutterstock
Western Digital now shipping the HGST Ultrastar He10 -- world's first 10TB HDD

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 6:22pm CET par Brian Fagioli
As the world's home users trend towards greater cloud-storage adoption, the enterprise continues to -- wisely -- embrace on-premise storage too. Don't forget, the cloud is not magic either; the online storage companies need hard disk drives to store all of this data.

Today, Western Digital's HGST subsidiary announces that it is shipping the world's first 10TB hard disk drive. Featuring perpendicular magnetic recording and a helium-filled body, it is on the cutting-edge. Data center maintainers should go absolutely gaga.

"Essential for creating high-density storage solutions, the Ultrastar He10 offers a 25 percent increase in capacity over the previous generation and uses 56 percent fewer watts/TB than traditional air-filled HDDs, allowing data center architects to achieve new levels of eco-environmental efficiency. The Ultrastar He10 also continues HGST’s best-in-class reliability standards, offering a 2.5 million mean-time-between-failures rating as well as a five-year warranty. It is available to all enterprise customers as a bare drive, and will be available in HGST’s Active Archive System for customers that require a petabyte-scale object storage system", says Western Digital.

You know who else utilizes storage in the cloud? Streaming media companies. David Fullagar, director of content delivery architecture at Netflix explains, "these 10TB drives will allow us to quickly integrate, build more capacity and stream more movies to our consumers. We’ve been using the HGST HelioSeal drives for a long time and not only do they give us more capacity, they have contributed to a lower overall power envelope and higher storage density, which has allowed us to maximize our data footprint and create a network that is optimized for TCO".

Keep in mind, this is not designed for consumers; while the price is not yet revealed, it will likely be quite expensive. So where does Western Digital intend for this drive to be used? The company shares the following.
- Enterprise and data center applications where capacity density and power efficiency are paramount
- Cloud and Hyperscale storage
- Massive scale-out high-density data centers (MSO)
- Bulk storage using object storage solutions like Ceph and Hadoop to support Big Data Analytics
- Centralized video surveillance
- Drop-in ready for all mainstream enterprise capacity applications
If you work in such environments, you will want to contact whomever in your company is in charge or purchasing if you are interested. The capacity, reliability and environmental-friendliness should make it any easy sale.
Application developers struggle to adapt to changing licensing models

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 5:46pm CET par Ian Barker

Application producers are aware of rapid change impacting their ability to make money from their software products, but they're not adopting the automated licensing and entitlement management systems that would protect them from those changes and enable them to be more agile, and grow revenues and profits.

This is the conclusion of a new report by Flexera Software which shows that producers are aware that rapid technology changes are impacting the business climate, creating new opportunity and risk.

Among the changes identified are the Internet of Things, cited by 32 percent of producers as having a high impact on customer satisfaction. Within one to two years, 16 percent say that the IoT will have a major effect on supporting new business models.

The impact of new technologies on security is important too, 38 percent of respondents say the cloud has a high impact on security concerns. Others list virtualization, 29 percent, and mobile computing, 33 percent.

The way people buy software is shifting too. Within two years, the number of producers who claim all their revenues are derived from a perpetual software license model will be almost halved from 26 percent to 14 percent. By contrast the number who say half or more of their software revenues come from SaaS-based software subscriptions will rise from 14 to 21 percent.

Whilst the changes are widely recognized, the survey suggests application producers have not yet built sufficient agility and flexibility into their businesses to adapt. 58 percent report difficulty allowing customers to manage their own software entitlements. 38 percent find it difficult to quickly package and bundle features to create different product versions in order to accommodate changing market needs or unique customer demands, and 33 percent find it hard to support trial and/or evaluation licensing. Only 35 percent are using a purpose-built commercial licensing technology.

