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Xiaomi Mi4c: Awesome Android smartphone that doesn't break the bank [Review]

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 10:59pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

These days you do not have to spend much to get a good smartphone. Using a Xiaomi Mi4c as my daily driver for the past couple of weeks has made it clear that you can get an impressive handset for just around $200. It is the sort of smartphone that makes you believe that you can have your cake and eat it too -- its specs read like those of some flagships while its price is similar to that of more affordable mid-rangers.

The software is pretty nice as well. Unlike some other interpretations of Android, Xiaomi's MIUI looks good and adds some worthwhile changes that overall add up to a solid user experience. Now, let's take a closer look at Mi4c.

First off, let's go through the specs: 5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1,080 by 1920; hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor (four 1.44 GHz Cortex A53 cores and two 1.82 GHz Cortex A57 cores); Adreno 418 graphics; 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM (and 16 GB or 32 GB of storage, respectively); 3,080 mAh battery; 13 MP camera with f/2.0 lens and dual LED flash; 5 MP front camera with f/2.0 lens; dual SIM support; Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.1; USB Type-C port; Android 5.1.1 Lollipop-based MIUI 7; dimensions: 138.1 x 69.6 x 7.8 mm (5.44 x 2.74 x 0.31 in); weight of 132 g (4.66 oz).

Exterior Design and Build Quality

Mi4c is a nice-looking smartphone, with a clean design all around. There are two discreet MI logos, one on the front and the other on the back, but other than that there's nothing that screams "Xiaomi".

There is a glass panel which covers the frontal area, with only a single cutout for the ear piece. The back of Mi4c is made out of plastic. The version that I have received for review is white; there are other color options available, including a metal gray.

On the bottom half there are small cutouts for the speaker, and the camera is positioned in the upper left corner. The dual LED flash sits to its left.

There are two buttons on the right side, one for adjusting the volume and the other for locking/unlocking the device. On the opposite side is the SIM tray. There is no microSD card slot here, however. The USB Type-C connector is at the bottom. On top of the device are the headphone jack and infrared port.

Build quality is excellent. There are no issues to report here. The smartphone is very well put together, the buttons have a lovely feel when pressed, and there are no strange gaps. The phone feels nice in the hand, and, due to its manageable size, is easy to use one-handed. My only gripe is that it can be a little slippery, but this is the case with so many smartphones these days.

Display

The display is certainly a standout feature of Mi4c when compared to other smartphones in this price range. It's a 5-inch IPS panel, which enables excellent viewing angles, and a resolution -- 1,080 by 1,920 -- that is high enough to offer a very good experience while watching videos or browsing.

Other than that, the display is also quite nice to look at. Icons look like they've been painted on the it, and colors look vivid. The display is bright enough outdoors, and the adaptive brightness feature reacts fairly quickly to changing lighting conditions.

How the display renders colors can be changed in the settings, to make them look warmer or cooler depending on your preference. Also, contrast can be boosted. There is also a reading mode that can be enabled to reduce glare. Mi4c allows you to double tap to wake the screen. The display turns on immediately after this gesture is performed.

Performance

Xiaomi has equipped Mi4c with a very fast processor. The Snapdragon 808 chip that is used here is a high-end offering that can also be seen in LG's G4 for instance, which is paired with 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM, depending on the configuration. The version that I have been testing has 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, but for a little extra you can get the model with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage -- it's recommended if you store more files on your smartphone although some folks can easily get by with the base version.

As you might imagine, the processor allows Mi4c to perform very well in day to day tasks. Navigation through the UI is fluid, apps open quickly, and there is generally no noticeable lag. What matters most is that it's quick to respond to the touch, which is quite impressive for such an affordable Android device. Honestly speaking, there's not much that separates it from a current-generation flagship.

The amount of RAM is on the tight side for multitasking, but you can always easily clean the memory when the need calls for it: open the recents menu, hit the "x" button and all your apps are now closed. With no apps open I had nearly 1 GB of RAM at my disposal, after the OS had taken its fair share. I rarely felt the need to use the memory cleaner feature.

Camera

Having good cameras is extremely important these days, as more and more people are looking at smartphones to capture the most important moments in their lives. Fortunately, Mi4c is equipped with two high-resolution shooters, a 13 MP one on the back and a 5 MP sensor on the front. They look good on paper, but how good are the images that come out?

Mi4c produces good looking photos with both cameras in good-to-average lighting conditions. There is plenty of detail for my taste, and the images are more than adequate for sharing on social media if that's your cup of tea. I like the color reproduction, the noise is kept in check, and, generally, things look nice. There are no focusing issues to report, which is good. Same goes for video.

In video mode, you can record slow-motion video, and use continuous auto-focus or tap to focus. There is no 4K support, but, again, that's not really a downside in this case.

Where the main camera suffers is in poor lighting conditions. That is to be expected, as there is no optical image stabilization here. At this price point, this is not really a major complaint, however. That said, you can get some pretty decent results in some scenarios, as long as you've got steady hands.

The front-facing camera is also good -- for a front-facing camera that is. I am no fan of selfies, but I did enjoy snapping photos with it. If you want to share them on social media, you will be fine with the quality.
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Xiaomi also did well when it comes to the software. The camera app is very easy to use, and there are plenty of settings to configure if you so choose. There are also filters you can apply on the fly, and different modes to shoot in (like a fisheye mode).

There's nothing missing there, and I am sure that most people will be fine with the default settings anyway. More knowledgeable users can play around in manual mode, but I think the default auto is what most folks will want to use.

Battery Life

I am the sort of smartphone user who likes to keep every feature that I may need enabled, so I never turn off the location services or dim the screen to save battery life. I also have a significant number of apps syncing data in the background, like Outlook with three email accounts configured and eight social media and communication apps. Also, all of my photos and videos get automatically uploaded to two storage services, Google Drive and OneDrive.

Keeping all that in mind, I am quite pleased with the battery life that I'm getting with Mi4c. It gets me through the day, with a few hours of actual usage. I tend to charge it every 24 hours, and that is on a 4G LTE network. I haven't tested the dual SIM capability, so I cannot say how much it will last when hooked up to two cellular networks, but I am pleased with the results I have been seeing. Wi-Fi is always used at home for Internet connectivity, but I only rely on my carrier's network when I head out

Since we are on the matter of battery life, I should note that MIUI offers a battery saver mode, which I have set up to kick in at 15 percent battery left. You can customize how aggressive it is by creating your own mode to default to at a certain percentage or use one of Xiaomi's pre-defined modes.

