Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » décembre 16, 2015

BetaNews.Com (21 non lus)

Microsoft wants you to upgrade to Windows 10... whether you like it or not

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 11:04pm CET par Mark Wilson

Microsoft managed to piss off a lot of people with Windows 10. Some people love it, but certainly nowhere near 100 percent of the install base (whatever size Microsoft claims this may be). It's possible for any operating system to be disappointing, but what Microsoft has managed to get wrong with Windows 10 -- time and time and time again -- is the way upgrades have been delivered.

We've had stories of installation files being downloaded without permission. There are the privacy concerns. There is the confusing installation process that has misled some into upgrading to Windows 10. But even after weeks and months of complaints, the forced Windows 10 upgrades are still happening. If anything, the problem is getting worse. Microsoft is making it harder and harder for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users to avoid Windows 10. A coerced user is not a happy user, yet Microsoft continues to force Windows 10 down people's throats in a number of ways. WT actual F?

You would expect that any upgrade would be optional. This seems like a reasonable assumption, but it's something that Microsoft appears to fail to understand. People buying a new computer are still able to opt for Windows 7 if they want, but the forced upgrade problem means that there is absolutely no guarantee that Windows 10 won’t be foisted on them at some point in the future.

Microsoft -- and its legal team -- might take exception to use of the word 'forced', but it is effectively what is happening. At the very least, a large number of people are being misled, tricked, fooled, hoodwinked into installing Windows 10. Why? Microsoft is making it appear that there is simply no choice. As noted by Gordon Kelly over on Forbes Windows 7 and Windows 8 users are presented with "Upgrade to Windows 10" messages that very strongly imply that the decision you can make when it comes to upgrading it is not 'if?', but 'when?'.

In some instances, Microsoft is not only sneakily downloading Windows 10 installation files in the background (something, incidentally, I'm still utterly fuming about -- despite not having been directly affected by it. Would you accept it if your car used extra gas when it was parked in the driveway overnight, or if your oven gobbled up electricity regardless of whether you are cooking?) but then presenting them with a false dichotomy: "Upgrade now", or "Upgrade tonight". What a choice!

Some users have an even worse deal: a single option to 'choose' from. When an Upgrade to Windows 10 dialog with a single button labelled "Upgrade Now" appears, Microsoft is preying on those who are unfamiliar with Windows. It is possible to avoid the upgrade by simply using the red cross, close button in the upper right corner of the dialog (just as is the case with the false choice variant mentioned in the previous paragraph), but not everyone knows this. More worrying is the fact that Microsoft takes full advantage of this.

There's a slight irony in that a few years back Microsoft implemented Browser choice to enable people to select the web browser they'd like to use by default. With Windows 10, the company is blasting a massive 'fuck you' to users. Your opinion doesn’t matter; you'll have Windows 10 whether you like it or not. You thought the digital age was about democracy? Think again, suckers.

Imagine the uproar that would have followed if Microsoft took the same approach with the Browser Choice screen as it has done with Windows 10. "Would you like to set Microsoft Edge as your default browser right this moment, or in a few minutes?" -- a false choice is no choice.

Microsoft is raping computers with Windows 10. No means no, but if you're only given the option of saying yes, or it is made all but impossible to say no, you're basically given no choice but to consent to violation.

Photo credit: iQoncept / Shutterstock
Adblock Plus updates Acceptable Ads and reveals how it makes money

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 9:32pm CET par Mark Wilson

Ad-blocking tools are more popular than ever before, and this spells potential disaster for anyone who relies on ad revenue from their web site. Previously something only available to desktop users, the widespread hatred of ads saw the tools spreading even to iOS.

A while back Adblock Plus revealed that its Acceptable Ads program -- which gives users the options of permitting the display of certain non-intrusive ads -- would be independently overseen. Today we not only learn about the latest updates to the program criteria, but also how monetizing is possible.

The updated criteria are nothing out of the ordinary -- ads need to be sensibly positioned and not distracting, easily distinguishable from body text, and not exceed a certain size (this is a sliding scale dependent on position. Ever since the inception of the Acceptable Ads program, there have been fears that companies would be able to pay to be added to the whitelist. This is true to a certain extent, and the company explains:

We receive some donations from our users, but our main source of revenue comes as part of the Acceptable Ads initiative. Larger entities pay a licensing fee for the whitelisting services requested and provided to them (90% of the licences are granted for free, to smaller entities).

Whitelisting, the new documentation is quick to point out, does not allow people to ignore the criteria that have been set.

Co-founder of Adblock Plus, Till Faida said:

We always said that the Acceptable Ads criteria could change as the Web and advertising changes. Before we step back from them for good and hand the job over to an independent board, they needed a slight polish with things we've been working on for the past couple of years. Plus, we thought it was time to open up our monetization policies to the public, so that people can better understand how a free project like ours is financed.

This is just the opening salvo. We plan on releasing more information about how our company works in the near future, and are looking forward to seeing where ad blocking goes in 2016 when the Acceptable Ads independent committee meets for the first time.