"Application producers lag far behind non-software industry counterparts that have long since automated critical operations with ERP, CRM and other mission critical systems. Many producers wrongly assume that because their ranks include software engineers and programmers, they can easily develop their own licensing and entitlement management systems in house," says Mathieu Baissac, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera Software. "But Software Monetization is a highly specialized field that is constantly changing, which makes it virtually impossible for non-licensing and monetization experts to adapt and scale as the business climate changes. The result, as the report findings illustrate, is that most producers are leaving money on the table because they aren’t sufficiently agile and the customer experience is being negatively impacted".

The full report is available from the Flexera website.

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Security is a major concern for cloud migrations

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 4:58pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

When it comes to migrating to the cloud, 65 percent of companies are concerned with security, a new survey by Netwrix has unveiled.

Moreover, 40 percent worry about the loss of physical control over data in the cloud. In particular, 69 percent of companies fear migration will increase the risk of unauthorized access, while 43 percent worry about account hijacking.

In particular, 69 per cent of companies are afraid that migration to the cloud will increase the risks of unauthorized access, while 43 percent worry about account hijacking.

Netwrix surveyed more than 600 IT professionals worldwide, representing technology, manufacturing, government, healthcare, finance, education and other industries, to answer questions about cloud security, expectations from providers and measures being taken to ensure data security. The full survey can be found on this link.

Other key survey findings show that:

A hybrid cloud deployment model is preferred by 44 percent of respondents as they transition from an on-premise infrastructure to a cloud-based model. Private clouds attract 37 percent of organizations prepared to invest in additional security.

Companies that are migrating, plan to enforce internal security policies: 56 percent plan to improve identity and authentication management; 51 per cent will utilize encryption; and around 45 percent of medium and large enterprises plan to establish auditing of changes and user activity.

Overall, 13 percent of organizations reject the idea of adopting the technology in the near future. However, 30 percent of them are ready to reconsider their decision as soon as cloud security mechanisms are improved.

Some 30 percent of organizations already take advantage of improved cloud security, while more than 40 percent of organizations are ready to invest in additional security guarantees, if offered.

Overall, 71 percent of enterprises perceive continuous auditing of cloud infrastructure as a very important part of security guarantees to ensure data integrity in the cloud.

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

Image Credit: Chaiyapop Bhumiwat / Shutterstock
Popular free mail services still use vulnerable versions of SSL

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 4:04pm CET par Ian Barker

New research from information security company High-Tech Bridge reveals that the security of some of the most popular mail services, including Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo is lacking.

The company used its SSL checker service to test the popular email services for 31 different criteria, including the most recent SSL/TLS vulnerabilities and weaknesses, compliance with PCI DSS requirements, and compliance with NIST guidelines.

Almost all the tested email providers still support the old SSLv3 standard. Earlier this year, the Internet Engineering Task Force declared that SSLv3 shouldn't be used as it's insecure and threatened the confidentiality of encrypted communication. The Task Force recommended moving to the more secure TLS 1.2 instead.

Fastmail gained the highest score of A+ in the tests and is the only email service provider that meets PCI DSS compliance requirements for SSL/TLS. Hushmail, which describes itself as 'a privacy-oriented email service' with 'built-in encryption', has the weakest configuration of SSL/TLS, and scored an F in the SSL test.

Despite gaining a B+ grade, Gmail has one of the most flexible SSL/TLS configurations to ensure its compatibility with old and outdated email clients. Based on results from High-Tech Bridge's test, Outlook.com -- which gained a B- score -- does not visibly have a centralized SSL/TLS configuration of its email servers, potentially delaying and over-complicating update processes, and slowing down patch management.

"With the new functionality of our SSL testing service we aim to enable anyone to verify how well his or her data is being encrypted in transit," says Ilia Kolochenko, High-Tech Bridge's CEO. "With the increasing growth of wireless networks strong encryption becomes very important. However, many people tend to think that SSL can be applicable to HTTPS only, as they use HTTPS websites every day. Now they can test their SSL connection to their email and any other SSL-services as well".

You can read more about the test results for each of the services on the High-Tech Bridge blog.