It's worth noting that Mi4c support Quick Charge 2.0, so its battery can be topped quickly with a wall charger.

I have also been offered to test a Xiaomi-branded external pocket battery. It offers 6,250 mAh at 5.1V, which should allow you to charge Mi4c twice from zero. It's small, so it can easily be carried in a jacket pocket or in a bag. This one can be had for $11.89 at the time of writing this article.

MIUI 7

MIUI 7 may be based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, but it is quite different to what you see on a Nexus device. Like other Android makers, Xiaomi has chosen to add its own set of customizations to the operating system, but they're not your typical tweaks.

The first difference between MIUI 7 and other custom Android distributions that you will notice is that there is no app drawer. All your apps are on the homescreen, which is an iOS-esque approach. I personally don't mind it, as you can customize where everything is anyway so the apps that you don't want to see can be easily moved to a folder or another homescreen.

If you want to use another launcher, you can do that. Changing the launcher is a simple way to enable the app drawer, as I have learned by installing the Google Now launcher. You can easily switch back if you want to.

Another notable difference is that the settings menu is organized differently, although you will find everything that you expect to see in a typical Android settings menu there. Speaking of it, let's talk a bit about some of the features that stand out.

One of them is a permissions manager which allows you to configure individual permissions for each app that you install. It's very easy to use and very helpful if you want to control what your apps are able to do. For instance, I've used it to block location access for all my social apps -- take that, Facebook!

MIUI 7 also has a default apps section where you can choose what app you want to use for, say, email or browsing. This makes it easier to switch to a different default app compared to stock Android.

In terms of customization, Xiaomi makes it easy to download new ringtones from the settings menu, use a different theme, and change the system font and its size, among other things. It's a different approach to what Google has in mind, but I quite like it.

In some aspects, you can't help but feel that MIUI 7 wants to take some the best things about iOS and bring them to Android. For instance, app notifications can all be configured from the same place with fine control over them: you can choose whether badges can be enabled, if notifications can show up on the lockscreen, and much more.

There's an iCloud-like Mi account which allows you to sync contacts, messages, photos, call history, notes, and calendar, among other things, and even find your device. It also enables an iMessage-like Mi Message service, which enables free messages among Xiaomi users. This is a nice touch, no doubt.

Since I have mentioned the infrared port earlier, I should say that there is an accompanying Mi Remote app which lets you control all sorts of devices using a Mi4c. There are lots and lots of brands supported in each category.

The Mi Remote app isn't the only Xiaomi-made app that's preloaded, as you also have apps for browsing, listening to music, watching videos, voice recording, managing files, and more. There's pretty much everything you need out-of-the-box, though I assume many will want to turn to Google Play for their favorite titles anyway.

Other Impressions

At the time of writing this article, Xiaomi does not officially sell Mi4c outside of China. The only reason why this matters is that there is no global ROM officially available for it. Devices that are sold right now through retailers may have Play Store pre-loaded, as in my case, but some may not. (However, Google Play can easily be installed using this app available on Xiaomi's forums.)

Luckily, Mi4c is modder-friendly. I have installed a couple of ROMs on it already; it's very easy to do so, if you've done this before on other smartphones. Xiaomi also appears to be quite open about this, which is nice. There's an unofficial global ROM available for Mi4c from Xiaomi.eu, which might make up for the lack of an official one at least in the eyes of experienced users.

Also worth mentioning is the speaker on the back of Mi4c. Its positioning may not be ideal, but, to my ears, it's the loudest smartphone speaker I have heard to date. I have never missed a call during my time with it. Also, sound quality during calls is very good.

Cellular reception has been strong everywhere I have used the smartphone, with no issues to report. Wi-Fi signal is also very good, and when connected to my ASUS RT-AC66U router link speed is over 700 Mbps.

Xiaomi has provided a USB Type C cable in the box, and, of course, a charger. Both are black. There are no headphones included, however, so you will have to supply your own. A pair of Xiaomi-branded headphones, in case this is what you are looking for, are reasonably priced at $12.49.

Well, How Much Does It Cost?

As I mentioned earlier, Xiaomi does not officially sell Mi4c outside of China. However, there are retailers which offer the handset internationally. We have received this review unit from GearBest, which has very competitive prices on all Xiaomi products. There, Mi4c can be had for as little as $224.98, at the time of writing this article, for the 16 GB model; if you want the 32 GB model it is also available, starting at $249.99. For either model, pricing depends on the color option and where it's being shipped from (those who live in the EU, for instance, can opt to have it shipped from an EU warehouse to avoid paying VAT and any other import fees).

Photo Credit: Mihaita Bamburic
Return of investment for cybersecurity: Can we put a number on it?

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 9:03pm CET par Ilia Kolochenko
Almost eight years ago, Bruce Schneier wrote a great article about the problems of ROI calculation for cybersecurity spending within organizations. Since then, both annual spending on cybersecurity and the cost of global cybercrime have significantly increased.

Despite that organizations increased their information security budgets by 24 percent in 2016, many security officers still have to justify to their management every extra thousand spent on cybersecurity. Traditionally, Europe is more conservative than US, and many more European security officers are asked to reduce their initial cybersecurity budgets by removing some items or replacing them with less expensive alternatives.

Businesses need to make money in order to pay salaries (including salaries of the cybersecurity team), so their point of view, based mainly on financial numbers, is pretty clear and reasonable. Nevertheless, if you prepare a well-explained justification for your cybersecurity budget using terminology and language understandable by management, your chances of getting the budget approved without modifications will at minimum double.

For example, let’s take a budget required to protect front-end of a midsize e-commerce website. To stay simple, we will not calculate the risks of chained attacks, such as Advanced Persistent Threats that are starting at vulnerable websites these days.

We will base our ROI calculations on direct financial loss prevention: if by spending $10 you can prevent a highly probable annual loss of $100, your management will happily allocate the $10. Often, the problem is to prove that you really need $10 (and not just $7 or $8) and that the risk(s) mitigated with the $10 really cause a highly probable $100 direct loss to the organization.