Photo credit: Light And Dark Studio / Shutterstock
13 million MacKeeper accounts leak online

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 8:40pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

The anti-virus software for Apple’s OS X, MacKeeper, kept the user data of more than 13 million of its customers online without much protection, and someone eventually stumbled upon it.

Yes, stumbled is the perfect word in this instance, as the data was accessed through an IP address, no username or password required.

The data was uncovered by security researcher Chris Vickery, who was browsing the net through Shodan -- a specialized search engine that looks for and indexes virtually anything that gets connected to the Internet.

He said he uncovered four IP addresses that took him straight to a MongoDB database, containing a range of personal information, including names, email addresses, usernames, password hashes, phone numbers, IP addresses, system information, as well as software licenses and activation codes.

Vickery contacted MacKeeper, which reacted quickly, patching up the holes and thanking him for what he has done.

"Some 13 million customer records leaked from is aware of a potential vulnerability in access to our data storage system and we are grateful to the security researcher Chris Vickery who identified this issue without disclosing any technical details for public use", the company said in a statement published on its site. "We fixed this error within hours of the discovery. Analysis of our data storage system shows only one individual gained access performed by the security researcher himself. We have been in communication with Chris and he has not shared or used the data inappropriately".

The users’ financial information is safe, though, and it said it will reset all passwords.

"Billing information is not transmitted or stored on any of our servers. We do not collect any sensitive personal information of our customers", the statement continues.

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

Photo credit: wk1003mike / Shutterstock
iPhone sales will decline in 2016

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 8:21pm CET par Anthony Spadafora

According to a recent report by Morgan Stanley, iPhone sales are set to drop for the first time ever in 2016.

An analyst at the firm named Katy Huberty, who worked on the report, is responsible for this prediction. She said that Morgan Stanley thinks that unit sales of the iPhone will decline by six percent during this fiscal year.

Apple has had tremendous success with the iPhone brand since its beginning. The company has seen sales of the phones increase year over year since the launch of the original iPhone back in 2007 which sold 1.4 million units. Even the iPhone 5s was able to increase unit sales despite being an incremental release that did not revolutionize neither the OS nor the hardware.

In 2015, Apple was able to sell 231 million iPhones in part due to the success of the iPhone 6 and 6s. Morgan Stanley believes that this number will drop to 218 million in 2016. This would be a 5.7 percent drop in fiscal sales. Huberty had previously estimated a sales number of 247 million for the 2016 fiscal year.

The reason for this drop off in iPhone sales is due to higher prices on the international market and to the way in which smartphone adoption has tapered off now that most consumers who want an iPhone already have one or are planning on upgrading with the next release cycle. If Huberty’s prediction turns out to be true it could be quite damaging for Apple’s bottom line as iPhone sales account for more than two thirds of its total revenues and profits.

It is not surprising that iPhone sales might decrease after the tremendous success that Apple experienced with the iPhone 6. Since May, the company’s stock has declined from $132 per share to $113 where it is now.

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

Photo Credit: Wayne Williams
Microsoft releases Windows 10 Redstone Build 11082 to Insiders on the Fast ring

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 7:27pm CET par Wayne Williams

Having rolled out Threshold 2 under the guise of the November Update last month (and then removed and reinstated it shortly afterwards), Microsoft is now on the Redstone branch of Windows 10 development -- the next big update which will be pushed out to all users of its new operating system next year.

Build 11082 is now available for Windows Insiders on the Fast ring and Microsoft’s Gabe Aul introduced the new build saying:

With this build, you won’t see big noticeable changes or new features just yet. Right now, the team is focused on product improvements based on the feedback we’re hearing on the November update to Windows 10. This includes the changes that have also been going out as cumulative updates through Windows Update on your PCs running the Windows 10 November Update as well as on phones running Windows 10 too.

We’re also working on some structural improvements to OneCore, which is the shared core of Windows across devices. Essentially, OneCore is the heart of Windows, and these improvements to OneCore make building Windows across PC, tablet, phone, IoT, Hololens and Xbox more efficient. We’re doing some code refactoring and other engineering work to make sure OneCore is optimally structured for teams to start checking in new features and improvements in the new year.

As well as the new build, Microsoft announces it has taken the decision to ramp up the speed at which Insiders on the Fast ring receive new versions. In other words, the Fast ring actually will start living up to its name. Microsoft plans to pick up the pace from January, although the company warns this will likely result in buggier builds. If this doesn’t sound like it’s for you, you might want to consider switching to the Slow ring instead. You can change rings by going to Settings > Update & security and clicking the Advanced options link.

Photo credit: Stanislaw Mikulski / Shutterstock
Philips announces 23-inch 1080p monitor with integrated USB notebook docking station

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 7:03pm CET par Brian Fagioli
Notebooks are wonderful for their portability. I often use a laptop to work in my car, coffee shop -- heck, anywhere really. When at home, however, I like to interact with a large monitor, keyboard and mouse. While I can connect multiple peripherals with USB, and a display with HDMI, this can result in a huge mess of wires. Docking stations can help remedy this, and there are many such options on the market.