Photo Credit: Balefire/Shutterstock
A Surface phone might just be what Windows 10 Mobile needs

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 3:54pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

Even though it already has a smartphone line, rumors suggest that Microsoft wants to release a smartphone under the Surface brand. It may sound a bit far-fetched, but this might just be what Microsoft and Windows 10 Mobile really need to become a serious contender in the high-end smartphone market.

While Surface tablets are increasingly more appealing, following the introduction of Surface Pro 3, the Lumia line is proving to be increasingly less attractive in consumers' eyes, as proven by its tiny 1.7 percent market share. Moving an upcoming flagship product from a fading to an up and coming brand starts to make a whole lot of sense.

The Surface line represents the best that Microsoft has to offer in terms of Windows tablets. Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are true flagships, that haven't really been matched by any competitor so far. There's none of that off-putting Lumia smell here. It's the kind of brand that can help a Windows flagship smartphone become attractive to shoppers in the premium smartphone market.

The Lumia line is starting to be associated more and more with the best that Microsoft has to offer at the opposite end of the spectrum, namely entry-level smartphones. Coupled with the fact that its latest flagships aren't all that attractive, it makes me wonder whether Microsoft really cares about competing in that segment anymore.

Most people don't seem to care at all about expensive Lumias, as proven by the types of Windows Phones that are most popular, so perhaps it's time to stop doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

This upcoming Surface smartphone is expected to be released in the second half of 2016, so there is plenty of time for Microsoft to get it right and also get Windows 10 Mobile right for it. It has to have the latest and greatest hardware available at the time, otherwise it'll fade away in a sea of high-powered options, and it also has to have some dazzling features that provide clear benefits, otherwise it might look like any other expensive Windows Phone released in the past couple of years.

Continuum might be an area of focus, for instance. It is poorly implemented at the moment, but this can be improved. A Windows smartphone that can transform into a PC, without having to carry an adapter with you, will certainly help differentiate a Windows 10 Mobile flagship from the rest of the crowd. Just imagine if it's able to run true Office...

There is also plenty of room for innovation in the camera department, which is an area where high-end Lumias have typically been strong performers. But, the competition has caught up, and surpassed even the mighty Lumia 1020. A killer camera is definitely among the most-desirable traits when looking at a premium product, and Microsoft could use this to its advantage. It certainly has the know-how, as it has the imaging talent from Nokia under its roof.

Let's just hope it gets it right this time, and that it actually goes through with it of course, because the future doesn't look all that great for Windows 10 Mobile right now.

Photo Credit: Creativa/Shutterstock
Two-thirds of companies don't regularly test their disaster recovery plans

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 3:10pm CET par Ian Barker

More than 60 percent of companies in the UK and Germany say that they either test their disaster recovery plan either less than once a year, or don't test it at all.

This is among the findings of research conducted by data recovery specialist Kroll Ontrack which finds that a mere nine percent of companies test their plan every one to five months and another 29 percent every six months to a year.

Half of the companies surveyed hadn't experienced an IT disaster in the previous three years, but more than a third had needed to invoke their disaster recovery plan. While the majority of these companies had to invoke their plan between one and five times, an unfortunate minority were forced to undertake disaster recovery measures more than 10 times during the last three years.

A further issue raised by the survey is that even though employees' mobile devices are now an important element of corporate IT infrastructure, this hasn't been accounted for by most disaster recovery plans. Almost half (48 per cent) of respondents say that their plans don't cover mobile devices used by employees to access corporate systems.

"These findings are a clear indication that many companies still face significant risks in terms of data security, data loss and data recovery," says Paul Le Messurier, Programme and Operations Manager at Kroll Ontrack. "They also lack a thought-out disaster recovery plan that is tested regularly and is bullet-proof when a real disaster strikes the company and it is faced with system failure and data loss. Without an effective plan in place, companies face the prospect of a loss of business continuity plus reputational and financial damage. It's important that disaster recovery plans are in place, but it’s just as important to ensure that they are tested regularly and updated accordingly".