First, we need to calculate an ALE (Annual Loss Expectancy): an expected (approximate) financial loss caused by particular risks and threats (if not properly mitigated). We will use a simplified ALE formula from the official guide to CISSP-ISSMP:

ALE = (number of incidents per year) x (potential loss per incident)

In our case, the number of incidents per year can be reasonably set to 12, expecting one serious intrusion attempt via web front-end per month. We can obviously make it bigger, but don’t forget that we are preparing the budget for management who will be skeptical if you present them with numbers that look overstated.

Potential financial loss per incident is a bit trickier, as it consists of numerous factors and sub-factors. Cyber threats will now affect Moody’s ratings, however it’s a very subjective impact as it’s almost impossible to predict if a particular data breach will impact the rating. The same difficulty applies for reputational losses, stock options drop, and all other high-profile losses related to a data breach.

Therefore, we shall try to take an average cost per breach in our industry from a reputable source. For example, according to a recent study by Kaspersky Lab, the amount of financial loss suffered by SMEs averaged $38,000. In some cases, management may question such a "big" amount, therefore, we will need to take tangible and unavoidable incident costs and present them one by one to management in order to validate the amount. In the case of e-commerce web front-end, it’s pretty easy to identify at least some them:
- Cost of customer database and other sensitive information theft and exposure
- Cost of e-commerce portal unavailability during forensics and recovery
- Cost of third-party experts allocated to investigate and remediate the breach
- Cost of legal and compliance fines.
Obvious and easily calculable costs are related to PCI DSS compliance. If for example you have PCI merchant level 2, you will be "promoted" to level 1 in case of data breach with all the related costs. Costs related to third-party consultants are also simple to calculate, estimating that they will have to spend at least one week investigating the incident -- you already have at least $10,000.

For example, TalkTalk (due to the size of the business and the scale of hack) has lost about £35 million in total, and in comparison to them $38,000 looks very reasonable. Even a higher cost per incident comes from the 2015 Information Security Breaches Survey published by UK government and PwC, where the average cost of data breach for SMEs is between £75,000 and £310,800 ($112,000 and $466,200 respectively). But let’s come back to our modest $38,000 for our example and use it in our equation:

ALE = (number of incidents per year) X (potential loss per incident)

ALE = 12 X $38,000

ALE = $456,000

This is the amount a company should expect to lose per year if nothing is done to protect its web front-end. Of course, each new incident will aggravate the losses, but here we can omit this point.

The next step is to justify the money you are asking for. The easiest way to do so is to provide your management with the most efficient and effective solutions and products, carefully selected by the price/quality ratio. In order to protect the web front-end (I omit SDLC and all other costs related to secure development, maintenance and compliance) we typically need:
- Web Application Firewall -- despite that a WAF cannot protect from sophisticated attacks, it’s a great protection layer against bots and other malicious "noise", automated attacks and script-kiddies.
- Continuous vulnerability scanning and security monitoring solution -- what is secure today may become vulnerable tonight, and an annual penetration test will not detect it on time. Therefore, continuous security monitoring is extremely important.
- Regular manual or hybrid assessments involving third-party experts -- a good example is a critical RCE in Zen Cart, recently detected by High-Tech Bridge in the latest version of this popular e-commerce platform. The vulnerability is present only in the latest version, and was not detected by any of automated scanners prior to our discovery.
Estimating that a) + b) + c) will be $40,000 per year, we can come back to our equation and calculate ROI. We will take ROI formula from the official guide to CISSP-ISSMP:

ROI = (ALE / cost of countermeasures) X 100 percent

ROI = ($456,000 / $40,000) X 100 percent

ROI = 1140 percent

Even if such a huge ROI may be subjective from a purely technical point of view, it will definitely convince your management better than a long saga about the dangers of blind XSS attacks.

Robert Metcalf, a cybersecurity expert at PwC Switzerland, says: "Cybersecurity is about risk management and loss prevention, not just earnings and so any investment in security needs to demonstrate to the business that it is focused on defending what is of most value to the organization, its 'crown jewels'. How these key assets are then being targeted by threat actors can strongly indicate where you must invest the most and where your business reputation is also at stake".

If you speak with management about money -- speak their language and you will definitely get what you need.

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

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox
Microsoft is backing up your encryption keys in the cloud, but you can prevent this

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 9:01pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Microsoft, like many companies, ships some of its products with disk encryption and that's a good thing given the state of today's world. The vast majority of customers have nothing to hide, but they also don't wish to be watched by the prying eyes of governments and others.

However, it is being reported that the Windows maker is storing encryption keys in the cloud. While that doesn't necessarily mean a problem, it's also a bit scary because of the potential for what can go wrong -- a Murphy's Law scenario. This issue was first reported by The Intercept, which notes that your keys "may" be stored in the cloud -- not everyone's are.

As Business Insider points out, this isn't much of a concern for the average user, it simply means that if you get locked out of your system then you have recourse. However, some lines of work demand the utmost secrecy and that's where the problem lies. A journalist, such as Glenn Greenwald who broke the Edward Snowden story for instance, could be placed in jeopardy by something like this.

The good news is that for the security-minded there is an easy way to turn it off. Head to this website and log into your Microsoft account. You should now see a list of recovery keys and if you don't then you're safe. If you do see some keys you can choose to back them up locally and then delete the ones on Microsoft's server.

All of this is optional and people can make their own choice in the matter. Should you turn this function off? It really depends on your line of work and level of paranoia.

Photo Credit: Yabresse/Shutterstock
System76 Oryx Pro is the Ubuntu Linux gaming laptop of your dreams [Review]

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 7:21pm CET par Brian Fagioli
When you think of a gaming PC, two things probably come to mind -- Microsoft Windows and desktop computers. In other words, gamers don't typically target laptops for playing their favorite games, and even when some do, they will likely aim for Windows 7, 8, or 10. Thanks to Steam, however, Linux-based operating systems are a legitimate option for gaming.

If you want a Linux-based gaming laptop, your choices are slim. Yes, you can buy a Windows laptop and replace the operating system with Ubuntu or another OS, but that isn't the best experience. Ideally, you want a machine that was designed and sold with Linux in mind. Enter the Ubuntu-powered System76 Oryx Pro. This beast of a gaming laptop can be configured with some jaw-dropping specs. The one I have been testing features an Intel Skylake Core i7 processor, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, NVMe SSD and NVIDIA graphics, including G-SYNC. Are you salivating yet? Read on for more specs and my impressions.