Today, Philips announces a very interesting new product that takes the docking station a step further. You see, it is a computer monitor with an integrated docking station. By connecting a single USB 3.0 cable, you can transmit video and audio, plus utilize USB peripherals and gigabit Ethernet.

"The innovative notebook docking display lets you expand your viewing workspace, keep peripherals connected and access the internet, all with a single SuperSpeed USB cable. The monitor is designed for people who work on-the-go but need a monitor they can easily plug into when a bigger screen is required, either at home or at work by offering easy port replication for any notebook. Especially suitable for latest Ultra book-type devices with limited connectors, this display with built-in USB 3.0 hub, Ethernet, and stereo speakers enables you to transmit video, audio, and connect to internet or intranet directly with a single cable USB connection. This eliminates the strain of cumbersome resolution adjustments or messy cables", says Philips.

The company further says, "serving as the ultimate 'home-base' solution for business travelers who frequently work on their laptop, the Philips Brilliance LED-backlit LCD monitor lets you access peripherals and a full-sized keyboard and mouse via a single USB cable to improve productivity. The SmartErgoBase offers height, swivel, tilt and rotation angle adjustments to position the monitor for maximum comfort to ease the physical strains of a long workday, while cable management reduces cable clutter and keeps the workspace neat and professional".

If you are interested, the monitor (231P4QUPEB) is available now for $349. This is rather reasonable for a 1080p display with an integrated dock. I can see this being a wonderful solution for road warriors that occasionally work at a desk -- both at home and in an office building. Unfortunately, it does not offer HDMI or DisplayPort as alternatives to USB -- only analog VGA.

Will you buy it? Check out the specs below and tell me in the comments.
- LCD panel type: IPS LCD
- Backlight type: W-LED system
- Panel Size: 23 inch / 58.4 cm
- Effective viewing area: 509.18 x 286.41 mm
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- Optimum resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz
- Brightness: 250 cd/m²
- USB: USB 2.0 x 1, USB 3.0 x 2
- Signal Input: USB 3.0 upstream, analog VGA
- Audio In/Out: through USB
- RJ45: through USB, 1Gbps
VMware backs out of Virtustream venture, leaving EMC on its own

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 6:43pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

VMware, the US cloud software company, said it will not participate in the joint venture cloud services Virtustream with its parent company EMC.

The announcement was made in a recent regulatory filling, which you can read here.

"VMware announced that it will not be participating in the formation of the Virtustream Cloud Services Business previously announced by EMC and VMware on October 20, 2015", it says in the filing.

The pull-out is most likely linked with the recent acquisition deal under which Dell would buy EMC for $67 billion, thus gaining control over VMWare’s shares. As part of the deal, a VMware tracking stock is being constructed and Dell would offer up to 50 percent of Dell’s shares on the stock market. VMware investors were unhappy with all this and the stock price has fallen.

Eight days after that deal was announced, EMC and VMware announced plans to create Virtustream as a 50-50 venture, Re/Code said in a report, adding that the Virtustream has been blamed for contributing to a 25 percent decline in the value of VMware shares during the last two months.

Virtustream was expected to record a $200 million to $300 million loss in 2016, The Register reported.

"Virtustream was going to result in a, roughly, $200M to $300M non-GAAP hit to the bottom line for VMware in 2016, and this remains one of the more “head scratching” moves we have seen recently across the tech space", Daniel Ives with FBR & Co told the Barron’s blog.

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

Image Credit: Creativa Images / Shutterstock
LG's new Gram 15 is the lightest 15-inch laptop

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 5:11pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

Even though CES 2016 is not for another month, LG today announced some of the products that it will showcase at the upcoming consumer electronics trade show. Among them is Gram 15, which is claimed to be the "lightest 15-inch laptop in the world".

But just how light is it? LG says that Gram 15 only weighs 980 grams, or 2.16 lbs. To put things into perspective, it is considerably lighter than Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, and more than twice as light as the 15-inch version of aforementioned laptop.

On top of its lightweight credentials, Gram 15 is also expected to be no bigger than a "conventional 14-inch laptop", according to LG. The Windows 10 device has a 15.6-inch display, however. It is powered by sixth-generation Intel Core processors.

LG has not provided any information concerning availability or pricing, as such details are likely reserved for CES 2016, where it will also showcase a number of monitors, ultra-wide and 4K-enabled.

The most interesting monitor of the group is the 34-inch 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor (model number 34UC98), which is curved and equipped with Thunderbolt 2. Its IPS panel offers a resolution of 3,440 by 1,440, and supports AMD's gaming-oriented FreeSync technology.

Also worth mentioning is a 27-inch UltraHD (4K) display (model number 27UD88), which is equipped with USB Type-C (USB 3.0-enabled). What's interesting about it is that LG says users will be able to use that port to hook up their laptops, and other devices, to the monitor; the port can also be used for charging.
What will 2016 bring for the cloud?