In a separate poll undertaken in the UK, almost 46 percent of respondents say that they don't have a disaster recovery plan in place at all, while a worrying 24 percent were unaware whether they had a plan or not.

"Even though the cost of downtime for a small to medium sized company may not be as high as for a Fortune 1000 one, it can still have an impact that threatens the existence of the company. It pays to have a disaster plan in place that is tested regularly and that can be invoked quickly and efficiently," adds Le Messurier.

Kroll Ontrack has developed a free template that smaller enterprises can use to develop their own disaster plans, including advice on what should be included and what testing is necessary.

Image Credit: Oleksiy Mark / Shutterstock
Mozilla's Glass House experiment reveals lax attitudes to online privacy

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 1:58pm CET par Mark Wilson

The discussion about online privacy is something that rumbles on. Those who know what is happening with personal information on the internet are aware of the inherent risks, but these are being joined by increasing numbers of the previously-technologically-illiterate who are coming to understand what being online means.

To highlight the implication of third party tracking and data sharing, Mozilla ran an experiment in Hamburg, Germany. As well as bringing the issue of privacy to people's attention in quite dramatic style, the experiment also aimed to educate people about security and privacy through expert discussions. Some of the public reactions are priceless.

The company behind the Firefox browser -- which it proudly proclaims to have added Private Browsing with Tracking Protection to -- has released a couple of videos that show its experiment in action. In the first video, entitled "The Hidden Business of the Internet", Mozilla used a fake apartment in Germany to ram home the fact that private data is broadcast online, often without the individual's knowledge or active consent.

Invited to log into a free Wi-Fi connection in an enclosed room, victims were shocked when the walls were stripped away to reveal that they were in fact in a glass house on view to the world. It's something of a crude analogy for online privacy, but it's one that works.

The second video focuses on the reactions of those who were foolish enough to offer up their personal data.

Of course, this all acts as a big advertisement for Firefox but it makes the point that everyone is being turned into a product. There is, obviously, the slight irony that unwittingly shared personal data is something that Mozilla benefits from, but that’s neatly skirted over funnily enough...
Sage Microelectronics announces world's first 10TB 2.5-inch SSD

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 11:48am CET par Desire Athow

A little-known Chinese manufacturer, Sage Microelectronics, has managed to out-gun its much bigger rivals (Kingston, Sandisk and Samsung to name a few) by bringing to market the world’s first 10TB 2.5-inch (9.5mm) SSD.

The drive was first demonstrated last month at the China Data Summit 2015 in Beijing and comes months ahead of its previous launch target. Samsung is the only big SSD vendor that has announced an SSD larger than 10TB.

At 15.36TB, its PM1633a is the biggest drive ever announced, surpassing significantly the 10TB drives that Seagate and Western Digital are expected to unveil in 2016. But it has yet to be brought to market and is likely to be thicker than the industry-standard 2.5-inch thickness.

What makes the feat even more noteworthy is that it uses a single layer PCB where most would settle for a couple and used MLC rather than TLC NAND to improve the useful lifespan of the product.

In addition, the company engineering team, headed by Dr. Jeromy Luo and Professor Chris Tsu, have used a denser multi-chip packaging and tweaked the controller so that the SSD’s performance remains more or less constant over time, regardless of how full it is.

The flip side is that the SSD is likely to be far slower than the competition as it focuses on features rather than performance. It would still be far faster than the enterprise hard disk drives currently available on the market.

The average retail price of SSDs has been steadily falling over the past three years with the demand for solid state storage driving investment and the rapid transition to finer geometries, something that allows higher capacities to reach the market while still remaining in the black.

A consumer-grade 1TB SSD drive currently costs around £250 while a 4TB hard disk drive can be had for around £80.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
Microsoft makes upgrading to Windows 10 a smoother experience for Windows 7 and 8.1 users

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 10:45am CET par Wayne Williams

Microsoft really, really wants people to upgrade to Windows 10. Even though the new OS is free, users of Windows 7 and 8.1 are proving a bit reluctant to switch, so the software giant has rolled out some new updates for the older operating systems which promise to make the upgrade much smoother for those who do decide to take the plunge.