Notable Specs ($2,317 as configured)
- Display: 15.6 inch 1080p matte IPS w/ G-SYNC
- Graphics: NVIDIA 980M w/ 8GB video RAM
- Processor: 3.5GHz Intel Skylake i7-6700HQ
- Memory: 32GB 2133MHz DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
- Storage: 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
- Wireless AC: Intel 8260
- Weight: 5.5 pounds
Unboxing

Impressions

As you can see from the video above, the laptop is beautiful. Upon taking it out of the box, I was immediately impressed by the design. The aluminum body feels extremely premium, which should make you feel confident about your purchase. It is obvious that much care went into the design; I love the many striking angles. It is clearly a gaming machine in its design, but not overly flashy like other game-focused laptops. It is elegant and mature, while also looking bad-ass.

Equally impressive is the number of ports. On the right side, there are audio ports, an SD card reader, two USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet and a Kensington lock hole. There is also a sim card slot, but it is non-functional -- sorry, folks, there is no cellular radio. On the left, there are two mini Display Ports, an HDMI port, and a USB 3.0 port. This can easily push multiple 4K displays.
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The rear is home to the power connector and an additional USB 3.0 port. This is extremely important to me, as I don't like to see wires. At home, on a desk, a USB 3.0 hub can easily be hidden behind it as a pseudo docking station. Many laptop manufacturers have stopped offering a rear port, meaning you have to have a hub and power cable hanging off the side. System76 gets it right here -- everything is so well thought out.

Opening up and powering up the laptop, I am presented with a beautiful backlit keyboard. Since this is a gaming laptop, the WASD keys are even marked with arrows -- useful for newbies. Because this is a 15 inch laptop, there is enough room for a number pad too. While I don't use the number pad, this is important to many people -- especially for those that may use this for a small business -- so it is appreciated. Most importantly, however, the keyboard is a dream to type on. The keys are solid and have a satisfying amount of depth. I can be confident as I type; it is rewarding.

Above the keyboard is branding that had me very excited -- Onkyo. Yes, the speakers are made by the famed audio hardware manufacturer. Guess what? They sound brilliant. Whether gaming, listening to music, or watching movies, audio is loud and crisp. While the bass is a bit lacking, it is still one of the most satisfying audio experiences I've had on a laptop. The speakers are even angled towards the user for optimal positioning.

Speaking of audio, there is something else audible -- the fan. A few people have asked me if the fan is loud, and the answer is no. It is not loud, but it can be heard in a quiet setting. In other words, if you were working in a library, where it is very silent, you will be able to hear it. Still, it is not distracting, nor is it excessive. Quite frankly, given the power of this beast, the fan is surprisingly quiet; it is a non-issue.

READ MORE: 5 ways Ubuntu Linux is better than Microsoft Windows 10

The 15.6 inch 1080p display is absolutely gorgeous. It is a matte variant, meaning it does not show excessive reflections or glare. Text is crisp and beautiful, while images and movies look wonderful. The G-SYNC technology from Nvidia will help against tearing for movement too.

The Oryx Pro ships with Ubuntu 15.10, which is an absolute treat -- dare I say, my favorite operating system of 2015. It comes configured with Nvidia proprietary drivers, so you are ready to game right away. Of course, you will want to install Steam to take advantage of premium games. With Steam installed, I played some great games, such as Dying Light, that look absolutely gorgeous. The NVIDIA 980M is insanely capable, making the laptop a gaming beast.

You will want to invest in a mouse or gamepad for serious gaming, however. The Oryx Pro's trackpad is spectacularly responsive, featuring dedicated buttons, but no trackpad will ever best a mouse in gameplay. Throw a nice wired mouse in your backpack and you will be glad that you did.

Gaming aside, the Oryx Pro absolutely flies; this is cutting edge specs, folks. The Core i7 Skylake processor, 32GB of DDR4 RAM and NVMe SSD will tackle absolutely anything you can throw at it. Seriously, this is an absolute powerhouse that will last you many years. Heck, you can even configure it with up to 64GB of RAM, but that is probably taking overkill to another level. Most users should be more than happy with 16GB of memory.

While acceptable heft is subjective, I can say that the 5.5 lbs is a bit heavy for me. As someone who is constantly on the go (I work wherever I can), carrying this in a backpack with a single strap (like the cool kids wore it in the 90's), I did experience some shoulder strain. Wearing the backpack properly (aka not like a poser) largely alleviated the issue.

Battery life is a tad disappointing at about 2 hours. Look, Linux-based operating systems have never been the most power-optimized, but these powerful components are very energy hungry. Heck, even the power adapter is quite massive, looking a bit conspicuous when I was working at Starbucks.

It is worth mentioning that the Oryx Pro comes with a fingerprint reader, but it is essentially non-functional due to the poor biometric support on Linux. With that said, it is still appreciated for potential future use. If you plan to dual-boot with Windows 10, however, it should work fine with the 'Hello' feature. The Oryx Pro will run Windows like a champ, but I did not test it -- I only wanted to experience it as intended -- with the wonderful Ubuntu.

Final thoughts

So, who is this laptop for? Well, it depends. While the big focus is on gaming and LAN parties, this could also serve as a solid all-purpose family PC where kids want to game, or as a Linux workstation for a small business. Remember, you get what you pay for. Yes, your family or business could get by with less, but as an investment, and with cost-averaging, it is a smart buy. System76 even offers the option to finance.

Do I recommend it? Oh, hell yes. It is undoubtedly one of my favorite laptops ever. It is important to understand the limitations in portability, however, due to the heft and relatively short battery life. This is a machine that shines when stationary and plugged into the wall, but has the added benefit of being portable when needed. Road warriors should look elsewhere, but if you crave raw power and beautiful design -- portability be damned -- this is the Linux laptop for you. Very much recommended.

Want to design and configure your own Oryx Pro? You can do so here. If you buy one, please tell me what specs you chose in the comments below.
Now that Google Glass is enterprise-only, it is more appealing than ever

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 6:58pm CET par Mark Wilson

The first generation of Google Glass spectacularly failed to get off the ground despite a long beta period. The second generation is on the cards, and it has an enterprise focus which serves only to make the hardware even more appealing. There's no release date, or even a vague schedule for release, yet, but images of the next version of Google Glass have appeared online.

A new filing with the FCC shows just what we can expect from the next version of Google Glass, and it's extremely promising. While there's no suggestion of a consumer model being released, what we learn about the enterprise edition will serve only to make it more appealing to the masses -- great looks, a foldable design, and a larger display. Will Google bow to the pressure that's almost certain to mount and try again with a consumer version?