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 5:11pm CET par Jason Deck

For almost a decade, each year has been dubbed "the year of the cloud". As the cloud continues to mature and more enterprises further their cloud adoption plans, it seems only natural that 2016 will indeed be (another) "year of the cloud".

But as our understanding of the cloud matures, so does the complexity of the conversation. Here are several predictions for how the cloud conversation will evolve in 2016:

More Enterprise Cloud Adoption, Datacenter Consolidation

As we have seen this year, more enterprises are moving all-in to the public cloud and "consolidating" (i.e., closing) datacenters, and we expect to see more of this -- much more. After watching enterprises as large and diverse as GE, the Department of Justice and Nordstrom move to AWS in 2015, enterprise adoption will continue to accelerate and existing Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers will continue to move more workloads to the cloud and AWS. Driving this shift is the growth in number of change agents inside enterprises -- which now usually includes the CTO or CIO.

Security is still a hot topic – but no longer is a barrier

Discussions are no longer focused on the security of the cloud, but how to optimize for security in the cloud. Cloud security best practices have been maturing over the years, and will become more standardized as businesses use cloud tools to approach security from a different perspective: building encryption and security best practices into every aspect of the environment, not merely relying on firewalls and monitoring tools that get tacked on at the end. In industries that still hold to the principle that the "server in the closet" is more secure than the cloud, greater education about web security vs. physical security will topple the final defenses in 2016.

Continued cloud competition, but at a high cost

In 2015, we saw the first wave of cloud closures from companies that could not compete with cloud giants AWS and Microsoft. HP and several regional competitors like Ninecloud have bowed out of the cloud race, and in 2016, more will follow suit. However, several big-name late-comers will enter the race or acquire companies with cloud capabilities to attempt to capture a chunk of the market, i.e. Oracle and Dell-EMC. Unfortunately, we predict a messy future for these cloud rookies next year.

Higher expectations from cloud customers

Three years ago, the main driver of cloud adoption was low cost of compute. In 2016, enterprise customers are better educated about the true cost and agility benefits of the cloud, and they expect a wider variety of services with detailed intelligence about how those services aid their team’s day-to-day cloud maintenance efforts. The market is becoming less price sensitive to the cost of the utility, and starting to realize the benefits of fully abstracted, automated, interconnected layers in their stack. In 2016, cloud adoption will continue to grow because of its sophisticated capabilities and the players that educate customers on these benefits (and not just cost) will win.

"Hybrid cloud" will be a transition, not a long term solution

For many years, hybrid cloud has meant many things to different companies, mostly as a result of marketing hype. As more enterprises actually go through the cloud migration process, they will realize that hybrid cloud describes where they are today -- a mix of on-premises and cloud systems -- but is not necessarily where they want to be in three years or even three months. Hybrid cloud is no longer a final solution or a long term fix—it is an intermediate, medium-term state. Additionally, the idea that a single, large systems should span multiple cloud and on-premise environments will remain cost-prohibitive and overly complicated for most enterprise customers.

The rise of DevSecOps

DevSecOps -- or security automation -- is beginning to rise in popularity as a way to manage security and compliance on the cloud. This movement will be universally beneficial to enterprises and startups alike. Security and compliance tend to lag behind technological innovations, and 2016 will be the year when the basic principles of DevSecOps, including reduced manual security work and automated network templates, gain mainstream credibility. Security is every engineer’s responsibility, not just the responsibility of an isolated cybersecurity team, and automation "builds in" security to cloud resources. This also results in additional efficiencies; one DevSecOps engineer can control most of what multiple engineers (network, storage, etc.) used to manage.

What do you think will be the biggest cloud trend in 2016? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: leolintang/Shutterstock

Jason Deck is VP of strategic development for Logicworks and is responsible for Strategic Alliances, Product Development, Marketing, and Corporate Development. Jason leads his team with data-driven approach to identify our market’s challenges, and to develop a comprehensive suite of solutions for our clients. Prior to Logicworks, Jason held sales and business development roles at Brocade Communications and Cisco Systems. He earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA from Columbia University.
Hillstone adds extra security layer for AWS customers

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 5:01pm CET par Ian Barker

When moving applications to the cloud it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that security can safely be left to the provider.

For Amazon Web Services customers there's now an extra layer of security on offer from Hillstone Networks. Hillstone CloudEdge is deployed as an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) gateway to provide an additional layer of security protection.

It integrates with multiple security services, including firewall security, application visibility and identification, VPN, IPS, QoS, SLB, and attack protection, to ensure security for cloud deployments.

"Hillstone CloudEdge provides strong security protection for various cloud environments," says Lingling Zhang, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development of Hillstone Networks. "Our customers want easy-to-use solutions that are available for immediate purchase and deployment. The introduction of Hillstone's CloudEdge demonstrates our focus on offering comprehensive security solutions that power and promote the customer business".

Features include dedicated cloud security isolation, all traffic flowing across the Amazon VPC is inspected and unauthorized access attempts are prevented based on user and application identification and control.