There are two updates available now, one for Windows 7 and one for Windows 8.1, both of which make improvements to the Windows Update Client.

For Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 users the update is KB3112336, while Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 users are offered KB3112343. Both are optional.

The update description says:

This update enables support for additional upgrade scenarios from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, and provides a smoother experience when you have to retry an operating system upgrade because of certain failure conditions. This update also improves the ability of Microsoft to monitor the quality of the upgrade experience.

Photo Credit: fotoscool/Shutterstock
TeamViewer 11 comes with the promise of better network performance, redesigns toolbar

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 10:43am CET par Nick Peers

TeamViewer GmbH has released the final version of TeamViewer 11, its remote access tool for Windows, Linux and Mac computers. The new release, also available as a portable build for Windows users, launches with an emphasis on better performance through various networking optimizations.

Version 11 also unveils a redesigned toolbar and client interface, plus adds new options that include unattended access to Android devices as well as a SOS button for those businesses who want to provide it.

The focus in TeamViewer 11 is on performance. It’s been overhauled to use up less bandwidth -- promising up to 30 percent lower data usage rates. The efficiencies gained allow TeamViewer to produce better quality image rendering at equivalent bandwidths over the previous version.

TeamViewer 11 also debuts a redesigned client interface and toolbar, based on a combination of user feedback and the latest trends in user-interface design research, according to TeamViewer GmbH.

All users can now also connect directly to a Linux machine’s console, making it possible to administer headless servers without the need for an installed GUI, port forwarding, SSH configuration or display.

The growing popularity of Android as a platform beyond mere phones and tablets is reflected by TeamViewer’s added support for unattended access on Android devices, which enables users to remotely configure everything from POS and ATM devices to public displays and vending machines. Corporate users also gain a tool for mass deployment of TeamViewer Host to multiple Android devices.

Another business-only addition is the introduction of a custom TeamViewer QuickSupport module that allows companies to put an icon with their logo or CTA on the user’s desktop -- the equivalent of an SOS button that updates automatically as the company customizes its settings.

Other new features and improvements include full support for Windows 10 -- including a new universal app available through the Microsoft Store. This is accompanied by TeamViewer extending its support to the Chrome OS platform, with an app now available through the Chrome Web Store. There’s also support for remote installation of TeamViewer Host, channel groups and other group sharing improvements.

TeamViewer 11 FINAL is available now as a free-for-personal-use download for Windows, Linux and Mac users. TeamViewer 11 Portable is also available for Windows users under the same license restrictions, as are a range of mobile apps for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Blackberry. Professional use requires the purchase of a subscription.
Soylent Green -- Now made with more women!

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 10:12am CET par Robert X. Cringely

Soylent Green is the punchline of a bad joke told to me at the breakfast table by Channing, my 13 year-old son, but in a way it is fitting for this column about women executives in danger of being chewed-up by their corporate machines. And kudos to you if you caught the reference to Edward G. Robinson’s final film -- about an over-populated world where people are recycled into cookies.

First up is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, whom I’m told is rapidly losing the support of her hand-picked board. Mayer, who is expecting twins, will probably not be returning from her upcoming maternity leave and Wall Street has begun speculating about possible successors.

Hers would have been a tough gig for anyone. Yahoo is asset-rich while at the same time unable to execute on its re-spackled but essentially unchanged business plan of being a web portal (remember those?). Yahoo’s Alibaba and Yahoo Japan stakes make it a target for activist investors and Mayer’s desire to show she can run an up business in a down industry was probably a fantasy right from the start. Still, she was doing what she thought would work.

Well it didn’t work. Getting the activists off her back by spinning-off Yahoo’s Alibaba stake not only comes with a big tax bill, the board has finally started to realize they were spinning the wrong part of the business. What really has to go is the depreciating asset that has come to be known as Yahoo’s core -- all the parts of the company except Yahoo’s Alibaba and Yahoo Japan holdings.