The filings don’t give away too much, but they give away enough. A hinge indicates that Glass now boasts a foldable design, and signals that this is no longer a device that is meant to be worn at all times. The very fact that there is a hinged arm akin to regular spectacles, coupled with the enterprise focus, suggest that Glass 2 is meant to be slipped on and off throughout the day. This is not only useful for the wearer, but also addresses a key concern that non-wearers expressed: privacy.

The term 'glasshole' was coined to refer to the beta testers who walked around with their first gen Glass models permanently strapped to their heads. There were understandable worries that the wearables could be used to record others as they went about their day to day activities (the filing makes it clear that a green LED lights up when recording is underway), but there were also other concerns.

Police forces said they would arrest anyone caught driving whilst wearing the glasses, but there was no easy way to safely transport the device without wearing it. The introduction of a hinge changes this -- they’re yet to be announced, but it's hard to imagine that there won’t be svelte little carry cases that can be used to house Glass 2.0 when not in use.

Bigger is rarely not seen as better, and the FCC filings show a larger display -- which is pleasing when you consider that Glass is destined for used in medicine. The new design looks robust, and while the first iteration of Glass was ridiculed, Google seems to have learned from its mistakes and is now working towards a product that has mass-appeal... it's just a shame that, at the moment, there is no consumer model planned.

Head over to the FCC website to check out the rest of the Google Glass paperwork.

Photo credit: FCC
AVG force-installed vulnerable 'broken' Chrome extension

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 6:32pm CET par Mike Williams

Google Security Research has criticized AVG for "force installing" AVG Web Tuneup, a Chrome extension which could be exploited to reveal "browsing history and other data to the internet".

And it only gets worse, the report claims.

This extension adds numerous JavaScript API’s to chrome, apparently so that they can hijack search settings and the new tab page.

The installation process is quite complicated so that they can bypass the chrome malware checks, which specifically tries to stop abuse of the extension API.

The Google researcher’s verdict was damning: "I’m really not thrilled about this trash being installed for Chrome users… your security software is disabling web security for 9 million Chrome users, apparently so that you can hijack search settings and the new tab page".

Fortunately AVG has since come up with a fix, and although Google seems unenthusiastic ("I think this is the best we’re likely to get") the company has declared that "this issue is resolved now".

Even better, there’s no more "force installing". You can decline the toolbar when offered it by the AVG Antivirus installer, and even if you don’t, Google has disabled its inline installation so you’ll be prompted to accept it (or not) when Chrome next restarts.

AVG AntiVirus Free 2016 is available (and now a little safer) for Windows XP and later.
Goal! The NHL comes to TuneIn Radio

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 5:12pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Earlier in this NFL season TuneIn landed a deal with the league to bring listeners radio broadcasts of all the games, which likely beefed up its subscriber numbers. Other sports were already participating in the broadcasts and now you can add one more to that list.

The National Hockey League is arriving on the streaming network, bringing radio broadcasts of the games for your favorite NHL teams from the US and Canada.

"TuneIn users around the globe will have access to home, away and select foreign language feeds for every game -- from exhibitions, 1,230 regular season games, and every playoff game including the Stanley Cup Final", TuneIn announces.

This is more than just the live games though. Customers will also get on-demand content, a 24/7 dedicated hockey channel, 24/7 dedicated team channels to keep up with your favorites and TuneIn will be embedded on NHL.com beginning next month.

If you live and breathe hockey then this is your new home. It doesn't matter which team you follow, you'll be covered from beginning to end.
Adoption of cloud computing in the enterprise: The progress in 2015

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 5:10pm CET par Jeff Denworth

In general, cloud penetration across the enterprise in terms of workloads being completed continues to be at a relatively low level, with many analysts firms reporting that penetration is at rates of less than 10 percent.

That said, the journey has begun in most organizations and Ovum has identified that nearly 75 percent of organizations will adopt some hybrid cloud strategy by 2016.

We’re seeing a mixture of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS being consumed by organizations which are clearly determined to utilize next generation cloud technologies to make themselves not only more agile, but also more focused on their own businesses and less on the business of IT.

How Will the Elimination of US Safe Harbor Impact This Momentum Going Forward?

Safe Harbour protections of PII data are, in essence, to be lifted by 1 January 2016. With little time remaining to react, the overwhelming number of US-based SaaS providers are ill prepared to offer a sovereign European SaaS solution within the time available. What’s more, there are also cases such as the US government vs. Microsoft looming in which the central issue of data privacy is evolving from data location to data stewardship. Organizations in general are more questioning not only about where their data is stored, but also the nationality of the company that is offering the data management service.

The net viability of popular enterprise SaaS services offered by US companies -- either with data centers in the US or elsewhere -- is being called into question. In response to the uncertainty and chaos, we’re seeing enterprise customers gravitate to application deployment models where the data, the metadata and the encryption keys are owned and managed exclusively by the customer and stored in the data centre or the secure virtual private cloud of their choice.

What Are Some of the Big Enterprise Use Cases That Are Driving Cloud Adoption?

Outside of Platform 3 (in IDC terms) applications that were built from the ground up for the cloud, data archiving, remote backup and collaboration have historically driven the adoption of cloud services in the enterprise.

Looking into 2016, while the SaaS concerns have yet to be resolved, we have seen a dramatic spike in organizations adopting cloud infrastructure and IaaS services to modernize every aspect of their application stack -- adoption is no longer limited to a subset of IT use cases.

In addition, as experts continue to suggest that public cloud infrastructure is no less secure than private cloud, enterprises are enjoying relative freedom and the advantage of deploying their applications on the clouds that are most suitable for their business.

Why Can’t Traditional Tools Be Used For These Use Cases?

Legacy IT doesn’t come along for the ride for a number of reasons. First, clouds are built to be managed by APIs and legacy tools lack automation, orchestration and all of the aspects of cloud frameworks that reduce administration overhead and enhance the economics of cloud computing.

Second, new software defined infrastructure has non-traditional interfaces that legacy software simply wasn’t designed to efficiently run on. In addition, legacy solutions can’t exploit all of the economic benefits -- for example, object storage is as much as 80 percent less costly as traditional storage -- but you need to program your application to write to new cloud APIs.

Are There Security Barriers That Are Preventing the Broader Adoption of Cloud Services?