Hillstone supports Amazon VPC service maintenance through the integration of a snapshot backup of CloudEdge, enabling rapid restoration of virtual firewall services with the most current configuration, in the event of an appliance failure or system crash. It also provides control based on applications, offers comprehensive reports on Amazon VPC traffic, and helps AWS users achieve the lowest cost for network security.

Firewall protection includes north-south traffic inspection to provide the VPC network with dedicated security isolation via policy and granular access control, plus QoS, VPN, IPS and server load balancing to guarantee business continuity.

Standards-based site-to-site VPN connections can be established between the corporate local network, branches and the AWS virtual service. In addition server load balancing helps businesses establish an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance.

You can find more information about CloudEdge on the Hillstone website.

Image Credit: Maksim Kabakou/Shutterstock
Microsoft is working on bridges to get your apps to Windows 10

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 5:00pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Microsoft launched Windows 10 this past summer and it has, mostly, had a good reaction from users. After Windows 8 there really was no direction to go but up. Of course any platform needs apps to survive, and Windows 10 is no exception.

In order to expedite the influx of new apps and websites, Microsoft is building bridges. That is literally the name for it. The company wants developers to move their apps into its new ecosystem and it has already launched bridges for iOS and hosted web apps.

Microsoft's Sascha Corti claims that "A Windows Bridge for Classic Windows Apps, the Mobilize.net Silverlight Bridge and a Windows Bridge for Android" are on the way.

The existing iOS Bridge is an open-source project and you can download from GitHub. You'll also need Visual Studio to get going, but it too is free and Microsoft points out that you can get it here.

This is, of course, geared towards developers, so you'll need some skills to do it. As Microsoft points out you will need to "Import your Xcode project into Visual Studio by using the vsimporter tool included with the SDK".
New breach detection solution alerts enterprises to insider threats

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 4:28pm CET par Ian Barker

For enterprises and government departments the biggest threats can often come from within the organization rather than outside it.

Detecting these insider threats can be difficult which is why security company Eastwind Breach Detection is launching a new platform that uses rich data, behavioral analytics, and threat intelligence to pinpoint anomalous behaviors even before they're classified as breaches.

"Government and enterprise IT professionals today fight a complicated battle," says Paul Kraus, CEO and founder of Eastwind Breach Detection. "Between API-driven apps, distributed work teams, and a global army of hackers that never sleeps, black hats constantly find new and creative ways to break into networks. Eastwind arms security teams with an intelligent defense: a way to reliably detect hackers in the network before they act".

By storing and mining more than a year's worth of rich network metadata, Eastwind can examine not only current network conditions, but continually analyze historical data against updated threat sources to find breaches that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

A customizable set of dashboards displays suspicious activity, such as pings by known malicious IPs, while a brief weekly summary of activity and network health saves users the time needed to compile the big picture themselves.

It can be deployed on private clouds with custom data enrichments, lookup rules, and custom application scanning. It can also monitor network activity for other purposes, such as acceptable use policy enforcement and compliance. Eastwind can also detect the possible transmission of stolen data such as payment details. Smart alerts mean fewer false positives allowing admins more time to investigate real issues.

Gregg Frohman, VP of Business Development at Eastwind points out, "Protecting the perimeter remains critical to a defense-in-depth strategy. However, we read daily how these solutions alone are getting thwarted by ever-changing tactics. Pre-breach prevention and post-breach detection go hand-in-hand, and we are partnering with a growing number of end-point protection providers to increase each other's overall effectiveness".

You can find more information on Eastwind Breach Detection and sign up for a free trial on the company's website.

Image Credit: Andrea Danti/Shutterstock
Build native iOS and Android protoypes with Pixate Studio

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 3:16pm CET par Mike Williams

Designing mobile apps is always going to be difficult, but there are ways to make life easier -- and building a prototype of your interface is a good place to start.

Pixate Studio is a capable prototyping platform which allows designers to create 100 percent native prototypes of mobile apps, without the need to write any code.

While some prototypers are just about linking static screens, Pixate focuses on individual pages. You’re able to add images representing various parts of the interface, then combine them, organize them in layers, add animations, define interactions (drags, taps, pinches, scrolls etc) and more.

There’s real power and depth here, and the best way to find out just how much is to see it for yourself. Check out Pixate’s Demos page, choose an app type, click "View Demo" and videos will show you just how sophisticated your mockups can be.

These samples aren’t just intended to sell the product, either. Each demo page also has links where you can download that test app, view and modify it however you like.

Pixate’s other major plus point is that it generates 100% native prototypes, rather than trying to emulate a mobile device on your desktop.

Essentially you design your prototype on the desktop, and as you save any changes, so they’re synced to your iOS and/ or Android device in real time.

This means you’ll need a mobile device to preview anything, of course, and you’ll also need to install the relevant Android or iOS app.

But it also means you’ll get the best possible opportunity to test and try out your design, without having to write any code at all.

While Pixate Studio is now free (it was $150 before Google purchased the company earlier this year), there is a commercial cloud storage service available. Pay $5/ month or $50/ year per designer and you’re able to store your prototypes online and share them with others.

Pixate Studio is a free application for Windows 7 and later.
BUFFERZONE launches advanced threat protection for Windows 10

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 3:12pm CET par Ian Barker

Employee use of email and web browsers is still one of the most common ways that businesses suffer from cyber attacks, which underlines the need for effective protection.

Endpoint security specialist BUFFERZONE is announcing its product's support for Windows 10 to protect organizations upgrading to the latest OS from advanced threats, zero-day attacks, drive-by downloads and phishing scams.

BUFFERZONE's technology works by isolating internet applications in a secure, virtual container which prevents employees from inadvertently downloading malware and putting the organization at risk. It prevents malware from reaching the endpoint by running browsers, email and other internet applications, as well as removable media, in their own virtual environment. Threats are contained rather than relying on detection process that may not be 100 percent accurate, protecting the endpoint from infection and helping to guard the rest of the network.

"The most vulnerable party in information security today is the user endpoint, making the extra layer of protection increasingly necessary," says Israel Levy, CEO of BUFFERZONE. "We are happy to provide BUFFERZONE support for Windows 10 to meet the pressing need for advanced protection from malware, including ransomware, drive-by downloads, and phishing scams".

More information on BUFFERZONE's endpoint solutions for business is available on the company's website.

Photo credit: Anton Watman / Shutterstock
Amazon selling illegal weapons in the UK

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 1:49pm CET par Wayne Williams
Unlike the US, the UK has tight firearms and offensive weapons laws designed to prevent easy access to guns, stun guns, knuckledusters, bladed items and so on.

However, an investigation by the Guardian has discovered that Amazon UK is selling banned and dangerous weapons in contravention of the law, and will even cheerfully gift-wrap them for you.

The newspaper successfully managed to test-purchase three illegal items:
- A pistol that fires a jet of high-strength pepper spray at 112mph
- A 1m-volt stun gun disguised as a torch
- A baseball cap containing a hidden stabbing knuckleduster in its peak
While the stun gun and bladed baseball cap came from third-party sellers, the pepper spray pistol was sold directly by Amazon.co.uk and dispatched from the company’s warehouse just outside Milton Keynes.

The Guardian also found a large number of other illegal weaponry for sale on Amazon's UK site.

Upon being alerted to the presence of the items, Amazon removed them from its website immediately, and issued the following statement:

All [Amazon] sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The products in question are no longer available.

The retail giant didn’t comment on the fact it was the seller of the pepper spray gun.

Image Credit: Hadrian / Shutterstock
New DaaS platform aims to boost B2B marketing performance

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 1:05pm CET par Ian Barker

Marketers are always keen to understand customer purchase intentions. But whilst there are many tools aimed at building consumer intelligence can business to business organizations benefit too?

Washington DC based True Influence thinks so and is launching a new data-as-a-service solution called InsightBASE, which monitors and curates online behavioral signals. It aims to allow B2B marketers to engage with prospects even before they directly identify themselves as being in the market.

"The B2B buying journey begins with online research," says Brian Giese, CEO of True Influence. "With InsightBASE, marketers now have the entirely new B2B capability of monitoring visits to third-party B2B websites. It provides a new view and a new opportunity that marketers never had access to before, and marketers are enjoying an average improvement of 400 percent in campaign conversion results".

InsightBASE works by monitoring online activity by individuals visiting business websites from their corporate domains, capturing the web pages visited and the content of those pages. Comparing the activity level of target companies over time allows the software to identify surges in interest using select keywords.

The intelligence can be integrated with a company's existing CRM or marketing automation systems such as Oracle Eloqua, Marketo, and Salesforce, allowing marketers to launch campaigns automatically and target companies that meet a certain interest level criteria.

The information can be used to accurately target display advertising on websites and in trade publications. It can also enable the sending of timely, targeted email marketing.

InsightBASE uses a subscription pricing model based on the number of accounts monitored. More information is available on the True Influence website.

Image Credit: donskarpo / Shutterstock
Removing the IT roadblock to selecting business technology [Q&A]

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 11:09am CET par Ian Barker

Choosing software and cloud solutions for business is a difficult task and getting it wrong can have serious consequences. We've all heard horror stories about money being wasted on systems that either don't deliver or are left unused.

So, how can organizations make better decisions on systems purchases? We spoke to Venkat Devraj, CEO of technology selection specialist, SelectHub, to find out.

BN: There's a perpetual tug-of-war between business managers and IT departments when it comes to technology selections -- who should take the lead?

VD: Your question highlights a key issue for IT in many organizations: are they seen as a helpful, strategic partner or just a roadblock? How many end-users and business unit leaders view IT as a trusted advisor -- someone who understands their pain and more importantly, is ready to do something about it in a reasonable time frame? Engaging with IT often means imposing a drawn-out process comprising service desk tickets, questionnaires--and sitting through meetings with IT personnel who rarely share the sense of business urgency.

BN: So you're saying avoid the IT department whenever possible?

VD: For the sake of your technology investments, it's not advisable to bypass your IT department. However, regardless of who's initiating the selection or leading the project, for IT to be brought into the loop early and often, it needs to act as a strategic facilitator rather than a control group.

Rather than being obsessed with arcane concepts such as architectural compatibility and relying on archaic selection tools such as Word docs and Google spreadsheets, they need to evolve the underlying process with a prescriptive workflow which can be driven by end-users in self-service mode. This involves a major rethinking of the way IT typically operates -- if they want to remain relevant and provide real business value to their organizations.

BN: How does IT reinvent itself to become more relevant?

VD: IT needs to be relentless in eliminating administrative overhead and make its presence felt as an agile service broker and a provider of relevant market context to help the business units make the right decision. Some progressive organizations are already going down this path via a disciplined Technology Selection Management (TSM) methodology.

In our experience working with over 2,000 IT selection projects across a variety of industries and company sizes, any notion of cookie-cutter selection approach does not work. In these complex events, the overall process needs to be separated into a sequence of steps such as functional requirements gathering, technical requirements gathering, vendor/product short-listing, and all validation steps -- right through to financial due diligence, and contract negotiation. Each step should be viewed discretely and led by project managers from IT or end-user business units, depending on the scope of that step and the net beneficiaries.

Expecting a single group to represent and lead the entire process results in various incorrect assumptions and compromises being made, which ultimately jeopardize the success of that investment.

BN: Has the rise of the cloud changed the procurement landscape, allowing line managers to bypass IT for example?

VD: Yes, and we are seeing it grow at a non-linear pace. In 2013, when we first launched, we saw over 90 percent of our users were IT personnel. Now that percentage has come down to 50 percent, with over 40 percent of projects completely bypassing IT -- IT is not even a passive stakeholder in the process!

BN: How can the process ensure that security and compliance requirements are met?

VD: When offering technology selection as a service within their organization, IT should seed the TSM workflow with their security, compliance and architectural requirements upfront so it doesn't become an afterthought.

Other control groups such as finance and procurement can do the same thing by incorporating vendor due diligence and contractual requirements based on specific parameters such as scope of purchase, departments being impacted and size of budget.

BN: With all these pre-set requirements, aren't we back to IT being a roadblock?

VD: Quite the opposite. By building those requirements right into the process backbone, end-users are not held hostage to IT and finance personnel not being available to vet the process thus eliminating latency and re-work. Any selection event initiated by end-users would seamlessly encompass relevant functional and technical criteria that are uniformly applicable to a project of that kind.

BN: Do senior managers need to adjust their mindset to take account of hybrid and cloud environments?

VD: End users primarily care about functionality and time to value. Cloud-based deployments shrink implementation time lines and operational costs significantly. So there is a great deal of migration happening to the cloud. Gartner has predicted that on-premise software will decline from 34 percent last year to 18 percent by 2017. Given that the cloud has become the first choice for deploying applications, it will continue to disrupt the traditional stodgy technology selection processes that IT and procurement managers have relied on, creating a greater urgency to evolve towards an agile TSM practice.

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Microsoft Office 365 now offers a project management app

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 11:08am CET par Alasdair Gilchrist
Microsoft has announced the release of a preview and testing version of its new lightweight project management application -- Planner.

The application -- originally codenamed Highlander -- was released for initial evaluation to those customers who have one of the following Microsoft licenses:
- Office 365 Enterprise E1,
- Office 365 Enterprise E3,
- Office 365 Enterprise E4,
- Office 365 Enterprise E5,
- Office 365 Education
- Office 365 Education E3,
- Office 365 Education E4,
- Office 365 Business Essentials
- Office 365 Business Premium
Administrators who have any one of these packages can set up Planner and Microsoft hopes the initial preview release will be available to all first release customers worldwide in the next few weeks.

Microsoft Planner, is a lightweight version of Microsoft’s Project, and integrates with Office 365 groups. Each new plan created within Planner automatically will create a new 365 group. Similarly, each existing 365 group will be assigned its own associated plan.

This is just the latest addition to Microsoft’s first release program, which allows customers to designate some of their users to get an early release version of Microsoft products for evaluation and testing purposes. Previous offerings in the early release program, were Sharepoint Online and OneDrive for Business which were later added to the Office 365 package.

A similar program is also in place for those customers who have Office 365 ProPlus and Office 365 Business subscriptions. Microsoft will now offer these customers an early release program of the early builds of the Office Client.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
Like Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge is still pushing people away

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 10:38am CET par Mark Wilson

Microsoft must have hoped that in walking away from Internet Explorer and moving towards Edge it could successfully shake off its reputation for producing terrible web browsers. There's a joke that everyone has used Internet Explorer at some point, even if it's just once to download Firefox or Chrome; sadly for Microsoft, it seems the trend continues.