But don’t expect Yahoo to just flip the plan, keeping Alibaba and spinning-off to investors those parts of Yahoo with a yodel attached. I suspect that ship has sailed. What I think more likely is an outright sale of the legacy business to one or more Private Equity funds. They’ll take private what we all think of as Yahoo, strip it mercilessly of under-performing businesses and luxury assets (bye-bye Katie Couric), load-up with debt that shriveled carcass which they will then sell piecemeal to the only two real players left in the portal business -- Google and Microsoft.

What remains of Yahoo after this process is complete won’t be an Internet company but rather a very wealthy financial entity worth $50 billion or so. In short, a completely different company and one Mayer probably wouldn’t even want to run. And that suggests a completely different type of CEO for the successor company which makes me suspect that the candidates being considered in Wall Street speculation are either short-timers there just to engineer the Private Equity sale or they are the wrong folks for the job.

My candidate to run post-Yahoo is Kleiner Perkins honcho John Doerr. This is just my opinion, mind you, and not based on any insider information or discussions with Doerr, who is probably as surprised as you are to read this. But I think Doerr could use a change of venue following the Ellen Pao mess and this would give him an amazing third act in his Silicon Valley career. Just imagine the impact on Silicon Valley and the technology world of putting a very smart billionaire in his own right who has nothing left to prove in charge of investing $5 billion per year in young companies.

The next female CEO in jeopardy is IBM’s Ginni Rometty. Given all the negative things I’ve written about IBM since 2007 this should be no surprise, but the story is more complex than simple mismanagement. I’ve decided Ginni really believes in what she is doing. It’s still the wrong plan and I think bound to fail, but I now believe Ginni has decided to take even bolder moves in the wrong direction -- moves that should very quickly prove that one of us is right and the other wrong.

I’ve been told another big Resource Action (IBMspeak for layoff) will be starting in January, ultimately costing the company up to 30,000 heads. This will be accompanied by a change in IBM’s 401K plan, either reducing or eliminating completely the company’s matching funds. The cuts will be coming mainly in IBM’s Global Technology Services (GTS) division which is responsible for 60 percent of the company’s revenue. These announcements will be accompanied, no-doubt, by additional cloud investments, the idea being to sell investors on the idea that IBM will make up in its cloud business what it inevitably loses in GTS.

This will represent a significant strategy shift for IBM. For one thing, it’s Big Blue essentially abandoning its largest current business. GTS customers are already unhappy with IBM’s quality of service so what will be the likely effect on those customers of taking 30,000 more bodies from their already lousy service provider?

There are three ways I can see IBM playing these changes in GTS. The BIG PICTURE will continue to be IBM committing to cloud and making necessary changes to go with that, but on the more tactical level IBM can: 1) simply say it is getting out of services over time, customers and employees be damned; 2) recommit to GTS but as a significantly smaller operation offering white glove service to only IBM’s highest-margin customers (in other words abandoning many accounts), or; 3) make the headcount reduction not through a Resource Action but by selling outright some or all of GTS, generating more cash to put into cloud. Expect any GTS buyer to be Asian.

No matter which course she chooses Ginni will piss-off a workforce that already distrusts her, but she’s so far down this path-of-no-retreat that it probably doesn’t concern her. 2016 is the year that will make or break Ginni Rometty as IBM’s CEO and she appears to be okay with that. I think it is going to be a disaster but you have to kind of admire her all-in attitude.

Remember IBM’s CAMSS (cloud, analytics, mobile, social, security) strategy? I think we can expect some strategic streamlining, rolling at least two or three of these letters together. IBM is all-in on cloud so that won’t change and their security business I think has good prospects, but analytics, mobile and social are all at risk because it’s difficult to show financial progress in those areas. IBM hasn’t been especially successful generating new analytics business, their mobile strategy is too dependent on Apple (a total loon in IBM’s view) and IBM still can’t even describe its social business, much less break out financials. Ginni will find a way to spin this change, too, hoping to buy time.