These barriers are quickly being broken down and many of the world’s largest companies are integrating many cloud services into a single cloud fabric where simple policies can dictate where and how an application is deployed. Business decisions, such as pricing, performance and features, will drive the on-premise vs. off-premise debate even more than security in 2016. There are pros and cons on each side that need to be carefully weighed.

Do You Have Any Predictions For the Cloud Security in 2016?

While security will only get better -- operational and stewardship transparency should drive the data security discussion more than the occasional exploits and hacks. Given that Safe Harbor was essentially struck down by a consumer -- a Facebook user -- we foresee the very real possibility that consumers will drive enterprise behavior more than ever before. They will not only sue consumer services that are not compliant, but they will also sue and penalize enterprises that fail to adopt sovereign, secure SaaS offerings.

When Will the Cloud Storage Race to Zero Actually Hit $0?

Quite possibly, this could happen. We’re already pretty close to $0 where storage is under $1/GB/mo (plus egress fees) for active data sets. While it’s unlikely that we’ll see $0/storage in 2016, we will certainly see storage continue to be a loss leader that drives data into a cloud which then presents different opportunities for cloud vendors around security, insight and data management.

When It’s All Over, Which Will Win -- Private Cloud, Public Cloud, Hybrid Cloud?

In the near term, hybrid cloud strategies will be the strongest way to bridge legacy data center and cloud practices within a single organization and will continue to be very popular. Hybrid cloud enables organizations to place data and applications on whatever infrastructure they want -- and provides the greatest spread of options for the enterprise. The combination of legacy and modern technology, on the other hand, requires some serious re-thinking on tools, application provisioning, data governance, data protection and compliance.

Companies that have figured out how to logically decouple data and applications from any specific data center or cloud will be critically important to further IT strategy -- whether they choose one or more clouds to run their business from.

Jeff Denworth, the senior vice president of marketing, at CTERA

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

Photo Credit: Saikom/Shutterstock
Seagate will introduce larger HAMR-based HDDs in 2018

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 3:35pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

The first HAMR hard disk drives are set to appear on the market in early 2018. The disks, which will be built by storage company Seagate, will be given to select customers and used as testing devices in late 2016 or early 2017, before shipping out to other consumers a year later.

The HAMR technology, (heat-assisted magnetic recording) promises to increase capacities of HDDs significantly in the coming years. You might wonder why HDD is still a thing when SSD is doing such a good job, but HDD is still used by millions of people and across virtually all data centers worldwide.

"As for new generation technologies, HAMR or TAMR, the start of mass production will be [slightly] delayed to 2018", Anandtech cites Hideo Ichikawa, president of Showa Denko. The official mid-term business plan of the company reads that the new-generation media "will be launched in or after 2018".

Storage has been a significant battlefield in 2015, and all clues are pointing towards an even bigger battle next year. Internet of things, big data, user-generated content, enterprise storage, those are all the main drivers in the ever-growing need for additional storage.

Samsung Electronics believes that the NAND flash industry will produce 253EB of flash memory in 2020, up from 84EB in 2015, and analysts from International Data Corp. and Western Digital Corp. estimate that data storage capacity shipped by the industry in 2020 will total approximately 2900 exabytes (1EB = 1 million TB), up from around 1000EB in 2015.

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

Photo Credit: Piotr Tomicki/Shutterstock
Microsoft explains why it's pushing Windows 10 so aggressively (spoiler: it's to keep you safe)

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 1:30pm CET par Wayne Williams

It’s understandable that Microsoft would want to push Windows 10 as much as possible, particularly as the rate of upgrades has been slowing recently. It must be a source of frustration to the company that users of Windows 7 and 8.1 appear so reluctant to switch, even though the upgrade for them is free.

In an effort to guide people on to Windows 10, Microsoft has been using increasingly aggressive methods, including pre-loading the installation files on to users’ systems, regardless of whether they want the new OS or not, and removing the option to opt-out of the upgrade. In the new year Microsoft intends to ramp up its push further, and joining the Windows Weekly team for a question and answer session, Microsoft Marketing Chief Chris Capossela made no apologies for his company’s approach which, he says, is being done to get users to a "safer place".

Sure, users can stay on Windows 7, if they wish, but according to Capossela, you do so "at your own risk, at your own peril".

It’s worth listening to the full Q&A (embedded below), which also covers HoloLens, Surface 4 and Surface Book update, and Windows 10 Mobile with Continuum, but it’s what Capossela had to say about the Windows 10 push which is most interesting:

Look, we made Windows 10 for free, for anybody who has a Windows 8 or 7 machine. You can call that freemium if you want, but that was a decision... you know we didn’t take that decision lightly.

For us, it’s just so incredibly important to try to end the fragmentation of the Windows install base, and so we think every machine that is capable of running Windows 10 we should be doing everything we possibly can to get people to move to Windows 10.

We always want to give them the choice, and we are trying to find the right UI constructs, we are trying to find the right update constructs that we think are going to please as many people as possible.

But we do worry when people are running an operating system that’s 10 years old that the next printer they buy isn’t going to work well, or they buy a new game, they buy Fallout 4, a very popular game, and it doesn’t work on a bunch of older machines.

And so, as we are pushing our ISV [Independent Software Vendor] and hardware partners to build great new stuff that takes advantage of Windows 10 that obviously makes the old stuff really bad and not to mention viruses and security problems.

So, we really are trying to push people to get to Windows 10. Now, the good thing about Windows is that lots and lots of people care, and you get constant feedback. You know, we’re willing to put up with some level of discomfort if we feel like we are getting more and more people to a safer, better operating system that’s frankly better for everyone in the ecosystem. It’s better for Intel, it’s better for Dell, HP, it’s better for our customers, but there’s no doubt we’re trying to find the right balance. There’s no doubt if we could start it all over we would have done a couple of things differently, I think.

The reality is with most modern devices, people just take it for granted that the device is going to be constantly updated. Whether it’s your iPhone, your Android tablet, or what have you, people are very, very comfortable with that notion. Xbox One owners are very comfortable with that notion that it’s just going to stay up to date. PCs, because of the history, and the legacy, it’s slightly uncomfortable for more people, and so we’re going to keep at it. We are going to try to find that right balance, but we just know there’s a lot of people out there who constantly kick the can down the street without a little bit more of a, frankly, a push.

And so, there’s no doubt with a base as big as ours, it is hard to move anyone to a new model without angering some people. We don’t want to anger anybody, but we do feel a responsibility to get people to a much better place, and Windows 10 is a much better place than Windows 7.