The launch of Windows 10 provided an opportunity to attract a new audience to Microsoft Edge -- but people are still jumping ship. It's likely that Edge's continued lack of extension support is partly to blame, but usage stats from numerous analysts paint the same picture: Edge is tanking.

Even looking at just the last three months, Edge's usage numbers have been in sharp decline both in the US and globally. Different analysts provide slightly differing figures, but there is definite agreement on the general downward trend. With the numbers suggesting that in the last few months Edge has lost up to 10 percent of its user base, Microsoft will be unhappy with the news.

Computerworld has produced a graph based on data from Net Applications, StatCounter, and DAP, all of which agree that Microsoft Edge is shedding users like a lizard stepping out of its skin.

Perhaps this analysis will make Microsoft reconsider the wisdom of releasing what is clearly an unfinished product.

Photo credit: Johavel / Shutterstock
Ford Motor Company partners with 'Girls Who Code' to encourage female interest in STEM

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 2:12am CET par Brian Fagioli

When it comes to automobiles, I only buy from Ford. Why? Well, besides admiring the company's design and quality, I like supporting American companies when possible. In other words, I am interested in both American cars and that particular company.

My interest in cars might not be surprising to you, because I am a male, right? Well, if you really do agree with that statement, and think my gender made me predisposed to liking cars, shame on you. Unfortunately, it is that sort of gender-bias thinking that can deter girls from being interested in cars. Even worse, this sort of bias can negatively impact a girl's interest in STEM. If you are not familiar, that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. These are all things at which women are capable of excelling, but years of gender discrimination has caused society to push females away. Today, Ford Motor Company is partnering with 'Girls Who Code' to encourage female interest in STEM.

"Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford, will support the education and professional growth of Girls Who Code club members in Northern California, serving more than 180 young women in grades six to 12 in the Bay Area. The Ford Palo Alto team will provide mentorship and instruction to club members, and help them engage in hands-on experience at the company's Silicon Valley research lab", says Ford Motor Company.

The car manufacturer further explains, "women are especially underrepresented in the tech industry, making up just 18 percent of computer science graduates in the United States. That is down from 27 percent in 2001 and from 37 percent in 1984. The number of technology-related degrees awarded in the United States is rising, but men alone cannot meet the demand. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts jobs in tech fields will grow to more than 9 million by 2022 -- an increase of about 1 million jobs since 2012. Women must close the gap".

Many detractors of programs that focus on a single gender often claim that these programs themselves are discriminatory. To be honest, they are not necessarily wrong. However, when a certain group is recovering from oppression -- such as American women, who could not vote nationally until 1920 -- there needs to be an increased focus to counterbalance the prior bad acts. In other words, giving girls an increased focus could decrease the attention on boys, but it is simply to right prior wrongs.

Oppression aside, as per Ford above, there is a national interest in increasing female interest in STEM. Men alone will not be able to meet the USA's technology needs in the future -- these bright young women are the key to remaining competitive on the global stage. Part of the car manufacturer's interest is arguably selfish in this regard, but regardless of motivation, its contribution to 'Girls Who Code' is a great move that deserves applause.

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Facebook relaxes draconian real names policy. A bit.

Publié: décembre 16, 2015, 12:05am CET par Mark Wilson

The real names debate on Facebook is long-running and highly polarizing. Views fall into one of two camps: that people should be able to use whatever name they want on the social network, or that Facebook is free to impose whatever restrictions it wants. For supporters of the latter opinion, there is only really one argument -- Facebook can do what it likes.

But for those of the opposing view, there are countless -- well, several, at least -- reasons for scrapping the rule. Facebook has not performed a complete 180 yet, but the social network has today announced a couple of small, but important, changes to its naming policy. Following an earlier change to policy, Facebook says it wants to make things easier for those who belong to ethnic minorities, or who identify as "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer".

Before you get too excited at the prospect of being able to call yourself whatever you want, the real names policy is not disappearing. Rather, Facebook is making it easier for people to explain the 'special circumstances' which justifies them using something other than their birth name -- 'their unique situation', as Facebook puts it. The social network says:

We require people to use the name their friends and family know them by. When people use the names they are known by, their actions and words carry more weight because they are more accountable for what they say. It also makes it harder for bullies to anonymously smear the reputations of others, or anyone else to use an anonymous name to harass, scam or engage in criminal behavior.

We’re firmly committed to this policy, and it is not changing. However, after hearing feedback from our community, we recognize that it’s also important that this policy works for everyone, especially for communities who are marginalized or face discrimination. That’s why we’re continuing to make improvements in this area.

In a bid to cut bureaucracy and discourage unnecessary name confirmations, Facebook is asking for people reporting accounts for not using a real name to provide additional information about 'fake' accounts. But more importantly, Facebook is introducing a new tool for people to put across their side of the story if they are called on to verify their name.

This is not the end of the chances. In 2016, there are plans to further reduce the number of people who have to go through the name verification process, although no details have been provided about just what this will involve.

In the meantime, the tools and changes announced today are being tested on a small scale in the US on mobile and desktop platforms.

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