But the bottom line for IBM seems to be a future in cloud and security (and mainframes, as a couple commenters point out below -- that’s not going to change, but neither is it going to get any bigger). To do that with characteristic Armonk gusto, Ginni will use the 401K savings as well as division sales, if any, to bankroll a major cloud expansion, hoping to leapfrog Google and Microsoft and move into the #2 position behind Amazon in that sector. Alas that’s #2 in a business that’s nowhere near as big as what IBM is abandoning, so the company as a whole will continue to shrink. Share buybacks will continue, the dividend will continue to go up, but there will come a point when IBM is a $40 billion cloud and security company. Maybe that will be a good thing, but what it won’t be is a consequential thing. It’s the end of what used to be IBM.

And finally we have one more female executive on the hot seat -- Diane Greene, who was recently hired to run Google’s enterprise cloud business. My friend Om Malik has a good analysis of this move here and I agree with him that it won’t work, though I have a few extra reasons why that Om doesn’t mention.

When a baseball team is performing poorly one of the cheapest moves the owners can make is firing the manager. It shakes-up the squad, hopefully scaring the high-salary players into trying harder. And it almost always works, especially if you hire a new manager who is just as good or better than the old one while -- this is key -- being obviously different in some major way. Well Diane Greene, who comes from VMware, is clearly different from the usual Google executive hire. It’s not that she’s a woman but that she’s coming from a high position in a company with a very different corporate culture than Google’s. "This time we really mean it", is the message that is supposed to be conveyed by this hire.

But it still won’t work. Google’s enterprise cloud business performance has been miserable, Om points out that VMware pretty much missed the cloud boat, and Amazon Web Services has a huge lead while Microsoft has an installed base of loyal developers that Google simply does not. It will take a miracle for Greene to be really successful in her new job and miracles have been few and far between lately at Google.

Here I’ll throw a couple more logs on the fire. Remember IBM appears to be about to bet the company on enterprise cloud computing. Google will have a hard enough time making headway against Amazon and Microsoft, but throw-in a kamikaze Big Blue and it looks even worse. But the biggest problem Diane Greene faces at Google is Google, itself. The company’s heart is just not in enterprise cloud. It never has been.

If you’ve ever pitched a startup idea to a really successful tier one venture capitalist -- some billionaire who sits on the board of at least one iconic company they see themselves as having helped found and made successful -- you’ll notice that they tend to hear your pitch through a filter that emphasizes how the startup will impact their already-successful #1 portfolio star. Your idea can be new and fresh and exciting and truly world-beating, but if you are pitching it to someone who got really, really rich from Yahoo or Google or Facebook, they’ll concentrate first on what this means to Yahoo or Google or Facebook. That’s because their incremental upside in that unicorn is bigger to the VC than the risk-adjusted upside of your little startup is ever likely to be. And that’s exactly the problem Diane Greene has trying to get Google to see its enterprise cloud business as something important to the company.

What’s important to Google is search, ad sales, and YouTube. Cloud, to Google, is an internal service that enables these other revenue generators. Slugging it out with Amazon may sound exciting, but what impact will it have on search, ad sales, or YouTube other than to distract internal developers and put those services at some risk? That’s why Diane Greene will have a very difficult time succeeding at Google, because her very success will be seen internally as a threat to the company she is trying to help.

It’s not a job I would want.
Microsoft brings Debian Linux to Azure

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 2:54am CET par Brian Fagioli

While many Linux users are vocal Microsoft detractors, the truth is, the company is a proponent of the kernel. Yes, in years past, the Windows-maker seemingly looked at Linux with disdain, but times are changing, folks. The company is hiring open source professionals, and even developing apps for the world's most popular Linux distro, Android. Not to mention, Azure has long supported a handful of Linux distributions.

Today, Microsoft is once again embracing Linux by announcing Debian support for Azure. Yes, one of the world's most popular distros is coming to the Azure Marketplace. It is joining other operating systems based on the kernel, such as Ubuntu, RHEL, openSUSE and more.

"With this announcement, customers are able to provision Debian-based virtual machines in Microsoft Azure by selecting the most up-to-date point versions of Debian 7 (codename 'wheezy') and Debian 8 (codename 'jessie') built by credativ. credativ is an independent consulting and services company founded in 1999 offering comprehensive open source services and technical support and committed to promoting open source software through using, supporting and developing it. credativ has a presence in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, North America and India", says Stephen Zarkos, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Azure.

Zarkos further says, "as an endorsed distribution, the Debian images provided in Azure Marketplace are supported by Microsoft Azure's Linux and open source developer support teams as outlined in our support policy announced in July, 2015. Microsoft and credativ will work together to offer the most updated versions of Debian as Marketplace images, as well as to keep a transparent, community-oriented process for building the image".

Because Debian is so popular and wisely used, it should immediately prove valuable to companies that leverage Azure. Linux professionals tend to prefer working with the distros they know and love -- having Debian absent from Azure was like a huge pain point in many IT departments.

Image Credit: Bobboz / Shutterstock
Moto 360 Sport Android Wear smartwatch will miss holiday shopping season

Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 1:55am CET par Brian Fagioli
Years ago, venerable toy-seller Toys R Us ran a brilliant advertisement. It showed a goofy kid playing with a rain-check. Yes, the child was palling-around with a slip of paper. This highlighted the importance of being prepared with your Christmas shopping. Kids, and adults, want actual gifts -- not paper-promises for the future.

The same applies for manufacturers, you see, as launching a product after the holiday shopping season can mean death. My colleague Joe Wilcox highlighted this recently with Google's Pixel C, for which the holiday shopping window is closing. Today, Motorola announces its latest Android Wear smartwatch, the Moto 360 Sport, and it is not even pretending to be aiming for the shopping season in the USA. Nope, the company is targeting the beginning of 2016. Maybe the fancy smartwatch doesn't have a calendar?

"Moto 360 is a watch that makes time for you, allowing you to leave your phone in your purse or pocket and still get important information when you need it and want it. Now, with the all new Moto 360 Sport you can get everything you need for your run -- and leave your phone at home. With built-in GPS, heart rate monitoring and a music player, Moto 360 Sport has all the tools you need to hit the road and push for your personal best or just free your hands up to do more important things", says Motorola.

The company further shares, "Moto 360 Sport will be available in the UK and France starting December 18. In the U.S., you can start your New Year's resolutions off right and get your Moto 360 Sport for $299 beginning January 7 on Motorola.com and at select other online retailers. On January 10, look for Moto 360 Sport in Best Buy stores nationwide and our Moto Shop in downtown Chicago. Moto 360 Sport will also be available in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico and Spain in the new year".

The company shares the following specs.
- Operating system: Android Wear
- Display: AnyLight Hybrid Display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1.37 inch (35mm), 263ppi (360 X 325)
- Watch case dimensions: 45mm diameter by 11.5mm high
- Weight: 54g
- Battery: 300mAh - Up to a full day of mixed use with Ambient on, Wireless charging with charging dock included
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU (APQ 8026), Adreno 305 with 450MHz GPU
- Memory: 4GB internal storage + 512MB RAM8
- Connectivity:Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
- Sensors: Barometric Altimeter, Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyroscope, Vibration/Haptics engine
- Heart rate sensors: Optical heart rate monitor (PPG)
- Water resistance: IP67 dust and water resistant6 -- Not waterproof
- Microphone: Dual digital mics
- Bands: Silicone band
Sadly, Motorola is missing out on a huge opportunity by not launching prior to Christmas. Sure, you can print out a picture of one and give it to someone as a lame "IOU", but that is hardly a magical experience.

Will consumers want it? Well, it isn't particularly attractive, although it is more focused on exercise than fashion. Still, it looks a bit childish -- I can't see a professional wearing it to the office. It remains to be seen if the $300 silicone smartwatch can truly pique consumer interest.

Would you buy it? Tell me in the comments.