We will always give you a way out, but we’re trying to find the right threat balance.

It’s interesting to see Microsoft talking about protecting users and reducing fragmentation. While people refusing to budge from XP is definitely an issue, is there really a Windows fragmentation problem?

Microsoft describes Windows 10 as a much better place than Windows 7, but that’s debatable. Users on Windows 7 aren't in any more danger than those on Windows 10, provided they are sensible and have a decent security software installed, and all printers and new games -- including Fallout 4 -- will work perfectly on the older OS, both now, and in the future. If a PC can’t handle a new game, it’s a hardware upgrade rather than an OS one that’s going to fix the problem.

Microsoft knows it’s annoying some people with its aggressive Windows 10 push, but it doesn’t really care. There’s a slight whiff of "we know better than you" about Capossela’s comments and while there are definitely some people out there who plan to upgrade but are procrastinating -- or "kicking the can" as Capossela puts it -- there are plenty of users who don’t want to switch because they are perfectly happy where they are, or because they don’t like what Windows 10 has to offer them.

Maybe instead of trying to force users of older versions of Windows onto its new OS, Microsoft should take the time to figure out what it is about Windows 10 that’s keeping users away.

Photo Credit: SK Design / Shutterstock
Get F-Secure KEY Premium, worth $32.99, for FREE this December 29 with Downloadcrew Giveaway

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 1:18pm CET par Mike Williams

Using strong, secure passwords is the best way to protect your online accounts from attack. And on December 29th we’re making it easier than ever, by giving away a $32.99 1-year license for the password manager F-Secure KEY Premium for FREE!

The program generates secure passwords for your web accounts, on demand, and saves them to an encrypted database on servers hosted in Finland.

KEY runs on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices, and the Premium build keeps your passwords synchronized so you’re always up-to-date, wherever you are.

F-Secure KEY Premium autofills logon pages on demand (Windows, Mac, Android). Conveniently, it does this by working at the system level, so it doesn’t matter what browser you’re using, and there’s no need to weigh it down with yet more extensions.

All you have to do is remember the single master password for your database, and KEY takes care of everything else. Although even there, the program has a get-out: a "Recovery" option provides another way to get your data back, in emergencies.

Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of single-PC, one-year licenses for F-Secure KEY Premium to give away, each one worth $32.99. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Tuesday December 29th, and expires when the licenses run out or on December 30 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So when the giveaway starts, don’t wait -- get over to Downloadcrew Giveaway promptly!
I am depressed. Technology is my lifeline

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 12:22pm CET par Mark Wilson

This is a personal account of my experience of depression and how I feel technology has both helped me, and held me back. I've been depressed for just about as long as I can remember, but it's only in the last six months or so that I decided I needed help and thought it was time to do something. 30-odd years is a long time to feel like Atlas bearing the weight of the world.

Having made this decision, technology was something of a lifeline... specifically, and perhaps oddly, Facebook. The social network made it possible for me to communicate with friends when the mere idea of actually speaking to someone seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. It broke down barriers of time and distance, eased my embarrassment, stopped me from feeling awkward for crying (although even writing that brought the tears welling up, and I feel like an idiot, albeit in private).

I've always been quiet, prone to dips into the depths of gloominess but having been that way for as long as I can remember, it became easy to accept it as the norm -- but things started to get too much for me. In the bleak spiral of blackness, the idea of picking up the phone, going to see someone, is just too much. An absolute impossibility. Bashing out a few words on Facebook, however, was far more manageable.

Being able to reach out to people who knew me, whilst simultaneously being able to keep them at arms' length (or draw them closer, as required) was much easier online than in the real world. Those in direct contact with me, of course, cared, but familiarity breeds contempt and it can be hard to try to explain feelings that have been hidden away for three decades. The distance the likes of Facebook and Twitter offered was perfect.

It seems selfish -- sometimes you have to be selfish in the name of self-preservation -- but speaking to people in person or on the phone all too often results in the conversation being on the other person's terms. Social networks are frequently home to people who like to hide behind the anonymity such services afford them. While I was not seeking anonymity, Facebook gave me a chance to step back from myself, write about the way I was feeling at my own pace rather than in a real-time conversation where day-long pauses would be, well, weird.

Facebook, for instance, gave me the chance to 'come out' as depressed in a way that I was in control of. If I got a shitty response from people, I could just delete that status and move on. If people said stuff that hurt me, I could ignore it in a way that would not be possible in a face-to-face situation. I could message people on my terms. And I did. I poured out my heart to people. I splurged. People I would never consider being so open with in person, I told everything.

I told people about suicidal thoughts. About self-harm. About living inside my head and hating it.

There was no need for me to respond to people immediately. I could sit on what had been said to me, mull and consider my reply, and then type out something that actually made sense. Try doing that in the real world.

It hasn’t just been Facebook, of course. I've been able to email support workers and other people when the idea of facing the world was essentially an alien concept. This isn't to say that tech is the answer to everything. Obviously I need to see real people in the flesh... and I do. But for those times when doing anything beyond breathing seems too hard, tech is a lifeline.

I'm a conundrum. I'm endlessly sensitive and take everything to heart -- in the real world, at least. Exposing oneself online means having to develop a thick skin, because people hate you. The internet brings out extremes of response. It's not enough to just disagree with an opinion, disagreement has to be expressed in the strongest possible terms, belittling and berating the holder of those views. Someone who holds an opinion that differs from yours is not simply of a different opinion, they're an idiot. That is just how it is for journalists. Whatever you write about, you lay yourself open for attack, and this would seem to run counter to the idea of trying to protect oneself.

But it works. Technology has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember, and I feel incredibly privileged to be able to combine a hobby with work. I love technology. I love writing. I get paid for bringing these two loves together. Win!

What was the point in writing this? Well, to a large extent it was cathartic. But I also recognize that there are plenty of people like me out there. I was astonished to learn that so many of my friends -- including those I spent years with at school -- were, or had been, suffering in the same way as me.

Calling that helpline might seem like too much.

Speaking to even your partner or closest friends might feel impossible.

But there are other approaches. For me, it was Facebook. I was touched beyond words at the support I found out there. It's not that I previously thought that people wouldn't care, but I ended up being overwhelmed by just how amazing friends -- and even people I don't know all that well -- are.

Technology can be seen as just another form of communication, but it's one that can be made to work the way you want it to. Use it.

Photo credit: igor.stevanovic / Shutterstock
The future of data center infrastructure management [Q&A]

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 12:01pm CET par Ian Barker

Recent research from Intel suggests that, despite the availability of automated solutions for data center infrastructure management (DCIM), many businesses are still using manual procedures to do their capacity planning and forecasting.

To get an insider perspective on how managers can better exploit the benefits of DCIM products to streamline their operations we spoke to Jeff Klaus, General Manager of Intel Data Center Solutions.

BN: According to your recent research, 40 percent of data center managers still use manual processes to conduct capacity planning and forecasting. Why is this number so high?

JK: This number is indeed high, however data center managers are not happy with using manual methods today but are doing so because of a lack of good and simple solutions that can provide them accurate data to help them automate their manual processes. Among main barriers for DCIM adoption, current solutions are expensive, complex, and not easy to use by the end users, which all contribute to why this number is still very high.

BN: Does this show that the benefits of DCIM solutions are failing to get across?

JK: DCIM adoption appears to be slower than predicted and this should be a wake-up call for the solutions providers. We all would like to see broader DCIM adoption by end users in 2016, but for that to happen, DCIM vendors will need to listen to their customers, address their key concerns, including power and thermal management, and ways to automate manual processes, and do a better job in articulating and proving DCIM solution value and ROI for the end user. The vendors will also need to address general concerns related to their solutions, like lower costs, simplifying the solutions, and investing in its ease of use. We're still very optimistic about DCIM as the data center managers clearly say they need such tools, it’s just a matter of listening to them and providing them the right solution that will help them better manage their infrastructure and help them automate the manual processes that currently take up 40-60 percent of their time.

BN: Why should companies consider DCIM if they haven't already?

JK: Companies' need for DCIM is still there and challenges in managing the complex infrastructure today are not going to disappear. They will actually get more complex as IT devices continue to add telemetry. Thus, companies still need to evaluate tools and solutions that will help them better manage their infrastructure, automate manual processes, improve their capacity planning and provisioning process, improve their agility, improve thermal profile in their datacenters, identify and predict power and thermal issues, and improve datacenter efficiency. DCIM vendors are also aware to the slow adoption of their solutions and better understand the customers’ needs and concerns today. They’re constantly improving their solutions, ensuring they solve their customers’ problems, making them simpler and easier to use and maintain, and even lowering the solution cost.

BN: Are you seeing DCIM moving into new industries and how are they benefiting from the technology?

JK: I think that most DCIM vendors realize the importance of granular and accurate data as part of their solution, regardless of the industry. The solution can have great 3D layout and strong analytics features, however, if the data it visualizes or analyzes is not accurate then the result is not good or compelling for the customer. Luckily, the hardware vendors realized their customers’ needs 5-7 years ago, and since then we see more and more intelligent devices that can report accurate metrics related to their power consumption, thermals, utilization, airflow, and more. I expect that this year we'll see more DCIM vendors listen to their customers and integrate such technologies as part of their solutions, provide accurate data and analytics to their customers, and allow them to automate their current manual processes which will help the technology penetrate new industries and obtain broader adoption.

BN: What changes will we see in the DCIM marketplace in 2016?

JK: We will continue to see some consolidation in this market and expect to see a few exits and merges occur. The vendors who will stay are the ones that react to their customers' requirements and make the required changes in their solutions to fit their customers’ needs. We will also see continued price decline and, hopefully, simplified solutions that are easier to deploy, use, and maintain.

Photo Credit: dotshock/Shutterstock
Microsoft CMO hints at 'breakthrough' Surface phone

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 10:38am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

Microsoft is doing something about its smartphones business and according to the company’s CMO, it is something revolutionary, shocking, breathtaking.

I’m not being cynical here, I’m just reporting -- that’s the best part.

During the most recent Windows Weekly -- a popular show with Mary Jo Foley -- chief marketing officer of Microsoft, Chris Capossela, dropped some hints that sent ripples through the internet.

"We need some sort of spiritual equivalent on the phone side that doesn’t just feel like it’s a phone for people who love Windows", he said in that interview. "It’s got to be a phone where it’s like, 'Wow, that’s a real shock or that’s a real breakthrough, and that’s going to make me (as a hypothetical Apple fan) pause before I buy my 17th iPhone'. And we need time to actually go build that".

So no, he didn’t exactly say what the company is building, or how long it is going to take it to build whatever it is that it’s building, but it’s going to be a "real breakthrough". That is something Microsoft really needs at this moment. No one said it better than Mary Jo Foley, who asked Capossela to "give me something to hope for in the new year as a Windows Phone fan, Chris, because I’m abandoning hope".

That 'something breathtaking' just might be the Surface Phone, and 2016 just might be a big year for Microsoft -- if a revolutionary Windows 10 Mobile phone gets released, and Windows 10 continues on its path of success.

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

Photo credit: PathDoc / Shutterstock
UK's average Internet speed grows by 10 percent in 2015

Publié: décembre 29, 2015, 3:23am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

All European countries surveyed recently, experienced a quarterly increase in average connection speeds, with double digit gains being posted by Norway (15 percent) and the UK (10 percent). Year-over-year it was up by 21 percent in the United Kingdom. Those are the results of a new report by Akamai, the content delivery network.

Global average connection speed has increased slightly (0.2 percent) to 5.1 Mbps from the second quarter, accounting for a 14 percent increase year-over-year, the report said.

The Akamai’s Third Quarter, 2015 State of the Internet Report, based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, provides insight into key global statistics such as connection speeds, broadband adoption metrics, notable Internet disruptions, IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation.

Besides the global average connection speed increase, the report also says that 2015 saw the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for North America completely exhaust its available inventory of IPv4 address space.

"The continued depletion of IPv4 space, in both North America and around the world, should further spur organizations to expand or accelerate their own IPv6 adoption, particularly as the cost of obtaining IPv4 address space may rise as scarcity increases", said David Belson, editor of the State of the Internet Report.

South Korea had the top average connection speed at 20.5 Mbps, followed by Sweden (17.4 Mbps), Norway (16.4 Mbps) and Switzerland (16.2 Mbps). European countries dominate the global top 10 country/region listing for 25 Mbps adoption, and also lead the world in IPv6 adoption.

The full Akamai report can be found on this link.

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

Photo Credit: Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock