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• 

  Ring in the new year by installing deepin 15 -- a beautiful Debian-based Linux distribution

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 11:12pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  As 2015 comes to a close, we must again face the reality that Linux is a failure on the desktop -- its share of the pie is almost nonexistent. While the kernel is wildly popular on smartphones and servers, Windows is still the dominant force on home and business workstations. You know what? That's fine. Regardless of popularity, or lack thereof, desktop operating systems based on the Linux kernel aren't going anywhere. We Linux users aren't going anywhere.

  Today, a beautiful  operating system from China, deepin, hits version 15. No longer based on Ubuntu -- the project has switched to a Debian base -- it is gorgeous and has an intuitive HTML5-based environment. And yes, it is available in English. Happy New Year, fellow Linux users!

  "deepin is a Linux distribution committed to providing an elegant, user-friendly, safe and stable operating system for users all over the world. deepin 15 pays more attention to internationalization, and is featured with brand new mirror image acceleration (CDN acceleration). Languages supported are up to 30 kinds, thus the infinite charm of deepin can be experienced globally! Newly added languages are as follows: Malay, Bulgarian, Swedish, Croatian, Japanese, Korean, Finnish, Spanish (Latin America), Hindi (India), Ukrainian", says The deepin team.

  The team further explains, "deepin 15 has changed head to toe with a all new system structure. Deepin Desktop Environment and system stability has been thoroughly optimized to become lighter and more sensitive. A new window manager has been adopted in this edition. It can intelligently detect the current computer environment, then initiates a proper window manager. Thus the performance and compatibility has reached perfect balance".

  

  While some people have been hesitant to utilize the operating system due to its Chinese roots, these fears are unfounded. It is not produced by any government, and it is open source, after all. Quite frankly, to shun an open source OS based on its country of origin is arguably ignorant.

  With all of that said, I recommend giving deepin 15 a go. It is a remarkable operating system that highlights the potential of Linux on the desktop. Its focus on user experience is reminiscent of another such Linux-based operating system -- elementary. Look, I'm a nerd, you're probably a nerd, we aren't likely doing anything else on New Year's Eve. What better way to ring in the new year than installing a new distro?

  

  Want to try it? Download the operating system here. Tell me how you like it in the comments below.

  
• 

  My favorite tech items of 2015 [Brian]

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 7:36pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  According to man-made calendars, today is New Year's Eve. Tomorrow is the first day of 2016, which in the grand scheme of things is inconsequential. Still, it is fun to reflect on the last year and choose the tech that I enjoyed the most.

  Yeah, I'm like Oprah or Ellen. Here are my favorite things -- tech related, of course -- for 2015; laptops, smartphones, tablets, and more. While there are many products on my list, there are two products that stand out to me as being rather exceptional -- the crème de la crème, if you will.

  The first exceptional device is the iPhone 6s Plus. Believe it or not, this is my first-ever Apple smartphone and I couldn't be happier. Gone are the days of being stranded on Android without updates. The best part (besides the wonderful camera), however, is the amazing apps which seem to be prettier and more fluid than those on Google's platform. I even use Apple Pay regularly, at places like Walgreens and Subway. It is a life-changing device and I love it. Best smartphone of 2015.

  The other stand-out product is the HP Spectre x360. This is not only the best laptop of 2015, but one of the best Windows notebooks ever. Where to begin? The body is made of beautiful aluminum, lending to a premium feeling. The trackpad is very large and responsive -- they should all be so good. The keyboard is backlit, and an absolute dream to type on. The screen is gorgeous, and is a touch variant -- you can fold it around the back for a tablet experience. Battery life is exceptional, and the machine is light enough to carry comfortably in a bag -- a road-warrior's dream.

  HP offers wonderful support too, by the way. Not to mention, its pre-loaded driver management service is well-designed, offering regular driver and firmware updates. I came away impressed with the whole package -- HP hit a home run and earned my selection for best laptop of 2015 . If you want a solid all-purpose Windows laptop, this is the one to get.

  Check out my full list of favorite tech items below. I have included videos where available.

  Laptops

  HP Spectre x360

  System76 Oryx Pro

  Smartphones

  Apple iPhone 6S Plus

  Samsung Galaxy Note5

  LG V10

  Tablets

  Apple iPad mini 4

  Streaming media box

  Apple TV

  Other devices

  Amazon Echo

  iPod touch 6th generation

  Processor

  AMD A10-7870K

  

  
• 

  Is your data integrated across platforms?

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 7:17pm CET par Pete Johnson

  

  The lifeblood of any application is the data it uses to make decisions. It used to be that all data and applications resided within the confines of the corporate firewall, but public cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure provide elasticity and cutting-edge features to today’s organizations. Because of that, more and more companies are challenging the conventional thinking that all corporate data should always be stored on premises.

  But when is it appropriate to silo data, versus integrating it across different cloud platforms?
  

  Low Hanging Fruit: Dev/Test

  The easiest, most cost-effective step an organization can take to leverage the elasticity a public cloud provider offers is to run dev/test workloads on them with sanitized data. The sporadic nature of those dev/test workloads is a perfect match for the on-demand provisioning, pay-by-the-hour capacity that public clouds provide.

  Even if your dev/test workloads run eight hours a day, five days a week, without public cloud providers an organization is still paying capital expense on internal hardware 24 hours a day, seven days a week. By creating a sanitized data set for dev/test workloads that mimics production but lowers risk (should that data be breached), companies can free up that 128-hour difference between 8-5 and 24/7 through hardware reduction cost savings.

  Production Marketing Website: Data That’s Already Public

  The second easiest place to look for data that can be moved to the public cloud without risk is a production marketing website. Data associated with these applications are already public, and their constantly changing demand, based on various marketing activities, makes them great candidates for taking advantage of cloud elasticity.

  Harder Decisions: Sensitive Production Data

  With the easy choices now made, some harder decisions need to be examined. Public cloud platforms can provide features instantly that would take much longer to build within your data center. For example, Internet of Things, Big Data, device farms and data streaming services are difficult to reproduce in-house at a reasonable cost, but companies typically don’t want to risk moving that data outside a corporate firewall.

  One option is to set up Virtual Private Networks (VPN) with the public cloud providers, so that services running on them can have secured access to part of an internal network, and therefore the data on that network. Public cloud providers make setups like this easy to accomplish, but for data that is used by both internal and external applications, care must be taken with the network segmentation so that a breach to the external world on the VPN does not lead to the internal consumers of the data as well.

  Another option is to create an Application Programming Interface (API) for the data source that uses HTTPS encryption and key authentication access. This is more costly than the VPN approach, but prevents raw access to the data and creates a cleaner entry point that does not carry nearly the same network segmentation risk.

  Consider All Your Options

  Any organization looking to augment on premises infrastructure with cloud platforms needs to take data access seriously. Some data is sensitive enough that it needs to remain inside internal silos, but there are plenty of opportunities for other data. Sanitizing dev/test workloads can reap huge benefits, enabling a company to offload internal hardware for public cloud elasticity. Marketing websites already have public data in them, and their wildly changing demand makes them a good fit for public cloud as well. Other pieces of data may be needed both places, and whether a VPN or API approach is used, both offer ways to integrate data across internal and public cloud infrastructures.

  A 20+ year tech industry veteran, Pete Johnson is the VP of Product Evangelism and Enablement at CliQr Technologies. He can be found on Twitter at @nerdguru.

  
• 

  My favorite tech items of 2015 [Wayne]

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 6:48pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  I’m looking forward to next year when, hopefully, I’ll finally be able to get my hands on the Oculus Rift which is expected to start shipping to consumers in Q1 2016. Pre-orders were supposed to start this year, but that’s clearly not going to happen now. Still I’ve waited long enough to get my VR fix, what’s a few more weeks/months?

  While I didn’t get a Rift to play with this year, plenty of new technology did make its way through my hands and into my life. Here are some of the standout pieces of tech I'd definitely recommend you check out.

  Apple iPhone 6s

  Having been using an iPhone 5s as my daily driver since 2013, it was clearly time for an upgrade. While I was certainly tempted by the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC’s One M9, there was only really ever going to be one phone for me. The iPhone 6s has proven to be a delight and while 3D Touch isn’t the killer feature it might one day be, and Live Photos are a bit of a waste of space (literally), I couldn’t be happier with my choice of mobile.

  Apple Watch

  

  Despite declaring I didn’t want an Apple Watch I ended up buying a Sport model anyway. You can read my first impressions review of it here. I don’t wear it every day but I’ve found it to be both fun and useful. Apple Pay is great (when it works, which isn’t always immediately) and I’ve quickly come to appreciate the benefits the Watch has to offer. The WatchOS 2 update has certainly made the device much more useful.

  SEE ALSO: Santa brought you an Apple Watch? Here’s what to do first

  Windows 10

  While I didn’t buy a new Windows 10 device this year, I did upgrade both my main PC and laptop to Microsoft’s new operating system. I’ll be honest and admit I’m not blown away by Windows 10 -- it just seems too unfinished for my tastes -- but I do like it and look forward to the day when it’s finally the operating system it promises to be (which will hopefully be at some point in 2016).

  SEE ALSO: Santa brought you a Windows 10 PC or tablet? Here’s what to do first

  Hisense Sero 8 Pro

  

  I reviewed the Hisense Sero 8 Pro tablet in November and found it to be a surprisingly good budget Android slate with a great quality screen. A lot of budget tablets turn out to be something of a disappointment, but that definitely isn’t the case with the Sero 8 Pro.

  Amazon Fire TV Stick

  

  This year I finally succumbed to Amazon Prime and now I’m kicking myself for waiting so long. You get so much for your money -- free next day delivery, free streaming music, free TV shows and movies -- that I’d happily pay twice as much for the service when the renewal rolls around next year (but hopefully I won’t need to). To get the most out of Amazon Prime Video I purchased the Fire TV Stick, and it’s a fantastic little device that I'd wholeheartedly recommend.

  PlayStation 4

  

  Sony’s superb gaming console arrived just in time for Christmas day, along with a copy of Fallout 4. What more could you possibly want? It was a toss-up between the PS4 or the Xbox One, but in the end I opted for the latest PlayStation purely for the games it has to offer (and Uncharted 4 which is due next year). The ecosystem has so much potential too.

  Photo Credit: aslysun / Shutterstock

  
• 

  My favorite tech items of 2015 [Alan]

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 6:40pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  It's been another long year, with technology products appearing at a seemingly accelerated rate. It all began back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, a spectacle that is now right around the corner once again.

  With 2016 looming it is a time for some introspection -- what products made your year special? For me there were a few that I really enjoyed. It was typical year filled with a few good items and some worth forgetting.

  LG G4

  I reviewed this phone when it first launched. It's thin and light, but has a very large screen size, which is my preference in any phone. LG has done a decent job of keeping it fairly current. It doesn't run Android 6.0 yet (thanks Verizon), but that's OK, I honestly don't use a phone for much -- it's calls, texts and my grocery list on Evernote. If I want to play a game then I grab a tablet. The G4 also has a respectable camera which is always nice to have in one's pocket.

  Amazon Echo with Wink Hub and GE Link bulbs

  I think I may have written about the Amazon Echo more than any other device in 2015. Yes, I like it that much. It plays music while I work, it tells me the weather, who my favorite football team plays next, and occasionally gives some fun answers to random questions.

  More importantly, it controls my lights. There are many home automation features that come with it and more are added all the time. You'll need a hub and the right bulbs -- I use a Wink Hub and GE Link bulbs. The process of setting it up isn't easy, but anyone with sufficient computer knowledge should have no problem.

  Harmony Ultimate Home

  Nothing is better than a good universal remote. It clears up that mess on your coffee table. One remote to rule them all. It takes some work to set up, but it isn't anything too difficult. Once it's done you have a beautiful touchscreen remote and all it takes is a tap of the finger to turn on the TV, A/V receiver and whatever device you wish -- Blu-ray, Fire TV, Roku, DVR, etc. -- all will be set to the proper positioning.

  It will even control an increasing number of home automation products, including the Nest thermostat. The only thing it won't handle for me is my HDMI switch.

  Logitech UE Boom 2

  While Amazon Echo is a wonderful speaker, it isn't very portable. It needs Wi-Fi and it has to be plugged into the wall. When you need portable then you'd be hard-pressed to beat the Logitech UE Boom 2, which is a slight update to the original model. It's a bit large, but not so big that it isn't portable. What's really large is the sound, the thing rocks.

  Mivatek Smart Plug

  In 2015 I've played around with some automation for my home. The new offerings from Mivatek are proving to be wonderful. Sadly they don't yet play nicely with Alexa, so I have to use an app for control. Fortunately it has the ability to be scheduled which means I rarely ever need the app to turn it off or on. The plug also has a manual switch in case there's a problem, but there almost never is.

  

  Not new, but I still like it

  At the top of this list is the second generation Nest thermostat. It does a wonderful  job of controlling my home and it learns habits so it gets better over time. It can even be controlled via the aforementioned Harmony remote.

  I am also still happily using the Nexus 9 as my normal tablet. It has an occasional hiccup with unlocking the screen, but it's thin and has very good resolution. It's what I reach for when I wake up in the mornings and want to know the weather.

  So that's my tech year in a nutshell. What products brought a smile to your face this year?

  Image Credit: Natanael Ginting / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Get a full year of Sticky Password Premium, worth $19.99, for FREE with our New Year's Day giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 6:39pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  Online security has made big headlines in 2015, and will continue to do so as hackers continue to outwit even the biggest firms. This is what makes our final giveaway so essential: a year’s license for Sticky Password Premium.

  Sticky Password is a suite of products for mobile and desktop that allow you to store your online passwords, form fills and credit card information securely – our giveaway will give you access to all its Premium features across all supported devices, including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

  The most effective way of protecting yourself online -- and limiting any damage that may come from hacked websites -- is to use unique passwords for each site. Generating these by hand is time-consuming and impossible to remember, which is where Sticky Password comes in.

  Sticky Password offers all the features you’d expect from a secure online password manager: it stores all of your passwords using AES-256 encryption, locked away behind a single master password (the only one you need to remember going forward) that isn’t known to anyone else. It can generate strong, random passwords using a mixture of letters, numbers and special characters automatically, plus has built-in form filling and secure credit card input for speedy checkout.

  All of this can be found elsewhere, but Sticky Password can also be used across mobile and PC/Mac without having to purchase a subscription. You also get biometric support on devices with fingerprint scanners.

  The free version is compelling enough, then, but look what a Premium subscription gives you: the ability to cloud sync your passwords across devices as well as an option cloud backup should you lose a device. You can also sync passwords across devices only using your Wi-Fi network for additional security -- however you want to sync (manually, cloud or Wi-Fi only), Sticky Password puts you in control.

  And that’s where we come in with our final freebie -- a year’s Premium subscription, so give your online security and privacy a much-needed upgrade from 12pm (EST) on 1 January with our Sticky Password Premium giveaway!

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of single-user, one-year licenses for Sticky Password Premium to give away, each one worth $19.99. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Friday, January 1, and expires on January 2, midday EST or when the licenses run out, whichever comes first. So when the giveaway begins, don’t hang about -- get over to Downloadcrew Giveaway promptly!

  
• 

  When and how your business should develop an app

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 6:39pm CET par Christophe Delacroix

  

  Regardless of your business size, there are numerous benefits in developing your own app. The ability to engage with potential customers on mobile devices is increasingly advantageous as smartphones increase their market share. An app allows you to provide consumers with a curated way to view your products and services, as well as increasing brand awareness.

  It is not as easy as just creating an app though. It must serve as a fitting representation of your brand and integrate seamlessly with your operations. For every company that achieves this, many more make the most basic mistakes, wasting time and money. Never forget that creating an app can be costly and very time-consuming.

  With that in mind, make sure you can answer following questions before diving into developing an app for your business.

  Is Expertise Available?

  Some aspects of creating an app are extremely technical, so the more tech-savvy you are as an SME owner, the more likely the development process will run smoothly. If, for example, you know the difference between UX and UI, as well as understanding what a wireframe is, you probably stand a better chance of achieving digital success.

  It’s not essential to be a crack coder, but the ability to manage a development team and feeling comfortable working with software is vital.

  Of course, solutions do exist that make it easier for a layman to deal with some of the more technical aspects of creating an app. A quick online search will deliver a range of companies that can help you build your app in a "point-and-click" style. Ultimately though, having the necessary technical knowledge will leave you in a strong position to manage the process effectively.

  What’s Out There?

  When considering the kind of app that your business needs, you have to understand the market. What do you want your app to do? Is there already a strong solution out there?

  If you are looking for an app to fulfill a specific function, do some research. The last decade has seen an explosion in the number of software services that are aimed at independent business owners, so whatever your requirements, it is almost guaranteed there is an app for that in existence already.

  Silicon Valley firms have been busy producing digital tools that cover a huge range of business functions including inventory management, timeclock, EPOS and even interactive 3D store design. The best way to identify whether there is an existing platform that would be a good fit for your business is to look for solutions that meet your minimum criteria, e.g offering cloud-based remote data access. If such a platform exists, it is likely to be a cheaper and more convenient option than building one from scratch.

  How Bespoke Should You Go?

  You need to understand what your goals are. We have already mentioned that if you are looking for an app to assist with business operations, the market needs to be researched. If your desire is to build a branded, customer-facing app you need to decide how tailored it has to be.

  If you are looking for something simple and effective, there are a range of tools that offer non-coding options for creating an app. Adding elements such as images, blog feeds, and forms become as simple as dragging and dropping.

  The issue is that many of these apps look similar and are not as customisable as a fully coded version. If you hire a developer to design you an app from scratch, it has the potential to do almost anything. The issue though is cost, leading us to our next question…

  Does the ROI add up?

  Is it likely that the app you are setting out to create will justify the expenditure? Most SMBs run on tight profit margins and there will be a significant monetary investment in creating an app that meets your business needs. This means you need to establish a solid business case before embarking on the development of an app. You must define exactly what you expect to automate and what you expect to achieve as an end result.

  First, work out your needs – consumers booking their own haircut appointments for example – and then figure out the business case for this function. Will it save you staffing costs because you don’t need someone manning the phone? Will it increase the number of bookings per day because consumers like the convenience? Define the benefits you expect to see in concrete monetary terms and project how long you will need to recover your initial expense. This is the only way to accurately gauge how much you could initially spend on the development, or if the build even makes sense in the first place.

  Delivering an app that you can be proud of and is genuinely useful is a complex and time-consuming process. If you can answer the above questions honestly, and they all point to ‘yes’, then an app could be just the tool you need to help you take your business to the next level.

  Christophe Delacroix, General Manager UK, ShopKeep.

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

  Photo credit: Shutter_M / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Is your business ready for the cashless economy?

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 5:21pm CET par Paul Heywood

  

  New research findings reveal that UK shoppers are dreaming of a cashless Christmas -- well, when it comes to their spending habits that is.

  The survey, conducted by EE, found that 80 percent of shoppers this festive season expect to pay for any transaction using a credit or debit card. Furthermore, a quarter said they would abandon transactions if they couldn’t use their cards.

  The research also highlighted the growing popularity of contactless payments in the UK, as more than a quarter of shoppers said they preferred using the technology due to its ease of use. In addition, £929.8m was spent in the UK this October using a contactless card -- an increase of 23 percent on the previous month and 213 percent over the year.

  Clearly, we are moving towards a world where cash is no longer king. Digital transactions are the future. In fact, earlier this year, the UK Payments Council confirmed that cash volumes are expected to fall by 30 percent over the next 10 years. A cashless economy is, therefore, inevitable. So what do businesses need to do to accommodate this shift?

  Firstly, merchants and financial organizations need to take a hard look at their ability to support electronic payments through the digital supply chain. There is already an increased dependency on digital assets such websites, mobile apps and connected devices across the Internet of Things. And, for the most part, the advancements in cloud, bandwidth and content distribution technology have allowed organizations to handle this in their stride. But, are businesses confident in their digital governance and the performance of the third party technologies on which they have come to depend?

  As we take great strides towards a cashless economy, those businesses unprepared to face the rising tide of online activity will face serious difficulties around brand reputation and customer experience. The millennial requires complete authenticity in their uninterrupted relationship with the brands they consume. However, when it comes to online banking, failure will be viewed in absolute terms and customers will walk at the first sign of trouble. Whether making a payment online or browsing a website on a mobile device, customers are demanding a seamless, consistent online experience, regardless of their physical location, time or device.

  As a result, companies must shift the way they think. They can no longer solely be concerned about how they connect to their customers. They must understand and optimize how their customers connect to them. That new paradigm means business decisions around vendors and technologies are therefore critical differentiators for those organizations to stand out from the competition and deliver complete customer satisfaction.

  Any business wanting to provide an exceptional end user experience in the increasingly digital market must ensure a well-executed technology strategy is in place to support the company’s ability to monitor, control and optimize online infrastructure. In this way, they can guarantee that their online solutions will be consistently available, efficient, secure and reliable, even across complex, distributed IT infrastructure deployments. Internet performance is key. It bolsters the entire digital supply chain ensuring that, regardless of demand, time or physical location, all transactions and updates work properly.

  Internet performance is about meeting customer expectations and demands by delivering fast, scalable, secure and reliable assets via any digital channel. Traffic spikes, websites crashing, slow access to data, even poor rendering: all of these issues hugely impact customer satisfaction, yet are considered to be out of an organization’s control. They are not.

  Internet performance allows you to take control of the full end-to-end experience and allows companies to make the Internet a competitive advantage. And, if they don’t, even though many of these issues occur outside of a company’s own network, the unacceptable results and customer dissatisfaction are inextricably linked to the brand and it must deal with the potential damage to its reputation.

  If businesses and merchants do not make Internet performance a priority, they risk their customer experience and therefore loss of reputation, reliability, trust and customer loyalty. Customers will not hesitate to move their business to another organization. Never before has it been so important for financial services organizations to monitor and control their cloud providers, CDNs and data centers as part of their Internet performance monitoring.

  If Internet performance is not a priority, banks and merchants risk losing out on reliability, reputation and trust -- factors that keep valuable customers returning.

  Paul Heywood, managing director and VP of EMEA, Dyn

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

  Photo Credit: s4svisuals/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Universal USB Installer adds Windows 10 support

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 2:08pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Bootable USB key creator Universal USB Installer has been updated with new support for Windows 10.

  The developer says it’s "untested", but we pointed the program at a Windows 10 setup ISO, and it built a bootable USB version without difficulty.

  The new release also adds support for the penetration testing distros Caine, Pentoo and Parrot Security OS.

  And as before, there’s support for building Live Linux USB environments for a wide variety of distros: Ubuntu and its many variants, Linux Mint, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Puppy Linux and many more, as well as antivirus rescue kits from Avira, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, E-SET, F-Secure and others.

  If you simply need a way to create a Windows 10 installer on a USB key then Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool remains the best option, as there are no extra options to get in the way, and it’ll download the latest build for you.

  But if you’re looking for something, well, more "universal", then Universal USB Installer 1.9.6.3 is a welcome update to an already excellent package. Go grab a copy if you don’t have one already.

  
• 

  Microsoft's promise of spying warnings is an empty gesture

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 12:26pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Yesterday we reported that Microsoft will warn users of 'state-sponsored' attacks on their accounts. Sounds great, but does it actually mean anything? Is it a useful service by the tech giant, or just PR bluster?

  Considering the covert nature of spying and digital attacks, coupled with legislation around the world, it seems likely that the announcement is little more than meaningless hot air. In the UK, for instance, the planned snooper's charter would make it illegal for companies to alert users to hacking and surveillance by British agencies.

  While this means that it would still be possible for Microsoft (and the likes of Yahoo who announced something similar) to let users know that their accounts are being spied on, it's not a luxury that can be extended to everyone. Should the UK, or another country's government, decide to monitor accounts of Microsoft customers in the US, Microsoft could let them know about it. Likewise, if the US, Russia, or another government other than the UK one decided to spy on users in the UK, Microsoft would be able to issue alerts.

  But should the UK government spy on users in the UK, Microsoft would not be able to issue a warning without the risk of facing prosecution. Of course, there is nothing to stop other foreign governments from introducing similar restrictions, ultimately meaning that companies have the choice between complying with the rules or quitting operations in that country.

  As noted by TechSpot, the Investigatory Powers Bill (AKA the snooper's charter) includes the proviso that it:

  ...will ensure that a communication service provider does not notify the subject of an investigation that a request has been made for their data unless expressly permitted to do so.

  In short, Microsoft is promising to let users know about state-sponsored spying on their accounts, but only if said state permits this information to be shared. It's an empty gesture.

  Photo credit: Imilian / Shutterstock

  
• 

  US is spying on its allies for 'national security' purposes

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 11:11am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Even though US president Barack Obama promised to end the eavesdropping on highly-positioned officials among US allies, which was revealed during the Edward Snowden events, it seems that some officials are still under close watch by the NSA.

  Among those is the prime minister of one of US' biggest allies -- Israel. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the White House decided to keep certain high-ranking officials under close watch, including Netanyahu and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey.

  Wall Street Journal quoted a senior US official: "Going dark on Bibi? Of course we wouldn’t do that", a senior US official said, using Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname.

  The spying on Netanyahu ruined the relations between the two countries to some extent, after it was uncovered that Netanyahu tried to sabotage the nuclear arms agreement the US was trying to achieve with Iran.

  "The US, pursuing a nuclear arms agreement with Iran at the time, captured communications between Mr. Netanyahu and his aides that inflamed mistrust between the two countries and planted a political minefield at home when Mr. Netanyahu later took his campaign against the deal to Capitol Hill".

  The eavesdropping revealed how Netanyahu and his advisers had leaked details of the US - Iran negotiations to undermine the talks; coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes.

  Current and former US officials agree -- Obama kept monitoring Netanyahu because it served a "compelling national security purpose".

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

  Photo Credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

  
• 

  This New Year's Eve, make sure your PC is safely backed up with our O&O Disk Image 9 Downloadcrew Giveaway, worth $29.95!

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 9:16am CET par Nick Peers

  

  What better way to prepare your PC for 2016 than by providing a failsafe backup this New Year’s Eve? That’s right, today, December 31 we’re providing you with a 24-hour giveaway of the brilliant O&O DiskImage 9 Professional, worth $29.95!

  Whether you want to take a full backup of your Windows system and applications, or back up individual files and folders, O&O DiskImage 9 will have you covered. So make sure you bookmark the Download Giveaway page ahead of midday (EST) on December 31!

  Ever lost a precious, irreplaceable file (never mind a hard disk full of them)? Lost hours having to reinstall Windows from scratch only to find your carefully crafted application settings are impossible to reproduce?

  That’s why you need a backup tool to turn stomach-clenching, life-changing events into minor irritants, and what better tool for the job than O&O DiskImage 9 Professional? It’s capable of backing up individually selected files and folders as well as complete drives and partitions, and its built-in scheduling capabilities means you can set it and forget it.

  DiskImage 9 supports both full and incremental backups to help save drive space -- incremental images simply record the changes made since the last full backup was taken. Combining frequent incremental backups with occasional full backups ensures all your files are protected in the smallest possible drive space, and you can merge incremental ones together to further consolidate your backups.

  The program can also be used to take "forensic" drive images, which preserve even deleted and corrupt data, allowing you to try and recover them later using drive recovery tools.

  Managing your backups is easy too -- opt to restore entire images or backups, or select individual files and folders to bring back.

  You can even convert your drive images into virtual hard disk files for use with virtualization software like VirtualBox and VMWare Workstation.

  Version 9 is fully compatible with Windows 10 and supports newer UEFI systems as well as older BIOS-based PCs.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of single-PC licenses for O&O DiskImage 9 Professional to give away, each one worth $29.95. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Thursday December 31, and expires when the licenses run out or on January 1 2016 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So when the giveaway begins, don’t hang about -- get over to Downloadcrew Giveaway promptly!

  
• 

  Adobe Flash gets the final security patch of 2015

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 5:03am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  There’s nothing quite like kicking a dead corpse, and that’s basically what Adobe is doing with its once powerful product Flash.

  Adobe has issued a security update for Flash, one which, according to it, addresses "critical vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system".

  "Adobe is aware of a report that an exploit for CVE-2015-8651 is being used in limited, targeted attacks", the company said in the patch’s description. "Adobe recommends users update their product installations to the latest version using the instructions referenced in the security bulletin".

  This has been a horrible year for Flash -- used countless times by hackers to take control of a victim’s computer, the developers have tried to patch vulnerability after vulnerability, but to no avail.

  316 Flash bugs have been discovered this year -- meaning Sunday was likely the only day of the week which was free of new Flash vulnerabilities.

  The vulnerabilities -- most of them quite dangerous -- have prompted big tech companies and services to switch to alternatives.

  In January, YouTube dropped the bug-ridden software in favor of HTML5 to handle its video, and in July, Facebook’s chief security officer asked for an "end-of-life date for Flash". That same month, Mozilla partially blocked the once-ubiquitous plugin in its Firefox browser.

  But perhaps the worst hit Flash could get happened in December, when Flash developer Adobe started distancing itself from its creation, saying that it will now "encourage content creators to build with new web standards".

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

  Photo Credit: 360b/Shutterstock

  
• 

  The bad security habits enterprise IT needs to leave behind in 2016

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 4:13am CET par Sam Pudwell

  2015 has played host to some significant cyber breaches. Experian, TalkTalk and Ashley Madison all fell foul of malicious attacks, and they weren’t the only ones. In 2016, businesses need to resolve to do better -- but the question is, how?

  What bad security habits need to be given up to ensure a safer, more secure experience next year? What lengths could, and indeed should have businesses gone to this year in order to prevent some of the data breaches that occurred?

  Industry experts elaborate on what they believe needs to be done better in 2016, and how to leave those bad habits behind.

  Jeremiah Grossman, Founder of WhiteHat Security:

  2016 is the year companies must resolve to get better at Web security. A lot better. Let’s look at just one of the past year’s major breaches -- TalkTalk. TalkTalk, a major UK telecoms operation, was arguably one of the most widely reported breaches of the year with reputable media reports suggesting the attack was carried out through SQL injection. SQLi gives a remote attacker the ability to run commands against the backend database, including potentially stealing all the data contained in it. This sounds bad because it is.

  The more we learn about incidents like TalkTalk, the more we see that these breaches are preventable. We know how to write code that’s attack-resilient and we know multiple methods for fixing vulnerabilities and defending against incoming attacks. All it takes to stop these breaches from happening is doing the things we already know how to do. Doing the things we already know work. Let’s make 2016 the year we take web security seriously.

  Perry Correll, Principal Technologist, Xirrus Networks:

  Xirrus recently polled Wi-Fi users and found that 76 percent connect to Wi-Fi outside of their home. Public Wi-Fi offers the convenience of accessibility, but typically doesn’t encrypt data, which leaves passwords exposed and sensitive data vulnerable to the possibility of capture by those with malicious intentions.

  It’s bad enough worrying that while sipping a latte, cyber criminals might be trying to steal your credit card data and bank account numbers, but even more daunting to know that corporate espionage is on the rise. Hotel Wi-Fi networks, which are notoriously easy to breach, offer hackers little challenge when it comes to intercepting private or classified information accessed by executives who stay in hotels on business. Now more than ever, large and small enterprises -- from coffee houses to airports and hotels -- must upgrade their networks to provide better security for their customers.

  David Juitt, Chief Security Architect, Ipswitch:

  Given we’re spending a whopping $70 billion on security per year, it’s not surprising it ranks high among IT concerns. The harsh reality is we are not doing a good enough job keeping pace with the adversaries. Despite the high levels of security investment, we can’t say with any degree of certainty whether we are safer than we were a year ago or five years ago.

  Accepting some level of risk is part of doing business. Managing that risk in 2016 by recognizing and shoring up points of vulnerability is the difference between using data as a competitive advantage and being the victim of a catastrophic data loss.

  Wieland Alge, VP & GM EMEA, Barracuda:

  All IT Security experts should try to give up SEP -- the concept of Somebody Else’s Problem. As The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s Ford Prefect described it: 'An SEP is something we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem'.

  SEP behavior exists right across the IT security community because we’ve often been treated as nerds, techies and obstacles to business.

  If the Business IT team move some web applications into the Cloud without telling the IT Security team, then -- despite it being Business IT’s problem -- we know that the apps no longer have the protection of a proper Firewall/WAF and we should really help resolve it. Likewise, we can’t continue to say 'Cool, no attacks coming!' whenever the Internet goes down.

  A good New Year’s Resolution would be to actively search for SEPs and fix them.

  Mark Edge, UK Country Manager, Brainloop:

  The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) arrives in 2017, so CISOs should spend this year resolving bad data protection practices.

  The regulation will address the changing way businesses operate in the modern world, with a focus on protecting data stored and transferred in and out of Europe. It may be surprising to hear that malicious, or, more likely, careless employee behaviour is the number one threat to data security. Email, especially personal email, is simply not secure enough to communicate highly sensitive information, whilst consumer-grade file sharing solutions have little in-built security and no audit trail. USB drives, Instant Messaging and hard copies of confidential documentation also present a clear data protection problem.

  CISOs must break bad habits with a positive change, so instead of placing cumbersome restrictions upon employees, they should implement intuitive and highly-secure collaboration tools that form positive habits and an easy transition ahead of the GDPR.

  Thomas Fischer, Principal Threat Researcher, Digital Guardian:

  Hundreds of thousands of customer details were leaked as a result of corporate data breaches in 2015. This data is most valuable to hackers before the leak is discovered and made public, as it then becomes much harder to sell off or act without attracting attention. However, even after the breach is discovered this information is still out there, still accessible, and is often used in a second wave of attacks targeting the victims themselves many months later.

  Hackers will often bombard breached email addresses with phishing attacks in an attempt to gain access to more of their victims’ details. By impersonating banks, retail companies and government agencies the attacker will try to trick users into sending them money or personal information. These imitations are becoming more convincing, with hackers explaining to users that they are vulnerable to an attack and must change their details immediately by handing them over in some way.

  Businesses shouldn’t be fooled twice, 2016 must be the year organizations combat phishing attacks. Educate your employees on social engineering, including how to identify suspicious messages and phishing sites, outline a clear policy on emails that seem out of place and ensure that everyone remains vigilant with regular security awareness training.

  Chris Hurst, Director UK Sales, RedSocks:

  There is no doubt that cyber security attacks will continue in terms of frequency and severity. Too many organizations rely on traditional security protection such as anti-virus, endpoint protection and firewalls, which is clearly not enough.

  As cyber security threats become more sophisticated, measures to detect intrusions that we know will inevitably make their way onto a company’s network are as important as those designed to prevent them. 2016 should be the year in which companies resolve to monitor traffic as it leaves the network.

  This will enable suspicious behaviors and destinations to be identified and will help ensure that any incidents can be assessed and remediated in as timely a manner as possible.

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

  Photo Credit: Javier Brosch/Shutterstock

  
• 

  You will now receive alerts if state-sponsored hackers attack your Microsoft Account [Updated]

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 3:22am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Whenever you access the internet, you are under attack. There are tons of evildoers out there just waiting to hack or scam you. Between malware and social engineering, it can feel like the wild west on the web. In other words, bad guys are everywhere -- be cautious.

  While some of these hackers are merely amateurs looking to wreak havoc or profit monetarily, there is something far more devious. State-sponsored hackers and terrorists could be targeting you with more sophisticated techniques. This could be for political reasons, such as espionage, or even stealing corporate secrets. Starting today, if Microsoft suspects sate-sponsored attacks on your Microsoft Account, it will let you know. This includes both Outlook.com email and OneDrive cloud storage.

  "We already notify users if we believe their accounts have been targeted or compromised by a third party, and we provide guidance on measures users can take to keep their accounts secure. We’re taking this additional step of specifically letting you know if we have evidence that the attacker may be 'state-sponsored' because it is likely that the attack could be more sophisticated or more sustained than attacks from cybercriminals and others. These notifications do not mean that Microsoft’s own systems have in any way been compromised", says Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft.

  Charney further explains, "if you receive one of these notifications it doesn't necessarily mean that your account has been compromised, but it does mean we have evidence your account has been targeted, and it's very important you take additional measures to keep your account secure. You should also make sure your computer and other devices don't not have viruses or malware installed, and that all your software is up to date".

  Recipients of these alerts should be vigilant and follow Microsoft's recommended steps. However, they should also wonder why they are being targeted by a nation state. If you are a politician, reporter or executive at a large corporation, you should probably alert your superiors and IT teams. Don't blow it off or pay it no mind -- you may regret it.

  Unfortunately, Microsoft is refusing to share which groups are conducting the hacking or what methods they are using. The company cites legal reasons for this, which makes sense, as it may be evidence in a larger matter. Still, it is frustrating to be left in the dark regarding the identity of your attacker. With that said, you may be able to hire a lawyer to use legal action to try and force Microsoft to disclose the details.

  Are you glad that Microsoft is now warning users of state-sponsored hacks? Tell me in the comments.

  [UPDATE #1] A bombshell report from Reuters details some failures by Microsoft regarding the protection of its users. The company allegedly knew that state-sponsored hacking was occurring and did not alert its users as such. This Reuters investigation may have triggered Microsoft's newly announced stance on this type of hacking.

  Reuters shares the following disheartening accusation against Microsoft. If true, the company may face a severe backlash from its users.

  One of the reasons Microsoft executives gave internally in 2011 for not issuing explicit warnings was their fear of angering the Chinese government, two people familiar with the discussions said.

  BetaNews has reached out to Microsoft for more information.

  [UPDATE #2] A Microsoft spokesperson reached out to BetaNews with the following statement, which is also in the Reuters report.

  Our focus is on helping customers keep personal information secure and private. Our primary concern was ensuring that our customers quickly took practical steps to secure their accounts, including by forcing a password reset. We weighed several factors in responding to this incident, including the fact that neither Microsoft nor the U.S. Government were able to identify the source of the attacks, which did not come from any single country. We also considered the potential impact on any subsequent investigation and ongoing measures we were taking to prevent potential future attacks

  In other words, Microsoft denies knowing without a doubt that it was the Chinese government behind the hacks. While Reuters frames this as a failure on Microsoft's part, I would disagree. True, the company could have done a better job in warning the users of general hacking attempts, but it would be wrong to inform the user that the Chinese government was targeting them without definitive proof. With that said, had Microsoft's new state-sponsored hacking policy been in place back then, it wouldn't have helped these users anyway, since the company was not sure of the source.

  Image Credit: lolloj/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Uber hits 1 billion rides -- celebrates by donating to charity

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 2:31am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  As a Long Islander, I regularly make trips to NYC. While many people in the world dream of visiting the famed city, it is something I probably take for granted. Truth be told, Manhattan is a rather magical place -- usually.

  When a destination in NYC is too far for walking, I will splurge on a taxi -- the subway can be a headache. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be hard to hail a cab; especially in the rain. It is for this reason that Uber has been a godsend. You can use your smartphone to request a ride without the stress. Today, that company announces it has now delivered over 1 billion rides. This is a monumental milestone, and the trendy company is celebrating by donating some of its loot to charity.

  "Marvin and Ara just made our day. Their £5 London uberX ride together on Christmas Eve from London Fields, Hackney to Hoxton in Ara's blue Honda Insight Hybrid was the billionth Uber trip. One billion. That's a whole lot of riders and drivers sharing the road, special moments, and celebrations together. Certainly far more than we ever imagined when we got started in San Francisco five and a half years ago", says Uber.

  The company further says, "for riding their way into our history books, we're putting one year's worth of free rides in rider Marvin's stocking and our driver-partner Ara will be taking a vacation on us to the Uber city of his choice. To celebrate the community where this special trip took place, we are also making a donation to Hackney Pirates -- a charity serving the neighborhood where the billionth trip started. Hackney Pirates develops the literacy, confidence, and perseverance of young people aged 9-12 across the borough of Hackney, so that they are set up for success both in school and beyond".

  

  While the company could have donated the money to a more prominent charity, it instead supported a lesser-known organization where the billionth ride took place. I find this to be quite cool -- it highlights Uber's commitment to the individual communities it serves. In other words, at least from a PR perspective, it adds some soul to the sometimes-controversial company.

  Have you ever used Uber? Tell me your experiences in the comments below.

  Photo credit: 360b / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  Disable Windows 10 upgrade prompts with GWX Control Panel 1.7

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 1:03am CET par Mike Williams

  

  Windows 10 is a solid update with some excellent new features, but if you’re happy running Windows 7/8 then the constant "Get Windows 10!" alerts are probably getting annoying.

  Fortunately you can disable them in seconds with the free GWX Control Panel, which has just been updated for even more reliable and long-lasting results.

  Launch the program and it displays various details about your system status. You'll see whether the "Get Windows 10" icon app is running and/or enabled, if automatic Windows 10 upgrades are allowed, if you currently have a hidden Windows 10 Download folder with installer files, and more.

  If the "Get Windows 10" app is on your system then you’ll find a button to disable it, or at least remove the icon from your system tray. (You can restore it later with a click.)

  A second option can prevent all automatic Windows 10 upgrades. Don’t worry, this is intelligently implemented – you’ll get regular Windows updates as before.

  Microsoft has released patches which restore these settings, associated programs and their scheduled tasks, but GWX Control Panel 1.7 now includes a "Delete Windows 10 Programs" option to prevent this from happening.

  If you still find the "Get Windows 10' icon returns, an optional "Monitor Mode" tracks any related Windows 10 upgrade settings, and raises an alert if something changes.

  GWX Control Panel 1.7 also provides new information and control over your Windows Update settings, and has been optimised to reduce its resource usage.

  Best of all, every part of the program is documented in extreme detail. This isn't like some of the Windows 10 privacy tweakers, where you click a button and have little idea what’s happening: the developer explains just about everything in a comprehensive User Guide.

  GWX Control Panel is a free tool for Windows 7 and 8.

  
• 

  Amazon Echo brings Beatles Easter eggs to Alexa

  Publié: décembre 31, 2015, 12:21am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  A week ago the Beatles came to streaming services, bringing the massive music catalog to a whole new generation. We've already learned of the popularity of this major launch as Spotify has released some numbers and the streams and ages of listeners were surprising.

  The Fab Four also landed on other services as well, and one of those was Amazon Prime. With all of the cool features people often forget and Amazon Echo is also a very good speaker.

  And in honor of the Beatles launch the company added some Easter eggs that are relevant to the event. Keep in mind that the same question can offer different responses. For instance, Asking Alexa what its (hers?) favorite Beatles song is yields "Tomorrow never knows and neither do I" and "Help, I need somebody to help me choose".

  "Alexa, who's your favorite Beatle?" The device responds "I can't decide. We should just let it be". "Alexa, Good Morning". Multiple responses, including "Good morning, here comes the sun. I'm so glad I can play the Beatles for you now".

  Just try different questions and have a bit of fun with this. You never know what response you'll get, but it will generally be entertaining.

  
• 

  Microsoft Selfie app comes to iOS -- Did it make me sexy? You be the judge!

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 7:31pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  Microsoft has had its ups and downs lately, but one of Satya Nadella's biggest victories was increasing development for multiple platforms. Gone are the days of the company focusing primarily on Windows. Yes, the company still has an interest in making its own operating systems successful, but not to the detriment of the overall good.

  Microsoft has supported iOS in more ways than one -- it has released Office, Bing and OneDrive for the platform, to name a few. Plus its Band smartwatch is compatible with iPhone thanks to its Heath app. Today, the company releases a new app for selfie photos; the unimaginatively named 'Microsoft Selfie'. Obviously, I had to try it on my iPhone 6s Plus. Has the app turned my homely mug into something sexy? You be the judge.

  Microsoft describes the app in the following way:

  Microsoft Selfie is a selfie and portrait enhancement application. The app takes age, gender, skin tone, lighting, and many other variables into account, applies different models automatically and finishes enhancement with just a single click. Users can transform average photos into more presentable portraits in seconds. Key features of this application are noise reduction, intelligent enhancement, automatic exposure and color theme.

  Here are the results below. Am I sexy now?

  Click to view slideshow.

  Microsoft Selfie focuses on automatically enhancing selfies and removing "noise". You can use the on screen slider to increase or decrease the strength of the the trickery, however. As you can see, my forehead and cheeks look oddly smooth. The app has largely removed imperfections -- acne, birthmarks and stubble. While this is sort of cool, it also comes across as being a bit phony. I appreciate it removing the zit that was on my chin, but not my birthmarks. Quite frankly, this app makes me feel bad about myself, as it highlights all my flaws.

  In addition to that primary noise feature, it also implements optional filters -- something found on similar such apps. While the app works, it doesn't do much to differentiate from other offerings on iOS. If you really want to tweak your face in selfies, the popular Facetune is superior. With that said, it costs $3.99 while Microsoft's offering is free. Ultimately, I guess I just don't see why the company invested resources in such a seemingly mundane app.

  What do you think, was Microsoft smart to release this app? Was it successful in making me sexy? Download the app here and tell me in the comments.

  
• 

  Two weeks with Google Pixel C [preview]

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 7:16pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  For about a fortnight, I have used Google's Pixel C as my primary tablet. I like the 10.2-inch slate much more than anticipated, particularly after being negatively influenced by some rather lukewarm techsite reviews before FedEx delivered the tab to my door.

  Google designed and produces Pixel C, which is by far the best Android tablet you can buy anywhere. Like Nexus smartphones, which debuted in January 2010, the tablet is meant as a reference design for OEMs and developing Android apps appropriate for larger, but still mobile, screens. I primarily will focus on the hardware this round; apps and Android will come next year in my full review.

  The search-and-information giant unexpectedly unveiled the Pixel C on September 29th. Sales started December 8th. Specs: 10.2-inch LTPS LCD touchscreen, 2560 x 1800 resolution, 308 pixels per inch, 500-nit brightness; nVidia Tegra X1 processor with Maxwell graphics; 3GB RAM; 32GB ($449) or 64GB ($599) storage; 8-megapixel rear and 2MP front cameras; four microphones; two speakers (sideways of screen in portrait mode on the bezel); USB Type-C port; WiFi AC; Bluetooth 4.1; accelerometer; compass; gyroscope; ambient-light, half-effect, and proximity sensors; Android 6. Enclosure is anodized aluminum that measures 242 x 179 x 7 mm and weighs 517 grams.

  Now for some early reactions about the hardware, in no particular order of importance:

  1. Design is recognizably reminiscent of Chromebook Pixel. The screen, shape, styling all are derivative. Google even added the distinctive color bar and adoption of USB C. See #5, #6, and #8 for more on shared design heritage.

  The shared heritage also applies to performance, which will be covered more in the full review. For a cloud-connected computer, Chromebook Pixel is surprisingly speedy. Same applies to Pixel C, which handles smoothly and feels sporty.

  2. Buttons and ports are laid out for landscape orientation; placement may disorient some users' muscle memory. Held in portrait fashion, power button is upper-right side, volume controls on right-topside, USB C port top-left side, and audio jack lower-right bottom. Turned sideways: power left-topside; volume upper-left side; USB C lower-left side, audio upper-right side.

  Portrait placement is excellent, particularly for accessing volume buttons or for USB C charging. Webcam is top-front facing in this orientation, unlike iPad where iSight is left-side front. Meaning: Apple poorly places the webcam for video chats or Hangouts. Google gives better.

  However, Pixel C is also meant for the browser and some other apps in portrait mode, where the layout of buttons and ports is inconvenient. You design primarily for one orientation or the other. For Apple, it's portrait and for Google it's landscape. The difference illuminates design usage philosophies, and both companies compromise.

  On iPad Pro, which Apple intends to be used often in landscape mode as a laptop replacement, controls and webcam are placed like the smaller sibling tablets, which, to repeat, controls are laid out better for portrait use. Google's layout, while not as good for portrait use where web browsing (and with it all those ads Big G wants you to click), better suits both orientations than Apple's.

  3. Pixel C feels heavy in the hand—and like a brick with the keyboard magnetically attached as protective cover. The heft isn't unbearable or even tiring using the tablet. iPad Air 2 weighs less than a pound (437 grams), while Pixel C climbs to 1.1 pounds (517 grams). The solid construction contributes to the sense of weightiness, which, to reiterate, doesn't discomfort me.

  But i wouldn't want to lug around Pixel C for long with the $149 keyboard cover. Aluminum all-the-way around makes the touch more cold feeling, and combined weight jumps by 399 grams to 916 grams (2.02 pounds). For comparison, the 12-inch MacBook weighs 920 grams (2.03 pounds). Point: This isn't a light kit, and some people will find it to be too heavy.

  4. Grip is great. The anodized aluminum shell is not slippery. As such, the hand firmly holds Pixel C, with or without keyboard cover, Drop risk is greater with iPad Air 2 but less with plasticky tablets.

  5. The tablet's dimensions feel great. Regardless the orientation, Pixel C holds pleasingly, particularly as a traditional tablet longways vertical. The aspect ratio is what Google calls √2, or stated another way 1:1.41, or about the same as A4 paper. This makes the tablet more squarish than rectangular in both orientations and surprisingly more comfortable to hold and to use.

  The benefits are visual and physical. Web content pleasingly presents, as do Google's homegrown apps (and presumably soon those from third-parties). The aspect ratio is closer to Chromebook Pixel's 3;2 (another sign of the shared design legacy), which is superb for photography. Google Photos app present fantastically with the √2 aspect ratio and I report about using editing apps in my full review. Pixel C could be a shooter's dream tablet, much more than any iPad.

  The physical benefit is balance. The aforementioned extra heft is easily ignored because Pixel C balances so well in the hand(s) whether held in landscape or portrait orientation—and the squarish shape is major reason. Holding the tablet feels familiar, like holding a book, and handles much better than any iPad. How funny if Pixel C's killer application turns out to be the aspect ratio and physical shape.

  6. Screen is gorgeous—best of class. The 10.2-inch display is crisp by every measure that matters and magnificently bright. DisplayMate puts iPad Air 2 at 415 nit, which is excellent. Google claims 500 nit, and we'll see what the industry experts give for final number. Whatever the rating, the display is plenty bright and beautiful to my eyes.

  The resolution is close to Chormebook Pixel, and a bit finer—2560 x 1800 compared to 2560 x 1700, respectively. Likewise, visual quality is similar between them. Many smartphone or tablet screens, particularly those AMOLED, present bold colors and rich contrast that looks good but isn't natural; they're not what the eyes. Like the Chromebook, Pixel C presents more muted but pleasingly rich color and contrast that aren't over-saturated. Photographers, this tab could be for you.

  7. Flanking speakers deliver dimension. I was a bit skeptical about Google placing the speakers on the bezel to the side rather than facing front. But I got to say, surprisingly, they give great soundstage and separation. For testing, I watched part of the Indochine Tidal X concert, portion of movie Jurassic World (streamed using Google Play Movies app), and many YouTube videos. All sound great.

  They look fantastic, too, and I don't see the √2 aspect ratio as presenting problems showing 16:9 or 16:10 content. The viewing window is plenty large,and I would absolutely rate the overall experience of sight and sound ahead of iPad Air 2. Once again, Google gives better.

  8. Keyboard satisfies. The keys feel good and responsive to the touch, like I would expect from a device branded Pixel. Keyboard is one of the Chromebook's biggest benefits. Peripheral attachment  is easy and magnetically holds strongly fast as Google claims. The real test of any keyboard is how your muscle memory transcends one layout to another. I find switching between the two to devices to be satisfying enough, conceding—and this applies to most tablets—near full-size layout is never nearly enough.

  9. Magnetic attachment is strong, and perhaps to a fault. The keyboard can also be used as a protective cover, but should you really have to pry it off to remove? In trying to separate the keyboard as cover from Pixel C, I nearly dropped the tablet and did so the keyboard a couple of times. You've been warned.

  10. Battery life depends on brightness. Google claims 10 hours battery life, which would be comparable to other tablets in the size class. However, as previously mentioned, Pixel C's screen is 500 nit, which is brighter than most, if not all, competing tabs. Kicking back brightness to, say, 75 percent, can give still satisfying visual experience while extending time between recharges.

  That's a wrap, with one software consideration for anyone deciding on whether to save $100 and buy the 32GB model: Expect 21GB, or thereabouts, available storage out of the box. On my 64 gigger, I see 52.88GB available to start, of which I have used 4.21GB, mostly for apps. Since storage isn't expandable, budget buyers may later regret saving a C-note.

  Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

  
• 

  Clueless UK government wants you to help define its digital strategy

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 5:04pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The UK government has been heavily criticized for the way it is attempting to control the way in which people use the internet -- blocking porn, unfettered surveillance and so on. The snooper's carter in particular has been the subject of much disapproval, and in an apparent bid to avoid further complaints, the government is now crowdsourcing ideas for internet policies.

  In an article entitled UK Digital Strategy - the next frontier in our digital revolution (a document replete with language and references akin to an elderly parent talking about some aspect of modern culture they don't quite understand), Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey explains that he is looking for "ideas from public and industry on the UK's digital strategy".

  Being government-written, it is rather self-aggrandizing in tone, with the minister trying to take partial credit for the explosion in the digital economy. Vaizey points to the opening up of government-held data sources so they can be used by apps and services, but says "we need to work hard to make sure we continue to take advantage of the benefits digital transformation has to offer, as an economy and as a society".

  There's an unpleasant tone of one-upmanship when he says "other countries are hot on our heels but we want the UK to be synonymous with digital". This suggests that the UK is in some way at the forefront of a digital revolution, when in fact it lags behind many other countries in Europe and around the world -- just look to the average broadband connection speeds that are available, for instance.

  Good job we have a Digital Economy Minister, eh?

  But Vaizey is out of ideas; he doesn't know what to do next. In 2016 he plans to unveil a five-year plan in the form of the Digital Strategy for the UK (his capitalization, not mine), but he needs help. Even he seems to realize that padding out his document with essentially meaningless puff-phrases like "unlocking digital growth" is pointless. The many hundreds of words he ejaculates could be condensed down to "we want to be better, but don’t know what to do".

  This is perfectly illustrated by the plan "to deliver superfast broadband to 95 percent of the UK by the end of 2017" -- with no hint of how it will be achieved, or what happens for the remaining 5 percent. Details, mere details! "We're planning to make it a legal right for every home and business in the UK to request fast broadband". Quite why the right to ask for something needs to be enshrined in law is anybody's guess, but asking certainly doesn't mean getting -- surely you know that by now!

  Vaizey wants so desperately to sound like he knows what he's talking about and that he knows what’s going on. "It's estimated around 90% of all jobs over the next 20 years will require some level of digital skills", he prophesizes. Estimated by whom? What is a "digital skill"? Who defined this?

  The usual scary monsters get a mention too:

  As more of our lives are conducted online, the need to keep ourselves safe from criminals and terrorists increases. But we mustn't let these real dangers prevent us from accessing all the benefits of a digital economy. That’s why we're spending £1.9 billion over the next five years through the National Cyber Security Programme.

  Wow (sarcasm). An average of under £380 million per annum, which will almost certainly be spent on over-priced contracts from ministers' chums. That sort of money will disappear overnight, and vanish without a trace.

  In case you hadn’t guessed by now, the government doesn’t really know what it's doing, particularly when it comes to the world of technology. Vaizey round things off by saying:

  Come 2020, undoubtedly the UK landscape will have changed to be firmly in the digital age. But how do you want to shape that? Government has ideas and ambitions but as Tech City UK back in 2010 shows, the ideas are out there. So challenge us - push us to do more. Let's show the rest of the world how it's done.

  On the one hand it's somewhat reassuring that people are being asked how we should move forward. On the other, it's disconcerting to hear just how clueless the minister charged with driving things forward is. He's a man from another age. New blood is needed. That's not going to happen any time soon, so let the government know what you think. You're invited to email idea to  digitalstrategy@culture.gov.uk.

  You've only got until 19 January, so be quick (although it would be nice to think that ideas sent in after this date would not simply be ignored!).

  Photo credit: Maksim Kabakou / Shutterstock

  
• 

  5 ways Ubuntu Linux is better than Microsoft Windows 10

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 4:36pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Windows 10 is a pretty good desktop operating system. Unfortunately, that OS is very far from perfect. The most glaring issue, of course, is the confusing privacy settings. Plus, let us not forget the arguably shady tactics Microsoft is employing to get users to upgrade to the operating system. While Windows 10 is more focused than its predecessor, there is still a lack of consistency, such as having a Settings Menu and separate Control Panel menu.

  Meanwhile, in the land of Linux, Ubuntu hit 15.10; an evolutionary upgrade, which is a joy to use. While not perfect, the totally free Unity desktop-based Ubuntu gives Windows 10 a run for its money. Does this mean I think Linux will soon rule the desktop? Absolutely not. Windows will still be dominant in number of installs for the foreseeable future. With that said, more does not always mean better. Here are 5 ways Ubuntu bests Windows 10.

  1. Live Tiles stink

  Live Tiles are an interesting concept -- rather than offer a static image icon for apps, Microsoft gives the option to display app data instead. While this sounds useful, in practice, it kind of stinks.

  The human mind recognizes images, which trigger a memory as to what it represents. For instance, when driving, you see a red, octagon-shaped sign that says "stop" and know to hit the brakes. With Microsoft's design logic, the sign would be a red square or rectangle, and wouldn't say "stop". Instead, it would be give you stats about how many cars have stopped there and you'd have to guess that it is a stop sign.

  Obviously, Microsoft's design choice is poor, as the sign needs to represent something very specific, and reaction time is important. The same can be said for application icons and productivity. A blue "e" means Internet Explorer, or Edge. A red, green and yellow circle means Chrome. A parking cone means VLC. This is how it should be; Live Tiles hurt productivity and waste time.

  Microsoft's return to a traditional Start Menu makes Live Tiles even more ridiculous. Why would someone click the start button and stare at the tiles to obtain information? It makes more sense to, you know, open the damn application!

  Conversely, Ubuntu sticks to traditional icons -- what a concept, right? In other words, with Unity, Canonical has not initiated change for the sake of change. There is also no silly Start Menu, which is arguably an obsolete concept. On Ubuntu, much like OS X, your favorite apps can be locked to the dock, which is on your screen at all times.

  Quite frankly, this is what Microsoft should do -- increase the size of the Windows taskbar and kill the start menu altogether. Just pin file explorer, settings and "all apps" to the bar -- let the user pin other apps they want. No start menu, no live tiles. Apple had it right with OS X all along and Ubuntu is smart to emulate it with Unity.

  Many wanted the traditional Start Menu back in Windows. Well, now it's here and it is sort of pointless.

  READ MORE: System76 Oryx Pro is the Ubuntu Linux gaming laptop of your dreams [Review]

  2. Privacy

  This is the biggest Windows 10 blunder by far. Not only does the operating system phone home to Microsoft, but it can be confusing to figure out how to turn the data-siphoning off. Actually, it can be damn near impossible to turn it off entirely without the use of a third-party solution. Check out the video from Barnacules below for more information. It is long, but in-depth and informative. The fact that 35 minutes could be dedicated to the subject highlights that there is a problem.

  Look, regardless of Microsoft's intent or motive, users should be asked to opt in to all of this creepy sharing -- not opt out. It can be argued that users are partly to blame for selecting "Express Settings" during the initial setup, but that is a bit dim. Not everyone understands these settings and what they mean -- Microsoft can't put the onus on its customers.

  Ubuntu is not infallible in this regard either. The Linux-based operating system will send your search queries to Amazon in an attempt to show relative shopping data. The problem? If you were to search for sensitive information -- like an SSN or password in a document -- it too is sent to Amazon.

  Luckily, Canonical does not try to deter users from disabling this, although I would prefer it to be opt-in. To disable it, the user only must go to privacy settings and deselect a single option. In other words, Ubuntu is far more privacy-focused than Windows 10.

  3. Consistency

  Windows 8 had a disaster-level user interface -- a scary mix of old-school and new-school. This terribly inconsistent environment was largely hated by consumers, making the operating systems one of Microsoft's biggest failures.

  Windows 10 partly fixes this by making store apps available in a windowed mode. In other words, these apps are no longer full-screen only, and run in the same environment as legacy programs.

  Sadly, this only partly fixes the problem. Windows 10 is still extremely inconsistent. The biggest offense is two destinations for settings. There is a new "Settings" menu, plus the traditional "Control Panel". It is never clear which place the user must visit -- very confusing.

  Unfortunately, it does not end there. Microsoft offers two web browsers, Edge and Internet Explorer (neither can be uninstalled), and to the average user, it is not clear why. When navigating settings in traditional apps vs. store apps, the experience is very different too. Sometimes there are hamburger menus, sometimes settings are accessed by clicking on something mysterious (the user photo in the store app???) and then in legacy programs, there is the traditional "File", "Tools", "Help" etc.

  With Ubuntu, there is a single settings menu, and for the most part, programs follow the design of Unity. Sometimes, like in the case with Google Chrome, you may need to set the program to use the "system title bars and borders". That aside, the entire experience of Ubuntu and Unity is cohesive and consistent. Users should rarely find themselves getting confused over jarring design principles.

  4. Security

  Let's face it -- Windows has been, and likely always will be, the largest malware target. Sure, you can say it is because of its popularity -- that is partly true -- but it is also due to the nature of the operating system. Microsoft has long made poor choices that has negatively impacted its operating system for home users. Internet Explorer and its horrid ActiveX technologies has put many users at risk. Software can largely be installed without a password, or even without the user's permission, leading to a total mess -- we've probably all experienced a Windows machine bogged down with malware and multiple web browser toolbars.

  While Linux-based operating systems, such as Ubuntu, are not impervious to malware -- nothing is 100 percent secure -- the nature of the operating system prevents infections. Actually, with the exception of social engineering and tricking the Linux user into doing something foolish, Ubuntu is rock solid. By sticking to downloads from the Software Center, users of the OS should feel quite safe -- no antivirus, anti-spyware or CCleaner-like utilities needed. While Windows 10 is arguably safer than previous versions, it is still not touching Ubuntu in this regard.

  While security can be mentioned as a benefit of most Linux-based operating systems (except maybe Android), Ubuntu is particularly safe by having many popular packages available. For the most part, users can get everything they need without hunting for .deb files on websites or adding shady repositories. The fewer times a user finds the need to stray from the Software Center, the safer they arguably are.

  With Windows 10, yeah, there is now an app store, but largely, users still have to hunt for programs and driver packages on various websites. While seasoned Windows experts will know safe download sites to target, many others will be fooled into downloading malware. Hopefully Windows Defender catches it, but if not, the users' machines can be put at risk.

  5. Non-aggresive updates

  This is probably my favorite aspect of Ubuntu over Windows 10; Canonical does not force, nag, or trick you to upgrade your operating system. Comparatively, Microsoft has been unapologetically aggressive with getting users to upgrade to Windows 10. The problem? Many users do not have the need, nor the want, to move from Windows 7. With Ubuntu, you can stick with the operating system for as long as you want without experiencing aggressive tactics. True, Canonical will alert you to updates, but they are always optional.

  If you install an LTS version of Ubuntu -- meaning Long Term Support -- you are guaranteed 5 years of support from initial release. During this time, you can be confident that you can stay on the version and receive timely updates. Canonical will release newer versions during that 5 year span, but never will you receive pop-up messages begging you to upgrade. You can upgrade if you want, but it will be optional and no-pressure.

  Canonical seems to respect its users, while Microsoft's patronizing tactics make me question their customer focus.

  Thoughts?

  OK, folks -- am I totally off-base here? Is Windows 10 actually a better operating system than Ubuntu 15.10 with Unity? Is there a Linux distro that you think is better than Ubuntu? Sound off in the comments and tell me what you think.

  Photo Credit: nex999 / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Samsung adds SmartThings and security to IoT TVs

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 3:12pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  The Internet of Things is the hot buzz-phrase right now and Samsung has an iron in the fire with SmartThings. Its line of products is also compatible with those made by other manufacturers -- that's the biggest catch with all of this, as not everything is compatible with all competing products.

  Now Samsung is bringing its SmartThings platform to its own line of TVs and all 2016 models will offer built-in compatibility. This allows for control of your home right from the screen in your living room, or wherever you may have the product.

  The first of these TVs will be on display at this year's Consumer Electronics Show which kicks off in early January. These are devices that will be available this coming year. It does take a minor amount of work on the part of the consumer -- you'll need to plug in a dongle, but then you'll have access to a range of products across platforms such as Zigbee and Z-Wave.

  "The SmartThings SUHD application will allow you to trigger different SmartThings Routines, get notifications when important events happen, see what’s happening in and around your home with compatible cameras, and control your connected devices–all from the TV", the company states.

  Also being unwrapped for the new year is a security system for smart TVs that Samsung has dubbed GAIA. The company hopes that this will provide a measure of protection across services, software and hardware.

  "Protecting consumers' personal information is of the utmost importance to Samsung, both in terms of the company’s values and what’s needed for the continued growth and success of the IoT ecosystem", says Hyun Suk Kim, President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. "GAIA is a security solution that will give Samsung customers security and peace of mind now and in the future".

  Both the TVs and the new security system for them will be available in 2016.

  
• 

  Intel unveils 8 new Broadwell and Skylake processors

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 2:37pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  US chip maker Intel has recently announced eight new processors, as it expands its Broadwell and Skylake families. The chips will be available for both desktop and mobile CPUs, the company added.

  The new processors announced today include the Celeron 3855U, Celeron 3955U, Core i3-6098P, Core i5-6402P, Core i5-5200DU, Core i5-6198DU, Core i5-5500DU, and the Core i7-6498DU. Out of these, the two new desktop CPUs are the Core i3-6098P and the Core i5-6402P. Like previous processors with a "P" prefix, it is likely that these processors do not come with an integrated GPU. They have been priced at $117 (£79) and $182 (£122), respectively.

  The four new mobile CPUs -- Core i5-5200DU, Core i5-6198DU, Core i7-5500DU, and the Core i7-6498DU are dual-core SKUs with four threads. The D in the name is still a mystery.

  According to CPU World, the Celeron 3855U and 3955U are both ULV dual-core processors and come with an integrated Intel HD 510 graphics and 2MB of L3 cache.

  The company announced new processors the same day it announced the completion of the acquisition of Altera. According to the company’s press release, the acquisition will enable new classes of products in the IoT and datacenter businesses.

  "Altera is now part of Intel, and together we will make the next generation of semiconductors not only better but able to do more", said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. "We will apply Moore’s Law to grow today’s FPGA business, and we’ll invent new products that make amazing experiences of the future possible -- experiences like autonomous driving and machine learning".

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

  Photo Credit: Rose Carson/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Snap and resize desktop windows to a grid with WindowGrid

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 12:47pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Windows provides many ways to help reposition and resize your desktop windows -- cascading, tiling, aero snap, more -- but even the latest editions won’t always give you the control you need.

  WindowGrid is an ultra-lightweight tool which allows users to precisely snap and resize individual windows to a customizable grid, using just the mouse.

  The program arrives as a tiny download, barely 300KB. There’s no installation required, no adware, and it doesn’t make any dubious system-wide changes (all your windows look and work as before, no extra icons or menu options).

  The system is very unobtrusive. It doesn’t interfere with the way you normally reposition windows, so if you left-click the title bar of a window, then drag, it’ll move just as before.

  If you decide to try out WindowGrid, hold down the right button as well as the left, and a customizable grid overlay appears (check the settings to adjust its size and color).

  Your window snaps to the nearest grid line and resizes to fit.

  Continue dragging the window until the top left corner is snapped to your preferred grid position.

  Release the right mouse button only, and drag down and right. Your window resizes, snapping to the nearest grid position as you move.

  Release the left mouse button and that’s it: your window has been snapped and sized to fit a specific position on the grid. Relocate other applications to fit around it, and use them as normal.

  WindowGrid is very basic. There’s no way to save the current window positions, always restore an application to a particular size, or anything else even faintly advanced.

  Still, it does give you a more precise way to manually position and size desktop windows (even when they’re not normally re-sizable), and that’s enough to be useful. Go take a look.

  
• 

  This December 30th, get a full year of Advanced SystemCare 9 PRO, worth $19.95, for free with Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 12:43pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  As thoughts turn to the New Year, what better gift to present your PC with than a complete system cleanup? On December 30, you’ll be able to do just that thanks to our 24-hour giveaway, which is a year’s license for Advanced SystemCare 9 PRO.

  That’s right -- we’re giving you a full year’s license for the current version of Advanced SystemCare Pro 9! This package contains an entire library of essential tools to help you clean up, optimize, maintain and secure your PC.

  The fantastic thing about this giveaway is that it’s for the current version of Advanced SystemCare 9 PRO, so it offers full support for Windows 10, including the ability to clean up after the new Edge browser. It’ll even help you tighten those lax privacy settings set by Microsoft.

  Advanced SystemCare contains the best of IObit’s collection of powerful system tools, including the brilliant IObit Uninstaller 5, which covers Windows apps as well as regular programs, and DriverBooster for ensuring your drivers are fully up to date.

  Other modules include spyware removal, Registry clean (and defrag), privacy sweep, junk files removal, Internet speed boost, security defense and vulnerability fix.

  Features to new to version 9 include a new speed-up module that checks your PC for unnecessary startup items, dubious settings and unwanted Windows apps. The startup manager now supports browsers as well as Windows, while the Protect module blocks malware from altering your DNS settings.

  There’s also a new Large File Finder tool to help free up drive space, while the app also benefits from a redesigned user interface that’s cleaner and simpler to use and expanded database for removing spyware.

  If you want to give your PC a thorough clean out and speed up for New Year, then Advanced SystemCare 9 PRO is the tool to use, so make sure you bookmark the Download Giveaway page now to ensure you don’t miss out come midday December 30!

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of single-PC, one-year licenses for Advanced SystemCare 9 PRO to give away, each one worth $19.95. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Wednesday December 30^th, and expires when the licenses run out or on December 31 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So when the giveaway begins, don’t hang about -- get over to Downloadcrew Giveaway promptly!

  
• 

  LattePanda is a Windows 10 mini PC that costs just $79

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 11:12am CET par Alasdair Gilchrist

  

  We have all seen hobbyists and IoT developers working on computers on a board such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino that run Linux, but now there is a full computer on a board that runs Windows 10.

  This mighty processor board that costs from $79 (£53) boasts the power to do anything that a PC can. This means it can create Office documents, run HD videos and behave exactly like a home PC.

  The brand name LattePanda comes pre-installed with a full edition of Windows 10, including powerful tools such as Visual Studio, NodeJS and Java. However it is the hardware where LattePanda excels as it features a quad-core 1.8Ghz processor, 2/4G RAM, 32/64 GB eMMC, WIFI, Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 3.0, plus onboard Arduino processor.

  LattePanda is the most powerful computer for its size, compared to other OS-on-a-board products, making it ideal for robotics/IoT projects. You can easily design or upgrade projects by connecting several high resolution cameras or Kinect to give your robot its own eyes. What’s more you can use it as a laptop replacement or as a low cost regular Windows computer.

  LattePanda is also designed with an Arduino compatible processor, which means it even can help you to control and sense the physical world, which suits any potential IoT projects. After all it’s a powerful and portable (tiny) Windows 10 computer, you can embed it anywhere to collect and analyze data in real time.

  With onboard WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and Ethernet connectivity, data transmission is already built in, so it can be deployed anywhere. The LattePanda will be ready for batch production and shipment to customers in February 2016.

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

  
• 

  Google says ta-ta to Oracle's Java APIs -- will embrace OpenJDK in future Android releases

  Publié: décembre 30, 2015, 7:19am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Lawsuits in the technology world are so friggin' tiring. Yes, patents and copyrights are generally a positive, as it protects inventors from having their ideas and intellectual property stolen. Sadly nowadays, trolls have largely ruined the sanctity of the original intent. I'm not calling Oracle a troll per se, but suing Google over the use of Java APIs in Android seemed a bit silly to me. A jury and a judge agreed with my feeling on the matter, but their stances were later reversed. Ultimately, Oracle beat Google using the judicial system.

  Today, Google announces that it will embrace OpenJDK in future Android releases. While this should avoid infringement against Oracle technologies, it is not clear if that is the motivator here. In other words, this could have been planned prior to the judgement against the search giant, or it could be related.

  According to VentureBeat, a Google spokesperson is quoted as saying the following.

  As an open-source platform, Android is built upon the collaboration of the open-source community. In our upcoming release of Android, we plan to move Android's Java language libraries to an OpenJDK-based approach, creating a common code base for developers to build apps and services. Google has long worked with and contributed to the OpenJDK community, and we look forward to making even more contributions to the OpenJDK project in the future.

  As you can see, the search giant is seemingly playing this as an action not caused by the Oracle lawsuit. Instead, Google claims to be embracing OpenJDK as a way to ditch proprietary solutions in favor of  more open options. This makes sense since, after all, Android is a Linux-based operating system, and Google has been contributing to the OpenJDK project.

  Regardless of motive, this is a smart move in that regard, and likely had to happen eventually. I mean, why not now, right? What do you think? Was Google's hand forced, or was this simply a longtime coming? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH / Shutterstock

  
• 

  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.

  Click to view slideshow.

  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.

  [https:]

  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

  
• 

  The benefits of Blockchain for financial services

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 11:24pm CET par Tony Virdi

  

  "Blockchain is ready to take centre stage", declared a recent Goldman Sachs report, just one of many indications that this virtual system has captured the attention of the financial services industry.

  It is certain that Blockchain has the potential to transform centuries-old mechanisms for transferring money. Our latest research, which surveyed over 300 banking executives on the current payments landscape across Europe, found that cryptocurrency and Blockchain technologies are now seen as real drivers for change.

  In practice, nine banks, including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, recently announced that they may adopt the Blockchain system, due to the fact that "it is hard to fool, making fraud more difficult, could speed up trading systems and make deals more transparent".

  What Is Blockchain?

  Blockchain is the technology that enables cryptocurrencies and is built on the principles drawn from cryptography, game theory and peer-to-peer networking. This allows any unique monetary data exchange to get past the problem of double spend by making the ledger (the book of record) available to all participants in the network and by creating a process by which a consensus can be reached in changes to the ledger.

  However, the method, through which consensus is reached for making changes to the distributed ledger, differs from one cryptocurrency protocol to another. Bitcoin, for example, makes use of the "proof of work" method, which depends on miners providing proof of computing resources expanded in verifying transactions before being allowed to make changes to the distributed ledger, essentially adding transaction records to the ledger of past transactions.

  The Blockchain Opportunity

  Blockchain offers the promise of addressing some of the key challenges and pain points experienced over many years by the financial sector. Beyond the security implications and increased transparency of transactions for all parties, whether institutions or customers, it can have a beneficial impact on pricing and costs in the market.

  It also provides the opportunity for more accurate tracking of customer repayment histories, across borders and banks, reducing the risk of defaulters. For example, Everledger, a permanent ledger for diamond certification, has adopted the use of Bitcoin as a mark of authenticity providing transparency for all parties involved, a clear attempt to prevent diamond fraud.

  In the short term, it is essential that any financial services business works to develop specific use cases to understand how the technology could support their organization. These types of test beds are already being developed around the world. One example is ANZ, which is looking at experimenting with Ripple to understand the benefits along the whole customer value chain.

  Challenges to Widespread Blockchain Adoption

  There are several challenges Blockchain will have to overcome before it becomes mainstream. These include scalability, the time taken to verify the transactions, the cost of transactions and, of course, security. A lot of attention recently has focused on incidents of hacking at Bitcoin-based companies and start-ups.

  However, what has not been covered in detail is that some of the thefts did not originate through the network but were initiated by individual customers. For example, a software wallet, which is basically the Bitcoin equivalent of a bank account, is installed on customers’ own computer or device and controlled completely by the customer. These wallets are stored without encryption and have been attacked through the hacking of someone’s personal computer.

  However, if a fraudster wants to make any change to the distributed ledger, it cannot be done unless the fraudster also controls 51 percent or more of the participants on the network, which is next to impossible in the case of any large network. In addition, regulation is still not very clear for settlement protocols involving cryptocurrency protocols.

  Nevertheless, regulators in a number of countries are increasingly taking steps to understand, contextualize and regulate digital currencies. Recent indications from central agencies in the US and UK indicate that regulators are in fact taking a very pragmatic approach to Blockchain technology and the news from the major banks has added further evidence to this pragmatic approach. While it is not yet clear how Blockchain will ultimately be adopted in the financial services industry, it is certain that the future will look very different.

  As innovations in technology change the way that money moves around the world, businesses need to keep a close eye on Blockchain and be prepared to adapt and transform their services accordingly.

  Tony Virdi, VP and Head of Banking & Financial Services in the UK & Ireland, Cognizant.

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

  Photo Credit: StockPhotoAstur/Shutterstock

  
• 

  UK sees 5.2 percent growth in IT jobs this year

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 7:50pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  The growth of the IT sector in the UK has accelerated to its fastest rate since the end of the recession, according to an analysis by Nixon Williams.

  Nixon Williams analyzed data obtained from a variety of recent reports published by the Office of National Statistics, which show that there are currently 154,765 active IT enterprises in the UK, a 7.9 percent increase on the previous year when there were 143,450 active IT enterprises. The rate of new business creation in the IT sector is at its highest level since before the start of recession in 2008.

  The number of active enterprises in the IT sector fell by 0.3 percent, from 123,065 to 122,685 between 2008 and 2009, and has increased at an annual rate of 6.3 percent between 2009 and 2013, before surging by 7.9 percent over the past year.

  At the same time, demand for IT skills is accelerating. The total size of the IT workforce is also increasing at its fastest rate since the end of the recession. A further 24,000 IT jobs were added over the past year, an increase of 5.2 percent on the previous year. By comparison, the number of financial service sector jobs -- which often competes with tech companies for the best talent -- declined from 1,178,000 in 2009 to 929,000 in 2015, a fall of 21 percent.

  According to Nixon Williams, demand for IT contractors with specific skills sets is growing strongly, particularly among start-ups, which are often hesitant to commit to hiring full​-​time employees.

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

  Photo Credit:  suphakit73/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Dodgy database exposes details of 191 million US voters

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 7:04pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  If you've voted in a US election at some point in the last 15 years, there's a high chance that your personal details are now out in the wild. Security researcher Chris Vickery found a misconfigured database that exposes the details of no less than 191 million US voters.

  The discovery was made a little over a week ago, and includes the names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, state voter IDs, and party affiliations of people registered to vote since the year 2000. The amount of detail contained in the database gives real cause for concern, and Vickery was shocked to find his own details were easily accessible due to a database misconfiguration.

  DataBreaches.net -- which has seen the data collected by Vickery -- says it includes valuable data that could easily be matched up with information from other databases to show whether a voter is a gun owner, what their religious persuasion is, and how they have voted in the past. The site also reveals how the private details of a police officer who has no publicly listed phone numbers or addresses found his data in the list.

  At the moment it is unclear who is responsible for the database mishap, but there is an investigation underway by Vickery, DataBreaches.net, and Steve Ragan of Salted Hash. There is some comfort to be gleaned from the fact that social security numbers and driving license details have not been exposed, but there is no getting away from the fact that this is a serious issue.

  Speaking to Ragan, Vickery said:

  My immediate reaction was disbelief. I needed to know if this was real, so I quickly located the Texas records and ran a search for my own name. I was outraged at the result. Sitting right in front of my eyes, in a strange, random database I had found on the Internet, were details that could lead anyone straight to me. How could someone with 191 million such records be so careless?

  What is especially concerning is that the exposed database remains online, and there is no way to know whether the data has fallen into the wrong hands or has already been abused. The California Attorney General’s Office as well as FBI NY field office and IC3 have all been contacted, but there are currently no updates about any progress that has been made in securing the databases.

  For now, we'll leave the final word to Ragan -- but hopefully there will be positive news to update this article with soon:

  Because the information Vickery discovered is in a database available to anyone on the Internet who knows how to find it, it's essentially unrestricted data.

  Photo credit: Niyazz / Shutterstock

  
• 

  2016 will see the rise of DDoS-as-a-service

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 4:00pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  We've already seen a big increase in DDoS attacks in the past year and according to the latest predictions these are set to continue and become more sinister in nature as we move into 2016.

  Security specialist Corero foresees a rise in 'Dark DDoS' attacks used as various smokescreens to distract victims while other attacks infiltrate corporate networks to steal sensitive data.

  Dave Larson, COO at Corero Network Security, says, "The highly sophisticated, adaptive and powerful Dark DDoS attack will grow exponentially next year as criminals build on their previous successes of using DDoS attacks as a distraction technique. The Carphone Warehouse attack in August was interesting because it was one of the first publicly reported cases of Dark DDoS in the public domain. This is a new frontier for DDoS attacks and a growing threat for any Internet-connected business that is housing sensitive data, such as credit card details or other personally identifiable information".

  It also predicts a rise in DDoS-as-a-service cyber crime business models, where it's possible to pay to have victims hit for as little as $6.00 per month. This means less sophisticated cyber crime actors can readily become DDoS adversaries.

  During October 2015, 10 percent of Corero's customer base was faced with extortion attempts, which threatened to take down or to continue an attack on their websites unless a ransom demand was paid. If the volume of DDoS attacks continues to grow at the current rate of 32 percent per quarter, according to Corero’s latest Trends and Analysis Report, the volume of Bitcoin ransom demands could triple to 30 percent by the same time next year.

  Corero also anticipates 2016 will see ISPs come under pressure to provide DDoS mitigation services to their customers. In a survey conducted this autumn, Corero revealed that three quarters of enterprise customers would like their ISP to provide additional security services to eliminate DDoS traffic from entering their networks.

  "The current status quo allows malicious traffic carrying DDoS threats to flow freely over most provider networks," says Larson. "As a result, most customers end up paying their provider for bandwidth that delivers potentially dangerous Internet content. But the technology exists for ISPs to turn this problem into a business opportunity. By providing DDoS mitigation tools as a service, deployed at the Internet edge, they can defeat this problem before it enters their customers’ networks".

  More information on the changing DDoS landscape and lessons learned fron 2015’a attacks is available on the Corero blog.

  Photo Credit: Duc Dao / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Get Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro, worth $29.95, for FREE with our Monday Downloadcrew giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 3:38pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Slow PC? Restore its performance with Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro, a powerful drive optimizer worth $29.95, which you can get for FREE with our latest giveaway!

  The program tramples all over Windows’ regular defrag with its support for multiple algorithms -- by access time, prefetch layout, change time or disk zone --  as well as on-demand defragging of files and folders.

  If you’re not sure what’s best for you, no problem -- a simple wizard intelligently selects the most appropriate option for your typical usage.

  A versatile scheduler and clever profile system means you can set the program to run only when the system is idle, and you’re not running on battery, so keeping any performance impact to a minimum.

  Detailed reports are produced for every run, showing you exactly what the program has done and what sort of speed boost it’s delivered.

  Optional boot-time defrags mean even normally locked Windows system files can be fully optimized, and a bonus S.M.A.R.T. reader keeps you fully up-to-date with your hard drive health.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of free 3-PC 1-year Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro licenses to give away, each one worth $29.95. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Monday, December 28, and expires when the licenses run out or on December 29 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So when the giveaway begins, don’t delay -- zip over to Downloadcrew Giveaway promptly to avoid disappointment!

  
• 

  Spotify reveals numbers after 3 days of Beatles music availability

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 2:56pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  'Twas the night before Christmas and....the Beatles came to streaming services everywhere, making the rounds quicker than old Saint Nick. Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Google Play Music and several others were the lucky recipients of this amazing catalog of tunes.

  Now Spotify is revealing just how successful this launch has been, and the numbers revealed prove the band is still relevant 45 years after the members parted ways.

  During the first three days more than 70 million Beatles songs were streamed and surprisingly 65 percent of the listeners were under the age of 34.

  According to Spotify's Daniel Ek "We are thrilled about the arrival on Spotify of the most important catalog in rock music. In seven short years, the Beatles created a body of work that changed the world. The music business was never the same, the way records were recorded was never the same, our culture in fashion and politics was never the same".

  Other services are yet to release any figures, but it can likely be expected to be similarly large. For now you'll be streaming these classic songs on planet earth, but maybe someday you may enjoy Hey Jude during a trip across the universe.

  Photo Credit: Dmitri Mikitenko/Shutterstock

  
• 

  How to view saved Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 10, Android and iOS

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 1:01pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  So many stores, service stations, coffee shops, pubs and so on offer free Wi-Fi that you probably have countless networks saved on your phone or laptop. Having a password saved on your computer is great, but how can you get the password so you can use it on your phone as well?

  Rather than trying to hunt down a member of staff to ask, or hunting high and low for that tiny sign that shares the password, you can instead view the wireless passwords you have saved. Read on to find out how to retrieve these passwords in both Windows 10 and Android.

  If you already have the password for a wireless network saved on your laptop and want to retrieve it to use on your phone -- or share with someone else -- things are quite simple. The same method works in Windows 7, Windows 8.x, and Windows 10, but it's important to note that you need to be connected to the network you are trying to retrieve the password for.

  • Press the Windows key and R, type ncpa.cpl and press Enter.
  • Right click on the wireless network adaptor and select Status.
  • Click the Wireless Properties button.
  • In the Properties dialog that appears, move to the Security tab.
  • Click the Show characters check box, and the network password will be revealed.

  

  If you want to retrieve a saved wireless network password from Android or iOS, you'll have to have a rooted or jailbroken device -- sadly, there is no standard way to pull up security credentials. It's worth noting that there are several apps out there in Google Play that claim to reveal Wi-Fi passwords; while some of these work, there are also numerous malicious tools out there, so it's best to use an alternative method.

  If you're using Android, install a copy of the free file browser ES File Explorer.

  • Navigate to the data/misc/wifi folder on your device -- it will not be visible on non-rooted phones.
  • Open the file called wpa_supplicant.conf and you will see a list of saved Wi-Fi networks complete with their passwords.

  To retrieve a Wi-Fi password on a jailbroken iPhone, you can check in the Keychain access app if you have a Mac connected to the same network, but there's another method if you prefer to do it all from your phone.

  Grab yourself a copy of WiFi Passwords from Cydia.

  Fire up the app, and you'll be presented with a list of all of the passwords your iPhone has for saved wireless networks.

  Photo credit: Marynchenko Oleksandr / Shutterstock

  
• 

  W10Privacy is a smarter Windows 10 telemetry blocker

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 12:49pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  If you’ve tried more than your share of Windows 10 telemetry blockers recently, then we know just how you feel, but wait -- W10Privacy is more interesting than most. No, really.

  There’s a lengthy list of tweaks you can apply, for instance -- approaching 100 -- all neatly organized across several tabs: Privacy, Telemetry, Network, Services and more.

  While the competition often leaves you uncertain what a particular option will do, W10Privacy has some very clear descriptions : "Do not let apps use my camera", "Do not let apps access my name, picture and other account into", and so on.

  If that’s not enough, hovering the mouse over that action displays a tooltip with more information.

  W10Privacy gives you quite fine control over some areas. There’s not just a vague "block telemetry" option: instead you can choose to "block IP addresses of known Microsoft telemetry servers" through either a firewall rule or your HOSTS file, in both full-strength and lightweight versions.

  Each action is color-coded, too, as either green (safe to set), amber (check carefully) or red (don’t do this unless you’re really sure), reducing the chance that you’ll cause some major problems.

  There are some useful bonus features, too, including the ability to uninstall most of the standard Windows apps.

  The program does have various issues. There’s no way to disable/ enable a group of settings at once; there’s no "Cancel" option if you hit "Set changed settings" by mistake; the interface and general implementation need a lot of work.

  Still, there’s nothing here that can’t be fixed, and W10Privacy’s explanations of what each tweak does are well worth having. It’s also small, portable and entirely free, so if you’re interested, just grab a copy and give it a try.

  
• 

  Samsung Pay will have 50 percent market share in Asia

  Publié: décembre 28, 2015, 12:46pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Maybe Samsung isn’t doing all that great in the smartphones department, but it has high expectations from its mobile payment service that will be introduced in China early next year.

  So high, in fact, that Hyundai Securities is predicting a 50 percent market share in China, and a significant share globally, too. The news was first reported on by ETNews.

  Samsung is expected to achieve this goal with the help of UnionPay and Alibaba. According to SamMobile, UnionPay controls 73 percent of the Asian markets, and all the debit and credit cards issued by the company can be used in 150 countries and at 26 million affiliated stores.

  Alibaba, on the other hand, controls 75 percent of the Chinese e-commerce market.

  Hyundai Securities estimates that some 200 million Samsung smartphones will come with Samsung Pay preloaded next year.

  "Because Samsung Pay has quickly settled itself in South Korea, it is expected that it will expand towards Chinese and the U.S. markets", said Kim Chul-young who is a researcher for Hyundai Securities Co., Ltd. "Cellphone payment service businesses and module businesses will also benefit from this".

  This year, Samsung Pay was available on just four models: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge Plus, and Galaxy Note 5. However Samsung Electronics is planning to apply Samsung Pay to inexpensive models too next year to quickly expand influence of Samsung Pay.

  Those will include the Galaxy A5 (2016), and the Galaxy A7 (2016).

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

  
• 

  North Korea's Red Star OS leaves the government in control of computers

  Publié: décembre 27, 2015, 9:04pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Based on Fedora Linux, you might expect North Korea's Red Star OS to be a secure operating system. It's not -- at least not by most people's standards. Like China, the socialist state is keen to embrace the power of the internet, but wants to retain control over is citizens. This s exactly what Red Star OS enables the government to do.

  Germany researchers from the security company ERNW have probed Red Star OS, examined the code and determined that it is a home grown operating system that leaves the government in control of many aspects of its use, including encryption. It has been suggested that North Korea is paranoid that the west will try to infiltrate through software, but it is North Korean citizens that should be more worried.

  Speaking to Reuters, researchers Florian Grunow and Niklaus Schiess say that Red Star OS is the realization of Kim Jong Il's dream of building a North Korean operating system. So panicked is Pyongyang about Western influence and spying, that rather than embracing the internet as most of us know it, it instead relies on its own basic intranet to provide access to officially sanctioned websites.

  Grunow says that Red Star OS is "a full blown operating system where they control most of the code". Drilling down into the code, the researchers were able to determine that the OS had basically been built from the ground up and includes feature that prevent the technically minded from bypassing any restrictions that have been put in place:

  The Red Star operating system makes it very hard for anyone to tamper with it. If a user makes any changes to core functions -- like trying to disable its antivirus checker or firewall -- the computer will display an error message, or reboot itself.

  One of the more invasive and concerning feature of the operating system is the way in which it watermarks every file found on a computer and the drives connected to it. This makes it possible to trace files back to individual users -- something which the government uses to crack down on legal file sharing. Grunow warns:

  It's definitely privacy invading, it's not transparent to the user. It's done stealthily, and touches files you haven't even opened.

  Grunow and Schiess are presenting their full findings to the Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg today.

  Photo credit: Anton Watman / Shutterstock

  
• 

  China passes law requiring tech firms to hand over encryption keys

  Publié: décembre 27, 2015, 7:44pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Apple may have said that it opposes the idea of weakening encryption and providing governments with backdoors into products, but things are rather different in China. The Chinese parliament has just passed a law that requires technology companies to comply with government requests for information, including handing over encryption keys.

  Under the guise of counter-terrorism, the controversial law is the Chinese government's attempt to curtail the activities of militants and political activists. China already faces criticism from around the world not only for the infamous Great Firewall of China, but also the blatant online surveillance and censorship that takes place. This latest move is one that will be view very suspiciously by foreign companies operating within China, or looking to do so.

  China's infringement of freedom of speech and the hard line it takes on those opposing the government is well-recorded. While the government insists that there will be no requirement for companies to install backdoors, the country has already earned itself a reputation that is going to be very difficult to shake off.

  The deputy head of the Chinese parliament's criminal law division tried to play down the controversy surrounding the new law. Li Shouwei said:

  This rule accords with the actual work need of fighting terrorism and is basically the same as what other major countries in the world do.

  As well as granting new powers within China's borders, the new law also permits overseas action by the People's Liberation Army -- something which will be eyed with suspicion and likely opposed by for foreign nations. There is also a provision, as reported by Reuters, that "media and social media cannot report on details of terror activities that might lead to imitation, nor show scenes that are 'cruel and inhuman' "-- something else which will bring about accusation of standing in the way of free speech.

  Photo credit: Kheng Guan Toh / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Sunday's super deal -- get Watchdog Anti-Malware for FREE at Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 27, 2015, 6:31pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Antivirus protection can be expensive -- but not today. We’re giving away free licenses for Watchdog Anti-Malware, a cloud-based second-opinion scanner which uses multiple antivirus engines to catch the threats that other packages miss.

  A 1-year, 1-PC license normally retails at $24.99, but for 24 hours only from 12pm EST Sunday (27th December) to 12pm EST Monday, you can get your system protected for FREE!

  Watchdog Anti-Malware is supremely easy to use. If you think you’re infected, just launch the program, click Scan, and watch as the program crawls your hard drive looking for threats.

  If anything suspicious is found, a fingerprint is passed to Watchdog Anti-Malware’s cloud scanning platform, where multiple antivirus engines check the file and return their verdict.

  A detailed report lists any potential problems, and you can delete, quarantine, exclude or ignore them as required, before cleaning up your entire system with a click.

  And although Watchdog Anti-Malware is intended as a second-opinion scanner (not your main antivirus engine), it also offers simple real-time protection to detect and block files before they’re executed.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of free Watchdog Anti-Malware licenses to give away, worth $24.99, on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday Sunday December 27 and expires on December 28 at midday EST, so head on over to Downloadcrew Giveaway and get your free edition!

  
• 

  Electronics can be dangerous -- man falls to his death while staring at device

  Publié: décembre 27, 2015, 4:44am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Electronics have become a major distraction in modern society and there's no shortage of stories about accidents caused by cell phones and many people have a story of, at the very least, a near miss. We've likely all been there with distracted drivers.

  No question modern devices can be hazardous to one's health and worse, the health of others who have loved ones at home waiting for them.

  We've seen the amusing when a woman strolling through a mall fell into a fountain, but there's a darker side to this problem. San Diego, California police are reporting today that a man walked off of the edge at Sunset Cliffs while staring at an electronic device.

  While the device isn't known, it can be guessed to be a cell phone, though a tablet is a possibility. According to what NBC News is reporting, "Witnesses stated seeing someone distracted by an electronic device and he just fell over the edge", says San Diego Lifeguard Bill Bender. "(He) wasn't watching where he was walking, he was looking down at the device in his hands".

  People in the area tried to rescue him and administered CPR, but it seems it was too late to save the victim. And those who tried put themselves in jeopardy by climbing down the rocks to reach the man. "They acted quickly, they found a way to get down the cliff". Bender says.

  There are lessons to be learned from this incident, and hopefully people will heed them, but that's a slim hope. Still, a person has passed away and our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

  Photo Credit: Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Twitter says it is beating the trolls

  Publié: décembre 27, 2015, 2:32am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Social networks were designed for people, and people mean problems. In particular, the likes of Facebook and Twitter have become havens for bullies and trolls, eager to prey on others online. Twitter has launched tools and education programs to combat trolling, and now the site says that it is winning the battle.

  After making it easier to report abusive tweets and increasing the size of its anti-troll team, Twitter believes it is getting 'bad behavior' under control. As well as bullying of acquaintances and work colleagues, Twitter has also been used to attack celebrities, the gay community, religious groups, and more, with many people feeling driven from the site. It seems that the decision to take a very hands-on approach to troll tackling is starting to pay off.

  The head of Twitter in Europe, Bruce Daisley, says that the tools that have been introduced have had a real impact on trolling. He goes further, saying that there is a direct correlation between the release of new safety tools and reporting mechanisms, and the drop in unacceptable behavior. One of the recent tools that has been employed is the use of telephone identification to target trolls.

  Twitter users that are reported by others, or are observed misbehaving in some way, could receive calls from the anti-trolling team. Speaking to the Independent, Daisley says:

  If someone is behaving in a way characteristic of a bad actor, we send them a phone verification. That allows us to tell the user that what they do here exists in the real world. It normally acts as a stark reminder. Secondly, it allows us to see whether that user has already got other accounts set up on their phone that have been suspended.

  But as well as in-house work, Twitter is offloading the troll tackling to users. After introducing tools that make it easier to block troublesome users, people are being encouraged to share their block lists in the hope that this will help a greater number of people to avoid known offenders.

  Groups such as Anonymous have also tried to clean up Twitter, but the approaches used have a very vigilante, gangster feel to them. It seems that, at long last, Twitter has reached the point where it is able to fight back on its own, as well as empowering users to look after themselves.

  Photo credit: Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley / Shutterstock

  
• 

  How to stop Windows 10 asking you to give feedback

  Publié: décembre 26, 2015, 9:11pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  If you've signed up to the Windows Insider program, you're enjoying preview builds of Windows 10 before the vast majority of people. Whether you are on the Fast or the Slow Ring, getting hold of Insider preview builds is a great way to stay on the cutting edge -- but it comes with its drawbacks.

  One of these -- aside from the need to download gigantic updates from time to time -- is that Windows 10 will constantly pester you for feedback. While it could be argued that this is very much the point of the preview program, some of you will almost certainly just want to get on with using Windows 10 without being asked 'Would you recommend this build to a friend?' or 'What do you think of the latest features of Windows 10?'. If you want to kill the feedback popups, here's how to do it.

  What's important about feedback is letting Microsoft know when something goes wrong or doesn’t work as expected. But rather than feeling harangued into answering simple Yes / No / Maybe style questions, it makes far more sense to seek out the Feedback app and go into more details about problems you have encountered, when you encounter them. If you wait to be asked about your experience, you may well have forgotten what irked you. Take back control. Be pro-active. Hit the Feedback app, and ditch the nagging.

  · Fire up Settings from the Start menu.

  · Open up Privacy and move to the Feedback & diagnostics section.

  · From the Feedback frequency drop down menu, select how often you're happy for Windows to hassle you -- cut it down to a daily or weekly occurrence, or select Never to kill it completely.

  Close Settings, and you're done.

  Photo credit: niroworld / Shutterstock

  
• 

  All I want for Christmas is porn (a little bit NSFW)

  Publié: décembre 26, 2015, 1:34pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Christmas can be -- scratch that, it is -- a very stressful time of year, and people seek solace in a variety of things... one of them being porn. But when it comes to self-administered stress relief, just what are people around the world using as visual aids to assist stagnant imaginations?

  If this is a question that has been bothering you over the festive period, wonder no more for Pornhub has the answers! There is huge scope for sexing up Christmas, and the porn site's latest report into festive shows that XXX fans just can’t get enough of Santa's naughty elves, dirty helpers, and imagining Mr and Mrs Claus engaging in all manner of sexy shenanigans. Forget Happy Christmas, this is more like fappy Christmas... or XXXmas. Spoiler: there's no Jesus porn.

  PornHub's "Horny for the Holidays" report offers an intriguing glimpse into how people around the world get their festive kicks. There are plenty of obvious searches being performed (many of which we'll just leave to your imagination, but it's safe to say that one particularly popular search term is not related to colonoscopies...) -- just think of a sex act, add the word 'Christmas' and it's safe to bet that people have been searching for it.

  Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is an overall drop in porn-related traffic over Christmas -- most people have better things to do, such as spending time with loved ones -- but this is not true the world over. While the UK, Australia and the US see a drop in porn searches (30 percent, 30 percent and 19 percent respectively), Japan, India and Russia perform more sexy searches: 2 percent, 4 percent and13 percent increases respectively.

  As well as revealing what people with a penchant for porn have been looking for in 2015, Pornhub also shows how things have changed since last year. The search term 'Naughty santa's helper' has rocketed in popularity with 2015 seeing a 2,012 percent increase in searches. 'Christmas wife' has increased in popularity by 633 percent, and 'santa and elf' by 546 percent.

  Based on the type of device used for search for porn, it seems that the likes of Pornhub are being used as a way to get a little light relief from the stresses of a family Christmas. Nearly two thirds of traffic (62 percent) comes from phones, those handy, portable devices that can be used away from prying eyes of relatives.

  With that image, enjoy the rest of the festive season, however you choose to enjoy it!

  Photo credit: fotogestoeber / Shutterstock

  
• 

  This Saturday, get WebSite X5 Home 12, worth $19.95, for FREE at Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 26, 2015, 1:30pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Need a great-looking website, fast? Our latest giveaway, WebSite X5 Home 12, makes it easy to build attractive multimedia sites -- no experience required.

  The package normally retails at $19.95, but for 24 hours from 12pm EST Saturday (26 December), you can get a single PC licence for FREE!

  Getting started is simple, thanks to WebSite X5 Home’s 200+ prebuilt site templates, and the helpful wizard which walks you through the setup process.

  Building the site is just as easy. Type your own text, drag and drop images, audio or video files, and preview the results whenever you like to make sure it’s all looking as you expect.

  Add new sections and pages whenever you like (no site size limitations here), and customise them with your own content. WebSite X5 Home 12 automatically updates the site menus accordingly, so everything just works.

  Bonus features include instant access to a library of 400,000 royalty-free pictures, just grab what you need, when you need it.

  And when you’re finished, the built-in FTP engine gets your project online with the minimum of hassle.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of free WebSite X5 Home 12 licenses to give away, worth $19.95, on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday Saturday December 26 and expires on December 27 at midday EST, so hurry over to Downloadcrew Giveaway and get your free copy!

  
• 

  Santa brought you a 4th generation Apple TV? Here's what to do first

  Publié: décembre 25, 2015, 7:18pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  As far as I'm concerned, Apple won 2015 -- feel free to disagree. According to yours truly, the privacy-focused company holds the crowns for best smartphone (iPhone 6s Plus), best tablets (iPad mini 4, Air 2, Pro), best smartwatch (Apple Watch) and, of course, the best streaming media box of the year. Yes, I am talking about the amazing 4th gen Apple TV.

  Did Santa bring you one for Christmas this year? Well, you must have been good, because it is a wonderful steaming media box. Actually, it is much more than that; it is also an incredible gaming console -- the Siri remote doubles as a passable gamepad. Ready to use the Apple TV? Here is what you need to do first.

  First things first, you need to unbox it. As always, Apple has done a phenomenal job of presentation. If you want to see what is involved, you can check out my unboxing video below.

  Now that it is unboxed, you will need to set it up. There is no HDMI cable in the box, so you will have to use one of the other such cables you have lying around. Don't have one? A quality cable can be had at Amazon for under $10 -- don't overpay at a local brick and mortar seller unless absolutely necessary.

  Once connected, Apple has created a brilliant process for those with iOS devices. Rather than go through the tedious process of finding your Wi-Fi network and typing in the password with the remote, you simply hold your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch near it. The Apple TV will connect to your device, which will ask you for permission. By granting access, the Apple TV will then pull in the appropriate network settings and you are off to the races.

  Congratulations, you are ready to use the Apple TV! Much like any other streaming box or game console, it is useless without content. You will want to enter in your credentials for your favorite video services like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, HBO GO and more. Once done, you can begin watching tons of content in beautiful 1080p.

  Video aside, you can also enjoy music using Apple TV. You can listen to the awesome Apple Music streaming service (now featuring the Beatles) through your television's speakers, or connect through a receiver or soundbar. Ideally, you will want to connect the Apple TV to your television with HDMI, and then connect an optical cable from the display to your external audio player. For casual listening, however, your television speakers may be OK.

  Next up, you will want to explore the App Store. Just like on other iOS devices (tvOS is a variant of iOS), you can download awesome apps and games to improve the experience. Some are free, and some are paid. What's particularly cool, however, is that some software is universal, meaning you pay for it once and it is available on all your iOS devices. Heck, you may already own some paid Apple TV content and not realize it.

  Here are some of the apps and games that I recommend.

  Games

  • Rayman Adventures
  • Asphalt 8
  • Crossy Road
  • Oceanhorn
  • Bean Dreams
  • Mr. Crab

  Apps

  • Periscope
  • Speedtest
  • MLB.TV
  • QVC

  Now that you have downloaded some apps and games, plus connected your favorite streaming media services, you are ready to go, right? Well, almost. Don't forget, this is an Apple product, so you will want to buy accessories too! While none of these are required, I suggest them to enhance the experience.

  

  Steelseries Nimbus Wireless Controller $50.  The included Siri Remote is great for navigating menus and playing casual games. Unfortunately, it is not ideal for more in-depth games (although it can be used for them). Luckily, Apple TV has baked-in gamepad support. There are plenty of options, but I recommend the Steelseries Nimbus. Not only is it well-built and comfortable, but it charges using Apple's lightning cable too. In other words, it can be charged using the same charger as your iPhone or iPad -- very cool.

  

  Apple Remote Loop $13. Many people claim that this accessory is overpriced for what it is. At $13, maybe it is. With that said, protecting your Siri Remote from flying out of your hand and hitting something else is a must. Heck, if you have kids, this could prevent an injury too. Just buy it.

  

  Griffin Survivor Play $20. While the Remote Loop protects the Siri Remore from flying out of your hand while playing games, Griffin's Survivor Play protects it just in case it does hit the floor. Much like an iPhone case, it protects the controller from falls -- I can see myself dropping it when falling asleep while watching a movie. It has the added bonus, however, of making the Siri Remote more ergonomic, meaning it is more comfortable to hold.

  Did you get the Apple TV for Christmas? Tell me how you like it in the comments below.

  
• 

  Best Windows apps this week

  Publié: décembre 25, 2015, 7:00pm CET par Martin Brinkmann

  One-hundred and sixty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

  Game of the week is the great looking fighting game Gods of Rome in which you fight as gods, demigods and mythical heroes both against the computer and other human opponents.

  Other apps of note are Microsoft's Deals Hub application which lists all deals on Windows Store in a single app and King of Thieves, the new game from the creators of Cut The Rope.

  As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

  Discounts This Week

  Red Stripe Deals are back. Up to six applications and games are discounted and highlighted in Windows Store each week.

  The following is this week's selection:

  1. Big Days of our Lives: Countdown Timer Digital Event Count Down Clock, for $0.99
  2. Doodle Creatures HD, a puzzle game for $0.99
  3. Duck Tales Remastered, a remake of the classic arcade game for $0.99
  4. Lara Croft Go, a strategy game for $1.99
  5. MeteoEarth, a weather application is free currently.
  6. myTube, a popular YouTube application is free today, available for $0.10 on December 26th and 27th.
  7. Prune, a beautiful game about trees for $2.99
  8. Reading Trainer for $1.99
  9. Snowboard Party 2, a snowboard game for $0.99.
  10. Spelling Mix 2, a spelling game for children for $0.99
  11. Wolfram Alpha, the official application for $1.49

  App of the Week

  Gods of Rome

  

  Gods of Rome is a fighting game that features great looking graphics and gameplay that resembles that of classic arcade style fighting games such as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or Dead or Alive.

  While called Gods of Rome, it features gods from other ancient pantheons, for instance Zeus or Athena.

  Summon and upgrade gods, monsters and heroes that you can play as, and fight gods and mythical creatures in single-player missions or by participating in PVP events to beat other human players of the game.

  The fighting is basic when you compare it to classic arcade fighting games as you have three types of attacks, one special attack and one block at your disposal.

  While that may sound like much, it is not really that much considering that you usually win by smashing on those buttons as fast as you can, at least in the earlier levels and against computer opponents.

  That does not mean that the game is bad or anything, but it is simpler. This may appeal to some however who don't want to learn 99 different combos using 12 or so buttons and movement.

  Other apps

  ScummVM

  

   

  An unofficial port of ScummVM which allows you to run classic adventure games if you have the data files already.

  It supports the majority of LucasArts adventure such as Monkey Island, Indiana Jones or Day of the Tentacle, but also third-party adventure games from other studios. The version is based on the latest development build.

  Deals Hub

  

  This official Microsoft application lists deals that are currently available on Windows Store.

  The app brings together Red Stripe Deals, as well as other deals under music, movies & TV, and apps & games.

  So, instead of having to browse to various store sections to check out all the deals available, you only need to run the app to do the same.

  Adidas Smart Ball

  

  You need a miCoach Smart Ball from Adidas to use the application. It has been designed to improve your control and manipulation of footballs by providing you with instant feedback that includes information such as power, spin, strike or trajectory.

  In addition to that, it offers tips and guidance to improve your skills further.

  Bloons TD Battles

  

  A new version of the popular Tower Defense game franchise in which you play against the computer or human opponents for the first time.

  It works similar to previous games of the series, but instead of trying to beat levels on your own, you have to take your opponent into account now as he or she may send extra balloons your way using gold.

  Cricket Live Australia

  

  Get your Cricket fix with the app which follows domestic and international matches. It features live scores, fixtures, and stats, and also live streams for subscribers on top of that.

  4Shared

  

   

  The official 4Shared application for Windows lets you sign in to your account to manage files hosted by the service.

  It features a search, options to filter by file type, and previews for certain file types. It is labeled as beta so keep that in mind.

  King of Thieves

  

  The new game from the makers of Cut The Rope mixes platform action with PVP multiplayer.

  You try to become the wealthiest thief by stealing gold and gems, defending your loot, and competing in the worldwide leaderboard.

  The game features 80 single-player missions and provides you with access to user-generated content on top of that.

  Notable updates

  • Bamboo Paper has a brand new look and is compatible with Windows 10.
  • Perfect Tube, a YouTube application supports Vevo videos now.
  • TED, the official application, has been relaunched as a universal app.

  
• 

  Santa brought you an Apple Watch? Here’s what to do first

  Publié: décembre 25, 2015, 12:12pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  If you were lucky enough to receive an Apple Watch as a present this year, you’ll no doubt be keen to see what it offers, and what you can do with it.

  To start you’ll need to pair it with an iPhone 5 or later, running iOS 9 or later. This is straightforward enough, go to Settings > Bluetooth on your phone and make sure the feature is enabled. Press and hold the side button (next to the digital crown) on your Watch to turn it on, and once you’ve selected a language, tap Start Pairing on your watch, and on your iPhone.

  An animation will play on your Watch. Hold your phone over this, centering the Watch in the camera's viewfinder, until you see a message stating the Watch is paired. You can always pair it manually if things don’t work out or you don’t see the pairing animation.

  On the iPhone, tap Set Up as New Apple Watch and choose which wrist you plan to wear the Watch on. Tap Agree when faced with the terms and conditions.

  Sign in to your Apple account and the review the settings. Services like Siri and Location will be synced between devices.

  You can set a passcode for the Apple Watch (the device automatically locks when you take it off your wrist), and then sync your iPhone apps to the Watch. Not all of the apps you have on your iPhone will be added to the watch, only the compatible ones. When you browse and buy new apps on your iPhone you’ll be able to see if there’s a Watch app included as well. The Featured section in the Watch app (on your phone) contains a good selection of apps to get you started.

  You can install all apps or just sync Mail, Contacts and Messages, and choose which apps to install later on. Removing any apps you don’t want or use is easy enough and done through the Watch app on your phone.

  There’s a good chance you’ll receive too many notifications on your Watch, and it will be pinging and tapping you on the wrist repeatedly, so you’ll want to adjust this which, like most things, you can do through the iPhone app. Go to Notifications section.

  Once that’s finished, you’re ready to start using the Watch. If there’s an update for WatchOS available, you’ll want to install that, which (again) you can do through the Watch app on your iPhone.

  Learn your way around

  Once you’re up and running you can spend time getting to know Watch and learn what’s possible with it.

  To wake the watch, just angle the screen towards you. If you don’t want to move your wrist to see what’s on screen, you can set it so a tap will wake things up.

  The Watch’s digital crown acts as a home button, and is also used for scrolling and summoning Siri. To change the default watch face press down on the existing design, and you can choose an alternative from the selection that pops up.

  You can choose which apps to have as glances (the information you require is shown "at a glance"), and these can be accessed by swiping up from the watch face screen. The first glance screen shows you that Watch is connected, and lets you toggle airplane mode, do not disturb or silent modes on or off, and also ping your iPhone-- handy if you’ve misplaced it.

  Scrolling from right to left takes you to the activity monitor (which shows Move, Exercise and Stand progress), music player (control the music on your phone), heart rate monitor, battery remaining indicator (you can switch to power reserve here if the juice is too low), the calendar, stocks, maps, world clock, weather and any other glance-friendly apps you’ve installed.

  A lot of things you can do with the watch can be controlled through Siri. You can use her to start a song playing on your phone, for example. While Siri can be summoned by pressing the crown, the hands free approach of just saying “Hey Siri” at the Watch works very well.

  The Camera app acts as a remote snapper for taking photos with your phone, and there's a 3 second delay option to avoid you having lots of shots with your wrist in front of your face. Photos lets you view images on your watch.

  If you intend you use Watch with Apple Pay, set it up through the iPhone app and then double-click the side button on the watch to call up the credit card you added, ready to use with an Apple Pay reader.

  Apple Watch is a great device, and I'm sure you'll get plenty of enjoyment from it.

  
• 

  Santa brought you a Windows 10 PC or tablet? Here’s what to do first

  Publié: décembre 25, 2015, 12:11pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  If you were fortunate enough to unwrap a new Windows device this Christmas the chances are it will be running Windows 10.

  The new operating system has much to recommend it, as well as a few features that you might not be so keen on (the spying aspect for example). Getting Windows 10 set up exactly how you want it will -- like all versions of Windows -- take a while, but follow this guide and you’ll soon be sorted.

  What's new

  While Control Panel still exists in Windows 10, most of the configuration options are now found in the Settings app which you can launch from the Start menu. This has sections for Settings, Devices, Network & Internet, Personalization, Accounts, Time & Language, Ease of Access, Privacy, and Update & Security.

  There’s a new Action Center which shows notifications, and common settings, and a Task View option (on the taskbar) which lets you view all of your open windows and create and manage virtual workspaces.

  Microsoft's personal assistant Cortana, of course, is an integral part of Windows 10. You’ll need to enable the feature before you can start making use of its capabilities. Sign in with your Microsoft account if you haven’t already, click the option and tell Cortana what you’d like her to call you. Listen to how she says your name and if it’s not right, you can tell her and speak your name correctly into the microphone.

  Type something into the search box, or click the microphone icon to ask a question. When summoned Cortana will present you with the news and weather and you can customize this by clicking the three dots to the right of each section.

  To further customize Cortana's abilities, click the hamburger button at the top left. Go to Settings. This is where you can turn the assistant on or off, change your name, and enable the "Hey Cortana" feature. You can manage Search, including General Cortana & Search Settings, from here too.

  Some tweaks to get you started

  Entering a password every time you want to use your PC can quickly get annoying, even if you know it’s the secure and sensible thing to do. However, if you really want to you can easily automate the login and bypass the lock screen.

  The Windows 10 Start menu can be customized in lots of ways, and you’ll probably want to spend some time doing this. We wrote a full guide on this which you can view here. There are also third-party apps available which you can use to customize things further.

  If you’re not a fan of the Windows 10 Start menu, with its live tiles, you can always change it for an alternative Start menu. There are plenty of excellent choices.

  You can tweak File Explorer so it just shows the entries you want and use. Changes you can make include removing Quick Access, and removing the OneDrive entry. If you want to completely remove OneDrive from Windows 10 that’s possible too. Windows 10’s Action Center can also be disabled if you have no use for it.

  While you're at it, you may wish to make Windows UAC prompts less obtrusive.

  Other tweaks to make include managing notifications, importing iTunes playlists into Groove Music, activating Windows 10's secret God Modes, and freeing up space by removing unwanted core apps. There’s a Dark Mode you can enable in the Film and TV app, and if you want to use a video as your account picture you can.

  Updates are mandatory in Windows 10, but you can potentially delay and/or block them.

  Customize the browser

  

  Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10, and while it’s rather unfinished (no support for extensions being the big omission) it’s serviceable. There are a couple of things you might want to tweak about the browser including changing the default search engine from Bing to Google. If you really don’t like Bing, you can also disable it from Windows 10’s Start menu, and from Cortana.

  Changing Edge’s default download folder isn’t easy, but there are a couple of ways to do this, which you’ll find here.

  After you’ve used Edge for a while you might want to view and delete your browsing history, and we’ve covered how to do this previously.

  Not a fan of Edge? You can make Firefox or Chrome your default browser instead.

  Privacy issues

  Windows 10 spies on you in myriad ways. You can stop the OS’s keylogger from monitoring what you type, ink, and say, we also have a great guide you can follow which will help you regain control of your privacy.

  Keyboard shortcuts

  The best way to master Windows 10 is to learn the many keyboard shortcuts that work with the new OS. While a lot of these are universal, some such as Windows key + A (Open Action Center) and Windows key + S (Open Cortana ready for typed input) are new to Windows 10.

  There’s a full list of all of the important keyboard shortcuts to be found here.

  Troubleshooting

  Hopefully Windows 10 will work fine and without problems, but if it doesn’t Microsoft has released a set of useful troubleshooting tools, and we’ve two guides which you can use to fix the operating system’s worst problems. Take a look at part one and part two.

  That should be everything you need to get started, so enjoy your new device!

  
• 

  Get Serif PagePlus X4, worth $99.99, for FREE this Christmas Day at Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 5:40pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  If you thought Christmas Eve’s giveaway was a slam dunk, then how about this? For 24 hours from midday December 25, we’re giving you Serif PagePlus X4, a full-blown DTP package worth $99.99, for free!

  Serif PagePlus manages to combine a collection of powerful features -- including an excellent in-app photo editing tool -- with wizards, templates and a user-friendly interface that make it suitable for novices and DTP magicians alike.

  It’s why PagePlus consistently wins awards for its DTP offering, striking the perfect balance between power and usability. Fire it up for the first time you’re given a choice of professional templates covering a wide range of types and uses -- including websites as well as newsletters, flyers and brochures. But you can just as easily start from scratch and design magazine-style grids using the app’s tools.

  The app’s core features also impress -- flowing text between columns is simple, and a wide range of wrap and layout options enabling you to get things just the way you want. You’ll find other professional-grade tools too -- the ability to anchor pictures, shapes and text frames to a fixed spot, for example, or dynamic guides that simplify the task of lining up and snapping objects into place.

  While you can easily import text from a variety of file types, PagePlus provides its own incredibly decent word processor for writing (and editing) text on the fly, with word counts, thesaurus, spell check and automated tools for creating TOCs and indexes.

  Importing graphics is easy -- PagePlus supports a wide variety of image formats – and you can even edit them within PagePlus itself thanks to its new PhotoLab editing tool. It’s perfect whether you’re attempting to cut someone out of a background or perform quick-fire fixes like removing red eye. It even includes tools for creating your own vector graphics, with gradients, filters, 3D lighting, surface effects and more.

  Once your document is ready to go, you can -- of course -- print it in the usual way, or export it as PDF. PagePlus X4 even supports interactive PDF slideshows, complete with page transitions and media clips, as well as web pages.

  Long story short, PagePlus X4 is a DTP tool no serious design enthusiast can do without, so do yourself a favor, bookmark the Serif PagePlus X4 giveaway page now and set your alarm for 12pm EST (9am PT or 5pm GMT) for Friday December 25 to get your free code before succumbing to the third sherry of the day.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of free Serif PagePlus X4 licenses to give away, each one worth $99.99. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note, this offer isn’t available for users in Australia or New Zealand due to local distribution restrictions. Sorry!

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Friday, December 25, and expires when the licenses run out or on December 26 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So when the giveaway begins, don’t hang about -- get over to Downloadcrew Giveaway promptly to avoid disappointment!

  
• 

  How to join Anonymous

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 2:47pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  The hacktivist collective Anonymous does a lot of good. It’s been fighting Islamic State online for quite some time, outed Ku Klux Klan members in another operation, and even targeted Kanye West for being a "spoiled child in a grown man’s body", which is hard to argue with.

  If you’ve ever aspired to join Anonymous but weren’t sure how or where to begin, here’s the bad news. You can’t "join" Anonymous. Not because you’re not wanted or welcome, but because, as a new recruiting video explains, it’s "not an organization. It is not a club, a party or even a movement. There is no charter, no manifest, no membership fees". That said, if you want to be part of Anonymous you can, and it’s easy to do so.

  According to the video, if you share the common goal of Anonymous -- which is change the world for the better -- then you’re "in" if you want to be. Yes, it’s that simple. There’s no one to say you are, or aren’t part of the collective.

  The video also explains how to get in touch with other people in Anonymous, and -- just as importantly -- how to protect your identity and privacy. Tips include using a different browser purely for Anonymous and creating new accounts for an Anonymous pseudonym on Facebook and Twitter.

  Watch the full video below:

  
• 

  Uncover your PCs speed issues with WhySoSlow

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 2:45pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Resplendence Software has unveiled the first public beta of WhySoSlow, a smart Windows tool which analyses CPU and memory usage, power settings, devices, drivers, BIOS responsiveness and more for performance issues.

  The program opens as a system monitor, displaying CPU usage, RAM load, hard page faults and other low-level indicators in real time.

  An "Analyze" option runs a more detailed scan on your system, which in theory should deliver verdicts on your CPU speed/ temperature usage, memory usage, paging info, driver behavior, latencies, BIOS, drive fragmentation and more.

  Our first tests delivered mixed results here, with the scan failing once, and when it did work, leaving many report areas blank.

  Fortunately WhySoSlow makes some of its raw data available in various tabs, and that may help to identify some problems.

  In a click or two we were able to see which drivers had the most ISRs/ DPCs, which processes topped the hard page fault list, and which of our files were the most fragmented.

  The program also includes a separate "Alarm" system, which can monitor your system and raise alerts for various conditions: CPU temperature/ usage, memory usage, kernel/ application responsiveness, page file usage, low free disk space.

  Bonus features include an "AntiFreeze Emergency Task Manager", which may help recover your system if a runaway process has reduced it to a crawl.

  WhySoSlow is incomplete and has a few bugs, which is no real surprise for a beta. But it already delivers some useful low-level details on system performance, at least for users with the experience to recognize them (if you’re not sure what a DPC or hard page fault is, we’d give it a miss).

  WhySoSlow is a free beta for Windows 7 and later. It’ll expire after 31st January 2016.

  
• 

  Bitcoin set to boom in 2016

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 2:42pm CET par Phoebe Jennelyn Magdirila

  

  The price of Bitcoin may surge in 2016 due to the slower growth in the cryptocurrency’s supply, according to new predictions.

  Daniel Masters, co-founder of Jersey-based Global Advisors’ multi-million dollar bitcoin hedge fund, said that the price of bitcoin could make it above $1,100 next year and then pick up speed to rise to $4,400 by the end of 2017.

  According to Masters, this possible trend would be due to a number of factors, such as an increased acceptance of payments in bitcoin by big companies, and the authorities’ increased interest and investment in the blockchain technology. In addition, increased demand from China is also expected as the nation’s currency weakens and the economy slows.

  In the last three months, the price of Bitcoin has almost doubled, putting it on track for its best quarter in two years. In November, the price of Bitcoin hit $500 for the first time since August in 2014, due to the Chinese demand for a pyramid scheme set up by a Russian fraudster.

  "Today the worth of bitcoin is $1 per capita in the world (population)", Bobby Lee, the chief executive of one of the leading bitcoin exchanges in China, BTCC, said, referring to the value of all the bitcoins in circulation, around $6.5 billion.

  "For such an innovative, decentralized digital asset, I say ‘boy, are we undervaluing it’. But it takes a while for people to realize that".

  Image Credit: Lightboxx/Shutterstock

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

  
• 

  Rootkit detector SanityCheck adds Windows 10 support

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 11:55am CET par Mike Williams

  

  While there used to be a wide range of specialist rootkit detectors available, most of the projects have been abandoned in recent years, with even apps like Bitdefender’s Rootkit Remover quietly forgotten.

  But if you need some extra help in detecting stealthy malware, don’t give up -- Resplendence Software’s SanityCheck is still alive, and last week added support for Windows 10.

  The program is definitely one of the simpler detectors around. There’s no real-time protection, no massive signature database, no removal afterwards: it just follows some general rules to detect processes which might be suspicious.

  Still, this does at least keep the program usable by anyone (all you have to do is run it, click Analyze, then scroll down and read the report), and the official list of scanned objects looks good to us:

  • Hidden processes
  • Processes with spoofed names
  • Processes attempting to appear as standard Windows processes
  • Processes with obviously deceptive names
  • Processes without product, company and description information
  • Valid signatures in processes and kernel modules
  • Intercepted system services and the modules responsible
  • Intercepted kernel routines and the modules responsible
  • Intercepted kernel object callout routines and the modules responsible
  • Drivers with intercepted dispatch entry points
  • Hidden drivers
  • Hidden files

  SanityCheck isn’t a program you’ll use every day, but if you think you’re infected by something and your regular antivirus tool hasn’t raised an alert, it just might point you towards the problem.

  SanityCheck is a free-for-personal-use tool for Windows 2000 (yes, really) and later, both 32 and 64-bit editions.

  
• 

  Santa Claus pulls Manjaro Linux 15.12 'Capella' out of his sack

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 4:19am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Santa Claus is a cool dude. Not only does he live at the North Pole with a bunch of elves, but he has a magically massive sack too. Santa's sack can hold an infinite number of toys and presents. It's kind of like Dr. Who's Tardis -- it looks like a normal sack, but the inside is much bigger than the outside.

  Today, Santa is emptying his sack all over the Linux community, by delivering Manjaro Linux 15.12. Sure, Christmas is not for a couple of more days, but if you are a fan of the Arch-based operating system, you can begin celebrating early.

  "After almost three months of development we can present to you now Capella, our latest instance of Manjaro Linux. This release comes with XFCE 4.12, KDE Plasma 5.5, 4.1.0 LTS kernel and all the usual Manjaro and upstream updates. We worked mostly on our tools and the graphical installers", says The Manjaro Team.

  The team further says, "KDE Apps got updated to 15.12, Virtualbox is now at 5.0.12, mesa is at 11.0.8, wine at 1.8 and the kernel at 4.4-rc6. Bumblebee is now also fixed for OpenRC and small fixes went into our samba-share thunar plugin. To round-up this update, you find here some additional packages. Some linux3xx kernels got updated, last-minute fixes for Plasma 5, haskell updates, renewed Deepin desktop 2015 and fixes to firefox complete Manjaro 15.12".

  The Manjaro Team shares the additional notable updates.

  • kcm module of Manjaro-Settings got reworked
  • several enhancements to Pamac and Octopi
  • optimizations and fixes to Manjaro-Tools
  • a lvm issue was fixed within Thus

  This is a good distro for advanced Linux users, who like Arch, but don't have the time to bother setting it up. As you can see from the video above, it is a beautiful and polished KDE distro (Xfce is available for less powerful machines). There is plenty of eye-candy, for a well-rounded overall experience.

  Ready to download? Use the below links. Tell me what you think of the Linux-based operating system in the comments below.

  • manjaro-xfce 15.12 (64 bit)
  • manjaro-xfce 15.12 (32 bit)
  • manjaro-kde 15.12 (64 bit)
  • manjaro-kde 15.12 (32 bit)

  Photo Credit: Armin Rose / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Hyatt Hotels computer system breached by malware -- monitor your credit card ASAP

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 3:29am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  When I go to a hotel, there are plenty of things I worry about. Are there bed bugs? Was the prior guest disgusting? Dear God, is there room service? For the most part, I have satisfying hotel stays, as I check online reviews beforehand. Any mention of cigarette smells, high noise levels, or yellow stains on the sheets, and I move along.

  Sadly, there is yet another thing to worry about -- malware. Yes, today, Hyatt Hotels announces that its payment processing was breached by malware. Sigh. This type of news is becoming too commonplace nowadays, and quite frankly, I am getting fed up.

  "Hyatt Hotels Corporation today announced that it recently identified malware on computers that operate the payment processing systems for Hyatt-managed locations. As soon as Hyatt discovered the activity, the company launched an investigation and engaged leading third-party cyber security experts", says the hotel operator.

  The company further says, "Hyatt has taken steps to strengthen the security of its systems, and customers can feel confident using payment cards at Hyatt hotels worldwide. As always, customers should review their payment card account statements closely and report any unauthorized charges to their card issuer immediately. Payment card rules generally provide that cardholders are not responsible for unauthorized charges that are timely reported".

  Unfortunately, Hyatt Hotels is mum on details. Exactly what type of malware was discovered has not been disclosed. Even worse, the company fails to give a timeline; there is no telling how long this malicious software was sucking off customer payment details.

  If you've stayed at one of its hotels recently, you will want to monitor your credit card activity for a while. To be safe, it is a smart idea to contact your card issuer and request a card with a new number. While this can be a headache, dealing with fraudulent charges could be even more stressful.

  Have you stayed at a Hyatt Hotel? Are you worried? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: dedMazay / Shutterstock

  
• 

  ASUS users will see fewer ads in 2016 thanks to Adblock Plus

  Publié: décembre 24, 2015, 12:47am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  

  Ad blocking is something of a contentious issue, but it's one that has been brought to prominence in 2015. The adblockalypse arrived this year as the debate about whether disabling ad blockers was preferable to paying for content.

  Adblock Plus -- one of the best known ad blockers out there -- recently updated its acceptable ads policy which gives people the option of permitting certain ads to appear in their browser. But a new deal struck with ASUS means that anyone buying a phone or tablet from the Taiwanese company in 2016 will find that ad blocking is baked in and enabled by default.

  In an interview with Motherboard, AdBlock Plus’s cofounder and CEO, Till Faida revealed that his company was working with ASUS to bring ad blocking to the hardware manufacturer's stock browser. More than this, ad blocking will be switched on by default, undoubtedly to chagrin of advertisers the world over.

  As Motherboard points out, the ASUS browser has a relatively small user base (around 15 million), but it is the potential impact which is important. Should other companies start to follow suit, it's a movement that could very quickly gain momentum and could send shockwaves through the advertising and media sectors.

  Faida said:

  We're extremely happy to team up with Asus, the first major hardware manufacturer to integrate ad blocking into their mobile devices. This is another call for innovation in the ad industry -- a call getting louder by the day.

  With the discussion about how online content should be paid for continuing to rumble on, it will be interesting to see how many -- if any -- other companies follow ASUS's lead.

  Photo credit: Tashatuvango / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Software bug leads to early release for thousands of prisoners

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 10:47pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  More than 3,000 prisoners in the state of Washington have been released early from prison as a result of a software bug. The formula used to calculate sentence reductions was found to be inaccurate, and while the average early release prisoner mistakenly had 49 days shaved from their sentence, one was set free almost two years early.

  The software bug stems from a software update way back in 2002. The update introduced a new way to apply good behaviour credits, and governors are astonished that the problem has been on-going for 13 years. The Washington Department of Corrections says that it has been aware of the issue since 2012.

  The DoC had been alerted to the bug three years ago when the family of a victim discovered that the perpetrator was being released early. But it has taken until now for a fix to be sorted out -- the correct formula for release date calculation will be in place by 7 January. So far just five prisoners have been rounded up, and police are in the process of trying to round up more.

  Washington's governor Jay Inslee said:

  That this problem was allowed to continue for 13 years is deeply disappointing to me, totally unacceptable and, frankly, maddening.

  Although there is a computer system in place that is supposed to take care of release dates, the DoC has ordered that manual checks are performed until the software fix is put in place in the new year.

  Photo credit: Viorel Sima / Shutterstock

  
• 

  UK government working with eBay and Amazon to catch tax-evading sellers

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 9:32pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  When it comes to tax avoidance, it's usually big companies that come under the spotlight. Of course, there is nothing -- legally speaking -- wrong with tax avoidance, but it's a very different story with tax evasion. With eBay and Amazon providing a platform for vendors around the world, it is perhaps little surprise that the retail sites are home to a large number of tax evaders.

  An investigation by the Guardian found that there are a huge number of overseas sellers who fail to pay VAT in the UK. HM Revenue & Customs is currently looking into whether eBay and Amazon could be held responsible for the tax bills, or what could be done to track down offenders.

  Following the Guardian's investigation, eBay announced that it would report a number of sellers making use of the auction site. Sellers in China have been found using false VAT numbers, or even using VAT details associated with other companies.

  For Amazon, sellers are able to use the retail giant's UK warehouses as a storage base for goods. Handing over dispatching responsibilities to Amazon -- coupled with fake addresses in China -- opens up the opportunity for the introduction of financial irregularities, and a government taskforce has already been put in place to try to combat the problem. Both eBay and Amazon say that responsibility lies with individual sellers to pay whatever tax they owe, going on to say that the sites should not be held liable.

  The Guardian asked overseas sellers to provide VAT receipts for purchases that the newspaper had placed but were given excuses ranging from the seller not being VAT registered, to it being seller policy not to provide such receipts. As part of its investigation, the Guardian spent £1,818.20 on 24 items, which should have incurred VAT of £363.64. In reality, the order breakdown listed £0 VAT.

  Not all sellers on eBay and Amazon need to register for and pay VAT on their sales -- just those with a UK turnover of over £82,000. Sellers that are VAT registered feel they are getting a poor deal, as sellers based overseas have been able to undercut their prices by simply not paying applicable taxes.

  Photo credit: Mr-Vector7 / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google+ is too much ghost town for me

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 7:04pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  As the New Year approaches, and I contemplate 2016, my online social space surely will change; my like-affair with Google+ draws close to an end. Nearly six weeks ago, the service "reimagined", as a "fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center".

  Since then, my Google+ engagement has dropped by more than 90 percent. I don't find as many posts to Plus-one, to share with others, or on which to comment. Similarly, I see shocking decline in the number of responses to my posts—not something I actively seek so much as by which to judge interest in what I write and also to interact with other Plusers. After years of misguided critics calling Google+ a ghost town, the tumbleweeds roll.

  According to analytics firm Compete, the number of unique visitors to Google+ fell 15 percent from March to June 2015 and another 28.1 percent through November, the same month the site realigned and redesigned. From March to November: 38.9 percent decrease. Perhaps the search and information giant sought, with emphasis on Collections and Communities, to add ballast to a listing ship.

  Yesterday, I contacted Compete for clarification on the data, whether or not it's global and what regional differences might be. I held back posting this story for the firm's answer, which is absent, presumably because of the Christmas holiday. Surprising: comScore's U.S. data doesn't show the same trend.

  In the United States, for 2015 so far, Google+ unique visitors was highest in May: 110.3 million, according to data comScore released at my request. Through November, the decline isn't as steep—15.6 percent—and unique visors rose from October (92.5 million to 93.1 million). December data won't be available until sometime next month.

  Where Are They?

  I look around Google+ and see abandoned buildings. Maybe the residents have moved to Community skyscrapers. The few of us unwilling to adapt to high-rise living scatter about the old wooden structures. In which case, the social network isn't so much vacant as relocated.

  I'm not alone in seeing fewer residents milling about the town square. "The stream of posts I see is far more sparse than even a few months ago", says Debo Capulet, who asks: "But abandon G+? For what?? Facebook is not an option". Agreed. I'm at the point of adapt or leave but with no clear destination.

  

  "Meaningful communication is definitely down" says James M, who claims that fanboys "are in denial that G+ is on the wrong path".

  By contrast, Paolo Amoroso has "seen interaction and engagement with my posts grow a lot since Collections were released, but some of mine are featured so this is not unexpected". Maybe he is Google's star-type user, since he is involved in a popular niche category, astronomy, and works at the Planetarium of Milan (Italy) as a space educator.

  I have zero interest in Collections, and limited interest in Communities. I interact with people around public posts, which are the core ghost town. Perhaps topic areas are busier. Here's the thing: I don't use the Internet to reinforce my interests or perspectives but to expand them. As such, I rarely frequent closed forums around specific topics or interests; too many are echo chambers. Also, I just don't have time.

  Destination Uncertain

  John Skeats disagrees, seeing Collections as a "wonderful option. We all know people who share great content on some topics and other content we simply don't want to see. Collections allows those who want to filter individuals' posts to do so—but does not force anyone to use Collections if they don't want to. That's a wonderful thing".

  I don't see same value in Collections, or Communities, which demand that Google+ be the hub and spokes of your online activity. Google+ is not my online hub, but one spoke. Similarly, I rarely use Facebook, which would replace all of my online activity if used as designed.

  "I haven't really explored Collections, so I can't speak to that", says Jim Carr. "I was initially excited about Communities, but then I found little content of interest in the ones I joined. I'd already been visiting less and less, because my friends either didn't join or weren't very active. Now with the refocus, I barely visit at all. It's feeling more and more like a random mess. It's a real shame, because I thought the overall design and usability—before the refocus—was superior to Facebook".

  Inferior to, or only as good as, Facebook makes Google+ a non-starter. The other social network had nearly four times more unique visitors in November, according to Compete.

  Facebook interests me even less, as my Google+ usage winds down short of drastic change reviving engagement. My final destination, likely several social spaces, is uncertain. More time on Twitter is option. But where else? I dunno yet. Maybe I should spend more time at the local free-WiFi coffee shop and there start up conversations with the living. Rather than mill among the dead.

  Photo Credit: Janelle Lugge/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Generate passwords you can actually remember with WordCreator

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 6:56pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  It’s important to use strong passwords to secure web accounts, and there are plenty of free generators around to help.

  But most produce random results, and although cryptic garbage like "gKlephjjDe" will be hard to guess, it’s also not what we’d call memorable.

  WordCreator is a free tool for Windows XP+ which also generates new words, but using syllable lists, which makes them readable and much easier to remember.

  Getting started is easy. There’s no installation, just launch the program, choose a word length, the number of words to generate, and click Create.

  The default rules generated good results for us. HODASEKI, NETECATI, YEDOHIDE, DUSAHESE and MOTULATE all seemed like words we might remember, and they were from a single list.

  If a website has some special rules then you could modify one of these to fit. Take HODASEKI perhaps, replace the K with a lower-case soundalike (HODASEccI), maybe use a couple of special symbols in appropriate places for the word.

  The resulting HOD+A-SEccI is rated as "Very Strong" by The Password Meter, yet we think it’s also something we might be able to remember.

  WordCreator’s default settings worked well for us, but if you need more then the program offers a vast amount of control over its workings. You’re able to choose syllable lists based on various languages, set up new lists of your own, play around with case, include special characters, or even drop the "readable" idea and generate random passwords based on numbers or various character sets.

  Any words you create are displayed in a regular text box, allowing you to select text and copy it to the clipboard as usual.

  Alternatively, the entire list may be saved in a single text file for processing elsewhere.

  WordCreator is more than just a password generator, and that makes it marginally more difficult to reconfigure than the best of the specialist competition. But its default settings work so well you probably won’t care, and as the program’s also portable and no-strings free it’s worth checking out for yourself.

  WordCreator is a free application for Windows XP and later.

  
• 

  Oracle agrees to warn Java users of malware risk

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 6:48pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Oracle is about to issue a warning that Java users could be exposed to malware, the media have reported on Tuesday.

  The exposure is the result of a flaw that existed in Java’s software update tool. After an investigation conducted by the US Federal Trade Commission, Oracle (Java’s distributor) has agreed to issue a warning over its social media channels and on its website, otherwise it would have been fined.

  According to a BBC report, Oracle has admitted no wrongdoing. All of this seems like a bunch of (un)necessary formalities.

  According to the FTC’s complaint, Oracle was aware of security issues in the Java SE (standard edition) plug-in when it bought the technology’s creator, Sun, in 2010.

  "The security issues allowed hackers to craft malware that could allow access to consumers’ usernames and passwords for financial accounts, and allow hackers to acquire other sensitive information", the FTC said.

  The point is -- Oracle promised its users that updating Java would ensure their PCs would remain "safe and secure", but never mentioned that any risk remained -- even though it did remain.

  This was because Sun’s original update process did not delete earlier versions of its software, which hackers could exploit to carry out their attacks. The problem was resolved in August 2014.

  Oracle could not plead ignorance because the FTC had obtained internal documents dated from 2011 that stated “[the] Java update mechanism is not aggressive enough or simply not working”.

  The plug-in is installed on many PCs to let them to run small programs written in the Java programming language.

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

  Photo Credit: bahri altay/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Expect faster adoption and more localization in a cloudy 2016

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 4:06pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  The growing maturity of the cloud has been one of the major trends of the past year and this is something that looks set to continue into next year.

  There will be new challenges, however, and we've looked at what some of the industry's experts think the cloud will have in store for 2016.

  Rohit Gupta, founder and CEO of cloud security specialist Palerra thinks APIs will gain in importance, "We expect to see cloud vendors selling APIs as new revenue streams. SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS vendors will be pressured to provide rich sets of APIs, enabling security vendors and application vendors to provide value added services".

  The cloud may become more localized says Blazent's CTO, Michael Ludwig, "Increasing cloud adoption will push major cloud providers to consider regionalized service approaches due to network bandwidth concerns among enterprise customers". He also believes that self-service big data as a service (BdaaS) portals are going to make information and insights more readily available across the enterprise.

  According to application performance specialist Riverbed, "More and more IT assets will be pushed into the cloud, and more users will work outside premises. We'll see more companies operate exclusively in the cloud, but enterprises will continue to leverage the hybrid cloud model with overall cloud usage increasing across the network". This will mean that organizations will need to look for solutions that provide greater visibility into performance, security and end-user experience for applications.

  Marc Crespi, CEO and co-founder of OneCloud Software, expects the hybrid cloud to gain in importance, "In 2016 we are going to see accelerated adoption of hybrid cloud deployments because we will see more technologies that remove the barriers to leveraging public cloud. For example, these technologies will bring a simplified approach to creating a unified hybrid cloud management platform from disparate tools. The outcome will be a secure and scalable architecture that makes it possible for IT to add the public cloud to their 2016 plan".

  Crespi also believes the cloud will change the disaster recovery industry, "With the cloud, disaster recovery doesn't take up any room and can be done affordably, simply and quickly. With the cloud, DR becomes a no brainer".

  "The cloud office wars between Google and Microsoft will continue, but partners are going to need to support both suites in order to be successful, because it will become clear that both platforms serve specific market segments better than the other," says David Politis, CEO of BetterCloud. He also predicts that 2016 could become a golden age of IT. "This is the year when shadow IT will actually be embraced and seen as an opportunity to truly affect change in an organization. CIOs will be pushed to the cloud by their user populations, by their CEOs, and even by their boards as the market continues to produce success stories of organizations transforming the way they work by moving to the cloud".

  Of course security issues impact on the cloud too and cyber security association ISACA predicts that, "Hackers will increasingly have cloud providers in their crosshairs, as organizations move more pervasively to cloud. This year we saw cloud providers take more responsibility for storing customer data. Because more data is shifting outside of organizations, 2016 will bring with it more attempts from cyber criminals to gain direct access to that pool of information".

  Jeff Denworth, SVP of Marketing at cloud storage company CTERA expects that security concerns will have a positive effect, "IaaS will become more secure than an average private data center -- Amazon and AWS will elevate 'all-in' deal making to a feverish high. But in the meantime, just as organizations had dual-vendor strategies for IT hardware and software, this will emerge as a risk management policy for cloud operations".

  The cloud then will continue to be a major factor in IT provision and we're likely to see more businesses moving away from running their own data centers to embrace an all-cloud future.

  Image Credit: leolintang/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Here are the system requirements for Microsoft Azure Stack

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 3:47pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Microsoft has announced the hardware requirements needed to run its Azure Stack – the upcoming on-premise hybrid version of the Azure cloud.

  The Azure Stack first gets installed on a server and delivers Azure services in a customer’s datacentre, enabling developers and IT professionals to build, deploy and operate cloud applications using consistent tools, processes and artifacts.

  Here’s what it’s comprised of:

  • Cloud-inspired infrastructure, which includes: Software-defined infrastructure platform -- SDS | SDN | Compute, Software-Defined Security and Infrastructure management -- Provisioning and Operations
  • Azure portal
  • Azure-based IaaS services
  • Azure-based PaaS services
  • Azure Resource Manager -- a declarative, template-based approach that helps specify and configure applications for automated deployment

  The focus of the product will be on enterprise applications like SQL Server, Exchange and SharePoint.

  Basically, it’s something of a private cloud -- it simplifies the app scaling process across current data centers, but if need be, extra resources can be pulled from the cloud.

  Here’s how it will work: Users will need a single server (Microsoft says Hewlett-Packard’s Enterprise DL 360 Gen 9 would be the best choice. Or a Dell R630) with at least 96GB of RAM and 12 cores -- 128GB of RAM and 16 cores are recommended.

  It needs at least Hyper-V Enabled (with SLAT support), Windows Server 2012 R2, and an OS disk with minimum of 200 GB available for system partition (SSD or HDD). Concerning disk drivers, Microsoft says four disks with a minimum of 140GB of capacity is needed, while 250GB is recommended.

  Full specifications can be found on this link.

  Through Azure Stack, Microsoft is trying to be more competitive in regards to Amazon Web Services and Google’s clouds. SiliconAngle has noticed how none of the two provide options for hosting your own service.

  The Azure Stack is similar to the hybrid cloud angle VMware has been chasing since 2013, when it launched its vCloud Hybrid Service, promising a virtual extension of customers' on-premise environments to the cloud.

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

  Photo Credit: drserg / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft releases first firmware upgrade for Lumia 950 family

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 2:44pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Windows 10 Mobile was officially introduced in November, launching alongside Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. But, even though it was deemed ready for prime time, Microsoft released a new build of its latest smartphone operating shortly after, to fix various issues reported by users of the two new flagships. And, now, there is a new firmware available too.

  This is actually the first firmware update for the Lumia 950 family. The build number is 01078.00027.15506.020xx. Here are the changes that it brings to the table.

  For those who may not be familiar with the difference between a firmware update and a Windows 10 Mobile update, the former, in this case, adds changes that only pertain to Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL while anything new in the latter would affect all devices that run the tiled smartphone OS.

  According to Microsoft, here is what users can expect:

  • Stability and performance improvements.
  • Improvements for SD memory card support.
  • Improvements for automatic display brightness settings.
  • Fix for a camera problem that was causing noisy images in low-light conditions for some users.
  • Fix for a 4K video problem that was causing stripes to show up while playing back recorded videos for some users.

  The firmware update is reported to be offered starting in Europe, and is expected to be gradually rolled out. The software giant points out that its availability is dependent on carrier approvals, so it may take a while before it reaches all users.

  
• 

  In the end the Beatles finally come to streaming services

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 2:33pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  It's been a long and winding road to get the Beatles on your devices and streaming services, but you've finally reached your destination and the iconic band has given in to demand. Sadly two members of the Fab Four won't be around to experience this blockbuster event, but you can still enjoy the magical mystery tour of the group's catalog of hits and more obscure songs.

  At 12:01am local time on December 24th the Beatles music officially launches on streaming services Spotify, Apple Music, Slacker, Tidal, Groove, Rhapsody, Deezer, Google Play and Amazon Prime.

  The band's website is even providing a globe-style tracker to let fans monitor the progress of this momentous launch event. You can follow the festivities here. The timeline will move from east to west as you await the availability. In other words, it will gradually happen here, there and everywhere, you just have to wait your turn.

  The Beatles aren't entirely a stranger to having music online as they have dealt with Apple in the past, but this is a much bigger deal as it's streaming and not exclusive to one company.

  In the end you can finally stroll down Penny Lane at your leisure or join a lonely heart's club band and you don't need to be a walrus or raccoon to get in on this.

  
• 

  Privacy-focused Tails 2.0 beta 1 Linux distro is here -- Debian 8, GNOME shell classic, and more

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 2:19pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  With clueless politicians, the media, and scared citizens calling for a ban on encryption, it can feel like the Internet is under attack. Such basic rights to privacy are the foundation of the net -- once we lose them, it can be impossible to get back.

  Unfortunately, even mundane aspects of computing, like operating systems -- which should fade into the background -- are threatening our privacy. Windows 10, for instance, sends much data to Microsoft, while Android is partly a means for Google to collect data. Traditional Linux distributions are not inherently privacy-focused, but generally speaking, many are. For the gold standard in privacy and security, Tails -- a distro recommended by Edward Snowden -- can be used. Today, the first beta of the 2.0 version operating system becomes available.

  "The most noticeable change is probably the move to GNOME Shell, configured in Classic mode. This desktop environment provides a modern and actively developed replacement for the aging GNOME "Flashback". GNOME Shell also paves the way for better supporting touchscreens in the future", explains The Tails Team.

  The team further explains, "under the hood, an amazing amount of code was ported to more modern technologies. This, in turn, allowed us to do lots of small changes all around the place, that will make the Tails experience both safer, and more pleasant. For example, all custom system services are harder to exploit thanks to the use of Linux namespaces, set up by systemd. And the way Tails tells the user that 'Tor is ready' is now more accurate".

  The Tails Team shares the following major changes and new features.

  • Upgrade to Debian 8 (Jessie).
  • Migrate to GNOME Shell in Classic mode.
  • Use systemd as PID 1, and convert all custom initscripts to systemd units.
  • Remove the Windows camouflage feature: our call for help to port it to GNOME Shell (issued in January, 2015) was unsuccessful.

  If you have never used Tails before, please know that it is generally not intended as a full operating system replacement, although you could technically use it full-time if you wanted. Actually, it is intended to run as a live environment from a finalized optical disk (like a DVD+/-R), so there is nothing written to a hard drive. You can also use a flash drive, but an unwritable medium is preferred.

  A common misconception is that it is intended for illegal activity, but this is not true. Sure, it can be used for people looking to hide deplorable activity. More importantly, however, it is a wonderful tool for journalists, whistle-blowers, and citizens of oppressive countries, where ideas can lead to punishment. Remember folks, privacy is not just about hiding or protecting our digital property, but for some, it can mean staying alive too.

  If you want to give it a go, you can test the beta by downloading the ISO here. Before using it, you will want to read the full release notes here.

  Will you try it? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Kjpargeter / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Another delay and a major price increase -- is it time for Microsoft to kill the Surface Hub?

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 2:16pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  The Surface Hub looks cool. The giant wall-mounted Surface, aimed at businesses, comes in two sizes -- 55-inch and 84-inch -- and boasts 100 points of multitouch, up to three simultaneous pen inputs, dual 1080p front-facing video cameras and a four-microphone array. And the larger model has a 4k touch-screen display that refreshes every 8.33 milliseconds, which is faster than the human eye can detect.

  But here’s the problem. Seven months ago Microsoft said the Surface Hub would be available to order in 24 markets -- including Australia, North America, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the UK -- from July 1, with a shipping date of September 1. But then five months ago, based on "strong demand" it delayed things (with no word of a ship date) and then a month later said orders would start shipping on January 1 2016. But guess what? They won’t.

  Microsoft now says the Surface Hub will start shipping in first calendar quarter of 2016, and to accompany this news it’s announced it’s putting up the price too.

  The 55 inch model was priced at $6,999 and the 84-inch version at $19,999, but Microsoft has increased both by $2,000. So they are now $8,999 and $21,999 respectively.

  Anyone who pre-ordered will receive their Surface Hub at the original cost. If they ever do receive it of course.

  Microsoft said that the price increase was necessary to deliver the "best product experience". Although delivering any product to its customers would be a start.

  So the question is, will Surface Hub ever see the light of day, or will Microsoft’s next announcement be yet another delay or a complete cancellation of the line? We shall see.

  
• 

  Windows 10 patch messing with your Office 2016 templates? Here's how you can get them back

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 2:13pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  A cumulative Windows 10 patch has had some Word 2016 users cringing in despair. The patch, titled Cumulative Update KB3124200, is causing the Word 2016 template file Normal.dotm to be renamed.

  Then, once the text processing program is restarted, it sees the file missing and creates a new one, basically restoring it to factory settings, which is a bummer. The Normal.dotm file is where Word stores all the custom macros, custom spellcheck and auto-correct features.

  The update, which was released next week, has made some users hit the forums for complaints.

  The good news is that the old Normal.dotm does not get deleted after the patch -- it just gets renamed to Normal.dotm.old, so in order to restore all your settings, all you need to do is replace the new file with the old one.

  A member of Microsoft’s product team, going by the name Rob L, gave instructions in the forum post how to restore the settings:

  1. Close Microsoft Word.
  2. Press Windows + R and type in %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates and press Enter.

  You are now looking at the Templates that Word (and other Office apps) use. (Note that if you have "file extensions" turned on, then you may see slightly different names). You should see a file named "Normal" of type "Microsoft Word Macro Enabled Template". This is your current Normal template (which is missing the data you want).

  Let’s save a backup of this normal template just in case.

  3. Rename the "Normal.dotm" file to "NormalBeforeRestore.dotm". You can rename the file by right-clicking it, selecting "Rename", and typing in the new name.

  Now we have to determine which file to restore. The issue we identified typically results in a file called "Normal.dotm.old", but under some circumstances, there could be other saved versions of your Normal template in that directory as well.

  You should see at least one of the following: "Normal.dotm.old", "NormalPre", "NormalPre15", "NormalOld", or "OldNormal". If you see more than one of these files, then you will need to choose the correct file to restore; this is likely the file with the most recent "Date modified" value, which should be "Normal.dotm.old". Don’t worry if you choose the wrong one, you can repeat steps 4-6 as many times as necessary to find the right file.

  4. Select the file you want to restore. Right click and select "Copy".
  5. Now create the copy of the file by clicking the Home tab and choosing "Paste". (or press Ctrl + V)
  6. Now select the new file you just created and rename it. Right-Click and select "Rename".

  • If you have file extensions turned on, or if the file you are renaming is called "Normal.dotm.old" or "Copy of Normal.dotm.old", then you will need to rename the file to "normal.dotm". You may be warned about changing the file extension -- this is OK.
  • If you do not have file extensions turned on and the file is not called "Normal.dotm.old" or "Copy of normal.dotm.old", then rename the file to "Normal".

  7. Close File Explorer and launch Word. Your AutoText blocks, Styles, Macros, etc. will now be available for use in your documents.
  8. If you still cannot find your content, and there were other templates in your Templates folder to choose from, then shut down Word, go back to your templates folder, delete Normal and go back to step 4. (we are only making copies in step 5, so you won’t be losing anything when you delete Normal here.)

  That's it.

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

  Photo Credit: fotoscool/Shutterstock

  
• 

  GreenPeak plans to unveil Family@Home at CES 2016

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 2:09pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  While everyone is currently concerned with the holidays, companies have their own concerns with the big Consumer Electronics Show coming on the heels of New Year's. This year's event is back at its normal venue in Las Vegas and will run from January 6th through the 9th. Prepare to be amazed, or appalled, by gadgets you may or may not ever see on the market.

  One thing you will see at CES 2016 comes from GreenPeak and it aims to make your home smarter. Yes, the Internet of Things is still around and growing by leaps and bounds.

  GreenPeak will be unveiling its Family@Home, a system that combines the cloud, wireless and battery-powered sensors. This is, the company expects, a way to provide peace-of-mind about your house and family.

  All sorts of things are included such as knowing that your children are home safely, alerting you if you left a window open and the air conditioner on, if the bath water is overflowing or the washer has sprung a leak. All of this is handled by a learning algorithm. You'll get a dashboard to monitor everything and provide you with alerts.

  "The tech industry has been telling consumers that they need a Smart Home but, up until now, all they are being offered are connected devices -- creating a 'house with sensors'", says Cees Links, CEO and Founder of GreenPeak Technologies. "Consumers don’t want connected things -- they want smart applications that take care of their family and their home. That is why GreenPeak is working with the world’s leading service providers to transform a 'house with sensors' into the 'Smart Home' -- an affordable, peace of mind solution that takes care of the home and the people who live in it -- making sure that their lives are safe, comfortable and efficient. Worry less, care more".

  At this point it is a reference design and the company plans to work with ISPs to make things happen. "The Family@Home reference design is a complete system that includes secure wireless connectivity, a variety of sensors and Sensara’s cloud based algorithm, analytics, and interfaces to an MSO billing and support system". There's a good chance that much of the offering will be rebranded by telecoms and cable providers. If you're interested then you can find out more here.

  Image Credit: Chesky /Shutterstock

  
• 

  Kim Dotcom faces extradition to US from New Zealand

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 1:03pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Kim Dotcom, the founder of MegaUpload and Mega, could be extradited to the US where he faces charges of copyright infringement. Dotcom is also wanted by US authorities for money laundering and racketeering, and a New Zealand court has ruled that his extradition can go ahead.

  The German national's Auckland home was raided by New Zealand police four years ago after the FBI closed down his file-sharing site in the US because it had been used to illegally share music and movies. Kim Dotcom has proved to be a polarizing character -- much like Edward Snowden -- viewed by some as a spokesperson for a free internet, and as an out and out villain by others.

  It is estimated that Dotcom's websites and online tools have cost the movie and music industries over half a billion dollars, but this is clearly a figure that is hard to substantiate. Questions have been raised about the thinking behind calls to extradite him to a country that he has never visited, let alone lived in.

  Despite losing the most recent case, Dotcom remains in an upbeat and defiant mood despite leaving court saying "I'm disappointed". After the ruling he took to Twitter to suggest making an appeal:

  My team and I just had a good read of today's court decision. Its weak and a Christmas gift in disguise. Woohoo!! #Appeal

  — Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) December 23, 2015

  His attorney, Ira Rothken told Reuters:

  We think the judge was wrong on the law. Justice wasn’t done today.

  Dotcom faces charges along with three others, but the extradition ruling in itself makes no hint at guilt.

  
• 

  This Christmas Eve, get Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9, worth $89.99, for FREE at Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 12:37pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  Now this is a real doozy -- a $90 graphical powerhouse for nothing! Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 covers all your design needs, from photo editor to DTP package, vector drawing to web graphics (including Flash animations).

  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 may retail for $89.99, but for 24 hours from from midday EST on December 24th, you’ll be able to pick up a one-PC license of this superb design tool for nothing, nada, zilch.

  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 covers all the bases, thanks in part to some new features that were introduced in version 9. The photo-editing tool had already had all the core functionality covered, with crop, resize, sharpen, perspective fixes and red-eye correction, but version 9 adds in a powerful photo healing tool as well as background erase.

  The program also supports a wide range of photo plugins, both its own format and Photoshop. Over 40 are included to help you get started.

  The program also boasts an impressive collection of vector illustration tools, including a Shape Painter tool, 3D extrusion and tools for applying transparency, feathering, blends, shadows and more.

  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is also a desktop publishing powerhouse too, with a built-in Designs Gallery giving you a head start with templates for a wide range of projects, and included clipart and photos to help design everything from brochures to full-blown newsletters. A feature new to version 9 allows you to make document-wide stylistic changes with just a few clicks.

  Version 9 also includes tools for creating web graphics – including simple Flash animations, animated GIFs, image maps and more. Other new features include support for Google fonts, the ability to share media with online services including Flickr and Facebook, and enhanced import and image optimization.

  It all adds up to one unmissable giveaway, so make sure you bookmark the Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 9 giveaway page and set your alarm for 12pm EST (9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Thursday December 24th.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of free Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 9 licenses to give away, each one worth $89.99. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Thursday, December 24, and expires when the licenses run out or on December 25 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So make sure you zip over to Downloadcrew Giveaway on Christmas Eve after midday to get your free code!

  
• 

  Get Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9, worth $89.99, for FREE at Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 12:37pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  Now this is a real doozy -- a $90 graphical powerhouse for nothing! Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 covers all your design needs, from photo editor to DTP package, vector drawing to web graphics (including Flash animations).

  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 may retail for $89.99, but for 24 hours from from midday EST on December 24th, you’ll be able to pick up a one-PC license of this superb design tool for nothing, nada, zilch.

  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9 covers all the bases, thanks in part to some new features that were introduced in version 9. The photo-editing tool had already had all the core functionality covered, with crop, resize, sharpen, perspective fixes and red-eye correction, but version 9 adds in a powerful photo healing tool as well as background erase.

  The program also supports a wide range of photo plugins, both its own format and Photoshop. Over 40 are included to help you get started.

  The program also boasts an impressive collection of vector illustration tools, including a Shape Painter tool, 3D extrusion and tools for applying transparency, feathering, blends, shadows and more.

  Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is also a desktop publishing powerhouse too, with a built-in Designs Gallery giving you a head start with templates for a wide range of projects, and included clipart and photos to help design everything from brochures to full-blown newsletters. A feature new to version 9 allows you to make document-wide stylistic changes with just a few clicks.

  Version 9 also includes tools for creating web graphics – including simple Flash animations, animated GIFs, image maps and more. Other new features include support for Google fonts, the ability to share media with online services including Flickr and Facebook, and enhanced import and image optimization.

  It all adds up to one unmissable giveaway, so make sure you bookmark the Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 9 giveaway page and set your alarm for 12pm EST (9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Thursday December 24th.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of free Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 9 licenses to give away, each one worth $89.99. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Thursday, December 24, and expires when the licenses run out or on December 25 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So make sure you zip over to Downloadcrew Giveaway on Christmas Eve after midday to get your free code!

  
• 

  Weaponization, iOS attacks and biometrics – the security landscape for 2016

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 12:30pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  It's the time of year when companies inevitably turn to their crystal balls and try to predict what the coming year will have in store.

  Where security is concerned there's a focus across the board on the evolving threat landscape and the tools needed to deal with it. We've brought together predictions from some of the leading industry experts.

  Andrzej Kawalec, CTO for HPE Security Services at Hewlett Packard Enterprise says, "2016 will bring a shift in how organizations protect their data. New cybersecurity tools and techniques will focus on applying big data analytics and automation to the threat landscape, as well as internal users and operations. Additionally, new methods for managing user identity will cross into biometrics and across cloud platforms, and we will see the increasing adoption of advanced consumer security and identity products and services".

  But whilst new techniques are used old threats will continue to be a problem. Kawalec adds, "A large and worrying proportion of attacks will continue to prey on old vulnerabilities in standard software and operating systems versions that are poorly managed and updated. New vulnerabilities in mobile devices, operating systems and applications will outstrip more traditional areas of focus".

  Mobile security will continue to be a problem too. Zimperium's Joshua Drake, VP of platform research and exploitation, thinks that iOS will be targeted more in the coming year, "iOS security will take center stage with more iOS kernel exploits and jailbreaks for iOS 9.2 and 9.3. We'll also see another Airdrop-esque attack, potentially through AirPlay or Continuity/Handoff".

  He also predicts that Android's continued lack of timely updates will be a problem and that more exploits will take advantage of the shared address space ASLR weakness to gain system privileges. On a brighter note Drake believes, "More vulnerabilities will be publicly disclosed due to the expansion of bug bounty programs as more companies realize the value and build the internal acumen to digest the results. Legislative changes will also have a positive impact."

  The IoT is also likely to become more of an attack target for cyber criminals. "Adversaries will exploit the influx of connected devices -- everything from watches to cars to critical national infrastructure -- to obtain personal and sensitive information. IoT represents the next battleground as we move towards smarter environments and adversaries advance their tactics to take advantage of new vulnerabilities that arise," says HP Enterprise's Kawalec.

  Dmitri Alperovitch, CTO and Co-founder of Crowdstrike and RSA Conference Advisory Board member, believes data will be increasingly weaponized, "Use of data as weapon will be a major problem in 2016. In the past, data has been taken, destroyed or encrypted, but increasingly we’re seeing breaches during which data is leaked publicly in order to cause significant damage to a business, reputations, or even the government (eg, Sony, Ashley Madison, etc.). Criminals and hacktivists are now stealing data and threatening to place it on public websites for others to see. In conjunction with this, hackers are building massive databases that include multiple types of data (insurance, health, credit card) to present a 'full picture' of an individual. It's one thing to have your data stolen and another to have it used against you. We'll continue to see individuals', corporations' and public entities' info used against them as a weapon in 2016".

  To help combat threats Stephen Cox, chief security architect at SecureAuth believes we'll see changes in authentication methods, "Biometrics will take a larger role as a second factor as organizations grow more and more distrustful of the password. The ubiquity of personal devices with biometrics sensors will make this possible. Open standards friendly to biometric privacy, such as FIDO, will help adoption".

  Cox also says that 2016 will be the year of adaptive authentication, "In many attacks we saw in 2015, attackers were not using malware, they were simply using stolen credentials to log into the environment. With organizations moving to the cloud, there will be an increasing number of authentication touch points in an organization, and those will need to be protected with technology that can rapidly identify and respond to threats".

  HP's Kawalec also predicts that senior managers will become more involved in security issues, "In light of the frequent and destructive data breaches we've seen over the last two years, CEOs will be at the forefront in leading the response to a cyber breach. Increasingly we will see these breaches fought in courtrooms and newsrooms, as well as on laptops and networks. Cyber risk will be top-of-mind for boards, elevating the CISO beyond traditional IT. And with this, enterprises will be increasingly responsible for the information security of consumer data".

  Steve Lowing, the Director of Product Management at Promisec shares this view and adds that, "The Endpoint Detection and Remediation Market will grow as companies try to stay ahead of threats, and companies will place an importance on encrypting sensitive data due to the rise in ransomware. Companies will have to make sure their remote employees aren't working with confidential corporate data on old, vulnerable OS releases".

  Whatever the experts predict you can be sure that security threats aren't going away and that something will come along to make new headlines.

  Photo Credit: Anneka/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Broadband ads are confusing and misleading

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 12:08pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  People in the UK are confused by broadband advertising that can make it difficult to determine the best deals. The charity Citizens Advice says that most people find the ads too confusing and felt overwhelmed with information, making the task of comparing packages that much harder.

  CA's findings suggest that more than half of people looking at broadband deals could not identify the cheapest deal available to them, at least in part because line rental costs were not always made clear. ISPs are accused of misleading customers, using headline-grabbing deal prices that do not truly reflect what the costs are.

  These are familiar accusations that have previously been levelled at credit card companies, and the real concern is that people are simply not provided with the information they need to make an informed decision. The charity's research involved asking groups of people to calculate the cost of a given broadband deal, and to calculate which was the cheapest of two samples.

  An astonishing 56 percent of people couldn’t work out what the deals would cost (although it's probably worth factoring in the mathematical abilities that some may or may not possess). In one case, just 22 percent of those questioned could determine the cost of a deal from a company which Citizens Advice has not identified.

  Citizens Advice's chief executive, Gillian Guy said:

  Attractive headline offers that don't include line rental costs make it impossible for people to work out the best broadband deal on offer without doing complicated sums. Broadband providers need to make the costs of a contract clear in their advertising and the Advertising Standards Authority should also review the code of practice to make sure it works well for consumers.

  Singled out for criticism was the practice of highlighting the cost of a promotional period without making it clear how costs would jump when this came to an end.

  Early in 2016, a joint report by the Advertising Standards Authority and Ofcom is due to be published looking at the broadband advertising landscape.

  Photo credit: Mr.Exen / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Ford and Google team up to make autonomous vehicles

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 10:40am CET par Anthony Spadafora

  

  Google and Ford have decided to join forces to build self-driving vehicles by forming a joint venture. Google’s technology will enable the cars to drive autonomously, while Ford will design and manufacture the vehicles being used.

  The partnership between Google and Ford will be announced by Ford at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in January. This joint venture will take the pressure of designing its own vehicles off of Google while helping Ford gain valuable knowledge and insight into self-driving software development.

  Ford has been developing its own self-driving system for years now, but the company lacks the real world testing that Google has been able to acquire. Currently Google is testing 53 vehicles publicly in California and Texas and, so far, the company has logged 1.3 million miles of autonomous driving.

  If Google did not align with an automotive manufacturer, it would take a significant amount of money and time to gain the necessary manufacturing expertise to begin producing its own cars. Ford is not the only company Google has reached out to and Google co-founder Sergey Brin believes that one day its self-driving cars could greatly reduce the number of deaths on U.S. roads, which averages roughly 33,000 per year.

  Neither company was ready to give exact details on their partnership, it was made clear that this new venture would be legally separated from Ford in order to protect the automotive company from possible liability. Volvo was the first company to publicly state that it would accept responsibility for crashes that occurred while its cars were driving in autonomous mode earlier this year. The company was quickly followed by Mercedes Benz and Google, which both pledged to take responsibility for any accidents that may occur.

  The agreement between Google and Ford is non-exclusive in nature and Google has been in talks with several other automotive manufacturers in hopes to get its self-driving systems into their vehicles. The race to develop successful autonomous vehicles has gained momentum in the past few years and Nissan, Vovlo, and Mercedes Benz have all said that they will offer consumers the opportunity to purchase advanced vehicles by 2020.

  Google and Ford’s new partnership could help accelerate the development and adoption of self-driving cars that are powered by Google’s technology which has already proven itself to be more than capable off of a closed course.

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

  Photo Credit: EDHAR/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google ready to embrace AI for new messaging tool to take on Slack

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 2:24am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The battle arena for messaging apps has become increasingly busy in recent years, with the likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and countless others all vying for attention. In the workplace, Slack is the current favorite thanks in part to its smart capabilities, programmability, and bot.

  Not wanting to miss out on the action, Facebook recently unveiled Facebook M, a virtual assistant bolt on for Messenger. Looking to compete directly with this, Google is working on a new AI-powered messaging service of its own according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

  The WSJ report is somewhat bereft of concrete detail, but those ever-present 'people familiar with the matter' say that Google is working on a mobile messaging tool that incorporates artificial intelligence and a chatbot. On the face of it, the tool sounds like an amalgamation of Hangouts and OK Google, neatly combining what the company has learned from both.

  Rather than keeping the app to itself, Google is said to be considering allowing third-party developers to create chatbots of their own, opening up the possibility of advanced customization.

  Slack has already shown -- particularly with its recent support for apps -- that it is possible for a chat tool to be about much more than just chat, and it seems that this is an idea that Google is keen to build upon.

  More details as we get them.

  Photo credit: Vdovichenko Denis / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google tests password-free logins on iOS and Android

  Publié: décembre 23, 2015, 12:12am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Online security concerns mean that we have become reliant on passwords to access so many different services. The sensible and secure route to take is to use a unique password for every site and service you access, but unless you have a record-breaking memory, this can prove tricky. Google has a solution: ditch the password entirely.

  While this may be seen as a step down from the two-factor authentication that so many companies have been pushing for in recent years, it is actually quite similar in many respects. Google's method focuses on speed and convenience, and still requires the use of a smartphone.

  The new password-free methods of logging into accounts is not something that is being made available to everyone just yet, just a select group of testers. Assuming your phone has been linked to your Google account, when the time comes to log in, all you need to do is enter your email address. A confirmation is then sent to your phone, and you can complete the log in process by tapping the Yes button that appears.

  As many people tend to have their phones all but surgically attached to their body, it seems like a sensible and relatively secure means of authentication. It's currently being tested on iOS and Android through the Sign-In Experiments at Google group, and in a statement to TechCrunch Google said:

  We've invited a small group of users to help test a new way to sign-in to their Google accounts, no password required. 'Pizza', 'password' and '123456' -- your days are numbered.

  Should you find that you need to log into your account when you do not have your phone, or your battery is dead, it is still possible to use a password in the usual way. Could this be the end of the password as we know it?

  Photo credit: Lorenzo Patoia / Shutterstock

  
• 

  DDoS attacks rise by 180 percent in 2015

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 8:54pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  To some this will come as a surprise, to others not as much, but the Distributed Denial of Service, also known as DDoS -- was the most popular type of cyber-attack in the past year.

  According to a report by security firm Akamai, there has been a jump of 180 percent in the number of DDoS attacks in 2015. The ending year also saw records broken in the size of the attacks, as well.

  The DDoS is a type of attack where a large number of infected machines are ordered to try and access a particular website. With millions of computers trying to open the same site, it eventually crumbles under pressure, bringing the site down.

  This can lead to losses in both reputation and finance -- with damages going up into millions.

  According to Akamai State of the Internet Security report, this year saw a number of attacks that were so large they could bring down a "tier one router" -- the kind of router employed by our internet service providers.

  A few weeks ago someone tried a large attack against one of the servers underpinning the internet. Luckily, its army of infected devices -- its botnet -- wasn’t big enough.

  When looking at countries most responsible for attacks, two stand out -- USA and China. USA accounted for almost 400 attacks in the last 24 hours, and China for 360.

  The US also holds the all-time ranking for botnet attacks -- at over seven million, where China had 6.3 million.

  Among the most notable DDoS attacks in 2015 were the TalkTalk incident, as well as a Dota 2 tournament worth $18 million.

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

  Photo credit: sibgat / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google announces new Chromecast-enabled games for the holidays

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 6:48pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Christmas is just a few days away. While I generally enjoy spending time with family, dealing with different personalities and opinions can be quite the annoying ordeal. Disagreements and heated arguments over topical issues, such as the 2016 election, can lead to a stressful holiday. One crazy uncle supporting Donald Trump could lead to a disaster.

  Ideally, you want to come prepared with ways to change the subject, while creating an atmosphere of fun too. While in prior years, this may have been a deck of cards or a board game, 2015 is all about tech. If you bring a Chromecast to your host's house this year, you can enjoy playing some fun games together -- on the TV screen -- including newly-compatible games, which Google announced earlier today.

  "Now casting is Rovio's Angry Birds Friends, featuring everyone’s favorite red bird, where you can compete in weekly tournaments. Also available is Ubisoft’s Driver Speedboat Paradise, where you race your boat through beautiful canals and waterways around the world", says Wendi Zhang, Chromecast Business Development Games Lead.

  Zhang further explains, "we're also introducing several new family-friendly Hasbro games which have been remastered for the big screen experience, including Monopoly Here & Now, Yahtzee Blitz, The Game of Life, and Scrabble Blitz 2.0. These are perfect companions for the downtime before that ball drops this New Year’s Eve.  And lastly, we’re excited to introduce a new way to play Risk -- on Chromecast. Now you can compete for world domination with friends and family".

  What strikes me about this announcement is the diversity of the games. These newly-compatible offerings meet many needs, such as skill and age group. In other words, Yahtzee and Angry Birds should quiet rambunctious children, while games like Monopoly and Risk should pique the interest of the adults and teens.

  Of course, there are many more offerings available for Google's Chromecast, which supports "casting" from both iOS and Android devices. For a full list of games, please click here.

  Will you bring a Chromecast to your host's house this year? Tell me in the comments. If you don't have one, the $35 dongle can be found at Best Buy and other retailers, often with discounts and other promotions. Hell, it makes a great gift too.

  
• 

  Apple deems iPhone 6s too expensive for India, slashes prices

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 6:04pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  In some markets, consumers who want to get an iPhone 6s can expect to pay about $1000 just to get their hands on the base model. In India, for instance, the 16 GB version of Apple's smaller flagship officially arrived with a price tag of $935 (Rs 62,000). At the other end of the spectrum, an iPhone 6s Plus with 128 GB of storage could be had for a whopping $1390 (Rs 92,000).

  The high barrier of entry seems to have been too much for many prospective buyers because Apple has just slashed the prices of its latest flagships by at least 10 percent across the board in India. A price cut so soon after an iPhone launch -- keep in mind, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were officially announced in September -- is unheard of.

  According to The Times of India, the price of a base iPhone 6s has dropped by 11 to 16 percent, now being sold, at major local retailers, for between Rs 52,000 ($785) and Rs 55,000 ($830) off-contract. That brings the local price closer to what consumers in other major markets can expect to pay (like Europe).

  But, on Amazon for instance, an iPhone 6s with 16 GB of storage can now be had for less, as on the e-commerce site there's a major discount offered which brings the price down to an even more reasonable Rs 46,985 ($710). That brings the price closer to what consumers in US can expect to pay for the device -- Apple sells the 16 GB iPhone 6s for $649 unlocked.

  The Times of India reports that prior to this price cut, in November, shipments of the latest iPhones in India dropped by 62 percent to 120,000 units compared to the previous month, when Apple moved 320,000 units. And, considering that everyone expects Q4 to be Apple's best quarter with regards to sales, you can see why the company wants to boost its sales number as much as possible before the end of the year.

  Apple's latest flagships are not the only iPhones which saw a price cut in India, as the price of iPhone 5s has also been slashed three times in as many months. It can now be had for nearly half the price it commanded in September, says The Times of India. And, obviously, lower prices mean more consumers will be able to justify an upgrade.

  Apple is under a lot of pressure to post higher year-over-year sales for Q4. In the last quarter of 2014, iPhones sold in record numbers -- 74.5 million units to be exact. In this part of the year, analysts expect sales between 70 and 75 million units, and, obviously, Apple wants to be closer to the latter number to reassure stockholders that its biggest money maker is doing fine. Its shares have dropped considerably this year, from $133 in February to $107 at the stock market's opening today.

  Photo Credit: patpitchaya/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Tim Cook: Apple will not budge on encryption

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 4:26pm CET par Anthony Spadafora

  

  With many U.S. lawmakers calling for an end to encryption, Tim Cook has decided to reiterate Apple’s stance on the matter. Apple’s CEO believes that when it comes to encryption there is no trade-off between privacy and national security.

  During CBS’ program 60 Minutes, on Sunday Cook defended the need for encryption and how it important it is to Apple and its consumers. According to Cook, there is no reason why Americans should not be able to have privacy while simultaneously protecting America’s national security.

  Cook made the point that consumers should be able to protect their personal data on their smartphones. This data includes health information, financial information, private conversations, and private business information.

  Whether or not encryption should be allowed has become a rising issue after the recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif. Lawmakers have come to believe that tech companies should play a greater role in the prevention of terrorist attacks by working more closely with law enforcement agencies and allowing them to access the encrypted communications of their users. Even President Obama has urged tech companies and law enforcement "to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice".

  Cook has stood firmly in favor for encryption despite these recent requests. He is willing to work together with law enforcement when a warrant has been issued, but in the case of allowing access to encrypted communication he has been unwavering. Apple also refused to give the passcode of an iPhone 5s to aid investigators in a lawsuit in October 2015, since this would have been a violation of that user’s privacy.

  Lawmakers and others opposed to encryption are encouraging tech companies to build backdoors into their systems, which would allow law enforcement agencies a way to access encrypted communications.

  Cook believes that such a move would jeopardize the security of Apple’s devices since putting a back door in would allow both law enforcement and criminals a means of accessing consumers’ personal information.

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

  Photo credit: Maen Zayyad / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Get Ability Office 6 Standard, worth $29.95, for FREE at Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 2:58pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  If you can’t afford Microsoft Office then you’ll love our latest giveaway. Ability Office 6 Standard features all the core office tools you need -- word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool and photo manager -- all wrapped up in a modern user interface.

  The suite normally retails for $29.95, but for 24 hours only from 12pm EST Wednesday (23 December), you can get a single PC license for FREE!

  Ability Office’s core packages retain the Office look and feel, sporting the now-familiar ribbon user interface to place all the key tools you need at your fingertips (but you can switch back to the old-school menu system if you prefer).

  The suite’s word processor is Ability Write, and it supports all industry standard formats (including Word’s ubiquitous .DOC and .DOCX files). You also get everything you’d expect from a modern word processor: spell check and thesaurus, autocorrect and autospell, formatting options a-plenty, page layout tools, and drag and drop editing too.

  Ability Spreadsheet continues the theme, working with standard Excel formats, offering core spreadsheet tools and throwing in some useful extras, such as 25 chart types, 250 built-in functions and support for both pivot tables and macros to boot.

  Ability Presentation follows on with full support for Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and a wide range of visual and text effects to help you lift dull infographics to another level.

  All three apps also support PDF export, allowing you to share your finished documents with a wider audience. There’s also a photo album tool and quick app launcher -- it’s ideal for home workers, students and school children.

  Giveaway: we’ve a limited number of free Ability Office 6 Standard licenses to give away, each one worth $29.99. Your license allows you to install and activate Ability Office on a single PC. Note the activation is non-transferable to another computer. Licenses are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

  The giveaway starts midday EST (that’s 9am PT or 5pm GMT) on Wednesday December 23, and expires when the licenses run out or on December 24 at midday EST, whichever comes first. So don’t delay, zip over to Downloadcrew Giveaway to get your free code!

  
• 

  Roku announces its top searches of 2015

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 2:53pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Set-top boxes have become increasingly popular, with Amazon, Apple and Roku all on the market and doing well. One of the great things about these devices is the ability to easily search for whatever content you want, so what did people look for in 2015?

  Well, the big one is, of course, movies and Back to the Future manages to edge The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part one. Others that made the cut into the top ten include Frozen, Jurassic Park and Gone Girl.

  In the category of TV shows, The Walking Dead topped Game of Thrones, followed by Downton Abbey in third place. Others that made the cut include Blacklist, Big Bang Theory and Better Call Saul.

  As for actors and actresses the top searches were Amy Schumer and John Wayne, respectively. Others in the mix include Tom Cruise, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp and Robin Williams.

  What will 2016 bring? Well it seems likely Star Wars will be a hot topic given the latest installment has only just opened. There will be many more movies, and likely some blockbusters to come, and a new hot TV show could pop up as well.

  
• 

  2016 IT trends -- Keeping your finger on the pulse of what's next [Q&A]

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 2:00pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  A new year means a fresh start, and IT professionals will be looking at how the traditional enterprise can re-evaluate and re-discover itself to take on new relevance.

  We’ll see recurring themes -- like cloud, 3D printing, data security, and the Internet of Things -- continuing to remain relevant in 2016. At the same time, these things will continue to blur the lines between enterprises and individual computing, shaping them into intertwined eco-systems. New trends will also emerge and shape the way enterprises operate, how they’re managed and where they’re headed. BetaNews talked with Xchanging’s Global Head of Technology and Innovation, Mani Gopalaratnam, about the trends every IT professional should have on their radar for 2016. Here’s what he had to say:

  BN: Thanks for talking with us, Mani. Give us an overview of what you see as the defining IT trends for next year, and then we’ll drill down into a few of them more deeply.

  MG: My pleasure, Wayne. As we enter 2016, massive adoption of mobile devices through relatively fast networks are redefining end-user engagement and personalization, while wearable technologies are coming of age. Electronic payments are becoming increasingly prevalent, providing a slew of new data and transactional granularity, while automation that enables bridging legacy and modern systems will reach a peak through robotic process automation. These trends, and others, make it mandatory for social, mobile, analytics and cloud to be adopted by enterprises in order to survive in the years ahead.

  BN: Thanks, Mani. That’s a lot to take in. With all of that said, is there an umbrella theme you think will emerge in the mind of IT pros?

  MG: Forrester said in a recent report titled Lead The Customer-Obsessed Transformation that "…the only way to retain customers and their loyalty is to become customer-obsessed". If I had to boil it down to one umbrella theme, I’d say IT professionals in 2016 will be largely driven by this.

  BN: That makes a lot of sense for the primary theme we’ll see next year. On a more granular level, what would you deem the top trend for 2016?

  MG: 2016 will be defined by huge investments by organizations looking to fortify their cyber security protocols. Increased dependence on technology requires a different strategy to secure the underlying data. Take for example Gemalto’s twice-yearly Breach Level Index (BLI), which noted that in the first half of 2015 alone, the number of records breached was just under 246 million across nearly 900 disclosed incidents, with so called "mega-breaches" accounting for 82 percent of the records compromised. I’d say the biggest trend is that we’ll see more businesses go on the cyber security offensive. With adaptive and offensive cyber security emerging, a new predictive defense mechanism will exist. The modern security architecture will continuously detect, prevent, analyze and respond to threats. Businesses will live by this.

  BN: We agree cyber security will continue to be a topic that’s a mainstay in the media and on IT professionals’ minds. What else will be top of mind?

  MG: Here are a few more key trends to watch for:

  • The world will become more hyper-connected than ever -- Fueled by the proliferation of billions of devices, hyper-connectivity will generate data about everything: Locations, atmospheric data, speed, health information -- and so on. This will lead to the creation of new products and business models, "Googlism" and "Uber-fication" being two examples.
  • Big data will rule -- Big data will no longer be an aspiration. It will be a critical part of any successful enterprise.
  • The API economy will lead legacy migration -- The ability for big enterprises to create APIs, as opposed to monolithic applications that enable a mass of developers outside the system to create point applications -- will accelerate. Programmers’ efficiency will be measured by their ability to bring applications to life rather than their coding strength.  The so-called API economy will be the underpinning growth engine for the hyper-connectivity and big data.
  • CRM will no longer follow the traditional cycles -- More customer intelligence and personalization that elevate level of services -- from a multi-group segmentation to a segment of one -- will be the way to go for CRM. It will leverage both hyper-connectivity and big data (are you starting to see some recurring themes here yet?).  The digitalization drive requires that businesses know the needs of their users before the customer even knows the need themselves.

  BN: All good points, Mani, and trends we would agree will be prominent in 2016 and beyond. Any closing thoughts?

  MG: My final thought would be the criticality for businesses to adopt and adapt to a changing IT landscape. Doing business without technology is not an option. As even traditional industries, like insurance, look to modernize legacy systems, it should be known that there is a price to pay for missing the boat on embracing technology. Don’t let your organization be burdened by this. Stay ahead of the changing landscape.

  Photo Credit: ArTono/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Apple wants the UK government to rein in snooper's charter

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 1:32pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Tim Cook is a vocal opponent of any form of encryption weakening, and now Apple has spoken out against the UK government's Investigatory Powers Bill -- otherwise known as the snooper's charter. Currently in draft form, the bill would require ISPs to retain customers' browsing histories for a year, and would require technology companies to implement backdoors that would allow encryption to be bypassed.

  Apple says that it has serious concerns about the proposed bill in its current form, and calls for sweeping changes to be implemented. The company has famously refused to allow access to encrypted iMessage chats, and this is a stance it is reiterating.

  The company says that it is simply not possible to allow backdoor access to data without weakening encryption for everyone. It also expressed concerns that the bill would legalize governmental hacking of computers around the world. In a submission to the committee overseeing the bill, Apple says:

  We believe it would be wrong to weaken security for hundreds of millions of law-abiding customers so that it will also be weaker for the very few who pose a threat. In this rapidly evolving cyber-threat environment, companies should remain free to implement strong encryption to protect customers.

  This is a sentiment that echoes the words of CEO Tim Cook, and Apple makes a point that is hard to argue against:

  The creation of backdoors and intercept capabilities would weaken the protections built into Apple products and endanger all our customers. A key left under the doormat would not just be there for the good guys. The bad guys would find it too.

  There is particular alarm that the bill would grant the UK government worldwide powers -- something that many would see not only as invasive, but also wildly undemocratic. Apple says that this would create an awkward relation with customers:

  It would place businesses like Apple -- whose relationship with customers is in part built on a sense of trust about how data will be handled -- in a very difficult position. For the consumer in, say, Germany, this might represent hacking of their data by an Irish business on behalf of the UK state under a bulk warrant -- activity which the provider is not even allowed to confirm or deny. Maintaining trust in such circumstances will be extremely difficult.

  Those businesses affected will have to cope with a set of overlapping foreign and domestic laws. When these laws inevitably conflict, the businesses will be left having to arbitrate between them, knowing that in doing so they might risk sanctions. That is an unreasonable position to be placed in.

  Photo credit: Ruslan Grechka / Shutterstock

  
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  Panda Security: 2016 will be the year of Android of IoT attacks

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 12:53pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Security experts from Panda Security warn that 2016 is set to be a bumper year of attacks and malware infections. The company says that malware will grow at "an exponential rate", with Android, mobile payment platforms, and the Internet of Things being key targets.

  Business, individuals, and corporate users alike are at risk, and it is predicted that infections via JavaScript and Windows 10's Powershell are to be common attack vectors. Exploit kits are due to increase in popularity, largely because of the fact that it is not currently easy to combat them.

  Android, thanks to its position as the world's most popular operating system, is set to bear the brunt of attacks. As well as rootkits targeting the operating system itself, Panda Security says mobile payment systems and connected devices will be targeted. Any system that proves popular with users places itself in the crosshairs.

  Technical Director of PandaLabs, Luis Corrons, says:

  Although Android attacks have been commonplace in recent years, the news for 2016 is the manner in which mobiles will be infected. We will see more threats that root the device, which makes eliminating it a near impossible task for an antivirus, except for those that come installed from the factory.

  Inconvenience aside, the threat to businesses is greater than ever. Successful attacks not only damage reputations and place customers at risk, but also lead to huge financial costs. Businesses in particular should be vigilant for ransomware attacks.

  As we enter 2016, Panda Security warns that "it will be necessary for users and businesses to have security tools and solutions that analyze and classify the behavior of all executables, and that also offer advanced protection to prevent and act against security threats".

  Photo credit: Yuliya Verovski / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Managing mobile apps in large enterprises [Q&A]

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 11:54am CET par Ian Barker

  

  More and more businesses are rushing to embrace mobile apps, but in large companies where hundreds of apps need to be rolled out this can present major headaches for administrators.

  We spoke to Chris Isbrecht of IBM Security's MaaS360 team to find out about some of the challenges of scaling mobile to large enterprises, as well as how they can be addressed.

  BN: Has mobile become a key part of driving greater productivity in enterprises?

  CI: Mobile has become the primary way organizations communicate with employees, partners and customers. In this digital age, organizations are increasingly embracing mobile apps as a way to improve productivity and meet employee requests to seamlessly work anywhere.

  Given the "app overload" with today's mobile devices, there's a well-defined need for businesses to leverage apps that stand out from the crowd. There's an appetite for mobile apps that are tailored to respective businesses, optimized for end-user engagement, integrated with enterprise and third-party data and designed for dependable access.

  BN: How easy is it for large scale mobile app deployments to go wrong?

  CI: Since most organizations aren't properly educated on the fundamentals of app scaling, it's particularly easy for missteps to occur. Unfortunately, organizations don't prioritize the user experience for deployments, which leads them to ignore the importance of user self-service. IT assumes that they need to be the ones always pushing the button. Businesses also tend to deploy a solution to a small pilot group and mistakenly think that will scale and support their entire population of users, but it’s far from the case.

  I would recommend organizations formally poll users -- or use asset inventory -- to understand the apps their users are utilizing. For corporate sponsored apps, they should advertise them to users and customize descriptions, so employees understand the importance of apps in their specific catalogs. IT should also ensure they have group-based deployments to target specific users and enable administrators to target users with predefined bundles of applications that can be installed with a single click.

  BN: What tools can businesses use to manage large scale app roll outs?

  CI: When a customer starts managing a significant amount of apps, it's critical that their management tools scale for both the IT administrator and end-user. This means a company cannot get by without implementing an enterprise mobility management solution (EMM), which provides Mobile Application Management (MAM) capabilities. Attempting to do it with other tools might work with fewer apps but, not at scale.

  EMM provides administrators with the ability to create a corporate app catalog, distribute corporate apps and leverage volume purchase programs. With larger deployments, supporting user groups -- through Active Directory -- drastically improves management and providers a better user experience.

  With IBM MaaS360, we have customers that are successfully managing close to 1,000 applications in their corporate app catalog. It’s not just one operating system, there are companies managing over 500+ iOS and 500+ Android apps for their businesses and users.

  The end-user needs a top-notch experience. When they enroll their device for EMM, they should instantly get the apps they need to be productive. If the admin leveraged Active Directory groups, apps are usually pushed down to the user automatically and they do not need to request them. If they don’t see the app they need, they need a one-stop shop to get them.

  That is why a corporate app store is essential for success. Having an app store where users can search for corporate authorized apps -- while being able to review the app's rating and co-worker comments -- is a powerful, self-service tool. This keeps users happy and simplifies how they get supported apps.

  BN: What role does user self-service have to play?

  CI: Self-Service is vital because it increases efficiency -- by saving your support team day-to-day tasks -- and keeps users engaged and educated on the apps available to them. When a user understands what apps are available and grasps how to get them immediately, it's going to positively impact the business by saving IT a tremendous amount of time. Otherwise, IT support would be overwhelmed with hundreds of daily tasks around large scale deployments.

  BN: How do user groups fit into the process?

  CI: It's important to limit users' access to application catalogs because the objective is to maintain user productivity with the applications provided via the catalog. For example, we manage 75,000 devices for a large company with an application catalog that spans 1,000 public and private applications. The key for implementation is to limit the scope of apps to users based on employee function and then provide them with the tools to search, sort and filter apps that bolster productivity. Otherwise, pushing 1,000 apps to a device leads to end-user confusion, frustration and a loss in productivity.

  BN: What can we expect to see in the enterprise mobile landscape in 2016?

  CI: On a completely separate note, I think the industry will have to closely monitor the growth of mobile malware in 2016. This past year, we witnessed a significant uptick in mobile security incidents -- Stagefright, KeyRaider , XcodeGhost and YiSpecter just to name a few -- and it's eerily similar to the benign viruses that threatened PCs in the '90s before rocking the IT world in the early 2000's.

  Remember when the ILOVEYOU virus infected millions of unsuspecting users, resulted in billions of dollars in economic damage and transformed PC security?

  While the rise of mobile malware has been predicted for years, it's nearly certain that we’ll experience a mobile malware problem in the coming year. Businesses will need protection and it's crucial that they employ the appropriate, mobile threat management solution, which ties to a broader enterprise mobility management product. This will allow for the immediate detection and remediation of mobile malware -- before it's too late.

  Image Credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Toshiba will cut 6,800 jobs

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 11:33am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Japanese tech giant Toshiba is forced to restructure itself following enormous losses, and now it is known that some 6,800 people will lose their jobs.

  The company is into many businesses, from laptop building, television to nuclear energy. The people losing their jobs work in the electronic devices department. The plans to restructure the company were unveiled after Toshiba overestimated its profit expectancies for a six-year period.

  The scandal, which escalated when it was unveiled that certain subordinates faked financial results to show more profit, has led to the resignation of the company’s president.

  Toshiba plans to sell its TV production plant, as well as its washing machine plant -- located in Indonesia. A Hong Kong-based company Skyworth will allegedly buy the plants. The company is also looking for investors for its health-related business.

  Among those 6,800 workers, some will retire early.

  Toshiba was formed in 1875, and in 1985 it has built its first laptop. Currently it employs almost 200,000 people. The company’s shares have dropped 40 percent since April 2015.

  The cause of many problems also lies in the tsunami which hit Japan in 2011, and which led to the disaster in the Fukushima power plant. Toshiba was in charge of the plant.

  Toshiba said it had not yet fully calculated the impact of the nuclear disaster on its books.

  The latest earnings projection means Toshiba is sinking into its second straight year of red ink, after racking up a nearly 38 billion yen (£209 million) loss for the fiscal year that ended in March.

  Senior market analyst at Spreadex, Connor Campbell, has compared Toshiba to Tesco, another company that was in a similar position. Looking at how Tesco managed its problems, Campbell does not see a bright future in front of Toshiba. "It’s a situation remarkably similar to Tesco’s; both companies hit by huge accounting scandal, both in sectors hurt by price-wars, both with an arduous and costly path ahead", he says. "Not that that will be much comfort to Toshiba given how poorly Tesco has performed in the aftermath of its own issues".

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

  Photo Credit: Anton Watman/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft acquires analytics startup Metanautix

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 9:05am CET par Alasdair Gilchrist

  

  Microsoft has announced that it has acquired Metanautix, a startup company that was developing its Quest data compute engine which aims to help large enterprises filter through their vast amounts of in-house data.

  Metanautix, which was co-founded in 2012 by Theo Vassilakis and Toli Lerios, was launched in September 2014 after raising $7 million of funding after Quest had been two years in development.

  "Metanautix started out with the vision to integrate the data supply chain by building the Quest data compute engine that enables scalable SQL access to any data", said Vassilakis. "Three years in, we can take this work to the next level by joining forces with Microsoft. We look forward to being part of Microsoft’s important efforts with Azure and SQL Server to give enterprise customers a unified view of all of their data across cloud and on-premises systems".

  Microsoft announced the acquisition by describing Metanautix as an innovative company helping to solve one of the biggest challenges in the world of data analytics: How can a company bring all of its data together for analytics to gain powerful insights, discover new opportunities and drive growth through intelligent automation?

  The problem with data analytics is that companies store vast quantities of data but they spread it across many databases and stores, meaning they can only run analytics on a fraction of the data. What Quest sets out to do is to allow large companies to connect all those data sources and silos, so that analytics can be performed on the whole of the data regardless of type, size or location.

  Microsoft described Quest as: "a solution that can integrate data across traditional data warehouses like SQL Server, Oracle and Teradata; open source NoSQL databases such as MongoDB and Cassandra; as well as business systems like Salesforce.com and wide array of other cloud and on-premises data stores".

  "Key to Metanautix’ approach is making a wide variety of data query-able by SQL, the most widely used data query language -- at speed and high scale".

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

  Photo credit: 360b / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  If you installed this game from Google's Play Store, your Android phone may be infected!

  Publié: décembre 22, 2015, 4:43am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  While many detractors of iOS point to Apple's strict access to the App Store, others -- like me -- applaud it. While it might be harder to get an app approved for download in Apple's store, it is arguably more secure. Conversely, Google's Play Store can sometimes feel like the wild west. Sure, Apple's process is not infallible either, but many consider it to be the gold standard. Apple's stronger and more stringent screening process not only helps to block malicious apps, but weeds out low-quality offerings too. Overall, neither process is perfect.

  Today, a startling discovery was made in the Google Play Store for Android. You see, a malicious app masquerading as a game made it past Google's security screeners, putting millions of users at risk. Had anti-malware company Lookout not discovered it, there is no telling how many Android users could have installed it.

  "Lookout discovered a solitaire app in Google Play's gaming category that is actually a version of the malware family FruitSMS, which conducts premium SMS fraud and charges people for typically free services. We alerted Google to the malicious app and Google promptly removed it from the app store. All Lookout users and customers are protected from this malware", says Lookout.

  What is FruitSMS? Lookout explains that it as "a simple piece of malware that Lookout has been following for over two years. It trojanizes legitimate applications, but then charges people for otherwise free services via premium SMS. Premium SMS fraud involves tricking a person into texting a premium-rate number. The victim's carrier then bills them for texting the number, which is then paid out to the criminal".

  In other words, this malware can actually cost you money through text messaging! The scary thing is, many people do not extensively check their mobile bills each month, making victims of such a scam none the wiser. It is actually quite disconcerting that Google failed to protect Android users from such an egregious scam. Luckily, only about 100 people downloaded the Russian-language game before it was pulled.

  Did you download this malware? If so, you should shut off your cellular radio immediately to prevent fraudulent text messages. Then, using Wi-Fi, download Lookout, or similar security application, to scan and clean your device.

  Photo credit: LoveFreedom / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro using this product key

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 10:29pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  If you’re running Windows 10 Home and want to know whether it’s worth moving on to Windows 10 Pro, there’s a straightforward way of switching between the two versions of Microsoft’s latest operating system.

  All you need to do is swap your current Windows 10 Home product key for the default Windows 10 Pro one which Microsoft has made available to all users.

  On the Microsoft Community Forums, Charles of Microsoft says:

  From your Windows 10 Home running Version 1511, enter the Windows 10 Pro Default key under change product key.

  VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

  This default key will not activate the system, just take you to Pro so you can activate using a valid Pro key that you will provide.

  Once you have done this, the system will go through an upgrade process from Home to Pro, but will not be activated on Pro.

  As you can see from the above, while this will upgrade your copy of Windows 10 Home to Pro, what it won’t do is activate it. If you decide you like the Pro version, you will need your own product key to activate the OS and use it permanently.

  To switch product keys, open Settings and go to Update & security > Activation > Change Product key. Enter the product key from Microsoft (VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T) in the space provided. The upgrade process takes quite a while to complete so be patient.

  If you want to buy a key for Windows 10 Pro, go the Activation page in Settings and click the Go to Store button.

  

  
• 

  Bvckup 2 is a hassle-free backup tool [Review]

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 9:36pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Let’s face it, backups are pretty boring, which is probably the reason why they often get overlooked and people find themselves staring into the abyss of lost data. Part of the reason why so many of us hate backups is that the software used often seems to overcomplicate things with lots of options that many people never use.

  Bvckup 2 aims to change all of this with a backup solution that’s clean, simple to use, elegant and fast. Produced by Swiss company Pipemetrics, Bvckup 2 is small -- the installer is less than 2MB in size - but packs in a surprising amount of sophistication.

  Getting Started

  On installation it automatically detects whether you have a 32 or 64-bit system and proceeds accordingly. The ease of use continues on the first run when the only option you get is Add new backup. Click this and you can choose a source and destination for your save. If you want to you can stop there and simply run the backup job -- it’s as easy as that -- but there are other options if you need them.

  It’s designed to be fast and starting from scratch in our tests it saved 1.3GB of files to an external USB 2.0 drive in just two minutes. After the initial backup of course it’s quicker still as it will only save changes. It uses multiple read/write requests in parallel to speed up the transfer process and is able to run intensive tasks on multiple CPU cores, but scale back its activity when the PC is under load. This means you can leave it running in the background while still using your PC for other tasks.

  One of the other reasons it’s so fast is its single-minded approach. It creates a mirror from one location to another, it doesn’t do anything clever like a two-way sync or a system backup and it doesn’t encrypt or compress data along the way.

  

  You can have it run tasks on a regular timed schedule or it can continually monitor files and folders for changes in real time. It also uses what’s called Delta copying which means it will save only the parts of a file that have changed rather than copy the whole thing each time, further improving performance. A backup can be pinned to a specific removable destination -- it tracks drives by their unique hardware ID not just the Windows-assigned drive letter -- so that it will only run when the target is available, and of course you can save to networked or cloud storage.

  Business Features

  All of this simplicity might make you think that Bvckup 2 is mainly for home users. However, it has a lot of features that make it attractive for enterprise users too. It can cope with multi-million item backups making it suitable for large systems and it can run multiple jobs in sequence or all at once.

  When running a job it creates a backup plan, you can do a simulated run and view this without actually executing it, so it’s good for satisfying compliance requirements. It uses Windows’ shadow copy service to allow it to save locked files. Saves of deleted items don’t have to remain cluttering up the main backup, they can be moved to an archive folder from where they can be retained for compliance or deleted after a period of time.

  

  You can set the program to run a command before and/or after the backup, so you could shut the machine down after saving for example. You can also get it to send an email on completion allowing admins to see that remote systems are being properly backed up.

  As we pointed out above there’s no encryption or compression so it may not be suitable for handling sensitive data, unless of course the files you’re saving are already encrypted in which case they’re simply mirrored as they are. Lack of compression of course means your backup storage needs to match the size of the original.

  Conclusion

  Licences for Bvckup 2 start at $39.95 (around £26.50) for the professional version and discounts are available for volume orders. For $19.95 (£13.23) you can buy it to protect your home PC too. If you want to try it out there’s a fully functional two-week trial available to download from Bvckup2.com. Currently it’s only available for Windows and will run on XP or later.

  There are more complex backup programs out there, but that’s not really the point. What Bvckup 2 does is focus on doing a single task and doing it well with minimal hassle. It’s almost enough to make backing up your system a pleasure.

  Pros

  • Small footprint
  • Easy to use
  • Very fast

  Cons

  • No encryption
  • No compression

  Review: 8/10

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

  Photo credit scyther5 / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Cortana for Android loses its raison d'être

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 8:45pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  When Cortana made its way to the Windows 10 desktop, lots of users were excited by the prospect of a Microsoft version of Siri. Moving to Android as well as Windows 10 Mobile devices, Cortana could really compete with not just Siri's voice control options, but also OK Google.

  Now this has changed -- at least for Android users in the US. The latest update to the app strips out the voice activation options leaving users questioning whether or not there is any point in having the app installed.

  Over the weekend, Microsoft pushed out an update which as well as bringing "improved app stability" and "enhanced call and text features", also "removed 'Hey Cortana' feature for US market". There have been complaints that there were compatibility problems with OK Google and issues with the microphone, but Microsoft has not elaborated on why the feature has been ditched.

  Microsoft proclaims in the Google Play description that "Cortana's always up for a little chit chat" -- but now that’s only true if you’re willing to put in the finger work and type out anything you might want to ask the digital assistant. What's that noise, you ask? Why, that's a chorus of people saying "OK Google, uninstall Cortana".

  
• 

  What you need to know about VPNs

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 7:58pm CET par Barclay Ballard

  

  A virtual private network (VPN) brings additional security to anyone using a public network, such as the Internet. Using a variety of security methods, such as encryption, the VPN is able to safeguard any data transmitted across the network, which may be at risk if it simply used the underlying public network infrastructure.

  VPNs are often employed when it would not be practical to use a physical private network, usually due to financial reasons. As businesses embrace mobile working and face increasing pressure to protect sensitive information, many are employing virtual private networks to improve their network security.

  Remote Access or Site-to-Site

  There are two main types of VPNs currently being used by organizations: remote access and site-to-site.

  A remote access VPN uses the underlying public network to give users access to an organization’s private network. In practice this would likely involve the user being greeted by a VPN gateway on their mobile or desktop device, which would then authenticate his or her identity.

  If validated successfully, the user then gains access to resources stored on the virtual network, which could include business applications and documents. Ultimately, this should enable employees to access their work network, including any local intranets, wherever they are.

  Site-to-site VPNs may use some of the same software and equipment as a remote access VPN, but is usually employed for a slightly different purpose. Site-to-site virtual private networks generally connect entire networks based in one location to another network located somewhere else.

  This can prove extremely useful for businesses with multiple branches based in disparate locations, or organizations that wish to share resources securely with a partner or client business. Companies that employ a site-to-site VPN can benefit from enhanced collaboration without worrying about the security of their data.

  VPN Benefits

  • Security -- The main reason why businesses choose to adopt virtual private networks. Having encrypted data, particularly if it is of a sensitive nature, is vitally important. Data breaches not only lead to compensation and regulatory fines, but can leave lasting reputational damage.
  • Mobility -- VPNs give businesses the security to share their resources with employees and partners that are not based in the office at all times. This can provide a huge boost to productivity by ensuring that staff are not tethered to traditional office working times and locations. Organizations have also begun using VPNs to outsource their work, enabling them to lower internal staff costs.
  • Cost -- Virtual private networks can prove much more affordable than a physical private network. Rather than having to lease long distance network connections to achieve a secure transfer of data, businesses use the existing public network to facilitate their VPN.

  VPN Disadvantages

  Although VPNs are used by many businesses and individuals, there are some potential drawbacks that you should be aware of.

  • Complexity -- Virtual private networks can be complicated to set up and configure. Businesses must ensure that the team in charge of setting up the VPN has a detailed knowledge of network security issues in order to ensure that the protection from the public network is suitably robust.
  • Control -- The performance of a VPN hosted over the Internet is not entirely under the control of the business. They will need to rely on their Internet service provider in order to meet the agreed standards of performance.

  Things to Look For in an Effective VPN

  If businesses are looking to set up an effective virtual private network, there are a few aspects that they should keep in mind at all times. Firstly, businesses will need to decide which security protocol to go with. SSL/TLS, IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP are some of the most common VPN protocols, with SSL and IPSec proving most popular with corporate users.

  Although the protocol will not affect the end-user in any way, it will affect how secure your VPN is. Certain protocols are more complex to set-up, while others are straightforward, but not all VPNs provide data integrity. It is up to IT leaders to determine which security protocol is best suited for their organization.

  Scalability is another major factor to consider when setting up your VPN. Businesses need to factor in any potential growth that may occur in the foreseeable future. Their virtual private network should be able to handle not only the current levels of traffic, but any increases that may occur do to larger employee numbers or busy periods. Organizations will not want to replace their VPN technology altogether, so need to factor in scalability from the start.

  Reliability is also vital, particularly across multiple devices. Mobile working is increasingly important in the workplace, so employees should receive a consistent experience from the VPN whether accessing it via a desktop PC, smartphone or tablet. It is also important to note that employees will soon grow frustrated, and therefore unproductive, if the virtual private network is slow, difficult to connect to, or unreliable.

  If businesses decide to go with an external VPN service provider, it is important to consider where their servers are located. A third party vendor will be subject to their own national data governance laws, which may impact on the data that you send back and forth across the network. Although unlikely to be a major concern, businesses should consider where their VPN supplier is based before choosing a service.

  To VPN or Not to VPN?

  Virtual private networks do not offer failsafe security, but in the light of recent high-profile breaches, many businesses will feel that any additional step that can be taken to secure their data is likely to be worthwhile. Although VPN configuration is not always easy, if it does help to prevent future data loss it will surely prove a valuable investment.

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

  Photo Credit: dizain/Shutterstock

  
• 

  This Tuesday, get Driver Booster 3.1 PRO, worth $22.95, FREE at Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 7:13pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Are your PC’s drivers up-to-date? It’s not always easy to find out, but worth checking -- there could be a pile of performance enhancements and bug fixes just waiting to be installed.

  IObit Driver Booster 3.1 PRO takes away all your driver management hassles by checking for new releases, downloading and installing driver updates, all with a single click.

  A bonus Game Components module checks and installs updates for key system software -- Adobe AIR, Flash, Shockwave, Java, PhysX and more -- to keep your computer running smoothly.

  Smart design ensures there’s minimal impact on your regular PC use. Drivers are only downloaded when your system is idle, and silent installation mean there are no wizards, dialogs or alerts to get in your way.

  This is all very configurable. Want to keep control over the update process? Then you can run scans only when you choose. And Driver Booster Pro can be told to ignore particular devices -- graphics cards, maybe -- which you’d prefer to manage in some other way.

  Whatever you’re updating, Driver Booster Pro goes to great efforts to keep you safe. By default it only looks for drivers which have passed WHQL tests, then automatically backs up existing drivers -- and creates a restore point -- before updating.

  In the unlikely event that you do have any problems, the built-in Rescue module makes it easy to undo your updates and restore the previous setup.

  Giveaway: we’ve got a limited number of free IObit Driver Booster 3.1 PRO licenses to give away, worth $22.95, on a first-come, first-served basis. Each one gives you a year of updates for three PCs, from the date of the promotion (22nd December 2015 -- 21st December 2016).

  The giveaway starts midday Tuesday December 22 and expires on December 23 at midday EST, so zip over to Downloadcrew Giveaway and get your free code!

  
• 

  Ericsson suckles on Apple's massive teat thanks to multi-billion dollar patent deal

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 7:08pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Some companies innovate, while some imitate. Other businesses make money from patent deals. There is nothing wrong with protecting patents, but sometimes a company that truly moves the dial ends up paying a lesser company as a result.

  The latest such case of this, is Ericsson signing a patent deal with Apple, ending years of legal battles. The latter company is forward-thinking and one of the most important tech companies in the world; the former, while important, is not on the same level as Apple. I am not saying Ericsson doesn't deserve to profit from Apple's arguable use of its patented technology, but the deal is yet another another example of a company seemingly suckling at Apple's massive teat.

  "The agreement includes a cross license that covers patents relating to both companies' standard-essential patents (including the GSM, UMTS and LTE cellular standards), and grants certain other patent rights. In addition, the agreement includes releases that resolve all pending patent-infringement litigation between the companies", says Ericsson.

  The company further says, "this agreement ends investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission, lawsuits pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, as well as lawsuits in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. In addition, the companies will collaborate in multiple technology areas, including the development of the next generation 5G cellular standards, the optimization of existing wireless networks for the benefit of operators and users worldwide, and video traffic optimization".

  This particular agreement is only 7 years long, meaning it could be revised and renegotiated after that. Apple will pay a large lump sum up front, and then continual smaller payments from there. According to Reuters, the initial payment would be about $423 million USD, with quarterly payments being about $91 million USD. All totaled, this is about 2.5 billion dollars. This could vary based on the value of the Swedish Krona.

  Does Ericsson deserve such a massive windfall, or is Apple being shafted? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Dmitry Lobanov/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 is a great iPad Air 2 alternative [Review]

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 6:12pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Tablets are often seen as a consumer device, allowing you to update Facebook from the sofa while you watch TV, or catch up with iPlayer in bed. But they’re increasingly finding a place in the business world too, allowing mobile workers to catch up with emails or update documents on the move. They can also be a viable laptop replacement for tasks like making sales presentations.

  The iPad remains popular, since it popularized the tablet format, but of late, Android devices have been catching up in terms of quality and capability. Samsung has long been one of the biggest players in the Android tablet market and its latest premium tablet, and the Galaxy Tab S2 is clear evidence of the company’s intention to park its tank on the iPad’s lawn. But how well does it succeed and what does it have to offer to tempt business users away from buying the Apple device?

  In the Box

  The package is fairly minimal, you get a white cardboard box and it just contains the tablet itself, with a USB cable and a mains power adaptor. Both of these are white too -- far be it from us to suggest that there’s an attempt to make this like like an Apple device here. It has a clever mains adaptor design which reduces in bulk by means of sliding down the earth pin and which makes it easier to slip into a bag or pocket. Documentation is limited to a brief Quick Start leaflet that explains the position of the main controls and how to charge the device.

  

  First impressions when you lift it out of the box are that the tablet is nicely weighty and our review unit, in the Gold color option, looks smart with a light grey/beige surround to the Gorilla Glass screen and a shiny metal bezel around the edge. The back is smooth and has a metallic finish, which just about looks gold in the right light, though it is in fact plastic which lets down the premium feel a little bit.

  What you do notice is that it’s a svelte 5.6mm thick which makes it easy to slip into a satchel or pouch. It also means it’s almost 2mm thinner than an iPad Air and 0.5mm thinner than an iPad Air 2, it also weighs over 70 grams less than the Air and 45 grams less than the Air 2. First blood to Samsung in terms of the size of the device then. The right-hand edge has the power button at the top and the volume control below it, plus a Micro SD card slot -- you need a paper clip or the little tool provided in the box to open this. On the front below the screen are the Home button, that also wakes the screen from standby and acts as a fingerprint reader, which is flanked by touch sensors for the back and recent apps functions. On the bottom edge are the USB and headphone connectors and the speakers.

  

  The Galaxy Tab S2 is powered by an octa-core chipset with 1.9 and 1.3 GHz quad-core CPUs and has 3GB of RAM. You get 32GB of onboard storage as standard, expandable by up to 128GB via an SD card. 64GB versions are available too. Our review unit was the 9.7-inch version, though a smaller 8-inch model is also on offer. The star of the show is undoubtedly the impressive Super AMOLED HD screen which has 2048 x 1536 resolution. Other hardware features include 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi which has MIMO ability for better signal reliability, plus Bluetooth 4.1 with the BLE low-energy function to prevent it from taking too much out of the battery life. You can also get a 4G version should you need connectivity when your out and about with no Wi-Fi access. It has a 5,870MAh battery which promises a decent amount of use between charges. The battery is not removable, however, so it will mean a return to the supplier should it ever need replacing.

  The Galaxy Tab S2 has a pair of cameras, the rear one being 8MP -- the same as, you guessed it, the iPad Air 2 -- and the front 2.1MP -- better than the Air 2’s 1.2MP.

  Start it up and you find it’s running the not-quite-latest Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, though an update to Marshmallow should be on the horizon. It has Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface rather than the standard Android one and there’s a minimum of bloatware installed. Useful apps that are included are Microsoft’s Office suite, plus Samsung’s Smart Manager to help optimize the device, and a handy multi-window feature. The latter is similar to the Windows’ Snap feature, allowing you to display two windows side by side and therefore make full use of that big screen. You also get a Briefing app that displays the latest news stories, weather, etc in an easy to access format. Most of the pre-installed stuff can be uninstalled if you don’t require it.

  Business Features

  The fingerprint scanner obviously makes for good security. You can store up to three prints allowing you a choice of fingers to use and there’s a password backup option should all of your chosen digits be out of action. It takes a little time to train the scanner for each print as you have to stroke your finger across the sensor several times to ensure it sees all areas of the print. Once it’s set up though the scanning generally works well, though it is sensitive to moisture, struggling to authenticate after you’ve washed your hands or been out in the rain and not thoroughly dried your finger tips for example.

  The S2 comes with access to Samsung’s KNOX enterprise security suite which allows users to access confidential email and apps securely. It also allows the separation of enterprise and personal information on the device making mobile and BYOD management easier. There are a range of KNOX certified apps available via a separate store, ensuring that users can access the latest tools in a safe, secure environment.

  KNOX works with most popular mobile device management (MDM) solutions so IT staff can manage devices remotely and even have the ability to wipe them in the event of theft or loss. KNOX allows the use of VPN connections to protect data in transit too.

  The Microsoft Office package gives you access to 100GB of One Drive storage free for two years. This makes the S2 an attractive business tool, allowing you to access your documents from the cloud, making it easy to work from anywhere you have an internet connection and ensuring that you’re never left without a vital file.

  

  The multi-window feature is a handy tool for business users too, making it easy to refer to documents side by side, or have a browser window open for reference while you edit a document for example. The Smart Manager app scans and optimizes the device, ensuring the best battery life and memory usage as well as cleaning up storage. It also scans for security issues, helping to protect the tablet from malware and ensure that it’s up to date with the latest patches.

  All of this is configurable so you can, for example, disable optimization for certain apps that you want to get maximum performance from. The downside of this is it can be a bit of a pest, constantly nagging you with notification messages and sounds.

  

  In Use

  Powering up takes a slightly longer press of the power button than feels strictly necessary, but once the screen lights up the actual boot process is fast giving you a usable tablet in just a few seconds.

  The Galaxy Tab has rounded corners, although the edges are flat rather than curved which makes it easy to hold. The 9.7-inch version does feel a bit too big to comfortably hold in one hand for long periods, the 8-inch would be better here, so you end up resting it against something. The screen is impressive and offers crisp images and good colors. It uses Adaptive Display technology that adjusts the brightness and other levels according to the ambient lighting, this means you can easily see it in bright light. It delivers smooth video playback too. There’s also a Reading Mode which lowers the brightness and makes it easier on the eyes if you’re reading long documents or eBooks.

  

  The Adaptive Display does a reasonable job and most of the time you don’t notice it at work, though it doesn’t always get it quite right sometimes making brightness adjustments to little effect. The TouchWiz interface is nice to use with smart icons and an intuitive layout, it’s easy to live with and it doesn’t come as too much of a culture shock if you’re used to standard Android. The downside of course is that you have to wait slightly longer for operating system updates than on a system running vanilla Android. Most importantly the screen is nicely responsive to inputs and that large size screen does mean that it’s easy to use the on-screen keyboard and not worry about hitting the wrong character all the time even if you have less than delicate digits.

  Sound quality is acceptable, if a little tinny, however, because the speakers are on the bottom edge they’re all too easy to muffle if, for example, you’re resting the tablet on your lap, or with your hand if you’re holding it sideways. Having the headphone socket on the bottom edge is also a bit awkward if you’re holding the S2 in portrait orientation.

  Overall there are no performance issues in everyday use, apps load quickly and we didn’t experience any crashes. Battery life is around 12 or 13 hours continuous use, so with casual operation you should be able to go two or three days between charges. It also retains its battery life well when on stand-by.

  Tablet cameras aren’t usually about serious photography, the size of the device means it’s not really snapshot friendly anyway, however, the S2’s are reasonably good. The rear camera produces sharp images and good color reproduction in natural light, pictures that are more than good enough to post online. There are also some clever modes including the ability to take 360 degree panoramas. It has the Pro mode found on Galaxy phones too, that lets you adjust contrast, white balance and so on. It does struggle in low light, even if you activate the HDR mode you end up with images that look a little pixellated.

  This is disappointing by smartphone standards, but for a tablet it’s probably acceptable. The front camera produces slightly grainy results, especially in artificial light, but it’s good enough for video calling, which is what most business users will want it for, and the odd selfie.

  

  Conclusion

  With the 32GB Wi-Fi only version costing £399 direct from Samsung, the Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 is priced on a par with the 16GB 9.7-inch iPad Air 2. It has the same screen resolution in a lighter and thinner package, and of course more storage, so it’s clear to see what the target is here. The Samsung offers good performance in everyday use and is likely to deliver better battery life than the iPad as well.

  Features like the ability to use KNOX and the inclusion of Microsoft Office make it an attractive option for enterprise users. The plastic back panel doesn’t detract too much from the quality feel of the device, and obviously it contributes to the Galaxy Tab’s light weight. The cameras are good by tablet standards and it isn’t overloaded with bloatware.

  Overall Samsung has delivered a well thought out package with this device and if you were thinking of buying an iPad Air 2 it’s well worth considering the Galaxy Tab S2 as an alternative. It offers you more for your money, good performance and you won’t find yourself feeling that you’ve ended up with second best.

  Pros

  • Excellent screen
  • Long battery life
  • Fast processor

  Cons

  • Plastic back
  • Not the latest Android
  • Nagging Smart Manager

  Review: 8/10

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

  
• 

  Motorola Droid Turbo 2 can survive a 900ft drop, putting all other smartphones to shame

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 4:15pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Modern phones are not designed to be durable. If you take a current-generation smartphone and you drop it, chances are you will end up with a shattered screen and a dent in the frame. Or, if you're not careful enough, it can develop massive scratches. Considering how expensive they can be to repair, it might be cheaper to just buy a replacement. We've been slowly eased into this, no doubt helped by carrier contracts which allow us to get a newer handset every two years or even sooner.

  But not all modern phones are this fragile. Take Motorola's Droid Turbo 2 for example. It's a top-of-the-line smartphone, with a price lower than the typical players in that segment, but with a display that still works after the device is dropped from 900 feet. In fact, the handset itself looks pretty good after that, all this considered.

  The test was conducted by UnlockRiver.com, which attached a Droid Turbo 2 to a quadcopter. At an altitude of 275 meters above ground, the smartphone was dropped on a parking lot, hitting the pavement with its upper left corner. After bouncing back and spinning a couple of times in the air, it landed on its back.

  The result? The shatterproof display protector, which sits atop of the panel, has only been damaged in the upper left corner. The screen did not shatter, as we have come to expect to see in drop tests; it still works, in fact. A Samsung Galaxy Note 5, subjected to the same drop test, had a shattered back panel, a bent frame and a display that wouldn't turn on.

  The results are quite impressive. But, it's unlikely that other manufacturers will try to compete with Motorola in this area. If consumers buy phones that don't break easily, how will they be "encouraged" to upgrade to the latest and greatest when it's time to renew that contract?

  
• 

  The enterprise trends of 2015

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 3:32pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Businesses tend to be quite conservative in their approach to technology, so it's always interesting to look at what's been sparking their interest.

  Identity and mobility management specialist Okta has released a new report, based on analysis of its customers, looking at the big winners and losers in the enterprise over the past year.

  The fastest growing apps of 2015 are; Slack, Greenhouse, Envoy, Zapier, Windows Azure Public Cloud Services, Bamboo HR, Wrike and Lucidchart, all seeing usage across Okta's customer base grow at over 200 percent. Slack in particular has seen run away adoption levels, growing 667 percent in 2015.

  The report also shows strong cloud growth in the recruitment industry, with the number of Okta customers using recruiting apps up by 99 percent, beating the growth in project management and messaging apps. Greenhouse in particular has seen 580 percent usage growth in the 12 months from November 2014.

  Multi-factor authentication is gaining ground too, with traditional security questions like mother's maiden name in decline. Instead providers are turning to devices like phones and smartwatches as well as biometric identification. Okta's data suggests an increase in the use of both hard and soft tokens too.

  In addition it finds that responsibility for security is moving away from IT, with a 30 percent growth in the number of identity management purchase decisions where chief security officers were involved. Away from software it seems that enterprise tablet use has plateaued, declining slightly over the last year. Okta suggests that 2016 will be a make-or-break year for enterprise tablets. The report says, "In order for them to survive, manufacturers need to seek out and invest in strategic partnerships to add more computing power, better apps and features designed for productivity."

  Finally the report suggests we may be entering an age of bring your own business (BYOB), where by using public loud services it's possible to run a small to mid-sized business with no infrastructure, no physical locations, no warehouses, no servers and no software. The company's data shows that shows that the median number of off-the-shelf cloud apps at companies has grown by 33 percent year-on-year, Amazon Web Services has grown at 123percent, and Microsoft Azure Cloud Services at 216 percent.

  More information on the report is available on the Okta blog.

  Photo Credit: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Shut down Windows 10 telemetry with Win10 Spy Disabler

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 3:10pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Windows 10 brought us Cortana. Edge. A brand new Start Menu. Oh, and a host of new and extended ways for Microsoft to capture data on your activities.

  Fortunately 2015 has also seen the growth of a whole new market for programs to turn these technologies off again, and Win10 Spy Disabler is the latest example.

  The program is a sub-2MB download which unzips 32 and 64-bit executables. Just double-click the appropriate version for you, or run the 32-bit if you’re unsure.

  Launch the program and it displays a list of 20+ "privacy tweaks" you can apply. Some are clearly Windows 10-specific ("Always Send DoNotTrack on IE/ Edge", "Prevent Wifi Sense from connecting to open hotspots"), others are a little more ambiguous ("Disable Telemetry & Data Collection"), and a few are standard privacy tweaks for any recent Windows version ("Disable Recent Files, Folders, Docs, Progs").

  If you’re looking for fine control then this probably isn’t the program for you. "Disable Cortana, WebSearch, BingSearch" is a single option, for instance: if you only want to disable one of those, you’re out of luck.

  Still, Win10 Spy Disabler does a good job of keeping you safe, by offering to create a system restore point before applying any tweaks.

  There’s also a bonus "System Tweaks" tab which gives easy access to more general Windows settings: "Show Hidden and System Files", "Disable Windows Remote Assistance", "Disable Windows Update P2P Distribution" and more.

  It’s all very straightforward and easy to use, and if you just want to disable groups of technologies in a click or two then the program should work very well.

  But if you need finer control over individual settings then we’d still opt for something more capable, like O&O ShutUp10.

  Win10 Spy Disabler is a free application available for -- despite the name -- Windows 7 and later.

  
• 

  Please, sir, I want some porn

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 3:04pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  UK consumers of porn will have to ask their ISP to provide them with access to X-rated content. As the government continues its futile bid to sanitize the web, new customers signing up for internet access with Sky will find that an adult content filter is enabled by default.

  This means that anyone wanting to view content that has been deemed 'adult' will have to contact Sky to lift the block. The decision to make the content filter opt-out rather than opt-in was taken after it transpired that a mere 3 percent of existing users had taken the step of switching it on in the first year since its introduction in 2013.

  A second line of attack saw Sky emailing its customers at the beginning of 2015. The email gave users the choice of enabling the filter if they wanted, but if the correspondence was ignored, Sky assumed the filter was wanted and automatically enabled it. 62 percent of people who did respond opted to enable filtering. Sky says this is a "significantly higher engagement than any other broadband provider".

  But for new customers wanting to access porn, they will have to ask for it. The company says:

  Following the customers' positive response to that initiative, in 2016 Sky will be the first broadband company to automatically provide filtering to all its new customers.

  Sky will continue to highlight the benefits of Sky Broadband Shield for customers, but this is just one way of protecting children online. Sky continues to support www.internetmatters.org which provides guidance and resources for parents. It offers advice on a variety of parental concerns including inappropriate content, cyber bullying and radicalisation as well 'how-to' guides for setting up parental controls on a range of devices.

  It is a move that is likely to be welcomed by parents -- and some non-parents -- but it will also spark debate about who decides what is classed as adult content and the repercussions that blocking could have on education and access to information.

  
• 

  New HTTP 451 error indicates pages have been blocked or censored

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 12:43pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  It's not every day that a new HTTP error code is introduced -- there are, after all, a limit to the number that could possibly be needed -- but it may not be long before you encounter a 451 error. The code has been made a new standard by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to indicate when sites have been taken down for legal reasons.

  Described as an 'HTTP Status Code to Report Legal Obstacles', it is hoped that 451 errors will introduce a new level of transparency about sites that have been killed by governments or law enforcement agencies. In some ways it is an extension of the 403 (Forbidden) error, but it provides a little more information as to why a particular site cannot be accessed.

  While a 451 error need not provide specific details about why a site cannot be displayed, it does at least indicate that a legal request has been sent to the host. As noted by Mark Nottingham, chair of the IETF HTTP Working Group, it was felt that a distinction needed to be made from a 403 error which 'doesn't say "I can't show you that for legal reasons"'.

  The standard is defined as:

  This status code indicates that the server is denying access to the resource as a consequence of a legal demand.

  The server in question might not be an origin server. This type of legal demand typically most directly affects the operations of ISPs and search engines.

  Responses using this status code SHOULD include an explanation, in the response body, of the details of the legal demand: the party making it, the applicable legislation or regulation, and what classes of person and resource it applies to.

  While an explanation for inaccessible sites is proposed, it is not required. The standard goes on to say:

  The use of the 451 status code implies neither the existence nor non-existence of the resource named in the request. That is to say, it is possible that if the legal demands were removed, a request for the resource still might not succeed.

  While the status is still due for some attention from the RFC Editor, the 451 message can be used right now.

  Photo credit: Maxx-Studio / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Human behavior is the biggest threat to company security

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 12:10pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  A new survey of cyber security professionals from information management company Nuix shows that businesses are placing greater emphasis on insider threats.

  The report reveals that 71 percent of respondents report that they have an insider threat program or policy, and 14 percent say that they allocate 40 percent or more of their budget to insider threats.

  "The findings in this report are of no surprise -- they represent the same issues and concerns that we're advising our customers on every day," says Keith Lowry, Nuix's Senior Vice President of Business Threat Intelligence and Analysis. "First, there's greater awareness of insider threats thanks to the public profiles of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. It’s also easier to steal information; for example, you can copy key files onto a thumb drive in seconds. And finally, sadly enough, theft of internal records has become culturally more acceptable".

  People were reported to be 'almost universally' the biggest weakness in information security, ahead of technology and processes. Of the respondents that reported to have an insider threat or policy, 70 percent offer employee training to minimize risk. "The company employs intelligence teams that study different aspects of communications, user activity, social media, suspicious activity and other details," said one respondent.

  Worryingly, 31 percent of respondents say that they don't know what people who have access to crucial data actually do with it. The cloud is an area of concern too, with 86 percent of respondents agreeing that it creates unique concerns including loss of visibility into the management of data and lack of regulatory compliance.

  The full report is available to download from the Nuix website.

  Image Credit: Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Get it for FREE! PowerArchiver 2015 Standard, worth $22.95 only from Downloadcrew Giveaway!

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 10:51am CET par Chris Wiles

  

  Everybody needs some way of compressing and extracting files, but sometimes the built-in zip capabilities in Windows just don’t cut it. And what happens if you receive a file compressed in some format you’ve never heard of?

  The answer lies with PowerArchiver 2015. This is one of the most comprehensive archiving tools you’ll find, capable of extracting from over 50 different formats. It can also write to all key formats too, including --of course -- Zip, as well as 7-zip, TAR, GZIP and even ISO.

  PowerArchiver can be accessed from within Windows Explorer or via its own Windows Explorer-like interface, making it easy to get to grips with. New in 2015 was a Preview window, allowing you to peek inside archives without having to extract files first.

  Not only can you easily extract files from archives, you can create them too, plus convert between different formats and create self-extracting archives for others to access with the minimum of fuss. There are also tools for encoding and decoding UU, XX, MIME and yENC formats, plus a handy repair tool for fixing broken Zip archives.

  Worried about security? PowerArchiver 2015 offers a multitude of encryption and password-protection options: it supports up to 256-bit AES Zip and 7-zip encryption, plus PAE support allows you to encrypt your files one of five different ways.

  PowerArchiver also comes with an innovative queuing system that allows you to queue up compression, extraction and backup jobs to prevent them attempting to run simultaneously. Support for UAC elevation and VSS also make the program more flexible than its rivals, allowing you to compress files that may be in use by another application such as databases or Outlook .pst files.

  As if that wasn’t enough, PowerArchiver 2015 also includes built-in tools for sharing files via FTP, backing up files to a schedule, burning files to disc or copying them to an ISO for burning elsewhere.

  All of this can be yours with PowerArchiver 2015 -- it works beautifully on every Windows version from Windows 2000 all the way up to Windows 10 and Server 2012.

  Giveaway: we’ve got a limited number of free PowerArchiver 2015 Standard licenses to give away, worth $22.95 each. They’re offered on a strictly first-come, first-served basis, and the giveaway offer starts midday December 21 and expires on December 22 at midday EST, so get to Downloadcrew Giveaway and get your code!

  
• 

  Microsoft has a bright future, says Goldman Sachs

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 10:19am CET par Sam Pudwell

  

  Goldman Sachs thinks Microsoft is making a comeback. The investment banking firm has produced a 22-page document -- titled Righting a Wrong -- looking at Microsoft’s current business, the recent changes it has made and it’s future opportunities.

  The research analyzes Microsoft’s core businesses of Azure, Windows and Office and believes that the future looks bright for the company, going as far as to change its stock rating from Sell to Neutral.

  Goldman highlights the transition Microsoft is making to cloud computing through its Office 365 platform and also praises the work of CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood: "The company’s ongoing transition to the cloud [has] been very well executed by new senior leadership, most notably Satya Nadella and Amy Hood".

  In terms of Microsoft’s three core businesses, Goldman is very much looking at the positives. In terms of Office, the report highlights the potential opportunities for expansion in areas such as mobile devices and emerging markets and praises the move to increase prices for Office E5 (aimed at businesses) which Nadella believes could generate as much as $50 billion (£33 billion) in revenue.

  Moving on to Azure, the report recognizes the value that it brings to Microsoft -- especially seeing as Nadella and co. have not bowed to pressure from the likes of Google and Amazon to lower prices -- and also notes that moving to a more service-based business model by giving away Windows 10 for free is a positive step for the company.

  As a result of the research, Goldman has increased its price target for Microsoft stock from $45 to $57.

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

  Photo Credit: alphaspirit/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Another nail in the coffin for Flash as Facebook defaults to HTML5 video

  Publié: décembre 21, 2015, 12:24am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The demise of Flash has been long, lingering, and painful -- and highly over due in many people's books. There has been a spate of high profile ditchings of Flash recently: Speedtest.net, Twitch, Chrome and Netflix to name but a few. Now Facebook has thrown its hat in the ring switching to HTML5 video.

  This is a move that is browser-agnostic, and means that every single video you see on the social network will default to HTML5. While many will see this as a cause for celebration, the change does not completely spell the death of Flash -- it will continue to be used on Facebook for many games.

  Facebook's Daniel Baulig says that the social network is in talks with Adobe to find a reliable way to switch games to HTML5, but for now it is videos that are affected by the changes. The company has spent time diagnosing HTML5 problems in various web browsers, and this ultimately led to the decision to roll out HTML5 video support to all browsers rather than creating a fragmented experience for users.

  HTML5 is not only faster and more secure than Flash, but it also allows for easier development and scaling. Facebook reports that videos start to play faster, and this leads to greater interaction.

  While the switch to HTML5 comes as more and more companies are fleeing from Flash and its endless security problems, the benefits work in Facebook's favor as well as users'. Baulig explains that HTML5 allows for better data gathering:

  Our video logs help us understand how people use the video player and how it performs. We share some of that data, like view count, with video owners, and we use other data to determine how many and which videos to show to people. We had to make sure the new video player logs the equivalent data and events in the same scenarios as the old player. Implementation differences and details can make this surprisingly hard. To ensure logging correctness, we created a test suite that performs the same user-interaction scenarios against both video players and then validates that the logs are equivalent. This way we had high confidence in the data that our new HTML5 video player reports.

  Photo credit: Ian Law / Shutterstock

  
• 

  KickassTorrents now has its own movie release group

  Publié: décembre 20, 2015, 11:38pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  There has been something of a clamp down on torrent sites around the world in recent years, but that doesn’t mean they're going away. It may be slightly harder to get a torrent fix these days, but where there's a will there's a way. One of the biggest names still on the scene is KickassTorrents, and it has now ventured into new territory by starting a release group of its own.

  Over the last few days, the group -- under the handle KATRG -- has been pushing out numerous Blu-ray rips and screeners. There's no sign of Star Wars: The Force Awakens just yet (although it's surely not long before it makes an appearance), but there are some big releases out there including The Hateful Eight, The Peanuts Movie, and The Revenant.

  There are already a high number of well-respected release groups in existence, and new-comers are usually few and far between. But with a big name like KickassTorrents associated with it, this could be one of the few that manages to creep to public attention. Like the Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents is one of the stalwarts of the torrenting scene, surviving endless takedown attempts by law enforcement agencies.

  In setting up a release group, the site is kicking things up a notch. Not content with courting controversy by providing access to torrents, by putting its name on specific releases KickassTorrents is virtually pulling down its pants and baring its behind at authorities. The site is waving a big red flag, shouting "come find us!" but, ultimately, it is torrent users who will benefit.

  As noted by Torrent Freak, KATRG's releases have already been noticed by copyright holders, resulting in takedown requests -- which have been complied with. The site provides a way around this, though:

  KickassTorrents is offering a solution to this problem. It’s been in operation for some time, but essentially it remains possible to download releases even after they have been taken down from the site.

  In respect of KATRG this is achieved by a forum thread which lists all of the group’s releases along with their hashcodes. Should any be taken down, users are invited to enter hashes into another search engine which then provides the download in question.

  KickassTorrents is a brand, and it is keen to maintain its reputation. The sources of the movies are not (understandably) being made public, but with its name to protect, the quality of releases -- including though re-encoded from other sources -- is likely to remain high.

  Photo credit: Erce / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Armed gang uses Grindr to target victims for gay-bashing

  Publié: décembre 20, 2015, 12:50pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Dating services are big business these days, and they offer a modern way to meet a life partner. But there's also a dark side. Tinder is perhaps the most well-known dating app, and Grindr is a near identical service aimed at gay and bisexual men.

  Police in London are warning that the app -- which is available for iOS and Android -- is being used by an armed gang to set up fake dates with men. With two million people using the app around the world, Grindr offers rich pickings for homophobes to look for victims.

  The gang, said to be armed with knives, is still being hunted by the police and anyone with information that could help is urged to get in touch. Grindr says that it is doing everything it can to help police. In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said:

  Grindr has always encouraged users to treat the platform as they would any other social interaction in their lives, with a measure of caution and an awareness of their own safety.

  There are many ways to verify and take steps to protect yourself, from meeting in more public spaces to getting phone numbers and speaking beforehand. We take these matters very seriously and cooperate with local law enforcement at all turns where we can.

  Croydon Police offer up a number of tips for safe online dating:

  • Always meet in a public place with lots of people around
  • Don't share personal details until you trust the person with whom you are communicating
  • If you decide to meet in person, let someone know where you are going and when you're likely to return
  • Plan your journey to and from the date in advance. If using a mini-cab, always pre-book
  • Drink responsibly and never leave your drink unattended
  • Ensure your mobile phone is fully charged and working
  • If at any time you feel uncomfortable, leave the date -- you are not obliged to stay

  Photo credit: Vdovichenko Denis / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Insane bug makes it incredibly easy to hack many Linux systems

  Publié: décembre 20, 2015, 12:03am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Linux is usually touted as the operating system of choice for those concerned about privacy, but a recently discovered bug makes it unbelievably simple to bypass authentication. A vulnerability in Grub2 -- the bootloader used by many Linux distros -- means that all it takes to take control of a computer is to press the backspace key 28 times.

  Two researchers from the Cybersecurity Group at Spain's Polytechnic University of Valencia published a paper that reveals just how easy it is to gain access to many Linux systems. It's not a problem that Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Debian users need to worry about too much as patches have already been issued, and users of other distros can make use of an emergency patch in the Grub2 git repository.

  While the security issue is laughably simple to exploit, it is somewhat mitigated by the fact that physical access is required, but it is worrying nonetheless. In an article entitled Back to 28: Grub2 Authentication 0-Day, researchers Hector Marco and Ismael Ripoll say that Grub2 versions from 1.98 (December, 2009) to 2.02 (December, 2015) are affected.

  So how do you know if your system is vulnerable? The researchers explain:

  To quickly check if your system is vulnerable, when the Grub ask you the username, press the Backspace 28 times. If your machine reboots or you get a rescue shell then your Grub is affected.

  They warn that systems that are vulnerable to the problem could be exploited by an attacker to gain full access to the grub console. Attackers could install unauthorized software or rootkits, and copy or delete data. Full details of the 0-day can be found on Hector Marco's website.

  If you need to grab yourself the patch, head over to the Grub2 git repository right now.

  Photo credit: Matushchak Anton / Shutterstock

  
• 

  More 4K content on the way to your TV very soon

  Publié: décembre 19, 2015, 11:22pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  2016 is shaping up to be the year of 4K. Some is already available and much more is on the way, and there is a growing number of TVs that can handle it. For those purchasing a new set in the near future it is a prudent move to future-proof and be ready for what is coming.

  Now UltraFlix is announcing its plans to provide a lot more content in the way of movies, TV shows and concerts, all using this new technology. The company boasts more than 1,000 Hollywood pictures as well as IMAX documentaries.

  There is the obvious catch -- you have to have the capability to watch at this resolution. TVs from Samsung, Vizio and Sony will all work. Users can also utilize the new Roku 4 set-top box.

  "4K TVs are slated to be one of the hottest consumer electronics purchases this holiday season", says Aaron Taylor, NanoTech's Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. "As a special thanks to all the 4K TV early adopters, we’re providing them an economical opportunity to fill their UltraFlix stockings with a vast selection of stunning 4K content at a fraction of typical rental fees".

  Of course this isn't free -- customers can pick up ten movie rentals for $24.99 or 25 rentals for $49.99, with the latter being the better deal in the long run. You'll also get some free content in this deal.

  
• 

  Stop doing quizzes on Facebook if you place any value on your privacy

  Publié: décembre 19, 2015, 9:21pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  You might think that talking about Facebook and privacy in the same breath is a little odd. The two just don’t go hand in hand, surely? Trying to use Facebook whilst maintaining your privacy is an exercise in futility, right? Well, yes, it’s certainly true that hitting a social network is not the thing to do if you want to fly under the radar, but many people do not realize just how easy it is to unwittingly hand over reams of personal information to companies and persons unknown.

  While a majority of users are aware that anything they post -- essentially -- becomes Facebook's property, and can be exploited in a variety of ways. Anything shared to the social network can be used to dig up an ever-more accurate picture of who you are, where you are, what you do, what you like, and who you know. Quizzes, personality tests, friend comparisons, and year in review apps, however, are blackholes for personal data -- and the huge range of apps from Meaww have been singled out as being a major cause for concern.

  Take a look at the Meaww website, and you'll find a range of familiar sounding quizzes, all of which have a social element to them. "Which friend is your total opposite?", "Who is your gossip partner?", and "Which friend could be the peanut-butter to your jelly?" -- who could resist discovering the answers to such important questions?! Of course, Meaww can’t just guess what it needs to know about you, you have to hand it over.

  A disclaimer at the bottom of the page proclaims: "All content is provided for fun and entertainment purposes only". Fair enough, you might think, but that's far from being the end of the story. If we’re being picky -- or accurate, as I like to put it -- it's also not true. It's not just about fun and entertainment. There is some entertainment to be drawn from learning which of your Facebook friends is willing to take a bullet for you, sure, but let's be honest about the purpose of these apps.

  Meaww is not acting out of the goodness of its heart in providing entertaining tools free of charge. The company directly and indirectly benefits from everyone who pumps their personal details -- and those of their friends and family -- into them. History has already showed us that social network users are rubbish at locking down their settings, and checking what is going on in the background. This is something that Meaww takes full advantage of, requesting access to Facebook users' email address, photos, timeline posts, friends and more, in the full knowledge that the lure of a silly app that pumps out nonsense will be enough to persuade people to just click through without giving a thought to what granting such permission actually means.

  So what does it mean? It means that any information provided about you and your friends can be collected and sold onto advertisers. There is simply no way to know where it ends up and what, ultimately, it will end up being used for. Meaww could sell the data to an advertiser -- or, more likely, multiple advertisers -- who could in turn sell it on to another company. The more levels of on-selling that are introduced, the less integrity there is. It's almost like a money laundering process. Filter data through enough companies, and there is no way of knowing where it came from, but this does not in any way reduce its value.

  Meaww's privacy policy admits as much:

  Please be aware that this Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of entities Meaww does not own or control, or to individuals whom Meaww does not employ or manage, including any third parties to whom Meaww may disclose Personal Information (as defined below) pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.

  There is also the admission that:

  Meaww processes Personal Information on its servers in many countries around the world. Such information may be stored on any of our servers, at any location.

  With differing levels of security and privacy to be found around the world, this also represents a cause for concern. Meaww gives the impression of being open in its privacy policy, but it's little more than lipservice.

  Except as described hereunder, We do not share your Personal Information with third parties unless We have received your permission to do so, or given you notice thereof (such as by telling you about it in this Privacy Policy), or removed your name and any other personally identifying information from it.

  The company washes its hands of any responsibility for how personal data is handled. Anything could happen... it's all out of Meaww's control.

  We are not responsible for the practices employed by any websites or services linked to or from Meaww, including the information or content contained within them. Please be aware that if you choose to use a link to go from Meaww to any third party's website or service, such third party's own rules and privacy policy (and not our Privacy Policy) will apply and govern your activities and any information you disclose while interacting with such third parties.

  In many regards, highlighting the privacy concerns associated with Facebook can be seen either as stating the obvious, or preaching to the converted. But adopting that attitude assumes a level of privacy knowledge that many web users simply don’t have.

  If you want to make a resolution for 2016 consider making it your mission to educate friends and family about the importance of keeping private data private -- and also that it is possible to compromise other people's privacy.

  Photo credit: Di Studio / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Rdio shuts down December 22nd, provides a way to save your music

  Publié: décembre 19, 2015, 6:28pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Recently streaming music service Rdio was purchased by Pandora which plans to merge it into its own offering. That process is about to become complete in the next few days, but there is good news for Rdio users, or at least as much as they can expect.

  The streaming service will cease operations on December 22nd. The good news, if there is any in this, is that users will be able to save their music.

  "We know you want to find a home for the music you’ve discovered and collected on Rdio, so we’re providing ways for you to take it with you. We've created a farewell site, allowing you to download a list of your Rdio favorites and playlists in various formats so you can import them into other services", the service claims. The site will also let you take a look back at your history with the service.

  The downloading of your music can be done in multiple formats and customers can then import into another service.

  You'll need to take care of your music collection before the shutdown date. There is also the expected thanking of customers as well as a cryptic "goodbye....for now".

  Photo Credit: Poprotskiy Alexey/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Outlook online to get a better address book and flight confirmations

  Publié: décembre 19, 2015, 1:18pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Outlook has been a popular desktop app for what seems like ages and now it's online aiming to compete with services like Gmail and Yahoo. In order to differentiate itself from rivals Microsoft needs extras that attract customers to its offering.

  Now the company is announcing a couple of updates including improvements to the address book and flight notifications for busy travelers.

  As for the address book improvements, Outlook will now make suggestions based on your contacts and it learns who you send messages to the most. You can place your cursor in the 'to' or 'cc' fields and you'll receive a dropdown list. It also aims to help you when you misspell a name, for instance Kathryn or Catherine.

  The service also points out that "Now, Outlook has help for that too. If you frequently send emails to the same set of people -- say, Steve, Anna and Bob -- then whenever you email only Steve and Anna together, we’ll ask, 'Do you also want to include Bob?' This prompt will not get in your way and will only show when Outlook is highly confident you want to add Bob.

  Finally, there is flight notifications. When an email is received confirming flight information, and providing it arrives from a valid source of such content, it will automatically be added to your calendar. This will block out the time and show information that includes time, airline, flight number and airport.

  So what do you think of these updates? If you're using a different service is it compelling enough to make you switch?

  
• 

  Enterprise mobility will be the main IT focus in 2016

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 10:20pm CET par Alasdair Gilchrist

  

  According to a new report from Harris Poll announced this week, enterprise mobility will top IT investments in 2016. The survey reveals that more than 90 percent of IT Decision Makers (ITDMs) see enterprise mobility as the critical function for customer engagement, competitiveness and operational productivity in 2016.

  Additionally, nearly three in four (73 percent) respondents indicate that they intend to mobilize their whole organization.

  The online survey, which fielded 306 ITDMs to understand the technology outlook for 2016, defined enterprise mobility as business applications and data that are seamlessly accessible anywhere regardless of location on desktops or mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and wearables. The survey revealed that 87 percent of ITDM respondents’ reported enterprise mobility as critical to their company’s profitability.

  Matt Calkins, president and CEO of Appian said, "Companies are shifting their focus from mobile applications to full enterprise mobility. IT professionals understand that a strategic focus on mobile apps will fail to deliver the full digital transformation that must occur within the enterprise".

  The key industries most likely to adopt enterprise mobility in 2016 were found to be telecommunications (40 percent), financial services (36 percent), manufacturing (34 percent), energy and utilities (32 percent), healthcare / pharmaceutical (32 percent), transportation (32 percent) and retail (31 percent).

  In addition to the overall findings, an overwhelming majority (92 percent) of respondents agree that new approaches are required to mobilizing an entire enterprise, with approximately 85 percent agreeing that custom software applications are key drivers.

  Moreover, the top drivers for custom applications are: efficiency (56 percent), security (53 percent) and speed (48 percent); about four in ten respondents also reported operational productivity and customer engagement (37 percent) as their top drivers.

  However, there were also concerns with nearly all ITDMs (95 percent) citing obstacles and technical challenges for achieving full enterprise mobility in 2016. Of those, 64 percent cited agility, speed and security as the major concerns.

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

  Image Credit: Syda Productions / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Critical patches issued after spying backdoors found built into Juniper firewalls

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 10:05pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Networking manufacturer Juniper has discovered backdoors built into its firewalls. The company says that a number of its devices running the ScreenOS operating system include serious vulnerabilities that could be used to take remote control of networked devices, or to decrypt VPN traffic.

  The company says that the security issues were unearthed during an internal code review and has issued an out-of-cycle fix to address the vulnerabilities. Network admins are advised to treat the threats seriously, and to make use of the available patches immediately.

  The first vulnerability (CVE-2015-7755) enables attackers to use SSH or telnet to log into a system without authorization. Juniper warns that this could lead to a "complete compromise of the affected system". There is a further warning that it would be possible for an attacker to cover his tracks so the victim would have no idea of what had happened: "There is no way to detect that this vulnerability was exploited".

  The second issue (CVE-2015-7756) could allow a skilled attacker to intercept and decrypt VPN traffic, but Juniper says that there is no indication that there have been any successful exploits. In a security advisory notice, the company says:

  During a recent internal code review, Juniper discovered unauthorized code in ScreenOS that could allow a knowledgeable attacker to gain administrative access to NetScreen devices and to decrypt VPN connections. Once we identified these vulnerabilities, we launched an investigation into the matter, and worked to develop and issue patched releases for the latest versions of ScreenOS.

  At this time, we have not received any reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited; however, we strongly recommend that customers update their systems and apply the patched releases with the highest priority.

  If you're using a NetScreen device with ScreenOS 6.2.0r15 through 6.2.0r18 and 6.3.0r12 through 6.3.0r20, you need to install the new updates as soon as possible.

  Photo credit: Imilian / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Holiday 2015 Gift Guide: Stocking stuffers

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 9:35pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  Here we are, days before Christmas, and you're thinking about last-minute stocking stuffers. I've got an eclectic selection of things I would want to get or give for December 25th. Some of them will demand rushing online to take advantage of last-minute shipping offers. Others require no shipping at all, like music subscription services. Confession: Some items will require a larger stocking but no wrapping.

  I present the list alphabetically, and in no order of preference.

  Apple Music or Google Music—family edition. Both subscriptions cost $9.99 per month for individuals or $14.99 for families. Apple lets six accounts share, while Google only five. Apps are available for Android and iOS, and Big G lets you also stream from the browser. The fruity service presents music better, and its curated playlists are exceptional. But the search giant includes YouTube Red for free, letting all the family watch videos commercial-free.

  Chromecast Audio and Chromecast (2015). Your smartphone is the remote for watching streamed content or listening to wireless audio. Chromecast Audio is new this year and effectively gives you wireless control over your wired speaker. Buy two and sync speakers in different rooms, playing the same tunes among them. Chromecast, now in its second generation, lets you stream content from PCs or phones. Google Store sells each device for $35, with free, overnight-shipping.

  GoPro Hero4 Session may be the stocking stuffer of the season, following an unexpected, early December $100 price drop. The diminutive action video cam shoots up to 1440p and is water-proof. The direct price is $199.99, which includes 2-day shipping and gift bag. But Amazon bundles up 32GB memory card and head-mount strap for the same price.

  iRig Mic and Mic Lav are designed for use with mobile phones or tablets and can be used for anything from karaoke to professional recording. iRig Mic is a traditional style microphone, while iRig Mic Lav is a small clip-on. Manufacturer-direct prices are $59.99 and $49.99, respectively, and a two-pack of the smaller device sells for $79.99. Both are available for less from Amazon, and Prime members can get them before Christmas. IK Multimedia offers a wide range of other audio products worth exploring for the would-be musician or podcaster on your Christmas list.

  Kindle Fire TV Stick offers similar benefits to Chromecast but taps into the Amazon ecosystem and provides a real remote. The retailer just started adding broadcast and cable networks to its video service, like NBC, Showtime, and Starz (additional fees may apply). The streaming stick is ideal for the cord-cutter who also is an Amazon Prime subscriber; for no additional cost, he or she can watch thousands of movies, TV shows, and original productions—like "Mozart in the Jungle" or "The Man from the High Tower".

  Kindle Unlimited is the bargain gift for the reader on your gift list. Amazon gives access to millions of books, many in audio, too—$119.88 for twelve months. The Kindle Reader app is available for most major desktop and mobile platforms, or from a web browser. Readers rejoice!

  Lomography Camera. Digicams are so popular now, they're passe. Film shooting requires more finesse, and it's increasingly an artform that could be ideal for the independent, creative mind on your gift list. Lomography sells a variety of cool and classy film cameras, lens, or kits. Among the many choices: Limited Winter edition Diana F + Cortina ($99) and the Lomo'Instant (from $119). Amazon and Urban Outfitters also carry cams from Lomography.

  Master & Dynamic ME05 is my current pick for audiophile earphones selling under $200 (they're $199). Made from solid brass, they look as good as they sound. You get Neodymium drivers and 16 ohm impedance. But uh-oh, to use the cable's mic and remote you will need an iOS device. Sorry, Android users.Two-day shipping is free from the manufacturer, which will be tight for Christmas. Hurry! They're out of stock at Amazon.

  Smartwatch. For the tech geek who wants everything newfangled, high-tech wristwear is the thing, if your budget allows and you don't mind putting pricey gifts in the stocking. Best Buy sells Apple Watch and the cheaper Sport variant for $100 off—that's $449 and $249, respectively, and up depending on band choice. The wearable will compliment your Christmas buddy's iOS device.

  Android users will want Wear devices, and Google Store will ship them overnight for free. I have used Huawei Watch ($399), LG Watch Urbane ($349), and Moto 360 ($299.99). But there are plenty of other makers and styles to choose from, Fossil Q ($275) among them. You can't go wrong with most any one. My listed prices, are starting from Google Store; they go up depending on wristband choice, and you may find bargains elsewhere but not necessarily free, overnight shipping in time for Christmas..

  Tidal is the music streaming service I use, and it ain't cheap—$19.99 monthly for the HiFi subscription, which serves up music in CD-quality, using the 1411kbps Free Lossless Audio Codec. For the music connoisseur on your list, Tidal will lavish their ears with fine fidelity across genres. A six-month prepay plan costs $101.94, which saves $3 per month. The service is available from Android and iOS apps or from a web browser.

  That's a wrap, for now. I may add a few additional items over the weekend.

  Photo Credit: Shuterstock/MorganStudio

  
• 

  SmartThings adds 8 new products to beef up your connected home

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 8:30pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  The connected home, or The Internet of Things, as it's frequently called, is a growing market. New products seemingly come along on an almost daily basis and new businesses spring up around it. We recently told you about Mivetek, but it's far from the only player on the field in this game.

  SmartThings, the home automation solution from Samsung, is announcing a new line of products that are compatible with its hub. Four are lights, three are locks, and one aims to help you with your gardening.

  Included is Osram Lightify, which is a tunable recessed light that allows the customer to switch the glow. Temperatures range from 2,700 to 6,500 Kelvin. Also in the mix is the Osram Lightify flood light, which is less controllable, as well as the company's smart connected bulb which is dimmable.

  In the way of locks there are offerings from Sengled, allowing customers to lock and unlock doors remotely from any smartphone or tablet.

  Finally there is PlantLink Soil Moisture Sensor that allows the user to monitor conditions. "By combining PlantLink’s Soil Moisture Sensors (“Links”) with the SmartThings app, PlantLink lets you know when your plants need water. Simply place Links in soil indoors or outdoors, and the system will calibrate to the plant’s watering needs using PlantLink’s catalog of over 50,000 plants", the company says.

  All of these products will begin working with your hub, either now or very soon.

  
• 

  Microsoft will offer custom Windows 10 to the Chinese government

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 7:12pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Microsoft has signed an important deal with the Chinese government, one which will see the American company deploy its latest operating system directly to the government agencies.

  The Verge has reported how the Redmond-based software company will deploy a customized version of Windows 10 to the Chinese government through a newly-formed company called C&M Technologies.

  The company is still subject to regulatory approval.

  Microsoft said the joint venture will license, deploy, manage and optimize a custom version of the operating system for government agencies. In addition to government agencies, it will serve "state-owned enterprises in key infrastructure fields such as energy, telecommunications, and transportation".

  All the necessary support, patches and updates will be handled by C&M Technologies, as the exclusive licensor of the custom Windows 10. It will also take feedback on exactly what future versions of the operating system will need. Microsoft, on the other hand, gets an important foothold in one of the biggest markets in the world. Prior to the agreement, Microsoft has already made deals with other Chinese companies such as Lenovo, Tencent and Xiaomi.

  "We will maintain ownership of the core Windows 10 technology while working, as we’ve always done, to allow customers and partners to build components that plug into our platform", Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi wrote in a blog post announcing the deal. "We’ll continue to keep Windows 10 secure and sustain our strong privacy standards, while recognizing that public sector solutions may differ from technology offered to private sector enterprises and consumers around the world".

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

  Photo credit: rvlsoft / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft 'Hello Cloud Challenge' gives students chance to win $1,000 over Christmas vacation

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 7:09pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  High school can stink; it is no secret. Besides the arguably boring classes, isolating cliques, and mentally deranged bullies, getting up early in the morning as a teen is such a drag. Of course, getting an education is wonderful; it's just too bad that it can't be more exciting, and without the aforementioned baggage. Don't worry, things should get better at college.

  Luckily, Christmas vacation is approaching, meaning students can get a break from school for a bit. This means sleeping in late, playing video games and hanging out with friends. But what if you could win $1,000 too? Well, thanks to Microsoft, you have the chance to do just that!

  "Cloud computing is changing the technology industry. When you start looking for your first job, will you have the cloud on your résumé? You will if you compete in our new Hello Cloud Challenge! With Microsoft Azure, students can get a free subscription with no credit card required and start creating web apps, running databases, and much more", says Lee Stott, Technical Evangelist, Microsoft.

  Stott further says, "every month, one student will win our $1,000 sweepstakes. To compete, you just complete one or more of our Hello Cloud activities. Each activity you complete gives you another chance to win. And you only have to do each activity once -- your name will still be in the sweepstakes month after month".

  Microsoft shares the three required activities below.

  • Deploy a web app
  • Deploy a wordpress site
  • Deploy your resume

  In order to be eligible, you must be at least 16 years old. Apparently, there is no maximum age, nor is there any validation that you are a student at a registered school or university. With that said, anybody can be a learner, despite age or school registration, right? I was able to register by entering "Self-learner" in the school field.

  While the contest is not limited to the Christmas break, Microsoft is wisely recognizing that many students will have some free time to participate and is promoting it as such. Either way, who doesn't want the chance to earn $1,000?

  If you are ready to register, you can do so here.

  
• 

  IT pros want more storage to keep up with the times

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 6:17pm CET par Alasdair Gilchrist

  

  A survey commissioned by X-IO Technologies reveals that almost half of IT professionals (48 percent) do not believe their current storage array would work with the next generation of storage media

  Furthermore, more than a half (57 percent) of IT professionals expect that their budgets are going to shrink or at the very least stay the same in 2016. This may indicate that any further changes to their storage requirements, especially in the wake of the IOT hype and big data explosion might not find a budget.

  The survey, carried out by X-IO Technologies in October 2015, asked 300 IT professional respondents about their current and future storage requirements.

  "The survey reveals the confusion that businesses are experiencing over the ever-changing storage market", said Gavin McLaughlin VP at X-IO Technologies, "What is clear, is that companies do not have the budget to keep changing their storage arrays in an attempt to second guess the market. We’ve deliberately engineered all of our products to give companies flexibility in both media choice and implementation (SAN or SDS) methodologies. It’s also important to us to let our customers change their minds later down the line".

  This lack of priority to company storage budgets leaves businesses with severe storage challenges -- especially now with Big Data and the IoT having such prime importance -- such as consistent write I.O performance, moving data to the cloud and choosing between SAN and software-defined.

  Other key findings include that 43 percent of IT users need improved storage performance in 2016, 39 percent want to increase storage capacity in 2016 and 48 percent of respondents agreed that the storage they invested in 5 years ago, was barely fit for purpose now.

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

  Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google dedicates $1 million to independent research for Drive security

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 4:18pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Google is placing an increased importance on security in 2016. The company has set aside $1 million to fund independent research into the security of its Drive cloud storage service, and will continue to offer a bug bounty program.

  Acknowledging that "keeping files safe in Google Drive is super important", Google says that next year it will make the money available to independent security researchers. The money comes in addition to the funds that are used to employ hundreds of security experts at the company, with independence bringing an extra level of scrutiny.

  Jumping on the holiday season bandwagon, Google uses the near-certain arrival of countless new devices in the coming week to promote the value of Drive, pointing out that it "can help you easily move your files and keep them all safe going forward". But of course, people want to be sure that the service they use to house files -- however temporarily it may be -- is completely safe.

  Writing on the Google Drive blog, Product Manager Kevin Nelson says:

  Our research grant program is one way independent security researchers contribute to Google’s data security. We're grateful for their efforts to keep Google Drive safe, so next year we’re dedicating $1,000,000 to fund even more grants for independent security research. Separately, we’ll continue to offer up to $20,000 to anyone who finds and reports a qualifying issue. The end result of these ongoing efforts is a product that -- unlike your garden-variety hard drive -- actually gets better over time.

  Photo credit: NIRUT RUPKHAM / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft delays Windows 10 Mobile rollout

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 3:39pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Microsoft announced in early October that the Windows 10 Mobile rollout for existing Windows Phone 8.1 devices would kick off in December. But, with less than two weeks to go before the end of the year, the software giant now says that the much-awaited software upgrades will not be available until later than expected.

  Microsoft expects Windows 10 Mobile software upgrades to be made available starting "early next year" for "select existing Windows 8 and 8.1 phones". That is, assuming everything goes according to plan.

  Microsoft has not said why it has delayed the Windows 10 Mobile rollout, but it is likely that this is due to bugs in the smartphone operating system, which also plague Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL devices. The two flagships were supposed to get an update to fix various issues, but Microsoft pulled it shortly after releasing it because, well, it was buggy too. A version of that update that actually works well is now available, however.

  Microsoft could have probably released the software updates on time in a different time of the year, but, as we all know, late-December is not when productivity in the office is at its peak. The software giant has said that it will not release any new builds for those enrolled in the Windows Insider program until 2016, so that too plays a part in this.

  Impatient users who do not want to wait for the official updates to be made available can install preview builds of Windows 10 Mobile by enrolling in the aforementioned testing program. Opting for the Slow Ring will give more stable builds, which will be better suited for devices used as daily drivers.

  As far as which Windows Phone 8.1 devices will get Windows 10 Mobile first, among them are newer smartphones like Lumia 950, Lumia 640 XL and Lumia 535. You can see the complete list here.

  Photo Credit: NinaMalyna/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Keep your mobile photos safe from snoopers with ToolWiz Photos

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 2:16pm CET par Mike Williams

  The top quality cameras on modern smartphones make it easy to record just about every detail of your life, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing.

  But while that’s great in theory, it can lead to problems if someone else accesses your phone and sees something you weren’t expecting to share.

  ToolWiz Photos is a free Android app for organizing, editing, sharing and managing your photos, which also includes a Private Album feature to keep some images out of public view.

  Basic operations are much like similar apps. You’re able to view photos, move anything sensitive to the Private Album area, and protect it with a password.

  Just having this interface on your phone brings problems of its own. If someone else browses the app, finds a "Private Album" icon which prompts them for a password, then it’s probably going to make them even more suspicious than they were before.

  ToolWiz Photos’ solution is to support two private albums, each with their own password.

  The "real" album is used for your most personal photos, as before, but the "fake" album has some not-so-sensitive images. If you are quizzed about the contents of the Private Album, enter the password of the fake set and they’ll only see those pictures: everything else remains hidden.

  This won’t necessarily stop everyone. A determined attacker might not even ask you about the Private Album feature, and just try to guess your password instead.

  Fortunately ToolWiz Photos has that covered, too: if someone enters the wrong password three times then it takes a photo from the front camera and warns you of the snooper later.

  Although we’ve focused on the Private Album feature here, ToolWiz Photos does much more. You can browse, tag and search your images, apply filters and annotations, create photo collages, compress images, find duplicates, and share your favorites directly on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Give it a try.

  
• 

  Best Windows apps this week

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 2:07pm CET par Martin Brinkmann

  One-hundred and fifty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

  Several popular applications received updates this week including Netflix, TripAdvisor, AccuWeather and NPR One.

  Several great apps and games have been released this week. This includes the excellent World of Tanks Blitz game and the Pandora application.

  As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

  Discounts This Week

  Red Stripe Deals are back. Up to six applications and games are discounted and highlighted in Windows Store each week.

  The following is this week's selection:

  • Inventioneers, a physics-based creation and inventions game for $0.99
  • Sparkle 2, a Zuma-like arcade game for $2.49
  • Lightbot, introduce children to programming for $2.49
  • Tiny Firefighters, an interactive seek and find book for $0.99
  • Frederic: Resurrection of Music, a music game for $0.99
  • Shiny the Firefly, a great arcade game for $0.99

  App of the week

  World of Tanks Blitz

  

  World of Tanks Blitz is the little brother of the popular tank combat game World of Tanks. It shares many similarities with its bigger sibling: a massive arsenal of tanks to choose from, tank upgrades, different nations and fast team-based action.

  It is an action game at its core, a tank-shooter if you will. The Blitz signifies that as well, as you fight on smaller maps against up to seven enemy tanks.

  Tank selection is limited and the tech tree is smaller as well. That does not make it a bad or inferior game though, as it offers the advantage that you can jump into battles quickly and are done as quick most of the time as well.

  Graphics are well done, and while the free to play game offers the usual grind or pay mechanics to get better equipment, I never felt bored trying to gain enough experience and currency to buy the next upgrade to make my tank just a little bit better.

  There are only two objectives in a battle: either conquer a central location on the map by occupying it for a set amount of time, or defeat all enemy players by destroying their tanks.

  Other apps

  1-800-Flowers

  

  The application lets you send flowers, plants and gifts directly from within it without needing to visit the parent site. It may sync with your phone contacts automatically if you let it, and supports seamless checkouts to make things even easier.

  BB-8 App Enabled Droid

  

  The companion app for the BB-8 Astromech Droid from Star Wars provides you with options to control the droid.

  Use it to drive BB-8 actively, or send it on patrol which will have it move autonomously around instead.

  Last but not least, use it to create a holographic message.

  Garmin Connect Mobile

  

  Garmin Connect Mobile requires one of Garmin's fitness devices. It enables you to upload data from the device directly to Garmin Connect, send courses and workouts to the hardware, and let others follow your activities using the Live Track feature.

  Honor Quest

  

  Honor Quest is a real-time strategy game set in a Steampunk universe. It features tactical combat, different classes and heroes, magic and upgrades, among other things.

  You can play and chat with other players, defeat opponents in the arena for rewards, or fight powerful guild bosses by joining guilds and fighting alongside your mates.

  Maritime Kingdom

  

  Maritime Kingdom is yet another empire/city building game for the Windows platform.

  It is pirate themed, features beautiful graphics and all too familiar game play.

  If you like city building games, you will probably enjoy this one as well even though it does not introduce any new features to the genre.

  Pandora

  

  Pandora launched its app for desktop versions of Windows 10. It requires an account and works only if you connect from the US, Australia or New Zealand as it is not available in other countries.

  The app works for the most part like the Pandora web interface. Pick a genre, or enter a song / artist to have Pandora create a playlist for you based on the information you have provided.

  Sumon

  

  Sumon is a math puzzle game in which you need to connect numbers that are displayed on the board to create a target number displayed by the game.

  Numbers can be selected across the board as they don't need to be adjacent to each other for that.

  The game has a time limit, different levels, and three game modes. While that sounds like a lot, it is a casual game at its core.

  Notable updates

  AccuWeather -- Weather for Life has been redesigned. It features a new interface, location improvements, streamlined settings, Cortana integration and is universal as well now.

  American Express updated its app to make it universal.

  Aeries, a popular Twitter client, received a massive update this week. It features a redesigned interface, new Tweet Storm option, performance improvements and a lot more.

  The update for the DJ mixer app edjing introduces a new sound system, new interface, performance improvements across the board and a new mini player mode.

  Netflix updated its app this week. The update features a new user experience (new browsing, updated Details view) and made the app universal.

  The Pic Arts -- Photo Studio update introduces new effects such as Lens Blur and Invert, support for new languages, and the new Shape Crop tool.

  The audio app NPR One supports Cortana and offers an enhanced large screen experience now.

  TripAdvisor Hotels Flights Restaurants has been updated. It is a universal Windows 10 app now.

  
• 

  Could the Internet of Things spark a data security epidemic?

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 12:52pm CET par Pat Clawson

  

  Internet of Things this, Internet of Things that -- it’s all anyone can talk about these days. And rightfully so, when you consider the development and adoption of IoT products are driven by multiple factors, including an increase in broadband penetration worldwide, the development of wireless communication technologies, advances in 'smart' device capabilities and an increased demand for personalized, omnichannel customer experiences.

  But transitioning to an IoT-dominated world is a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you have businesses benefiting in many ways. For instance, connected devices allow them to better understand their customers’ needs and preferences by analyzing their behavioral patterns. For consumers, on the other hand, it’s all about personalization, personalization, personalization -- getting from point A to point B faster than ever before -- in a more relevant and personal way. Furthermore, most conversations around data protection solely focus on elaborate 'hacks', when in reality, the most immediate and grave security threats aren’t always sophisticated or complicated. It’s time that we flip the IoT conversation on its head to focus on the increasingly common data vulnerabilities and less complicated security threats -- of which, consumers are lacking awareness.

  The High Price of Being Connected
  

  The beauty of IoT-enabled products is connectivity: your watch connects to your phone, which connects to your car, which connects to your house, which connects to the grid, which connects to any number of vendors and suppliers. That means that each of these devices will be interacting with many other devices on a variety of networks. However, when one connects to another through insecure Internet connections, or doesn’t have systems in place to prevent outside hackers from breaking through and accessing data, your system could "inherit" any flaws on those devices you’ve connected to.

  Consider this analogy: You are out at a local shopping mall and connect to the building’s public Wi-Fi network on your mobile phone. If another individual’s device with an unknown security flaw also connects to that same Wi-Fi, data from your phone could be accessed and potentially stolen. And you could transmit information from your phone to your car, tablet, desktop computer or any other connected device. Understanding how devices are potentially interacting with other devices across all networks is crucial to keeping IoT systems secure.

  Opposite of Dum-Dums

  What separates smart systems from "dumb" systems? IoT-enabled devices collect huge amounts of personal information, which can be retained and used to extrapolate users’ behavioral patterns and preferences. By doing so, businesses can then use these insights to automate and improve the overall user experience. This information is extremely valuable for businesses and consumers alike.

  However, it’s important to think about what happens to that data after you are done using the devices. In addition to acquisition and implementation, be sure to consider end-of-use or end-of-life scenarios too. In these cases, there needs to be a core feature and functionality in smart refrigerators, smart thermostats, smart TVs and all other connected products that fully wipes all data clean and can then show verifiable proof that no residual data could ever be recovered.

  When Your Car Knows Too Much

  Many rental car agencies around the world today allow you to rent a car that can sync up to your personal data across all digital devices. This allows drivers to have the most advanced features and functions available to them -- Bluetooth, voice recognition, GPS, music apps -- you name it, they have it.

  Most of these features mean a more personalized, intuitive, efficient and enjoyable driving experience for consumers. Instead of having to switch between radio stations and hear those annoying commercials between songs, drivers can quickly and easily sync up their saved music playlists from apps like Spotify, Pandora and Rdio. They can also make phone calls to recent contacts from the car’s dashboard and use GPS directions to find the nearest bakery.

  But what happens when the next renter gets behind the wheel? Will the second driver, third driver, fourth driver -- all the way to the next thousandth driver and beyond -- have access to all of those previous drivers’ data? You can bet most people have and are already asking these questions. And I wouldn’t doubt that some businesses are also asking them. But, and this is how privacy and security concerns become a very real scenario, they’re only doing it after-the-fact once their products have already been built, tested, approved, marketed and launched in the market (and are firmly in the hands of users). Not nearly enough businesses have addressed this yet to the extent that it’s included as a very real and very critical component of their product development.

  Knowledge Is Power

  With Gartner predicting that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016 -- up 30 percent from 2015 -- we’re in somewhat of a precarious predicament. Clearly, IoT isn’t a far away reality; it’s already here. If consumers aren’t taught and informed up front about the different ways to manage and remove data completely at every stage of the data lifecycle (not just when they stop using their devices and gadgets), we could have a data privacy epidemic on our hands. Subsequently, businesses that fail to consider the entire lifecycle of data when developing IoT products will see lower adoption rates, lower sales and revenue and lower customer retention/loyalty.

  Photo credit: Blablo101/Shutterstock

  Pat Clawson was named Chief Executive Officer Blancco Technology Group in January 2015, bringing more than 20 years of experience in technology and IT security. Most recently, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lumension Security, Inc., where he successfully grew the business to strong revenue growth and profitability. In addition to successfully launching new technologies into the marketplace and guiding four businesses through acquisitions, Clawson has also established himself as an IT security pundit within the media. His insights have been featured in many of the world’s most influential news publications, including WSJ, CNN, CNET, Washington Post, USA Today, Forbes, CIO and Infosecurity Magazine, just to name a few.

  
• 

  HTML5 Video for Netflix comes to Firefox for Windows

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 12:15pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Yesterday we told you that Netflix for Windows 10 had received an update, but that's not all that's coming to Windows. Firefox also has plans to up the ante with HTML5 Video for Windows. This is the much-utilized format on the internet today.

  Netflix is announcing that Firefox now comes with the latest HTML5 premium video extensions, such as Media Source Extensions (MSE), which the streaming service utilizes in an effort to adapt its streaming to the bandwidth of each viewer, and Encrypted Media Extensions (EME), that allows for the viewing of encrypted content.

  The new video player will support Firefox users on Windows versions beginning with Vista and newer operating systems.

  Netflix says it worked with both Mozilla and Adobe in an effort to do this. "We were pleased to find through our joint field testing that Adobe Primetime's CDM, Mozilla’s <video> tag, and our player all work together seamlessly to provide a high quality viewing experience in Firefox. With the new Premium Video Extensions, Firefox users will no longer need to take an extra step of installing a plug-in to watch Netflix", the streaming service claims.

  Mozilla promises that it will bring this technology to other platforms such as Apple in 2016. It's using its open source CDM sandbox, which it claims will provide better security.

  
• 

  Survey reveals managers and developers split on real time data analysis

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 12:14pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  According to the results of a new survey, 84 percent of CIOs believe their organization can analyze data in real-time, however, only 42 percent of developers agree with that statement.

  This difference of opinion is one of the findings of the study by in-memory data platform specialist VoltDB. Where 91 percent of CIOs, IT managers and developers do agree is that real-time streaming data analysis can have a positive impact on their company's bottom line.

  Other findings are that 48 percent of developers believe the biggest obstacles to responding and acting in real time are budget and internal resource constraints, compared to only 18 percent of CIOs that feel the same way.

  Only 35 percent of respondents define real-time as actions occurring in less than a second or in milliseconds, compared to 32 percent of respondents that define it in minutes or lack a real-time standard altogether. In addition 56 percent of respondents believe real-time streaming data applications have different requirements from big data applications.

  "While there's increasing recognition that competitive advantage depends on how quickly you can use data to make your business smarter, more engaging, responsive and interactive, there's a gap in understanding how to effectively deploy the solutions that will have the most impact," says Peter Vescuso, vice president of marketing at VoltDB. "With the industry’s only purpose-built architecture for fast data, VoltDB powers mission-critical applications with new levels of features, functionality and performance, helping customers realize more value from the enormous amounts of live data entering their organizations".

  More information on the results is available on the VoltDB blog and there's a summary of the findings in infographic form below.

  

  Image Credit: watcharakun /Shutterstock

  
• 

  BlackBerry's privacy stance is yet another reason to avoid the company

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 12:09pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  We are living in a post NSA-world (and I am a post-NSA girl...) and privacy is in the public consciousness more than ever before. After the government surveillance revelations that came courtesy of Eddy Snowden, most tech companies have been trying to stress to customers and clients just how willing they are to stand up for privacy.

  But not BlackBerry. Company CEO John Chen has used a blog post to lash out at his contemporaries for supporting strong encryption. He makes a thinly-veiled reference to Apple, accusing that an unwillingness to comply with law enforcement requests put us all in a "dark place". Chen says that "our privacy commitment does not extend to criminals", seemingly failing to recognize that privacy is very much an all-or-nothing concept.

  In his blog post, entitled The Encryption Debate: a Way Forward, says that the encryption/privacy debate is "acrimonious and polarizing". Apple has famously said that it will not implement backdoors for governments, nor hand over encryption keys, but Chen believes that BlackBerry is "proof that a proper balance can be struck".

  While asserting that the company not only opposes a ban on encryption, but also the idea of allowing governmental access to servers, Chen says that "lawful requests for investigative assistance" should be cooperated with. This is a worryingly simplified view of things. It’s very easy to stand up as a supporter of privacy, and great PR to want to assist with law enforcement. But the two frequently cannot go hand in hand.

  Chen says "reports that messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram have been employed by terrorists have brought the encryption debate to a head", bandying around that terrorism warning once again. OK, let’s run with that idea. Let’s imagine that these tools, or even FaceTime, Gmail -- or any other form of communication you might care to mention -- are being used by terrorists. How would you know? If user privacy is paramount, the providers of these services would have no idea of what users are talking about. If no backdoors have been implemented, how would the government or law enforcement agencies tap in to check for themselves? If encryption keys have not been handed over, how is anyone outside of the conversation able to see what’s being said?

  Whatever way you slice it -- and whether you like it or not -- privacy and law enforcement assistance simply do not go together. It’s one or the other. If chats, emails and the like are entirely private, there would be no way for authorities to have even the vaguest hint that 'terrorists' are discussing terrorism, and no idea that there is anything to investigate. You might say that the fight against terrorism justifies a weakening of privacy rights, but you’d be wrong. It would be an unworkable system. All it would achieve is killing privacy for the masses, and pushing dangerous elements further underground.

  All or nothing, it’s that simple. And for me, privacy is more important, regardless of whether you have anything to hide or not.

  Photo credit: Svetlana Dikhtyareva / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Security researcher finds 685TB of unprotected MongoDB data

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 11:24am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  There is roughly 685TB of private data from MongoDB instances sitting online, without any protection, researchers have uncovered.

  Following the recent discovery by security researcher Chris Vickery, who saw the data of more than 13 million MacKeeper users exposed, another researcher ventured even deeper and found even more unprotected data.

  A developer at online devices search engine Shodan, John Matherly, investigated the publicly accessible mongoDB databases in July and found 595.2TB of data there. After the MacKeeper discovery he ventured back, and saw that the database grew by another 90TB and that no security measures are in place.

  In his new investigation, which he describes on his blog, Matherly found that the number of publicly available, unauthenticated instances of MongoDB running on the internet had increased by 5,000. According to the blog post, these are hosted mostly on Amazon, Digital Ocean and Alibaba’s cloud computing service Aliyun.

  This is something of a surprise though, as new versions of NoSQL are secure by default -- which means users are changing the default setup to something less secure. They aren’t enabling firewalls for protection, either.

  "In the previous article it looked like the misconfiguration problem might solve itself due to the new defaults that MongoDB started shipping with; that doesn’t appear to be the case based on the new information. It could be that users are upgrading their instances but using their existing, insecure configuration files", said Matherly.

  "Finally, I can’t stress enough that this problem is not unique to MongoDB: Redis, CouchDB, Cassandra and Riak are equally impacted by these sorts of misconfigurations", he added.

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

  Photo credit: liuwenhua / Shutterstock

  
• 

  The $5 Raspberry Pi Zero is too damn expensive

  Publié: décembre 18, 2015, 2:58am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  When I found out that there was a $5 Raspberry Pi Zero being sold, I rushed to buy one. I did no research as to what it was, but for such a paltry amount of money, I couldn't resist. For whatever reason, I even bought a case for it, which is arguably silly -- why protect such an inexpensive piece of tech?

  When it finally arrived, I was impressed with the small size, but very disappointed overall. This may sound incredible, but the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero is just too damn expensive. Quite frankly, it is ridiculous that such a useless computer is being sold. Do you agree?

  Here's the deal folks; the Raspberry Pi Zero is useless without buying a ton of extras. Previous Raspberry Pi models have come with essentials, like an Ethernet port, full-size USB ports and a full-size HDMI port. The Zero has none of those things -- seriously.

  In order to add the same ports as the $35 Raspberry Pi 2, you will need to buy the following. I have added approximate pricing and links.

  • USB OTG Cable -- $4
  • 4 port Powered USB Hub -- $11
  • USB Ethernet Adapter  -- $10
  • mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter -- $2
  • 2x20-pin strip male header -- $1

  Total plus the $5 Pi Zero is $33. Yes, you are reading that correctly. The $5 computer, after buying essential accessories, is almost the same price as the Raspberry Pi 2. Plus, it is now a Frankenstein-like mess of wires and adapters. The $35 Raspberry Pi 2, with all of these things integrated, is clearly the smarter buy. Heck, you even get double the RAM and a more powerful processor!

  Sure, having a $5 computer looks impressive on paper, but as you can see, the devil is in the details -- it is a gimmick. Not to mention, many people are spending more than $5 on the Zero because it can sometimes be hard to find. Save your money and buy the Raspberry Pi 2. You will spend more upfront, but you will be much happier that you did.

  Do you agree that the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero is too damn expensive? Tell me in the comments.

  
• 

  Amazon Fire TV adds new channels including NBC

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 11:13pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Amazon continues to expand its footprint in the set-top box market, a place that has really become a three horse race. Both Amazon, Roku and Apple are all in it to win, but choice really comes down to the customer.

  Now the retailer is launching a bunch of new channels to satisfy customer viewing needs. And this update isn't just video, it's also games.

  New to the box are such channels as NBC, NBC Sports, Travel, Fox and many more. New games include Shovel Knight, Telltale’s Minecraft: Story Mode, Dark Echo, and Olli Olli 2.

  "We’re thrilled to bring these popular new channels, apps, and games to Fire TV customers", says Steve Rabuchin, Vice President of Amazon Appstore. "We are excited that Fire TV has become the #1 streaming media player in the US, and customers are loving their new Fire TV devices. Because of this positive customer response, developers continue to bring great apps to the platform, with app selection increasing by more than 1,000 channels, apps, and games since September".

  Right now, customers can grab the second-generation box on sale for $114.99, though it is regularly $139.99. That's a good deal, though it's a bit more than the original. The company clearly hopes you'll be placing it under the tree this season.

  Amazon's Henry Ahn calls it an "incredibly fast growing platform".

  
• 

  Fake reviews: why and how businesses can steer clear of fraudulent content and gain consumers' trust

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 9:05pm CET par Prelini Udayan-Chiechi

  

  With the growth of mobile usage reaching 1.5 billion of users globally, consumers today have easy access to content about a brand, its products and services, as well as tools to quickly create and share opinions as well as photos and videos, across a variety of social media channels. However, out of all this content, we have recently seen numerous instances of brands fighting fraudulent forms of it. Amazon, for example, announced its plans to sue 1,114 fake reviewers, claiming that the brand reputation is being damaged by "false, misleading and inauthentic" reviews paid for by sellers seeking to improve the appeal of their product. This is the second suit by the online retailer this year, clearly showing that the proliferation of fraudulent online reviews is becoming a critical issue for businesses to address.

  Yet consumers have not lost faith in online reviews -- in fact, a survey reveals online reviews impact 67.7 percent of respondents' purchasing decisions. More than half of the respondents (54.7 percent) also admitted that online reviews are fairly, very, or absolutely an important part of their decision-making process, showcasing how much consumers today value authentic peer to peer recommendations. Brands therefore need to take actions to ensure consumers can still rely on and have access to only authentic consumer-generated content (CGC), such as reviews.

  How to Ensure Authenticity of Consumer-Generated Content

  According to a Bazaarvoice survey, doubts persist regarding the integrity of review content, regardless of the type of website where it is displayed, with more than half of all respondents between the US and UK stating that they believe companies remove negative reviews. Furthermore, 48 percent and 50 percent of respondents in the US and UK respectively, expressed concerns that one or more of the reviews they read online is fake.
  

  There is a mix of practices that can affect the trustworthiness of reviews such as spam in many forms (i.e. automated submissions by bots, disruptive or trolling behavior, commercial messages, illegitimate or degrading content by a client’s competitor), dishonest behaviour such as filtering, editing, or deleting reviews because they are negative or are lower rated, just to mention a few. Companies sometimes directly solicit positive reviews, for example, they might be incentivized (via discounts or other means) or authored by an employee without proper disclosures.

  Manipulating reviews violates the most basic ethical practices a company can hold, as they can falsely affect consumers’ purchase decisions and damage the company’s reputation. Consumers have a fundamental right to trust the content they encounter, and moreover, businesses have a responsibility to ensure this content is legitimate.

  In research commissioned by Bazaarvoice, 84 percent of consumers stated that they would feel more trusting of reviews if they knew the reviews were screened for fraud, they were moderated, and displayed by a neutral, credible third party. 45 percent of respondents say they were more trusting of reviews that had passed through a technology filter and human analysis, but only 14 percent of respondents say a technology filter alone is sufficient.

  Displaying some sort of industry mark like a trust mark along with consumer reviews, is a step brands should consider to demonstrate their commitment to authentic consumer feedback. This will also help increase consumers’ trust towards reviews - in fact, 47 percent of respondents say they "would be more trusting of the reviews" if presented with a trust mark and an accompanying description of anti-fraud policies displayed when reading online reviews.

  Authentic customer feedback has huge potential to positively influence buying intent and audience’s opinion. Brands seeking to improve their reputation, while staying ahead of the curve in a competitive landscape, can no longer overlook the importance and impact of engaging in consumers’ conversations, whether positive or negative, being transparent in their communications, and leveraging authentic consumer feedback.

  Benefits of Leveraging Authentic Consumer-Generated Content

  Authentic CGC is a great opportunity for brands to build trust, and acquire more content that will lead to higher conversion rates and help create lasting, valuable relationships. The reality is that it’s no longer about traditional marketing results, such as conversions - people don’t want just a product or service, but are seeking an authentic experience.

  Authentic customer feedback is also a precious form of R&D for brands and retailers - insight from reviews can be invaluable: inform better business decisions, lead to innovation, and ameliorate the customer experience. In today’s omni-channel age, brands need to fully understand their consumer audience and the most appropriate platforms through which to engage with them; they need to go where conversations happen, with CGC being an evolution of these conversations.

  The influence of reviews on consumers’ purchasing behavior can no longer be ignored, and businesses need to take a lead in calling for transparency and commitment to deliver a positive shopping experience. Authenticity is fundamental to the value of these reviews, and companies must recognize that doing everything within their power to leverage only authentic content is in their self-interest, as it enables them to ultimately elevate their brand above the competition.

  Amazon’s intentions with this latest lawsuit are good and are a strong first step in changing consumer behavior. However, brands need to address the underlying issue that the system in place today allows for this type of fraudulent behavior. Brands need to work towards an environment where all stakeholders can trust the authenticity of online content. Lending from our mission statement, the way to affect the ecosystem is to challenge the online status quo by focusing on "one authentic conversation at a time".

  Photo: Elwynn/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft announces Windows 10 Mobile Preview Build 10586.36, the last Windows 10 Insider build of 2015

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 8:47pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  Microsoft pushed out a new Windows 10 Insider Preview PC build to the Fast ring yesterday, and today it follows that up with a new update for Windows 10 Mobile.

  Build 10586.36 is, as you can guess from the name, a cumulative update and will be released to Windows Insiders in both the Fast and Slow rings.

  According to Microsoft’s Gabe Aul:

  This build continues to address feedback we’ve received from Windows Insiders as well as customers using our brand new Windows 10 phones like the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. As with the previous release, this Cumulative Update continues to use the minor version for differentiating between each version.

  So in other words, fixes and tweaks are the order of the day.

  SEE ALSO: Microsoft pulls its latest buggy Windows 10 Mobile build [Updated]

  Cumulative updates like this won’t, in future, be accompanied by blog posts, rather the announcements will appear in the Insider Hub, and on Twitter.

  Aul also explains that there won’t be any new updates for Windows Insiders until the new year.

  This time of year many of us take the opportunity to spend time with family and take some vacation time, so the engineering team will be running at a slower pace and many of our key people who drive our flighting process will be out (including me ) This means we won’t be releasing any new builds to Windows Insiders until January, for both PC and mobile.

  
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  To truly innovate, Apple needs a lot more than a new COO

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 8:09pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  Back in April 2013, when Forbes ran a commentary asserting it was time for Tim Cook to go, I forcefully responded that "Apple needs a COO, not new CEO". The day has arrived, with the company announcing this morning that Jeff Williams fills the vacant chief operating officer position. Eh, that's not what I had in mind, and Apple investors should question the wisdom of the appointment, too.

  I mean no slight towards Mr. Williams, who looks more than adequately competent to handle the job. Like Cook, when COO, Williams is a manufacturing and logistics leader—excellent credentials to manage day-to-day operations over the world's wealthiest tech company as measured by market cap and quarterly net income. The problem: Cook and Williams are questionable pairing, because their backgrounds and skillsets are too much alike. You got an electron circling another electron in the atom's nucleus.

  I have repeatedly praised the Steve Jobs and Tim Cook partnership for how they complemented one another. Cook arguably is a logistics genius, and he can be credited for much of Apple's success over the past four years. He stepped into the chief executive's role when the company needed someone to manage the empire and expand its influence rather than develop newfangled things. Jobs brought vision, focus, and good taste. I often liken the two to James Kirk and Mr. Spock from Star Trek—Jobs and Cook, respectively.

  I see the Cook-Williams pairing more like two Vulcans running a company which appeal isn't intellectual but emotional. If Apple Watch, 12-inch MacBook, and iPad Pro are any indication, Cook can't cook in the design kitchen anywhere as tastefully as his predecessor. Three months ago, I asserted about the three products, and maintain the position today:

  Apple is now the middle-aged boys club; men of the same age designing products for rich, white, middle-age males. 'Products without purpose' I call new MacBook, Apple Watch, and iPad Pro. Where once Steve Jobs filled niches and created new categories, CEO Tim Cook and company create new Apple ware for which there is little to no need whatsoever.

  "Products without purpose" do have one purpose: Making more money from higher margins, something Cook manages to execute exceptionally well. Shareholders can rejoice at his success. Sorry, fanboys, he's no visionary leader—and Apple needs someone in that role more than a new COO, which, unfortunately Cook fills all too well.

  Apple's success is indisputable, and despite critics calling for imminent collapse none is likely coming in the foreseeable future. Cook runs a seeming perpetual money machine, which inertia is full-motion. "One more thing" is the missing element, however. Apple Watch, 12-inch MacBook, and iPad Pro are not the new innovations we waited for, and some of their features defy Jobs' vision. For example, Cook and Company can call the iPad Pro stylus the Apple Pencil, but it's still a stylus and Jobs argued against one; see his comments in 2007 and 2010.

  Logistically, building off existing platforms, primarily iOS, the newer crop of Apple products aren't likely to fail. But they aren't future innovation, and the high emotional quotient within them, that will open up new product categories. How funny that Amazon and Google innovate with voice interaction, while Apple obsesses over touch.

  Over the weekend, we set up Amazon Echo in the Wilcox living room, and it's the best new tech put there in a half-decade or more. Asking Alexa questions or giving her commands (like "play Christmas songs") is life-changing. Similarly, Google Now goes everywhere, and I don't mind talking to my phone in public places. Touchless interaction is the future of user interfaces; Apple advances some but pushes more to preserve the status quo, which is good for selling more devices.

  I congratulate Apple on finally filling the vacant COO's position, and with someone surely up to the task. That said, I find it highly illogical that two Vulcans can be the emotional consorts that Apple needs to wow new and existing customers.

  Photo Credit: BMCL/Shutterstock

  
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  Apple and IBM partnership reaches 100 enterprise apps milestone

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 7:50pm CET par Sam Pudwell

  

  Apple and IBM today announced that they have reached the 100-app milestone in their mobile partnership, covering 60 professional roles across 14 different industries including government, transportation, healthcare and telecommunications.

  Maribel Lopez, principal at Lopez Research said: "I think [Apple] brings the concept of simplicity (direct to task) and beauty to enterprise apps. IBM on the other hand understands business workflow, what generates productivity and back-end integration".

  "Partnerships like this help companies create apps that were better than their PC predecessors because they can use more functions of the device -- camera, voice, messaging, location -- and they can do it anywhere since it’s [portable]".

  Each app designed in this partnership is unique as development is undertaken in close collaboration with the people who will actually be using the app. Mobile development principles are applied after a specific problem and the nature of the workflow have been identified, with the ultimate goal being simplicity.

  Speaking to TechCrunch, Katharyn White, vice president of IBM and Apple Partnership for IBM Global Business Services, highlighted a desire to change the way people work: "My motivation is to change the lives of people at work. The sub-benefit is that we are also changing the way we sell and changing our company".

  Many of the apps work with back-end systems such as ERP and CRM, and IBM’s enterprise experience is vital in helping companies connect the apps to these systems. IBM also has plans to make use of its cognitive intelligence platform Watson, which could generate some exciting results.

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

  Photo Credit: Minerva Studio/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft opens developer-focused HoloLens experience at NYC flagship store

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 6:49pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Virtual reality is hardly new -- it has been around for many years. The sudden popularity, however, is due to lower prices and improved technology. Makeshift headsets like Google's Cardboard impressively leverage existing smartphones, but are limited by being nothing more than slabs strapped to the user's face.

  Microsoft's HoloLens is far more advanced as it blends reality with fantasy, for augmented reality, or AR. Yes, it is certainly more expensive, but as wise people say, "you get what you pay for" -- AR arguably has more potential than VR. More importantly, not only is the Windows-maker's solution designed for consumers, but for business and scientific purposes too. For example, NASA is embracing HoloLens. With that said, hardware is only as good as its software, so today, Microsoft announces the opening of a developer-focused HoloLens experience at its NYC flagship store. Will this encourage development?

  "Roadshow feedback and participation was positive across the board, so much so that we have a long list of developers still hoping to get hands-on time with the device, with hundreds waitlisted in the New York metropolitan area alone. It’s because of this overwhelming reception that we’re eager to open the first ongoing HoloLens experience showcase for developers at the Microsoft Flagship Store in New York", says Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow for new device categories in the Operating System Group, Microsoft.

  Kipman also says, "developers who have been wanting to try HoloLens will have the chance to experience the world’s first fully untethered holographic computer, powered by Windows 10, for themselves. The dedicated space at the new flagship store provides an opportunity for developers to experience HoloLens first hand and get started on creating HoloLens experiences. In New York, developers will get a taste of how HoloLens can enable new ways for people to communicate, create, work and play".

  Developers are the key to any platform's success, so this move by Microsoft is very wise. Unfortunately, keeping this HoloLens experience to a single city limits the number of developers that can actually try it. Yes, there are many bright people in New York and the surrounding areas, but development is a global-affair nowadays. Hopefully the company will bring it to more regions soon.

  Are you excited by the potential of HoloLens AR compared to other competitors' VR offerings? Tell me in the comments.

  
• 

  The Internet of Things is becoming part of consumer's daily lives

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 5:54pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  According to the latest Digital Trends Report from Adobe Digital Index (ADI) the Internet of Things is gaining a foothold in more and more people's lives.

  The report is based on 22 billion visits to branded websites and over 20 million social engagements across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other sites. Also included in the report is survey data based on 400 US consumers who own either a smartphone or tablet.

  The survey finds that 50 percent of respondents have interacted with home IoT devices, and that 15 percent own a smart device such as a thermostat, smart home system or smart smoke alarm. Social buzz indicates that ‘Google On Hub’ is the most popular IoT device.

  "Mobile, and specifically larger-screen smartphones, are enabling a lot of behaviors," says Joe Martin, senior analyst at ADI. "People are really happy with how they're working. It's definitely making things easier. It also leads to the kind of data-driven world we live in now. You can look up your Nest thermostat and see how it’s being used, and you adjust it with your mobile phone and collect data about how things are working within your home".

  Other findings are that browsing and searching are increasingly being done via personal assistant applications. Facebook M is expected to take the lead here, despite its limited beta, it's receiving four times more social buzz than any other digital assistant available today. Siri is currently ranked as the number one virtual assistant, but Facebook M is expected to overtake it once it’s broadly available.

  Despite the move to digital assistants, the browser wars go on and Microsoft Edge is expected to gain traction with tech enthusiasts. Although only 1.4 percent of browser visits currently come from Microsoft Edge, with Chrome and Safari dominating browser visits, positive social media buzz for Microsoft’s browsers has increased by 75 percent. Edge has the highest adoption rate and is expected to gain traction with tech enthusiasts, especially as businesses roll out Edge to employees.

  ADI also predicts that with nearly 40 percent of consumers likely to buy a smartwatch in the next six months, smartwatches are expected to overtake fitness trackers as the most common wearable technology. Social buzz indicates that the Apple Watch is the smartwatch most likely to be purchased.

  You can find out more about the report's findings on the Adobe blog.

  Photo credit: Odua Images / Shutterstock

  
• 

  AVG update to fix false Trojan warning

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 5:45pm CET par Claire Woffenden

  

  Anti-virus giant AVG sparked fear among internet users on Thursday after its popular security scanner falsely identified websites as infected with a malicious Trojan horse application.

  Visitors to popular websites, such as Mirror.co.uk and Twitch.tv, were greeted with a warning that AVG had detected a threat called "Trojan horse Exploit.SWF_c.AP", with the recommendation to remove it. Once removed, the warning pop-up window would reappear multiple times.

  The particular file that was being detected in this instance was an "SWF" file which is a very common Adobe Flash file often used widely to provide rich multimedia advertisements on websites.

  Malicious versions of these files have been implicated in serious attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in un-patched Adobe Flash software.

  Exploit SWF_c is a malicious application that allows hackers to remotely access your computer system and modify files, steal personal information and install more unwanted software.

  However, AVG has admitted that the warnings were 'false positives'. False positives, also known as false alarms, are when an anti-virus product makes a mistake, warning you of a threat when in fact one isn't present.

  With many millions of pieces of malware in existence, security experts say it is a challenge to ensure that all threats are detected by anti-virus software without panicking users by incorrectly detecting a threat when one isn't there.

  Tony Mays, Europan PR Director at AVG Technologies, said: "Our virus-lab confirms it’s a false positive and from the next update the detection should disappear. Our antivirus detection uses multiple technology layers to detect malware and, due to very subtle differences sometimes between legitimate and malicious files, that detection can occasionally identify clean files incorrectly. We always work towards eliminating incorrect (false positive) detections as much as possible, but we also like to err on the side of caution".

  Security expert Graham Cluley says: "False alarms in anti-virus programs are nothing new - products have even false alarmed in the past on regular Windows files. The problem is that the typical user cannot tell the difference between a genuine malware warning and a false alarm. They look identical. Sometimes running a different security program can help -- if it also detects a threat then the chance of the warning being legitimate increases, although it's also possible that the second program has also made a mistake.

  "The risk is that users will panic when they see the warning, and take action to try to 'remove' it. There certainly have been cases in the past where users have caused more problems because of an anti-virus program making a mistake. If there is any doubt in your mind, you should contact your security vendor and ask them to confirm whether an infection really is present".

  AVG said its customers are always welcome to submit files or web links they believe are being detected incorrectly at [avg.com].

  
• 

  Look out! 12 frankly fantastic FREE software giveaways this festive season!

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 5:40pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  Tis the season for giving, and we’ve been swept up in the holiday mood. This year, Downloadcrew Giveaway returns with a major bang, with no fewer than 12 (twelve) free software downloads for Windows users over the festive period!

  From next Monday (December 21) to New Year’s Eve (Thursday 31), we’ll be hosting one free giveaway a day on the special Downloadcrew Giveaway site -- make sure you bookmark it now!

  Part of the fun of Downloadcrew Giveaway is the surprise element, so we won’t be telling you exactly what software is going to be available, but we can tell you this: there will be a mixture of full-blown apps and system utilities, from office suites and powerful image editors to performance-enhancing and system protection tools. Each giveaway is fantastic value, and look out for big names like Serif, O&O and Xara.

  We’ll be kicking things off on Monday December 21st with the brilliant PowerArchiver 2015, possibly the world’s most comprehensive archiving and extraction tool for Windows users. If you’ve ever struggled to open an archive compressed using an obscure format, PowerArchiver will almost certainly give you access.

  As always, it’s important to read the small print. First, you’ll only be able to get your free code from the Download Giveaway website, so make sure you’ve bookmarked it.

  Second, each giveaway launches at 12pm Eastern Standard Time each day, which translates to 9AM Pacific Time, and 5pm GMT. There are a limited number of codes for each offer, so if they’re all claimed before the 24 hours are up, the giveaway will end early.

  Third, there is no free support on offer from either the software manufacturer or ourselves, sorry. Full instructions for claiming your code and the software will be provided with each giveaway.

  Finally, some giveaways are restricted to specific territories only. We’ll make that clear for each giveaway.

  Now you know how everything will work, join us on Monday for PowerArchiver 2015, the first of our fabulous 12 free software giveaways! And -- if you haven’t already done so -- don’t forget to bookmark the Downloadcrew Giveaway site!

  
• 

  Desktop and mobile habits of employees revealed

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 4:49pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Do you know how your employees are accessing content within your business? Enterprise file sharing specialist Egnyte has analyzed all of the unstructured data from its customers, no matter what device, storage, or apps they use, to discover the latest trends.

  Having looked at this data over the last 12 months, they uncovered some interesting facts about the diversity of employee interactions with their company content.

  Findings include that only 15 percent of users utilized both desktop and mobile apps to access content. This suggests that employees are highly specialized, using mobile or desktop according to their roles in the company. Workers in the field likely to only use apps on their mobile devices (24 percent), whereas office-based employees are likely to only use apps on desktop (61 percent).

  What is perhaps more surprising is that 63 percent of users utilized two or more operating systems (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.) when accessing content. This indicates a willingness and ability to work with a variety of tools and devices and that employees need to have choices for how they get their work done and what tools they can use.

  Google Chrome dominates the business sector with a whopping 60 percent of activities done via the browser. Internet Explorer trails at only 20 percent and Safari unloved at only five percent. However, 40 percent of employees actually use two or more browsers when accessing their content.

  You can find out more about the results on the Egnyte blog and there's a summary in infographic form below.

  

  Image Credit: Goodluz / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Slack announces App Directory store

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 4:35pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  The business communication tool Slack is trying to end the year on a high note, and looking at what the company announced yesterday, it seems to be on the right track.

  The team-communication app, which now has two million daily users and 570,000 paying customers has announced three things -- an app store which will offer other productivity tools (like Trello, for example) to integrate with Slack, an $80 million fund to help developers create more apps for the store, and a new framework called Botkit which should simplify the process of creating apps.

  The Slack App Directory, available on this link, currently offers 160 apps sorted into different lists: by category, popularity, staff favorites.

  "Installation is easy -- you’ll be using these new apps inside your Slack team after just a few clicks", the company said in a blog post announcing the novelties.

  The fund, aimed at motivating developers to take part, is backed by Slack and six of its investors: Accel, Andreessen-Horowitz, Index Ventures, KPCB, Spark, and Social+Capital.

  "If you’re a developer or small company deciding whether to make a bet on the Slack platform, the Slack Fund is a new source of support to help you get started building apps", Slack says.

  The Slack Fund will fund both "Slack-first" apps as well as B2B and enterprise tools that make Slack integrations a core part of their offering.

  Botkit, which was developed by Howdy, "greatly simplifies the creation of apps (especially bots) with a flexible codebase that handles things like authenticating apps to a team and the sending, receiving, and processing of messages with our API".

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

  
• 

  New survey reveals global Android usage trends

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 4:12pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Mobile marketing company Celltick has mined its user interaction data to produce an Android Usage Trends report revealing insights on how users around the world use their mobile phones.

  Among the key findings are that the vast majority of smartphones in Asia (71 percent) and the Middle East and Africa continue to be configured with English. Facebook might be ubiquitous, however, Facebook Messenger is only popular on low-end phones, amongst higher-end handsets, Skype is the most common application installed.

  Other interesting findings are that smartphone users in India interact with their phones more than twice as often as their European counterparts. Indian users unlock or glance at their phone up to 36 times an hour, compared to a peak of 16 times an hour in the US.

  New versions of Android often take time to expand in key mobile growth regions, with only six percent of users in South Asia currently deploying it. Brazilians spend almost three-quarters of their time on Wi-Fi networks, which is a reflection of their urban lifestyle. By contrast, the Japanese use cellular connections 65 percent of the time, thanks to cheap and fast cellular data network investments alongside slow Wi-Fi deployment.

  Interestingly Americans aren't as addicted to Wi-Fi as they appear, spending only 55 percent of their time using Wi-Fi and the rest on cellular networks.

  "Analyzing Celltick's rich behavioral data was a productive exercise, leading to some fascinating conclusions about how, and why, people are using Android smartphones today," says Ramgopal Vidyanand, VP Marketing and Business Development at Celltick. "With these insights, players across the mobile ecosystem will be better empowered to reach and engage mobile users more meaningfully, creating new revenue streams while helping to maximize existing ones".

  The full report is available to download from the Celltick website.

  Photo credit: Bloomua / Shutterstock

  
• 

  When will OneDrive for iOS, Windows 10 Mobile get offline storage support?

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 3:21pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Microsoft added support for offline storage in OneDrive for Android in September, announcing that it plans to also bring the feature to iOS and Windows smartphones later down the road. But, knowing that a few months have passed already, when exactly will this happen?

  Microsoft has provided an update, revealing that offline support in OneDrive will make its way to iOS before the end of December. As far as its own platform is concerned, offline support in OneDrive will only be offered on Windows 10 Mobile, but not anytime soon.

  Microsoft says that Windows 10 Mobile users will have to wait until the second quarter of 2016 for the feature's debut. The latest version of the smartphone operating system launched in November on new devices, but has yet to make its way to older handsets which are sporting Windows Phone 8.1. A new version of OneDrive was just released for Windows 10 Mobile.

  Explaining support for offline files back in September, Microsoft said: "With our new offline support, you can mark one or more files for offline access and then open those files when disconnected. This can be especially handy when you are about to board a flight (or working from anywhere with limited connectivity) and want to review some files. We’ve also made it easier to find your offline files, which can be accessed from a single view".

  You can grab OneDrive for iOS from Apple's App Store. The latest version of the app, which was launched on December 16, allows users to search for OneDrive contact from Spotlight on iOS 9, and also adds the ability to clear the account cache to increase available storage on the device.

  
• 

  Netflix updates its Windows 10 app with a new user experience

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 3:09pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Netflix remains near the top of the video streaming ecosystem and its original programming has begun to win some big awards. However, the goal with any company is to get its product to as many customers as possible and, more importantly, to hold onto them. To do so a service needs to be available in as many places as it can be.

  With this aim in mind, Netflix is updating its Windows 10 app for customers, bringing many changes to it. This includes an all-new Browse experience that provides better scrolling, both vertically for categories and horizontally for  items within each category.

  The Details has also been updated, providing better artwork and more information for both shows and movies, as well as suggestions for other things you may wish to watch.

  Netflix points out that "Our members on Windows run across many different screen sizes, resolutions and scaling factors. The new version of the application uses a responsive layout to optimize the size and placement of items based on the window size and scaling factor".

  This latest version of Netflix differs from past ones for both PC and phone as those ran on Silverlight, XAML and C#. Now the service is using the Universal Windows Platform for this implementation.

  
• 

  Most Android devices run an outdated OS version

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 2:43pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  More than 80 percent of Android devices are running an outdated version of the operating system. Those are the results of an inquiry among users of G DATA security solutions for Android.

  G DATA believes the lag in the adoption of new versions lies in the long delays before manufacturers roll out updates to their devices, as well as the fact that some devices simply don’t support the latest version of Android.

  The full report can be found on this link (PDF). It was done during the third quarter of 2015 and does not include Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

  Android Jelly Bean (4.1 - 4.3) is still the most popular version of Google’s operating system, with the market share of 36.93 percent. KitKat came in second, with 20.29 percent, while Ice Cream Sandwich has a 10.66 per cent market share.

  By the end of the third quarter of 2015, G DATA analysts had already counted more Android malware instances (1,575,644) than in the whole of 2014 (1,548,129). 574,706 different Android malware strains were found in the third quarter alone. This represents an increase of 50 percent compared to the same period last year.

  The report also says hackers are targeting Android on the IoT, as well as there are more smartphones with pre-installed malware.

  G DATA security experts expect to see an increase in complex malware that combines Windows and Android attack campaigns on online banking customers. The criminals’ aim is to manipulate banking transactions on the Internet.

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

  Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

  
• 

  Hacker group aims to take down Xbox Live and PlayStation Network for Christmas

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 1:12pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  There will no doubt be many new games and consoles under trees this holiday season. That means a lot people joining the online gaming community and trying to get started with their new toys. The networks need to be ready for the vast influx of users. Now a hacker group is vowing to prevent all of this.

  This isn't a new thing, as last Christmas Lizard Squad knocked both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network offline. This time around it's Phantom Group planning to do exactly the same thing. The group announced its intent on Twitter with such threats as "We are going to shut down Xbox live and PSN this year on Christmas. And we are going to keep them down for one-week straight #DramaAlert".

  Phantom Group recently claimed responsibility for taking Reddit offline. The service did confirm that its servers were down due to an enormous load, but it did not acknowledge a DDoS attack, nor did it say where the traffic came from.

  The group has already claimed responsibility for taking down Xbox Live earlier this month. A tweet stated "Xbox Live #Offline" on December 12, 2015. The hackers even posted a video to prove they had done it. You can watch that below.

  The question now is if Microsoft and Sony can beef up their services to fend off this threat. The hackers claim they will keep both networks down for as long as a week. We'll find out next week who wins this battle.

  Photo Credit: igor.stevanovic/Shutterstock

  
• 

  P2P file sharing and its impact on business

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 12:22pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  When you think of peer-to-peer file sharing you probably bring to mind services like Kazaa and Limewire that were among the early sites allowing users to share media, or of more recent operations like Pirate Bay.

  But while it's easy to think of P2P in terms of individuals downloading music or movies, a new report from security rating company BitSight reveals that it’s a problem for businesses too.

  BitSight looked at 30,700 organizations and observed file sharing activity in 23 percent of companies using the BitTorrent protocol. Much of this activity is likely against corporate policies -- although there are no published metrics on what percentage of companies prohibit P2P file sharing, many companies do have explicit rules against it.

  Among the findings are that 43 percent of application files and 39 percent of games files shared contained malicious software. Grand Theft Auto V and Adobe Photoshop lead the respective lists of top torrented games and applications, the top five in each category being:

  Top Torrented Games:
  1 Grand Theft Auto V
  2 The Sims 4
  3 Mortal Kombat X
  4 FIFA 15
  5 The Witcher 3

  Top Torrented Applications:
  1 Adobe Photoshop
  2 Microsoft Office
  3 Microsoft Windows 8.1
  4 Microsoft Windows 7
  5 Microsoft Windows 10

  The report also finds that there's a correlation between botnet activity and file sharing activity. And it reveals that more than a quarter of companies in the government, energy/utilities, and education industries have observed BitTorrent file sharing activity in the last six months.

  "While the sharing and downloading of copyrighted or pirated content and applications over peer-to-peer typically violates most corporate policies, the behavior continues to occur at a high rate. Movies and games often come to mind when organizations think about P2P file sharing; however, the majority of infected applications that we uncovered were either Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office or various versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system," says Stephen Boyer, co-founder and CTO of BitSight Technologies. "Our analysis found a high degree of correlation between organizations participating in P2P activity and system compromises via malware infections. The high malware infection rates suggest that organizations with file sharing activity are more susceptible to machine takeover. File sharing activity can serve as one of many key risk indicators and should be considered not only internally, but also when assessing vendor risk, conducting M&A due diligence, and underwriting cyber insurance".

  You can get more detail in a full copy of the report from the BitSight website.

  Photo credit: Imagentle / Shutterstock

  
• 

  ImBatch adds more 'image to PDF' power

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 12:19pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  High Motion Software has shipped ImBatch 4.5.0, the latest edition of its free-for-personal-use image batch processor.

  This release is mainly about the "Save to PDF" task, which now has more power than many specialist image-to-PDF tools.

  There’s new support for assigning tags to your destination PDF, including Author, Creator, Subject, Title, Producer and Keywords.

  If you don’t want to have to manually choose a paper size each time, no problem: select the new "AutoFit" and ImBatch automatically adjusts the size of each PDF page to match the image.

  Extended control over compression means you’re now able to set your preferred JPEG Quality setting, good news if you’re looking for the smallest possible PDFs.

  Experts will appreciate the ability to choose other compression types, including RLE, G4FAX and G4FAX2D.

  There are also the usual sprinkling of bug fixes and interface improvements. Our favorite: clicking the image name in the source list now opens an Explorer window at that location.

  ImBatch 4.5.0 is a solid update, and if you’re ever likely to need an "image to PDF" converter then it deserves a closer look.

  ImBatch 4.5.0 is a free-for-personal-use application for Windows XP and later.

  
• 

  The bible is dangerous for you and your phone

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 11:36am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  For the religiously-inclined the appeal of installing an electronic bible on a phone is (somewhat) understandable. But as well as providing a biblical fix when out and about, apps of a religious bent could also harbor a worrying payload.

  The Threat Insight team from Proofpoint looked at thousands of iOS and Android apps, and found that a disturbing percentage of seemingly innocent apps pose a threat to users. Apps were found to include secret tracking components, as well as data-stealing elements and the ability to make unauthorized calls. The figures make for frightening reading.

  The security team looked at a total of 38,000 apps in the App Store and Google Play, and found that 3.7 percent of 'Bible apps' featured malicious code. The problem of Trojan flashlight apps continues, and Threat Insight found that these apps were transmitting personal users data to hundreds of servers in dozens of countries.

  Kevin Epstein, VP of Threat Operations says

  When it comes to malicious apps, apparently nothing is sacred. The surprising prevalence of riskware in religious texts' apps provides further evidence that mobile users -- and their employers -- need to be far more security-conscious. The findings are also a valuable reminder of the importance of a mobile app security strategy for organizations. To protect employees and users from unscrupulous scammers and cybercriminals -- and against riskware and malicious apps in general -- organizations should define policies and deploy solutions that enable them to identify and control these apps before they can impact the organization's security posture.

  But these are certainly not the only targets for malware; gambling apps were also found to be dangerous. Threat Insight reports that almost 14 percent of such apps exhibited 'risky behavior'.

  Photo credit: Luis Molinero / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Box and Salesforce team up to improve cloud collaboration, productivity

  Publié: décembre 17, 2015, 10:16am CET par Barclay Ballard

  

  Salesforce and Box have announced a partnership that aims to enable closer business collaboration and greater productivity.

  The two companies have announced Salesforce Files Connect for Box to help businesses access files securely and Box SDK for Salesforce to assist the software development cycle.

  Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box, hopes that the two solutions will offer businesses a range of benefits.

  "Solutions from Box and Salesforce are helping enterprises move to the cloud, scale their business, and deepen their relationships with customers, partners and developers", he said. "We’re incredibly excited to expand into the next phase of innovation with Salesforce and deliver new tools that allow joint customers to leverage the content they work with on a regular basis in Box, directly from Salesforce".

  Salesforce Files Connect for Box enables Box users to search for and access files across any device without leaving the Salesforce platform. This allows the security and access permissions of the original file to be maintained, enabling business collaboration to take place without being hampered by security concerns.

  Box SDK for Salesforce, on the other hand, is a developer toolkit that allows software engineers to easily embed Box content management functionality. This could be used to access Box content for specialized industries, such as healthcare, using a custom app.

  While Box SDK for Salesforce is currently available free-of-charge on Github, Salesforce Files Connect for Box is not generally available until summer 2016. It is currently being trialled with select customers and pricing is yet to be announced.

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

  Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock

  
• 

  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

  
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  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

  
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  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

  
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  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

  
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  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

  
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  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.

  
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  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

  
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  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

  
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  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.

  
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  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

  
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  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.

  Image Credit: wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock

  
• 

  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.

  Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

  
• 

  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.

  Photo credit: iQoncept / Shutterstock

  
• 

  No, the UK government doesn't have Twitter accounts supporting ISIS

  Publié: décembre 15, 2015, 10:46pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  ISIS has been in the news for some time now, and events like the recent terror attacks in Paris keep pushing the group into the public consciousness. Governments may be waging war on ISIS on the ground, but on the web it is the likes of Anonymous and vigilante hackers who have taken it upon themselves to curtail terrorist propaganda.

  In the latest twist in the tail, hacker group VandaSec traced the IP addresses relating to some ISIS Twitter accounts to the UK government -- the Department of Work and Pensions specifically. Given that the accounts have been used not only to spread ISIS propaganda, but also to recruit members, does the UK government have a dirty little secret? As you might expect, it's not quite that simple.

  The story came about through UK newspaper, The Mirror. It reports that IP addresses used by what it describes as "digital jihadis" to access the Twitter account could be traced back to the DWP. Although the IP addresses appear to be located in Saudi Arabia, but further investigation made the link to the UK government department. But rather than revealing that there are undercover operatives working within the government, what the address trace actually reveals is that the UK has been selling IP addresses to Saudi Arabia.

  Two firms in the country have bought batches of IP addresses from the UK, with a large number having been transferred back in October. It is common practice for companies, as well as countries, to trade in IP addresses to raise funds, and it seems that this is exactly what has happened here. To help balance the books, the UK government offloaded a batch of IP addresses to a foreign nation (specifically Saudi Arabia's Mobile Telecommunications Company and Saudi Telecom).

  A government spokesperson said:

  The government owns millions of unused IP addresses which we are selling to get a good return for hardworking taxpayers. We have sold a number of these addresses to telecoms companies both in the UK and internationally to allow their customers to connect to the internet. We think carefully about which companies we sell addresses to, but how their customers use this internet connection is beyond our control.

  Photo credit: GongTo / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google expands Android Pay with more stores and countries

  Publié: décembre 15, 2015, 7:38pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Google launched Android Pay to compete in an increasingly busy market that contains the likes of Apple, Samsung and now Walmart. Android Pay is already accepted at over one million locations, but Google is only just getting started. Anyone with an Android device likely has the app as Google helpfully installed it for you, or at least on some devices such as Nexus.

  Now the search giant is looking to expand its footprint, branching out to new locations. First up is Android for in-app purchases. The company is trying to make this easier. Just a couple of taps and you'll be done, no wallet involved.

  Google is also working with many of the apps for discounts -- for instance you could save $20 off OpenTable, or $10 on both Lyft and DoorDash. There's an Android Pay API to allow developers to more easily integrate this feature.

  The service is also coming to Australia in early 2016. Customers there who use either MasterCard or Visa can utilize it at such locations as 7-Eleven, McDonald's and Telstra. Basically anywhere that accepts NFC payments.

  The updates are just starting to roll out, so you'll need to be a bit patient with it.

  
• 

  Google Classroom earns 'extra credit' with new features

  Publié: décembre 15, 2015, 7:06pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  One of the most important -- yet thankless -- jobs in the world is being a teacher. Many educators are underpaid and under-appreciated. In some underfunded districts, teachers are forced to make do without essentials, like books and pencils -- a really sad state of affairs.

  Luckily, technology is constantly improving and evolving, which translates to new solutions and tools for educators. One such brilliant solution is Google Classroom. The search-giant's education-focused organizational tool can make a teacher's life much easier -- especially when paired with a Chromebook and Google Docs. Today, Classroom is earning some extra credit in the eyes of educators with all new features that make it even better.

  "We built Classroom to save teachers time, and we know that grading is one of those tasks that can involve a lot of little time wasters. In fact, students have turned in more than 200 million assignments via Classroom to date, which adds up to a lot of grading hours. Today, we’re launching new features to help make grading a little faster and easier", says Anibal Chehayeb, Google Classroom Software Engineer.

  Chehayeb further explains, "we've polished the look and feel of Classroom on the web with icons to help differentiate items in the stream and added a cleaner look for comments and replies. We've also recently updated our Android and iOS mobile apps, so they'll now load even faster. You can post questions for students on the go, and Android teachers can reuse previous posts".

  

  Classroom gains a bunch of new features, including improvements to grading, like sorting grades by student name. It is surprising that this ability was not available from the start, but it is very welcome now.

  While the ability to use grade scales other than 100 point was possible, apparently many teachers could not find the setting. Google has made the option more obvious. The search-giant has also added keyboard commands -- use of up and down arrows -- to more easily navigate.

  The most important update, however, is the ability to export directly to Google Sheets. Before, it was necessary to save a .csv file and then upload to Sheets. Now, educators can cut out that middle step and open grades directly in Google's web-based spreadsheet solution.

  Google deserves major kudos for continually improving its Classroom solution. While some companies trot out fluff as updates, these are all very useful -- sometimes it is the little things that make the biggest impact.

  Are you a teacher that leverages Google Classroom? Are you excited by these new features? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Goodluz/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Ergotron WorkFit-T: An affordable alternative to a standing desk [Review]

  Publié: décembre 15, 2015, 7:03pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Sitting down, so medical professionals tell us, is bad for you. As a species we’re designed to stand up and move about rather than sit in front of a screen. The trouble is, modern office-based work doesn’t really lend itself to this hunter/gatherer lifestyle.

  The answer for some people is to have a standing desk so that you can bash away at your keyboard from a vertical position. It may not match the thrill of the hunt, but at least it gets you off your backside. The trouble is, purpose built standing desks can be eye-wateringly expensive, especially some of the sophisticated motorized models, and you have the problem of where to accommodate an extra piece of furniture.

  The latest product from Ergotron provides a solution, the WorkFit-T sits -- or rather stands -- on top of your existing desk or table and allows you to choose whether to work from a sitting or standing position.

  What Is It?

  It comes in a choice of black or white finishes with a built-in keyboard tray and has the option of a monitor riser so that you can adjust the height of your screen separately. Risers are available for both single and dual monitor set ups and screens up to 30-inches in size, compatible with the VESA MIS-D mounting standard with 75 or 100mm hole centres.

  The first thing to note about the WorkFit-T is that it’s no flimsy flat pack. It’s a serious, heavyweight (our review unit was delivered on a pallet) piece of kit with engineering Brunel would be proud of. The riser is a chunky piece of kit too, weighing an extra 3.6Kgs on top of the 26Kgs of the WorkFit-T itself -- don’t go standing this on your auntie’s old card table with the wobbly legs!

  It comes pre-assembled so you’re ready to go once you’ve liberated it from the packaging. It’s supplied with some braided cable sheathing to keep things neat and tidy and keep stray wires away from the lifting mechanism. Fitting the optional monitor riser requires a little bit of screwdrivering but nothing too strenuous. There’s a maximum weight limit for equipment of 35lbs (around 16Kgs), which should be more than enough for everyday use.

  It uses a counterbalanced mechanism that moves up and down but stays within the footprint of your desktop. There’s minimal effort involved in changing the height, you simply release the brakes at either side and lift gently then it rises until it hits the top of its travel or you put the brakes on again. Lowering it is equally easy, just a gentle downward pressure once the brakes are off, so you can switch easily between sitting and standing. There’s 15-inches (38cm) of total movement, so most people should be able to find a comfortable working height.

  In Use

  Once in position, whatever height you have it set at, it provides a solid, stable work surface that you can lean on while working without it tipping or dropping in height. Adjustment is simple and quick, it’s a two-handed job as you have to release both brakes simultaneously, but that’s no hardship and it helps keep your fingers away from the moving parts. You need to make sure your cables are long enough so that they’re not stretched taut when the Ergotron is at the top of its travel. You’ll probably need to invest a few pounds in USB and maybe video cable extensions.

  The optional monitor riser gives you an extra five inches (13cm) of height adjustment on the screen, as well as allowing you up to 30 degrees of tilt so you should be able to find a comfortable working position. The mount can be rotated too if you like to switch between portrait and landscape modes.

  There’s plenty of space on the work surface so you have room for phones, papers, cuddly toys and whatever else you choose to surround yourself with when working. The surfaces themselves have a lightly grained finish rather than being completely smooth which makes for a good mousing environment. The keyboard tray is a generous size so there’s room to place a small mouse mat next to your keyboard if you wish.

  It does raise the height of your work surface slightly when you’re sitting down so you’ll need to fine tune your seating position to get the recommended 90 degree elbow bend. Working standing up takes a bit of getting used to, so it’s good that the Ergotron lets you quickly switch between sitting and standing as you can gradually wean yourself away from your chair for longer periods. A word of warning for open plan office users here, if you listen to music while working you’re much more inclined to move to the beat when standing up!

  

  Conclusion

  At £310 (ex VAT) for the basic unit in black, plus an extra £68 for a monitor riser kit, the WorkFit-T isn’t cheap, however it’s less than a complete new standing desk. It has a 5-year warranty but you get the impression it’s built to last several lifetimes, and what price do you put on your -- or your employees -- health?

  You can find out more about the benefits of standing desks on the JustStand.org website and more about Ergotron products on the company’s website.

  Pros

  • Easy adjustment
  • Solid build
  • Range of monitor options

  Cons

  • Pricey
  • May require longer cables
  • Tends to make you dance in the office

  Company	Release Price	ITProPortal Review
  Ergotron	£310	9/10

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

  
• 

  Samsung introduces blazing fast 128GB Pro Plus microSD card

  Publié: décembre 15, 2015, 6:14pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Samsung has finally introduced the 128 GB model in its Pro Plus line of high-end microSD cards, half a year after launching the 32 GB and 64 GB versions. The latest entry promises transfer speeds of up to 95 MB/s for reads and 90 MB/s for writes.

  The high transfer speeds make it a great option for professionals and demanding consumers alike, with Samsung also claiming that it should satisfy the needs of those who record lots of 4K video.

  Prospective buyers can expect to record up to three hours and 50 minutes of 4K video or 16 hours and 20 minutes of FullHD video, based on Samsung's estimates. The same estimates suggest users can expect to store more than 10,000 photos and 30,000 MP3s. The 128 GB Pro Plus microSD card meets the UHS-1 Speed Class 3 (U3) and Speed Class 10 standards.

  "We are seeing a fast increase in 4K UHD video recording and playback, and therefore a growing need for higher memory storage volume and faster transfer speeds", says Samsung's SVP of Branded Product Marketing, Memory Business, Un-Soo Kim. "The introduction of our PRO Plus128GB microSD delivers on Samsung’s commitment to create best-in-class memory cards that meet the rapidly evolving needs of today’s consumers, as well as strengthens our leadership in branded memory products".

  On top of the aforementioned speed claims, Samsung says that its new microSD card is also waterproof, temperature proof, X-ray proof and magnetic proof. The 128 GB Pro Plus model will soon be available in over 50 markets, including US, Europe and China. There is no word on pricing yet, but, to give you an idea, the 64 GB model is currently available on Amazon for just over $55.

  
• 

  What is your PC's clipboard giving away about you?

  Publié: décembre 15, 2015, 6:03pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  The Windows clipboard is very convenient, but it does come with some privacy and security risks.

  Most dangers are clear. Copy some lengthy password to the clipboard, forget about it, and the text may be viewed by anyone with access to your PC. (Until you copy something else there, anyway.)

  Other smaller issues are less obvious, because the clipboard doesn’t only hold the text, images or files you see -- there are other details, too.

  Free Clipboard Viewer is a portable tool for Windows 2000+ which makes it easy to see how this works. Download, unzip and run it to get started.

  Launch Internet Explorer, select some formatted text on a web page and copy it to the clipboard. Switch back to Free Clipboard Viewer and you’ll find the same text is held in various formats. "Text" is plain text, "Rich Text Format" is a preview of an RTF version, "HTML Format" is the raw HTML code, and there are several more.

  The reason for all this choice is that IE has no way to know where you’ll be pasting the data. If it uses multiple formats, then the receiving application can choose whatever gives it the most data (Notepad takes the plain text, Microsoft Word grabs the rich text version, and so on).

  The potential privacy issues come about because there are no fixed rules on exactly what an application can copy to the clipboard. And it may be more than you think.

  Internet Explorer’s formatted text doesn’t just include the words and layout, for instance. An "msSourceURL" item also provides the source URL. It’s also saved if you copy an image. And this isn’t just IE: Chrome and Firefox also copy the URL, although they use different item names.

  You may not care about URLs, but other applications may also send "extra" data to the clipboard about whatever information you’ve copied. Hopefully it won’t be anything sensitive -- but can you be 100 percent sure?

  And there may be more. Individual programs often use their own custom clipboard item names, so for example copying something from Firefox will list items like "text/_moz_htmlinfo" and "text/_moz_htmlcontent". Now someone may be able to identify the browser you used to copy text, as well as the source URL.

  A passer-by will only get to see the last item, of course, but if the system has a clipboard manager -- or is infected by malware -- then it’s possible that all the data on every item you copy to the clipboard will be saved and made available to someone else.

  While this shouldn’t keep you awake at nights (the danger is small, and if you’re infected by malware then you’re in big trouble already), it’s worth spending 10 minutes playing with Free Clipboard Viewer to understand what the risk might be for you.

  
• 

  Firefox 43 adds new block list, updates Android user interface

  Publié: décembre 15, 2015, 9:04am CET par Nick Peers

  

  Mozilla has rolled out Firefox 43 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux, with Firefox 43 for Android due to follow imminently.

  The desktop build gains few notable new features -- including a secondary Private Browsing block list, but the most interesting changes can be found with the Android build.

  Android users gain the tab audio indicator feature introduced in version 42 of the desktop build, allowing them to discover which website is playing unwanted audio.

  There are also accessibility improvements with TalkBack users gaining better support for scrolling, zooming and BrailleBack as well as the implementation of new Firefox-specific options to its context menu.

  Firefox for Android also introduces the ability to mark items read or unread in the reading list panel, while the History panel gains a new split-pane style when accessed on tablets in landscape mode.

  The Android build also tweaks the toolbar menu to better fit in with Marshmallow’s UI and -- last but not least -- includes the source URL when sharing selected text from a web page.

  Both desktop and Android builds gain improved API support for m4v video playback, while Firefox 43 for desktop also adds an option to opt in to search suggestions from the Awesome Bar. When clicking the ˅ button on the Awesome bar, users will now see an option to switch the suggestions on or off.

  A new on-screen keyboard will now be displayed when selecting the input field on touchscreen devices running Windows 8 or later.

  The final new feature for end users sees Firefox introduce a second, stricter block list for its Private Browsing’s Tracking Protection feature. To switch, click "Change Block List" from the Privacy tab in the program’s preferences.

  In contrast, the Developer Tools gain no less than 15 new features and tweaks, while under the hood, the program’s Health Report now uses the same data collection mechanism as its telemetry.

  One notable bug fix sees the eyedropper tool now working correctly after the page has been magnified.

  Firefox 43 FINAL is available now as a free, open-source download for Windows, Mac and Linux. It’ll soon be joined by Firefox 43 for Android.

  
• 

  Amazon.in becomes the most popular site in India, video discounts for all

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 10:37pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Amazon launched in the nation of India with a lot of attention and it has grown from there. The country is a vibrant market for sites, and it was a wise move by the retail giant to get in on the deal. Now Amazon is releasing bigger news.

  Amazon.in has become the most popular site in the nation, or to clarify, the most visited commerce site in India. The milestone came in October of this year and was reported by Comscore, stating more than 30 million visitors, up 38 percent over the previous month.

  "This is a huge milestone, and we're all raising a glass to toast our colleagues in India,” states Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Customer response like this is so energizing for us, and we're grateful. Customers and sellers can count on us to continue innovating and investing heavily in India -- it’s very much still Day One at Amazon.in".

  To celebrate this moment Amazon has announced a deal for both its India and US sites. You can save 50 percent off of a selection of videos from the company's Bollywood collection. The deal doesn't have an expiration date, but is listed as "a limited time".

  Photo credit: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Understanding the basics of quantum computing [Q&A]

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 9:03pm CET par Sam Pudwell

  

  Computers have been growing more and more powerful for some time now and, as processors become faster and memory more plentiful, we’re reaching the limits of current technology.

  Quantum computers are the next step in this evolution and more and more companies are investing in this area. Intel recently announced it will be putting over £30 million towards the technology and just this week Google boasted that its quantum computer is 100 million times faster than a regular PC. For a deeper insight into this growing area, we spoke to Mike Mayberry, corporate vice president and managing director of Intel Labs. The full interview can be found below.

  ITPP: As a taster, how does quantum computing differ from traditional binary-based computing?

  Quantum computing uses physical principles to do calculations. Simplistically you prepare a quantum system with the equivalent of many possible answers and then apply operations to encourage the system to evolve towards the right answer. It is by nature a probability calculus and only a subset of problems are considered appropriate for QC.

  ITPP: Can you give us some concrete examples of where quantum computers could excel compared to current technologies?

  Simulating the properties or shape of a molecule is, by nature, a quantum calculation. We can emulate that calculation with traditional binary computing, but QC could do the calculation natively. There are other hard mathematical problems where QC could find a likely answer quicker than sorting through all of them sequentially.

  ITPP: Would they still be built on silicon? What would a quantum chip physically look like?

  There are about a dozen technologies under investigation, all of which use conventional electronics to control and manipulate the properties but they look very different for the quantum elements. One of the choices that looks more scalable is quantum dots which then look much like a conventional silicon chip. If you saw a QC system most of what you’d see is cooling and control electronics.

  ITPP: How would Intel-based QC offerings be different from products currently on the market (D-Wave Systems)?

  The D-Wave system is a quantum annealer, not a general purpose QC. We would pursue the more general computing model. It is too early to say what our commercial offerings might look like as we are over 10 years away.

  ITPP: A couple of months ago, Intel announced a significant investment in a Dutch university. What prompted the company to choose that particular organization? What do they have that Intel couldn’t either acquire or replicate in-house?

  Delft has a broad expertise in the physics and control systems. Intel can provide value with fabrication and integration of complex systems. We think that by working together we can go faster than either working alone.

  ITPP: Will Quantum Computing be where storage and computing will be unified?

  No. It is likely that you are thinking of neuromorphic computing, which operates more like how our brains work.

  ITPP: Will QC extend Moore’s law (which is based on transistor count) or will it make it redundant?

  The opposite is true. Advances in Moore’s Law had led to more sophisticated electronics which allows more precise control of the physics and allows more complex operations. If/when QC is a reality, it will supplement conventional computing, not replace it.

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

  Photo credit: kentoh / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Holiday 2015 Gift Guide: Headphones

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 8:12pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  As Christmas comes closer, it's time to think about rewarding your ears, or someone else's, with exceptional audio experience—headphones that I would ask Santa to bring for myself or deliver to another. If big, booming bass is your thing, read no further. Buy Beats, Sony, or another brand boasting barreling lows that shake your skull as well as eardrums.

  My picks deliver broader audio range, each with warmer mids and highs and amazing detail, depending somewhat on the source of your content. Highly compressed AAC or MP3 tracks lack lots, but these cans will get a little more fidelity from them. CD or lossless source might change how you listen to music forever.

  Our headphone lineup, in order of presentation based on price: Grado Labs Prestige Series SR80e; Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Professional Studio Monitor; Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Wireless; Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H7; Master & Dynamic MW60; and Grado Labs RS1e. I pick these six for their ability to deliver a more natural, authentic, sound appropriate for all genres. They range in retail price from $99 to $695.

  Three are wired, the RS80e, ATH-50x, and RS1e; the others are wireless. Both Grados are open-back, the Senheiser is on-ear, and the rest are over-ear. Only one, the Momentum 2.0 Wireless, provides active noise-cancellation.

  Useful Jargon

  Some important technical tips:

  • Soundstage is how instruments are spatially placed in audio recordings. The headphones in this lineup all present superior soundstage, such that you often can visually place the instruments and singers, and even feel like you are in the room with them.
  • Open-back headphones let in the most background noise or leak sound to those people nearby. Open-backs also typically present the best soundtage of headphone styles.
  • On-ear headphones are as named. They sit on the lobes rather than enclose them. Whether or not as comfortable as, or more than, over-ear is a matter of taste. Without active noise-cancellation, like open-back, the wearer will hear sounds in the room.
  • Over-ear headphones typically cover the ear, making a soft seal that improves the aural experience while blocking out most background noise. Many people find this style to be the most comfortable to wear, particularly for long periods of time.
  • Impedance is a value you need to worry about. We'll skip the science and get to practical matters: If you're buying cans to listen to portable devices, like smartphones or PCs, you want lower impedance; I find 32 ohm to be just right. If impedance is too high, you won't jack enough volume to your headphones without aid of an amplifier. For stereo systems you want higher impedance, upwards of 600 ohm.
  • Frequency response typically ranges from 20 to 20,000 Hz, with bass and treble at both ends, respectively. The extremes exceed normal human hearing range, but not necessarily perception: Below 20 Hz, the listener may more feel the bass than hear it.
  • Transducer creates the sound, and there are typically three types: Dynamic (most common); Orthodynamic; and Electrostatic. Think little speakers. See Headfonics' explanation for more.
  • Active noise-cancellation, as implemented by the the single pair of headphones featured in this roundup, uses microphones to capture and largely eliminate ambient, background noise.
  • Aptx codec allows for wireless delivery of high-fidelity music via Bluetooth without imposing heavy compression. HTC, LG, Samsung, and Sony are among the major brands broadly supporting Aptx across their smartphone lineups. Among the missing: Apple. Full list of supported devices.

  How I Listen

  No headphone primer can satisfy everyone, and maybe not most people. The listening experience is subjective, and in this era of consumption across devices and locales also contextual. The portable Bluetooth speaker is good for the beach, but you want booming sub-woofers at home in the living room.

  What you are accustomed to listening will affect your response to different headphones, too. If you mostly listen to compressed AAC or MP3 files with graphic equalizer punching the lows, most of the cans in this roundup likely will sound flat and too finely detailed. Emotionally they will feel wrong.

  
  Grado Labs RS1e natural wood is a metaphor for their natural sound

  I do not typically use app/software graphic equalizer, which while adapting music to personal tastes is as much about, if nor more, making up for what compressed music lacks. If you feel need to use EQ with any of these headphones, return them and buy something dirt cheap. These aren't the cans for you.

  For the wireless models in this roundup, I conducted modest Aptx testing, because my primary devices—Chromebook Pixel LS, Nexus 6P smartphone, and Nexus 9 tablet—do not support the codec.

  I primarily tested by streaming music in the 1411kbps Free Lossless Audio Codec from Tidal. Many people cannot hear the difference between higher and lower bitrate tracks. I can. You probably could, too, with a little effort. In blind tests, people often choose wrongly because they're accustomed to hearing compressed files, which as such sounds more natural. One sure-fire measure: Vocals tend to be crisper from CDs or digital lossless tracks compared to highly compressed AAC or MP3 files.

  Even if you can discern the difference, it may not be difference enough. Not everyone wants to hear the fine detail of the symbol or have sense of being in the room during the recording. Perhaps you prefer to feel that boom boom of heavy bass. Good for you. Do enjoy but also understand this roundup probably isn't for you.

  Cans for Your Consideration

  There are other fine headphones to choose from. My apologies if your fav isn't included. These six would make my Christmas wish or gift list.

  Grado Prestige Series SR80e. Brooklyn, New York-based Grado Labs specializes in phonographic needle cartridges and headphones with unique but classic sound signature. Cans are handcrafted and hand-assembled on site and individually tested to ensure they produce the so-called Grado sound.

  Surveying user and professional reviews, warm is often used to describe fidelity that favors treble over bass. The SR80e are fairly balanced such that some listeners will regard music as being rather flat. It's my experience that the "e" series Grados are punchier, with respect to lows, than the previous "i" series. Bass is more refined rather than defined, however.

  Some specs:

  • Style: Open-back
  • Impedance: 32 ohm
  • Transducer: Dynamic, open
  • Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz

  The open-ear design gives airier, more realistic soundstage. But the cans leak sound, and you will hear ambient background noise, too. These aren't best for your metro commute or air-flight.

  The actual speaker enclosure is made out of a polycarbonate material with S-cushion pads that some people may find uncomfortable for long-wear. Typical selling price is $99.

  Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Professional Studio Monitor. Classic and affordable describe these iconic cans, which produce more natural and realistic sound than most any alternatives available anywhere. Monitor headphones, or more traditionally speakers, are designed to deliver sound signature that is truest to the original recording. As such, monitors are popular among professional engineers and musicians.

  Some people describe the M50x as flat, or authentic, depending on ear and preferences. I wouldn't call them as warm as the SR80e, but they nevertheless satisfy. There is excellent detail and fairly full, natural soundstage.

  Some specs:

  • Style: Over-ear
  • Impedance: 38 ohm
  • Driver diameter: 45 mm
  • Transducer: Dynamic, open
  • Frequency response: 15-28,000 Hz

  Construction materials don't feel or look high-end, which might deceive some potential buyers. The M50x may not delight the eyes, but the ears will wow. The circumaural, over-ear design diminishes sound leakage and blocks most ambient noise. The cups are cozy comfortable for long-wear.

  For authentic sound and fine detail, these cans are the best bargain at almost any price, and they already are remarkably affordable, typically selling for less than $170 and during the holidays even for as little as $120.

  Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Wireless. These cans come in on-ear and over-ear variants, with the latter selling for $100 more. I tested the on-ear model, which fits comfortably even for long periods of time. The active noise-cancellation nearly blocks all ambient background noise, and there is little to no sound leakage. Note: The feature cannot be disabled when the cans are used wirelessly. For the record, I prefer headphones without active noise-cancellation.

  Bluetooth connects easily, and controls for adjusting volume and pausing or changing tracks are accessible and easily-used. Listeners can take phone calls, using the built-in microphone, and then resume audio playback.

  
  Senneiser Momentum 2 Wireless offer active noise-cancellation

  I describe the audio signature as full. There is excellent definition for lows, mids, and highs. But the soundstage, while vast and surely satisfying, has an artificial quality. Among the six headphones, the M2's deliver the punchiest lows—sub-bass that is more felt than heard. The rumble causes my left ear to ache, even when the volume is fairly low or when listening for shorter intervals. That's a deal-breaker for me.

  Some specs:

  • Style: On-ear
  • Battery Life: 20 hours+
  • Transducer: Dynamic, closed
  • Wireless: Bluetooth 4.0 + Aptx
  • Frequency response: 16-22,000 Hz

  Styling is exceptional—retro cool—and photos do not capture the can's character or charm. From stitched leather to metal sliders, the M2 evoke an earlier audio era, when radio was the dominant means of communication and content consumption. Sennheiser provides a handsome hardback case and soft carrying bag that add value to the typical selling price: $399.

  Of course you can use them with a 3.5-mm connector cable, which is supplied. But if you plan to use the M2 wired even 40 percent of the time, better choice could be the non-wireless open-ear model, which costs considerably less. Typically: $229, but during the holidays $149.

  Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H7. Based on audio profile, these modern-styled cans essentially are the Bluetooth version of the H6 wired and should not be confused with the H8 wireless, which sound signature digresses. Flat best describes the H7, like Audio-Technica ATH-M50x but with different audio character. Bass is subdued, but present, while mids and highs are warm and lively. Treble trumpets. The overall range is well-balanced, unlike the H8, which booms more bass, but provides active noise-cancellation.

  Authentic and natural also describe the H7's sound signature, which presents dramatic, full soundstage. For Apple users distraught about missing Aptx joys, the BeoPlay model natively supports the AAC codec. But rip and listen lossless for the best bang from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod.

  Unlike the other two wireless models in this roundup, the H7 present touch controls, which make me feel like a ditz-for-brains for my constant mistakes using them—like activating the phone when trying to up the volume.

  Bluetooth connects easily, and answering a phone call is a snap. Wired is an option using the supplied 3.5-mm connector cord. Nice-to-have: The rechargeable battery is removable, if you'd like to carry a spare.

  Some specs:

  • Style: Over-ear
  • Impedance: 20 ohm
  • Battery Life: 20 hours
  • Driver diameter: 40 mm
  • Transducer: Electro-dynamic
  • Wireless: Bluetooth 4.1; Aptx, AAC
  • Frequency response: 20-22,000 Hz

  Plush modern styling defines the BeoPlay lineup. From the aluminum enclosures to the lambskin ear-cups, these cans boast luxury, and they feel luxurious, too. They're cozy-comfy, and you won't easily tire from wearing, nor because of the sound signature suffer ear fatigue easily. The circumaural, over-ear design diminishes sound leakage and blocks most ambient noise.

  Typical price is $449. However, during the holidays the BeoPlay H8 can be found for the same price (that's $50 off), boosting bass and providing noise cancellation. Choice is yours which suits your tastes for the same price.

  Master & Dynamic MW60.  Immersive best describes the audio signature of these striking, retro-styled headphones. Soundstage is present—like you're there in the room with the musicians. Tonal range is balanced, presenting fine details. The lows ride the mids and highs, without overbearing the ears. Where the Momentum 2 cause my ears to ache and fatigue, the MW60 delight them with the faintest creak of the guitar's wood, full timber of the drums, and crackle in the singer's voice.

  Compressed AAC and MP3 tracks are reborn, echoes of their former muddied selves, fresh and vital with renewed dimension. Whatever processing magic Master & Dynamic sprinkles into these cans, seemingly any sound source benefits.

  
  Master & Dynamic MW60 deliver roomy soundstage and remarkably fine aural detail

  In the strangest of ways, the MW60 are closest in tenor to the Grado RS1e. Both rely on design of the acoustic enclosure, rather than digital curmudgeonry, to produce authentic sound signature—however, using vastly different materials to achieve the feat. But the Grados are bound by wires, whereas the M&Ds free listeners from them.

  Bluetooth connects easily, and the range is remarkable; even 15 meters (or more). The controls for adjusting volume and pausing or changing tracks are accessible and easily-used; they feel solid, too. Listeners can take phone calls, using the built-in microphone, and then resume audio playback; easily.

  Some specs:

  • Style: Over-ear
  • Impedance: 32 ohm
  • Battery Life: 16 hours
  • Driver diameter: 45 mm
  • Transducer: Neodymium
  • Wireless: Bluetooth 4.1 + Aptx
  • Frequency response: 5-25,000 Hz

  The MW60 are bit of a masculine affair. Aluminum, lambskin, leather, and stainless steel combine in rugged style that evokes aviators of a bygone era. Wearing the headphones makes me feel, even for scant seconds, like the radio operator on an Air Force bomber. The design is both nostalgic and modern.

  The lambskin-covered memory foam cushions are immensely comfortable and they minimize sound leakage while blocking all but the loudest ambient background noise. Price is premium: $549. The MW60 are worth every penny and more.

  Grado Labs RS1e. Reference Series is etched into the rich mahogany that gives the RS1e their distinctive look and sound signature. The Grado family means the cans to be the standard by which quality audio reproduction is measured. Reference means something. The wood is as much metaphor as it is functional. The material is more than just natural, providing the timber for producing more natural sound.

  That is after undergoing a burn-in period. I used the RS1e for about 40 hours, similar to their "i" predecessor, before forever flat sound burst like a nova into spreading spatial fidelity. Spectacular soundstage, bright highs, and warm mids are defining acoustic characteristics.

  The lows are present, vital, without being punchy. As such, I can wear the RS1e for hours upon hours with little to no ear fatigue. But I rarely do, because the cable is like a ball and chain. I don't want to sit on my ass, but move around, which is why the MW60 recently replaced the Grados as my headphones of choice.

  Some specs:

  • Style: Open-back
  • Impedance: 32 ohm
  • Transducer: Dynamic, open air
  • Frequency response: 12-30,000 Hz

  The open-ear design contributes to the airier, more realistic soundstage. But the cans leak sound, and you will hear ambient background noise, too. These aren't best for your metro commute or air-flight. But listening quietly, you will hear detail silent to other headphones.

  Soundstage and definition are most pronounced on music engineered before the turn of the century.  Pop and rock classics from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s or classical music from any era get the biggest bang from the RS1e.

  You will pay premium price to receive these aural delights. The cans typically sell for $695.

  That's a wrap. Note: After finishing principal writing last night, I saw that TechCrunch posted an excellent headphone buying guide that recommends cans based on who the gift is for (e.g. college student, mom, etc.) The approach is excellent; do have a look if shopping for headphones.

  Photo Credits: Joe Wilcox

  
• 

  CentOS Linux 7 1511 is here -- download the free enterprise-class operating system now

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 7:07pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  For large businesses looking to embrace Linux and open source solutions, one of the best -- if not the best -- enterprise-grade operating systems is RHEL. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is rock solid and offers legendary support.

  What if you aren't a big business, however, and don't need, or cannot afford Red Hat support? In other words, maybe you have some Linux professionals on staff at your small business, but still want the stability and usability of RHEL. Enter CentOS. This totally free and community-supported enterprise Linux distro -- based on RHEL -- should totally meet your needs. Today, a new release, version 7 1511 is made available.

  "Updates released since we froze the iso and install media content are posted in the updates repo along with the release. This will include content from late November 2015 and December 2015, therefore anyone running a new install is highly encouraged to run a 'yum update' operation immediate on install completion. You can apply all updates, including the content released today, on your existing CentOS Linux 7/x86_64 machine by just running 'yum update'. Note that it might be upto 24 hrs from this announcement before the entire mirror network has got the updated content", says Karanbir Singh, The CentOS project.

  Singh further explains, "as with all CentOS Linux 7 components, this release was built from sources hosted at git.centos.org. In addition, SRPMs that are a byproduct of the build (and also considered critical in the code and buildsys process) are being published to match every binary RPM we release. Sources will be available from vault.centos.org in their own dedicated directories to match the corresponding binary RPMs. Since there is far less traffic to the CentOS source RPMs compared with the binary RPMs, we are not putting this content on the main mirror network".

  

  Home users are encouraged to avoid this operating system (although some do use it), as it is focused on the enterprise. Instead, they should look at the wonderful Fedora.

  READ MORE: Fedora 23 is here -- download the free Linux-based operating system now

  If you are interested in embracing CentOS for your business, you can download it here. You will want to read through the release notes, as there are many updated packages and newly introduced known issues.

  Keep in mind, however, that moving from something like Windows to CentOS is a huge decision that should not be made haphazardly. Even for very small businesses, you should discuss this in depth with decision-makers and IT.

  Do you already embrace Linux for your business? Are you exploring it? Tell me about it in the comments.

  Image Credit: Jaroslav Machacek / Shutterstock

  
• 

  The top cyber-security trends of 2015

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 6:49pm CET par Martin Borrett

  

  As 2015 draws to an end, we can look back on a year that has seen cyber security rapidly ascend the corporate, journalist and consumer agendas.

  The cost of the average corporate data breach continued to rise, and with hacks on firms such as Car Phone Warehouse, Talk Talk, Ashley Madison and even the Internal Revenue Services in the USA, the last twelve months have seen a marked escalation in Black Hat activity.

  Over the course of the year, the IBM Emergency Response Services (ERS), team has gained an extensive insider’s view of what kinds of security incidents are striking most frequently across a variety of industries, and below are the four top trends that took precedence in 2015.

  Onion-Layered Security Incidents On the Rise

  As the name suggests, an onion-layered security incident is one in which a second, often significantly more damaging attack is uncovered during the investigation of another more visible event.

  Of all the incidents that the ERS teams encountered in 2015, these complex, multi-layered attacks were the most demanding of investigative time and resources to ascertain the facts, find the root causes, develop a timeline of events, and provide the client with recommendations on how to resolve the issues that allowed the attackers to get into their networks.

  The Year of Ransomware

  The infection most commonly encountered by ERS this year has been ransomware. As its name suggests, this is a kind of malware that steals something from the user and demands a ransom to give it back.

  Broadly speaking, ransomware can be divided in two broad families: the first family simply locks the system and tricks the user into thinking that unlocking it requires paying a ransom. This is the less dangerous kind of ransomware, since no actual harm is done to the infected system and no information is lost.

  The second family however, actually encrypts files on a system’s hard drive. Instructions on how to pay the ransom and get the key to decrypt the files are left in text files disseminated on the hard drive. This is the more dangerous kind of ransomware, since breaking encryption often isn’t feasible and might result in losing information even if the ransom is paid.

  A particularly destructive variant of this second family will encrypt not only files on the hard drive of the infected computer, but also network shares, potentially targeting the files of the user’s organization too.

  Malicious Insiders On the Attack

  During 2015, the ERS team was called in on several occasions to assist with unexplained network outages -- both to stop the outage and find the root cause. The symptoms ranged from routers that had their configurations erased, to firewalls with unauthorized rule changes.

  Due to the sometimes volatile nature of these issues and the difficulty of distinguishing their true nature from normal service outages, some of the situations went on for weeks before it became clear that a security incident needed to be declared and the ERS team was engaged.

  The common thread here was that accountability was not enforced. For example, bad password policies seriously compromised the efficacy of termination procedures. Whenever a system or network administrator left the organization, disabling their personal accounts did not limit their ability to perform unauthorized activity on the network via one or more of the shared accounts they had routinely used in their job. As a result, ex-employees with ill will toward former employers held powerful weapons they could use to express their resentment.

  Greater Management Awareness of Security Problems

  In recent months, the ERS team observed that people in positions of oversight -- management, boards of directors, audit committees -- were asking more questions about their organizations’ security posture.

  Given the recent high-profile breaches of many well-established organizations highlighted in the media, as well as the UK Government’s recent public statement of support and funding for greater national cybersecurity initiatives in the face of international terrorism, this is a welcomed trend, and likely to continue in 2016.

  So what can we learn from cyber security breaches in 2015? One thing is for sure, they certainly won’t be shrinking or fading away into the background in 2016.

  The key for organizations will be to redefine their security efforts and to recognize that while they can never be 100 percent water tight in terms of cyber security, they can improve their protection, detection, isolation and responses to cyber security issues as they emerge.

  Martin Borrett, CTO of IBM Security Europe.

   

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

  Photo credit: jijomathaidesigners / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Addressing new challenges in enterprise mobile management [Q&A]

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 5:25pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Although many enterprises are keen to deploy mobile apps for their workforce and to support BYOD and extended working, they've often been held back by traditional app distribution options. Historically this has required IT organizations to bring devices under management -- for corporate owner, corporate liable, and BYOD devices -- which can put a brake on enterprise mobile app deployments.

  To find out how new approaches can allow data to be secured at the app level, we spoke to Mark Lorion, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at mobile app management and security company, Apperian.

  BN: Is a lack of flexibility in app distribution holding back the implementation of mobile strategies?

  ML: In the past, Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) platforms were the go-to for enterprise mobility initiatives. But because they typically require that a Mobile Device Management (MDM) 'profile' be installed onto a users' device, it requires IT to bring the device under management before any apps or content can be deployed to the user. This isn't really an issue for corporate-owned devices, but with the move to BYOD many users are not willing to allow the IT organization to install MDM profiles and control their personal devices. Similarly, many organizations want to enable their business partners, contracted workers, dealers, and other non-employees with mobile apps and those users often will not -- or cannot -- have their devices under management. In other cases, a mobile device may be under management by another IT organization (could be another company or another agency in the public sector) and therefore can only receive enterprise apps from one source (because mobile devices can be under management from one MDM profile.) These scenarios reflect users who are unreachable using traditional EMM platforms.

  A big shift that has occurred in the mobility industry is the move toward app-level security and management. This best-of-breed mobile app management (MAM) approach applies policy to each app and enables the app to be deployed with appropriate security and management controls so that MDM is not required to ensure the safe delivery and use of the app. When policy is applied at the app level, instead of directly on the device, enterprises can maintain security and management control without having to issue corporate devices, or install policies on users’ personal devices.

  BN: How does applying security policy via the app rather than the device help?

  ML: Applying security policies to apps enables fine-grained levels of control, security and management capabilities, without requiring that device be under management. A truly effective approach to applying the policies to each app can be done via a dynamic 'wrapper' that will apply desired policies directly to the app itself and without requiring that developers make code changes or use SDK's. For example, app-level policies can allow IT to lock access to an app, or wipe data on a specific app, or require two-factor authentication for app access, and more – without MDM being on the device.

  One huge benefit of this approach is that the app can be deployed anywhere -- with or without MDM being on the device. This means those unreachable users highlighted above are now within reach of corporate mobile apps. Another benefit is that it allows the organization to apply many additional layers of security and control over the app, making the app suitable for deployment in highly secure settings.

  All of this increases the number of potential users who can be served and drives the adoption of mobile apps while reducing the burden on app administrators. This allows organizations to focus on what matters most – building critical apps for their employees and getting them into the hands of 100 percent of users.

  BN: Does this improve the experience for employees too?

  ML: Yes. Modern workers tend to move back and forth between personal and work activities on one device. By allowing them to do so without encroaching on their personal device and data is becoming an expectation, especially with the proliferation of BYOD. Employees can feel confident in their ability to work from any location, without giving their employers access to the entirety of their personal information.

  The app-level approach to security and management is less intrusive, but it also creates a more secure app and one that offers a smoother user experience. If an app is updated on the back-end, policy can push that update to a user directly, without them having to proactively go look for a download. IT can also gain remote access to help troubleshoot any challenges with the app. There’s no learning curve, or foreign platform users need to access apps through. It really creates a more native experience, similar to the way users experience consumer apps.

  BN: Is this only for larger enterprises or does it scale to smaller businesses too?

  ML: If an organization has an app that is important to securely get into the hands of all possible users, then a MAM-based approach to app security and deployment should be considered -- regardless of company size. In the past, larger organizations tended to be the early adopters of this approach, mainly because they were the early developers of mobile apps for enterprise use. With the costs and complexity of developing mobile apps decreasing while expectations of mobile-enablement by workers increasing, organizations of all sizes will face these requirements.

  Virtually every worker has a smartphone today -- and many of them are doing work in places other than a traditional office where they'd have access to more business technologies. Apps that streamline workflows that can have a significant impact at SMBs, too, when it comes to business-critical processes such as sales teams closing deals or writing contracts on-the-go.

  BN: What safeguards are in place to deal with lost devices, employees leaving the company, etc?

  ML: The app-level security and management offered by a best-of-breed MAM platform should provide a number of controls to handle these scenarios -- all without requiring the use of MDM on the device. There are a variety of access controls, such as passcode access or 2-factor authentication that can be activated to keep an app from launching. There are 'data wipe' policies that allow centralized administrations or security personnel to remotely delete all data contained in the app or they can force updates to the app, which render it useless. These approaches and others can be activated remotely and without requiring that the devices are under management. This provides tight security controls over just the organization's apps without affecting a user's personal apps or data.

  Image Credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Most enterprises use hybrid clouds

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 3:39pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Canopy, the Atos Cloud, in collaboration with EMC commissioned a study about hybrid cloud adoption, conducted by Forrester Consulting. Surveying over 150 companies with revenues of $1 billion+ across multiple countries, the findings show an increased adoption of hybrid cloud services with 58 percent of the respondents saying they already have some form of hybrid cloud environment.

  Organizations using hybrid cloud define it as a "cloud spread across multiple deployment models" with 40 percent of respondents seeing it as a combination of private and public cloud usage.

  Fifty-one percent of respondents consider that the hybrid cloud has the potential to allow the consolidation of the management of all cloud services.

  Further to that, respondents said that when deploying a hybrid cloud solution, the most important factors to be considered are the ability to monitor and optimize cloud costs (55 percent) and performance (49 percent).

  In response to the potential risks represented by shadow IT, bring-your-own device and cloud, the survey shows that recognition is high amongst IT professionals for the need of improved management and better governance.

  This brings orchestration and service brokering to the heart of the IT strategy, with service management taking centre stage in IT organizations which are rapidly shifting to a role of providers and brokers of business services.

  Forty-six percent of respondents identified the rewriting of applications to scale as a deployment scenario for Hybrid Cloud, and 33 percent stated that they have already built some service templates across hybrid clouds.

  When asked what to watch for when deploying a hybrid cloud, 47 percent of respondents said that it was important to ease the ability to port applications across different clouds.

  This response indicates that the cloud has become a target platform for many applications, not only for cloud-native applications but also for many enterprise applications which are becoming candidates for cloud deployment.

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

  Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Xiaomi announces Redmi Note Prime

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 1:58pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Shortly after taking the wraps off Redmi Note 3, Chinese maker Xiaomi has added a new device to its phablet line. Called Redmi Note Prime, it targets consumers on a budget, featuring a price tag of just $127.

  So what do you get for the money? Redmi Note Prime has all the right features that shoppers in this segment could ask for: a big screen, quad-core processor, a decent amount of RAM, expandable storage, 4G LTE, dual-SIM support, high-resolution cameras, and a pretty large battery inside.

  Since Redmi Note Prime is a phablet, let's start with its screen. The device has a 5.5-inch IPS display, with a resolution of 720 by 1,280. Inside, there is a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, featuring Adreno 306 graphics and 2 GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16 GB, but there is a microSD card slot for expansion up to 48 GB.

  For Redmi Note Prime, Xiaomi has opted to use Android 4.4 KitKat, with its own MIUI 7 skin on top. Other devices in its lineup have the same UI, but atop more-recent versions of the mobile operating system. Google's services are pre-loaded, meaning users will have access to Play Store out-of-the-box.

  In terms of imaging, users will get a 13 MP camera on the back, with an LED flash under it, and a 5 MP shooter on the front of the device. There is support for 1080p video recording using the former, and 720p video recording with the latter of the two. The lens aperture is f/2.2 in both cases, which should help with low-light images and videos.

  Redmi Note Prime is powered by a 3,100 mAh battery which, considering the aforementioned hardware specifications, should give users plenty of battery life. Other specs worth noting are Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0. The smartphone comes in at 154 x 78.7 x 9.45 mm and 185 g.

  Right now, Redmi Note Prime is only available in India, where it can be had for Rs. 8,499. Most likely, it will soon also be available from major Asian retailers which ship internationally.

  
• 

  The $5 Raspberry Pi Zero back in stock -- but you'll need to act fast

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 1:15pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  Three weeks ago the Raspberry Pi Foundation shocked pretty much everyone with a new version of its popular barebones microcomputer. While previous models were hardly expensive, the new Raspberry Pi Zero was just $5 (plus any extras you required, of course).

  Inevitably, demand was huge and the Zero sold out pretty much immediately.

  If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on the new model, the good news is it is back in stock at most places from today.

  As you might expect, stock is still very limited though -- there’s a one device per person restriction in place -- and there’s a very good chance it will sell out again quickly, so don’t delay.

  You’ll be able to get it from element14, The Pi Hut and Pimoroni in the UK where it’s priced at £4, and from Adafruit and in-store at your local branch of Micro Center in the US. You might need to wait a short while for stock to appear on the website.

  
• 

  Track your PC usage with Motivate Clock

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 1:04pm CET par Mike Williams

  Your project is urgent, the deadline imminent -- but PCs have so many distractions that it’s easy to get pulled into doing something else, without even really noticing.

  Motivate Clock is a free time tracker for Windows which makes it quick and easy to understand exactly where you’re spending your computer time.

  Installation is straightforward, no adware or registration required. Launch the program afterwards and everything you need is presented in a compact console.

  The simplest way to start is with "Manual Mode", which just records your time usage with a couple of clocks: "Work" and "Rest".

  Click the "Work" tab, and that clock starts to tick; click "Rest" when you’re taking time out; hit the Pause button if you’re leaving the system, and Motivate Clock keeps track of what’s going on.

  Clicking "Open statistic" at any point displays your work/ rest balance, both as a total time and a percentage. That’s about as basic as any analysis can get, but still useful -- just seeing how much time you spend not working could be a surprise.

  Motivate Clock also supports project-based tracking, a smarter mode where the program automatically detects when you switch from one application to another.

  Setup is still easy, just hit "New Project" and specify the applications you’ll be using for work. Motivate Clock then monitors the current window, and increments the "Work" clock for applications on the list, and the "Resting" clock if you switch to anything else.

  This immediately gets you more detailed reports, as the program now lists the time spent in individual applications, as well as the overall Work/ Rest balance.

  One obvious problem here is that applications are defined as just for "Work", or just for "Rest", and that doesn’t reflect the real world. You might use Skype to talk to your colleagues, or your kids, and Motivate Clock won’t be able to tell the difference.

  Still, the program can at least track your web usage in more detail with the aid of some optional browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox and Opera are supported).

  Install whatever you need, then drag or drop work URLs into your project. Use your browser as normal and Motivate Clock increments the Work clock when you’re accessing URLs on the list, and the "Resting" clock if you head off somewhere else.

  Motivate Clock isn’t the most sophisticated of time trackers, but it handles the basics well, and is so simple to use that at least you won’t waste any time setting it up. Worth a try.

  
• 

  How to enable the Dark Mode in Windows 10's Films & TV app

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 12:49pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  Windows 10 is still very much a work in progress, as are the apps that come as part of it. The November Update (aka Theshold 2) introduced some cosmetic changes throughout, and there have been other changes made in the many other updates.

  The Films & TV app recently gained a new Dark Mode which improves things greatly, but it’s disabled by default. Here’s how to turn it on.

  The Light Mode look is fine, but if you want to try out the Dark Mode it’s easy enough to enable it. You will need to be running the latest version of the app and you can check you have the correct version by opening the Windows Store, and clicking on your account icon at the top. Select Downloads and Updates, and then Check for updates. Download the latest version from the list.

  Once it’s been updated, launch the Films and TV app via the Start menu.

  Click the Settings button in the left sidebar. You’ll see a Mode menu. Select Dark to enable the dark theme. Close the app and reopen it to see the change.

  
• 

  Will 2016 be the year of Windows 10 in the enterprise? [Q&A]

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 11:34am CET par Ian Barker

  

  Businesses are notoriously reluctant to make the leap to a new operating system. But by the start of 2016 Windows 10 will have been around for six months, so can we expect next year to be the start of its taking off in the enterprise?

  We spoke to Deepak Kumar, Founder and CTO of configuration management specialist Adaptiva to get his views on the march of Windows 10 and more.

  BN: Will we see Windows 10 adopted by enterprises in a big way next year?

  DK: Yes, we will. We've already witnessed Windows 10 take off quickly, surpassing both Windows XP and OSX. Consumers are adopting Windows 10 extremely rapidly as they generally have no revenue stream at risk, IT costs to budget, compatibility testing to conduct, regulation compliance to consider, security policy to enforce, etc. Enterprises have to calculate all of those factors, and determine if the time and cost of migrating right away is worth it. Microsoft took their eye off the ball with Windows 8, but with Windows 10 they got it right. Not only have they paved a much smoother upgrade path, but they've made a great OS that delivers business-critical capabilities. Enterprises want to upgrade because of what Windows 10 can do for them in terms of integration, security, compliance, productivity and other new capabilities. I've been running Windows 10 since beta and it's rock solid.

  BN: Is this going to drive demand for migration solutions to streamline deployments?

  DK: Absolutely. IT directors are struggling to figure out how they’re going to deploy Windows 10 on thousands -- or hundreds of thousands -- of computers without breaking the budget or taking forever. Traditional enterprise deployment methods require global infrastructure, expensive consultants, and massive administrator effort. Even with those resources, migrations can take years as evidenced by the fact that some enterprises are still running Windows XP. That is no longer acceptable. The pace of business has accelerated dramatically. Global businesses are demanding new technologies that allow rapid, high-volume deployments that don't require a vast server infrastructure, additional WAN capacity, or massive professional services expenditures. Enterprises will seek infrastructure-free solutions that protect the WAN and automate nearly everything. This will help them cut years off their Windows 10 migration timelines, and realize enormous cost savings as well.

  BN: Will this provide a boost to the overall PC market?

  DK: This is something we'll see more visibly in the enterprise market specifically. Mobile devices are changing the world, there's no doubt about it. However, most of what people do in the enterprise requires a dedicated system. Have you ever tried to create a complicated spreadsheet on your phone? You can do it, but not very fast. Most people need keyboards and full-size screens to be productive. Also, the cost of laptops and PCs is unbelievably low. In some cases, you can get a highly functional computer for nearly the price of a cell phone. With the epic failure of Windows 8, many companies have held back from migrating off the aging Windows 7 on a widespread basis. With Windows 10, enterprises feel certain they have a modern OS that is a safe investment for the future. Microsoft said Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows and has moved to service branches giving businesses additional confidence. As Windows 10 grows in the enterprise, so will enterprise PC sales.

  BN: We keep hearing about how big data analytics is going to revolutionize system management, is this just hype?

  DK: It's not hype. Current integrations of big data analytics solutions are often unwieldy, leaving perishable business insights undiscovered in disconnected data silos. The solutions are complex and require enormous resources just to set up. This leaves a huge door open for vendors to provide big data solutions that are more cost effective and practical. Systems management vendors are particularly well positioned to do this, because they already have access to distributed data and key pieces of platform to conduct big data analysis. Where companies can't cost-justify a pure-play big data technology, this type of solution could provide a viable option for getting actionable intelligence from globally disparate big data.

  BN: With higher demand for data can we expect to see bandwidth usage become more regulated in order to control costs?

  DK: According to IDG, the average enterprise network will expand bandwidth at a 28 percent compound annual growth rate through 2017 due to a variety technologies including cloud computing, mobile everything, and video. IDG reports that by 2017, enterprises that do not control network use risk requiring up to 3 Mbps per user of bandwidth, more than 20 times the average needed in 2012. This sets the stage for companies to find ways to limit bandwidth use. Businesses won’t cap user data on a broad scale like cellular companies do, but they will develop policies and processes to curtail bandwidth use. At the same time, enterprises will seek to deploy more bandwidth-efficient technologies to reduce the amount of bandwidth needed.

  Photo credit: rvlsoft / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Most consumers like the idea of a single-brand ecosystem

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 10:34am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  A new Xerox report, The State of Customer Service 2015, reveals that more than half (51 percent) of consumers are comfortable with the idea of buying into a single brand ecosystem for all their technology, communications and media needs.

  By 2025, 37 percent believe a single supplier will manage their home.

  Technology consumers -- who cited 166 different brands for five different devices -- are already buying into one-brand ecosystems with 40 percent having at least two devices from the same brand. Furthermore, nearly half (43 percent) of those willing to buy into a single brand would like their chosen technology brand to be their sole supplier for telecoms and media too.

  The Xerox study, which surveyed 6,000 consumers across the media, telecoms, and technology sectors in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and the Netherlands, about their attitudes to customer care, found that technology consumers are the most satisfied, with the lowest risk of churn.

  When compared to customer satisfaction in telecommunications (34 percent) and media (41 percent), more consumers are highly satisfied with technology brands (48 percent).

  Other trends revealed by the report include:

  • It’s still bricks and mortar when buying new technology: Over a third (35 percent) of all purchases still take place in-store; 26 percent of Gen Z consumers (those aged 16 to 20) prefer to shop in-store. Despite technology users’ embrace of the store however, 26 percent of complaints to technology brands went through the call centre. Overall, the retail store is still the channel of choice for consumers contacting technology brands in France (25 percent), Germany (28 percent), the Netherlands (25 percent), and the United Kingdom (25 percent). In the United States, the call center is the channel of choice (32 percent), with 21 percent preferring the retail store.
  • The privacy vs personalization challenge: Only one in five are comfortable with brands using their personal data. At the same time, 68 percent of consumers expect at least basic personalization of communications and services from their technology brands, with only 10 percent of consumers feeling that technology brands fully understand them.
  • Consumers demand omni-channel contact: Nearly half (48 percent) of consumers were unable to contact technology brands via their preferred channels over the last 12 months. When consumers were unable to use their preferred digital channels, 60 percent stayed within the digital landscape, but one in five fell back to the call center.

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

  Photo Credit:  CLIPAREA l Custom media/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Apple Music declares war on streaming music rivals with new Taylor Swift exclusivity deal

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 4:27am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Back in June, if you recall, Taylor Swift had penned a letter to Apple regrading what she perceived as unfair practices with its music service. She was successful in convincing the company to reverse course on paying royalties during the service's free period. Unfortunately, the end result was her wildly popular 1989 album becoming an Apple Music exclusive for streaming. Shortly after, I shared some of my thoughts regarding the state of the streaming music landscape, where I stated that exclusivity could be the demise of all-you-can-eat streaming, and might increase piracy too.

  Today, Swift announces that she is once again making new content -- The 1989 World Tour LIVE -- an Apple Music exclusive. In other words, if you are a subscriber to an alternative service like Spotify or Groove Music, you will not be able to hear or see it. While this is arguably a wise business decision for Apple, it is a poor situation for both streaming music consumers and Taylor Swift fans alike. Will this help Apple, or simply hurt the streaming music business as a whole?

  "Beginning Sunday, December 20, The 1989 World Tour LIVE will be available in its entirety exclusively to Apple Music members around the world at applemusic.com/Taylorswift and can be enjoyed across devices including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC and Apple TV. Fans who don’t already have an active Apple Music account can visit apple.com/music to sign up for a three month free trial today. Plus, Apple Music is the only place where fans can stream Taylor Swift’s full catalog of albums and songs including the Grammy nominated Album of the Year, 1989", according to Taylor Swift's website.

  The website message further says, "the 1989 World Tour LIVE. The 1989 World Tour LIVE was filmed in front of 76,000 fans at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia on November 28, 2015. The 1989 World Tour LIVE captures Taylor's entire performance from Sydney with never seen footage filmed backstage and during rehearsals with surprise musical and special guests that appeared on The 1989 World Tour".

  While you may be wondering why this is a bad move for consumers, consider this -- if every streaming music service has highly desired exclusive content, there is just no way to hear it all without subscribing to multiple services. It is silly to expect people to pay for multiple subscriptions, since much content will be duplicated, and it simply siphons more money from their pockets. An increase in piracy is certainly possible as consumers become fed up.

  Luckily (for Apple's competitors), this is live content and not a new studio recording, meaning the demand will not be astronomical. While hardcore Swift fans might sign up for Apple Music and potentially cancel their existing service, I do not see the same thing happening for casual fans. In other words, a concert recording is not likely to move the dial.

  Will you sign up for Apple Music to gain access to The 1989 World Tour LIVE? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: FashionStock.com / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  Dating app Tinder teams up with the NHS to promote organ donation

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 2:11am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Tinder has long-concerned itself with affairs of the heart, but through the final couple of weeks of 2015 the dating app is switching its attention to other organs. Teaming up with NHS Blood and Transplant, Tinder is looking to raise awareness of organ donation.

  The campaign aims to highlight to 18-35 year olds the importance of organ donation, and the challenging wait for a matching organ. A number of celebrities are getting involved, changing their profile pictures to a 'The Wait' logo. When users swipe right they will be invited to sign up on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

  While you may be able to meet the love of your life by swiping right, it's not quite so simple to match up with an organ donor. This is something the app highlights by displaying the message: "If only it was that easy for those in need of a life saving organ to find a match". NHS Blood and Transplant is running an awareness campaign called The Wait, letting the public know that there are currently nearly 7,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list.

  More worryingly, over 6,000 people have died in the last ten years because they were not able to find a suitable match in time. By encouraging more people to join the donor register, it's hoped that both of these figures could be reduced.

  Tinder's Head of European Communications, Hermione Way, says:

  We're delighted to have teamed up with NHS Blood and Transplant to help save lives. Tinder users regularly make the decision to swipe left or right wondering whether someone may be the person they are looking for. While those swiping decisions are important and could be the first step to a successful relationship, we hope that the NHS profiles featuring Jamie, Jade and Gemma will encourage people to make and act upon a different decision too -- to sign up as an organ donor.

  Sally Johnson, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, says that there is a real need to translate people's good intention into actual sign-ups.

  Educating and encouraging people to sign up for organ donation -- that's what our partnership with Tinder is all about. While a third of the UK population have registered their intention to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register, millions more support donation but haven't taken the final step to sign up. With the help of these bespoke profiles on Tinder, we’ll grab people's attention and throw a spotlight on the importance of organ donation. Joining the register takes only a couple of minutes -- about the same amount of time as a few swipes on Tinder. The best part is knowing that you could save or improve up to nine individuals' lives in the future.

  If you would like to join the NHS Organ Donor Register, just head to organdonation.nhs.uk.

  Photo credit: Csaba Deli / Shutterstock

  
• 

  2016 set to be the year of malware targeting Macs and iOS

  Publié: décembre 14, 2015, 2:03am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Security has long been an issue for Windows users. The sheer number of devices running Microsoft's operating system makes it a prime target for malware and virus attacks. More recently, Apple's computers have increased in popularity and security firm FireEye says that the company will find itself in the crosshairs in 2016.

  It's not just Macs and MacBooks that are predicted to become more frequent targets, iOS is also expected to come under attack. FireEye warns that weaknesses have been found in Apple's walled garden, and this could spell danger for users. Symantec is issuing similar warnings, citing Apple's ever-growing user base as the reason.

  FireEye's researchers discovered Masque Attack back in 2014 -- an attack vector that made it possible to replace legitimate apps with malicious ones. This is not the only way that attackers have found to sneak malicious software into the App Store, and it's something that's set to continue. In a white paper entitled "Looking Forward: The 2016 Security Landscape", FireEye's Bryce Boland says:

  In 2016, Apple will become more heavily targeted. Apple's market share in desktop and mobile continues to increase, making the tech company’s products more valuable for criminals to attack. Apple’s traditionally secure software and devices have experienced some interesting threats in recent years, some of which have remained persistent and have evolved over time.

  He also warns that payment systems such as Apple Pay are likely to be targeted by criminals, and suggests that the Internet of Things means that the impact of any attack could have far greater impact than previously possible.

  Symantec reports that there were more than nine times as many OS X malware infections in 2015 compared to 2014. Researcher Dick O'Brien says:

  This is far fewer than Windows desktops and we don't want to scaremonger. Apple remains a relatively safe platform but Apple users can no longer be complacent about security, as the number of infections and new threats rise.

  Photo credit: Maen Zayyad / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Alexa app gets new alarm tones and ratings for Skills

  Publié: décembre 13, 2015, 12:41am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Amazon Echo continues to learn new tricks, with music, home automation and much more. Some of the most popular things are called "skills", which are written by third-party programmers. There's also alarms and timers, which can wake you up or tell you when your food is done cooking.

  Skills are important, as they allow Alexa to do more all the time. You can find them by opening the app and clicking the menu and then tapping on Skills. To review you will simply need to scroll down after clicking a particular one. From there you can read existing reviews and write your own.

  As for alarms sounds the retail giant had added more than ten new ones. To choose what you'd like to wake up to  you will once again head into the menu, but this time tap "alarms". From here you can choose from multiple sounds that can start your day right.

  According to Amazon you can "wake up to soothing sounds from Adrift or let Pulsar grab your attention when the alarm goes off".

  All of these features are available right now, so head into the Alexa app if you have any interest in using them.

  
• 

  Apple spams users to promote iPhone 6s

  Publié: décembre 12, 2015, 9:47pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Microsoft managed to irritate a lot of people with its heavy-handed pushing of Windows 10, and now Apple has taken a leaf out of the company's book. December may be the time when many people think about getting a new phone -- and Apple is likely to fare very well out of upgrades -- but some iPhone owners have been upset by the appearance of spam in the App Store.

  We're not talking about a mass mail-out inviting people to upgrade to the latest iPhone, but ugly, unsolicited popup ads used to push Apple's mobile. Describing the iPhone 6s as 'ridiculously powerful' the ads have been seen by those running iOS 9.1 and 9.2. It's something that could be dismissed, but spamming is unchartered waters for Apple.

  The full screen ad (shown below) is hard to miss. The interstitial features two prominent links to Learn More or Upgrade Now. The 'skip' option is not exactly hidden, but it rather disappears into the background as it is tucked out of the way. As noted by Cult of Mac, the ads have upset many people.

  

  The ad has been heavily discussed on Twitter, and the general consensus appears to be that Apple has vastly misjudged its audience.

  Have you seen the ad? Were you upset to have your App Store experience interrupted, or could you not care less?

  
• 

  Microsoft is in an apologetic mood right now -- what next? 'Sorry for Windows 10'?

  Publié: décembre 12, 2015, 9:04pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Sorry may be the hardest word, but it seems to be tripping off Microsoft's tongue quite freely at the moment. Maybe it's the holiday season making the company look at itself, but we've had two apologies in recent days -- first, a semi-apology for stealing OneDrive storage from people, and now it's sorry about the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4.

  Recognizing that many people's experiences with the latest addition to the Surface range has been "less-than-perfect", Microsoft's Josh_F has issued an apology on behalf of the company. Thanksgiving may be little more than a memory now, but Microsoft is thankful for the "open and candid feedback" (or bitching and complaining) about the latest Surface devices. With Microsoft in an apologetic mood, what else could it say sorry for?

  Writing on the Microsoft Community boards, Josh_F says that more fixes are on the way to address the problems and concerns that people have had with their Surface Books and Surface Pro 4s. Cold comfort to those struggling with problems with their devices, but it's something at least.

  First, a big thanks to all of our customers for your open and candid feedback on Surface Book and Surface Pro 4. For those of you who've had a less-than-perfect experience, we’re sorry for any frustration this has caused. Please know that we're reading your comments and hearing you loud and clear. Your input is incredibly valuable in helping us address your questions with timely updates and fixes. Since launch, we have aggressively pursued the most pressing feedback. We have already issued a number of updates via Windows Update and are working to issue additional updates and fixes as soon as possible to further improve the overall Surface experience.

  The "too long;didn't read" version? "Sorry for shipping products we knew were rubbish, but you're just going to have to keep waiting for the problems to be fixed".

  There are probably plenty of other things Microsoft might want to consider apologizing for while it's at it. How about the forced downloading of Windows 10 -- or the upgrade process that has baffled some? What about an apology for the frankly rubbish launch of Microsoft Edge which still doesn’t have extensions? How about an apology for Windows 10 in general? Someone certainly needs to offer a heartfelt apology for Windows 10 Mobile.

  But we could also look a little further back. It's never going to be too late to say sorry for Clippy, and many people would like Microsoft to offer some sort of apology for Skype, 'modern' apps, and years of subjecting people to Internet Explorer. What would you add to the list… and would 'sorry' be good enough?

  Photo credit:  Dragana Jokmanovic / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Sarah Koenig's podcast comes to Sonos, this time featuring the story of Bowe Bergdahl

  Publié: décembre 12, 2015, 3:30am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Sonos, the whole home audio system, is one the darlings of today's tech world, though it doesn't come at a cheap price. However, the device can pump out high-quality home audio throughout your dwelling  and its offerings for content keep getting better.

  Season two of Serial has just debuted and this season follows the story of Bowe Bergdahl, who people have mixed opinions of. If you aren't familiar with the story, Bergdahl was stationed in Afghanistan and left his post for, what he claims, was seeking help from superiors due to a lack of leadership in his platoon. There are many caveats and nuances to this tale, and listeners will form their own opinions about the events of that day.

  Regardless of your feelings you can now give it a listen if you happen to have Sonos installed in your home. "You can download the podcast and listen to it via your phone through Sonos, play it via Stitcher -- or, a new medium for season two, Serial is being broadcast through Pandora. All you have to do is add Serial to your stations from within the Pandora app, and it will then appear on your Pandora account via the Sonos app", the hardware makers claims.

  This particular case is a huge coup for the show as it has major ramifications. Give the show a listen and decide for yourself what to think of the story.

  
• 

  Ford plans to make 40 percent of its cars electric by 2020

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 10:39pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  The green revolution has hit the auto industry and it has become time to adapt or move on. The company started by Henry Ford has always been near the front in innovation, especially under Alan Mulally. We've seen Ford Sync evolve into the platform it now is and the introduction of electric vehicles.

  Now the company is laying out its plans for the next few years and a lot of that involves energy savings. The environment is in trouble and fossil fuels are part to blame.

  To the tune of $4.5 billion the company is jumping in feet first with "electrified vehicle solutions by 2020, including the new Focus Electric with all-new DC fast-charge capability, which delivers 80 percent charge in an estimated 30 minutes and projected 100-mile range", or at least that is the claim.

  This will total 13 new electric vehicles by the end of this decade and also signify a move in design that company claims goes towards a customer-experience-based plan.

  "The challenge going forward isn’t who provides the most technology in a vehicle but who best organizes that technology in a way that most excites and delights people", says Raj Nair, executive vice president of Product Development. "By observing consumers, we can better understand which features and strengths users truly use and value and create even better experiences for them going forward".

  This is all based on an investment in social science research. It sounds a bit new-age, but that is the direction the company wants to head in. The company has plans to double down in this area over the next year. This is all underway already, with research having been done over the past several years, much of it studying companies in other industries.

  This research is the key to everything. As founder Henry Ford said "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse".

  
• 

  Microsoft OneDrive is making it rain gigabytes -- here's how to score free cloud storage

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 8:36pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Microsoft is doing some great things lately. Between Windows 10, Xbox One and its embrace of open source, you would think the company would be put on a pedestal by its users. Unfortunately, the company acted more like Scrooge than Santa Claus when it announced it was taking away cloud storage capacity from all of its users citing abuse by a few. Not cool.

  Today, however, Microsoft is righting this wrong -- at least partially. While unlimited storage is still dead and buried, it is now possible to prevent the decrease from 15GB to 5GB. Shockingly, you can even keep your 15GB camera roll bonus too. How do you achieve this awesomeness? Just use the special link below.

  Microsoft makes the following announcement.

  You're an important part of what we do, and we want to make sure you know that. That's why we're making it possible for you to keep your base storage quota and camera roll bonus, even after the changes roll out.

  Click below and your account will not be affected when the amount of free storage changes from 15 GB to 5 GB and the +15 GB camera roll bonus is discontinued

  To score this awesome deal, simply click here and follow the instructions. Keep in mind, Microsoft could shut down this offer at any time, so I advise you to act fast. Be sure to tell your friends about it too.

  If you are successful, you will see the below message.

  

  Photo Credit: Kiselev Andrey Valerevich / Shutterstock

  
• 

  The struggle to keep up with private cloud workload demands

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 8:10pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Organizations are struggling with the ability to deliver infrastructure to end users to enable the demands of a DevOps environment.

  Those are the results of a new global survey conducted by Qualisystems, provider of private/hybrid cloud orchestration software for DevOps and cloud sandboxing.

  The Qualisystems survey queried nearly 650 architects, engineers, system administrators, IT managers, directors, VPs and C-level executives from the US and Europe at VMWorld in October.

  The survey results revealed most organizations take over one week to deliver infrastructure to end users. Seventy-five percent cannot deliver infrastructure within a typical workday.

  In addition, the number of applications with workloads that have a high mix of physical and virtual infrastructure requirements is projected to grow. Right now, 40 percent of application environments have a high mix of physical and virtual requirements, and 34 percent are network heavy.

  The private cloud is gaining traction with 30 percent of application workloads currently running in the private cloud, and 40 percent of application workloads expected to run in the private cloud within 24 months, a projected growth rate of 10 percent.

  "We see the demand on enterprises and service providers to deliver more complex applications and software-defined services as a major driver in the growth of private clouds, especially in devtest labs and DevOps oriented data centers", said Joan Wrabetz the CTO of Qualisystems. "This emphasizes the need to provide development, test and QA teams with Sandboxes that allow them to mimic complex private cloud infrastructure from development all the way to production".

  In January, Qualisystems will debut its CloudShell 6.4 product along with its strategy for launching an open community for users and developers of its CloudShell platform.

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

  Image Credit: Ferbies / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Data security is key for customer retention

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 6:03pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of consumers worldwide say they are unlikely to shop or do business again with a company that had experienced a breach where financial information was stolen, and almost half (49 percent) had the same opinion when it came to data breaches where personal information was stolen.

  This is according to a recent global survey by Gemalto, titled Broken Trust: 'Tis the Season to Be Wary, which surveyed 5,750 consumers in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States.

  Six in ten people (59 percent) believe that threats to their personal information increases during the festive season, and two in ten (18 percent) believe that they are likely to be a victim of a breach during the holiday season.

  Only a quarter (25 percent) of all respondents feel that companies take the protection and security of customer data very seriously. More than twice as many respondents feel that the responsibility of protecting and securing customer data falls on the company (69 percent) versus the customer (31 percent). Of the employed respondents, only around two fifths (38 percent) feel that their employer takes the protection and security of employee data very seriously.

  The survey revealed that 31 percent of consumers have already been affected by a data breach in the past. Around four in ten state the most likely causes for being a victim of a breach are visiting a fraudulent website (42 percent), phishing attacks (40 percent) or clicking a fraudulent web link (37 percent). The emotional impact of data breaches has also created apprehensive feelings towards businesses with nearly one fifth (19 percent) feeling they are likely to be a victim of one within twelve months to three years.

  Ninety percent of surveyed consumers feel that there are apps and websites that pose significant risks to the protection and security of their personal information. Fifty-five percent believe that social media sites expose them to the greatest risk, and around two in five consumers believe adult content and torrent apps/websites carry the greatest risk to the security of personal information.

  Around a quarter (23 percent) of respondents who have been a victim of a data breach, either have, or would, consider taking legal action against the breached company involved in exposing their personal information. Almost half (49 percent) of respondents said they would take or would consider taking legal action against any of the parties involved in exposing their personal information.

  However, the consumer is not completely absolved of responsibility. Despite the many risks involved, the survey also found that a majority (54 percent) of respondents are using the same password for all or some of their online accounts. Of the respondents who actively use social media accounts, only a quarter (25 percent) use two-factor authentication to secure all of their social media accounts.

  Of the respondents who actively use online/mobile banking, around three fifths (58 percent) say that all of their banks use two-factor authentication to secure their internet banking. This isn’t as widespread amongst retailers, however.

  Of the respondents who actively use online retail accounts, one in four (25 percent) state that all of the online retail apps/websites they use, require two-factor authentication to secure online transactions.

  

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

  Photo credit: wk1003mike / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Crystal Security is a compact cloud-based malware detector

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 3:09pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Install any anti-malware with real-time protection and you’re generally weighing down your system with services, drivers, DLLs, background processes and more.

  Crystal Security does things differently, its tiny download unpacking to a single 830KB executable which runs happily on Windows XP and later.

  Features start with an on-demand scanner. Click Quick > Quick and the program crawls over your system, using multiple engines to look for dubious files, and uploading anything suspect to VirusTotal (called "Collective Cloud" in the Settings, confusingly) and Crystal’s own cloud.

  If you need a little more, Crystal Security can be configured to start with Windows, and run daily or weekly scans.

  What’s more surprising is that the program monitors your system while running, looking out for threats, uploading anything potentially dangerous to the cloud, and alerting you if necessary.

  If you’re already using a good antivirus system then this seem unnecessary, but there are a stack of settings available to customise how it works.

  If you’re concerned about the impact on system performance, for instance, you could reduce monitoring to your program files only, maybe disable checking for created and modified objects. Crystal still watches running processes and should offer useful protection.

  Still too much? You could cut functionality back even further to monitoring startup locations only. It’s basic, but still more than enough to justify the download.

  If there’s a problem here, it’s the lack of any significant documentation. Where should you begin? What do individual functions do? How will individual settings impact your security? Mostly you’re left to figure it out on your own.

  Despite that, Crystal Security offers plenty of useful functions and features in an ultra-lightweight package, and if you’ve security experience – and the time to experiment – it’s worth a closer look.

  Crystal Security is a freeware application for Windows XP and later.

  
• 

  How fast is Google's quantum computer compared to a PC?

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 2:58pm CET par Alasdair Gilchrist

  

  Even Google’s artificial intelligence research labs can sometimes find that they just don’t have enough computing power available to them. This is despite Google owning powerful computers that just about any country in the world.

  As a result of finding some problems in the AI field too difficult to solve using conventional computers, Google has turned its interest to quantum computers. These systems can solve problems that traditional PC computers just cannot handle. This is because quantum systems tap into the mystic world of quantum mechanics.

  To satisfy its ambitions, Google acquired the Canadian company D-Wave Systems as part of its ambitious plans to accelerate their machine learning programs, which will facilitate everything from faster search to health focused businesses. Google’s interest was fueled by its desire to get hold of the D-Waves x-2, the first quantum computer that has a 1,000 qu-bits quantum processor, which Google claims is 100 million times faster than a conventional one core PC.

  Google’s Hartmut Neven, head of the Quantum AI Lab, explains: "We found that for problem instances involving nearly 1,000 binary variables, quantum annealing significantly outperforms its classical counterpart, simulated annealing. It is more than 10 to the power of 8 times faster than simulated annealing running on a single core".

  Some serious caveats around the D-Wave’s computer as it can perform only a limited set of quantum calculations, and just a few people know how to shape problems suitably for its purpose. As a result, Google has running only limited test operations on the D-Wave system, rather than the code used in the company’s day-to-day operations.

  Despite being confident that its quantum computer can blitz a single-core PC -- others have been skeptical about the D-Wave x-2’s capabilities -- the technology is unlikely to move into production anytime soon, as Neven explained.

  "While these results are intriguing and very encouraging, there is more work ahead to turn quantum-enhanced optimization into a practical technology".

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

  Photo credit: kentoh / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Best Windows apps this week

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 2:25pm CET par Martin Brinkmann

  One-hundred and fifty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

  A solid selection of apps and games has been released this week for Windows.

  Game of the week is Sniper Fury, a great looking shooting game.

  Other notable additions to the Windows Store are 3D Scan, a 3D scanner that uses Kinect, Hero Panda, a great looking Bomberman clone, and Action Note, a note taking application that integrates with the Action Center.

  As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

  Discounts This Week

  Red Stripe Deals are back. Up to six applications and games are discounted and highlighted in Windows Store each week.

  The following is this week's selection:

  • SuperPhoto, a photo editing application for $1.99
  • PDF Jack, a PDF productivity app for $2.49
  • Solitaire Mystery: Four Seasons (Full), a hidden object and solitaire game for $0.99
  • Learning Games for Kids (Educational Preschool activity in English), an educational game for young children for $2.49
  • Checkers by Post, play Checkers against human opponents for $0.99
  • Hero Panda Bomber, a Bomberman game for $0.99

  App of the Week

  Sniper Fury

  

  Sniper Fury is a shooting game in which you play an elite soldier. Play and unlock missions, better weapons, or raid the bases of other players of the game to steal their gold.

  The game is held back somewhat by its free to play mechanics, mainly that you spend energy for each mission or action you take in the game.

  Energy replenishes every four minutes to a maximum of ten which prevents you from playing the game non-stop unless you use premium currency to fill up the energy level right away.

  You use an automatic rifle or a sniper rifle during missions with objectives ranging from identifying and terminating an enemy operative to shooting down drones or preventing attacks on buildings or innocent bystanders.

  It is a fun, but ultimately basic game which may appeal to casual gamers more than it does to hardcore gamers.

  Other Apps

  Action Note

  

  Action Note is a note taking application at its core. What sets it apart is its integration with Windows' Action Center, and the options that it provides when creating notes.

  While you can use it to create text notes only, you may also use it to attach images to notes and synchronize notes across devices.

  The Machine

  

  The Machine is a challenging puzzle and dexterity game in which you try to move a small droplet of ink to the level exit.

  Each click or tap results in a jump in the selected direction. The droplet sticks to surfaces, and things begin to get complicated once traps are introduced.

  The game is challenging, offers several worlds to play through and three game modes on top of that.

  Toon Clash Chess

  

  The chess game supports hot-seat play against another human opponent or games against the computer.

  It features three difficulty levels, different camera modes, and unique chess pieces and animations.

  Some game elements, like the hot-seat mode or different themes, are only available in the pro version.

  Figure

  

  Figure is a music making application by Propellerhead. It requires no musical expertise making it dead easy to use.

  Create, share and remix tunes using drum, bass and lead synth by sliding with the mouse of finger across the play pad.

  Music can only be saved online though and not locally it appears.

  Hero Panda ($0.99 currently, no free trial)

  

  Hero Panda is a modern adaption of the classic Bomberman game in which you use bombs to destroy blocks and enemies to proceed to the next level.

  The game features more than 20 different enemies including bosses, and can be played with the keyboard, gamepad or by touch.

  3D Scan

  

  Use a Kinect to create 3D scans in real-time. You can use the Kinect to scan people or objects. and use 3D Builder afterwards to edit them.

  You may use 3D Builder afterwards to print the 3D scan using a local 3D Printer or order a print online instead if you don't have access to a 3D Printer.

  Forza Hub

  

  The application ties-in with the Forza game franchise on Microsoft's Xbox console. Get free credits or cars each month, check your overall progress or compare your performance to those of your friends.

  It features editorial content, information about new cars, as well as racing news.

  Country Friends

  

  Country Friends looks like your typical "create your farm" style of game on first glance, and while that is true to some extent, it improves the process by introducing the community farm concept.

  Basically, it allows you to grow fruits and craft products together with your friends.

  So, band together and build the best community farm out there.

  Notable Updates

  Fenice for Twitter is a universal application now. The new version of the third-party Twitter client introduces other changes such as small screen improvements.

  Big update for the Kobo Ebooks application. It is optimized for Windows 10, supports Live Tiles, Cortana and Continuum as well now.

  The Uber application for Windows has been released as a universal application.

  
• 

  Yahoo Mail app adds support for Gmail, Google Apps accounts

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 1:53pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  If an email app doesn't support multiple providers, chances are lots of potential users will not bother with it. Or they will seek alternative offerings that do. So, unsurprisingly, major players like Microsoft and Google now welcome those who have embraced rival services to Outlook and Gmail, respectively, even though they would much rather prefer they switch to their own products.

  Yahoo has followed suit, adding AOL Mail, Hotmail and Outlook.com to the list of email providers supported in its Yahoo Mail app for Android and iOS. But, as you can probably tell, there was one major service missing from the list -- Gmail. Now, there is an update that rectifies this.

  Yahoo says that Gmail (and Google Apps) users who add their accounts to Yahoo Mail will be able to take advantage of all the big features available in the app, like "powerful search, smart contacts, rich compose features and Yahoo Account Key for password-free sign-in".

  That means, for instance, that they can search through all their emails, search for contacts, and have all the changes they make immediately sync with Google's servers. There is also support for Gmail in Yahoo Mail's desktop interface, making it easy to access the accounts from PCs.

  Those who want to test the new update can grab Yahoo Mail from App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android).

  On top of supporting Gmail accounts, the iOS app now also works in Split View and supports Slide Over on iPads. On Android, the app brings back select all, adds the ability to switch between mailboxes with a single tap, makes the inbox "more readable", settings easier to navigate, touch targets bigger for the sidebar and back buttons, improves accessibility and lowers data consumption.

  
• 

  Xbox Live certificate keys exposed according to Microsoft

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 12:29pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  A lot of Xbox customers shill out the extra money for a Live account to improve the gaming experience. With the vast amount of Xbox consoles out there, that is quite a few customers. Now Microsoft is acknowledging that the keys for some of those faithful users have been exposed.

  Before you panic, this doesn't necessarily mean you've been hacked, but the possibility is there. In a new security bulletin the company claims that the SSL/TLS digital certificate keys for xboxlive.com were exposed and that this could be used by hackers for man-in-the-middle attacks.

  While the issue affects all supported versions of Windows, Microsoft claims it is unaware of any actual attacks. The software giant has taken action to ensure nothing bad happens.

  "To help protect customers from potentially fraudulent use of the SSL/TLS digital certificate, the certificate has been deemed no longer valid and Microsoft is updating the Certificate Trust list (CTL) for all supported releases of Microsoft Windows to remove the trust of the certificate", the bulletin reads.

  Microsoft has issued an update which covers "Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows RT, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10, and Windows 10 Version 1511, and for devices running Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 10 Mobile".

  For now customers don't need to panic or do anything particular to protect themselves. All of the above listed systems will be protected automatically.

  
• 

  The challenges of endpoint management in a hybrid environment [Q&A]

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 11:53am CET par Ian Barker

  

  As the IT world is changing it's not uncommon for companies to be using a mix of cloud and on-premise solutions. These hybrid environments offer a best of both worlds option but do present problems when it comes to managing resources.

  To find out how managers can address these challenges and what tools they can use to help, we spoke to Dana Epp, CTO of IT management specialist Kaseya.

  BN: The cloud is meant to make things easier, but do hybrid environments inevitably lead to greater complexity?

  DE: A lot of the complexity comes from the fact that when people start adopting the cloud IT isn't always involved. CRM systems like Salesforce can make life easier for the sales team but it becomes complex for IT if they're not part of the decisions. Over the last five years or so there are so many new tools available in the cloud and they're easy to buy with just a credit card so you don't have to be in IT to get hold of cloud services.

  This growth of 'shadow IT' means that you end up needing to implement tools and strategies to watch for these behaviors and take back control. The most important part of this is not so much the systems as the data they hold which is a corporate asset and needs to be protected. The complexity comes from understanding how you can get visibility and control, whatever tools you’re using. You also need to ensure that you have the ability to recover when things go wrong.

  BN: What do businesses need to be aware of when selecting cloud partners?

  DE: The most important thing is to realize that not all cloud partners are the same. It's vital to look at a potential partner's data center management to ensure they're providing redundancy, security, backup, and that they have the right staffing to handle the management of the systems. But having the ability to run a data centre doesn't necessarily make you a good cloud partner. Things like being able to maintain the data and have access to it are vital to companies looking at cloud services.

  You need to look for providers that have geographical redundancy, but you also need to be aware of any compliance restrictions on where data can be stored. If you’re in Europe for example you may not want your data stored in the US. Some cloud providers will have multiple data centres around the world, but it’s important to understand what happens when the system fails over, does geographical redundancy mean your data may end up somewhere it shouldn't be?

  You also need to look at what due diligence providers carry out on their systems and infrastructure. The big three, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, spend a lot of time and have dedicated staff to make sure they meet compliance obligations of different standards. One of the values of going to the cloud is that you can leverage that expertise.

  BN: How much of the move to hybrid environments is about changing the management mindset?

  DE: It's difficult for some organizations, especially at board level, to be willing to give up control. What they don't always understand is that you're not abdicating responsibility, you're delegating it to a service that can provide you with a better, more flexible and more efficient service than you could run in-house.

  You can also spin up more resources quickly when needed, so it becomes an operational expense rather than a capital one. That mind shift needs to happen and it allows you to get the job done better and faster. For example mining companies are able to use public cloud for a short period of time to do an intense amount of work, but if those servers were on-premise they would sit idle for nine or ten months of the year. In many ways cloud is just an extension of your infrastructure management. The key is to make sure the right people have access when they need it regardless of where the data is located.

  BN: Is it possible to get a 'single pane' solution that allows enterprises an overview of all their systems?

  DE: To accomplish that your technology selection and infrastructure have to be well aligned. If you're picking solutions that don't integrate and don't allow information to be shared you'll never get that single pane. At Kaseya we make sure we follow the standards that are there so that we can communicate with the devices, the data and the people so that we have that visibility.

  But of course the world is always shifting, you have IoT devices all of which have IP addresses and which need to be managed so that there's no risk to the organization. Managing everything from a single pane, therefore, is a constant challenge.

  BN: Can we expect to see more focus being placed on analytics and automation in systems management?

  DE: The more data that's available the more we can make informed decisions about what's going on. We can create a holistic report that can show business owners what type of applications they're running. The next stage is to automate that so that if, for example 13 percent of employees are using Dropbox, management can decide if that's an activity they want to permit and, if it's not, disable and uninstall the software automatically. You can also automate the ability to sign in to applications like Salesforce and manage the users.

  It helps when employees leave the organization too because you can automate the provisioning of cloud applications, reassign licenses and so on. Similarly with new starters, if the HR system is talking to other systems then an employee can automatically be added to the right groups and given access to the apps and cloud services needed to do their job, so IT doesn't have to be involved in manual provisioning.

  BN: Does that also mean companies can save on licensing costs?

  DE: Yes, if you have that visibility into applications you can de-provision licenses and reassign them. That's a potentially huge cost saving in larger organizations, by managing software and cloud use effectively they could be saving thousands of dollars every month.

  Whilst it's possible to do everything in the cloud, in reality most enterprises will have a hybrid approach. Companies should be able to use the same governance and policies to deal with all of their systems. That can save them money and deliver a better experience for the user.

  Image Credit: jannoon028 / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google adds data loss prevention tool to Gmail

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 9:51am CET par Alasdair Gilchrist

  

  Google is striving to improve the security protection for its business product Google for Work by introducing data loss prevention for its popular services such as Gmail.

  DLP is an enterprise technology that aims to reduce the data leakage of confidential and valuable data from the business. The common ways that data leakage occurs is through emails and storing files to employee’s personal cloud storage services.

  By providing DLP on its Gmail services for business, Google hope to mitigate the risks of data leakage through its popular email service. The way DLP works is that a gateway device sits and monitors traffic leaving the business via the internet firewall/gateway.

  By inspecting the content of outgoing emails, the text and attachments, against preconfigured rules and file categorization, DLP can intercept and block emails that contain confidential or valuable data from leaving the business. An example, of this type of valuable data could be for example an email that contains text detailing a customer’s personal details such as their credit card numbers.

  DLP is very efficient but does require an initial administrator’s time to go through and categorise all the files and set them priorities. DLP can check against information at rest (in a database), in action (being used by an application) or in motion (traveling across the wire).

  Furthermore, administrators can use specific keywords or expressions to create their own powerful filters, and then determine the action taken. For example, an email may be blocked, returned to the sender to edit, or placed in quarantine for further examination. However, in each case the sender will be automatically informed of the situation.

  Google says, "Starting today, if you’re a Google Apps Unlimited customer, Data Loss Prevention for Gmail will add another layer of protection to prevent sensitive information from being revealed to those who shouldn’t have it".

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

  Photo Credit: Bloomua/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Here's why Apple's products are so popular in the enterprise

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 9:51am CET par Anthony Spadafora

  

  In 2015, Apple was very successful in reaching users working in education and enterprise. JAMF Software, a company that specializes in Apple device management, conducted a survey in which it noted a large uptick in the adoption of Apple devices in both fields as a result of user preference.

  Apple has secured a foothold in today’s enterprise environment and its devices are now integral to many businesses. Enterprise IT professionals have noted how strongly support has grown for the company’s various platforms with 96 percent of internal teams supporting Mac, 81 percent supporting iPad, and 84 percent supporting iPhone. As more companies have tried to reduce cost and appeal to the preferences of their employees, support for Apple’s products have increased as well.

  Support for Apple’s platform is also very strong in the field of education with over 90 percent of those surveyed confirming that their schools or higher education institutions offer support for Apple’s devices and services. The number of Macs and iPads in classrooms has increased as well. JAMF software attributes this to Apple’s rich ecosystem, overall appeal, native security features, and the way in which using Apple devices reduces maintenance costs.

  The continued growth of Apple’s presence in the enterprise market has helped create competition and growth in what was once a very stagnant field. Its products have also helped a greater adoption of the bring your own device to work movement.

  Apple has had presence in the field of education since the company donated Apple 1s to schools in 1975 and it is impressive to see the company continue to have a presence there.

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

  Photo credit: 360b / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Listen up! Pandora arrives on the new Apple TV

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 3:54am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  The brand new Apple TV is now on the market, and it is receiving some attention. Capability is in the eye of the beholder, but of course, being Apple, it has its fans. This time around the platform has opened up a bit more and slipping in now is music darling Pandora.

  The streaming service is announcing that it is now launching on the the new Apple TV. The service already supported many different devices, but this adds one more to the arsenal.

  "We are excited to expand the devices we support with the release of the Pandora app on Apple TV. We continue to focus on an elegant and simple design for music listening and discovery to complement the Apple TV experience", states Chris Phillips, chief product officer at Pandora. "Our team worked to ensure Pandora would be ready in time for listeners to enjoy during the holiday season".

  Customers will find all of the features they expect from any Pandora app. This includes creating personal stations, giving a thumbs up or down to particular tracks and discovering new music, which is perhaps the best part of Pandora.

  This platform adds to the extensive list that already exists, including game consoles, set-top boxes, smart TVs, wearables, computers and much more. It even works well on Amazon Echo. If you have the new Apple TV then you can grab the app now, providing you live in the US, Australia or New Zealand.

  Photo Credit: racorn/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Griffin Survivor Play will protect your Apple TV Siri Remote while improving ergonomics

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 3:05am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  This year has been quite an Apple-themed affair for me. I bought the new iPad mini 4, iPhone 6s Plus and the newest Apple TV. While I love all three, the TV-connected box has been the most surprising. What do I mean by this? Well, while I expected it to be great, I didn't realize just how much fun it would be. Besides being a very capable media box, it is quite the enjoyable gaming console, and I adore the intuitive Siri Remote.

  While the Siri Remote works well and feels pretty great in my hands, it is obviously fragile. If I was to fall asleep watching a movie or something, and it fell out of my bed onto the hardwood floor, I am not confident that it would survive. The glass trackpad would probably shatter. Today, however, Griffin announces the availability of the Survivor Play protective case for the Siri Remote. This inexpensive accessory will help prevent damage.

  "Survivor Play for Siri Remote lets users get a grip on gaming with its no-slip, impact absorbing silicone that surrounds the remote’s back and edges. It adds extra cushioning on the edges and corners of the Siri Remote and protects the places most likely to be damaged if the remote is dropped. Even if the Siri Remote goes flying across the room from rowdy gaming, Survivor Play is designed to keep it safe when it lands", says Griffin.

  

  The popular accessory-maker further says, "the textured silicone and extra thick grips on the back of Survivor Play make it easy and comfortable to hold onto no matter how the Siri Remote is held, or how long it's used for playing games. Survivor Play also doesn’t get in the way of anything, allowing easy access to Siri Remote's buttons, touchscreen, mic and Lightning charge port".

  Not only does this silicon case protect the Siri Remote, but it should improve ergonomics too. In other words, it should make it more comfortable; the increased size and the curves should create a more natural fit in your hands. If you plan on playing games for many hours in a row, this would be a smart buy.

  These benefits are reasonably priced too, as the Survivor Play is just $19.99. Unfortunately, it is only available in white for now. If the accessory proves popular, I hope the company will expand the selection to red, blue, green and more.

  Want to buy it? You can get it here. If you do buy it, tell me about it in the comments below.

  
• 

  Google Wallet now lets you send money to anyone via text

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 1:21am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The likes of PayPal have long made it possible to send money to friends, family, and businesses via email. The same is true of Google Wallet, but a new update means that an email address is no longer needed -- a text is all it takes.

  If you have someone's mobile number, you have everything you need to send them money. Google assures payers that the SMS-based system is secure, but it remains to be seen how popular an option it proves to be.

  The feature is being pitched as a way to send money to anyone in your contact list. In a few taps, you can fire a payment off to a phone number and Google says that "the recipient will get a text message with a secure link".

  In order to claim the money, the recipient needs to simply provide their debit card details and it will be transferred to their bank account.

  You can grab the latest version of the app from Google Play or the App Store. If you don’t see the new payment feature straight away, it should be available in the next few days.

  Photo credit: Mmaxer / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Apple loses ground to Android in Europe

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 1:18am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Google is succeeding in keeping Apple at bay in Europe. The latest figures from Kantar show that Android is growing in popularity in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain (known collectively as EU5), while iOS growth is slowing.

  The data covers smartphone sales in Europe's five largest markets in the three months ending October 2015. Android's popularity had been falling over the previous year, but sales in the last quarter see a return to growth that Google will hope to see continue into 2016 and beyond.

  In the UK, Android's comeback is being attributed, at least in part, to the success of handsets from LG and Samsung. Around Europe, different handsets prove popular in different countries. Samsung and LG fare well in the UK, France laps up Samsung, and Huawei is the current brand du jour in Italy and Spain.

  Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's chief of research, Carolina Milanesi says:

  In Europe's big five markets, thanks to a strong performance in Italy, Spain, and France, Android showed year-over-year growth, but that OS success did not produce a clear vendor win, as different names showed strength in different countries: Huawei in Italy and Spain, and Samsung in France. The decline in iOS was marginal, and primarily driven by a deceleration of growth in Great Britain and Germany. Sales of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus already represented close to a third of iOS sales in Europe's big five markets.

  It's certainly not all bad news for Apple; in the US, the company managed to grab more than a third of the smartphone market (33.6 percent). While this is a continuation of iOS's year-on-year market share drop, it represents a quarter-on-quarter increase.

  With the approaching holiday period, one of the busiest times for smartphone sales beckons, so it will be interesting to see how things look in the New Year. In the meantime, check out the current Kantar figures.

  Photo credit: Dragon Images / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Facebook becomes more adept at dealing with crappy connections

  Publié: décembre 11, 2015, 12:41am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  With projects like Internet.org, Facebook has shown that it is interested in getting the world connected. But the truth of the matter is that no matter where you may be in the world, there are times when it can be impossible to get a decent phone signal to allow you to post a photo of your meal.

  Joking aside, in countries where people are struggling with 2G connections or otherwise unreliable signals, making use of Facebook's News Feed can be difficult. The social network is rolling out new technology that will make it possible for people with slow connections to now only see relevant news stories on a poor connection, but also post comments when offline.

  Facebook has learned that few people take the time to scroll through their News Feed in its entirety. A new update takes this into account -- when a user tries to look at their News Feed when they have no signal, as-yet-unseen but already downloaded stories will be surfaced so there is still 'new' content to read.

  Writing on the Facebook engineering blog, Chris Marra and Alex Sourov explain what is being done to improve the user experience:

  We also factor in whether the images for the story are available. This way we can immediately display relevant stories you haven't seen yet, instead of showing a spinner while you wait for new stories. When we receive new stories from the server when you're back online, we load and rank those stories normally. We rank relevant, already downloaded stories upon startup of the app, when you navigate to News Feed from the app or pull down to refresh stories at the top of your feed, or as you are scrolling through your News Feed.

  This is not the end of things, however. An experiment is also underway that sees News Feed content being updated periodically, whenever a connection is available so there is genuinely new content to see when the Facebook app is loaded. A similar technique is being used to allow for 'offline' commenting. Comments can be written and pseudo-posted even if there is no connection available, and they will be posted as soon as possible.

  Photo credit: tulpahn / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Here are apps that drain your battery the most

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 10:53pm CET par Phoebe Jennelyn Magdirila

  

  As most people nowadays rely on smartphone applications to do tasks or to be entertained, security firm AVG Technologies has recently released its updated list of the most battery-draining, as well as the data and storage consuming applications there are today.

  According to over a million anonymous devices gathered worldwide, AVG’s report showed that messaging apps Kakao Talk and WhatsApp, as well as social networking apps Facebook and Instagram, remain to be the top apps that drain a device’s battery and use up the users’ storage and data.

  AVG said that WeChat is also following suit -- the app consumes battery the moment a user turns on his Android device and secretly guzzles the devices’ resources.

  In addition, Microsoft’s Outlook is said to be "not playing nicely" as the email application has also made its way to the top 10 resource drainers.

  In the gaming sector, Supercell’s Clash of Clans is the tom battery draining game, while My Talking Tom Free and My Talking Angela Free are considered the most resource-draining apps as its graphics and the game-play will consume a lot of the users’ data.

  AVG also saw that the usage of the app Ashley Madison -- after a hack that exploited a lot of personal information -- has been on the rise again since July.

  Performance Expert Sandro Villinger said in the AVG Performance & Trends report that the easy drainage of the smartphone’s battery is not always to be blamed to the device, It sometimes may also be due to the app’s intense use of graphics notifications, and background checks.

  The security firm advises users to turn of notifications and data-consuming functions when running out of juice or data, to allow your device to last a little longer.

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

  Photo Credit: Kheng Guan Toh/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google shares spirit of the season

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 9:58pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  Ho. Ho. Ho. Google gives early Christmas presents this holiday, by focusing on ways that families (or roomies) can better share that which is contextually precious: music, photos, online, payments, and videos. But Big G also trails Apple, which already offers its customers many of the same benefits.

  Fresh today: Google Photos Shared Albums, which applies collaborative concepts that Apps users should find familiar. "People receiving the shared album can join to add their own photos and videos, and also get notifications when new pics are added", according to the official announcement. "You can even save photos and videos from a shared album to your Google Photos library, so that you can hold onto them even if you weren’t the one holding the camera".

  Shared Albums are available from web browsers or Android and iOS apps. On the web, choose a pic, click the three vertical dots top-right and then "add to shared album". Process is simple and not exactly cutting-edge innovation. Photo sharing is widely available, particularly using static links.

  Also new today: Chromecast Audio adds a multi-room synchronous music feature. The device turns wired speakers wireless, and the new function essentially links together multiple CAs attached to speakers in different rooms. Once synced, the same music plays in all the rooms. Given Chromecast Audio's bargain basement $35 pricing, Google makes upgrading your woofers wirelessly on the cheap.

  Yesterday, Google Music Family Sharing debuted for the same price as Apple's similar plan: $14.99 monthly. But Big G is stinger, allowing five unique accounts to share a single subscription; Apple Music is six. But Google kicks in something more; YouTube Red, which is the video service's new ad-free sub. Already, individual Google Music subscribers get Red for free, now it's a shared affair—and helluva bargain.

  Something else: Like Apple, Google lets families make payments from a single account—the dryly-named Family Payment Method. Users set up group pay to support services like Google Music Family Sharing. Depending on how the main account holder restricts or enables purchases, the group can make app, book, magazine. movie, music, or TV show purchases.

  

  And finally: I can't resist mentioning Google's Deck-the-Halls gift wrapping of something the family might already share—and this one could cost you: Decor for the OnHub router, which I reviewed in September. There's a handy Maker's Gallery for dressing up your device, and Google sells $29 shells. Seriously? Have you got a 3D printer and nothing to use it for? Google gives instructions on making a shell for your OnHub.

  Photo Credit:Shutterstock/gpointstudio

  
• 

  Docker: The business benefits

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 8:46pm CET par Barclay Ballard

  

  Considering it only came into existence in 2013, Docker has experienced a monumental rise in both the consumer and business markets. From such humble beginnings, (the earliest version of the technology was developed by founder Solomon Hykes in his mother’s basement), Docker has managed to secure a number of high-profile partners and earlier this year received a valuation in excess of $1 billion. But what exactly is Docker?

  According to the company itself, "Docker allows you to package an application with all of its dependencies into a standardized unit for software development". The way in which Docker does this is through a software feature known as a container. These containers encompass everything that a piece of software needs to operate, including code, system tools, system libraries, runtime -- essentially anything that can be run on a server. In this respect, the way in which Docker enables infrastructure virtualization is nothing new, but in other ways it is really shaking up the virtual machine market.

  Although Docker containers are similar to virtual machines in terms of resource isolation and allocation, they take a different approach to software architecture. Whereas virtual machines rely on a guest operating system to run their applications, even small differences between environments can result in a lot of unwanted complexity and headaches for IT managers. Docker containers, on the other hand, share their operating system (in this case the Linux kernel) so they run as isolated processes regardless of the host operating system.

  As Docker proudly admits, this means that its containers can "run on any computer, on any infrastructure and in any cloud". The portability, flexibility and simplicity that this enables, is a key reason why Docker has been able to generate such strong momentum.

  Understanding the Business Benefits

  For software development firms, there are many benefits of using Docker. Firstly, the flexibility offered by Docker containers means that engineers can focus on delivering a product to their customers. Rather than spending time on compatibility issues and different programming languages, they can instead focus on innovative new features, improving the user interface and correcting coding flaws.

  Software companies can also rest easy that their application will deliver a consistent performance regardless of the infrastructure being used by the host device. Normally, developers would have to manage several different dependencies and configurations for each environment, but with Docker that’s no longer necessary.

  As a result, Docker has enabled businesses to ship software at a much faster rate than was previously possible. Docker containers can also be scaled up or down, depending on demand in just seconds, meaning that resources are used more efficiently. When it comes to serving updates and patches, Docker containers also offer ease-of-use.

  Problem containers can be isolated and engineers can roll back to the relevant stage in the software development cycle, make the required changes and push the upgraded container back into action. The isolation provided by each container means that making these changes causes far less disruption to other software compared to other development approaches.

  This has enabled a faster and more dynamic approach to software creation -- in fact, recent research suggests that Docker accelerates application delivery by as much as 600 percent.

  For businesses that use a lot of software packages, Docker also has its advantages. As well the portability that containers provide, companies will discover that they no longer need a separate virtual machine for each application that they’re using. This can greatly reduce the amount of processing power required, giving businesses the freedom to embrace more applications or simply streamline their operations.

  The Bigger Picture

  Docker is not only important for businesses in terms of the advantages it can offer. Because it is an open source project, it feeds into the spirit of collaboration and connectivity that more and more organizations are getting on board with.

  For Docker, and many other open source technologies, this means that the community is just as important as the software itself. By creating a common framework for developers and system administrators to work from, Docker has enabled the distribution and sharing of content. The Docker Hub lets software engineers distribute and manage images and get others to test their applications seamlessly.

  It’s also not just individual developers that are part of the Docker ecosystem either. Partnerships are in place with some of the world’s largest technology companies, including the likes of Amazon and Microsoft. Similarly, Google has released its own Docker container management and orchestration tool called Kubernetes, while Rackspace CEO John Engates admits that, although his company were initially skeptical of Docker, they are now fully on-board.

  "Docker is the next generation of virtualization and we’re proud to be on the cutting edge of one of the major transformations in IT", he said. "Our hope is that the Docker open source project will be a key component of a planet scale cloud".

  Having highlighted the many benefits of the Docker open source project, it is important for businesses to realise that it might not be suitable for every situation. Some applications may have too many complexities to fit neatly in a container and issues can also arise regarding replication, scheduling and install services.

  The simplicity that is one of Docker’s main selling points is also one of its weaknesses. Legacy software, in particular, can prove problematic, so it’s unlikely that Docker will kill off virtual machines completely. Many businesses are continuing to use VMs for certain apps, while embracing Docker for others.

  What the future holds for Docker in the business environment is difficult to say, particularly as it is still a relatively young project. The fact that other companies, such as Canonical and Joyent, are now offering rival container services is a good sign for the technology, as greater competition will likely result in better services for all concerned.

  In the meantime, businesses from a broad range of industries could stand to benefit from the unique approach to software development and management offered by Docker.

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

  
• 

  Google makes affordable Chromecast Audio dongle even better with cool new features

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 6:51pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Not all devices need to be innovative to make an impact. Sometimes a product can simply be bred from commonsense and recognizing customer need. The pièce de résistance, however, is competitive pricing. All of these things are traits of the very cool Chromecast Audio dongle.

  If you aren't familiar, it is a $35 device which allows you to easily stream music from your devices to a speaker. It is hardly revolutionary, but exceptional in its execution. Today, Google announces new features -- just in time for the holidays -- which make the inexpensive product even better.

  "Now you can easily fill every room in your home -- bedroom, kitchen, living room, or wherever you have a Chromecast Audio connected --with synchronous music. Connect and setup a Chromecast Audio device for each of your speakers, then use the latest Chromecast app to create a group. You can cast to the group the exact same way you would cast to a single Chromecast device. Anyone with a phone can easily cast without pairing too, so throw a party, sync your home speakers together, and invite your friends to be the DJ", says Tomer Shekel, Product Manager, Google.

  Shekel further says, "close your eyes and imagine the musician is playing in the room. Today we're rolling out high-resolution audio support, which gives you even higher quality music playback using Chromecast Audio. With support of up to 96KHz/24bit lossless audio playback, you can enjoy higher-than-CD-quality audio on your existing high fidelity audio equipment".

  While expanded audio support is appreciated, please keep in mind that this doesn't really matter unless your source material is in that format. Low-quality mp3s that you downloaded from Napster a decade ago, or from typical streaming music services, will not be magically improved by this. The Chromecast Audio is not likely to be on the radar of many audiophiles, so this feature, while appreciated, will probably be very underutilized.

  I am more excited by the ability to sync multiple dongles together. At $35 a pop, it is totally affordable to create an immersive audio experience throughout an entire house. This could be really useful when throwing a party, but it could have business uses too, such as transmitting a communication to multiple meeting rooms.

  If you are still needing to buy Christmas gifts for people, the $35 Chromecast Audio is a great choice, made even better by the addition of today's newly introduced features. Will you buy it for someone this holiday season? Tell me in the comments.

  
• 

  UK software engineer salaries lag behind those in the US

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 5:17pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  London has long been a global tech hub, but a new study indicates that salaries for software engineers in the UK capital are lagging behind those of major tech centers in the US.

  The study of salary data from tech marketplace Hired shows that, compared to San Francisco and New York, UK companies actually offer the lowest average salaries for software engineers.

  When adjusted for cost of living, an engineer earning an average salary in San Francisco would make the equivalent of £86,000 ($130,000) a year, while an engineer earning an average salary in New York would make an equivalent of £81,000. By contrast, in London the average developer salary is £54,000 a year, making San Francisco and New York salaries are 37 percent higher and 33 percent higher respectively.

  "Our data science team spent many hours digging into this information to find out not only how different tech hubs like New York, San Francisco and London stack up against one another in terms of salary, but also how that translates into quality of life in those markets", says Lindsey Scott, Director of Communications writing on the Hired blog. "While most people know that software engineer salaries are particularly high in San Francisco, they often don’t fully understand how the cost of living impacts those figures".

  Perhaps unsurprisingly the data reveals that, generally speaking, the larger the company the greater the salary offered. For early stage startups that can't compete with larger companies on salary, perks like flexible working hours or the ability to work remotely are an important part of the overall package to help attract candidates. Many of the companies featured in the report cite additional perks, with 18 percent offering flexible working hours, while 16 percent free lunches.

  The report also shows that although London businesses are hiring talent in the UK, they are also very willing to recruit from across Europe. Some 28 percent of UK job placements were from other parts of Europe or from the US, with San Francisco-based candidates receiving the highest number of offers from London companies. European candidates were drawn primarily from Spain, Sweden, and France.

  More information can be found in the full report which is available to download from the Hired site.

  Image Credit: Duc Dao / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Windows 10: Security features for the enterprise

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 3:58pm CET par Mike Raggo

  

  The introduction of mobile into the workplace has destroyed previous enterprise security models, introducing a modern operating system (OS) architecture that puts the employee in the driver’s seat.

  At the same time, breaches targeting traditional Windows operating systems are at an all-time high, with over 1 billion records compromised in the last two years.

  In response, Microsoft has made several updates to its operating system to make it easier for IT security professionals to protect corporate data, without affecting the user experience -- a win-win for everyone in the enterprise.

  Welcome to the Mobile-Driven Enterprise

  With traditional enterprise IT architectures, IT departments focused on controlling the flow of data by maintaining a network perimeter. All software was preinstalled and several security agents ran on the desktop device to protect the system, but performance often suffered in the process.

  Now, employees can choose their own devices, select from a catalog of IT services, and update the OS on their own devices.

  As a result, data now lives everywhere on devices, in apps, in the cloud, and on-premises, so IT security professionals have to be confident that data is secure even when it is far outside the perimeter.

  Protection at the File Level

  Windows 10 resolves a number of security and mobile device management issues evident in previous versions, that included the use of an open file system and OS kernel, vulnerable to modifications by other applications.

  With modern operating systems, security is focused on protecting apps and data.

  Apple introduced a sandboxed architecture to isolate data at the application level and protect both the file system and the operating system from unauthorised access. OS X, Android, and Windows 10 now follow this same model.

  Management Primitives (MDM and EMM APIs)

  Modern mobile architectures, including Windows 10, have introduced the concept of enterprise management primitives. Management primitives are ways to take certain OS-level actions, such as installing or deleting an app, storing a certificate, or configuring connectivity, that can only be accessed by a trusted platform.

  With Windows 10, the operating systems have been converged so that security and mobile devices can be managed from a central location. Management primitives allow the OS kernel to remain secure while providing the enterprise with appropriate controls.

  Advanced Data Loss Protection

  While the traditional enterprise security model of locking-down devices and desktop VPNs, has given way to securely enabled mobile devices, IT must still meet enterprise security requirements and address privacy concerns for mobile employees.

  To help protect business apps and data on Windows devices, Microsoft has introduced EDP in Windows 10. With EDP devices can determine whether to protect data or not, depending on where it comes from.

  If data is categorized as business data, Microsoft will encrypt and protect the information by default and store the data in a secure virtual container on the device.

  IT is also able to set the authorized applications able to access the business data. For example, if an employee downloads a business attachment in Outlook, and then tries to post an image of that attachment on a personal Facebook page, the device could block the action.

  Secure Remote Access

  Another new feature in Windows 10 is that both Windows Store and Win 32 apps are able to execute application allow and deny lists through AppLocker.

  AppLocker is a Windows feature that allows IT admins to define rules to allow or deny applications based on unique file identities, group policy, or user role.

  Available for Windows Phone, laptops, and PCs, this platform provides a reliable way for third-party VPN solution providers to implement their VPN inside of Windows. This also allows IT to create a secure list of applications that have access to the VPN on any Windows 10 device.

  A New Era of IT Security

  As a result of these fundamental architecture changes, the old model of Windows desktop computing, with its anti-virus software, cumbersome patches, license management, long deployment cycles, and the IT security approach of locking-down devices, are fading away.

  Modern operating systems, such as Windows 10, allow companies to move from the traditional, time-consuming, and costly full imaging of a device, to a distributed security model that enables business users to upload and retrieve enterprise data from anywhere on multiple devices.

  The upgrades to Windows 10 make it easier for the IT department to secure and manage corporate data in a new mobile world.

  Mike Raggo, director of Security Research, MobileIron.

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

  Image Credit: Manczurov / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Samsung's TV app Smart View hits beta

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 3:16pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Do you have a Smart TV? The devices have become increasingly popular and many on the market today now come with apps built in. Even set-top box maker Roku has launched a service that manufacturers can use.

  One of the top makers of big screens is Samsung and it aims to stay near the top of the market with its latest feature that it calls Smart View. Its currently a beta and only available on select TVs, but it works with the app on Android, iOS and Windows PCs.

  The service was originally designed to work with Galaxy devices, so this is an attempt to expand and encompass a greater range of customers, which makes good business sense.

  The range of TVs this works with is fairly broad, but you'll need one manufactured since 2011, up until present you should be fine.

  "Once a device is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as a Smart TV, consumers can immediately use the Smart View service simply by choosing which TV set to connect with. At the push of a button, this intuitive, newly designed app can instantly transfer content stored on mobile devices and PCs to TVs. Consumers can also use multiple functions simultaneously, and access other apps on their mobile devices without affecting the sharing function. For example, consumers can browse the internet on their smartphone, while watching a movie via Smart View on their Samsung Smart TV", the company announces.

  While this is a beta version for now, Samsung expects to launch the final product in early 2016. Customers can find out more and get download links by visiting www.samsung.com/smartview.

  
• 

  Karma is the name of GoPro's upcoming drone

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 2:33pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  While GoPro appears to be focused solely on action cameras, the company wants to expand its horizons by entering the drone market. At this year's Code Conference, CEO Nick Woodman announced that a quadcopter is in the works. It is expected to be released in the first half of 2016.

  GoPro has not revealed much else about the upcoming drone, only suggesting that it will be priced to appeal to consumers -- but, considering how expensive some of GoPro's action cameras are, that does not mean much. Now we also know what it will be called -- Karma.

  By entering the drone market, GoPro would go up against DJI -- and other established players -- which is behind some very popular quadcopters used by amateurs and professionals alike for aerial footage.

  GoPro has a chance to gain serious share in that segment, as its action cameras as regarded as the best in the market. And, those are typically the kind of cameras that are suitable for such usage, as they are light, small and capable of keeping up with fast-moving subjects.

  The latest models also happen to have the best image quality around and features that make them suitable for professional use. And while we don't know exactly how much it'll cost, I expect it to be aimed at more demanding shoppers, who want an offering that is ready to go right out of the box.

  GoPro has released a video, seemingly shot with Karma, which gives us an idea of the image quality that users should expect to get. You can watch it below.

  
• 

  Walmart introduces its own payment app for Android and iOS

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 2:33pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay -- it seems to be the latest trend in mobile devices. Each wants you to use its service and, in some cases all will work at a particular retailer. But, instead of accepting the existing ones, Walmart has decided to launch its own rival to them.

  The giant retail chain is announcing Walmart Pay with the good news being that it isn't launching its own phone that you need to purchase first. It will work with both iOS and Android; Windows Phone users once again get left out. Walmart is the first retailer to launch its own payment service.

  The new app will work with all credit and debit cards as well as store gift cards. "The Walmart app was built to make shopping faster and easier", says Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce. "Walmart Pay is the latest example -- and a powerful addition -- of how we are transforming the shopping experience by seamlessly connecting online, mobile and stores for the 140 million customers who shop with us weekly".

  This is more than just pay, the feature is being built into the existing app so customers can shop with it as well as pay with it. The retailer promises an easy experience at checkout -- just open and scan. Sounds easy, we'll see how it works.

  Image Credit: trekandshoot/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google Drive -- finally -- gets a decent search tool

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 1:24pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  With Google/Alphabet having search so deeply ingrained in its DNA, it is somewhat surprising that the search capabilities found in Drive have been so limited. Now that changes. The cloud storage service, at long last, has a search tool that's worth using.

  As well as rolling out to the web, Google Drive's new search options are also making their way to iOS and Android devices. Apple users in particular have something to look forward to thank to support for 3D Touch and deeplinking.

  Of course, the ability to search Google Drive is not new, but there are finally the more advanced filtering options that users have been waiting for. This means that it is possible to home in on files from any device. Writing on the Google Drive blog, group product manager Steen Andersson highlights the new was in which users can search for files:

  • Narrow your search to a file type from the search box on Android, iOS, and the web.
  • Open advanced search instantly from the search box.
  • Access recent files or search Drive from the home screen using 3D Touch on iOS.
  • Search Drive using the iOS search bar without opening the Drive app.

  In addition to this, it is now also possible to use advanced search parameters such as ownership, date modified, and contents. The rollout is now underway, so if you don’t yet see the changes, you will very soon.

  
• 

  Humans reclaim the web from the bots

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 12:44pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  For the first time in five years, humans were the ones responsible for the majority (51.5 percent) of all online traffic, up from just 38.5 percent in 2013.

  This is according to the latest Imperva Incapsula Bot Traffic Report which shows that good bot traffic decreased, from 31 percent in 2013 to 19.5 percent in 2015, while bad bot traffic remained static, at around 30 percent.

  What's the difference between good and bad bots? Good bots assist the web's evolution and growth. Their owners are legitimate businesses who use bots to assist with automated tasks, including data collection and website scanning.

  Bad bots are the malicious intruders that swarm the internet and leave a trail of hacked websites and downed services. Their masters are the bad actors of the cyber security world, from career hackers to script kiddies. In their hands, bots are used to automate spam campaigns, spy on competitors, launch DDoS attacks or execute vulnerability scans to compromise websites on a large scale.

  The decline in good bot traffic isn't simply due to greatly reduced activity by a few groups of bots. The report shows that it's across the board, with 442 of 484 good bot clients displaying negative growth or an extremely low growth of less than 0.01 percent. Individually, none of them declined by more than two percent. Moreover, out of 42 good bots that displayed increased activity, only one displayed an increase of more than one percent.

  Another interesting finding is that bot traffic to small and medium sized websites is increasing while that to larger and more popular sites is down. Human traffic on the other hand is up thanks to an increase in the number of people able to access the web and the fact that we're staying online for longer.

  Analysis of bad bot traffic shows that while 'impersonators' -- bots designed to bypass security solutions -- are up, other types are down. This includes a decline in spam bots, put down to the fact that Google penalizes hosts and sites that benefit from spam links.

  You can see more of the report's findings in infographic form below.

  

  
• 

  [Updated] Webhost Easily hit by malware attack

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 12:27pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  UK webhosting company Easily has emailed its customers to inform them that it has fallen victim to a malware attack. COO Edwina McDowall says that the assailant is, as yet, unknown but steps have been taken to eliminate the malware.

  The company warns that all customers should change their passwords as a precautionary measure, but seeks to assure people that credit card details have not been compromised.

  The company has not revealed -- publicly -- how many customers have been affected by the attack but says that domain name ownership was never at risk. McDowall says that a forensic investigation by an external team uncovered the malware. Writing to customers whose accounts were not directly affected by the attack she said:

  The investigation revealed that a list of domain names registered on behalf of our customers was accessed. However, none of the domain names that are registered to you were featured on the list that was accessed.  We have found no evidence that your account details, passwords or any personal information which could identify you was accessed. However, as a precautionary measure, we recommend that you change the password which you use to log into easily.co.uk.

  BetaNews has contacted Easily to find out more about the extent of the attacks, and we'll update this article when we hear more.

  Update

  The following statement has now been issued:

  NetNames can confirm that we have taken action to isolate and remove malware which was found on our internal systems.

  A forensic investigation by independent experts has confirmed that unauthorised access was gained to our internal systems and a list of domain names registered on behalf of our clients was accessed. This information is already publicly available on the “WHOIS” database which is a public listing of domain names. There is no evidence that any account details, passwords or personal information which could identify individual customers was accessed.

  However, as a precaution, we are contacting all of our customers to recommend that they change the password which they use to log into our portals.

  We will continue to prioritise and invest in our security systems.

  Photo credit: wk1003mike / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Retail data breaches threaten customer loyalty

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 11:53am CET par Ian Barker

  

  A high percentage of Americans would change their shopping habits if their favorite retailer was hit by a data breach according to a new study.

  Data security specialist Vormetric commissioned the survey over 1000 US adults from Wakefield Research which found that for 85 percent of respondents the significant personal consequences that can result from a breach would cause them to find a new place to shop.

  Factors that would cause them to take their business elsewhere are, if money was taken from their checking account (67 percent), unauthorized charges appearing on their credit card (62 percent), leakage of personal information (57 percent), and damage to their credit score (54 percent).

  "It's been two years since major retail attacks made 'data breach' a household word", says Tina Stewart, VP of marketing at Vormetric. "The revelation of a major data breach following the Black Friday weekend in 2013 was the starting point for two record years of data breaches that have followed. Events since then have demonstrated just how much financial and reputational havoc a data breach incident can wreak on beloved brands".

  The results underline the fact that retailers need to take security seriously or risk losing their customers. Protecting data by meeting minimum compliance requirements is no longer sufficient to guard sensitive data. Many recent retail breaches have occurred at organizations that were certified compliant with highly ranked standards like PCI-DSS.

  "The time has come for retailers -- and indeed all organizations -- to embrace a data-centric mindset and change their approach to how their data is protected", says Sol Cates, CSO at Vormetric. "With attackers now using multi-phase approaches to breach organization's perimeters and networks, a stronger focus on better securing company data where it is stored is required. Encryption and access controls are now front-line defenses for defending data at rest. With encryption becoming increasingly easier to implement, there is no excuse for not protecting your organization’s sensitive data, regardless of where it resides".

  More information on how retailers can protect themselves is available in the 2015 Insider Threat Report on Vormetric's website.

  Image Credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Open Live Writer is an open source fork of Windows Live Writer

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 11:38am CET par Mike Williams

  

  Microsoft’s blog editor Windows Live Writer has been revived with an independent open-source fork, Open Live Writer.

  OLW’s first release allows you to create blog posts, add photos, videos, maps or more, and publish them to your website.

  The program supports various blog services, including WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Moveable Type, DasBlog and more.

  Licensing and other issues means the development team has dropped some of the old Live Writer features.

  Spell Check has gone for the moment, the Blog This API has been ditched forever and the OneDrive "Albums" feature has also disappeared.

  The good news is that the team is "actively working on supporting plugins", and as soon as that happens we should see third-party developers filling any gaps in functionality.

  The other priority is supporting the OAuth 2 authentication scheme, which Blogger will be using exclusively very soon. (Windows Live Writer will never get OAuth 2 support, so if you’re currently using it with a Blogger account then you’ll need to migrate to Open Live Writer soon.)

  Open Live Writer is an open source application for Windows 7 and later.

  
• 

  Yahoo will keep Alibaba stake under its name

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 9:13am CET par Anthony Spadafora

  

  Yahoo has decided against selling off its $32 billion stake in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. Instead the company will shift its focus towards creating deals centered around its core business.

  Originally the company had planned to place its 15 percent share of Alibaba into a separate company named Aabaco. Yahoo’s desire to spin-off its stake in Alibaba stemmed from the idea that this move would unlock shareholder value and increase the company’s business. Uncertainty over a possibly massive tax bill might have also influenced Yahoo’s decision to abandon its former plan.

  With Yahoo now focusing on potential deals involving its core business, selling off most of the company could now be an option. The company has a market capitalization of $30 billion and is well known worldwide for its search engine. Yahoo has been struggling to compete with the likes of Google and Microsoft’s Bing when it comes to search and this has made it difficult for Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s CEO, to turn the company around.

  There is certainly an interest in Yahoo’s advertising technology, content assets, and online video platform Yahoo Screen. Lowell McAdam, the CEO of Verizon Communications, expressed interest in acquiring Yahoo’s assets if they became available. This coincides with his recent purchase of AOL for $4.4 billion in May of this year. McAdam believes that Yahoo’s assets would be useful for AOL.

  Yahoo’s shares increased by 2.6 percent in after hours trading to $35.75 per share after the company decided against spinning off Alibaba.

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

  Photo credit: Claudio Divizia / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Windows Live Writer goes open source

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 5:39am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Perhaps it never really caught on, or at least didn't go big, but Windows Live Writer is a solid tool for blogging. This isn't Word, which is what many writers use, but it's still a capable weapon in the arsenal of any author.

  The new program is called, quite simply, Open Live Writer and it's being released now. It has also been contributed to the .NET Foundation. It allows writers to edit and publish stories directly from within it.

  Rob Dolin of Microsoft comments "Windows Live Writer has been turning blogging up to 11 since 2007, but since 2012 things have been a bit quiet with the application itself. However over the past few months I have had the pleasure working with a very passionate group of engineers volunteering their time to ensure that Live Writer has a sustainable future. I'm pleased to announce that today the .NET Foundation welcomes a new project -- Open Live Writer".

  This is a good thing, since apparently many use and love it, but the company has not actively been developing the program. Putting it on GitHub should ensure its future for those who are fans of the platform. Remember that this is now a volunteer team, so your help is encouraged.

  
• 

  EU signs its first cyber-security rules

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 5:01am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  European legislators have reached an important agreement, as they sign first cyber-security rules for the Union.

  The rules, comprised in the Network and Information Security Directive have, among other things, asked tech giants such as Google and Amazon to be more open and transparent about their security, as that will help protect EU’s essential infrastructure, such as air and road traffic control systems and the electricity grid, from cyberattacks.

  "Today, a milestone has been achieved: we have agreed on the first ever EU-wide cyber-security rules, which the Parliament has advocated for years", said a clearly delighted Parliament rapporteur Andreas Schwab.

  "Parliament has pushed hard for a harmonized identification of critical operators in energy, transport, health or banking fields, which will have to fulfill security measures and notify significant cyber incidents. Member states will have to cooperate more on cybersecurity -- which is even more important in light of the current security situation in Europe".

  According to a report by The Inquirer, the European Parliament has long pressed for cloud services to be included in the legislation. "Moreover, this directive marks the beginning of platform regulation", Schwab said.

  "Whilst the Commission’s consultation on online platforms is still on-going, the new rules already foresee concrete definitions -- a request that Parliament had made since the beginning in order to give its consent to the inclusion of digital services".

  The directive cannot be forced upon EU member states, though -- they will need to pass new or amended legislation in their individual parliaments.

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

  Photo credit: Sergei Gontsarov / Shutterstock

  
• 

  elementary OS Freya 0.3.2 now available -- download the Linux distro now

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 4:24am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  When people choose a Linux distribution, there are many factors to consider. Of course, you want to look at included software, the package manager, and the philosophies of the team behind the operating system. Arguably more important -- at least to home users -- is the desktop environment. For someone using Linux on the desktop, the user experience could be paramount.

  One such Linux-based operating system that puts a priority on design and user experience is the fabulous elementary OS. Luckily, it is not form over function, as its stability and usefulness matches the beauty on the surface, thanks to its Ubuntu base. Today, a new version of the popular distro, Freya 0.3.2, becomes available for download. Will you download it?

  "With the help of incredibly useful tips, advice, and code snippets from Antoni Norman (aka Pinguy), Cody has almost completely rewritten our .iso build system since 0.3.1. We've tested these new builds on 64-bit (U)EFI, and BIOS machines, with and without internet, with SecureBoot and legacy boot, and everything in between. No more infamous GRUB boot error", says Daniel Foré, project leader.

  Foré further explains, "the applications menu now lists settings separately from apps in search results and will also return results for actions from apps’ quicklists, like 'Compose Message' from Geary and 'New Document' from Scratch. Also, we've decided to tuck away some utilities like the archive manager and font viewer; they're still available from Files and search, but we don’t clutter up your applications menu with them any more. We've also fixed some minor visual issues with dark apps and refined shadows on windows, the panel, and a number of other places".

  If you have never used elementary OS, a good -- albeit simplistic -- way to describe the interface, is that it is sort of a mix between OS X and GNOME. You know the launcher dock found on a Mac? It is like that -- you can pin your most used programs to a dock on the bottom of your screen. Like GNOME, you can access all installed software by clicking the the top left corner. This approach works remarkably well; it is totally appropriate for beginners, but advanced Linux users will love it too.

  

  Ready to try it? You can download the appropriate version here. While the project requests a donation for download, that is not required. As seen above, you can enter a zero in the "Custom" field to get it free. If you try it and like it, however, you should definitely consider sending some dollars its way. If you do try it, please tell me about the experience in the comments below.

  
• 

  Global companies expecting fines over new EU data rules

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 4:01am CET par Phoebe Jennelyn Magdirila

  

  A new report has revealed that around 52 percent of global companies expect to be fined for non-compliance with the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a new ruling within the European Union.

  The study commissioned by SaaS provider Intralinks and conducted by analyst firm Ovum showed that, this, too, is the average response among top nations such as UK, US, and Germany, where, 53 percent, 58 percent and 62 percent respectively may face a fine.

  The mission of the study was to see the level of preparedness of businesses for the new regulations, and was conducted among IT decision-makers across Europe, the Americas and Australasia.

  Given the admission of the lack of preparedness for the upcoming regulations, the study also showed that two-thirds of global firms would review their business strategies in some European countries in the next year.

  This comes along with another outlook from 68 percent of respondents, which said that the new regulation would increase the cost of doing business in Europe. Of these respondents, over 30 percent expect their budgets to rise by more than 10 percent over the next two years, wherein costs may include hiring specialists in the field.

  The survey also revealed that 63 percent of the respondents believe that another down side of the new law will be the tougher competition for US firms in Europe. Parallel to that, 70 percent think that the new legislation will favor businesses based in Europe.

  "New regulations, such as the GDPR, are seriously worrying global businesses", said Ovum senior analyst Alan Rodger. "Different jurisdictions are imposing inconsistent and often incompatible mandates for how personally identifiable information is stored, processed and shared".

  "This is already creating confusion and uncertainty, leaving fundamental questions unanswered, such as how to interpret data location requirements. Organizations need technology options that help them react to a rapidly changing regulatory environment".

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

  Photo Credit: VIPDesignUSA/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Working remotely: Rewarding, but also challenging

  Publié: décembre 10, 2015, 3:01am CET par Mike Bartlett

  

  Stack Overflow has published a report that found nearly half of developers (44 percent) value the opportunity to work remotely. It’s well known that developers value the perk of remote working, but these days geographically disparate teams can be found in all sectors.

  Companies with a remote workforce are among some of the most successful in the world -- WordPress, AirBnB, and Buzzfeed allow at least 50 percent of their workforce to operate remotely. For a decade or so, remote working has been for most an aspiration rather than a reality, and despite the availability of fast internet, laptops and smartphones, it’s never become the norm for most businesses and employees.

  The recent popularity of hot-desking and co-work spaces in major cities across the globe, including in holiday destinations like Bali, has made it easier for those working remotely or abroad to feel less isolated, and has also gone some way towards counteracting the suspicion or reluctance some bosses felt about allowing employees to work outside of the office.

  Assuming that internet is fast and reliable, it has provided everything both the employee and employer need to make remote working a reality. Collaboration tools like Google Drive, Trello for managing team workflow, Skype, and our very own developers’ chat platform, Gitter, mean that you can keep up to date and collaborate on projects from wherever you like. Want to work in a warehouse in New York? Fine. Beach in Thailand? No worries.

  I have personally found that working from outside of the stuffy confines of an office can do wonders for creativity.

  I started Gitter after leaving Skype when I took time off to not only recharge, but also to start fleshing out ideas for the business. I did so in the French Alps where I rented a chalet for a season with my wife; it had an amazing study with views over the snow-capped mountains and the level of freedom I felt there with the constant ability to just pop out for a quick early morning snowboard then spend the rest of the day into the night working was quite liberating.

  The fresh air combined with getting away from the intensity of the city stimulated my creativity and productivity and the goal was to create a company where being able to balance a personal passion and desire with a traditional and professional career was truly possible. We now have two thirds of our total staff (six out of nine) working remotely.

  Remote working is empowering for both the employee who is trusted to work hard and with minimum supervision as well as the employer. Factors that often lead to the loss of staff such as the job impinging on other factors outside of work disappear when you give your team the freedom to work remotely. It also, of course, has the handy benefit of saving the business money on office space and utility costs, and allows people in different time zones to work meaning the business can keep going 24/7, if necessary.

  However, there are some challenges that need to be thought about long and hard. Working up a mountain or on a beach can be great, but the effect that being isolated from your colleagues can have on morale is sometimes sharply felt. When a team has a success, usually they might go to the pub after work or have a meal or a party. If your team is split all over the world the same kind of celebration obviously doesn’t work.

  This is when face time becomes important. Even if just for weekly or monthly project check-ins a bit of sociable video chat over Skype can perk the whole team up and keep everyone focused and happy. At Gitter we try to have a video chat whenever possible, but this may not be necessary for others. Of course there are strategies for managing these issues, but it is something that needs to be considered.

  Your employees should be well aware of the company culture (something which can easily get forgotten with remote workers, particularly if they begin as remote workers), and be kept aligned to the same bigger goals when communication is not as constant or natural as it would be in an office. Often messaging can be a great substitute for a face to face, but sometimes email and more structured forms of communication may be more suitable. Equally, people can spend too much time back and forth on chat or email where a 10 minute video call can sometimes resolve things faster and more amicably.

  Great communication among an external group of remote employees is even more important than if you were all in the same office together. The benefits of remote working and structuring your business in this way are prodigious.

  If both employees and employers are committed to the process and some structures are in place, there’s no reason why you can’t find success, happiness and new found levels of creative ambition with a remote workforce.

  Mike Bartlett, CEO and co-founder, Gitter.

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

  Image Credit: Rawpixel / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Connected toys and the IoT could be the next weapons of mass surveillance

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 11:09pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Just a few days ago, we heard about the potential for the web-enabled Hello Barbie to provide hackers with personal data. Numerous vulnerabilities open up the potential for data to be stolen, but this could be the start of a worrying trend. If you thought the surveillance activities of the NSA and GCHQ are disturbing, things could be about to get much worse.

  There is a movement underway that sees every conceivable device being transformed into a connected device. This is more than just the Internet of Things -- security experts are warning that not only could any devices connected to the internet (including web-enabled toys) could be used to spy on users, placing children at risk.

  The concerns have been voiced following the recent publication of the draft Investigatory Powers Bill in the UK. Experts warn that internet firms could be forced by security and intelligence agencies to hack into devices and spy on users. One of the more troubling suggestions is that children's toys could be remotely access and used as surveillance tools.

  As reported by the BBC, techUK's Antony Walker says that "in theory", any device that is connected to the internet could be hacked into and used for spying. There are calls for government to set out guidelines that would restrict -- or at least make clear -- what sort of devices could be used for surveillance, and under what circumstances. It's a problem that Walker says will become increasingly important as more and more devices, from fridges and TVs to cars, are not only connected to the internet, but also feature cameras and microphones.

  Speaking to the Commons science and technology committee, he said:

  A range of devices that have been in the news recently, in relation to a hack, are children's toys, that children can interact with. These are devices that may sit in a child's bedroom but are accessible. In theory, the manufacturer of those products could be the subject of a warrant to enable equipment interference with those devices. So the potential extent, I think, is something that needs to be carefully considered.

  In some regards, Walker's concerns have something of a whiff of paranoia to them. At the same time, he raises genuine anxieties that parents will have about connected devices they give to their children. Of course, there is not just the worry that toys and devices could be remotely hacked into by government agencies, but also by criminals.

  He is calling for very precise limitations to be set out for future surveillance, saying: "When we start to think, not just about the world today, but the world in five, 10 years' time as the Internet of Things becomes more real, and more pervasive. I think it requires careful thought in terms of where the limits should be".

  Photo credit: best works / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google Play Music family plan is here -- share with Uncle Dick, Nana, your mom, and more

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 8:05pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Music is one of the most important parts of my life. Listening to it is much more than a hobby -- it is with me throughout the day. Whether relaxing, working, or even napping, I often have some music playing in the background. Streaming services, such as the wonderful Spotify, have been a godsend for me, as I can consume all I want for a paltry monthly fee.

  If you have a family, however, the subscription fees can really add up. The rise of family sharing plans should greatly alleviate this pain point. Today, Google announces that its previously announced family option is finally available. As much as I love Spotify, this deal may be too good to pass up.

  "For families like mine, we're happy to start offering the Google Play Music family plan today. With the family plan, you and up to five family members can subscribe to Google Play Music -- together -- for just $14.99 per month. You'll unlock all of the same features you’d get from having individual subscriptions, including ad free, unlimited access to more than 35 million songs and the ability for each family member to stream simultaneously on any device, all for one low price", says Eunice Kim, product manager for Google Play.

  Kim further explains, "now, you can keep your listening experiences separate from your partner and get music recommendations tailored to the music you like. So, my husband’s Depeche Mode singles will never show up in my account -- only my true favorites will be front and center. And a family plan on Google Play will also get your family access to YouTube Red in the US".

  Holy cow. For a super-low $14.99 per month, six people can gain access to the streaming music service. This equates to an insane $2.50 per user. Sweetening the deal even further, all six people get YouTube Red access, meaning seeing no ads on the video site, plus exclusive content from people like PewDiePie.

  Keep in mind, the six people do not have to be related. It also applies to friends, coworkers -- even strangers. You can pick any five people you want. So while you can share it with your Uncle Dick, Nana, or your mom, you can also hook up your next-door neighbor or your BFF.

  If you aren't currently a Google Play Music subscriber, will this get you to to switch? Tell me in the comments.

  
• 

  Bringing business intelligence to big data

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 6:03pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Extracting useful information from business data used to mean waiting for the IT department to run reports. Increasingly though there's demand for users to be able to extract information themselves.

  The latest company to join this trend is Israel-based Anodot which is aiming to disrupt the static nature of today's BI using patented machine learning algorithms for big data.

  Anodot's Anomaly Detection solution is data agnostic and automates the discovery of outlying events in all business and operational data. The platform isolates issues and correlates them across multiple parameters to find and alert on incidents in real time.

  "I experienced the data analysis lag problem first hand as CTO for Gett", says Anodot's founder and CEO David Drai. "As a mobile taxi app, SMS text orders were dropped by the carrier but it could take up to three days to spot critical issues and fix them, costing tens of thousands of dollars per incident. That's where I got the idea for Anodot -- to employ the latest advances in machine learning to detect performance problems automatically and in real time, eliminating the latency".

  Features of Anodot Anomaly Detection include real time operation, and the ability to work with any type of metric or KPI and scale to any big data volume. Using proprietary patented machine learning algorithms it correlates different metrics to help identify the root causes of problems and eliminate alert overload.

  Its simulation capability optimizes alert planning and reduces false positive alerts as well as cutting out the need for time-intensive manual analysis. As a result non-specialists can gain the insights they want with clear visualizations that help any user to understand what the data is showing them.

  The company has received $3 million of venture capital funding to accelerate its product roadmap and expand its sales activity, focusing on the ad tech, e-commerce, IoT and manufacturing industries in the US and EMEA. You can find out more and request a trial of the software on the Anodot website.

  Image credit: David Gaylor / Shutterstock

  
• 

  WordPress.com app now available for Windows

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 5:57pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  While the browser is likely to remain the most-popular and convenient way of managing a WordPress site from a PC, Automattic, the company behind the hugely-successful content management system, also wants to give users a more focused tool for the job. So, in late-November, it announced dedicated apps for Windows, OS X and Linux.

  The idea behind the PC apps is to make it easier for users to focus on their content, by getting rid of the distractions that come with working inside a tabbed browser environment. The OS X app launched first, arriving at the time of the announcement, and now it is Windows users turn to get a dedicated WordPress.com app.

  "Now you can manage your sites, write and publish, and even customize your site and view stats from a dedicated app in your Windows Start Menu", says Automattic. The app supports both WordPress.com and self-hosted sites, but, for the latter, you will have to have the Jetpack plugin installed to be able to connect to the CMS.

  The WordPress.com app for Windows gives users access to all the features that they typically access in WordPress, but, just like the Mac client, things are organized in a slightly different way. You may need a bit of time to adjust to what it can do and where some of the features are before you can feel as productive as when using the browser.

  Among the biggest features available in WordPress.com for Windows are the My Sites dashboard, which lets users manage multiple WordPress.com and self-hosted sites, a built-in editor, for creating and editing posts within the app, Insights and Stats, which is a feature that allows users to view performance stats for posts, and notifications, which shows things like comments and new follows.

  The WordPress.com app for Windows is available to download from here. There is no word yet on when the Linux app will also be offered, but interested users can join this mailing list to be notified of its availability.

  
• 

  Microsoft rolls out Cortana to iOS and Android, to take on Siri and Google Now

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 5:24pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Cortana is no longer limited to devices running Windows 10. After short period of public beta testing, Microsoft's digital assistant is now rolling out not only to iOS and Android, but also Cyanogen OS devices.

  Just as on Windows 10 Mobile handsets, these new releases include many of the features that are found in the desktop version of Cortana. There are, however, some functions that remain exclusive to Windows phones -- you cannot, for example, change system settings in iOS and Android nor, frustratingly, use the hands-free "Hey Cortana" voice command.

  Cyanogen users get something of a better deal. Cortana is more deeply integrated into the OS meaning that it is possible to voice activate the tool from any screen, and also toggle system settings. The Cyanogen version of the app will be available later this month for OnePlus One users, but iOS and Android versions are available in the US and China right now.

  Microsoft highlights three key benefits of working with Cortana:

  • Reminders that Travel with You: Set a location-based reminder on one device and have it pop up on your smartphone when you arrive at the location. This time of year means keeping track of holiday gift lists and to-dos. You can set a reminder on your PC to pick up a bottle of wine the next time you are near the grocery store and Cortana will remind you on your phone the next time you are at that location.
  • Never Miss a Phone Call: In a meeting and can’t answer your phone? With the Cortana app, get a missed call alert on your Windows 10 PC and let Cortana send a text back letting them know you’ll call them later – all without leaving your PC.
  • Convenient Tracking: This holiday season, you’ll be able to track flights, packages and more using Cortana on both your phone and your PC, and get the updates on the device that you’re on so you don’t miss a thing.

  If you're running iOS 8 or newer, you can grab Cortana from the App Store. The Android version of the app is available in Google Play (Android 4.1.2 or newer), and Microsoft adds that:

  The 'Hey Cortana' feature is possible in the Android app store version if the user is in the Cortana app or in the Android home screen. Missed call notifications work for Android devices with a Windows 10 PC of 1511 or above.

  
• 

  Optimize PNGs, GIFs and JPEGs to cut their file size

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 5:02pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  PNGmicro, GIFmicro and JPEGmicro are freeware Windows tools which optimize images to reduce their size.

  Each program offers lossless compression by rewriting files more efficiently and stripping out surplus data, and you also get options to cut file size even further by reducing image quality.

  There’s no adware, registration or other marketing hassles. The programs are portable, so download, unzip and you can use them wherever you are (at long as you’re running Windows 7 or later, anyway).

  Checking the bundled files revealed that each program was using well-known open-source image optimizers, including OptiPNG and Gifsicle. If you’re an expert hoping for something new, that might be disappointing, but at least it means each tool should deliver solid and reliable results.

  The sleek black interface looks good, and getting started is easy. Just click the Add button and select your source images, or drag and drop them onto the program, and the files are displayed in a list.

  Tapping the Options icon shows various compression settings. JPEGmicro can remove Exif and XMP tags, strip out the ICC Colour Profile, convert files to progressive or rewrite them using a lower quality level; PNGs may be interlaced, also have their colour profiles removed, or be rewritten using one of 10 lossy compression levels; and GIFs can be interlaced, have their palette reduced in size, and optionally be resized to a fixed resolution.

  The programs also provide good control over the name and location of the destination files, with options to rename them, save them to a new folder, overwrite the originals, and more.

  What sort of size reduction you’ll see depends very much on your source images. We used a set of files taken from regular websites, which you’d expect to be already optimized, and so it’s no surprise that the default lossless compression only saved around one to two percent on our test JPEGs and GIFs.

  PNG typically gives a little more scope for lossless compression, and our test files dropped in size by around 17 percent. But this was very uneven, with many images remaining unchanged, and a few seeing spectacular falls, which makes it difficult to predict what a typical user will see.

  If you can live with lossy compression, each tool offers ways to trade reduced image quality for lower file sizes. There are no great surprises here -- it’s mostly about reducing the number of colors, and the standard JPEG quality setting -- but the programs do at least give you plenty of control over how this works.

  Exactly what you’ll save this way depends on how far you go, but there’s usually scope for improvement. Switching from lossless to lossy compression with a level of 75 cut our JPEG sizes by around 30 percent, without a major difference in image quality.

  PNGmicro, GIFmicro and JPEGmicro don’t provide any really new take on image compression, and if you’re already using another optimization tool then they won’t have much to offer.

  The programs are well implemented, though, configurable, easy to use and no-strings free, and if you’ve not tried optimizing your images before then they’re a good way to start.

  
• 

  New Year's resolutions for those in IT

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 4:51pm CET par Brian Mitchell

  

  Ah, yes. Nothing like the crushing pressure of New Year’s resolutions to finally address everything we’ve been doing wrong for the past 12 months! (Or 24 months or 36 months or 48 months... who’s counting?) For many, the resolutions for the upcoming year will undoubtedly include healthier diets, more exercise, and less time staring at smartphones.

  Of course, if joining the panicked masses overtaking the elliptical machines at the gym isn’t your style, think about the 'digital fitness' of your enterprise instead. Here are some things to keep in mind for better data practices in 2016 that won’t feel like pulling teeth (and speaking of dentistry, flossing regularly is always a great resolution too).

  Disaster Recovery: Not a Question of If, But When

  It seems like everyone’s moving to the cloud: tier two or tier three workloads are viewed as increasingly critical, and require disaster recovery plans in order to meet ever-stringent SLAs. However, there’s often not enough budget to support DR in the traditional, replica-hardware-at-a-secondary-site sense.

  As such, organizations have adopted a utility model -- where they can pay only for what they use instead of making a large capital investment.

  If your enterprise has made or will make the switch to cloud, keep in mind that this means you need to properly care for the new storage location. So many organizations forget about backup and recovery, thinking it’s built into the replication offerings of a cloud provider, but it’s often not.

  New Year's Eve: Where Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot. Unless, of Course, You Have an Audit

  Many organizations assume preserving their data forever means they have an "acceptable" records management policy. Well, you know what they say about that whole "assuming" business. (Actually, just as a general tip for 2016, let’s recommend phasing-out assuming anything data-related or otherwise.)

  Unfortunately, most end up wishing they had preserved the right information for the right length of time. Remember, just because your company lawyer created your records management policy, don't assume that it’s rock-solid.

  Unless your counsel truly understands information governance, consider tapping the expertise of a trusted archiving partner to craft retention/disposal policies, compliance procedures, and a method for "legal holds" in the event of litigation, audit, or governmental investigation.

  An Optimist Stays Up Until Midnight to See the New Year In. A Pessimist Stays Up to Make Sure the Backup Completes

  New Year’s Eve shouldn’t be the only time you think about your data backup and recovery! Or the time you think about it at all, frankly. Plan ahead! It’s an age-old mantra, but it’s tried and true: be prepared.

  Going forward with data backup and recovery, plan for vast amounts of data. Develop a redundancy plan ("backup of the backup"), ensure security is a high priority, craft a smarter retention plan, and plan for easy access. And keep it on your mind throughout the year.

  Oh, and one more thing: your data management solution should cover the full range of data sources, file types, storage media, and backup modes -- in other words, recover anything from anywhere.

  In Conclusion...

  In general, organizations need to remember to plan for backup and recovery that can span on- or off-premises, and physical, virtual, or cloud, etc, without implementing a bunch of new point-products that cause management silos.

  And remember, if you’re someone whose enterprise is skating-by -- despite having less-than-stellar backups -- you still shouldn’t just shrug off these IT resolutions. The start of a new year is a great time to hit "reset" on those bad habits and get some good ones in place -- and limiting the chances of your organization being totally annihilated by a lack of disaster recovery plan sure is a good foundation to build on for moving forward.

  Brian Mitchell, senior manager, Product Marketing, Commvault.

  Photo Credit: Thinglass/Shutterstock

  Brian is focused on enterprise applications from Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. Previously, as NetApp Advocate #1, Brian was awarded "Outstanding Contributor by a NetApp Partner" in 2012 and the first "Distinguished NetApp Partner SE" in 2008. Brian has also been featured in numerous publications (including the NetApp 360 blog, the NetApp Tech OnTap newsletter, and the cover of Storage Magazine).

  
• 

  Remember Hyperloop? It's getting ready for testing

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 4:26pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  A while back Elon Musk, of Space X and Tesla Motors, as well as a founder of PayPal, drew up designs for a futuristic mode of travel that he dubbed Hyperloop. It's essentially a super-speed rail system running in a vacuum-like tube. At the time, it drew some derision as not being possible, both physically and economically.

  Despite that, Hyperloop Technologies Incorporated was born and it has slowly grown. How far? Well, the company is now ready to set up a test run. The company has found space in North Las Vegas, Nevada at the Mountain View Industrial Park. The site it obtained is approximately 50 acres.

  The hardware to set things up is expected to arrive this month and testing will take place in early 2016. "This decision represents another major milestone in our journey to bring Hyperloop to commercial reality", says Rob Lloyd, CEO of Hyperloop Technologies, Inc. "Hyperloop Technologies will invest first in regions where we receive government advocacy to move fast. We are grateful for the support we have received from Governor Sandoval, the Nevada Office of Economic Development and Mayor Lee and his team from the City of North Las Vegas".

  Nevada governor Brian Sandoval is excited about the deployment as it brings another technology company to the state and he hopes to move state and local employees using the new system.

  "As a state, we are working diligently to attract and grow innovative companies and technologies that advance industries of all kinds", states Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval.

  Hyperloop itself is headquartered in Los Angeles with 72 employees. It has financial backing that is getting things moving. Where it goes from here is anyone's guess.

  
• 

  All businesses share the same cloud security concerns

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 4:19pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  All organizations have the same key concerns regarding the security of their data in the cloud, according to a new report.

  The study by security-as-a-service specialist CloudLock reveals that every organization shares five primary cloud cyber security concerns, regardless of industry. These are: account compromise, cloud malware, excessive data exposure, over-exposed personally identifiable information (PII) and payment card industry (PCI) data, and collaboration.

  Excessive sharing is the main worry, with 83 percent of technology organizations concerned with ensuring access permissions to sensitive data are granted appropriately. This is followed by the K-12 education sector (77 percent), financial services (75 percent), healthcare (72 percent) and manufacturing (70 percent). Notably less focused on excessive sharing are retail (66 percent), government (60 percent) and higher education (59 percent).

  Manufacturing industry shows the least concern for ensuring access permissions are granted appropriately for PII such as users' IDs, dates of birth, etc, (27 percent) and PCI (39 percent). Only 10 percent of technology firms are focused on protecting PII, but 41 percent are concerned with PCI. Higher education is the most concerned with protecting PII (77 percent) and PCI (61 percent), with the huge database of student records, as well as credit card and banking information tied to large spending areas such as tuition, administrative and research funds.

  "While all industries are certainly evolving to make security a priority, each industry faces different risks and concerns that need to be addressed in a very specific and nuanced manner", says CloudLock CEO and Co-Founder Gil Zimmermann. "We're hoping this latest data will provide guidance for those who are wondering how they stack up against their peers, and possibly make them take notice of where they are falling behind when it comes to protecting critical information and assets."

  The full report, with more information on specific industry sectors, is available to download from the CloudLock website.

  Image Credit: Maksim Kabakou/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Apple hardware gains popularity in the enterprise

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 3:07pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Apple devices are becoming an integral part of today's enterprise environment, with nearly all enterprise IT professionals saying that their internal teams provide support for Mac, iPhone and iPad devices.

  This is among the findings of a survey amongst IT professionals by Apple device management company JAMF Software. It shows that 96 percent of teams support Macs, 84 percent iPhones and 81 percent iPads.

  The survey shows that user preference is the number one reason for the increased adoption of Mac (81 percent) and iOS devices (84 percent). As organizations continue to implement user choice programs, more and more employees are choosing Apple devices for work because they're what they prefer in their everyday lives. Secondary factors driving Apple adoption in the enterprise include security advantages and increased productivity features, among others. IT professionals surveyed also agree that Mac (75 percent) and iOS (82 percent) devices offer more security compared to other computer platforms.

  There have been increases in the usage of Mac (68 percent), iPhone (46 percent), and iPad (36 percent) devices in 2015. Macs are easier to manage than other computer platforms according to 64 percent, and 67 percent say that Mac will cut into the PC's market share over the next three years. In addition 78 percent of those surveyed say that the iPhone and iPad are easier to manage than other mobile device platforms

  Big companies are seeing the effect of using Apple hardware on their bottom lines too. “Every Mac that we buy is making and saving IBM money,” says Fletcher Previn, IBM's VP of Workplace-as-a-Service, speaking at the 2015 JAMF Nation User Conference.

  "This research highlights what we at JAMF have been seeing for some time: user preference is driving the rise of Apple in enterprise and education", says Dean Hager, CEO of JAMF Software. "While a lot of the attention of Apple's success has been on its iOS devices, the survey results also show that Mac will continue to replace the PC at an unprecedented rate because it empowers users to be creative, productive, and happier in their jobs".

  The full Managing Apple Devices in the Enterprise survey report for 2015 is available to download from the JAMF website.

  Image Credit: rvlsoft / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  Microsoft partners with The Linux Foundation for 'Linux on Azure' certification

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 2:59pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Linux is not only the future, but the present too. Even if you do not directly use an operating system based on the kernel, there is a good chance that it impacts you every day. Much of your precious internet traffic is routed through servers that run Linux. Many set-top boxes and devices are powered by the kernel and you may not even know it. Of course, Android is one such Linux-based operating system that millions upon millions of people use daily.

  With that said, careers in Linux could be ready to explode. Believe it or not, 97 percent of surveyed hiring managers are looking to add Linux professionals, according to the 2015 Linux Jobs Report. Seriously, if you or someone you know has an interest in computers, yet don't know which direction to take in school or career, it is something to explore. While it may not be a good fit for everyone, it is worth your attention -- even Microsoft is hiring Linux professionals nowadays. In fact, today, that company announces a partnership with the The Linux Foundation for a special, Microsoft-issued, Linux on Azure certification.

  "The Linux on Azure certification will be awarded to individuals who pass both the Microsoft Exam 70-533 (Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions) and the Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator (LFCS) exam. The certification will be issued by Microsoft and will be available starting today, December 9, 2015. The two exams combine Linux administration and Microsoft Azure implementation skills and will demonstrate the candidate’s ability to design, implement and maintain complex cloud-enabled Linux solutions that take advantage of Microsoft Azure's extensive features and capabilities", says Microsoft.

  Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation explains "today's IT environments demand more from professionals than ever before, and the ones equipped to manage this new landscape look to professional certifications to rise above the rest. A Microsoft-issued certification that includes the Linux Foundation Certified SysAdmin exam will most definitely allow professionals to stand apart from their peers and allow them the opportunity to work on the most interesting technologies of our time".

  READ MORE: The Linux Foundation will participate in 'Hour of Code'

  This is quite the striking partnership, as it highlights Microsoft's very strong desire for trained Linux professionals to be certified with Azure. Actually, Microsoft has been linked with Linux in this regard quite a bit lately, as the company just added Debian support to Azure, only a short while after adding RHEL support too.

  Ready to sign up? Head over to Microsoft's site here for more details. Keep in mind, however, the exams are not free. The Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator (LFCS) exam is $300 (for the next week, however, The Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator exam will be offered at a heavily discounted $179), while the Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions exam is $150. This $450 combined cost does not include any optional courses you may want to take to prepare for the exams. With that said, your education is a great investment, and this certification could pay dividends in your life.

  Image Credit: Julien Tromeur / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Patch Tuesday December 2015: The most-important patches

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 1:53pm CET par Wolfgang Kandek

  

  There we are: the last Patch Tuesday of 2015. It turns out to be about average, with maybe a bit more severity in the bulletins than usually. We have eight critical bulletins in the total 12, including one that fixes a 0-day vulnerability, currently in use by attackers to escalate privileges in Windows. 0-days used to be very rare occasions, but this year they have become almost mainstream.

  After all the year started off with a string of 0-days in Adobe Flash and since then we have seen almost every month a patch for a vulnerability that is already under attack. Definitely a sign of the increasing technical capabilities that attackers are wielding and a reminder that IT Managers should not only patch their systems promptly, but also look for additional robustness.

  Your list of things to look at in 2016 should include investigation of minimal software installs with the least features enabled, plus an additional piece software such as EMET that enhances robustness.

  In total we had 135 bulletins from Microsoft in 2015, which is a significant increase from the average of the last years. New products by Microsoft only explain a small part of this increase, for example the new Edge browser only added five bulletins of its own this year.

  The majority of the increase is due to new parts of the Windows ecosystem that are being investigated for the first time, a tendency that shows how much more important computer security has become over the years.

  

  Let’s take a closer look at this month’s patches.

  MS15-135 addresses a 0-day vulnerability in the Windows kernel. There is no further information about how widely spread the vulnerability and its exploit are, but it is worth a top spot in our priority list.

  Browsers are often used in current attack scenarios, such as drive-by downloads or spear phishing. You need to keep them as up-to-date as possible. MS15-124 for Internet Explorer (IE), MS15-125 for Edge and MS15-126 for the JavaScript libraries in Vista and Windows Server 2008 address 30 issues, many of them critical leading to remote code election (RCE). Edge has "only" 15 issues, with 11 duplicates from IE and four issues native to Edge itself.

  MS115-131 for Microsoft Office is next on our list. It is rated critical by Microsoft, which is rare for Office bulletins and means that a vector exists to abuse the vulnerability with no user interaction. CVE-2015-6172 is a critical vulnerability in Outlook that is triggered by a maliciously formatted e-mail message.

  There is no reasonable workaround: Microsoft suggests turning off the preview pane - the digital equivalent of "Just don’t do it", so patch this vulnerability as soon as possible. CVE-2015-6124 is being exploited in the wild by attackers.

  Next is a server side vulnerability in Microsoft DNS server, which is quite a rare find. MS15-127 replaces MS12-017 from over 3 years ago. Attackers that exploit MS15-127 in Microsoft’s DNS server would gain control over the server and execute code in the system context.

  The attack is remote and does not require authentication, and no workarounds are available. Bring your Microsoft DNS servers up to date as soon as possible, with the required testing and soak time for such a fundamental service.

  The next critical vulnerability is in the Windows Graphics system (MS15-128), which has font handling problem. It replaces MS15-097 from September, which replaced MS15-077 from July, so they are quite common occurrences. Attack vectors are very wide, as web browsing, e-mail, documents and rich media through Silverlight can all be used for an attack.

  The remaining critical vulnerabilities are in Silverlight (MS15-129) and Uniscribe (MS15-130). Address them together with the important vulnerabilities MS15-132, MS15-133 andMS15-134.

  In addition to the Microsoft updates we also have a new version of Flash from Adobe. APSB15-32 addresses a record number of 78 vulnerabilities.  All but three of the vulnerabilities could be used by an attacker to gain code execution running under the user in the browser.

  From there, a second vulnerability would have to be used to become system on the machine (look at MS15-135 for an example), but then the attacker would have full control. Flash-based attacks have been a favorite for attackers for the year with many exploit kits providing very up-to-date exploits -- include this in your high priority items.

  Wolfgang Kandek, CTO, Qualys.

  Image Credit: Manczurov / Shutterstock

  
• 

  McAfee's enterprise security software can be bypassed with a 'specially crafted username'

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 1:37pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  A kind word will open any door, but a special kind word will open all doors to an otherwise safe computer system, a McAfee advisory says.

  The advisory has said that "a specially crafted username" can get past the Security Information & Event Management logins without authentication, and without a password, "if the ESM is configured to use Active Directory or LDAP".

  What does that mean, exactly? It means a potential attacker can get access to NGCP (the default username created at first installation).

  "A specially crafted username can bypass SIEM ESM authentication (password is not validated) if the ESM is configured to use Active Directory or LDAP authentication sources. This can result in the attacker gaining NGCP (master user) access to the ESM", the advisory says.

  Designated CVE-2015-8024, the bug covers "McAfee Enterprise Security Manager (ESM), Enterprise Security Manager/Log Manager (ESMLM), and Enterprise Security Manager/Receiver (ESMREC) 9.3.x before 9.3.2MR19, 9.4.x before 9.4.2MR9, and 9.5.x before 9.5.0MR8, when configured to use Active Directory or LDAP authentication sources, allow remote attackers to bypass authentication by logging in with the username 'NGCP|NGCP|NGCP;' and any password", the advisory states.

  There are, however, ways to protect yourselves. The best solution would be to update the software immediately, but in case you’re not able to do so -- don’t worry. For now, disabling all Active Directory and LDAP authentication sources in the Enterprise Security Manager will suffice.

  The update link for the software is in the advisory.

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

  Image Credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock

  
• 

  SMBs lack the resources to protect themselves from cyber attacks

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 1:05pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Only 37 percent of SMBs believe that their organizations are fully equipped to handle IT security according to a new survey.

  The study by security company Webroot reveals that in most small to medium businesses, IT teams are expected to handle all cyber security management and concerns. IT employees at almost one in three companies (32 percent) juggle security along with their other IT responsibilities, which leaves them limited time to cope with security tasks.

  Lack of budget is an issue too, with 60 percent of respondents believing their organization is more vulnerable to attacks because they don't have the resources to properly defend themselves. Almost half of respondents (48 percent) think their company is vulnerable to insider threats, from employees for example. In addition, 45 percent believe they are unprepared for threats from unsecured internal and external networks, such as public Wi-Fi, and 40 percent for unsecured endpoints, such as computers and mobile devices.

  There is evidence that businesses are aware of the problem, 81 percent of respondents say they plan to increase their annual IT security budget for 2016, by an average of 22 percent. They're also very open to other strategies for improvement, with an overwhelming 81 percent agreeing that outsourcing IT solutions (including cyber security) would increase their time available to address other areas of their business.

  "SMBs play a pivotal role in helping drive the economies of all the countries polled, but past experiences have taught them they face an uphill battle when it comes to cybersecurity", says George Anderson, director of product marketing at Webroot. "This perception must change. A viable alternative to the 'go at it alone' standard is an outsourced approach in combination with Smarter Cybersecurity solutions that are easy to install and manage remotely, and provide real-time protection against modern threats".

  You can read the full report on the Webroot website.

  Imaged Credit: soliman design / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Amazon launches a streaming partners program, brings Showtime and more

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 12:06pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Just when you thought Amazon Prime couldn't offer much more, the retail giant goes and tries to do just that. The company is unveiling new streaming partners that will bring even more content and it comes from major players in the market.

  The service is announcing a streaming partners program that will bring this additional content. This is a Prime only option, so you'll need to sign up for an account.

  Amazon takes much responsibility for all of this -- the company will drive the subscribers, make sign-up easy, handle customer service, manage billing and compatibility across multiple devices. In addition there is free trial on all subscriptions and simultaneous broadcasts of programming when it airs.

  "The way people watch TV is changing, and customers need an easier way to subscribe to and enjoy multiple streaming subscriptions", says Michael Paull, Vice President of Digital Video at Amazon. "With the Streaming Partners Program, we're making it easy for video providers to reach highly engaged Prime members, many of whom are already frequent streamers, and we’re making it easier for viewers to watch their favorite shows and channels".

  The initial partners already signed up include Showtime, STARZ, Smithsonian and a number of others. Some require a separate subscription -- Showtime and STARZ are $8.99 per month. This is available starting now, along with a redesigned video page.

  Image Credit: Minerva Studio / Shutterstock

  
• 

  5 reasons why web apps are so frequently insecure

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 11:58am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The unrelenting move to the cloud means that web apps are becoming ever more common. They have also increasingly become targets for hackers and this is often because of security failings; many of the recent high-profile security breaches have come about because of web app security vulnerabilities.

  Ilia Kolochenko, CEO of High-Tech Bridge suggests a quintet of things companies do -- or fail to do, that make the life of hackers easier.

  1. Underestimation of Risks and Threats Related to Insecure Web Applications

  Many large companies and international organizations still seriously underestimate the value of their web applications, and have their security as the lowest priority in their risk management. And I am not even speaking about complicated SSRF or application logic flaws, but at least about proper detection and remediation of OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities.

  As we can see from the beginning of this article, companies just don’t realize that a vulnerable website is a perfect vector to start an APT without spending much money on it.

  2. Lack of Continuous Monitoring

  Web technologies are constantly evolving, and what is secure today may become vulnerable tonight. Therefore, a quarterly scan and annual pen test to achieve PCI DSS compliance is not enough anymore to stay ahead of hackers. Many companies do not perceive web application security as a continuous process, but rather as a one-time audit, putting their web infrastructure and related back-end at critical risk.

  3. Missing or Poorly-Implemented Secure Software Development Life Cycle (S-SDLC)

  In spite of a plethora of guidelines and standards of secure software development in existence today, many companies still ignore them due to high complexity or expense of implementation. The situation is even worse in companies where software development teams have existed for years -- as any change to well-established [but insecure] procedures will be met with hostility, as nobody wants to spend additional time on software security if not paid additionally for it.

  4. Dominance of Business Needs Over Security Processes

  Data breaches via insecure web applications regularly occur even in companies where S-SDLC is mature and well integrated into a company’s daily business processes. The consequences of the financial crisis of 2009 are still here -- many companies suffer from sluggish demand and very tough global competition. Often business requires a new feature to be done in few hours on Friday evening to outperform a competitor -- of course, we can forget about security when such pressure occurs.

  Nevertheless, it’s the business who pays the salaries to developers and infosec folks, and it’s always the business who has the last word. However, it's also the business who shall be ready to take the responsibility for a new data breach and related costs.

  5. Ignorance of Third-Party Risks

  Many companies start introducing thorough security and compliance guidelines for their third-party suppliers and partners, however they often fail to mention proper web application security with them. As a result, attackers can compromise a website of your long-time supplier, consultant or partner, and instead of hosting malware on your website -- they host it on a trusted-party website, achieving the same result at the end.

  Jan Schreuder, partner, cybersecurity leader from PwC Switzerland, says: "Recently we've seen many organizations attacked through sophisticated cyber attacks on their supply chain partners. With global supply chains becoming more and more digital and interconnected, establishing trust in your supply chain is becoming more challenging all the time".

  As paying for an anti-smoking patch is much cheaper and less dramatic than spending a six-digit amount on cancer treatment, spending on preventive web application security is much more cost-effective and less painful than paying for APT forensics. Therefore, if you are currently finalizing your cybersecurity budget for 2016 -- don’t forget about proper web application security, not just vulnerability scanning.

  Photo credit: jijomathaidesigners / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Myths and facts about backup, restore and disaster recovery

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 11:04am CET par Mike Johnson

  

  With the rise of digital data, changing technology, and common usage of personal devices, the IT world has become ever more complex with new challenges around every corner. In the wake of such quick changes and complexity, many individuals end up exaggerating the difficulties found within these new systems and thereby begin spreading some major falsehoods within this vast IT sphere.

  Even though the influx of information and discovery has given way to the creation of several urban legends, below you will see what is true and what is not.

  1. Tape Backups Failed for 77 percent of Businesses -- Myth!

  This myth has been carried on and on and the truth is, it does not have a reference point, likely because it is old information or was misquoted. Remember the game of telephone you most likely played in school? Here is a classic example of that game played out in a real life conversation. So what is true?

  Disaster recovery (otherwise known as DR) is a common structure for data centers, and the majority of companies have a plan regarding DR. Over half of these companies with a DR plan actually test it two times per year.

  The alarming truth is that there is a notable percentage of companies that actually have no plan whatsoever, and even still, many do not test the plan that they DO have. Also unsettling is the fact that new threats are unveiled every month or so.

  Another thing to consider is the fact that it usually takes around 24 hours for companies to recover from a disaster. This fact alone is reason enough for all businesses to have a comprehensive, not to mention, a well tested picture of the environment of their backup and recovery systems.

  2. After a 10-day Recovery From a Disaster, 93 percent of Businesses Will File for Bankruptcy -- Myth!

  This data was reportedly found on the National Archives and Records Administration website, but now cannot be found anywhere when people search for this particular piece of information. Once again, it is likely a result of outdated data or misunderstood information, and we again see a likely example of the game of telephone. So what is true?

  Since 2007, IT practices of disaster recovery have been well studied. Most recently in 2013, it was discovered that within the last 5 years, 69 percent of companies have gone through a disaster of some kind, and that though the cost of lost data is significant, it is generally not enough to close a business down for good.

  3. Disk Does Not Fail as Much as Tape Does -- Myth!

  Many managers of IT and CIOS hold to this myth, and thus perpetuate it further and further. This is likely as a result from their past experiences with frequent restores and unstable servers and applications while working with tape-based systems. The disk versus tape debate is ultimately quite complex and the reliability of either depends on various factors. So what is true?

  Both have been proven to be very dependable over time. According to a certain data study, it was shown that tape was more reliable since it only a bit was lost during failure, as opposed to a whole sector during a disk failure.

  However, this is not necessarily the whole picture with respect to the reliability issue and must not be information that is used globally, lest another myth be created! The bottom line is this: both systems are better than ever in terms of their reliability, and both do fail.

  4. Backups for Tape Are Not Tested by 34 percent of Companies -- Myth!

  This myth is perpetuated often times in order to push business, and is usually paired with other myths regarding failure rates for tape restores. Here are some examples of claims that the above myth is generally paired with:

  • Tape backups failed to restore at a rate of 77 percent.
  • It has been stated that in last year, 42 percent of tape backup recoveries have failed.
  • Tape is said to fail at a rate of 50 percent in companies that are medium-sized.
  • Data from tape was unrecoverable by 40 percent of IT managers.
  • Some researchers claim that there is a 54 percent failure rate for restores.
  • It is claimed by others that 71 percent of restores end up failing.

  So what is true?

  As you may assume, it is impossible to find the original sources to the above claims, and yet they continue to be perpetuated in various circles. All CIOs and directors of IT departments are more than aware that failure regarding backups and restores do indeed happen.

  Sadly, in a recent survey, many companies admitted to not being well prepared when it comes to disaster, even though they know that failure is possible, even more than likely. Even with a 98 percent rate of success with respect to backups, it doesn't necessarily mean that an administrator will have it easy in the event of a failure. In fact, this percentage can ultimately result in many backup failures depending on the size of your company.

  The most important factors that need to be addressed during a failure are: where, which, and why? Tools that offer a comprehensive view of the of the entire backup system and locate problem areas are vital to incorporate and will help greatly in answering the above 3 questions.

  The overarching theme regarding backups, recovery and DR is that it is becoming increasingly challenging to prepare appropriately for a disaster. There are multiple factors that could threaten the protection of your company’s data, and so the best defense in the end is being able to rest in the knowledge that there are many copies of your data backed-up.

  It is also vital to ensure that the amount of time it will take to restore your data is appropriate and that data lost can be tracked during a reasonable timeframe within the window of recovery.

  Photo Credit: docstockmedia/Shutterstock

  Mike Johnson is a Technical Writer for Rocket Software. He writes on topics like data protection, backup monitoring and reporting software. He holds a Bachelor of Science Management degree from DeVry University.

  
• 

  Mozilla puts Firefox OS out of its misery -- good riddance

  Publié: décembre 9, 2015, 5:47am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  When it comes to the death penalty, I generally am against it -- all human life is precious. With that said, I am all for the killing of both crappy software and hardware. For instance, Amazon's Fire phone deserved its death and Windows Phone can't die fast enough.

  Unlike the in-denial Microsoft, who keeps trying to make Windows Phone, or Windows 10 Mobile, or whatever they want to call it, a thing, Mozilla is showing mercy to its failed mobile platform. Yes, let us all rejoice, as Firefox OS is being killed. The web-based mobile operating system that nobody wanted and everyone predicted would die, finally has.

  If you aren't familiar with what Firefox OS is, it is essentially a Linux-based operating system, that relies entirely on HTML5 web apps. In other words, it is sort of like Chrome OS, but for a phone. The problem? Native apps just run better, and web apps often feel cheesy.

  Mozilla's OS was mostly focused on emerging markets, where the superior Android was already offering a better experience at comparable prices. In the USA, it was not sold in traditional stores, so consumers had to buy unlocked GSM versions in strange ways, like limited-time eBay auctions. This also meant Verizon users could not take advantage (not that they wanted to).

  Ari Jaaksi, SVP, Connected Devices, Mozilla tweeted, "Mozilla will stop offering Firefox OS phones through carriers. But we will continue improving web experience on smartphones".

  #Mozilla will stop offering Firefox OS phones through carriers. But we will continue improving web experience on smartphones. #mozlando

  — Ari Jaaksi (@jaaksi) December 8, 2015

  Jaaksi supplied the expanded comment to TechCrunch:

  We are proud of the benefits Firefox OS added to the Web platform and will continue to experiment with the user experience across connected devices. We will build everything we do as a genuine open source project, focused on user experience first and build tools to enable the ecosystem to grow.

  Firefox OS proved the flexibility of the Web, scaling from low-end smartphones all the way up to HDTVs. However, we weren't able to offer the best user experience possible and so we will stop offering Firefox OS smartphones through carrier channels.

  We'll share more on our work and new experiments across connected devices soon.

  True, Mozilla is only officially killing the operating system for mobile devices, so it could live on in other projects, such as televisions, or things like automobile computer entertainment systems. In reality, however, this likely spells its demise entirely, as businesses could -- and should -- be hesitant of embracing the operating system. There are too many better alternatives -- the world just doesn't need -- or want -- Firefox OS.

  Are you glad to see Mozilla focusing its resources on products people actually use, like the Firefox web browser? I sure as heck am, because Chrome has become a much better browser, and Mozilla's business decisions have been ponderous lately -- if it doesn't right the ship soon, it will hit an iceberg and sink like the Titanic.

  
• 

  Twitter tinkers with time

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 11:31pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Twitter's timeline is getting a makeover. Not content with presenting tweets in an ordered, chronological fashion (well, reverse-chronological if you want to be pedantic), Twitter is experimenting with the order which tweets are displayed.

  It's something that Facebook has been doing for a while, but now Twitter has jumped on the bandwagon using new methods to "surface the best content" for users. At the moment, this is just an experiment, but it's entirely possible that the re-ordering will become the norm in the not-too-distant future. So what's the deal?

  In an email to Vice, a spokesperson for Twitter confirmed the move, saying it is running "an experiment. We're continuing to explore ways to surface the best content for people using Twitter". Many would argue that the very point of Twitter is its potential to keep people up to date with instant, timely information. On the face of it, changing the chronology of the timeline flies in the face of this, but there are also potential benefits.

  Twitter has already experimented with the "While You Were Away" feature, and in many ways the timeline re-ordering is something of an extension of this idea. It's not something that will be to everyone's taste, but it does open up the possibility of grouping together related tweets outside of the confines of hashtags and trending topics.

  What's your preference when it comes to consuming social media? Would you like to see things in the order in which they happened, or would you rather a more 'curated' option.

  Photo credit: dani3315 / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Pixel C arrives at Google Store

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 9:21pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  Today, Google started selling its first homegrown tablet, Pixel C. You can buy one directly from the company—until they sell out! Google typically struggles stocking new devices, like Nexus smartphones and the Chromebook Pixel. On November 30th, I asked: "Where is Pixel C?", which was promised to arrive before the holidays. Now we know.

  I hope to have the 10.2-inch tablet in possession within a few days and will subsequently post first-impression and full reviews. If you can't wait for that, and shouldn't, larger tech news sites already have their takes online. Search for the name, and you will find them. Don't wait on me, if you're thinking about one for Christmas!

  Pixel C inherits design ethic from the touchscreen Chromebook that Google also makes. That heritage is more than about looks but establishing a base reference design for other Android tablet manufacturers and stable platform for applications development. Like Nexus devices,

  Pixel C runs the newest Android version (Marshmallow), which Google updates about every six weeks. If larger screen tabs are the future, the ecosystem needs something built on stock Android. Nice as those Samsung Galaxy tabs are, they're still skinned by TouchWiz UI and no reference for other manufacturers. Google is right to provide a baseline for Android the tablet platform.

  The tab arrives as Apple and Microsoft push the motif as PC replacement with iPad Pro and Surface Pro 4/Surface Book, respectively. Whether or not Pixel C can replace a laptop is questionable in my logistical thinking. Rather, it's just another contextual cloud computing device which role changes based on need. I can imagine throwing the beauty in my camera bag, for example. That's much more tenable with a 10.2 inch tab than Apple and Microsoft monsters—12.9 inches and 13.5 inches, respectively.

  Google's business is all about context: What you want, where you want, when you need it. The concept is core to search and advertising, and everything Google—and parent company Alphabet—wraps round it. No rival executes better delivering contextually useful products and services.

  I will use the new tablet alongside Chromebook Pixel LS, which remains my everyday, all-day PC. Pixel C will open up a wellspring of Android apps to contextually complement the laptop and seamlessly sync with Google's own apps and services across both devices and Nexus 6P. "How well?" is the question, and my review(s) will answer.

  If you're thinking about buying Pixel C, Google sells two configs, which are differentiated by storage—32GB ($499) and 64GB ($599). A magnetically-attachable keyboard also is available, for $149. With tax and free shipping, expect to pay about $800 for the 64GB kit.

  Specs: 10.2-inch LTPS LCS touchscreen (2560 x 1800 resolution, 308 pixels per inch, 500 nit brightness); Nvidia Tegra XI 64-bit processor; 256-core Maxwell graphics chip; 3GB RAM; 32GB or 64GB storage; 8-megapixel rear and 2MP front cameras; flanking stereo speakers; four microphones; USB Type-C; WiFi AC; Bluetooth 4.1 + HS; six sensors (accelerometer, ambient light, compass, gyroscope, hall, proximity); and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Measures 242 x 179 x 7 mm and weighs 517 kg. The enclosure is made of anodized aluminum.

  Pixel C is gorgeously styled. But is it as functional as beautiful? My review will answer.

  
• 

  Apple releases iOS 9.2, OS X 10.11.2 El Capitan, watchOS 2.1 -- here's what's new

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 8:01pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Apple must believe that all good things come in threes, because it just released new updates for its three major operating systems, bringing iOS 9.2, OS X 10.11.2 El Capitan and watchOS 2.1 to its users.

  The updates are quite extensive, packing lots of bug fixes, performance and stability improvements, and new functionality. Most changes are brought by iOS 9.2 and watch OS 2.1, while OS X 10.11.2 El Capitan is more focused in the areas it is designed to improve upon.

  To name just a few of the changes listed by Apple for iOS 9.2, we now have the ability to create a new playlist when adding a song to a playlist in Apple Music, a new Top Stories section in the News app, support for Mail Drop in the Mail app, support for 3D Touch in the iBooks app, improvements to the stability of Safari and Podcasts, and bug fixes for Live Photos, Contacts, Calendar, Camera and Health apps.

  On the OS X 10.11.2 El Capitan side of things, Apple claims to have improved the reliability of Wi-Fi, Handoff and AirDrop, fixed issues with Bluetooth, Mail and importing photos, and improved iCloud Photo Sharing for Live Photos.

  As far as Apple Watch users are concerned, watchOS 2.1 brings with it support for new languages (and the right-to-left user interface, to match that), new complications for Islamic and Hebrew calendars, and bug fixes for Calendar and Power Reserve, to name some of the changes.

  All three updates are available now for all the usual suspects: iPhones, iPads, iPod touch devices, Macs and Apple Watch.

  
• 

  Apple releases Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader for iPhone and iPad

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 7:38pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  My iPhone 6s Plus is a wonderful smartphone -- long battery life, great performance, and strong security. One of the biggest benefits, however, is the class-leading camera, which takes amazing photos. While I use the iPhone for day-to-day shots, I also own a fairly nice camera (Nikon 1 S2) that I use for more serious work. The problem, you see, is that the camera does not have built-in Wi-Fi, so uploading and sharing the photos means carrying my laptop.

  Today, this changes, as Apple releases the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader for iPhone and iPad. I can now connect the storage card from my camera to my iPhone for easy backup and sharing. I totally need this, and I bet many of you do too.

  "After you insert the SD card into the reader, your iPad or iPhone automatically opens the Photos app, which organizes your photos into Moments, Collections, and Years. And when you use iCloud Photo Library, all your full-resolution photos and videos are stored safely in iCloud and automatically added to the Photos app on all your devices. With iCloud Photo Sharing, you can share your photos and videos with just the people you choose", says Apple.

  The company further says, "the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader supports standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW, along with SD and HD video formats, including H.264 and MPEG-4. It supports data transfer at up to USB 3 speeds on iPad Pro, and up to USB 2 speeds on all other iPad and iPhone models".

  In typical Apple fashion, this dongle seems a bit expensive at $29, but in reality, the price is pretty reasonable. It looks well made and is USB 3.0 capable for the iPad Pro and future potential USB 3.0-capable devices too. Quite frankly, for a photographer, having the ability to travel without a laptop is priceless -- even at twice the price, Apple would likely sell a ton.

  

  Unfortunately, it does not accept microSD cards, so you will need a full-size SD adapter to utilize this new product. With that said, most small cards ship with the adapter, so unless you lost it, you probably will be OK. Believe it or not, my Nikon 1 S2 uses the micro variant, so yes, some cameras do use them.

  Want to buy the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader for iPhone and iPad? You can get it here. Will you buy it? Tell me in the comments.

  
• 

  Apple CEO Tim Cook starts conversation on cerebral palsy with a simple 'Hi'

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 7:10pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  As we come to the end of 2015, I begin reflecting on the year. While a lot of my memories are tech related, the truly important reflections involve friends and family. Ultimately, technology should be a part of our lives, not the entirety of our lives.

  Apple is a company that I greatly respect, as it seemingly understands this concept. Regardless of your opinion of its products, it is undeniable that its devices and services are improving people's lives daily. A huge factor in its focus on users and society is the leadership of Tim Cook -- a person I greatly admire. His sincerity regarding equal rights is heartwarming, and throughout 2015 he has shown deep commitment. Today, Cook, with the help of Siri, is starting a conversation on cerebral palsy.

  In the video below, Cook reaffirms Apple's commitment to equality and inclusion. The Apple CEO asks Siri the best way to start a conversation with someone that has a disability. The female voice assistant explains that you should just say "hi".

  In other words, a person with cerebral palsy, or any other disability or difference, doesn't need special treatment -- just chat them up like you would anybody else. It's a simple message; and that is what makes the video and message so refreshing and powerful. Cook is the perfect person to deliver such an important message.

  The Cerebral Palsy Foundation explains, "it's a joy to have Tim Cook add his voice (and Siri's) to our campaign. Tim's combination of keen mind and kind heart is displayed every time that he communicates his vision to the world. We’re thrilled that his outreach now includes the 'Just Say Hi' campaign".

  

  Hopefully Cook has inspired you to make a donation to the foundation, which you can do here. As you can see above, I donated $5 -- it was totally easy. With that said, it is not only about money. If you can't afford to give, it is OK. A smile is free, as is treating others with respect. The next time you see someone that's different from you, don't be scared -- just say "hi".

  Photo credit:Marco Prati / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Eric Schmidt's desire to bring a 'spell-check for hate' to the web is virtual fascism

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 7:10pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  In a thought-piece for the New York Times, Google's Eric Schmidt proposes a way to "build a better web". The catalyst for his re-envisioning of web is -- predictably -- terrorism generally, and IS/ISIS/ISIL/Daesh specifically. His proposal for tackling are, frankly, little short of deluded.

  On the one hand he decries "authoritarian governments" for employing censorship, and then in the next breath calls for the likes of Islamic State to be targeted so their videos can be removed. The problem is -- well, there are several really -- that this is somewhat fascistic. And that’s before we start to question whether Schmidt understands the meaning of the word 'hypocrite'.

  Schmidt shoots himself in the foot when trying to explain his thinking, immediately unravelling any argument he may have had. His article reads almost like Mein Kampf: "it's important that we use connectivity to promote the values that bring out the best in people". No, Eric. What's important is that people are free to use this connectivity as they want, not to have values imposed on them through it.

  He goes on to fret that if left unmanaged by citizens, government, and tech companies, "the internet could become a vehicle for further disaggregation of poorly built societies, and the empowerment of the wrong people, and the wrong voices". Just who is it that decide who are the 'wrong people' with the 'wrong voices' in your New World Order, eh, Eric?

  He witters on and on, seemingly oblivious to the irony the echoes through saying "authoritarian governments tell their citizens that censorship is necessary for stability. It's our responsibility to demonstrate that stability and free expression go hand in hand", and then immediately follow it up with "we should target social accounts for terrorist groups like Islamic State, and remove videos before they spread, or help those countering terrorist messages to find their voice". So censorship is bad, unless you're censoring views that oppose yours, right, Eric?

  Schmidt does not put forward any new or compelling arguments to support his ideas. It's a well-worn path that has been trodden endlessly:

  As with all great advances in technology, expanded Web access has also brought with it some serious challenges, like threats to free speech, qualms about surveillance and fears of online terrorist activity. For all the good people can do with new tools and new inventions, there will always be someone who will seek to do harm. Ever since there's been fire, there's been arson.

  The analogy Schmidt tries to draw here is interesting in that it actually runs counter to what he proposes for the web. Indeed, arson has existed for (just about) as long as fire (it's unlikely, however, that the first discovers used it as a weapon of wilful destruction of property). But just has no effective method of countering arson has ever been determined, attempts to prevent the use of the web for evil are doomed to failure. Punishments may act as deterrents, but they will never eliminate a crime. Never.

  Schmidt's choice of words is also quite telling: "for all the good people can do". Concepts of good and bad are just that. Concepts. It's almost too easy to single out the likes of ISIS as bastions of evil, illustrating why 'something needs to be done'. But 'good' and 'bad' are often highly subjective. In suggesting that some views and opinions are worthy of -- nay, deserve -- silencing, is extremely worrying. The web is a tool for everyone, not just those who hold the same views and ideologies as oneself, or even the majority.

  Setting up a system -- be it automated or manual -- by which objectionable content can be killed would set an extremely dangerous precedent. The aim of such a system might be a stop the spread of 'dangerous' propaganda, but choosing who is able to say what, when, and how is a force of propaganda in itself: propaganda by elimination. Silence your opponents, and there is only your voice left to be heard.

  The proposal is to develop "spell-checkers for hate and harassment", but what on Earth does this actually mean? Let Schmidt enlighten you:

  Intuition, compassion, creativity -- these are the tools that we will use to combat terror and violence online, to drown out the hate with a broadly shared humanity that only the web makes possible. It's up to us to make sure that when the young girl reading this in Indonesia on her tablet moves from this page, the web that awaits her is a safe and vibrant place, free from coercion and conformity.

  Unless, of course, that coercion is executed by 'good' governments with a view to encouraging people to conform to a nice, Western philosophy. That's just fine by Schmidt. I've already argued that ISIS and terror attacks should not be used as scapegoats for placing restrictions on the internet, but that is exactly what people are trying to do. It's fascism and authoritarianism wrapped up in attractive packaging.

  Not in my name, Eric.

  Photo credit: Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Why not use open source encryption?

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 5:49pm CET par Ebba Blitz

  

  There’s a lot of talk about encryption these days. Often the issue arises when moving data to the cloud, using solutions like Dropbox or Box. We start to wonder if our information will be safe if it’s no longer stored locally on computers in our offices. We are confident that Dropbox and Box store everything in a secure way -- we have little reason to believe that they don’t, right?

  Next, we think, "OK, what happens when information leaves or enters the cloud? Is our communication safe? Maybe that information should be encrypted, too". Actually, there’s no question about it. Data should be encrypted when it moves in and out of a network and when it’s stored in the cloud.

  Endpoint encryption: protection from human error

  Where is data most vulnerable? It is at the endpoints. Without endpoint encryption on ultra notebooks, laptops and desktops, data is vulnerable. This is where you naturally store the user names and passwords to cloud apps and communication -- critical and confidential information that must be kept secure.

  For some reason people seem to underestimate the importance of the human factor when it comes to IT security. Recent findings show that more than six out of ten data breaches emanate from a lost or stolen laptop. If you lose your laptop, then you most certainly are losing confidential information as well. We can’t always prevent the loss of a laptop, but we can prevent unauthorized access to what’s stored on our laptops.

  Open source: "you get what you pay for"

  So, how do I secure my laptop? When browsing the Internet for security software you will most certainly find some open source software that looks interesting -- and perhaps it may be even more appealing because it is free. But don’t be fooled by low or no cost -- because the costs associated with frequently unsupported "as is" free applications and poorly tested open source software can also be quite high.

  Open source can create a false sense of security. Using open source means being dependent on something that might not work in the end, when you most need it.

  "One of the challenges with using open source is the potential of introducing vulnerabilities that can cause exploits down the road", says Len Carella, Vice President of Corporate Infrastructure for iCIMS, a provider of SaaS solutions for talent acquisition. "There is no guarantee you’ll receive timely support on technical issues that may arise. What originally may look attractive based on price may end up being very costly to your business in the long run".

  Are you hanging on to the TrueCrypt encryption system?

  The TrueCrypt story is a good example of what happens when a team decides to no longer develop its product and patch security holes. In May 2014, the TrueCrypt website announced that the project was no longer being maintained and recommended that users find alternative solutions.

  Why is this sound advice? Critical security flaws have been revealed. Attackers could leverage the flaws to ultimately have free access to your "protected" data. Malware could be downloaded, unwanted surveillance could take place, a PC could be ruined -- there is virtually no end to the damage a hacker could do once flaws have been exposed but not patched.

  Customers are often not on top of the latest IT security issues with the products they use. If a bug is found, it's safe to assume it will not be patched when the developers are gone -- no matter how serious the flaw is.  Do users simply not understand the risk of using unsupported software? Or are they simply misled by the "price" of a free product?

  Another problem with using open source is the fact that you are not sure who is behind the software and that there could potentially be back doors you are not aware of, but who knows?

  Self-installation of laptop encryption can be quite difficult if you don’t have the right skills, and many SMBs don’t. Companies without an IT department of their own need someone to help them when problems arise.

  In the case of a software/hardware crash or forgotten password, data can become inaccessible, with no assistance available. Who is responsible for retrieving that data when a company is using freeware such as open source? The implication here is that large enterprises remain secure, while SMBs remain vulnerable.

  My advice to TrueCrypt users is that it is time to move to another, safer solution to make sure that your information is protected and secure. If you don’t have an IT department of your own, look for an online service provider that can help you. Their technology should be based on a supported software that’s upgraded and updated as new threats are discovered.

  And, last but not least, stay away from open source!

  Photo credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock

  Ebba Blitz is president of Alertsec. Specializing in the fast deployment of IT security and sales, she has been on the board since its inception in 2007 and is responsible for setting up the U.S. West Coast sales office. The encryption company provides computer security through the cloud.

  
• 

  Panda Internet Security 2016: Good protection, small performance impact [Review]

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 5:34pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  We already know the importance of defending endpoints to keep business systems secure. The latest release of Panda Internet Security offers protection for PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices, and aims to provide a wide spectrum of security in an easy-to-use package.

  For businesses looking to help staff protect their BYOD devices or smaller organizations looking for desktop protection, what does it have to offer?

  Features

  There are the main elements you’d expect to see in any internet security package, namely antivirus and firewall protection. With Panda you also get a Process Monitor which keeps an eye on other software for suspicious activity, and a Safe browsing feature to block suspicious URLs.

  In addition there’s USB protection to scan flash drives when they’re attached, and Wi-Fi protection that can warn you if you’re about to access an insecure network. Data Shield can protect selected files and folders by granting programs permission to access them. When you install new software a wizard will prompt you to set what it’s allowed to access, this helps protect against ransomware type malware that seeks to deny access to data.

  There’s also Application Control which allows you to control which programs are allowed to run, and parental control allows you to block specific websites or categories for certain users.

  The program has a Rescue Kit feature that you can use to create a bootable flash drive to recover an infected system. It lets you run an advanced virus scan too and access Panda’s Cloud Cleaner. A virtual keyboard lets you enter sensitive information like banking passwords on the screen if you’re worried about keyloggers.

  There are various licence options allowing you to protect one, three or five devices and there are versions for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS systems. What you don’t get in this version of the product is online backup, encryption, file shredding or system tune-up tools. If you want those you need to spend a bit more on Panda Global Protection.

  

  In Use

  So, lots of features on offer, but what’s it like to use?

  Installation is fast on a Windows PC, taking just a few minutes, and it doesn’t require a reboot. If you have Windows Defender running it automatically gets deactivated as part of the process. Panda does run a scan of your system after installing but this happens in the background and has minimal impact on the system’s performance.

  It installs a Panda toolbar to your browser to help protect your surfing. A minor irritant is that it wants to set Yahoo as your default search engine and MyStart as your home page. You can uncheck the boxes to opt out, but whilst this might be acceptable in shareware it doesn’t sit well in a commercial product that you’ve put down hard cash for.

  You’re prompted to set up an online account as part of the installation. This lets you review your licence information, see which products you have active and download the software for other devices.

  Once up and running, click the subtly panda-shaped taskbar icon and you’re presented with a smart, tiled interface that’s evidently Windows 10 inspired. This is friendly and simple to operate, if you need to dig deeper -- to set firewall rules for example -- there are Settings buttons on screens where more options are available.

  In operation Panda is mostly unobtrusive, the firewall pops up asking for a decision occasionally -- such as when a new program tries to connect to the web -- which is not something you see so often with security packages theses days. Otherwise it will only bother you when installing new programs, plugging in flash drives, or if it detects a problem.

  The antivirus module lets you perform a full scan of the system, this takes a while but is probably worth doing the first time you use the software. You can also choose to do a Critical Areas scan which looks at memory, Windows folders, etc, or a Custom scan which lets you select what to examine. You have the option to shut down the PC after a scan has finished so you can use it as part of your end of day routine. The Critical Areas scan took around 20 minutes on our Windows 10 test system.

  The Android app includes a useful Privacy Auditor which tells you which of your apps are allowed to access media files, SMS messages, the device camera and so on, useful for spotting potentially unwanted behaviour. Mobile versions also have anti-theft protection that allows you to lock or wipe the device remotely via your online account.

  Conclusion

  Panda Internet Security 2016 costs £49.99 to protect three devices for a year, which is on a par with the BullGuard product we looked at a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty comparable in terms of the features it offers too. It lacks BullGuard’s rating of online search results but that’s not a huge loss. It ranks slightly better in recent independent protection tests too.

  As with most consumer-oriented security solutions the scary options are hidden away in the name of ease of use, but they’re available if you need them. Panda Internet Security 2016 delivers a straightforward endpoint solution and won’t significantly harm system performance.

  Pros

  • Fast installation
  • Minimal system impact
  • Clean interface

  Cons

  • Unwanted options on installation
  • Slightly intrusive firewall

  Company	Release Price	Review
  Panda Security	£49.99	7/10

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

  
• 

  Ashampoo releases Burning Studio 16

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 5:25pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Ashampoo has announced the release of Ashampoo Burning Suite 16 ($59.99), and its more limited free version, Ashampoo Burning Suite 2016.

  The new edition does a better job of finding song covers, even when there are no tags available, and can optionally blend multiple covers together into a single photo mosaic.

  Simplified disc spanning -- with new error recovery -- and enhanced M-DISC support makes the program a smarter choice for backups.

  There’s support for adding subtitles in SRT format to your video discs, while it’s now possible to rip audio CDs to APE files.

  Jump list support and a reorganized settings dialog makes it quick and easy to access key features.

  High DPI support and a wider choice of skins ensures the program looks great, too.

  The free Ashampoo Burning Suite 2016 is relatively basic, in particular with video (it can only burn video discs from pre-prepared video folders), but it’s otherwise a capable data and audio disc burner.

  Ashampoo Burning Suite 16 and Ashampoo Burning Suite 2016 are available now for Windows Vista and later.

  
• 

  ThoughtSpot gives companies a self-learning search capability

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 4:58pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Enterprises have lots of data that could be used to improve their operations and profitability, but it can often prove hard to access. By contrast, users are accustomed to being able to instantly find information on search engines like Google with minimal effort.

  Business intelligence company ThoughtSpot aims to bridge this gap with the launch of ThoughtSpot 3, a major update to its search-driven analytics platform.

  The software has three key components, DataRank is a machine learning algorithm that sorts and presents data recommendations as you type. It guides users to the right results based on data properties and the collective intelligence in the company, helping people to get answers faster.

  AutoJoins automatically graphs data sources and joins tables in real-time to calculate answers across previously siloed databases. Finally PopCharts creates instant graphs and charts as you type in ThoughSpot's search box. PopCharts chooses from over a dozen new chart types and automatically presents the best one for each search. These results can be saved to a dashboard for future reference.

  "People want to make smart data-driven decisions as quickly as possible. They have come to expect it in their personal lives. Two billion people use search everyday to get instant answers when it comes to booking travel, trading stocks, and finding jobs -- activities previously managed by experts. With ThoughtSpot 3 we’re providing the same service to business professionals looking to make smarter decisions every day at work," says Ajeet Singh, co-founder and CEO of ThoughtSpot. "With the release of ThoughtSpot 3, every human now has the power to search to analyze all of their company data as easily as they use search in their personal lives".

  ThoughtSpot 3 is available now and you can find more information on the company's website.

  
• 

  Toshiba may spin off its PC business following weak sales

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 4:41pm CET par Anthony Spadafora

  

  Toshiba may be looking to spin off its PC division, and merge it with that of other computer manufacturers. The company has already stated that it plans to sell part of its semiconductor unit to Sony Corp.

  Toshiba is aiming to cut out the least profitable units of its operation after an accounting scandal that occurred earlier this year.

  Toshiba’s PC division has a rich history and was responsible for releasing the first commercially available laptop in 1985. Recently though, it has not been able to keep up with the other companies in the PC market.

  Toshiba has a 2.3 percent share in the global market for laptops and tablets according to research done by the firm Euromonitor. The company has already stopped making desktops.

  The decision comes as no surprise as many Japanese electronics companies have already begun to do similar things. Fujitsu Ltd announced in October that it had plans to spin off its PC business. Both Hitachi Ltd and Sharp Corp. also decided that the consumer market was no longer viable for them. Panasonic has turned its efforts towards the enterprise market and has been producing laptops with businesses in mind.

  Talks of Toshiba’s possibly combining their PC division with those of other companies were reported by the Nikkei business daily. The paper suggested that Vaio Corp, formerly part of Sony’s PC division, might be considering absorbing Toshiba’s PC unit.

  The rumor was quickly put down by a spokeswoman for Vaio. Toshiba most likely will be spinning off its PC division but the question of how still remains in the air.

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

  
• 

  How cloud technology benefits the healthcare system

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 4:40pm CET par Peter Davidson

  

  The cloud is growing every day. It is not the clouds in the sky that people are talking about. It is the cloud of information that is being stored on the World Wide Web.

  There was a time when people were limited in how much information they could store on a computer. There were also limits as to how that information could be accessed. The cloud makes information available to anyone at any time as long as they are allowed to see it. This is changing the way that people communicate and the way that business operates. Healthcare is one of the areas where cloud technology offers many benefits.

  Communication through the Cloud

  The use of cloud technology is very important when it comes to communication. One of the types of cloud technology that is being used in healthcare is VoIP. A VoIP phone system in place in healthcare has several benefits for both the healthcare professionals and the patients.

  VoIP systems give healthcare businesses a lot of flexibility. They have many of the features and the abilities of the biggest phone systems that only large companies used to have. It is now very easy for a healthcare professional to utilize VoIP phone systems and to get all of the features that are offered without the big investment that a traditional phone system would require. There is less money, time and equipment needed to establish the VoIP system. That makes this system accessible to even the smallest healthcare businesses.

  The VoIP systems make it easier for healthcare offices to track all of their phone calls. It allows them to handle all of the information that is received in a better fashion. The information can be prioritized and distributed where it is needed. All of this will translate into better care for the patients of that healthcare office.

  Information sharing through the Cloud

  One of the keys to providing good healthcare is information. The more that health professionals know about a person, the easier it is to keep them healthy. The problem is that a single individual can have several healthcare professionals that are involved in their care. Many mistakes are made because one healthcare professional does not realize what another is doing.

  The cloud makes it easy to collect all of the information about an individual and make it accessible to all of the healthcare professionals that need to see it. The decisions they make for that individual will be based on complete information rather than a little bit of guesswork.

  A cloud phone system can also help health professionals by allowing them to communicate easily. Conference calling, video calling and the other features of these phone systems can allow the health professionals to share information with their colleagues in a much more timely fashion.

  There is one other way that cloud technology is changing healthcare. Patients are taking advantage of these modern phone systems to see their doctors through the cloud. They are connecting with doctors through video conferencing and through the phones instead of going into the office for a visit. Many doctors are able to provide a patient with the treatment they need through these systems. This can help improve healthcare in several ways.

  • Patients may be less intimidated and more willing to see a doctor through the cloud technology
  • The doctor and the patient will both have more time to do their work by seeing patients sooner rather than later
  • Distance is not an obstacle to healthcare when the cloud is employed
  • Costs for patients can be lower when the cost of running an office is lowered
  • Healthcare offices will have better tools to help them with billing and collecting payment for the work

  Cloud technology does offer many benefits to the healthcare system, but it also can be dangerous. The information that is being stored in the cloud can be accessed by people that should not have it. The communications using the cloud involving the healthcare systems can also fall into the wrong hands. Security is a high priority for the use of cloud technology in healthcare and that is a good thing. Patients expect their private information to stay that way.

  Doctors and healthcare offices have been slow to adapt to the technology that is being offered. They are very used to the old way of doing things. The more doctors become willing to adapt to the advances that are happening, the more patients will accept it. The benefits of the cloud in healthcare far outweigh any dangers and it is something that more professionals need to use. A doctor should provide the best care they can at all times. It is something that every patient deserves when it comes to healthcare.

  Photo Credit: alexmillos/Shutterstock

  Peter Davidson works as a senior business associate helping brands and start ups to make efficient business decisions and plan proper business strategies. He is a big gadget freak who loves to share his views on latest technologies and applications.

  
• 

  Sort images by color with ImageSorter

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 4:19pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Photo managers offer many ways to organize and sort your images -- name, date, size, tags -- but these typically rely on your pictures being set up in a consistent way.

  ImageSorter for Windows and Mac doesn’t care about any of that, because it only uses the image content, sorting and presenting it by color and layout.

  Getting started is easy. Just point the program at a folder containing images, and it scans them, creates thumbnails and sorts them into order.

  ImageSorter is trying to give an overview of your photos, so if you’ve thousands of images then the individual thumbnails will be tiny. But you’ll still have enough to see the primary colors, helping you pick out shots which are mostly blue skies, green countryside, sunsets, faces and more.

  The process worked well for us, with related shots grouped together, often surprisingly accurately.

  Multiple shots of the same view, similar portrait shots of the same person, any pictures with a distinctive palette were generally displayed right next to each other, regardless of their resolution, file name, date or other details.

  ImageSorter could also help out if you’re just looking for pictures with a similar palette, maybe to match a website design.

  And of course it helps you find duplicates, too.

  What you don’t get, unfortunately, are many options for processing the images you’ve found.

  There are the basic essentials: double-click to open an image in your default viewer, right-click to copy it to the clipboard.

  Select multiple images, right-click, and you’ll also find options to move, copy or delete them.

  But you can’t access Explorer’s regular right-click menu for images. Or choose a preferred program for opening them. Or drag and drop selected pictures somewhere else. Or view images as a list, with their details, to help choose and delete duplicates. Or… You get the idea.

  And there’s more, because ImageSorter is a beta, which hasn’t been updated since 2011, and is no longer supported.

  That’s a pity, but these don’t have to be fatal issues. ImageSorter’s "sort by similarity" feature still works very well, and -- as long as you don’t expect the supporting features to be anything like as good -- we think it justifies the download all on its own.

  
• 

  Focus by Firefox is a content blocker for Safari users on iOS 9

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 4:09pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  Ever since Apple allowed adblockers on iOS 9, we’ve seen a steady influx of these types of apps appearing in the App Store. Today, yet another one arrives, but this new release has an interesting pedigree, coming as it does from Mozilla.

  Focus by Firefox is a free content blocker for Safari users on iOS 9 that gives users greater control over their privacy by allowing them to block categories of trackers such as those used for ads, analytics and social media.

  The app will block the same trackers that are targeted by Private Browsing with Tracking Protection in Firefox for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android, based on Disconnect’s open source blocklist.

  To install the app you’ll need to download it from the App Store (it's not there at the time of writing, but should be available soon) and then open it to complete the configuration.

  What’s quite amusing is Focus by Firefox only works on Safari in iOS 9, not Firefox, since Apple doesn’t allow ad blockers on third-party browsers. Mozilla is hoping to make it available for its own browser in the future, however.

  
• 

  New application delivers predictive personalization for Oracle users

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 4:08pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Marketing organizations are always keen to understand more about their customers so they can accurately target their efforts.

  Machine intelligence-based marketing platform Boomtrain is launching a new application on the Oracle Marketing AppCloud offering predictive personalization to help businesses form better relationships with their customers.

  Oracle Marketing Cloud provides data-driven solutions to simplify marketing resources and deliver more personalized customer-centric experiences. Combined with Boomtrain's platform users can easily develop deeper understandings of individual consumers based on how they interact with website and email campaigns. By applying this first-party data to Boomtrain’s predictive algorithms, companies can recommend the content or product that each individual user is most likely to engage with.

  "Forward looking companies are moving away from mass marketing to develop stronger, more meaningful relationships with individual consumers," says Nick Edwards, co-founder and CEO of Boomtrain. "Boomtrain provides a strong complement to Oracle Marketing Cloud and will help mutual customers automatically predict the optimal content or product recommendation across any marketing channel".

  Boomtrain is available now from the Oracle Cloud Marketplace.

  Image Credit: iQoncept / Shutterstock

  
• 

  IDC: Forget tablets, the PC could be set for a comeback in 2016

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 3:57pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  It used to be that a new version of Windows would be a major shot in the arm for PC sales, but that’s no longer the case. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tracker, shipments are expected to fall 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, bringing the overall decline for the year down by 10.3 percent.

  As a result, IDC has revised its forecast for next year, but it does see things stabilizing by the end of 2016, and even predicts some growth.

  The analyst firm forecasts sales in the United States, Western Europe, and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) continuing to fall, but only fractionally, with Canada improving slightly, and Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA) experiencing double-digit lower growth over the next year or more.

  IDC has a lot of faith in Windows 10, and remains "optimistic that replacements of commercial and consumer systems will ultimately stabilize the market and even drive growth".

  SEE ALSO: Windows 10 set to be the most widely installed version of Windows ever

  IDC believes that waning interest in tablets and minimal growth in smartphones will see users returning to the PC globally, although not so much in the United States where other form factors, including detachable tablets, will continue to reign supreme.

  "Despite the substantial shift in spending and usage models from PCs toward tablets and phones in recent years, very few people are giving up on their PC -- they are just making it last longer", said Loren Loverde, Vice President, Worldwide Tracker Forecasting and PC research.

  "The free upgrade to Windows 10 enables some users to postpone an upgrade a little, but not indefinitely. Some consumers will use a free OS upgrade to delay a new PC purchase and test the transition to Windows 10. However, the experience of those customers may serve to highlight what they are missing by stretching the life of an older PC, and we expect they will ultimately purchase a new device. As detachable systems become more compelling (including attractive new Wintel designs), some volume will go to detachable tablets rather than traditional PC form factors, which will cut into the PC growth rate, but still supports the PC vendors and ecosystem".

  Photo Credit: ostill /Shutterstock

  
• 

  Retailers aren't doing enough to protect their data in the holiday season

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 3:42pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Retailers believe they're doing a good job of protecting their sensitive data, but may in fact be ignoring major security holes.

  This is among the findings of a retail risk report from threat protection company Bay Dynamics, based on a survey of IT decision makers in 125 large US retail organizations.

  Problems include employees, particularly temporary seasonal staff, using shared accounts. While a majority of respondents say they know everything their permanent and temporary employees are doing on their corporate systems, 21 percent say their permanent retail floor workers and 61 percent say their temporary floor workers do not have unique login credentials for corporate systems. This means those workers are using shared accounts -- which include the same login credentials. As a result, IT and security teams don't know everything their employees are doing on their corporate systems.

  More than a quarter of respondents said they don’t know if their temporary employees have ever accessed or sent data they shouldn't have. Also 37 percent of respondents say they can't identify which systems their temporary employees have accessed.

  Almost half (47 percent) of respondents acknowledge that temporary workers are somewhat risky to their organization and more than a third view them as a high risk. 66 percent also view their permanent workers as somewhat risky.

  In spite of these worries, the majority of retailers gave themselves a 6 or higher -- on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the most proactive -- for identifying critical assets that must be protected, detecting theft or data leakage, and controlling employee access to critical assets.

  The report concludes, "Decision makers may think they are securing the enterprise, but as our survey reflects that is not the case. In today's cybercrime era, where criminals are highly organized and will take extraordinary measure to commit crime -- whether that's landing a job as a temporary holiday worker simply to get access to a retailer's network or attacking the retailer through a third party vendor by posing as a legitimate vendor employee -- retailers need 100 percent visibility into what each employee and insider is doing when accessing key corporate systems and data assets".

  The full report is available on the Bay Dynamics website.

  Photo Credit: mtkang/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Most mobile apps have encryption flaws

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 3:41pm CET par Barclay Ballard

  

  Encryption is not all it’s cracked up to be according to a recent security report, with coding flaws introducing a number of vulnerabilities into smartphones and their software.

  Seven in eight Android apps and 80 percent of all iOS apps have encryption flaws, claims Veracode’s State of Software Security report.

  The researchers at Veracode found that four particular encryption errors were recurring in a large number of iOS and Android apps. These included insufficient entropy to secure data, failure to validate certificates, the use of weak cryptographic algorithms and storing information as plain text. Most disappointing of all, however, is the fact that these flaws are relatively straightforward to fix, suggesting that developers need to place greater emphasis on security.

  While many startups and smaller businesses may not feel as though they have the time and resources to dedicate to security, the reputational damage of a data breach can be so devastating that it often proves a worthwhile investment. As companies develop and transition to more agile development methods, it is also hoped that security will become more ingrained in the software engineering process.

  The State of Software Security report also highlighted a number of vulnerabilities in web-based applications. Three coding languages, in particular, were singled out as being the most susceptible to insecurities: PHP, ColdFusion and Classic ASP. SQL injection vulnerabilities were found to affect 64 percent of Classic ASP apps, 62 percent of ColdFusion apps and 56 percent of PHP software. On the other hand, Java and .NET were seen to be the most reliable web development languages.

  The report highlighted that the best way of preventing coding errors from causing security flaws is to invest in more training and online learning. This will not only lead to less scripting errors, but also help developers, and the company as a whole, take security more seriously.

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

  Photo credit: faithie / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Spotify lets you create your year in music

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 1:59pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  As the year winds down it becomes time for retrospective thoughts. There will be a lot to look back on 2015, some of it pleasant, some sad, some just plain scary. Moments are sometimes defined by music -- you remember what was popular when you were in high school, for instance.

  Now Spotify would like to provide you with some reminders of the year that's almost gone. This is your year in music and it's tailored to each individual user.

  "From the internet falling back in love with Missy Elliott at the Super Bowl, to same-sex marriage being legalized in the US and Ireland, to man buns and selfie sticks exploding on the cultural scene, 2015 was a year to remember. Explore these and many other moments from the past year -- and relive these memories through custom Spotify playlists", the streaming service announces.

  Your personal list will include your first played song, your top songs, artists and genres, top artists by season, total minutes of music streamed and total number of songs and artists played.

  Once your list is created you can see a snapshot of it and share it on all of your social networks. Spotify will also gift you a playlist based on your music listened to over the past year. Just hit "Play it forward" and you'll get your new list.

  Photo Credit: ra2studio /Shutterstock

  
• 

  New solution helps businesses offer single sign ons

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 1:52pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  As businesses grow and expand their online presence, they can end up with customers needing lots of different logins for blogs, support portals, forums and more. This can lead to frustration among users and mean that businesses lose sight of their system interactions.

  Software company Inversoft is launching a solution to this problem in the form of Passport. This not only allows a single sign-on between applications, games, forums, help desks, user accounts and other offerings, but also gives companies a comprehensive view of user activity.

  Implemented via an API and made for use on desktops, tablets, smartphones and other devices, Passport is based on OAuth 2.0, the most advanced authorization standard, and adds a number of proprietary features. Among these is the ability to mute, ban or suspend users if necessary, or reward them with special offers or promotions. It also lets customers specify their preferred language so companies can respond with appropriately translated emails and messages.

  "For years, companies have been dealing with the limitations of SAML and LDAP protocols for single sign-on. Passport moves the industry forward dramatically," says Brian Pontarelli, founder and CEO of Inversoft. "It offers features and capabilities most other solution providers would never dream of. Best of all, Passport requires only one database to drive a company’s entire user management function".

  Passport also features native integration with CleanSpeak, Inversoft's tool for profanity filtering and content/user moderation. A full menu of auditing and analytics tools supports deep-dive queries and pre-set reports are also available for critical performance metrics.

  To maximize security, Passport supports two-factor authentication. As an on-premise solution it conforms to internal security protocols, avoiding the risk presented by hosted, multi-tenant alternatives.

  Passport is available now and there's a free developer plan that can handle up to 50 users, allowing businesses to try it out. More information is available on the Inversoft website.

  Image Credit: Gunnar Pippel/Shutterstock

  
• 

  CleanMyDrive 2 for Mac makes cleaning external drives as easy as one click

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 1:50pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  Ukranian software developer MacPaw has unveiled CleanMyDrive 2 for Macs running OS X 10.10 or later. It’s a free tool designed to help users monitor their hard drives and quickly clean unspecified junk files from external drives.

  Version 2 debuts a completely redesigned user interface, plus adds a number of new tools and features, including the ability to set custom icons for drives via additional in-app purchases.

  The program debuts with a completely redesigned user interface, which ditches the dark color scheme to more seamlessly fit in with Yosemite and El Capitan OS X builds.

  It’s not just about aesthetics: version 2 adds a number of new features too. Users can now drag files on to the app’s menu bar icon, then move them over an external drive icon to copy the file to that drive.

  Each drive is now also accompanied by a color-coded legend making it easy to identify what types of file are taking up most space on the drive.

  The app also introduces support for notifications informing when drives have been mounted or ejected, while the mass disk eject feature gains a keyboard shortcut.

  CleanMyDrive doesn’t provide users with a list of what files it cleans (other than overall file size), so relies on a certain level of trust when prompting users to use the one-click cleanup button. Version 2 claims to have improved its hidden service files cleanup algorithm, while also offering an option to automatically clean drives before they’re ejected.

  For those interested, the program cleans OS X and Windows Service files, including  .DS_Store, .Spotlight-V100, .TemporaryItems, .fseventsd, Thumbs.db, RECYCLED, RECYCLER, $RECYCLE.BIN. It also scrubs resource forks and items in the Trash.

  Version 2 also introduces a "hide" button that allows users to keep selected drives away from the program’s sphere of influence.

  One final addition introduces support for customizing drive icons, although this involves making in-app purchases of icon sets. At time of release, two sets are available for $2.99 each, but there’s the promise of more to come.

  CleanMyDrive 2 is available now as a free download for Mac users running OS X 10.10 or later.

  
• 

  MapR launches global streaming for big data

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 1:17pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  The growth of the Internet of Things is providing businesses with ever larger volumes of data, that in turn places ever greater demands on the technology needed to process it.

  Big data specialist MapR is launching its MapR Streams solution which connects data producers and data consumers across shared topics of information and across the globe.

  It offers a converged data platform that integrates file, database, stream processing, and analytics to accelerate data-driven applications and address emerging IoT needs. This allows organizations in any industry to continuously collect, analyze and act on streaming data.

  With the continuous analysis of big data businesses can improve their responsiveness to critical events. It can, for example enable advertisers to provide relevant real-time offers, help healthcare providers improve personalized treatment, or retailers optimize their inventories.

  "Bringing together world-class Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark with a top-ranked NoSQL database and now continuous, reliable streaming with global scale is a huge step forward in enabling enterprise developers to create the next-gen apps using big data," says Anil Gadre, senior vice president, product management at MapR Technologies. "MapR continues to execute on its vision of making it easy for enterprises to get the competitive edge from big data by bringing together all of the essential components".

  Unlike other approaches that create data silos across multiple systems and lack enterprise-grade features and global replication, MapR natively integrates data-in-motion and data-at-rest in one converged platform. As a result, it enables developers to create new, innovative applications that reduce data duplication and movement, lower the cost of integration and maintenance associated with multiple platforms, and deliver faster business results.

  More details are available on the MapR site and you can sign up to a webinar on December 10 which will demonstrate the power of the platform.

  Image Credit: bleakstar / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Apple releases official battery case for iPhone 6s, iPhone 6

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 12:39pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Battery cases have proven to be very popular with iPhone users, as they protect the device and greatly improve battery life without having to sacrifice much in terms of usability. Even though there are lots of options to choose from, even for Plus-sized models, Apple is now adding its own interpretation to the fold.

  Unlike other accessory makers which focus on both the standard and the Plus models, with its first iPhone battery case, called Smart Battery Case, Apple is now only targeting iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s users. Is it worth considering?

  Apple claims that, with a Smart Battery Case installed, users can expect battery life to extend up to 25 hours for cellular calls, 18 hours for 4G LTE browsing, and 20 hours for video playback. How much does the battery case itself add?

  The standard estimates for both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s are: up to 14 hours for calls, 10 hours for 4G LTE browsing, and 11 hours for video playback. So, the battery case itself would add 11 more hours of talk time, eight hours of browsing via 4G LTE, and nine hours of video playback. Not too shabby.

  The added battery life that Smart Battery Case promises to offer would put iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s on the same level as iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus in terms of talk time (the bigger devices claim up to 24 hours), but far ahead of the two in terms of 4G LTE browsing (18 hours vs 12 hours) and video playback (14 hours vs 20 hours).

  As expected from an official iPhone accessory, Smart Battery Case, which can be had in either Charcoal Gray or White, is priced quite high: it costs $99. It may nearly double your iPhone's battery life, but there are far cheaper alternatives out there, that also look much better than Apple's offering. That hump on the back, which is where the battery is, is hideous. There's no other way to put it.

  Anker's Ultra Slim Extended Battery Case has a 2,850 mAh battery inside, and promises to add up to 17 hours of talk time, 12 hours of browsing, and 13 hours of video playback, for just $39.99. And it is certified by Apple. So is the company's Premium Extended Battery Case, which has an even larger battery, and claims to extend battery life even more, while costing $47.99.

  Smart Battery Case would be a good choice for those who want the battery life of a bigger iPhone -- even better, actually -- while keeping the overall size in check. Question is, is it worth buying over an existing battery case?

  
• 

  Businesses are in the dark on cloud costs and usage

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 12:24pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Whilst there are increasing levels of trust in running critical applications in the public cloud, many organizations struggle when it comes to providing details of their cloud costs and consumption.

  This is according to a survey for analytics specialist Cloud Cruiser, carried out by Dimensional Research, which interviewed almost 350 IT professionals who attended the Amazon Web Services re:Invent shows in 2014 and 2015.

  It finds that 85 percent of respondents believe it's valuable to share cloud consumption metrics with the business. Unfortunately, 42 percent continue to find it difficult to properly allocate public cloud usage and costs.

  "The public cloud is delivering measurable business benefits as companies find ways to manage and mitigate security and compliance requirements. This drives more organizations to place business applications in the cloud, expanding public cloud usage beyond development and test to that of a flexible business asset," says David Gehringer, Principal, Dimensional Research. "However, IT is expected to provide reliable services and ensure cost transparency so the business can make fact-based decisions about the ROI on services. In 2016, we expect to see more business applications in the cloud and an increased focus on cost transparency comparing those of internal resources and external public cloud services".

  In the past the public cloud has been used mainly for sandboxing and development. The survey shows that this is still the case, with 62 percent of respondents using it for this in 2015, but use for enterprise applications is growing and has increased from 38 percent last year to 46 percent this year.

  Plans to use alternative clouds are also down. In 2014 only 27 percent planned to use no other cloud apart from AWS, this figure is up to 43 percent in 2015.

  More information on the survey and on how businesses can take better control of their cloud usage is available on the Cloud Cruiser website.

  Image Credit: Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Opera 34 revamps Turbo Mode to deliver more data savings, faster browsing speeds

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 12:21pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  Opera Software has unveiled Opera 34 FINAL, a major new release of its desktop web browser, with a separate mobile release due shortly.

  The new desktop build's primary focus is on delivering an improved Opera Turbo experience, but it also adds a handful of new features, including a number of improvements to its download engine as well as support for MSE Audio.

  Opera 34’s main highlight is the unveiling of a new and more secure version of its Opera Turbo tool. This allows users to speed up downloads on slow networks, such as congested Wi-Fi networks or 3G connections.

  It also provides data savings on bandwidth-limited plans through the compression of web pages before they’re delivered to the end user.

  Version 34’s update comes with the promise that browsing speeds will be up to 15 percent faster than before. Data savings are improved by 23 percent, which translates in real terms to users saving up to 70 percent of their normal data usage when Opera Turbo is enabled.

  Two other notable improvements in Opera 34 see downloads gain a cancel button (in addition to the pause/resume button), while the browser can now offer to resume partially complete downloads after a browser restart.

  Eagle-eyed users will also note that the Discover section has been renamed to News, while Mac users will be pleased to learn the new release adds support for the native Share button, making it possible to share content from the browser with other networks and apps.

  The final update sees Opera 34 gain support for MSE Audio, which allows it to play streams from Google Play Music and other similar services.

  Opera FINAL 34 is available now as a freeware download for Windows, Mac and 64-bit Linux users, with the Android version due imminently. Also available are Opera Mini for Android, and Opera Mini for iOS 12.0, which recently added synced speed dials and support for iOS 9 features like 3D touch and Spotlight search.

  
• 

  Tabr is a RAM-saving Chrome tab manager

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 11:55am CET par Mike Williams

  

  Chrome's a great browser, but open too many tabs and it can turn into a real resource hog, grabbing vast amounts of RAM and maybe impacting your system's performance.

  Tabr is a new Chrome tab manager which helps you deal with this, by providing new ways to browse, archive and control your browser tabs.

  The Tabr window opens with super-sized thumbnails of all your open tabs, in every Chrome window. You can scroll and click whatever you need, or use a Search box to search on title bar text.

  Alternatively, if you can't find what you want because your tabs are split across several Chrome windows, a "Combine Windows" button brings them all together.

  Hovering your mouse over a thumbnail displays an "Archive Tab" option, which saves the state of that tab, and closes it, freeing up RAM.

  Tap "All Sessions" later, whatever you saved last will be at the top of the list, and you can restore it with a click.

  If that’s too much hassle then you could try enabling the Auto-Archive feature, which automatically archives tabs after they've been idle for a specified number of minutes.

  There's also a more general "Archive Session" feature, which saves the state of every open tab, making it easy to restore everything later and carry on where you left off.

  Tabr doesn't quite have the functionality of some of the competition. It saves tabs rather than suspend them, for instance, and it's not very configurable. (You don’t like the large thumbnails? Tough.)

  The extension is looking good for a first release, though, with more than enough power to be useful, and a solid 4 star rating on Google Play. If you’re interested in tab managers when we'd give it a try.

  
• 

  As well as closing US borders to Muslims, Donald Trump wants to talk to Bill Gates about 'closing up the internet'

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 11:13am CET par Mark Wilson

  

  People who support freedom of speech are "foolish people" in Donald Trump's book. This is just the latest in a seemingly endless stream of sweeping generalizations and misguided utterances to fall from the mouth of the Republican presidential candidate.

  Positioning himself as the spokesman for the "noisy majority", Trump yesterday appealed to the xenophobic electorate in suggesting "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States". This is the statement that has, understandably, grabbed the headlines, but Trump also wants to exert control over the technology we use every day. Specifically, he is interested in "closing up the internet in some way", and he wants to speak to Bill Gates about it.

  Quite what the former head of Microsoft has to do with control of the internet is something perhaps only Trump understands. Perhaps he's missed the fact that Gates' involvement in the world of technology has been cut to almost nothing as he concentrates on more philanthropic ventures. Regardless, Trump thinks Gates is one of the people who can help him in his misguided plans to clean up 'extremist' online content.

  The bewilderingly popular (according to many polls, at least) billionaire says that he wants to talk to Bill Gates "and a lot of other people who understand what’s happening about closing up the internet in some way. People will say 'Freedom of speech! Freedom of speech!'. These are foolish people".

  As he has demonstrated perfectly countless times on his campaign trail, Trump is fantastically out of touch with the world -- the modern, forward-thinking world at least. He is of a mindset trenched in decades-old bigoted views and a seeming failure (or refusal) to recognize the implications of much of what he suggests. People who support freedom of speech are far from foolish. These are the people whose ideologies are the very cornerstones of democracy. These are the forward-thinkers and the ones who should be listened to, not shunned and ridiculed for not holding outdated views of the world.

  If Bill Gates and the 'lot of other people' have any sense, they'll treat any request for an audience with Trump with the indignation it deserves. Ignorant, sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut approaches are dangerous, but Trump is ever the master of saying what his right-wing acolytes want to hear. His suggestions have been met with typical loud support -- but only from certain quarters. His dream of driving jihadists from the internet is simply not going to happen. It's simply an unworkable idea, and an affront to free speech.

  Photo credit: Ilya B. Mirman / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft releases new Office 365 SMB plans

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 10:07am CET par Phoebe Jennelyn Magdirila

  

  After announcing the subscription-based service in 2014, Microsoft has now made available three new Office 365 small/mid-size business plans to its existing business customers.

  The three plans -- Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business and Office 365 Business Premium -- are replacing the current Office 365 Small Business, Small Business Premium and Midsize Business plans.

  The earlier planned October 1 2015 release had been pushed back to 1 December, to allow users to move to Office 2016 "more seamlessly", according to Microsoft officials.

  The Business Essentials plan includes email and calendaring, online meetings, instant messaging and Lync Online video conferencing, SharePoint Online, 1TB of free OneDrive for Business cloud storage, and Yammer enterprise social-networking support, at $5 per user per month, or $60 per year.

  Office 365 Business includes the complete set of Office applications for up to 5 PCs and/or Macs per user, and 1TB of free OneDrive for Business cloud storage, for $8.25 per user per month, or $99 per year. However, it doesn’t include Exchange, Lync or SharePoint online.

  Finally, the Business Premium plan combines the features of Office 365 Business Essentials and Office 365 Business for $12.50 per user per month, or $150 per year.

  Visit the Office website for a full comparison of the three new plans.

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

  
• 

  TuneIn Radio lands on Windows 10 with lots of content

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 5:06am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  TuneIn Radio has made some news recently, most notably with its inclusion of radio broadcasts for all NFL games. Granted, this requires the customer to pony up $7.99 per month for a premium subscription and there is no video, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than NFL Sunday Ticket and radio broadcasts are pretty descriptive about plays.

  Now the service is arriving on Windows 10, the latest operating system from Microsoft. This is a Universal App and brings the full content of the service to the platform.

  This gives users the ability to not only pin the app, but also pin their favorite stations. The service is also excited about Cortana which allows for launching the app by voice -- simply say "Cortana, launch TuneIn" and you're off and running.

  This allows for easy sign-in as, like its web-based counterpart, you can use Facebook to log in or use your email address to get moving.

  "We can’t wait to hear what you think of the new TuneIn Radio app for Windows 10! You’ll find the app available to download for free here in the Windows Store. If you have any questions, check out our FAQ page, or tweet us at @TuneInSupport", the service states.

  
• 

  Google makes Android a little less dangerous with 'Safe Browsing' update

  Publié: décembre 8, 2015, 1:57am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  When I switched from Android to iOS earlier this year, it had nothing to do with being a fanboy, hating Google, or loving Apple. Truth be told, I have never ever owned a Mac -- although I have played around with Hackintosh -- and I continue to use many Google services like YouTube and Gmail. The reason I switched was simple -- security. Too many Android devices get abandoned by manufacturers, meaning users are expected to use devices with known vulnerabilities -- unacceptable. With iOS, I can be confident that I will get a steady stream of updates.

  While Android continues to be a dangerous Wild-West-like experience when it comes to updates and vulnerabilities -- except for Nexus devices -- today, Google is making it a bit safer to use. As long as you use Chrome as your web browser on the mobile Linux-based operating system, the search giant will try to protect you from potentially dangerous websites. Yes, Android is becoming, arguably, a little less dangerous.

  "This new Safe Browsing client on Android is part of Google Play Services, starting with version 8.1. The first app to use it is Chrome, starting with version 46 -- we're now protecting all Android Chrome users by default. If you look at Chrome's Settings > Privacy menu, you can verify that Safe Browsing is enabled and that you're protected. Chrome warns you about dangerous sites as shown below. It does this while preserving your privacy, just like on desktop", says the Google Chrome and Safe Browsing Teams.

  The teams further shares, "we hunt badness on the Internet so that you don’t discover it the hard way, and our protection should never be an undue burden on your networking costs or your device’s battery. As more of the world relies on the mobile web, we want to make sure you're as safe as can be, as efficiently as possible".

  Keep in mind, this does not mean the underlying operating system is any more secure, nor does it improve the poor update practices held by many manufacturers and cell carriers. What it does mean, however, is hundreds of millions of Android users will be protected from malicious websites, which in turn, makes using the OS less dangerous. The caveats, of course, is that the user have both a compatible version of Google Play Services and use the Google Chrome web browser. As of now, alternative browsers such as Dolphin and Firefox will not benefit.

  Image Credit: Palto / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Is HTC's A9 the One? [review]

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 11:18pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  

  So you bought iPhone 6. You love the understated styling of the aluminum enclosure and how the device feels in your hands. But iOS is a dog brain. It's loyal and friendly, but you want more than a tail-wagger that needs to be let out to pee. HTC has your back, with the shockingly similar-looking One A9. The imitator gives you close-enough design benefits with the extra bang of the freshest Android (Marshmallow).

  Over the Black-Friday-to-Cyber-Monday weekend, one in ten A9 buyers moved up from iPhone 6 or 6s series devices, according to HTC. The manufacturer has a holiday special ending Jan. 7, 2016 that allures some switchers. Trade-in one of the Apples for full discount off the A9's purchase price (HTC mails a $499.99 check after receiving the old device). Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge traders get $200 and LG3 and LG4 owners $100.

  Ten percent is a big number and somewhat validates the imitative strategy. Apple fanboys can leer and sneer, while bloggers blast snarks about copycating. Bottom line: HTC wants to sell more phones, and being similar to a market leader while offering something different is a tried-and-true retail strategy.

  What Matters Most

  The real question: Is HTC One A9 right for you, whether or not switching from iPhone, 6, 6s, 6 Plus, or 6s Plus? This review will help you sniff out meaningful benefits that could answer the question. I'll say this at the start: The A9 is not state-of-the-art, and in that way differs from the HTC One M series smartphones that precede the iPhone wannabe. The manufacturer makes some design compromises to give that Apple look, but with Android inside.

  
  Optional mesh folio case provides quick info without opening

  Stated differently: As a straight iPhone 6 and 6s series competitor, the A9 is compelling. But compared to other Androids selling for similar price, benefits are mixed and some buyers rightly will scoff at how the hardware features compare.

  Let's strip down the A9 by 10 Ses: Specs; screen; speed; size; style; software; setup; storage; sound; and shooter.

  Specs. The spec-list, while popular metric among buyers and sellers, is an anachronism. The measure that matters more: Benefits, which often are confused with features. The wrapper that goes around a coffee cup is a feature. Protecting your hand from burning is a benefit. While related, the two are different, and there are many features added to devices that offer no meaningful benefits. Think the same wrapper around a cup of room-temp water, as example.

  This review purposely highlights feature benefits and failings for iPhone switchers and other Android adopters. However, we must spotlight specifications to clarify the benefits they do and do not provide.

  HTC One A9: 5-inch 1080p LCD display; 1.2Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 Octa-core processor; 3GB RAM; 32GB storage, expandable to 2TB via microSD card; 13-megapixel f/2 rear camera and 4MP UltraPixel on the front.

  iPhone 6s: 4.7-inch LCD display; Apple A9 chip; 2GB RAM; 16, 64, or 128GB storage (depending on model) and non-expandable; 12MP f/2.2 front and 5MP f/2.2 front cameras.

  
  Like iPhone 6/6s, the A9 has a fingerprint sensor

  The most notable, new feature-benefit independent of Marshmallow, is the fingerprint sensor, which placement on the Home button will be familiar to users moving from iPhone. But Android adopters will get better utility from the smarter-placed sensor on the back of Google Nexus 5X and 6P or LG V10.

  Battery life is acceptable, but not as long-lasting as Apple smartphones. Drain is noticeable when the A9 is used intensively, and many users may struggle to get a good day's use under this scenario. That said, HTC's phone supports Qualcomm's Quick Charge feature, so you can top off fast. That's a benefit for iPhone switchers. As for battery life, I again suspect HTC could squeeze out more if not for the homegrown Sense UI (see "Software" for more).

  Screen. The A9's AMOLED display is 1080p, which exceeds the 1334 x 750 resolution of newer iPhones. Color and contrast are vivid and the overall look of the screen satisfies; the device gets some bang from Android's Material Design but loses something from HTC's Sense (see "Software" for more).

  Apple purists may argue that iPhone's screen is superior, and debating them is pointless. But I must concede that the A9's display lacks the pop of some Android competitors, such as Nexus 6P or Samsung Galaxy S6, both presenting 2560 x 1440 resolution. The 6P sells for the same price as the HTC One flagship and the S6 for $100 more (from Google and Amazon, respectively). That said, the A9's screen should satisfy most anyone looking for an affordable, unlocked Android smartphone.

  Speed. The A9 is plenty responsive but not best of class. Still, in my testing, the phone is fast and fluid enough. That said, there is lag compared to Android smartphones running faster Snapdragons, such as the 800 series chips, during some scenarios. But the generous 3GB of RAM compensates, and I am convinced any lagginess is less about raw hardware capabilities and more about the extra toll placed by HTC Sense (again, see "Software" for more).

  Considering the overall package of benefits for the price, the A9 performs well enough. Audio and video streaming is smooth, as is web browsing and use of most apps. That said, GPS may muck the works. It's not sugar-in-the-gas-tank bad, but can be close. Games can tax performance, sometimes, too. But, to reiterate, overall, the smartphone speeds along nicely.

  
  MicroSD and SIM slots could be confused for volume buttons

  Size. The HTC One A9 measures 145.75 x 70.8. x 7.26 mm and  weighs 143 grams. Weight is same as iPhone 6s, which is slightly smaller (138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm).

  Compared to older HTC flagships, smaller footprint and removal of the front-facing speakers make the A9 much more comfortable to handle than predecessors M8 and M9. Balance is an important design characteristic, which the A9 meets measurably. The other two Ones are awkward to hold and tend to be more finger fumbly, by comparison. Sometimes less is more.

  Style. HTC One A9's overall shape and design will be quite familiar. As previously observed, this thing looks like iPhone 6 or 6s, but also a streamlined M8 or M9. The all-metal enclosure feels much the same, too, despite size slightly larger than the Apple. The A9 is a handsome handset, of which there are four available colors: Carbon Gray, Deep Garnet, Opal Silver, and Topaz Gold,

  But iPhone users, and even some other Android adopters, will be frustrated by the ergonomics. The A9 is an affront to your muscle memory, and I expect some people will be confused to frustration. Apple puts the volume buttons on the upper left, when iPhone is held in portrait mode. HTC places protrusions there that look and at first feel like audio controls. But they are instead covers for the SIM and microSD slots.

  
  The resemblance to iPhone 6/6s is striking

  On the other side of the phone, A9 presents a different bit of muscle memory trauma by placing the power on/off button below that for sound. IPhone users will be accustomed to a power button top right, while users of many other Androids will be used to volume controls below power. I kind of understanding HTC's reasoning for recessing the on/off switch where it is less likely to be accidentally accessed. But habits run deep on something so personal as a smartphone.

  Inheriting a design flaw from iPhone 6 and 6s series, A9 can too easily slip from the hands. The metal finish doesn't give great grip, and the rounded bevel makes fumbling too easy. That said, as previously observed, the A9 offers better balance than the M8 or M9, and it is more firmly handled than the Apples. I would use the HTC bareback, but not iPhone 6 or 6s. Other users should consider a case, however

  Software. The greatest and latest Android is inside this beauty, and that's a huge benefit for switchers from any platform. Marshmallow is sweet through and through but burnt, too, by HTC Sense UI. I'm not a fan, from earlier One models or on the A9. I find font and menu adaptions to be visually unappealing; they take away from the freshness of Google's Material Design.

  
  Sense UI simultaneously enhances and diminishes Android 6

  Meanwhile, HTC introduces duplicity and unnecessary system overhead. Some users will be confused by multiple apps for calendars, contacts, mail, photos, and such. The Sense phone dialer is clunky and strips away some of the auto-search-fill and caller ID features that Google provides in stock apps. I'm convinced that a purer Marshmallow would be speedier and less confusing.

  That said, BlinkFeed remains one of HTC's best adaptions for providing news, weather, and other information to the Home screen. Other embellishments have their place, too, such as the new HyperLapse and stalwart Zoe.

  The first feature can be best described as time-lapse video shooting, which benefit besides looking funky cool is making your overly long shots more manageable and meaningful. The other can combine photos and videos into what might be best described as a highlights reel. Both features are meant to improve visual storytelling, and they can do so exceptionally well.

  Summing up, HTC adds much with homegrown apps like BlinkFeed, HyperLapse, and Zoe, but diminishes Marshmallow and some of Google's best apps with overly-permissive primping.

  
  Oddly, the power switch is below the volume controls

  Setup. HTC sells the A9 direct for the aforementioned $499.99. Four distinct SKUs are currently available—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and unlocked. Verizon support is a 2016 affair. During initial setup of the unlocked model, the user chooses his or her carrier from a list. Among the supported U.S. cellular providers:

  • AT&T
  • Boost Mobile (unlocked  Sprint model)
  • CellularOne
  • Consumer Cellular
  • Cricket
  • GCI
  • Good2Go
  • MetroPCS
  • NET 10
  • Real Mobile
  • Simple Mobile
  • Straight Talk
  • Sprint (unlocked Sprint model)
  • Telcel America
  • T-Mobile
  • TracFone
  • Verizon Wireless (following software update arriving next year)
  • Virgin Mobile (unlocked Sprint model)
  • Voce Wireless
  • WalMart Family Mobile

  From there, HTC One A9 gets ready for use fairly quickly. iPhone switchers would benefit from setting up a Google account beforehand, if they don't already have one, and ensuring bookmarks, calendars, contacts, etc. are synced to it. That will greatly improve the startup experience, which is similar to any Android released over the past couple years. Meaning: Google keeps it simple.

  I set up the unlocked model on T-Mobile, for which expected capabilities are available—namely WiFi calling. This kind of carrier flexibility and adaptability is a commendable benefit.

  Storage. Apple opted not to release a 32GB SKU for iPhone 6 or its successor; the entry model starts at 16GB then jumps to 64GB for an additional 100 bucks. The A9 costs considerably less than Apple's $649 16 gigger, while providing something more: massive expansion—up to 2TB with microSD card.

  The feature also is a huge benefit for Android adopters. Google's mobile OS has long supported expandable storage, which is a feature with measured benefits. If you don't have first-hand experience with the kind of frustrating calamities that occur, check out any smartphone manufacturer's support forums for horror stories that make the newest "Paranormal Activity" movie (why was there ever more than one) seem like an episode of "Sesame Street". Marshmallow ends the terror.

  
  Sideways, the screen is nearly edge-to-edge

  The platform features "adoptable storage" that lets microSD cards truly act like the gigabytes inside the device. Under Settings, Storage & USB, users can (and should) choose to "format as internal", understanding that if there is content on the card that Android 6 will erase it. Once enabled, Marshmallow will essentially treat all storage singly. It's a huge benefit available because HTC chose to ship with the the current operating system.

  Sound. The A9's audio experience is as good as iPhone 6 and 6s series, with sound bellowing out a sideways grill. But HTC sacrifices one of the One series' defining design characteristics: front-facing BoomSound speakers flanking the screen. Other manufacturers adopt the style, which pops up, among other smartphones: Google Nexus 5X and 6P; Motorola Moto X and Nexus 6; and most other HTC smartphones.

  Audio is good, but lacks the depth and kick that M series Ones deliver. That said, the A9 gives great sound when attached to earphones or headphones. Now that Apple Music is available for Android, iPhone switchers can bring their libraries along, too.

  I'm convinced that flanking speakers take away from rather than add to the overall user experience. As previously mentioned, the M8 and M9 are unwieldy in part because of the design, which I can't see appealing to the majority of users. If it did, Apple would have adopted front-facing speakers long ago. Most people listen with earpieces or headphones, I suspect. Also, the single grill (placed on the bottom in portrait mode) is what iPhone switchers will be accustomed to using.

  Shooter. If you have seen any recent iPhone commercials, Apple vigorously flaunts camera capabilities; you could come away thinking no other handset could be as good and that your fancy digicam is outdated. Put down the Kool-Aid! There are worthy Android shooters, and HTC One A9 is among their ranks.

  In my testing, from the 13MP f/2 rear camera, color and contrast are plenty pleasing. Nice-to-have extras: manual controls and RAW support. Oh yeah, there is optical image stabilization, which Apple only offers on the pricier and larger iPhone 6 Plus or 6s Plus. OIS is pretty sweet for the selling price, Aperture and stabilization together will deliver many more usable shots captured in low light.

  
  Camera app supports RAW and offers manual shooting controls

  For Android adopters, HTC's biggest problem is one of image—that's perception, not photography. The company touted the 4MP UltraPixel camera found on the M8 and M9 as a low-light darling. But the camera compromised too much. The revamped rear-shooter, using Sony sensor, delivers; don't let past promises get in the way.

  Got to say: There is much I like about the UltraPixel camera, which remains, but on the front, where it is more capable and more appropriate. Get out the selfie stick and head to the rave. Those in-door venues should sing from the larger pixels (2 µm; 1.1 or 1.55 is more typical), which capture more light. iPhone 6s: 1.22 µm. So there's another benefit for switchers.

  The two-cam combo isn't best of class for straight shooting, but the extra features, and benefits they deliver, give great value and can produce pleasing photos that will make iPhone users gush with envy.

  As for video, front and rear cameras shoot 1080p. By contrast, iPhone 6s only gives 720p on the front, but 4K on the back. The A9 shines, however, with OIS for video, which to repeat, isn't available on either of Apple's 4.7-inch screen smartphones.

  The Grand Experiment

  As I write, my father-in-law, who turns 94 later this week, possesses the HTC One A9. He agreed to being test subject and moved up from iPhone 5s. That's a challenging migration considering his advanced age, the jump in device size (4-inch to 5-inch screen), and dramatic change in the mobile platforms. Watching how he adapts, or fails to, helps me to anecdotally benchmark HTC's imitative objectives. If this old guy can adapt from the 5s, and perhaps enjoy the change, maybe the A9 can be a switcher's option for iPhone 6 or 6s owners. I may give a report on his experience in the future.

  Wrapping up, the HTC One A9 is one of the oddest smartphones to come across my reviews desk. By the raw specs, the device is overpriced compared to, say, Moto X Pure Edition and Nexus 5X or 6P. But as a measure of combined benefits, particularly for anyone wanting an Android iPhone, the A9 is a compelling choice. Is it right for you? You tell me.

  Photo Credits: Joe Wilcox

  
• 

  At last! Google Calendar gains to-do lists with Reminders

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 8:43pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  When it comes to keeping on top of appointments, Google Calendar is certainly a useful tool -- but it's a long way from perfect. It's very capable at helping you to keep track of what you have to do and when, but there's one area in which it has always fallen short: to-do lists.

  Today (or at least this week) this changes. Google is adding Reminders to the iOS and Android version of the Calendar app, with the promise that the same feature will make its way to the web soon. The name might not be quite right, but Reminders is the to-do list support users have been waiting for.

  The feature works very much as you would expect. Create a Reminder, and will appear at the top of your schedule for the day. When you've completed the task, a quick swipe is all it takes to check it off, and any Reminders you fail to complete roll over to the next day. A simple idea, but one that's beautifully effective and long overdue.

  Reminders can be created from within the Calendar app, but you can also do it from Keep, Google Now, and Inbox.  Introducing Reminders, Google says:

  Another way Reminders are more useful than events is that Calendar adds things like phone numbers and addresses automatically. So if you add a Reminder to make call or run an errand, the number or address will be right there when you need it. Just like Inbox by Gmail, Calendar uses information from your contacts, as well as Google's knowledge graph to provide this extra bit of help.

  Check out the video below in which Google explains how the Reminders feature works:

  If you already have Google Calendar installed, just check for updates. Otherwise, you can grab the latest version of the app from the App Store or Google Play.

  
• 

  Microsoft continues to force Windows 10 on people who don’t want it

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 8:08pm CET par Wayne Williams

  

  This might come as a surprise to Microsoft, but not everyone wants to upgrade to Windows 10. As the slowing pace of the updates shows, there are plenty of people who are more than happy with Windows 7 or 8.1, and who don’t want to switch to the new OS.

  While some people are simply delaying the upgrade, plenty of other users have no interest at all in Windows 10, and are actively taking steps to avoid it. But "no" doesn’t mean "no" to Microsoft. It apparently means "Yes, I want to upgrade"!

  Those people who are trying to block the Windows 10 update using tools like GWX Control Panel or I don't want Windows 10 have found that the update just will not go away.

  Josh Mayfield, the author of GWX Control Panel, discovered users who specified that they did not want Windows 10 (via his program’s AllowOSUpgrade switch) have had their preferences reset up to several times a day and the update presented to them again.

  As reported by Computerworld, Mayfield found via a monitoring component that this behavior was caused by the recent updates released to Windows 7 and 8.1 that are designed to make upgrading to Windows 10 easier, and by Microsoft re-releasing its Get Windows 10 update several times in a sneaky way. "It [Microsoft] doesn't change the name of the update, but every version is new, with new binary files" Mayfield says, which makes it harder to block.

  SEE ALSO: Windows 10 uninstalling user programs without permission

  Microsoft has stated that it intends to push the new OS much more heavily in the new year, making Windows 10 available as an Optional update in Windows Update and then switching it to a Recommend update shortly afterwards. That latter step will lead to the OS being installed on any systems that are set to automatically process recommended updates. Users will be able to cancel the upgrade process, but it seems very likely that doing so won’t be the end of the matter. Given Microsoft's determination to force Windows 10 down users' throats, don't be surprised if the install process starts again, and again, until users finally capitulate and allow the upgrade.

  Microsoft wants as many people on Windows 10 as possible, and it seems as if it will do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.

  Image Credit: Master1305 / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Share files using public cloud and you might get fired

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 8:02pm CET par Geraldine Osman

  

  "You’re fired!" is a line we only really expect to hear from Alan Sugar these days, and even then, only for entertainment. Yet recent research reveals that file sync and share challenges could be putting UK employees at risk of hearing these words, or at the very least, of receiving a written warning.

  It’s a familiar situation for most employees working in office environments -- you have some urgent files that need to be sent to a customer or partner on a tight deadline. The files are too big to be emailed and the person administrating the FTP-Server is, of course, on holiday. Being a hands-on, solution-oriented employee who is well versed with modern technology, you decide to share the files through a cloud-based file sharing solution like Dropbox or Box. With the job done and the customer happy, you might be expecting a pat on the back as a reward not a written warning, or even worse, a letter of termination, but that is the hidden reality for most UK employees.

  It sounds unlikely but as companies tighten their guidelines on public cloud usage, following a series of serious security breaches, it is becoming a necessity for companies wanting control and visibility of their data. Recent research showed that 22 percent of UK firms would instantly dismiss staff for using the public cloud for their duties while 40 percent would issue a written warning and 26 percent a verbal one.

  But who is to the blame? The employee might be ignoring the potential risks of using a public cloud service (33 percent of UK companies have banned staff from using the public cloud entirely) or might simply be unaware of them -- (59 percent of UK companies have not even added guidelines to a staff manual). Conversely, the company’s IT might be at the root of the problem if it does not provide the necessary tools for employees to do their job.

  The consumerization of IT has been a visible trend in recent years as consumers expect their work environment to be just as easy to use as their personal environment. Consumer file sync and share solutions such as Dropbox have become commonplace and are installed on most devices, from mobiles to laptops. Those services are very useful for sharing personal data with friends and family but are a problem for the IT department, as employees share their corporate files using their personal cloud services and don’t fully understand the risks attached. Pun intended.

  Rather than firing staff or sending out written warnings, companies must do a better job warning their employees about the risks of sharing sensitive files and offer solutions that are equally easy to use, but are controlled by the IT department.

  Why are public cloud services a risk when sharing data?

  The vast majority (91 percent) of IT decision makers believe that sharing sensitive data in the public cloud poses some level of risk:

  1. Location: Dropbox and other services are using data centers around the world to physically save their user’s data. But the user does not know the location of where the data is saved. It is even likely that the data is backed up and synched at additional data centers elsewhere. In highly regulated markets, such as finance, insurance, health, and pharmaceuticals, hosting personally identifiable information on public cloud services may violate regulations. In regions with tight data sovereignty regulations, such as the EU, this means that public cloud solutions aren’t even a legally viable solution in many countries.
  2. Security: Dropbox and other services have very limited security features compared to enterprise file sync and share solutions and it’s impossible to know whether data has been shared with or accessed by the wrong party, which increases risk of insider threats and data theft.
  3. Data Loss: Public cloud services have been known to lose customer files -- or fail to back them up at all -- meaning that employees run the risk of permanently losing company files, with no way for the IT department to recover them. Even outages could mean company data on the public cloud services is not accessible at the time it is needed.
  4. Compliance: Many industries have compliance regulations, which dictate that certain files have limited access or remain encrypted during transfer. So, with public cloud services, there is an increased risk that employees are unknowingly violating their company’s compliance requirements.

  In order to start to control which employee devices are able to sync with a corporate computer, 36 percent of businesses now have tracking tools in place to monitor their employee’s activity via these platforms. It might be tempting to use public cloud services, but the danger of getting caught is getting higher.

  Can Private Cloud Solve the Problem?

  File Sync and Share solutions are available to give employees the tools they need to share files securely and within their company’s compliance guidelines. However, some solutions are often complex to deploy, time-sensitive to administer and expensive, especially for SMBs on a tighter budget than enterprises. An alternative to the insecure public cloud and complex and costly EFSS solutions are private cloud solutions that offer the same features employees are used to, but with extended security. One of the advantages: the IT department knows exactly where the data is saved -- in the company’s own datacenter and within its firewall.

  While Dropbox and other online file sharing tools are sufficient for sending personal files, these systems simply aren’t capable of securely managing corporate file transfers. There’s certainly a demand among employees for reliable, user-friendly file transfer options, and IT departments should look to meet this need by providing employees with a highly secure alternative, such as Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions.

  Employee behavior cannot be changed overnight. The right way to keep data safe is to give employees the work tools they need.

  Private cloud solutions eliminate the temptation to use unauthorized public cloud solutions that could put sensitive business information at risk and enable companies to take full responsibility by protecting their sensitive data whilst enabling their employees to do their jobs as efficiently as possible, without running the risk of getting fired for doing their job.

  Geraldine Osman, VP International Marketing at Connected Data

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

  Photo Credit: Africa Studio/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Hotel California and the Internet's future

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 8:01pm CET par Rafael Laguna

  When the Eagles released "Hotel California" in 1977, they were singing about drugs and the grip that addiction can hold over people. "We are all just prisoners here of our own device" is a stark reminder of how our own actions can end up trapping us, from which "we can never leave". But in the 21st century, these lyrics have taken on a new meaning. Look around any crowded place nowadays and it’s quite clear that many of us have become prisoners of literally our own devices -- smartphones, tablets, laptops, anything and everything with an Internet connection. Our lifestyles practically require us to always be on and connected to everyone else.

  The Internet is our digital drug, and while it has proven immensely useful as a communications utility and public good, it has also enabled a select handful of powerful companies to take advantage of that need by monopolizing the Internet and segmenting it -- and us with it -- into silos under their control.

  Not only is this kind of vertical integration bad for business -- effectively squeezing out smaller companies or up-and-coming digital entrepreneurs from breaking out as the new Facebook or the new YouTube -- but it slowly erodes away the average user’s freedom. Data has become its own currency, the oil of the digital world as many others are saying. As these monopolizing companies ask for more and more of it, we give it to them because we need their service; these services are so convenient to how we work with people. With that comes an increasingly omnipresent feeling of being watched, that our data is always collected and monitored, which in turn changes our behavior. We act differently if we’re always being watched -- and a forced change in behavior is a gradual disintegration of our online freedoms.

  But it doesn’t have to be that way.

  European Data Solutions in a Post-Safe Harbor World

  The European Court of Justice’s ruling to invalidate the Safe Harbor agreement was a huge step forward for privacy advocates, both in the U.S. and the E.U. For too long American intelligence agencies like the NSA had been able to co-opt the data transfer deal to spy on the personal information of European citizens. But with the ECJ’s overturning of that agreement -- and with it, the NSA’s means of breathing down the necks of E.U. end users -- American companies will now have to find alternatives for facilitating intercontinental data transfers, alternatives that put data privacy and security front and center.

  We’re already starting to see those alternatives bear fruit. Microsoft, whom the U.S. government has hounded to relinquish the emails of a Hotmail user stored on a Microsoft server in Ireland, recently announced that it was building a pair of new data centers in Germany, which will be managed and operated by an independent German "data trustee". That third party group will be the one responsible for storing and processing E.U. customer data, ensuring that it never leaves Germany -- and that, even if prompted by the U.S. government, Microsoft would be unable to access that user data unless permitted by the trustee.

  While it’s a meager step forward, and a much bigger paradigm shift is likely waiting for us come January, Microsoft’s move is a significant signal to both the U.S. government and the E.U. public that European data privacy is not something to be infringed on so easily just to make spies’ lives easier.

  CalEPCA and the Public Policy Laboratories of the States

  The adoption of the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalEPCA) in the U.S. also strikes a blow for privacy advocates and against government overreach by requiring law enforcement agencies to acquire a warrant before they can search through a person’s email, texts or other online documents -- regardless of it being stored on a device or in the cloud. This kind of legislation is not only sorely needed but long overdue. The federal government passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act way back in 1986 -- and given how far the Internet and online communication have come in the last 30 years, that law may as well have been passed a century ago.

  That kind of outdated legislation opens a lot of potential vulnerabilities and pain points for tech companies in charge of safeguarding customer data and simultaneously fielding data acquisition requests from law enforcement agencies. Authorities have long capitalized on these digital gaps in Fourth Amendment protections to ramp up data requests: Google has seen consumer data demands from law enforcement skyrocket by 180 percent over the past five years, and AT&T received over 260,000 similar requests in 2014 alone.

  But CalEPCA brings a much-needed game changer to the table, now requiring law enforcement within the state to secure a judicial warrant before they can begin rifling through a California resident’s online life. It’s the same expectation we have of police before they can begin looking through homes and physical papers -- and the same expectation that 75 percent of Americans have, who believe that email, texts and location data qualify as sensitive information -- so why shouldn’t that be the standard for online too?

  Although it’s only a state law affecting California now, it provides a model that others could follow on later, bringing to life Justice Louis Brandeis’ words of how a "state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory" for wider public policy. It’s especially significant that we’re seeing this lab experiment take place in California, America’s premiere tech hub and home to companies supporting the law like Apple, Google, Facebook, Dropbox and Twitter. There’s no state better to draw this line in the sand and show the government -- and the other 49 states, for that matter -- that it’s more than time for some 21st century data privacy rules.

  "You can check out anytime…"

  But, to contradict Don Henley, it’s finally time to leave. It’s time to leave the days where the Internet wasn’t treated as an essential communications utility. It’s time to leave the mentality that law enforcement and governments should be allowed to read your emails and text messages without provocation or permission, all for "your own protection". It’s time to leave the digital Hotel California so that we aren’t slaves to our own devices and the data brokers behind them, subconsciously changing our behavior online in the process, but in full control of where our information is being stored and who can see it. The invalidation of Safe Harbor and the passage of CalEPCA both signify a return to the democratization of the Internet and the resurgence of online privacy as a right, not a dispensable luxury.

  Rafael Laguna is Chief Executive Office and co-founder of OX. Laguna was chairman of the board until 2008 when he became CEO. Under his guidance, OX extended its product offerings into SaaS and established the indirect distribution model through Cloud service providers. With more than 25 year’s experience, Laguna has a proven track record of success in building and growing software companies. He was crucial to the investment and the successful sale of SUSE Linux to Novell in 2004 and managed as chairman the turnaround of Bäurer AG and its subsequent takeover by Sage in 2006. Passionate about the open source movement, Laguna acts in an advisory role for openBIT e.V.
• 

  Dropbox is killing Carousel and Mailbox, and I am heartbroken

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 7:07pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Dropbox is my absolute favorite cloud storage service. Even though I can get free storage to meet much of my needs from other providers, such as Microsoft, I still pay for the Dropbox Pro service. Why? Well, it is the only true cross-platform solution, working well with Ubuntu, Windows, iOS and Android -- all operating systems I use regularly. Not to mention, I love the interface style and constant improvements made to the service.

  My most important files, you see, are my family photos. My memories are more precious than anything. This is where Dropbox really shines for me, as I can easily upload my photos to the cloud. My favorite app is Carousel, which ties into Dropbox so I can easily view and share these photos. Today, Dropbox announces that is is killing Carousel. Its popular email client, Mailbox, is being killed too, after a long period of neglect.

  "Building new products is about learning as much as it’s about making. It’s also about tough choices. Over the past few months, we’ve increased our team’s focus on collaboration and simplifying the way people work together. In light of that, we’ve made the difficult decision to shut down Carousel and Mailbox", says Dropbox.

  The company further says, "we're committed to making the transitions from these products as painless as possible. We’ve posted more information on the Carousel blog and the Mailbox blog, and we’ll be communicating details directly to users of both apps in the coming days. Mailbox will be shut down on February 26th, 2016, and Carousel will be shut down on March 31st, 2016".

  Sigh. Mailbox's demise is upsetting, as it is yet another service that is bought by a large company, only to be shut down. It is actually quite brilliant, pre-dating Google's Inbox, with an intent of keeping the user focused on new email. Unfortunately, it never made it to Windows, and only supported iCloud and Gmail.

  These deficiencies made it a poor choice for users of multiple email providers, and the promises to expand to Microsoft's operating system and to support other email providers never made it to fruition. Who knows what could have been had Dropbox not bought it. Oh well, rest in peace. I loved this app, and it will live on in my memories.

  The bigger loss, to me, is Carousel -- something I use daily and enjoy. For me to stay with Dropbox, the Android and iOS apps must get better photo viewing and sharing support, hopefully gaining all, or most, of the Carousel functionality. If this is just a move to make a more focused, single app I am OK with that.

  Are you upset by the planned killing of these popular services? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo credit: Roman Rybaleov / Shutterstock

  
• 

  What's the most popular IT asset management software?

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 7:05pm CET par Sam Pudwell

  

  IT asset management (ITAM) software manages the lifecycle of hardware and software. It can help influence decisions about which assets need to be purchased, redistributed, or disposed of.

  There is a lot of choice in the market when it comes to picking the right ITAM software for your company, but Camterra has made it easy by rating the top 20 IT asset management software solutions as measured by total customers, users, social presence and vendor size.

  Of the 20 reviewed, SolarWinds has come out on top, with ManageEngine and Oracle completing the top three. SolarWinds boasts the highest number of total customers (150,000) and total users (3 million). CA Technologies is its closest competitor for users with 1.8 million -- still some way off the top spot.

  The number of social media followers for each vendor also makes for interesting reading. Oracle has the most Twitter followers (387,000) and Facebook followers (529,000) and HP can claim to rule LinkedIn with 2.18 million followers.

  Provance completes the list of 20, with 200 customers, 4,000 users, 812 Twitter followers and 347 LinkedIn followers.

  All of this information and more has been collated into a handy infographic, which can be found below.

  

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

  Photo Credit: gguy/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Twitter to display your selfies and cat photos better

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 6:31pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Now that most smartphones take brilliant photos, it is convenient for people to take and share pictures. Back in the day, you would have to upload photos from your desktop or laptop to the web. Hell, many of us lived in a time where we had to scan our paper photographs -- yuck!

  Sharing photos can be the most fun aspect of photography, and social media is ideal for that. Unfortunately, Twitter was designed to be a text-only service, so the additions of photo and video sharing, historically, have not been the best experience. With photos, for instance, they are often cropped in feeds, and must be clicked on to be seen in full. No more. Today, Twitter announces that it will end the evil cropping of uploaded images.

  "While Twitter began as an all-text platform, rich media has become essential to the experience. Some of the best moments on Twitter are when you see the world through someone else’s eyes. Astronaut Scott Kelly’s awe-inspiring #YearInSpace, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus onstage at the Emmys, Brian Dickinson’s solo summit of Mt. Everest -- these photos bring us right into the moment. This is why we’re constantly refining Twitter’s media experience -- for example, we launched autoplaying video earlier this year, and designed Moments around visual media", says Akarshan Kumar, Product Manager, Twitter.

  Kumar further shares, "Starting today, we’re making your twitter.com timeline more immersive by uncropping photos, so you can experience and present them as they were meant to be viewed. We're also introducing larger, more beautiful multi-photo displays, which bring out more of each photo".

  

  You can see examples of how images will display above. I am a huge fan of this change, as you no longer need to wonder if an image is cropped when it is in your feed. Many memes, and comedy images containing text would lose their effectiveness when cropped too, as the text could not be seen without clicking on the picture. Twitter is definitely stepping its media-sharing game up here.

  Plus, more importantly, the next time I post a photo of myself wearing a Biore Nose strip, people can see my gargantuan head in its full glory without needing to click. How can you crop such beauty?

  What? You thought being sexy came naturally? Nah, yo. Gotta keep my @bioreus nose strip game strong. pic.twitter.com/5Fp4gbNHdB

  — Brian Fagioli (@brianfagioli) November 30, 2015

  Are you excited by this change? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo credit: tanuha2001 / Shutterstock

  
• 

  How to disclose a security breach

  Publié: décembre 7, 2015, 11:11am CET par Stephen Cox

  

  The days and weeks after a major security breach can be trying, even for veterans of the security field. Chaos inevitably erupts as the organization attempts to assess and contain the damage. Often far down the list of priorities is the disclosure of the breach, but this can be one of the most critical steps for an organization to get right.

  It is vital for financial reasons, to the recovery of the brand and for the viability of the company. It is not an easy task when customer’s personal information has been stolen. The reaction from customers is almost always the same: swift and highly critical of the organization and how it manages the aftermath.

  The October 2015 TalkTalk breach has been one of the most fascinating incidents of the last year. It provides us with many cybersecurity lessons, and serves as a prime example of how not to handle a breach disclosure. It is also possible it is one of the largest breaches in the history of the UK, with initial reports stating that the personal information of a million customers was compromised during a "sophisticated and sustained cyber-attack".

  A Bizarre Sequence of Events

  TalkTalk was inexplicably open about not adhering to established security best practices. As part of its initial communications with the media, CEO Dido Harding stated that the company was not under any obligation to encrypt any sensitive customer data.

  A strange declaration strongly indicating that sensitive data may be sitting unprotected amongst the firm’s assets. TalkTalk was also breached this past February and its former parent company, Carphone Warehouse, suffered a breach in August affecting 480,000 TalkTalk customers.

  There were of signs of massive chaos at TalkTalk after the attack, as they disclosed that data was stolen as a result of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Again, an eyebrow-raising statement that does not even make sense: a DDoS attack is not capable of "stealing data".

  It is likely that attackers used the DDoS attack as a smokescreen. This is an increasingly common tactic amongst advanced attacks and alleged to be the same method used to target Carphone Warehouse. The purpose of using a smokescreen is to keep the security operations staff distracted while the real attack is executed amidst the noise. In many ways the cyber battlefield echoes the real world battlefield. Diversionary tactics or "feints" have long been a part of military campaigns.

  Much like the many other cyberattacks this year, TalkTalk customers quickly took to social media to criticize the breach, and the bizarre communications from the company to notify them that their personal data was at risk.

  Responsible Breach Disclosure

  Even before this incident, responsible disclosure of breaches was a hotly debated subject in the security industry. There are many elements involved in the decision to disclose and the delays that may result.

  The breach must be scoped to understand what data has been compromised and what users may have been affected. This process is often slow and laborious, especially for organizations with nascent incident response capability.

  Disclosing breaches without all of this information can be dangerous and costly to the organization, as every affected customer represents a potential dollar amount to the company in terms of response and follow-on support. It is also possible that a disclosure could place an active investigation at risk.

  However, waiting too long to disclose is not fair to customers and end users whose personal information is now in jeopardy. Care must also be taken in the method of disclosure. Again, experts disagree on the best method to use to disclose the breach.

  Disclosing via phone, text or email may be introducing another vector for phishing, making matters worse. Disclosing via traditional mail may be too slow.

  The many variables involved make it difficult to put hard restrictions around what a "normal" disclosure time should be.

  Many jurisdictions have developed legislation targeted at this issue. In the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) requires that they be notified within 24 hours of an organization becoming aware of the "essential facts" of the breach.

  ICO provides little guidance on customer notification timeframes, other than customers should be notified "without undue delay". The wording around guidance is generally loose, indicative of the difficulty surrounding this issue.

  In the United States, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requires customer notification within 60 days of the detection of the breach. 60 days seems a long time to learn one’s personal data has been compromised. A timeframe of two to four weeks seems reasonable for an initial disclosure.

  Breaches continue to grow more commonplace. Attackers are now targeting personal and health care related data, as its value grows on the dark web. As we observed with these recent breaches, customers are showing they are becoming acutely aware of the security practices of the organizations they choose to do business with.

  It’s clear that there’s a need for an even greater dialogue between security professionals and organizations about what constitutes responsible breach disclosure.

  Stephen Cox, Chief Security Architect at SecureAuth Corporation.

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

  Photo Credit: chrisdorney/Shutterstock

  
• 

  How to enable Potentially Unwanted Application protection in Windows 8 and Windows 10

  Publié: décembre 6, 2015, 10:22pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Enterprise users are always looking for ways to protect their systems, and Microsoft recently unveiled a new opt-in feature to protect against Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUA). PUA is a broad term that covers everything from adware to browser extensions, and users of Windows 8 and Windows 10 can enable the feature to block such nasties at a download level.

  PUAs are described by Microsoft as "a threat classification based on reputation and research-driven identification", and includes unwanted components bundled with legitimate software. Venture into the registry, and a tweak can be used to enable protection against such unwanted elements.

  At the moment, PUA protection is something that is only available to enterprise users and enabling it does involve a little legwork -- there is no simple check box to enable, sadly. That said, the security feature can be enabled fairly easily, and it's well worth considering. Start by firing up the Registry Editor -- hit the Windows key and R, type regedit, and press Enter.

  Now you need to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine. Look for the DWORD key called MpEnablePus (or create it if you don’t see it) and assign it a value of 1. If you decide at a later time that PUA protection is not for you, you can either delete the key, or just change its value to 0.

  Photo credit Imilian / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Samsung updates Lollipop firmware to show Android security patch level

  Publié: décembre 6, 2015, 6:57pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Responding to a spate of Android vulnerabilities and exploits, Samsung was one of the first companies to announce a move to monthly security updates for its handsets. This is great news for those concerned about the security of their phone, but for people running Lollipop there has been no way to check that the latest updates are installed.

  Now this changes. Samsung is bringing the previously Marshmallow-only "Android security patch level" information to Lollipop handsets such as the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+. With just a few taps, it is now easy to check which month's security updates have been installed.

  It may be seen as something of a minor change, but it is an important one when it comes to transparency. Samsung is nailing its colors to the mast, effectively making a public commitment to the on-going security of its devices. More importantly, it helps to keep users informed -- if it is made apparent that the current month's security update has not yet been installed, it gives people the opportunity to investigate what the problem could be.

  If you have the latest Lollipop build installed on your Samsung device, you will be able to see this information right now. Just head to Settings > About Phone and then look for the Android security patch level heading.

  
• 

  Windows Server 2016 switches to per-core licensing

  Publié: décembre 6, 2015, 4:17pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Microsoft has always licensed Windows Server on a per-socket basis, but with the 2016 release this is due to change. When Windows Server 2016 launches in the second half of next year, things are being shaken up. As well as the two versions -- Standard and Datacenter -- including different features, there is also a move to per-core licensing.

  In a couple of PDF datasheets, Microsoft reveals not only the change in licensing, but also that Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions are scheduled for release in Q3 of 2016. The licensing change is unlikely to be welcomed by many, as it complicates a system that had become familiar -- and could also push up pricing.

  The plan is to sell Windows Server 2016 in two-license packs, and each processor has a minimum 8-core requirement. To complicate things further, physical servers have different requirements -- a minimum of 16 cores. It's not just licensing that changes, though. While the 2012 editions of the software differed only in the number of virtual machine supported by Standard and Datacenter (two and unlimited respectively), next year, Datacenter features a new network stack with more virtualization options, shielded VMs, and extra storage replication options. These are absent from the Standard edition.

  However, as well as forcing companies to make an important choice between the two variants, some organizations could be hit in the pocket. In its System Center 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions Licensing Datasheet, Microsoft says:

  8 two-core packs will be the minimum required to license each physical server under management. The two-core pack for each edition is 1/8th the price of 16 cores for the 2016 editions.

  But as explained by Peter Bright on Ars Technica, the cost for 2 or 4 10-core processors will increase by 25 percent. More details are available in the Pricing and licensing FAQ.

  Photo credit: 360b / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  Microsoft open-sources Edge's Chakra JavaScript engine

  Publié: décembre 5, 2015, 8:16pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  At JSConf US Last Call in Florida, Microsoft today announced that ChakraCore will be open-sourced. This means that the core components of the Chakra JavaScript engine used in Microsoft Edge -- as well as Windows 10 -- will be made available for developers to tinker with as they see fit.

  The ChakraCore repository is expected to hit GitHub in January, and Microsoft envisions it being used to power the Internet of Things as well as cloud services. The company says that it will be working with the likes of AMD, Intel and NodeSource to help develop a Chakra community as it aims to drive the progress of the 'modern web'.

  While JavaScript has been with us for many years, Chakra only came to life in 2008. Over the years JavaScript has evolved from a tool use to control websites, into an essential utility to power apps, games and the cloud. The same technology is used to create Universal Windows applications for Windows 10 devices.

  Revealing the open-sourcing decision on the Edge Developer blog, Microsoft's Gaurav Seth and Adalberto Foresti write:

  Since its introduction in 2008, Chakra has grown to be a perfect choice for the web, cloud services, and the Internet of Things. With today’s announcement, we’re taking the next step by giving developers a fully supported and fully open-source JavaScript engine available to embed in their projects, innovate on top of, and contribute back to: ChakraCore.

  Microsoft has great expectations for ChakraCore, explaining that it is "a fully fledged, self-contained JavaScript virtual machine that can be embedded in derivative products and power applications that need scriptability such as NoSQL databases, productivity software, and game engines".

  Looking forward, the aim is to improve performance and expand usage far beyond the browser. Microsoft hopes that by bringing ChakraCore to the open-source community, this evolution can be accelerated.

  Photo credit: T.Dallas / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Adele '25' blows the roof off of digital music sales

  Publié: décembre 5, 2015, 2:42pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Hello from Adele. The artist has had two critically acclaimed albums already in her young career, but nothing prepared anyone for the latest offering. 25 is the new album and it seems to be an incredibly hot commodity right now, at least according to new statistics released for the first week of sales.

  Unsurprisingly, digital was at the top of the list with iTunes leading the way with 1.5 million sales. It was followed by Amazon at a distant 243,000 and Google Play at 55,000. In between were physical locations Target and Walmart.

  Perhaps the most shocking number that comes out of all this is that the record sold at a rate of 5.6 copies per second during the first week.

  The infographic below, provided by Billboard, breaks things down further, including regions in the US. It seems that the Southeast is most fond of the singer as it had the highest rate of sales.

  

  Image Credit: Slobodan Djajic / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Mozilla ditches Firefox ad tiles experiment

  Publié: décembre 5, 2015, 1:09pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  It can be hard enough to avoid advertising online, and Mozilla has been experimenting with yet another way to pull in money. The Tiles experiment has been running for a few months and saw ads brought to the Firefox homepage via, funnily enough, tiles.

  The company has decided that the experiment is a failure, and now wants to shift its focus to delivering "relevant, exciting and engaging" content to users instead. Mozilla has been scrambling to find way to make its browser bring in the pennies, but admits that "advertising in Firefox [...] isn't the right business for us at this time".

  Moving forward the aim is "to reimagine content experiences and content discovery in our products" while continuing to explore different ways to balance advertising for the benefit of users and advertisers alike. Mozilla says it wants to deliver choice-based user experiences while respecting privacy and maintaining transparency.

  Writing on the Mozilla blog, VP of Content Services Darren Herman says:

  Our learnings show that users want content that is relevant, exciting and engaging. We want to deliver that type of content experience to our users, and we know that it will take focus and effort to do that right.

  We have therefore made the decision to stop advertising in Firefox through the Tiles experiment in order to focus on content discovery. We want to thank all the partners who have worked with us on Tiles. Naturally, we will fulfil our current commitments as we wind down this experiment over the next few months.

  Photo credit: Evan Lorne / Shutterstock

  
• 

  BlueStacks 2 brings multi-tasking of Android apps to Windows

  Publié: décembre 5, 2015, 12:10pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Popular Android emulator BlueStacks has been updated to version 2.0 with some major new features.

  Launch an app and it now opens in a browser-like tab, allowing users to play multiple apps simultaneously.

  This is true multi-tasking, too, so you can stream music or video in one tab, maybe leave your messenger open, while you play games in another.

  A new left-hand toolbar gives easy access to a bunch of essential supporting features, including taking screenshots, setting your location, installing an APK, transferring files from Windows, copy and pasting data to and from the local clipboard, and more.

  This all looks good to us, but if you don't need the clutter, BlueStacks can run full-screen at a click for truly immersive gameplay.

  The new release also doubles its storage space to 32GB (16GB internal storage, 16GB SD card), although this only applies to new installs. Upgrading won't give you any more room, and the official advice is:

  "You may need to proceed with a fresh install, post uninstalling existing BlueStacks completely (without data preserve)".

  (That’ll be the strategy previously known as "start again".)

  BlueStacks is a free Android emulator for Windows XP and later.

  
• 

  Microsoft releases new Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10586.29

  Publié: décembre 5, 2015, 9:51am CET par Wayne Williams

  

  Microsoft is continuing to refine and polish its new mobile operating system, and is working to address feedback and issues reported by Windows Insiders.

  The latest Windows 10 Mobile build doesn’t contain any exciting new features but rather is a cumulative update, which explains the new build number -- 10586.29. Microsoft is also planning to make this build available to additional devices early next week.

  Gabe Aul, Corporate Vice President, Engineering Systems Team, writes: "Today we are releasing our first Cumulative Update to the Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10586 to Insiders that begins addressing this feedback. The first thing you will notice with this Cumulative Update is it will use the minor version for differentiating between each version as these builds only contain fixes to the Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview build already in the Fast and Slow rings. So this build will appear as 10586.29".

  Aul lists the following improvements:

  • You will see additional improvements in upgrade experience, including devices with limited free space, map rendering on update, and RCS enabled device settings.
  • Improved application backwards compatibility for Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight applications.
  • Edge performance and stability has been improved. Auto-completion has been updated to allow user to more easily edit the end of the URL in the address bar.
  • Additional Bluetooth stability improvements.
  • We have resolve issues on switching the active cellular connectivity profile on Dual SIM devices.
  • Data profiles are now correctly restored in the out of box experience that would prevent some devices from sending or receiving MMS messages.

  
• 

  Linux Mint 17.3 'Rosa' is an early Christmas present that is ready to be unwrapped

  Publié: décembre 5, 2015, 3:07am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  While I am a fat guy, I am not particularly jolly. I also can't really grow a beard. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I would make a very poor Santa Claus. Still, I am excited to give gifts to my friends and family this year.

  You know who would make a great Santa, however? Clement Lefebvre, the leader of Linux Mint. Actually, I have no idea what the guy looks like, but he is delivering presents to people all over the world. What is this gift he is distributing? Well, it is better than any toy train or video game -- it is the awesome Linux Mint 17.3 'Rosa'. Yes, the latest version of the wildly popular Linux-based operating system is ready to be unwrapped.

  Rosa is built on the Ubuntu 14.04 package base and features kernel 3.19. In other words, it is hardly cutting edge or radical. Actually, it is quite conservative. With that said, there are some notable changes.

  "Software repositories are very important. We use them all the time when installing new software or performing updates. They need to be fast and reliable. This was a major point of focus in the development of Linux Mint 17.3. Software repositories are mirrored (i.e. duplicated on many servers) all over the world. The main goal of the Software Sources configuration tool is to make it easy to find the best available mirror for you; one that is reliable and fully up to date and fast and responsive. To find the fastest mirrors, the Software Sources tool now detects your location and starts its speed tests with mirrors near you", says Lefebvre.

  As expected, you can choose between Cinnamon 2.8 and MATE 1.12 as desktop environments. Both are great, but I recommend the former for modern hardware. Cinnamon is receiving a significant performance improvement too.

  Lefebvre explains, "the absence of disk cache was identified as the reason why the first Cinnamon session after a shutdown/reboot was significantly slower to load than any subsequent session. To tackle this issue, Cinnamon 2.6 introduced preloading, which goal was to initialize parts of Cinnamon in the background, while you were busy typing your password at the login screen. Thanks to your feedback and testing done on a wider variety of hardware, 'preloading' was reviewed in Cinnamon 2.8. Although it helped in reducing the most costly steps involved in the initialization of a Cinnamon session, the gains were unfortunately marginal. Preloading also proved to slow down the startup sequence, and in particular the loading of the login screen. It was therefore removed from Cinnamon 2.8".

  Linux Mint 17.3 'Rosa' is LTS, meaning it is supported through 2019. It also comes with the powerful LibreOffice 5, making it a great choice for both small business and home users alike. If you want to install a solid distro on a family member's computer so you don't have to be bothered with fixing Windows malware, Mint is where it's at!

  To download it, simply use the below links.

  Cinnamon	32-bit	64-bit
  MATE	32-bit	64-bit

  Photo Credit: Zmiter/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Curious about the news? CNNgo is now on Roku

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 9:33pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  There's always news happening somewhere in the world and recently there have been some big stories like the Paris and San Bernardino shootings and explosives. Many of us have likely been glued to the TV and watching in horror as these events unfolded.

  Now the CNNgo channel is launching on Roku and will bring you all of the latest stories from around the world. Users will be able to browse hundreds of news clips, but this isn't live TV, just highlights -- unless you have a pay TV subscription.

  "Roku customers with a pay TV subscription can stream live CNN U.S television and on-demand feature programs including Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown and Mike Rowe’s Somebody’s Gotta Do It as well as clips", Roku announces.

  There's more than just video clips, as well. Customers can view both past and future video segments, and also delve into photo galleries.

  The app is available in the channel store under News and Weather. You will need to be in the US, though. Apologies to overseas readers.

  
• 

  David Cameron's Facebook page reported for posing a 'credible threat of violence' over ISIS

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 9:08pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The UK's decision to start a military campaign in Syria to fight ISIS has dramatically divided opinion. Support and opposition is not split neatly down party lines, but a vote this week led to almost immediate airstrikes being carried out.

  Taking to social media, Prime Minister David Cameron -- or his representatives -- used his official Facebook page to crow about the fact that vote went the way he wanted it to. This has had something of an interesting side effect. Facebook users are reporting the page for threatening violence.

  The aim is to get the page removed, but it seems unlikely that the campaign will be successful. When he posted "I believe the House has taken the right decision to keep the UK safe -- military action in Syria as one part of a broader strategy", Cameron probably wasn't expecting there to be a backlash. But backlash there is, echoing the protests that took place before, during, and after the vote.

  The idea was started by Facebook user Toby Godwin who responded to the post by saying:

  ive reported david cameron's facebook page for being a "credible threat of violence"

  At the moment, the comment has been liked by more than 15,500 people, and word has spread. The movement has grown legs, and there are growing numbers of people following Godwin's lead and making a complaint to Facebook.

  If you want to join in, you can report the post and select the "I don’t think it should be on Facebook" option. You can then indicate that you find the post "threatening, violent or suicidal", and that you feel it is a " credible threat of violence".

  So far, Facebook has declined to remove the post.

  Photo credit: 360b and pockygallery / Shutterstock

  
• 

  A third of businesses use mobile banking to make payments

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 9:05pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Not only does every other top manager make payments from corporate accounts via mobile banking, but it was also discovered that over 30 percent of companies use mobile devices to access corporate bank accounts and to make financial transactions.

  Those are the result of a recent joint survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International.

  The survey concluded that business representatives were increasingly making financial transactions with the help of mobile devices. In particular, 28 percent of small and medium companies, and 34 percent of enterprises, conducted financial transactions via mobile devices.

  And it is not just those in financial departments (63 percent) but also top managers (54 percent) and even ordinary employees (eight percent) that freely make corporate financial transactions via mobile apps.

  Hackers also know this, and are increasingly targeting mobile platforms. In fact, in the third quarter of 2015, Kaspersky Lab products for mobile devices detected more than 300,000 new malicious programs.

  Of these, the highest growth rates were demonstrated by a Trojan-Banker designed to steal credentials to Internet banking and e-payment systems, as well as credit or debit card data. The share of this type of malware increased from 0.6 percent (630 programs) in the second quarter to 1.5 percent (2500 programs) in the third quarter.

  "The trend shows a continual increase in mobile banking usage by corporate banking clients. This trend is certain to continue as corporate and consumer banking clients alike migrate to the convenience of mobile banking. This creates an operational imperative for banks to very carefully consider the security and fraud prevention approaches they need to take in order to adequately ensure secure mobile banking applications, protect confidential customer data, and guard high-value corporate customer transactions", says Ross Hogan, head of SafeMoney Business Development, Kaspersky Fraud Prevention, Kaspersky Lab.

  "All users of mobile banking services, corporate and consumer, must also be vigilant about their own security and behavior while also questioning their bank about the measures taken to ensure their safety", adds Hogan.

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

  Image Credit: mama_mia / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Hackers hide malware inside Dropbox accounts to target media organizations

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 7:46pm CET par Sam Pudwell

  

  A new form of malware that targets mass media agencies has been discovered by researchers at the US-based security firm FireEye. The malware was detected in Hong Kong where it was being used to target a small number of media agencies with the initial targets of the attack being newspapers, radio stations and television studios.

  The malware leaves a user vulnerable by offering a backdoor to their system. The way in which this is achieved is unique because its command and control or C&C server is hidden inside Dropbox accounts. FireEye was able to trace the malware back to a group of hackers by the name admin@338, who is believed to have ties with the Chinese government.

  This group has previously targeted international organizations from the financial, economic and trade policy sectors. In the past, amdin@338 has employed spear phishing campaigns to infect users with Remote Access Trojans (RATs) such as Poison Ivy. In this latest string of attacks the scope has been narrowed possibly to target media agencies who supported last year’s protests in Hong Kong.

  The group often includes booby-trapped word documents in emails sent to victims with information about anti-Chinese and pro-democracy topics. The word documents contain the CVE-2012-0158 Microsoft Office vulnerability which allows the hackers to install the LOWBALL malware onto the PC’s of unsuspecting users.

  This recent attack was particularly unique because the C&C server was located inside of a Dropbox account as opposed to somewhere else online. FireEye worked alongside Dropbox to halt the initial campaign that occurred in August but now both companies have become aware of a new series of ongoing attacks.

  Currently the security firm has identified over 50 machines that are being targeted by these attacks.

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

  Photo Credit: igor.stevanovic/Shutterstock

  
• 

  My fridge is listening to me

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 7:42pm CET par Robert X. Cringely

  It seems oddly fitting that this week -- a week scarred by the bizarre and violent mass murder in San Bernardino -- that I received a LinkedIn invitation to connect with someone who listed this as their job description:

  Install, maintain, and repair GPS, Wi-Fi, and security camera systems on tour buses. In 2010, working with grant money from Homeland Security, I installed security systems on a fleet of tour buses and I have been maintaining those systems since then. In 2011, I helped install multi-language listening systems on tour buses and have been the lead maintenance technician. Currently, I am project manager for upgrading a fleet of 50 tour buses with new GPS systems using Homeland Security grant monies. This requires coordinating with engineers of service providers to solve unusual, complex problems.

  None of this should surprise me, yet still it does. I didn’t know Homeland Security was listening-in like that, did you?

  And since they evidently are listening, shouldn’t they have told this guy to be quiet about it?

  There is no presumption of privacy riding in a tour bus, so it probably isn’t illegal to listen-in. Bus security cameras and their footage have been around for years now and appear regularly on TV news after bus crimes. But there’s something about this idea of not only our actions being recorded but also our words that I find disturbing. It’s especially so when we consider the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT). What other devices will soon be snitching on us?

  Innocent people have nothing to fear, we’ll be told, but with smartphones and smartwatches and smarthomes and smart refrigerators and cars with their own continuous LTE links, how far can we be from every one of us carrying a listening device? It happened already in a Batman movie, where Bruce Wayne hacked all the phones in Gotham City, leading to the protest resignation of Morgan Freeman as Batman’s tech guy. If something like this were to happen with the real telephone system, who would be our Morgan Freeman? I’m guessing nobody.

  Then there’s Big Data fever. Everyone wants bigger data sets to justify more computers to analyze them. Every data center director since the first one was built has wanted more processors, memory, and storage. If we’re moving to listening in every language the processing power required will be huge -- another boon for the cloud.

  One thing that struck me watching on TV the aftermath of the San Bernardino attack was how our first responders have changed. Not only do the police now have tanks, but a third of the big black SUVs parked outside the Inland Developmental Center were identified by the helicopters flying above as belonging to the Department of Homeland Security, those very grant-givers from LinkedIn. It’s a whole new layer of bureaucracy that will probably never go away.

  I talked recently to the developer of a phone app that could, by using your smartphone mic as you drive, tell you when a tire is about to fail. In one sense it’s a brilliant application, but if your phone can hear clearly enough the difference between a good tire and a bad one then it can hear a lot of other things, too. I can only imagine what the back seat of my first car -- a 1966 Oldsmobile -- would have heard and reported on if we’d had this capability back in the day.

  But the march of technological progress is inevitable so most of this will come to pass. And the fact that we have literal armies of hackers all over the world devoted to cracking networks suggests that once such a listening capability exists for any purpose someone will find a way to exploit it for every purpose.

  Then life will become like an episode of Spy versus Spy from the Mad Magazine of our childhood with consumers buying technology to protect themselves. Tell me your kid won’t want that bug-sweeping app or the one that spoofs the insurance company GPS into thinking the car isn’t speeding after all.

  And where will that leave us other than paranoid and in constant need of AA batteries? It won’t improve our quality of life, that’s for sure, and I’m willing to bet it won’t save many lives, either.

  
• 

  The Linux Foundation will participate in 'Hour of Code'

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 7:12pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Nowadays it can feel like kids are more interested in social media, emojis and video games than math and sciences. Look, I was a kid once, and I know school can feel boring, but knowledge of STEM is important; not only for the children, but for all of society. It is imperative that something is done to motivate students to create and make so the world can continue to advance.

  Luckily, there are many initiatives in place to increase interest in STEM. One of the most popular is the 'Hour of Code', which is described as a "one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics". Today, The Linux Foundation announces its support.

  "The Linux Foundation is joining other companies and organizations this month to partner with Code.org, celebrate Computer Science Education Week and support Hour of Code (HoC). Everyone from the White House to AirBnb, Lucas Films and tech companies like Amazon and IBM will be part of next week’s activities. The Linux Foundation hopes to do its small part through the contributions of its own in-house experts who have volunteered for HoC and will be visiting K-12 schools in their communities to promote careers in technology and teach basic coding lessons. We're also making a small cash donation to Code.org this month to increase access to computer science education for young people", says Jennifer Cloer, VP of Communications, The Linux Foundation.

  Cloer further says, "providing future generations with the tools and resources necessary to pursue careers in some of the fastest-growing, highest paying jobs in the world will fuel the economy with invaluable tech talent for years to come. The Linux Foundation’s own training program allows developers and IT managers to learn Linux and open source technologies from the source. With more technologies than ever being built with open source software, these skills represent the most lucrative entry point to any IT career".

  When it comes to coding, and future careers, a focus on Linux is a brilliant choice. Quite frankly, the kernel is the backbone of much of the world's technological infrastructure. The foundation participating in this initiative -- and even donating money -- should hopefully pique the interest of many students. If you have a child at home, I urge you to make them literate in Linux and open source.

  If you want to participate in Hour of Code, you can do so here. Will you or your children take advantage? Will you host an hour? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Viachaslau Kraskouski/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft introduces Office 365 E5 subscription

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 6:56pm CET par Barclay Ballard

  

  Microsoft has launched a new premium Office 365 package for its enterprise customers, accompanied by a significant price increase.

  Office 365 Enterprise E5 replaces Enterprise E4, which will be dropped by June 2016, and will cost $35 per user per month, compared to $22 per user per month for its predecessor.

  Although the new Office 365 package does contain a number of new features, response to the price hike has been mixed, particularly as Enterprise E4 was not received particularly well by customers. Microsoft will be hoping that additions like Skype for Business integration, Advanced Threat Protection and Power BI Pro will be enough to entice enterprise firms to pay the higher price tag.

  Criticism has centered on the optional PSTN calling plan, which businesses can subscribe to if they are using cloud-based PBX systems. Enterprises must pay an additional $24 per month for unlimited domestic and international calls, which is a significantly higher price than that charged to ordinary consumers. The business premium may be used to cover the extra centralized control required by enterprise firms, but many have still claimed that the cost is not good value for money.

  However, Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice-president for Microsoft Office, believes that the innovations introduced to Enterprise E5, in partnership with telcos and other collaborators, will prove worthwhile additions.

  "As we release these new capabilities in Office 365, partners will play an integral role in extending the value of our new services", he said. "At the forefront are our global systems integrator partners, who have the highest level of experience in delivering communications solutions end-to-end".

  For businesses that are currently using Office 365 Enterprise E4, they will have to decide whether the new cost is worthwhile or whether they would be better suited dropping down to the less expensive Enterprise E3 package.

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

  
• 

  GoPro Hero4 Session gets $100 price cut, Xiaomi Yi launches in US

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 5:23pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  When GoPro introduced the Session action camera in its Hero4 line, it made the mistake of offering the new model at the same price point as the much more capable Silver. So, naturally, consumers wanting a $400 GoPro have pretty much ignored it.

  That is, until GoPro announced in late-September that it would slash $100 off its price. But, even $299.99 seems to have been too high a price in consumers' eyes, as Hero4 Session just received another price cut.

  Those wanting to buy the smallest action camera in the Hero4 line will now only have to pay $199.99 to get it. At this price point, Session is a significantly more attractive proposition, more so than Hero+, which is also offered for $199.99. Hero+ may look more like the "bigger" GoPros, but its specs aren't as good as what Session has to offer.

  GoPro offers an even cheaper action camera, in the form of the basic Hero. But, now that Xiaomi Yi is officially available in US, it might be hard to recommend it to those looking to get into the action camera game.

  

  Amazon currently sells Yi for $99.95. It is available in both the white and green trims, and in a kit version, which includes a selfie stick and a Bluetooth remote. Yi does not ship with a waterproof case, but one can be ordered separately for $32.95.

  There are also different mounting options for Yi, like a handlebar mount or a hand mount, which make it an interesting alternative to a low-end GoPro for cyclists or runners, among others. You might get away with using mounts made with GoPro in mind, however.

  I have purchased a Yi to mount on my motorcycle helmet and, after using it briefly, I think it is definitely worth considering. I plan to test it more in depth, and follow up with a review.

  
• 

  Net neutrality on trial: judges hear lawsuits against FCC

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 5:06pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The Federal Communications Commission finds itself in court today, as the hearing gets underway to determine the legality of net neutrality rules. A total of 10 lawsuits have been brought against the commission by a number of cable and telecoms companies.

  Earlier in the year the FCC banned service providers from creating internet fast lanes that could have been used to give those willing to pay for it a faster service, or to offer certain types of traffic preferential treatment. This could be the hearing that decides once and for all whether the idea of treating all web traffic equally is a workable option.

  The FCC rules state that broadband providers may not engage in the "blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization" of web traffic, but this is something that the likes of Verizon and Comcast are unhappy with. They argue that it will make it more difficult for them to manage web traffic.

  The commission has been accused of abusing its powers in implementing the rules, and there has already been heated debate about the legitimacy of reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service that is viewed as a utility. The arguments surrounding net neutrality have already rumbled on for a number of years, and if the panel of three judges -- including Judge David Tatel -- rules against the FCC, the whole can of worms will be opened up all over again.

  The First Amendment is being cited by supporters of the rules including Twitter, Yelp, and Reddit.

  
• 

  Windows 10 Mobile is dead in the water

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 4:40pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Windows Phone's market share took a huge hit last quarter, dropping to a ridiculously low 1.7 percent. Things could improve following the introduction of Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL and other Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, but, in the long run, the platform is not expected to regain much of the ground it lost to Android and iOS.

  Windows Phone's market share for 2015 is expected to be around the 2.2 percent mark, according to an IDC forecast, which would be a major decline compared to last year, when its market share was 2.7 percent. But, that's not the real bad news. By the end of 2019, Windows on smartphones is expected to only see a slight bump to 2.3 percent.

  IDC puts Windows smartphone shipments for 2015 at 31.3 million units. For 2019, this figure will grow to 43.6 million units. The smartphone market as a whole is expected to grow by 7.4 percent over the next five years, which would suggest that the market will not change all that much compared to what we see in 2015.

  The end of 2015 will see Android with 81.2 percent market share and iOS (iPhones) with 15.8 percent market share. Shipments are expected to be 1.16 billion units and 226 million units, respectively. Fast forward to the end of 2019 and we are looking at a market share of 82.6 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively, and shipments of 1.53 billion units and 263.4 million units, respectively.

  The other players are basically irrelevant in IDC's forecast, with a combined market share of just 0.9 percent by the end of 2019, up from 0.8 percent at the end of this year. BlackBerry is, obviously, one of them, along with Firefox OS and other players.

  The problem that Windows Phone has, according to IDC, is the fact that few vendors seem to be interested in offering smartphones with Windows. This isn't helped by the huge difference in ASP (average selling price) compared to Android. "In 2015, IDC expects the [ASP] of Windows Phones to be $148, which is $71 lower than Android's ASP of $219. This was brought about by the Microsoft/Nokia push into the low-end mass market", says IDC.

  "While this approach helped drive shipments up to 34.9 million units in 2014, IDC is forecasting a year-over-year decline of 10.2 percent in 2015, followed by further decline in 2016. The weak results can largely be attributed to the lack of OEM partner support", IDC adds.

  The decline that IDC talks about is that of the ASP. With such a pessimistic prediction, it's unlikely that more vendors will want to join Microsoft in making Windows smartphones. There are some other players that make Windows Phones today, but their market share is so small that it makes Microsoft look like it is the only player in this market -- its market share is 97.02 percent, after all.

  This further consolidates Windows on smartphones -- and, therefore, Windows 10 Mobile -- as a niche platform. And, this also means that it's time to stop dreaming about taking iOS' place on the podium or becoming a viable alternative to Android.

  Photo Credit: spetenfia/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Xbox One had a big Black Friday according to Microsoft

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 4:06pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Black Friday and Cyber Monday are in the books as the big holiday looms ever larger on the horizon. But what gifts will be given this year? According to Microsoft a number of people will be unwrapping its products that morning.

  Xbox Live chief Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, says that Xbox One had record sales on the biggest shopping day of the year. Not only that, but he claims Windows 10 gaming continues to rise, which is hardly surprising. The operating system is only recently on the market and consumers are switching to it. Hryb claims that in November Windows 10 gaming hours exceeded Windows 8 for the first time.

  Hryb attributes the record Xbox One sales to the new backwards compatibility and the number of bundles that were available on the market this year. He also points out that over the past week there was 325 million hours gaming on Xbox Live.

  According to statistics Hryb cites, Microsoft Store sales were up 57 percent over both Xbox One and its older brother the Xbox 360. In addition Live Gold subscriptions rose 40 percent worldwide and Xbox One retail sales were up 22 percent over the same period last year. The best-selling bundle was the Gears of War Ultimate Edition and the Elite Wireless Controller was also popular.

  However, all of these statistics added up to only the second biggest week in the 15 year history of the Xbox console.

  
• 

  Google introduces interactive ads so you can try out Android apps without installing them

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 2:16pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Google is experimenting with a way to make Android-based ads less irritating and more useful. Trial Run Ads are a new type of interactive ad that lets you try out games by streaming them rather than installing them. It's a format that Google and developers hope will help to drive installations, the thinking being that try-before-you-buy makes things easier for the would-be customer.

  The new ads came about after research showed that mobile users' attention spans have shortened, and a quarter of downloaded apps are never used. Google is also introducing beta support for HTML5-based Interactive Interstitial ads which can be used for regular apps and not just games.

  Trial Run Ads are very much what you would expect. They give the opportunity to test drive a game for up to 60 seconds so you can decide if it is the sort of thing you would like to download. It's an alternative to the often used system of making available two versions of a game (trial and full), or providing in-app purchases to unlock features. By making ads interactive, the burden of effort is taken off the user making them more likely to engage. Google says they should lead to "more relevant ad clicks, app downloads, and pre-qualified app users".

  Interactive Interstitial ads are a new, highly flexible format which allows for data to be pulled in dynamically. This in turn means that ads can be more easily updated and made more relevant to users. While the format does not allow for app streaming in the same way as Trial Run Apps, it does allow developers to show of a portion of their apps or provide various levels of interactivity.

  As these new formats are currently in beta, it may be a little while before end users start to see them, but more interesting ads are on the way.

  Photo credit: Cienpies Design / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Best Windows apps this week

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 1:54pm CET par Martin Brinkmann

  One-hundred and fifty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

  This is the second week without an app of the week award. That does not mean that the apps and games listed below are not entertaining or worth a try.

  If you like games, you may want to check out the new Bloons Monkey City game, for instance, which is well designed.

  As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

  Discounts This Week

  Red Stripe Deals are back. Up to six applications and games are discounted and highlighted in Windows Store each week.

  The following is this week's selection:

  • Queen's Quest: Tower of Darkness, an adventure game set in a magical world for $3.49
  • Digital Diary Pro, a personal electronic diary for $0.99
  • Crumble Zone, an arcade game for $0.99
  • Invoicing, Billing + Time Tracking, an invoicing app for $1.49
  • Sound Meditation, sounds that help you relax, meditate or sleep for $0.99

  App of the week

  None

  Other apps

  Hear it First

  

  Helps you study new languages by offering to pronounce text that you enter.

  The app supports multiple languages including English, German, Japanese or Russian.

  Please note that you need to have the selected language installed in Windows 10 under Language > Speech components in the settings before you can use the application. Items can be saved as mp3.

  SpanishDict

  

  This is a port of the popular translation application that translates Spanish to English and English to Spanish.

  The app can be used offline, and you get examples, regional usage and contextual information besides direct translations of words or phrases.

  SpanishDict displays suggestions as you type, and features an option to listen to audio pronunciations (Internet connection required).

  Bloons Monkey City

  

   

  Bloons Monkey City takes the popular tower defense series to the next level by adding city building to the mix.

  Basically, it is half city management and half tower defense game. Instead of unlocking new towers or upgrades while playing the game, you do so by building new structures and researching items in the city management part of the game.

  The tower defense part comes into play when you expand your city, as you need to conquer tiles to do that. Each tile you want to add to your city needs to be captured by completing a tower defense mission first.

  You may connect with friends and help each other out, and compete against other players in weekly events.

  Torrent Pinup

  

  The free torrent client features a basic interface but that is sometimes all that is required to download torrent files.

  Since it is basic, it does not offer features such as setting upload and download speeds, managing ports, or background loading.

  This is okay for the occasional quick download but not if you download torrents regularly due to the lack of features it ships with.

  Dragon Friends: Green Witch

  

  Dragon Friends: Green Witch is a city/empire building game set in a fantasy land that is full of magic.

  Apart from expanding your empire, you are also tasked with breeding dragons in the game and evolving them to powerful magical creatures.

  The game features different types of dragons that you can breed, a quest system that tells you what to do next, and social features such as helping friends out by allowing them to breed dragons faster.

  Power City

  

  Connect all power lines, houses and parks to the grid in this challenging puzzle game.

  All game elements can be rotated and you can only proceed to the next level if everything has been connected to the grid, and if there are no lose ends on the map.

  The game features hundreds of maps of increasing difficulty.

  Boss Battle Phoenix 10

  

  This is a boss-only shoot'em up game in which you take control of legendary birds to fight against boss monsters.

  The birds that you unlock throughout the game have different abilities, and you may upgrade them to make them stronger.

  Notable updates

  TuneIn Radio's update makes it a universal application. The update improves podcast playback performance and content organization on top of that.

  
• 

  JD Wetherspoon's customer details leaked after cyber attack

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 1:00pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Personal details of hundreds of thousands of JD Wetherspoon customers have been accessed and leaked following a hack of its database. The cyber attack affects more than 650,000 customers, the UK pub chain has announced.

  The leaked data includes names, birth dates and email addresses, as well as the partial credit and debit card details of some customers who bought gift vouchers. Although the attack occurred back in June, JD Wetherspoon has only just gone public about it.

  As well as gift voucher purchasers, the hack also affects customers who signed up for the company newsletter. In a statement the pub operator said that only the last four digits of card numbers were accessed. It explains that the data was stolen from the old version of its website, and this has now been replaced with a new one, managed by a different partner.

  Wetherspoon's Chief Executive, John Hutson says:

  We apologize wholeheartedly to customers and staff who have been affected.  Unfortunately, hacking is becoming more and more sophisticated and widespread. We are determined to respond to this by increasing our efforts and investment in security and will be doing everything possible to prevent a recurrence.

  The attack also saw personal staff details being accessed, but JD Wetherspoon says that no salary or other financial data was involved.

  Photo credit: Syda Productions / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Barbie says hello to more security flaws

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 12:28pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Hot on the heels of last Friday's news of the potential of the Wi-Fi enabled Hello Barbie doll to be hacked, new research has uncovered security issues with the mobile app associated with the doll and with its connections to cloud servers.

  Application security specialist Bluebox working with independent researcher Andrew Hay has revealed that the app can be modified to reveal confidential information including passwords.

  It also finds that the app will connect a mobile device to any unsecured Wi-Fi network as long as it has 'Barbie' in the name, allowing for a network spoofing attack to be carried out by an attacker impersonating the Barbie network to steal data.

  The app also utilizes an authentication credential that can be re-used by attackers, and it shipped with unused code that serves no function but increases the overall attack surface.

  On the server side client certificate authentication credentials can be used outside of the app by attackers to probe any of the Hello Barbie cloud servers to look for more vulnerabilities. In addition the research found that the ToyTalk server domain was on a cloud infrastructure susceptible to the POODLE attack, allowing attackers to downgrade connection security and listen in on communications to the server such as uploaded conversation from the doll.

  Bluebox Labs has disclosed all critical security issues to Mattel partner ToyTalk and a number of the problems have already been resolved.

  Writing on the Bluebox blog, security research engineer Andrew Blaich says, "All of the issues discovered point to the need for more secure app development, as well as the need for integrating self-defending capabilities into not only stand-alone mobile apps, but also the apps that power IoT devices like Hello Barbie. Ultimately, this research demonstrates the security of the mobile apps associated with IoT devices must be a higher priority".

  
• 

  Steve Ballmer: Windows 10 Mobile needs Android apps

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 10:27am CET par Anthony Spadafora

  

  Microsoft held its yearly shareholder meeting this week in Bellevue, Washington. According to executive vice president and chief financial officer Amy Hood, the company did well during the fiscal year of 2015 and it has already reported a strong start when it comes to the current fiscal year.

  However, former CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer was displeased with the level of disclosure at the meeting concerning Microsoft’s revenue. He believes that revenue is a key metric and that it should be reported as opposed to the run rate.

  The margins for Microsoft’s software were very high while the margins for the company’s hardware and cloud services were much lower. The company did discuss the progress it has made in the cloud but the numbers offered by the company were picked to showcase the areas in which the company has been the most successful. This gives an unclear picture to the state of Microsoft’s progress in the cloud, making it hard to gauge its success.

  Lately Microsoft has been pushing its vision of one Windows 10 across all devices. By allowing developers to write universal applications that work across a variety of platforms the company hopes to close the app gap that exists between Windows phones and their competitors. This would allow Windows Phone to have access to many popular apps already available on iOS and Android, for example Snapchat.

  Ballmer believes that this course of action will not work and the easier way to close the app gap would be to allow Windows Phone to run Android applications.

  Microsoft may be considering this has a back up plan being that the company already has two projects in place to try and accomplish this: Project Islandwood to port iOS apps and Project Astoria to port Android apps.

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

  
• 

  Microsoft shows compassion during Chennai flood with free Skype calls to Tamil Nadu

  Publié: décembre 4, 2015, 2:00am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Often, when there is a tragedy in the world, you can depend on people and corporations to offer help. Sure, some companies do it for publicity, but regardless of motive, the recipients of the aid will appreciate it.

  Today, Microsoft is showing compassion for the flood victims in Chennai -- a city in India that is experiencing its worst rainfall in over 100 years. The company is offering free intentional Skype calls to the Tamil Nadu section of the country. Microsoft deserves major kudos for this generous move.

  "In light of the devastating floods in Chennai -- and the subsequent impact to the local communications infrastructure -- with immediate effect we are making all international calls to landlines and mobiles in to Tamil Nadu free of charge for the next few days", says The Skype Team.

  The team further says, "since we don't know the full extent of the devastation, we want to help provide people with alternative methods of communication to reach friends and family in the region during this difficult time".

  If you have never made a Skype call to a mobile or landline before, do not worry. The below video will instruct you on achieving this goal.

  Do you have friends or family in Chennai? If so, please know both you and they are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope this gesture from Microsoft can help you to confirm your loved-ones are safe and sound.

  Photo Credit: balein/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Follow the Inca trail and make the trek to Machu Picchu with Google

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 11:36pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  The ruins of Machu Picchu are perhaps the most familiar and enduring reminder of the once mighty Inca empire. Thought to have been built in the 1400's, the city is a spectacular site thanks to its location high atop a peak in the Andes mountains. Reaching it is part of the adventure.

  It is, no doubt, on many bucket lists, but the journey is not for everyone. Now Google has partnered with Peruvian Ministry of Culture to bring you this fantastic location that few will ever see in person.

  "Gazing at the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu more than 2,400 meters above sea level, the site below is a lasting tribute to the power of the Inca Empire. It’s still unclear how the structure composed of behemoth stones was so precisely built without the use of mortar or modern day machinery, but its walls, terraces and stairways weave effortlessly into the mountainside and natural landscape", says Google's Daniel Filip, Google Maps Tech Lead.

  You'll be able wonder throughout the complex from the plaza to the temple. "Whether you visit Machu Picchu via a train or hike up the Inca Trail, we'd be honored to be your virtual guide through this sacred space", Filip concludes.

  
• 

  Over 50 percent of devices in US classrooms are Chromebooks [Infographic]

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 10:02pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Chromebooks are viewed by many people as the Windows Phone of laptops, paling into insignificance when compared to Windows machines and MacBooks. But the cheap and cheerful nature of (most) Chromebooks has seen the share of certain markets rocket -- particularly in the classroom.

  Back in 2012, less than one percent of devices in US schools was a Chromebook -- now the Google-powered laptops account for more than half of the market. Google's interest in education is not new, but the inroads it has managed to make in such a short space of time has caught many people off guard.

  A new report from Futuresource Consulting shows that Chromebooks have accelerated past Windows and OS X laptops in US classrooms. In Q3 2015, Chromebooks accounted for 53 percent of devices bought by schools, with both Apple and Microsoft's share falling to 24 percent apiece -- down from 52 and 43 percent respectively three years ago.

  Director of product management for Android and Chrome in business and education, Rajen Sheth says:

  It's been amazing to us to see that growth happen just in that short amount of time. If you look at the overall market for devices in education, it's actually expanded a lot and Chromebooks have actually taken a lot of the expansion.

  Cost will certainly have played a large part in Google's success this year, but the company has also been actively pushing for greater involvement in the education sector. Google Apps for Education has proved highly popular -- if slightly controversial at times -- and the appeal of an OS and software from the same stable is understandably appealing.

  Chromebook has not proved as successful outside of the US -- something Futuresource Consulting puts down to reduced connectivity in other parts of the world -- so this will be Google's focus for 2016 and beyond.

  

  
• 

  Patent troll claims HTTPS ownership, lawsuits ensue

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 9:24pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Ah, don’t you love the smell of patent trolls in the morning?

  In the latest news regarding these wonderful creatures, it was unveiled this week that a Texas company called CryptoPeak Solutions has sued basically everyone, everywhere, for using the HTTPS protocol.

  Yes, they’re claiming ownership of HTTPS. The patent, called "Auto-escrowable and auto-certifiable cryptosystems", reads as follows:

  A method is provided for an escrow cryptosystem that is overhead-free, does not require a cryptographic tamper-proof hardware implementation (i.e., can be done in software), is publicly verifiable, and cannot be used subliminally to enable a shadow public key system. A shadow public key system is an unescrowed public key system that is publicly displayed in a covert fashion. The key generated by the method are auto-recoverable and auto-certifiable (abbrev. ARC). The ARC Cryptosystem is based on a key generation mechanism that outputs a public/private key pair, and a certificate of proof that the key was generated according to the algorithm. Each generated public/private key pair can be verified efficiently to be escrowed properly by anyone. The verification procedure does not use the private key. Hence, the general public has an efficient way of making sure that any given individual’s private key is escrowed properly, and the trusted authorities will be able to access the private key if needed. Since the verification can be performed by anyone, there is no need for a special trusted entity, known in the art as a "trusted third party". The cryptosystem is overhead free since there is no additional protocol interaction between the user who generates his or her own key, and the certification authority or the escrow authorities, in comparison to what is required to submit the public key itself in regular certified public key systems. Furthermore, the system is designed so that its internals can be made publicly scrutinizable (e.g., it can be distributed in source code form). This differs from many schemes which require that the escrowing device be tamper-proof hardware.

  According to Ars Technica, AT&T, Costo, Expedia, GoPro, GroupOn, Netflix, Pinterest, Target and Yahoo are just some of the companies being sued for patent infringement. All lawsuits include almost identical language: "Defendant has committed direct infringement by its actions that comprise using one or more websites that utilize Elliptic Curve Cryptography ('ECC') Cipher Suites for the Transport Layer Security ('TLS') protocol (the 'Accused Instrumentalities')".

  Some companies are willing to fight the lawsuit, while others have decided to settle it outside the courthouse.

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

  Image Credit:Nixx Photography/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Facebook's Live Video is no longer a celebrity-only feature

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 9:13pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The ability to broadcast live video on Facebook is something that has previously only been available to celebrities. It's not being made available to everyone -- yet -- but a handful of lucky users are being given the chance to try it out ahead of a wider rollout.

  Starting today, some US iPhone users will be able to live broadcast to their friends and family. This is Facebook's bid to take on Twitter's Periscope, but the social network has more to announce. On top of Live Video, photo collages are also being unveiled as a new way to show off your snaps.

  Live Video is treated as another form of status update, and can be up and running very quickly. After adding a description and choosing who your audience will be, you are ready to start broadcasting. Viewing numbers are displayed in real time, and viewers are free to post comments. Broadcasters have the option of retaining the video at the end of the show, giving others the opportunity to watch later, or removing it. Facebook has given no indication of when Live Video will spread to Android and the web, but it is on the cards.

  The new photo collage option provides a simple way to display groups of related photos together. Rather than a dull slideshow, or a series of individual images, collages are animated photo and video displays that can be auto-generated and then be customized. Again, it's iPhone users who get the first look today, but Android users will also get a chance to try it out soon.

  
• 

  Tablets are doing worse than laptops

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 8:27pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Notebooks still have a straw to hold on to, while tablets seem to have broken theirs and continue to sink, according to a forecast by global market research firm TrendForce.

  TrendForce says total notebook shipments will drop 6.4 per cent for 2015, to about 164.4 million units. The company’s analyst Anita Wang believes shipments will recover in 2016, mostly because of branded vendors, such as Xiaomi and Huawei entering the market.

  "We estimate that total notebook shipments for 2016 will increase a little by one percent year on year to 165 million units", she said.

  On the other hand, tablets continue to sink. The devices which are still limited to browsing and entertainment, have very little to offer in terms of functionality, and are thus being replaced by smartphones, which grow in size with each passing year.

  TrendForce has lowered its tablet shipment forecast for 2015 to 163.4 million units, representing a year-on-year decline of 14.9 percent. "Our estimation indicates that a total of 153.4 million tablets will be shipped in 2016, down 6.1 percent year on year".

  The share of 7-inch models in the global tablet market has contracted from 57 percent in 2014 to the estimated 50 percent this year. With large smartphones moving into their territory, tablet vendors in response have rolled out products of even larger sizes with the intention of expanding into the notebook market.

  TrendForce projects that tablets sized 10-inches and above will account for almost 30 percent of the global tablet market in 2016, a significant increase from the estimated 18 per cent of this year. The two things driving most of the sales will be narrow bezel design and a full-HD resolution.

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

  Photo Credit: CLIPAREA l Custom media/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Windows 10 Mobile now available for Xiaomi Mi 4

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 7:57pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Now that Windows 10 Mobile is ready for prime time, having launched alongside Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL earlier this month, Xiaomi has released a fresh build for its Mi 4 smartphone. The device received support for Windows 10 Mobile earlier this year, with a developer preview arriving in June.

  The Windows 10 Mobile build that was just released is only for the 4G LTE version of the smartphone. And, also, Xiaomi warns that there might be "some unpredicted bugs still".

  To install Windows 10 Mobile on their device, Mi 4 users will have to get Xiaomi's dedicated ROM flashing tool and, of course, the ROM itself, which can be downloaded by following the link in the first paragraph. Xiaomi has also provided a step-by-step guide, which you can find here.

  Mi 4 users should be able to experience Windows 10 Mobile in all its glory, but we are wondering how many users will actually be willing to give up on MIUI to test Microsoft's new smartphone operating system.

  Those who are willing to go through with it should know that, in case they wish to go back to MIUI, they will be able to do so easily by downloading and installing the official firmware that Xiaomi makes available on its site.

  
• 

  Amazon takes its Fire tablets to China, adds new features

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 7:52pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  Amazon recently released its latest tablets, the Fire 10 and Fire 8, as well as a smaller $50 model, all of which sold very well over the big shopping days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. These were among several Amazon products that did well over that period.

  Now the company is updating the software across the entire line, bringing several enhancements to the tablets. It's also putting a device on sale in China for the first time, so there's plenty of news out of the Washington-based company.

  In the new update Amazon promises Blue Shade, which allows for easier reading at night. Once enabled users can choose the brightness level that's best for them. It's simple to enable and disable with just a click of a quick setting button.

  An improved activity center brings more control to parents. This is geared towards folks with kids who have outgrown FreeTime. It allows adults to still keep an eye on the children without restricting them too much. "When Activity Center is enabled, parents can visit a customized, secure page on their smartphone, tablet, or computer to review how much time their kids spend playing games, watching videos, and reading", Amazon says. But, speaking of FreeTime, the web browser in it is becoming more kid-friendly. All sites available are curated by Amazon to ensure that they meet general parental standards.

  Lastly, Amazon is launching its tablet in China. "We’ve already sold millions of Fire tablets since launch, and we’re excited to now make it available to customers in China", says Neil Lindsay, Vice President of Amazon Devices. "With millions of readers already using Kindle e-readers in China, we’re excited to now offer another incredibly affordable option, particularly for customers learning to read English. With tools and features like Word Wise and Blue Shade, plus a large selection of Chinese and English content, we think readers will love the new Fire tablet".

  This is the $50 model and it will retail for RMB 499 Yuan in this Asian market. It will also give access to a tremendous amount of books and even provide English learning skills.

  
• 

  Server shipments, vendor revenue go up in Q3 2015

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 7:46pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  In the third quarter of 2015, worldwide server shipments grew 9.2 percent from the third quarter of 2014, while vendor revenue increased 7.5 percent year over year, Gartner has reported.

  From the regional standpoint, Asia/Pacific grew the most in shipments, with a 23.8 percent increase. The region also posted the highest vendor revenue growth at 25.4 percent for the period.

  HP continued to lead the worldwide server market based on revenue. The company posted just over $3.7 billion in server vendor revenue for a total market share of 27.3 percent for the third quarter of 2015.

  All of the top five global vendors had revenue increases for the third quarter of 2015, except for IBM with a decline of 42.8 percent. IBM’s decline is due primarily to its sale of its x86 server business to Lenovo.

  Beyond that, IBM’s server revenue fell 3.1 percent for the RISC segment, but grew 15 percent for mainframes to post a 5.1 percent total growth in the third quarter for the server businesses that it retained.

  In server shipments, HP remained the worldwide leader in the third quarter of 2015 with a year-over-year shipment increase of 7.7 percent. HP’s worldwide server shipment market share was 22.2 percent, virtually the same share as in the third quarter of 2014.

  All of the top five vendors in server shipments worldwide produced shipment increases in the third quarter of 2015, with Lenovo recording the largest growth of 183.2 percent.

  In EMEA, server shipments totaled 533 million units and grew 1.4 percent (see Table 4) in the third quarter of 2015. Server revenue totaled $3.0 billion, an increase of 3.7 percent (see Table 3).

  In shipment terms, HP saw its share increase in the third quarter of 2015 and managed to maintain first place. Dell held second place as its share of shipments also increased year over year thanks to executing well as a privately held company.

  HP, Dell and Cisco have all benefitted from Lenovo taking over IBM’s x86 server business. Lenovo moved to third place, but its market share remained below that of IBM’s x86 business of a year ago.

  In revenue terms, HP and IBM were the only top five server vendors to exhibit a decline in the third quarter of 2015. IBM lost two positions year over year, while Cisco narrowly moved ahead of IBM. Cisco benefitted from continued demand for blade servers, while IBM’s mainframe refresh slowed during the quarter.

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

  Photo Credit: lucadp/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Apple becomes open source champion with Swift programming language

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 6:46pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  One by one, companies are starting to embrace open source more and more. Microsoft has been a proponent of Linux and other open source solutions, surprising many in those communities.

  Now, it is Apple's turn. Today, the company run by Tim Cook announces that its Swift programming language is now open source. No, this is not Apple's first embrace of open source, but it could be one of its most significant.

  "Swift is now open source! We are excited by this new chapter in the story of Swift. After Apple unveiled the Swift programming language, it quickly became one of the fastest growing languages in history. Swift makes it easy to write software that is incredibly fast and safe by design. Now that Swift is open source, you can help make the best general purpose programming language available everywhere", says Apple.

  The company further says, "for students, learning Swift has been a great introduction to modern programming concepts and best practices. And because it is now open, their Swift skills will be able to be applied to an even broader range of platforms, from mobile devices to the desktop to the cloud".

  Whether you like it or not, folks, Apple's operating systems are here to stay. Both iOS and OS X are wonderful, and consumers enjoy them. True, Android might have bigger market share than iOS in the mobile space, but Apple gets the grand share of profits. Meanwhile, Mac sales continue to grow.

  Developing iOS apps with Swift instead of Android is the wiser move from a financial perspective. Having Swift as open source is a brilliant move by the venerable Apple which should only promote the language's use by developers and budding students too.

  Want to check out the source code? head over to GitHub here.

  Photo Credit: rvlsoft/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Data discovery solution made available free on MS Office

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 4:49pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Businesses are increasingly keen to unlock the insights contained within their data. But the tools to do this are often expensive and complex, putting them beyond the reach of smaller organizations.

  Analytics specialist BeyondCore has announced a collaboration with Microsoft to make its data discovery solution available to Office users for free.

  The new BeyondCore Analyst for Office provides single‐click analysis and detailed story‐based explanations of insights directly integrated into the familiar Office suite. It allows business users to analyze all data, without the need to formulate sophisticated questions or design complex queries, cut through the clutter to identify and act on the most relevant, statistically‐validated patterns, and visualize, understand, share and act on the results.

  "Microsoft Office is the preferred analytics environment for most businesspeople. We congratulate BeyondCore on the way its Analyst for Office is empowering many more people around the world to extract powerful insights from big data," says Kirk Koenigsbauer, Microsoft corporate vice president, Office 365 Client Apps and Services.

  There are limits to the free version of course, it lets users conduct up to ten analyses a month on smaller datasets in Excel or Microsoft SQL Server. Users can upgrade to paid versions of BeyondCore Analyst for Office to conduct more analyses, analyze larger datasets or access Big Data sources such as Hadoop.

  Users can also try BeyondCore's enterprise solutions for 15 days free. This offers additional features including the ability to schedule analyses to automatically run each day, week or month, secure collaboration, audit and monitoring capabilities, and predictive and prescriptive analysis.

  "BeyondCore's mission has always been to dramatically simplify the complexity of analytics, making it instantly available for business users," says BeyondCore Founder and CEO Arijit Sengupta. "But users often feel 'this is too good to be true.' Now with the free version of BeyondCore Analyst for Office, they can just try for themselves and see that analytics has changed forever. After using BeyondCore, users will no longer equate pretty graphs with actionable analysis".

  More information can be found on the BeyondCore website. For the remainder of 2015 it's also offering an Implement on Our Dime deal where BeyondCore will conduct the first analysis or schedule the first dynamic dashboard on the clients' data, at no risk.

  Image Credit: alphaspirit / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Speccy restores compatibility with Windows 10, supports latest Intel processors

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 4:47pm CET par Nick Peers

  

  Piriform has released Speccy 1.29, a new version of its free Windows system information tool. The headline new feature in version 1.29 -- also available as a standalone portable build -- is improved support for the latest generation of Intel processors.

  Speccy 1.29 also strengthens hardware detection, restores compatibility with the latest build of Windows 10 and updates its hardware detection algorithm.

  Speccy bills itself as a fast, lightweight and advanced system information tool for PCs, providing both an overview and detailed information about the components and peripherals connected to the PC it’s running on.

  It includes a feature for saving snapshots of system information (including support for XML and text formats) for sharing with tech support, friends or other interested parties.

  The new release is the first for over ten months, and opens by promising better support for Intel’s newest Skylake and Broadwell processors. It’s also updated to restore compatibility with the latest build (10586) of Windows 10 -- prior versions were removed by Windows during the upgrade process due to compatibility issues.

  SEE ALSO: Windows 10 uninstalling user programs without permission

  The new build also claims to improve the detection of peripherals and network adapters thanks to an updated hardware detection algorithm.

  There’s also the promise of improved localization and language support.

  Speccy 1.29 is rounded off with the customary bug fixes and tweaks to the GUI. It, along with Speccy Portable 1.29, is available now as a free (for personal use) download for PCs running Windows XP or later. Commercial licenses are also available.

  
• 

  New privacy platform protects enterprise communication

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 4:04pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Enterprise customers are increasingly concerned about the security of their mobile communications, as well as the ability to deliver auditing and compliance information.

  Silent Circle, the Swiss company behind the privacy focused Blackphone, is launching its Enterprise Privacy Platform a set of secure software, services and devices designed to deliver privacy to business and government organizations of all sizes.

  Features of the platform include a new Silent Manager which gives designated administrators a simple and easy way to oversee their organization's use of the Silent Circle platform through a web-based interface. It provides overviews of current users, groups, and plans, as well as a news feed showing relevant information like updates to Silent Circle apps.

  The company's Silent Phone app, which encrypts VoIP and messaging services for any iOS or Android device, is now available in two subscription levels -- Basic and Plus. Silent Phone Basic allows unlimited member-to-member encrypted voice calling and text messaging for an annual membership fee of $5. Silent Phone Plus provides full functionality to include conference calling, file transfers, attachments, voice mail and direct customer support for $9.95 per month.

  Silent World offers enhanced security and flexibility on any mobile device (iOS or Android). It extends the reach of Silent Phone's encrypted calling to regular mobile and landline numbers in 439 destinations, allowing for private conversations to effectively anyone in the world -- even to people who don't currently use Silent Phone.

  "Building on the momentum of our Blackphone 2 launch, I’m proud to unleash all the work we have done on rebuilding our software and cloud-based Enterprise Privacy Platform," says Bill Conner, President and CEO of Silent Circle. "Our platform delivers unprecedented secure communications with the enterprise management controls necessary for auditing and general oversight. Now governments and global enterprises have a new choice in secure communications that didn't exist before, across any Android or iOS device".

  More information can be found on the Silent Circle website and the Silent Phone app is available now on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

  Image Credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Signal Desktop first beta now available

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 4:02pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Edward Snowden-endorsed developer Open Whisper Systems has announced the first public beta of Signal Desktop, a secure chat app for Chrome.

  The new release enables users of its popular mobile app, Signal Private Messenger, to carry on a conversation across even more devices.

  One notable issue with the initial build is it only connects to Android devices, although iOS support is expected in a future release.

  As with the mobile version, Signal Desktop is a free app for secure one-to-one or group chats on mobile phones, avoiding SMS fees, and with support for file attachments and media sharing.

  That’s nothing unusual, but Signal’s major plus point is its security. End-to-end encryption protects everything you’re doing from snoopers, even Signal’s server doesn’t have access to your communications, and the app is open-source so technical users can review the code to check what’s going on.

  The technology is impressive, and endorsements by Bruce Schneier ("I am regularly impressed with the thought and care put into both the security and the usability of this app. It’s my first choice for an encrypted conversation") and Edward Snowden ("Use anything by Open Whisper Systems") don’t hurt, either.

  Signal Desktop beta is an open-source secure chat app for Chrome.

  
• 

  Instart Logic and Verisign team up to fight DDoS attacks

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 2:58pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  DDoS activity is at its highest for two years according to Verisign's Q3 2015 DDoS Trends Report, and as the number and sophistication of attacks increases, companies are recognizing the need for better security.

  Application delivery specialist Instart Logic has announced a partnership with Verisign to offer customers an advanced DDoS scrubbing capability.

  "In an ever changing cyber threat landscape, this technology integration will provide customers the combined benefit of a CDN through Instart Logic's application delivery platform and DDoS protection through Verisign’s DDoS Protection Service," says Ramakant Pandrangi, vice president of technology at Verisign.

  The collaboration combines Verisign's DDoS protection services with Instart Logic's cloud security suite to effectively and efficiently combat some of the world’s largest attacks. When a DDoS event is detected, a customer’s internet traffic will be redirected to Verisign's DDoS Protection Services in the cloud, sending attack traffic to Verisign before it can harm their network. The DDoS traffic is then scrubbed through the use of Verisign's Athena mitigation platform and massively-scaled global network designed to handle advanced application and volumetric attacks. Filtered traffic is then sent to the customer’s network, so they can sustain normal business operations.

  "Our ability to provide speed, security and scale can only happen with meaningful, strategic partnerships throughout the world that enable us to accelerate our go to market within the various regions," says Samrah Khan, head of business development and partnerships at Instart Logic. "Collaborating with organizations that share our vision allow us to provide more customers with the best solutions for delivering web and mobile applications".

  The DDoS scrubbing service is available from today as an add-on to the Instart Logic's cloud security suite. You can find out more on the company's website.

  Photo Credit: Duc Dao / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Shutterstock Tab brings beautiful images to every new Chrome tab

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 2:56pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Stock photo vendor Shutterstock has released Shutterstock Tab, a free Chrome extension which displays a gorgeous image as a background for every new Chrome tab.

  As a bonus, there’s also a clock, a 5-day weather forecast, and a tiny toolbar with links to recently visited sites.

  The images are great, as you’d expect. We regularly got distracted, opening multiple new tabs just to see what would come up next.

  If you find a picture you really like, there are links to download it, or browse other images by the same photographer (you’ll need to create a free Shutterstock account first).

  The weather forecaster isn’t as successful, because there’s no option to set your current location. Shutterstock Tab tries to establish your location automatically, instead, which means a large number of users will see the wrong report.

  Our figures were clearly incorrect, other early reviewers have said the same, and we couldn’t find any way to view the location Shutterstock Tab was using, either.

  Apparently Shutterstock is going to provide a manual setup option soon, though, and the forecast can at least be hidden if it’s not working for you.

  Shutterstock Tab delivers great photos and worked well for us (apart from the weather). But if you don’t need the clutter, Flickr Tab is a simpler extension, which also supports the usual right-click options for easier image saving.

  
• 

  Google becomes the largest non-power company consumer of renewable energy

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 1:49pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  This week saw the big climate conference in Paris, bringing together numerous world leaders to discuss the changes occurring in our world. What we hope to get is improvement in the increasing amount of climate change, an effort to protect the environment for us and the wildlife that depend on it.

  One answer is now coming from Google, which has long been a proponent of the need for change. The search giant has long backed renewable energy and now it claims to be the largest consumer of it. Well, the largest that isn't classified as a power company.

  The latest purchase will add 842 megawatts of energy to power Google's massive data centers around the world. "Across three countries, we’re nearly doubling the amount of renewable energy we’ve purchased to date. We’re now up to 2 gigawatts -- the equivalent to taking nearly 1 million cars off the road", says Urs Hölzle, Google's SVP of Technical Infrastructure.

  There's more to it, though. The contracts Google has signed range from 10-20 years, so they also serve as a way of backing up the companies for the future. Of course there's also financial gain, as Google will get energy at lower prices and save money for the company in the long run.

  Beyond that, Google claims that its data centers are designed to be energy efficient while also driving change in the utility market. Hopefully all of this adds up to a pendulum swing for the environment. We could use it.

  
• 

  Record desktop activity to tiny self-playing EXEs with Screen2SWF

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 1:37pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Windows screen recorder Screen2SWF, once a $49 commercial product, is now available for free.

  With so much freeware competition around already you might be thinking, "so what?", but wait: the program does have some interesting features which help it stand out from the crowd.

  A strong capture engine enables the recording of desktop activity, mouse clicks and movements, and audio.

  There are a few frame rate options, too (1, 2 or 4fps, or as fast as possible), good news if you’re looking to keep the finished file size to a minimum.

  Once you’re set up, recording begins with a click, you can pause or resume it by hitting F9, or finish with F10.

  An integrated editor offers various ways to tweak your recording. You can change the start or end points, remove unwanted frames, insert delays, zoom in to a particular area, add an image, a text annotation, and more.

  While you can’t add shapes, draw arrows, use a highlighter pen or anything similar, the features you do get are capable enough.

  Text annotations aren’t just about setting fonts and colors, for instance: you can add a callout box, set opacity, choose the period they’ll be displayed, even have them smoothly fade in and out.

  Unfortunately this is spoiled by various interface issues, in particular with the player bar. You should be able to click and drag to zip through the movie and find an area of interest, for example, just like every other media player out there…

  But you can’t. Instead you have to move your bar to the point you think you need to edit, then click to find out, and keep repeating the process until you’re happy.

  Things pick up whtn editing is over, as Screen2SWF presents you with a good set of export formats: AVI, MP4, FLV, SWF and a Windows EXE (no separate player required, just run the program).

  An "Output Quality" option sets the number of colors in the finished video to anything from 16-bit to grayscale, and gives you an estimate of the finished file size.

  The end results can be impressively small, too. We created a 10 second clip of a 1920×1200 desktop, saved it as a self-playing EXE, and the finished file was barely 1MB.

  On balance, we probably wouldn’t use Screen2SWF for any complex tasks: its editor is too basic, and the interface is annoying.

  The program is good at keeping file sizes to a minimum, though, and the EXE export is also a plus. If you need those features we’d give it a try.

  
• 

  Chimera crypto-ransomware threatens to share your private files online

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 12:11pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Crypto-ransomware is one of the latest trends in the world of malware. Encrypting and holding files to ransom provides a way to extort money from victims, but a new example takes things one step further.

  Chimera not only locks users out of their files until a ransom is paid, but also threatens to release unencrypted copies of the files online if payment is not made. Security company Trend Micro says this is the first instance of this type of threat. Interestingly, Chimera also seems to be part of an affiliate program.

  Infected systems display a warning informing victims that their data will be inaccessible until they cough up the ransom. The incentive that said files will be leaked to the internet is an extra encouragement, particularly for anyone with content they would rather not be associated with. Victims are told:

  If you don’t pay your private data, which include pictures and videos will be published on the internet in relation to your name.

  In addition to trying to extort money from people, Chimera also acts as a recruitment campaign. The warning screen that lets people know that their computer is infected includes a footnote:

  Take advantage of our affiliate-program! More information in the source code of this file.

  As Trend Micro notes, this "is clearly a way to sift out people with technical skills". The security firm has examined the source code and determined that it does contain contact details and Bitcoin information for payment. There is also a decryption tool which checks to see whether a Bitcoin payment has been made before freeing up files.

  Chimera is being described as Ransonware as a Service (RaaS) because of its recruitment drive component, and this could be the direction in which future ransomware is heading.

  
• 

  How effective are parental controls for your child's safety?

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 11:25am CET par Peter Davidson

  

  Children are figuring out how to use the internet at a much younger age than in the past. Kids 1 or 2 years old are exposed to computer devices to help distract them. They quickly learn how to press the right buttons on smartphones, tablets and other devices. It is great that kids are learning to use technology at such a young age, but it also can create nightmares for the adults.

  The internet is full of information and entertainment for people of all ages, but not everything found on the internet is appropriate for young children. It is up to the parents to make sure that the kids are not exposed to things they are not prepared to handle or that could put them into a dangerous situation. Parents need to find ways to protect their children when they are not around to monitor it themselves.

  The Use of Parental Controls

  One of the things that parents are turning to is parental controls. This is software that can prevent a child from different activities when they are on the computer. The controls vary in what they can do. Some of the common things that parental controls can do include:

  • Limiting the sites that a child can go to -- It is possible to block specific sites or it may be possible to block any site that is not certified for a specific age group.
  • Limiting the time spent on the computer -- Many parents worry about a child spending too much time on a computer and turn to these controls that will shut the computer down for the child if they reach their limit for the day.
  • Protection from malicious software -- Antivirus protection not only protects computers from malware, it also offers parental controls that can help protect the child and computer.

  Parental controls can do many things, but parents still have to wonder if they are really protecting the child. For many parents, the key is learning how to use the parental controls in the right way.

  Using Parental Controls

  In order to get the most from parental controls, it is important that parents learn how to use them. This requires a little bit of thought about what they want their children to be exposed to, what the children are capable of doing and how the parent wants to protect themselves and the computers from problems the kids may use.

  • Watching what kids can see -- Statistics have shown that one out of every 10 kids under the age of 15 is trying to find pornography on the internet. Besides pornography, there are sites that offer violent content or are offering content that is not suitable for a young child. In this case different parental controls may have to be used. A parent may want to use antivirus protection to prevent a child from going to sites that offer this type of content, or they may want to go to sites that offer some content that is suitable and other content that is not and use the controls on that site. A parent needs to put as many controls in place as they can to prevent the child from viewing unwanted content.
  • Knowing what the child is capable of -- Children that have been exposed to computers from a young age know how to get around many of the systems that are designed to protect them. It is important that the parent makes sure that the controls they choose are not easy to get around for the child. It is also important to monitor the activity of the child on the internet.
  • Protection -- One of the biggest issues that a child can create when they visit unsafe sites is introducing malicious software to the computer. Malware is preventable, many times through the use of antivirus protection software. Having this software is something that can protect both the child and the parent and is a basic need for any computer device.

  If the question that parents have is whether parental controls and antivirus protection work, the answer is yes and no. They can be effective because they have the capability to prevent children from accessing things they should not when they are using a computer. While they are effective as a tool for parents to use, they are not perfect.

  Parents need to make sure that the parental controls and antivirus protection is turned on at all times. They need to make sure they are checking the controls and making sure they are suitable for the age of their child. More importantly, they still need to be involved with their children and their computer usage. Doing all of these things will keep children safe. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please take the time to share them with us.

  Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

  Peter Davidson works as a senior business associate helping brands and start ups to make efficient business decisions and plan proper business strategies. He is a big gadget freak who loves to share his views on latest technologies and applications.

  
• 

  iOS 9's adoption rate dwarfs Android 6.0 Marshmallow

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 9:41am CET par Anthony Spadafora

  

  This fall we saw the release of iOS 9 from Apple just before the company launched the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

  The success of these new models along with an uptick in the adoption rates of iOS 9 showed how quickly Apple users were to upgrade their devices. So far iOS 9 has an adoption rate of 70 percent which is significantly higher when compared to Marshmallow’s adoption rate.

  Apple recently posted the numbers of users who have upgraded to iOS 9 using data from its App Store. A mere three weeks after its release, the latest version of iOS has already hit an adoption rate of 50 percent. In contrast, Android 6.0 Marshmallow has an adoption rate of just 10 percent even though it was released two months ago.

  Since Apple has tight control on the iPhone and iOS ecosystem, it is able to update a much larger number of phones with few to no issues. Google on the other hand works with a large number of device manufacturers and carriers that feel the need to differentiate their devices by preloading additional apps or even by skinning the latest version of Android. As a result of this, updates -- even incremental ones -- take longer on a majority of Android devices with some phones not receiving updates at all.

  With the release of iOS 9, Apple was able to improve a great deal of the user experience and overall performance of the OS. Though this update was an incremental one that did not drastically change the look and feel of the software, it still had a high adoption rate across both new and older Apple devices.

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

  Photo Credit: Pieter Beens / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  IFTTT gains support for Honeywell Total Connect Comfort with new channel

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 6:31am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  If This Then That has been popular for a while, allowing users to create all sorts of new and creative functionality to make their lives simpler. In fact, recently the service became compatible with Amazon Echo and we took a look at how to set up a simple recipe that allows users to locate a lost phone -- providing it isn't muted and is within range to hear it ringing.

  We're always looking for new and creative ideas to make this even better and one of those is home automation. With that in mind, IFTTT is unveiling its Honeywell Total Connect Comfort channel. Much like Nest, this is a smart thermostat that can be set from an app and done from anywhere in the world.

  The new channel includes some pretty cool recipes already. For instance, there's one called "Winter is coming" which allows the user to set an indoor temperature based on that of the outside. For instance if outside drops below 65 F then you can have Honeywell set the inside to 72. You can also set up a temperature at a certain time, or when you arrive home. There's even one that lets you turn on the heat from your Android Wear watch.

  IFTTT continues to grow and now customers for the Honeywell thermostat have options as well. We expect more cool recipes will be released.

  
• 

  Top Bing searches of 2015 -- Caitlyn Jenner, Paris attacks, Pizza rat, Tom Brady, and more

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 6:01am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  To quote my main homeboy Charlie Brown, "Good grief!" -- 2015 has been a very difficult year. While no year has ever been perfect, this one has felt particularly long and taxing. Sure, there were positives, such as Caitlyn Jenner's courageous gender change, and the royal birth of baby Charlotte. But sadly, there were also horrific moments, such as the terrorist attacks in Paris, the Germanwings 9525 crash, and the heart-breaking EU refugee crisis.

  While the importance of each moment varies in importance from person to person, overall, we have a shared societal experience that makes all of these things impact our lives. Whether you like it or not, the Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy break-up -- as silly as it may be -- has changed the world. A great way to see what is on the minds of people is to analyze search data. Today, Microsoft shares the top Bing searches of 2015. And yes, Kim Kardashian is once again making the list.

  Check out the list below, and tell me what you think in the comments. Is it what you expected, or no?

  The Most Searched Celebrities of 2015

  1. Caitlyn Jenner
  2. Miley Cyrus
  3. Taylor Swift
  4. Kim Richards
  5. Kim Kardashian
  6. Bind Irwin
  7. Chris Brown
  8. Kylie Jenner
  9. Justin Bieber
  10. Kelly Clarkson

  Celebrities on The Rise 2015

  1. Bindi Irwin
  2. Ariel Winter
  3. Kylie Jenner
  4. Amy Schumer
  5. Demi Lovato
  6. Ruby Rose
  7. Gigi Hadid
  8. Jaden Smith
  9. Rumer Willis
  10. Ireland Baldwin

  The Celebrity Moments of 2015

  1. The Duggar family scandal
  2. That Caitlyn Jenner cover
  3. The birth of royal baby Charlotte
  4. Lamar Odom collapses
  5. Big changes in late night TV
  6. Bobbi Kristina Brown dies
  7. Harrison Ford's plane crash
  8. Tracy Morgan's recovery
  9. Big year for Benedict Cumberbatch
  10. Kermit and Miss Piggy break up

  Top Sports Stories of 2015

  1. Seahawks shocker at Super Bowl
  2. American Pharoah wins Triple Crown
  3. The world watches the Cricket World Cup
  4. US wins Women's World Cup
  5. Deflategate
  6. FIFA corruption scandal
  7. Pacquiao/Mayweather fight
  8. Riley Curry outshines MVP dad
  9. Devon & Leah Still's emotional story
  10. The Royals win the World Series

  Top News Stories of 2015

  1. Paris Attacks and the threat of ISIS
  2. The EU Refugee crisis
  3. Earthquake in Nepal
  4. Snowstorm buries NE US
  5. Germanwings 9525 crash
  6. Wildfires & drought devastate
  7. US-Cuba relations restored
  8. Planned Parenthood faces potential defunding
  9. Ashley Madison hacked, data leaked
  10. Discoveries on Pluto & Mars

   The Strange But True Stories of 2015

  1. Hulk the pit bull challenges views
  2. Man has surgery to remove car part, 51 years later
  3. 'The Dress' debate
  4. Rare fawn raised by humans
  5. Huge gold nugget discovered in China
  6. Goliath fish caught by kayaker
  7. Kermit-like frog discovered
  8. Stowaway cat survives flight on plane's wing
  9. Pizza rat
  10. Spiders rain from sky

  The Most Searched Athletes of 2015

  1. Tom Brady
  2. Rhonda Rousey
  3. Jordan Speith
  4. Stephen Curry
  5. Aaron Rodgers
  6. Serena Williams
  7. Caroline Wozniacki
  8. Lebron James
  9. Danica Patrick
  10. Cristiano Ronaldo

  Photo Credit: photoart985/Shutterstock

  
• 

  AMD unveils FirePro W4300 -- a low-profile CAD beast, capable of both 4K and 5K

  Publié: décembre 3, 2015, 2:00am CET par Brian Fagioli

  If you are a computer builder, you have probably bought a graphics card before. Sure, some people -- like yours truly -- like to utilize on-board graphics when possible to save money, but for the best gaming performance, a dedicated GPU is ideal.

  For businesses, however, gaming is not typically a priority. With that said, some companies still have a need for a powerful GPU in a workstation depending on their needs. For instance, if your business works with CAD, it is essential. Today, AMD unveils the FirePro W4300 -- a low-profile beast. It features 4GB of GDDR5 and four mini Display Ports in a svelte package -- perfect for small form factor machines.

  "The AMD FirePro W4300 professional graphics card is optimized for the latest CAD applications including Autodesk AutoCAD, Inventor as well as Revit, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks and CATIA, PTC Creo, Siemens NX, and many more. Engineering professionals can efficiently work with large geometry-intense models and apply GPU-accelerated features in their projects, such as the new Order Independent Transparency (OIT) mode supported in SOLIDWORKS. Users can help increase productivity by visualizing their workflows across up to six displays, and up to 4K and 5K resolution", says Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

  Sean Burke, corporate vice president and general manager, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD explains, "we designed the AMD FirePro W4300 specifically for CAD. CAD users rely on AMD FirePro graphics cards to enable their application features to best visualize their designs, and now can continue to do so without having to compromise by using the latest energy efficient, small form factor workstations".

  Not only is it available for low-profile workstations, but it only takes up a single slot. This increases the possibility of it fitting in existing workstations. Had it taken up two slots, it might have blocked access to other potentially needed PCIe slots beneath it. The only potential downside, you see, is that the small fan could be noisy under load. You must also make sure that any cards below it do not block the fan.

  If you are a CAD professional and excited about this card -- as you should be -- you won't have to wait long. The card is already in mass-production, and should be available in early 2016 -- January, I hope. Pricing is currently unknown.

  Will you buy it? Check out the specs below and tell me in the comments.

  Memory

  4GB GDDR5 memory
  128-bit memory interface
  Up to 96 GB/s memory bandwidth

  Compute Performance

  768 stream processors (12 compute units)
  1.43 TFLOPS peak single precision floating point performance

  Display Outputs

  Four Mini-DisplayPort display outputs
  DisplayPort 1.2a support, including Adaptive-Sync and HBR2 support
  Maximum DisplayPort 1.2a resolution 4096x2160
  Maximum DisplayPort 1.1 resolution 2560x1600

  API & OS Support

  DirectX 11.2 / 12
  OpenGL 4.4
  OpenCL 2.0
  AMD Mantle
  Shader Model: 5.0
  Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 (32- or 64-bit)
  Linux (32- or 64-bit)

  Cooling/Power/Form Factor

  <50W maximum power consumption
  Discreet active cooling solution
  Half height/half-length single-slot form factor
  PCIe 3.0 compliant, x16 bus interface

  System Requirements

  Available PCIe x16 (single-slot), 3.0 for optimal performance
  4GB system memory
  Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 or Linux OS (32- or 64-bit)
  Internet connection for driver installation

  
• 

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

  Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 11:02pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

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

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

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

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

  The following benefits are highlighted:

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

  Photo credit: dolphfyn / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  Facebook will stop tracking Belgian web users who shun the social network

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Photo credit: Yeamake and totallyPic.com / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  Sling TV updates it Roku app, adds new UI and more

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

  
• 

  Hackers make DDoS threats to extort Greek banks

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Photo Credit: HomeArt/Shutterstock

  
• 

  AMD on forefront of climate protection -- joins White House in helping humanity

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Accidental DDoS takes down Google's European cloud

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Photo credit: sibgat / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Western Digital now shipping the HGST Ultrastar He10 -- world's first 10TB HDD

  Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 6:22pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  As the world's home users trend towards greater cloud-storage adoption, the enterprise continues to -- wisely -- embrace on-premise storage too. Don't forget, the cloud is not magic either; the online storage companies need hard disk drives to store all of this data.

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

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

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

  Keep in mind, this is not designed for consumers; while the price is not yet revealed, it will likely be quite expensive. So where does Western Digital intend for this drive to be used? The company shares the following.

  • Enterprise and data center applications where capacity density and power efficiency are paramount
  • Cloud and Hyperscale storage
  • Massive scale-out high-density data centers (MSO)
  • Bulk storage using object storage solutions like Ceph and Hadoop to support Big Data Analytics
  • Centralized video surveillance
  • Drop-in ready for all mainstream enterprise capacity applications

  If you work in such environments, you will want to contact whomever in your company is in charge or purchasing if you are interested. The capacity, reliability and environmental-friendliness should make it any easy sale.

  
• 

  Application developers struggle to adapt to changing licensing models

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  The full report is available from the Flexera website.

  

  Image Credit: Stokkete / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Security is a major concern for cloud migrations

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

  

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

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

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

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

  Other key survey findings show that:

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Image Credit: Chaiyapop Bhumiwat / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Popular free mail services still use vulnerable versions of SSL

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Photo Credit: Balefire/Shutterstock

  
• 

  A Surface phone might just be what Windows 10 Mobile needs

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Photo Credit: Creativa/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Two-thirds of companies don't regularly test their disaster recovery plans

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Image Credit: Oleksiy Mark / Shutterstock

  
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  Mozilla's Glass House experiment reveals lax attitudes to online privacy

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

  Of course, this all acts as a big advertisement for Firefox but it makes the point that everyone is being turned into a product. There is, obviously, the slight irony that unwittingly shared personal data is something that Mozilla benefits from, but that’s neatly skirted over funnily enough...

  
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  Sage Microelectronics announces world's first 10TB 2.5-inch SSD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  
• 

  Microsoft makes upgrading to Windows 10 a smoother experience for Windows 7 and 8.1 users

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

  

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

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

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

  The update description says:

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

  Photo Credit: fotoscool/Shutterstock

  
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  TeamViewer 11 comes with the promise of better network performance, redesigns toolbar

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  
• 

  Soylent Green -- Now made with more women!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  It’s not a job I would want.

  
• 

  Microsoft brings Debian Linux to Azure

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

  Image Credit: Bobboz / Shutterstock

  
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  Moto 360 Sport Android Wear smartwatch will miss holiday shopping season

  Publié: décembre 2, 2015, 1:55am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

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

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

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

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

  The company shares the following specs.

  • Operating system: Android Wear
  • Display: AnyLight Hybrid Display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1.37 inch (35mm), 263ppi (360 X 325)
  • Watch case dimensions: 45mm diameter by 11.5mm high
  • Weight: 54g
  • Battery: 300mAh - Up to a full day of mixed use with Ambient on, Wireless charging with charging dock included
  • Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU (APQ 8026), Adreno 305 with 450MHz GPU
  • Memory: 4GB internal storage + 512MB RAM8
  • Connectivity:Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
  • Sensors: Barometric Altimeter, Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyroscope, Vibration/Haptics engine
  • Heart rate sensors: Optical heart rate monitor (PPG)
  • Water resistance: IP67 dust and water resistant6 -- Not waterproof
  • Microphone: Dual digital mics
  • Bands: Silicone band

  Sadly, Motorola is missing out on a huge opportunity by not launching prior to Christmas. Sure, you can print out a picture of one and give it to someone as a lame "IOU", but that is hardly a magical experience.

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

  Would you buy it? Tell me in the comments.

  
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  EFF accuses Google of sneakily gathering data about students

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 11:18pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  The Electronic Frontier Foundation claims that Google is gathering data about school children, including their web searches. In a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission about the search giant, the EFF gives details of the deceptive usage tracking it says was uncovered while conducting research for its Spying on Students campaign.

  The campaign, which launches today, aims to "spread the word about companies collecting students' data and launching a campaign to educate parents and administrators about these risks to student privacy". At the center of the controversy are Chromebooks and Google Apps for Education.

  The EFF's complaint states that Google collects, uses, and shares student data "in violation of the K-12  School  Service  Provider  Pledge  to  Safeguard  Student  Privacy (Student  Privacy Pledge), of which it is a signatory."

  There are three branches to the complaint, and the EFF says that the StudentPrivacy Pledge is legally enforceable under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Firstly, Google is accused of gathering data from children using Google for Education accounts and then using this information for purposes not related to education.

  The Chrome Sync feature of Google's web browser is the subject of the second complaint, with EFF pointing out that it enables Google to gather students' entire browsing histories and use it for whatever purposes it wants. Finally, Google for Education's Administrative settings can be configured in way that shares student data not only with Google, but also with third party sites. The EFF is looking for Google to be investigated, and for the company to be forced to destroy data collected so far, and to cease further data collection.

  EFF Staff Attorney Nate Cardozo says:

  Despite publicly promising not to, Google mines students' browsing data and other information, and uses it for the company's own purposes. Making such promises and failing to live up to them is a violation of FTC rules against unfair and deceptive business practices. Minors shouldn't be tracked or used as guinea pigs, with their data treated as a profit center. If Google wants to use students' data to 'improve Google products', then it needs to get express consent from parents.

  Google has said that it will soon be disabling a setting on school Chromebooks so that Chrome Sync data will no longer be shared with other Google services. While this move is welcomed, EFF says that it is a small step that does not go nearly far enough.

  Photo credit: Inara Prusakova / Shutterstock

  
• 

  GCHQ accused of "persistent" illegal computer hacking

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 10:32pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Court documents released during a court case brought by Privacy International show that GCHQ -- the UK version of the NSA -- has engaged in "persistent" illegal hacking. The targets of the intelligence agency's surveillance include computers and phones around the world without the need for individual warrants.

  There is concern about the use of "thematic warrants" which allows GCHQ to hack computers with very little justification or oversight, and with very broad remits. Privacy International is involved because there are clear privacy issues involved in GCHQ's activities, and it is seen as being of greater importance than ever with renewed interest in the Investigatory Powers Bill.

  GCHQ's ability to hack and remotely control smartphones was recently revealed by Edward Snowden, and it is this that gives cause for concern when it comes to privacy. The intelligence agency does not deny that it engages in such activity; in fact, the agency has admitted as much in the course of the court case.

  What has attracted particular attention, however, is the existence of "persistent" surveillance operations. Unlike one-off hacks and taps, these on-going hacks see spyware, malware and other spying tools left running on target devices indefinitely. Privacy International, in conjunction with seven internet and communications providers, brought the case against GCHQ, and the group's legal representative, Ben Jaffey, said: "Given the high potential level of intrusiveness, including over large numbers of innocent persons, there are inadequate safeguards and limitations."

  Caroline Wilson Palow, General Counsel at Privacy International said:

  Eighteen months after we first brought this challenge, GCHQ have come to court today to defend their asserted power to hack computers in the UK without individual warrants. The light touch authorisation and oversight regime that GCHQ has been enjoying should never have been permitted. Perhaps it wouldn't have been if Parliament had been notified in the first place that GCHQ was hacking. We hope the tribunal will stand up for our rights and reign in GCHQ's unlawful spying.

  The court case continues.

  
• 

  Microsoft's enterprise security software now offers PUA protection

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 9:52pm CET par Barclay Ballard

  

  Microsoft has started to offer potentially unwanted application (PUA) protection in its anti-malware products for enterprise firms.

  The news means that businesses will finally have an easy way of removing adware, browser hijackers and any other piece of software that deploys programs without the user’s knowledge or consent.

  The PUA protection is now available as part of Microsoft’s System Centre Endpoint Protection (SCEP) and Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) and can be easily activated by system administrators. By opting in for protection, PUA software will be blocked at both download and installation time.

  In a blog post, Microsoft’s Malware Protection Centre team said that PUAs can range from annoying to seriously damaging.

  "These applications can increase the risk of your network being infected with malware, cause malware infections to be harder to identify among the noise, and can waste helpdesk, IT, and user time cleaning up the applications", the team explained. "Since the stakes are higher in an enterprise environment, the potential disaster that PUA brings can be a cause of concern. Hence, it is important to deliver trusted protection in this field".

  Before implementing PUA protection, companies should first create a clear corporate policy that outlines what qualifies as a PUA and also inform employees about the changes, in the event that commonly-used applications become blocked. The PUA protection can also be implemented in stages to identify if any software is likely to be wrongfully identified as a PUA.

  While enterprise customers are sure to welcome the development, Microsoft’s consumer market will surely bemoan the fact that a similar service is not provided for home users. Many individuals have expressed their disappointment at the vast amounts of "bloatware" that comes pre-installed on devices, many of which are difficult to remove.

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

  Photo credit: 360b / Shutterstock.com

  
• 

  Hillary Clinton wants to spend $275 billion on IoT and world-class broadband for all Americans

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 9:30pm CET par Mark Wilson

  

  Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton will invest $275 billion over five years on the US infrastructure -- if she's elected, that is. A key part of the plan is to bring "world-class broadband" to every American with a view to increasing competition and equality in the workplace.

  While acknowledging the importance of investing in road, rail, and other transport infrastructures, Clinton also wants to invest in the technology of the future. Embracing the Internet of Things, she wants to create "smart cities" that will be filled with connected citizens, businesses, and services, including free Wi-Fi.

  It's a bold statement, but the Democratic candidate wants everyone in the US to have access to a broadband connection by 2020. Saying that "high-speed Internet access is not a luxury; it is a necessity for equal opportunity and social mobility in a 21st century economy" she wants to provide everyone with access to "affordable broadband that delivers world-class speeds sufficient to meet families' needs".

  In a briefing, Clinton explains the importance of investing in the future:

  It means building airports and air traffic control systems that set the world standard for efficiency, reliability, and safety -- saving time, money, and energy on every trip. It means a smart, resilient electrical grid that powers America’s clean energy future. It means safe, smart roads and highways that are ready for the connected cars of tomorrow and the new energy sources that will power them. And it means changing the way we make our infrastructure investments -- so that every dollar we spend goes further.

  Clinton is not just talking about broadband internet access in the home; she also wants to invest in free public Wi-Fi. Gigabit connectivity is destined for train stations, airports, mass transit systems, and other public buildings. There are also plans to push the move to 5G and to tap into the currently unlicensed ranges of the wireless spectrum. $275 billion is not a small sum of money to conjure up, but Clinton says that the cash can be raised through business tax reform.

  Photo credit: Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Technology terror: How ad-blocking technology steals ad dollars and video views

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 8:47pm CET par Matt Smith

  

  Freddy Krueger. Jason Voorhees. Michael Myers. Ad Blocking Technology. If you’ve watched a horror movie in the past 20 years, you’ve no doubt heard of those first three gruesome monsters. The last term may not be as familiar to you, but it is becoming a boogeyman of sorts for streaming video -- both for those who create and provide it as well as those who consume it.

  Ad-blocking software and technology has become a very serious concern for programers, video creators, and publishers in 2015. Before the year is over, an estimated $3 billion dollars in video ad payload will be lost by publishers because of ad-blocking technology. Some premium video authors estimate that as much as one third of their video content isn’t reaching their streaming audiences at all. It may not be an epidemic yet, but there clearly is a trend, as ad-supported video businesses are being challenged as consumers install ad blockers at an increasing rate, especially on their mobile devices where they engage with video the most.

  The fatal flaw with most video ad delivery today is that it is still reliant on client side content and ad requests which originate with the player itself. This approach, called Client Side Ad Insertion (CSAI), puts not only the video programming itself, but also the valuable ad payload at risk of playback failure because ad blockers see these outbound requests and block them as they are designed to do. Think of it in military terms as friendly fire.

  The initial request for playback may be viewed in this way by the ad blockers, in the way that they see subsequent calls for video payload in a CSAI model. As a result, program content is sometimes not able to reach the viewer, and the ad payload almost certainly isn’t.  A recent study claims that more than $21 billion in total ad payload (display and video, to be clear) is being lost in 2015.  For video, leveraging an SSAI approach to monetization defeats the boogeyman and keeps those dollars in the pocket of the publishers.

  To be clear, CSAI was good in its day, but introduced characteristics that needed to be improved upon -- introduction of latency, mismatched quality between program and ad payload and others. But as massive media brands and publishers of all size grow, they need these solutions to scale without limitations. If a show or an event drives massive OTT audiences, these programmers and publishers need the scale and elasticity of the cloud to be able to deliver highly targeted (per user) ad payload at scale.

  Beating the Boogeyman

  As with many problems that have come before it, this technological wrinkle may have solved one problem (pop up and disruptive display ads), but quickly introduced another by proxy. The solution? A newer, more advanced approach that  has been in place for some time is server side, broadcast style dynamic ad insertion (DAI) and stream stitching.

  This approach circumvents and defeats ad blockers on devices and desktops, because both the content and the advertising elements are dynamically created and delivered from the cloud.  This approach also improves on some of the legacy limitations of client side ad delivery as well, where latency and mismatched video quality (from program content to ad payload and back to program) were two key flaws in that delivery scheme. Further, stream stitching enables the publisher to replace content as needed when business rules dictate.

  For example, if a live sports stream isn't available in a particular geography or a particular show of episodic television can be broadcast but not streamed, stream stitching enables immediate content replacement on the fly.  Finally, server side architecture enables publishers and programmers to scale their audience without limits.  As demand for content on any screen, any device, anywhere grows exponentially, cloud infrastructure and server side technological approaches win the day.

  Building the Better Mousetrap -- and Ad Delivery Workflow

  The benefits and efficiency of server side content and ad replacement is multi-faceted.  For example, this approach doesn't delineate between live versus on-demand content, and the same approach can be used to deliver ads for both scenarios.

  Another key benefit is no impact to the revenue stream in place, as a move to the cloud doesn't impact ad operations with the publisher. They still utilize the same workflow and ad platforms, using standardized VAST compatible ad servers (generally from FreeWheel and DoubleClick) to create campaigns and monitor performance, but with the new benefit in per-user targeting to optimize revenue and maximize fill rates.

  Lastly, a unified cloud based architecture enables publishers and programmers to reach all screens with a greatly simplified delivery mechanism that creates content and ads that reach all screens in one fell swoop.  Whether the audience target is iOS or Android, Roku or Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Airplay, or Chromecast -- one size fits all with this approach.

  While SSAI is scaring the tall, dark villain of ad blocking away -- there are, and should be, best practices to consider with this approach.  As streaming audiences continue to grow, we must account for those viewers and the scale of the solutions needed to reach them. Specifically, an effective SSAI strategy must consider that the absolute best practice is to pre-seed the ad payload prior to the first request for an ad.

  This simply means provisioning the ad ahead of time and conditioning it for playback across all screens.  In case this isn’t feasible, for whatever reason, the publisher can have a backup set of house ads or promos that can play for the first 2-3 users who make an ad call for an ad unit that ‘isn’t aboard’ yet.

  In architectural terms, this is referred to as a cache miss.  In this case, we deliver those first few users a house ad or promo while preparing the proper ad and feed that ad to the cache so that every subsequent user is able to see the appropriate ad. Look for this pre-seeding step to become standard operating procedure as we build the future of OTT and streaming ad delivery.

  So though ad blockers have recently emerged to some publishers as a storm front of dark clouds, leaving them scrambling to find proverbial shelter -- they aren't faced with a case of whack-a-mole, as it is sometimes the case with technology. In this case, smart solutions exist to help dispense with the dark clouds and build a bridge to strategic programming and monetization success.

  The benefits for both the viewer and for those offering content - where rich, relevant ad experiences that can be tailored to the individual tomorrow are well worth the effort we’re planning in taking down the aforementioned monsters today.

  Photo Credit:  Grigory Galkin/Shutterstock

  Matt Smoth is chief evangelist for Anvato.

  
• 

  Some VPN services might expose your IP address

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 6:53pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  Just because you’re hiding behind a VPN (virtual private network), it doesn’t mean your real IP address cannot be traced. Those are the results summarised in a report by security firm Perfect Privacy, which says that it has found a vulnerability "in a number of providers".

  The flaw, described as "port fail", affects virtual private network providers which offer port forwarding and do not have appropriate protection against the vulnerability.

  "This IP leak affects all users: The victim does not need to use port forwarding, only the attacker has to set it up", it says in the report. After that, the attacker has to connect to the same server as the victim and have it click a link to a site which is under the attacker’s control.

  Not an easy task, truth be told.

  But if the attacker pulls this off, he can find out the victim’s true IP address.This affects all VPN protocols across all operating systems, Perfect Privacy says. The security firm has also given ways to mitigate the problem. Affected VPN providers should implement one of the following:

  • Have multiple IP addresses, allow incoming connections to ip1, exit connections through ip2-ipx, have port forwardings on ip2-ipx
  • On Client connect set server side firewall rule to block access from Client real IP to port forwardings that are not his own.

  The vulnerability has sparked conversations over the (ab)use of the flaw. According to Tech Radar, speculations are already running rampant whether movie and music industry trade bodies could have been using this vulnerability to track down the IP addresses of pirates.

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

  Photo Credit: dizain/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Cortana comes to the enterprise with Power BI preview -- will it push Windows 10 adoption?

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 6:41pm CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  Companies are very good at collecting data. Hell, some entities, like Google, make an entire business out of the collection. There is nothing wrong with this -- actually, it is quite wise to collect as much data as possible. The problem, however, is that data is worthless unless you use it and sadly, it is not uncommon for data to be underutilized and sit dormant. In other words, unless you can use it to tell a story, your efforts are for naught.

  Luckily, solutions such as Microsoft's Power BI can be used to create value and present data to executives in a meaningful and easily-digestible way. Today, Microsoft announces a new public preview that marries Power BI and the popular voice-assistant, Cortana, in a brilliant marriage of data presentation and interaction.

  "By utilizing Power BI's data visualization capabilities, answers can range from simple numerical values ('revenue for the last quarter'), charts ('number of opportunities by team'), maps ('average customer spending in California by city'), or even complete reports from Power BI all provided directly from Cortana. Potential answers are either determined by Cortana on the fly directly from the data, or by using reports already created in Power BI that help answer a question. To further explore an answer, users can simply open a result in Power BI", says Microsoft.

  The company further says, "in addition to helping you get answers more quickly and easily using Cortana, Power BI now has new ways to help you find insights hidden in your data. Power BI's new Quick Insights feature allows you to run a variety of analytical algorithms on your data to search for potential insights with the click of a mouse. Through a partnership with Microsoft Research, we’re honing a growing list of algorithms to discover and visualize correlations, outliers, trends, seasonality, change points in trends, and major factors within your data, automatically, within seconds".

  
  The beauty of using Cortana as a way for stakeholders to interact with data, is that they can decide what to see by easily calling it up with voice. It takes the guesswork away from analysts that must predict what data to include in visualizations for the "higher-ups".

  This is only a public preview for now; many companies will not bother trying pre-release software. Once the solution comes to a stable release, however, it could take off in the enterprise. Since Cortana is only integrated with Windows 10, it could help push adoption of the operating system within many companies too. With that said, many businesses only upgraded to Windows 7 fairly recently, so it will probably not happen overnight.

  What do you think of Cortana being used as a way to call-up and consume data? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: agsandrew/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Microsoft trolls Apple for peace

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 6:03pm CET par Joe Wilcox

  Advertising rarely gets as good as this! Microsoft sets the mood for the season in a new spot where its New York store staffers serenade Apple specialists for "peace on Earth". A children's choir joins the caroling, creating a classic! This is award-winning advertising in the making. Filming at night adds terrific ambiance, topped off with Apple 5th Avenue Store employees embracing their Microsoft retail rivals.

  If Microsoft is the British Empire, then Apple is the American era. Oftentimes, the mighty are arrogant and condescending about their dominance, and it's rare that they sue rivals for peace -- from a position of dominance. The humbled fallen must adopt new tactics in the New World order. For Microsoft, that means cooperation. If nothing else, the commercial is a metaphor for the new Microsoft.

  The company's strategy of developing apps for multiple platforms is a good one, and it's as much about cooperation -- peace among rivals -- as competition, something I highlight in analyses "Microsoft is Back!" and "Outlook is the Future of Microsoft" (October and August, respectively). Windows' developer invades competing platforms Android and iOS with trendy apps that connect to its legacy software and to contextual cloud products and services. Invade and conquer.

  To the average Jack or Jane, Apple-Microsoft rivalry couldn't be more in their faces, as Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book face off against iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. It's a good rivalry and one beneath which there is longstanding cooperation. Who is one of the large iPad's biggest supporters? Microsoft, which joined Apple's launch stage to show off Office optimized for the tablet.

  That comes from longstanding cooperation even when Windows ruled the world. Starting in the 1980s, outside of Apple, Microsoft was (and may still be) the largest software developer supporting Mac OS. Frenemies best describes a partnership going back three decades. The company on top may have changed -- Apple replacing Microsoft as dominant platform provider -- but the relationship remains one as much about cooperation and competition.

  Fanboys can argue about who copies whom, and how much Apple and Microsoft retail shops look alike, or the larger numbers of customers in one versus the other, but these are two companies engaged in cool embrace -- regardless which is on top.

  Still, the new advert is a jab, and it is brilliantly executed. Microsoft is the good guy here, spreading holiday cheer and asking Apple to set aside weapons of mass competition. Their retail shops are staging grounds.

  Five years ago, I wrote about the remarkable Christmas shopping differences between the two retail shop experiences in commentary "Talking about Microsoft Store". Apple Store attracts a trendier, young crowd, while its rival is more familial and community feeling. The differences demonstrate the companies' underlying retail philosophies, which apply as much in 2015 as they did when I wrote about them in 2010; it's all something the Microsoft commercial embodies.

  Peace is more than competitive marketing but metaphor for the underlying operational philosophy behind the new, and old, Microsoft.

  Real peace isn't possible, nor should it be. Both companies better serve their customers by competition spurring development of better products. Cooperation only goes so far. But "peace on earth" is a helluva good marketing ploy during the holidays, and Microsoft's execution is brilliant.

  
• 

  How DDoS attacks have evolved in 2015

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 5:06pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  As with most other cyber threats, the world of DDoS attacks seldom stands still, with new techniques constantly evolving to make them more effective and harder to defeat.

  Security strategist Andrew Lemke, writing on the IBM Security Intelligence blog, has taken a look at some of the most significant DDoS developments of the past year.

  April saw a major attack on the GitHub code sharing site. The attack originated in China and used a technique that unwittingly recruited users of Baidu -- the world's fourth largest website -- by injecting script into their browser sessions. This gave the hackers a large population of web users to boost their attack.

  A similar amplification technique involves the use of BitTorrent to engage in distributed reflective denial-of-service (DRDoS) attacks. This has a number of advantages for the attackers, it's anonymous, plus it can be initiated by a single computer but still generate a large amount of traffic coming from multiple sources on the BitTorrent network. It also amplifies the original packet very well. The researchers who discovered the attack method state that the amplification factor can be as much as 120.

  A potential form of attack that isn't yet in the wild is "temporal lensing" which sends packets by different routes but times them to arrive simultaneously in order to overwhelm the target system.

  You can read more, along with tips for defending against DDoS attacks on the Security Intelligence blog.

  Photo Credit: Fabio Berti/Shutterstock

  
• 

  How to securely manage the Windows 10 devices in your network

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 5:04pm CET par Rob Greer

  

  Microsoft’s decision to make Windows 10 a free upgrade means that, according to industry analysts, more than 350 million Windows machines are expected to be on Windows 10 within the next 12 months. This can create a huge gap between enterprise IT teams and employee devices.

  While "free" has accelerated the adoption of Windows 10, what truly sets this release apart from others is that Microsoft plans to expand Windows 10 to an unlimited number of devices via the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is becoming an increasing topic of conversation both in and outside of the workplace, in particular in discussions around how to secure these connected devices.

  Couple IoT with the growing presence of BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) and enterprises are facing a much larger issue -- how do you securely manage the onslaught of virtually invisible devices that are connecting to your corporate network?

  Traditional endpoint security management requires an agent running on the device for the IT operations team to be able to detect it. Since users will be upgrading their personal devices to Windows 10 on a massive scale -- and therefore will not have agents -- IT administrators need a way to identify, evaluate and secure all the new Windows 10 endpoints that are connecting to their networks.

  Security through agentless visibility empowers IT to be able to see how many endpoints are accessing the enterprise network and be proactive about only allowing compliant devices to access valuable applications and data.

  Windows 10 provides a seamless experience across various device types, and while BYOD is convenient for employees, it can cause a real nightmare for IT organizations. The truth that can’t be ignored is that BYOD is here to stay and steps must be taken to safely embrace it. To provide a secure network, enterprises must include:

  • Agentless visibility: Relying on IT man-power to handle threats on both managed and unmanaged (agentless) devices isn’t scalable as cybercriminal sophistication increases. Simply throwing people at it isn’t fiscally responsible, nor can it guarantee full visibility into all devices.
  • Secure network access: Organizations need to enforce network access based on user, device and security posture so they can implement best-practice network segmentation for guests, contractors, business partners and employees. This allows organizations to onboard Windows 10 devices brought by guests, employees and vendors in a secure manner and provide them access to only the network resources they require to remain productive. If you are somehow able to get your arms around your employee’s personal and company-issued devices, you’d be remiss to ignore the potential threat of visiting vendors, interviewees, and delivery personnel.
  • Shared Information: Organizations need to ensure that Windows 10 endpoints are compliant with their security policies and can share real-time context about Windows 10 devices with their existing SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), NGFW (Next Generation Firewall), EPP (Endpoint Protection) and patch management systems.

  Securing an enterprise computing environment is no simple task. Most networks today include an accumulation of security products added over time, layered on top of each other vertically and laterally. Add the challenge of IoT, BYOD and free upgrades, such as the Windows 10 release, and the result is a complicated infrastructure where full protection from cyberattacks is a daunting task.

  Attempting to buy time by enforcing a company policy of not allowing employees to upgrade to Windows 10 isn’t a realistic option either. Upgrades of this nature have become the norm and it’s better to embrace than fight the growing trend. The last two years show that no matter how robust the external defenses, a determined and persistent adversary can find a way to infiltrate a corporate network.

  Investing in a security solution that provides agentless visibility, secure network access and shared information that breaks down security silos is the best approach to keeping adversaries at bay while allowing your employees to keep their devices current with latest and greatest technologies.

  In addition, it prepares IT organizations to securely address new types of devices, such as the IoT, that are showing up daily on their corporate networks. Empowering IT teams to see and secure all devices connecting to their networks is the real key to keeping your data safe.

  Rob Greer, SVP Products and Marketing, ForeScout Technologies.

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

  Photo credit: Stanislaw Mikulski / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Google Chrome can now cut data usage by up to 70 percent

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 4:26pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

  

  Websites are rapidly growing in size, making it harder for mobile device users to keep their data usage at reasonable levels. Connecting to Wi-Fi can make a huge difference, but free hotspots are not available everywhere. This is especially true when we are talking about developing markets where, for many, browsing the Web can prove to be a too costly affair.

  But, at least in Chrome's case, it is possible to minimize data consumption by turning on Data Saver. In my experience, I see data savings of around 40 percent with this mode enabled. And now Google is rolling out an even more aggressive version for the Android version of its mobile browser, which promises to cut down data usage even further.

  Google says that, with the new Data Saver enabled, users can expect to see data savings of up to 70 percent. The way Chrome is able to achieve that kind of performance, compared to the previous implementation, is by forgoing to load images. They can "eat" quite a lot of data, making them an obvious target for removal.

  I have tested Data Saver on both Android and iOS. It works seamlessly, without any noticeable effects in terms of page rendering. Everything loads as if this mode is not even enabled, which makes a compelling case for using Data Saver. But how does it work?

  When the feature is enabled, non-secure web traffic gets routed through Google's servers, which is where the content is compressed. That said, if you mostly access secure websites you likely will not see much of a difference as Data Saver will not optimize HTTPs traffic.

  Now, on top of that, images will only load when the user chooses to. If Chrome detects a slow network connection, it will not pull images until the user hits the "Load Images" button in the bottom-right corner of the screen. There is no information whether an option to always load images will be available in Data Saver's settings.

  The "expanded" Data Saver mode, as Google calls it, will be first available to Chrome users in India and Indonesia, but this feature will also make its way to "additional countries in the coming months". There is no word on whether it will also be offered on Chrome for iOS.

  Photo Credit: Shkljoc/Shutterstock

  
• 

  WAFS allows simple, secure file sharing and collaboration across the world

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 4:15pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Secure information exchange specialist GlobalScape has used this year's Autodesk University in Las Vegas to launch an upgraded version of its Wide Area File Services collaborative software platform, WAFS 5.

  WAFS 5 simplifies enterprise collaboration, eliminates errors, and decreases bandwidth usage, providing secure, near real-time data access to both on-premises and cloud-based files located anywhere in the world.

  The software uses intelligent byte-level differencing technology to instantly update changes to files by multiple remote users with minimal impact on network bandwidth. It also ensures that files are never overwritten, even if opened by other remote users.

  "As work environments become increasingly distributed, real-time collaboration on large, critical files such as spreadsheets, CAD drawings, engineering blueprints, or MRI images is an ever-more vital business imperative," says Greg Hoffer, Vice President of Engineering at Globalscape. "Working with colleagues and partners distributed across the globe -- without frustrating slowness, costly delays, consistency errors, or versioning problems -- is a huge advantage to employee efficiency and productivity. With WAFS 5, distance and file size is not an issue. Complex files can be sent over a WAN at LAN speeds and are accessible to end users across multiple offices around the world".

  WAFS 5 has a number of improvements including, up to eight times faster upload performance, up to 10 times faster download performance, and copy speed performance which is up to 90 times faster. It has increased transparency of file replication activities between servers and desktops to check for errors and ensure delivery success, along with increased system reliability, especially during periods of network instability.

  Reduced bandwidth utilization ensures data transfers don't prevent mission-critical traffic from flowing in and out of the network, and an enhanced synchronization engine to offer easy, secure file collaboration.

  More information about WAFS 5 is available from the GlobalScape website.

  Image Credit: Chiran Vlad / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Cyber Monday a success? Amazon and Adobe think so

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 4:12pm CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  The "biggest online shopping day" is now behind us. Cyber Monday certainly brings out the deals, but do people really take advantage of them? According to a couple of announcements it would seem that the answer to that is yes.

  Both Adobe and Amazon are reporting record sales, with Adobe citing a number of $3 billion. That same number was reported this morning by CNN. Obviously these are not sales to Adobe, but it tracks the data in general. The company calculates $11 billion in total was spent between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. It also claims that "out-of-stock" rates hit an all-time high.

  "Cyber Monday has pushed online spending to a new high, and is on track to hit a record $3 billion in sales, in line with our forecast", says Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst at Adobe Digital Index. "Online traffic was so astronomical that several retailers experienced temporary outages and slow checkouts, but that didn’t stall consumer spending. Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and Los Angeles were the largest metropolitan areas with the highest online sales growth between Thanksgiving and Sunday".

  Meanwhile, Amazon is touting its own success on the big day. The online retailer claims that the top two selling items were both its own products, with Fire TV at number one and the Fire TV Stick in second place. It also says that Amazon Echo was the top selling $100-plus item on the site.

  "We’re excited that millions of customers will be opening new Amazon devices this holiday season. This has already been the biggest holiday shopping season for Amazon devices, and we’re energized by the year over year growth for all of our product categories", states Dave Limp, Senior Vice President of Amazon Devices.

  So what, if anything, did you buy over this holiday shopping period?

  Image Credit: Minerva Studio / Shutterstock

  
• 

  In-memory platform delivers faster operational intelligence

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 3:45pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  Until recently big data tools have been used to provide detailed analysis of large, stored data sets, but there's now increasing demand from industries such as eCommerce and financial services to have instant analysis on live data.

  To meet this demand, in-memory computing specialist ScaleOut Software  is launching a new version of its StateServer product which offers continuous and instant access to fast-changing data for large enterprises with ever increasing application workloads.

  "In today's increasingly competitive marketplace big data isn't enough. To stay in the game, enterprises across many industries must constantly attain full value from their fast-changing data as well, incorporating these insights around the clock for real-time feedback," says Dr William L Bain, founder and CEO of ScaleOut Software. "ScaleOut StateServer 5.4 makes this possible by raising the bar in advancing in-memory computing technology and delivering powerful performance that offers enterprises unprecedented capabilities for operational intelligence in their live systems".

  With this latest release ScaleOut StateServer can handle access requests in parallel, offers a comprehensive set of APIs, patented high availability, and new performance updates. Features include performance enhancements for multi-core processors, including IBM POWER8 systems, the ability to quickly sort and visualize very large object collections, and AppFabric Caching APIs to help customers preserve legacy application code when switching to StateServer.

  ScaleOut is already employed by over 35 Fortune 500 companies, which use its fast, scalable, in-memory data grid technology to support mission-critical applications where high availability and low latency processing are key.

  More details are available on the ScaleOut website.

  Image Credit: Peshkova / Shutterstock

  
• 

  How to extract the contents of a setup file without installing it first

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 3:42pm CET par Mike Williams

  

  Application installers are supposed to save you time, automatically configuring your PC to properly run their host application.

  Unfortunately, many setup programs only exist as a way to get adware onto your system, sometimes without you even noticing.

  One way to avoid this is to extract the contents of your setup file before you run it. At a minimum you’ll get a better idea what your particular setup.exe contains, and you may find you can extract and run small applications without installing them at all.

  Archiving software can often do this, at a basic level. Install 7-Zip, for instance, and you’ll be able to right-click Windows Installer files (*.MSI) and extract their contents.

  This only gets you the source files, so there’s no information on what the installer was going to do, but just seeing the contents of your particular setup.msi might be useful.

  Inno Setup Unpacker takes the process further by extracting both the application files and the setup script of Inno Setup installers. (It won’t work with other types of setup files, but Inno is so popular that you’ve a good chance of success.)

  As you’d expect with this kind of tool, Inno Setup Unpacker doesn’t require installation itself. It’s an open-source command-line tool which arrives as a very tiny download (134KB), and once unpacked it’s ready to go.

  Basic usage is simple enough. There are command line switches to list file contents, test for integrity, define paths and so on, but you can get by with nothing more than this:

  innounp -x setup.exe

  The command tells Inno Setup Unpacker to extract the components of setup.exe into the current folder.

  Assuming this is an Inno Setup installer, the unpacker will probably produce an iss file, like install_script.iss -- the script which holds the instructions for the installer -- and an [app] folder with the application’s various components.

  Check the [app] folder to see what it contains. If it’s something very simple, maybe a readme file, an internet shortcut, one executable, perhaps a DLL, then you can probably run it immediately without using the official installer.

  There are no guarantees, though, so keep in mind that you’re on your own here. If the application crashes your PC or causes some data loss because it’s not been installed correctly -- unlikely, but not impossible -- then it’s your responsibility. We would only try this on relatively simple applications, and on systems which are fully backed up.

  Decoding installation scripts

  Unpacking installers isn’t just about looking at the source files, of course. The setup script can tell you a lot about the application, and you don’t have to be a developer to find it useful.

  We tried Inno Setup Unpacker with NoVirusThanks Stream Detector, for example, a handy tool for detecting and working on alternate data streams. It worked, but our [app] folder had two files, StreamDetector,1.exe and StreamDetector,2.exe. What was going on?

  We opened install_script.iss in Notepad, and browsed to the Files section, which began like this.

  [Files]
  Source: "{app}\StreamDetector,1.exe”; DestDir: “{app}"; DestName: "StreamDetector.exe"; Check: "Is64BitInstallMode"; MinVersion: 0.0,5.0; Flags: ignoreversion

  Source: "{app}\StreamDetector,2.exe”; DestDir: “{app}"; DestName: "StreamDetector.exe"; Check: "not Is64BitInstallMode"; MinVersion: 0.0,5.0; Flags: ignoreversion

  The "Source" parameter names the files we’re looking for.

  "DestDir" tells the installer where the file should be placed. In this case it’s the application folder, but if it’s some other location you’ll be able to read it here.

  The third "Check" parameter is the one which answers our question, though. The installer places StreamDetector,1.exe on your system if "Is64BitInstallMode" is true, so that will be the 64-bit version. StreamDetector,2.exe is used if "not Is64BitInstallMode", so that’ll be the 32-bit build.

  This is a good example of why companies might use an installer, when it doesn’t initially seem necessary. NoVirusThanks is an honest company, and not trying to install adware or do anything sneaky: they’re just making sure you get the appropriate 32 or 64-bit version, without having to choose it yourself.

  But it’s also a good example of how unpacking the installer can pay off, as you can see there’s no harmful payload, and that it’s most likely safe to take the 32 or 64-bit build and run it anywhere, without installing first.

  There are other useful elements to the script, and scanning the various sections can tell you more about what’s happening. Here are a few examples.

  [Setup]
  DefaultDirName={pf}\NoVirusThanks\Stream Detector

  [Tasks]
  Name: "desktopicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; MinVersion: 0.0,5.0;
  Name: "quicklaunchicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateQuickLaunchIcon}"; GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; MinVersion: 0.0,5.0;

  [Run]
  Filename: "{app}\StreamDetector.exe"; Description: "Open NoVirusThanks Stream Detector"; MinVersion: 0.0,5.0; Flags: shellexec postinstall skipifsilent nowait

  As before, it’s not difficult to figure out the basic details.

  DefaultDirName is the default storage location of the program ({pf} is your 32 or 64-bit Program Files folder).

  The "Tasks" entries tell us this is one of those installers that will ask if you’d like a desktop or quick launch shortcut to the program.

  And the "Run" entry tells us there will be a "run the program now" option when setup is complete. That’s just launching the main application, no other files or command line parameters involved, so it all looks safe and secure.

  While this is easy enough, you probably won’t want to analyze installers on a regular basis. If you trust the developer, there’s little need; if the package is something vast and complex then you won’t be able to get much from it anyway.

  Inno Setup Unpacker can give you a lot of information about more obscure installers, though, and on balance it’s well worth a place in your security toolkit.

  
• 

  New platform seeks to integrate business communication

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 3:15pm CET par Ian Barker

  

  In large organizations you'll often find employees using multiple different platforms to work on and exchange files, making integration of activity difficult.

  Israel-based Fastee is looking to solve this problem with the launch of a new platform which allows business team members, service providers and customers to quickly communicate in one place and provides them secure access to any shared material.

  Fastee is tailored to business needs and the platform is integrated with a broad range of enterprise software including Salesforce, Asana and Yammer. Files and emails can be shared thanks to integration with Gmail, Exchange 365, Dropbox, Box, Onedrive and Google Drive. Everything is accessible within the platform via group or direct chat, allowing any group member to have access to shared files or linked folders, even if they aren't subscribed to a given service.

  Chats, files and emails are all fully searchable. Fastee is accessible through iOS and Android, and on the major browsers, with notifications that can be enabled for both mobile and desktop. The platform's integration reduces the need to search across platforms for files, conversations or to-do lists.

  All files and chats are protected with 256-bit AES encryption. The app generates a unique key for each item and securely stores each key in a separate location. There's also a private groups feature which ensures that all content shared within groups is limited to group members only. Users can preview files, images and emails through Fastee, without the need to download to a local device.

  "We are proud to launch our company and our platform, offering an agile, fully comprehensive communication platform to the business community," says Guy Eisdorfer, Co-Founder and CEO of Fastee. "Our app provides business teams with one place to interact with their customers and colleagues, giving them quick, secure access to a project’s entire lifetime of files and chats. We see our app quickly becoming the go-to communication tool of choice for business users".

  You can find more information on the Fastee website and the app is available from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

  Image Credit: Syda Productions / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Windows 10's growth continues to slow as Windows 7 and 8.x gain share

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 11:35am CET par Wayne Williams

  

  NetMarketShare has released its usage share figures for November, and they make for interesting reading. As you would expect, Windows 10 grew its share again, but the growth rate is clearly tailing off, continuing the trend we’ve seen over the past few months.

  Windows 7 and 8.x users show no great rush to migrate to the new OS, with only Windows XP shedding users.

  XP had 11.68 percent of the market in October, but this dropped by 1.09 percentage points in November, and it now stands on 10.59 percent.

  Windows 7, the undisputed king of operating systems, went from 55.71 percent to 56.11 percent, a gain of 0.4 percentage points. Windows 8 increased share, going from 2.54 percent to 2.88 percent, while Windows 8.1 went from 10.68 percent to 11.15 percent. Combined, Windows 8.x increased its share by 0.81 percentage points and now sits on 14.03 percent.

  In November, Windows 10 took 9 percent of the market, which isn’t bad considering the OS has only been out for a matter of months, but there’s a clear slowing of growth for Microsoft to be concerned about. In September, the new OS grew by 1.42 percentage points, in October it grew by 1.31 and in November Windows 10 increased its share by 1.06 percentage points.

  At the rate it’s going it will be quite some time until it catches up with Windows 7.

  SEE ALSO: Microsoft confirms the Windows 10 November Update WAS pulled -- and this is why

  What makes this all so interesting is that despite Windows 10 being free, and Microsoft pushing its new OS so heavily (going so far as to download the files on to host systems in readiness, whether the owner wants Windows 10 or not) there’s a clear reluctance for users to make the switch.

  There are several reasons for this -- firstly, users are satisfied with their existing OS and see no reason to change. That’s certainly the case with Windows 7. Secondly, Windows 10 remains an operating system that’s far from finished. There are bugs, mandatory updates that in some cases screw things up rather than improving them, rough edges throughout, and general annoyances -- like Windows spying on its users -- that make the idea of switching operating systems rather unappealing for a lot of people.

  I like Windows 10 -- a lot -- but if I didn’t need to be running the latest OS for my work, would I upgrade from Windows 7? It's unlikely. Swapping a stable polished operating system for one that’s not quite ready for prime time simply wouldn’t make sense at this point.

  It will be interesting to see how Windows 10 does in December.

  Image Credit: Vladimir Gjorgiev / Shutterstock

  
• 

  Raspberry Pi generates predictable SSH keys

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 11:27am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

  

  The ultra-cheap Raspberry Pi computers have a security flaw which results in the devices generating a weak and predictable SSH key, new research suggests. The researchers say the computer’s operating system, Raspbian, should be patched to avoid the flaw.

  "As soon as the systems start up systemd-random-seed tries to seed /dev/urandom, but /var/lib/systemd/random-seed is missing, because it hasn’t been created yet", explains the developer oittaa.

  "/etc/rc2.d/S01regenerate_ssh_host_keys is executed, but /dev/urandom pool doesn’t have that much entropy at this point and predictable SSH host keys will be created", he continues.

  According to the report, there are two ways developers can create random numbers, through /dev/random and /dev/urandom functions.

  The /dev/random one is better, as it requires user-generated input such as mouse movements, keyboard input or various hardware-generated activities to create numbers. However, the function will freeze the system until it has enough data to generate strong random numbers, which is why developers opt for /dev/urandom instead.

  This function generates random numbers based on a PRNG (Pseudo-Random Numbers Generator) algorithm, regardless of the user entropy data it has at its disposal.

  In Raspbian’s case, because of an incorrect boot sequence, there is not enough data, not even in the /dev/urandom function, and if the OS is set to generate SSH host keys right at startup, it will put together predictable values that are far less secure than what it would generally be needed for SSH data.

  The Raspbian and Raspberry Pi projects have worked together to put out a fix.

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

  
• 

  RogueKiller 11 ships with rewritten kernel driver, ADS detection

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 3:08am CET par Mike Williams

  

  French developer Adlice Software has released RogueKiller 11, the latest edition of its powerful malware detection tool.

  The new build comes with a completely rewritten kernel driver, delivering more efficient scans and improved reliability for the latest versions of Windows.

  There’s more good news for Windows 10 users as RogueKiller 11’s IAT scan now works with Microsoft Edge.

  The file system scanner now detects alternate data streams.

  The scanning process is more streamlined (there’s no more "Prescan" stage), and there are one or two other changes under the hood (see the official changelog if you need to know more).

  It all makes for an impressive package, which despite its power remains very easy to use.

  Click Scan, wait as the program scans running processes, your Registry, scheduled tasks, web browsers, file system, and checks for rootkits. View the report when it’s done, choose what you’d like to wipe, and click Delete to clean up.

  The free build does have one significant issue, in that there’s no "quick" scan, no way to choose a specific area to check: it’s a full system scan or nothing.

  Still, if that's an issue then you can fix it temporarily by activating the trial version, or just buy a personal license for $15 per year.

  RogueKiller 11 is an excellent malware hunter for Windows XP and later.

  
• 

  Google killing Chrome for 32-bit Linux

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 2:22am CET par Brian Fagioli

  

  If you live in the web browser, using a Linux-based operating system makes a lot of sense. By combining say, Ubuntu and Google Chrome, you can have a very secure and easy-to-use platform running the world's best web browser. A bloated and heavy Windows 10, for instance, could be unnecessary.

  Sadly, if you are like me, and the first thing you install on any fresh Linux-based operating system is Google Chrome, you might be in for a world of trouble. You see, Google is killing Chrome for Linux; well, the 32-bit version at least. Is Google making a big mistake?

  "To provide the best experience for the most-used Linux versions, we will end support for Google Chrome on 32-bit Linux, Ubuntu Precise (12.04), and Debian 7 (wheezy) in early March, 2016.  Chrome will continue to function on these platforms but will no longer receive updates and security fixes. We intend to continue supporting the 32-bit build configurations on Linux to support building Chromium. If you are using Precise, we’d recommend that you to upgrade to Trusty", says Dirk Pranke, Software Engineer, Google.

  Is Google making a mistake here? Absolutely not. Quite frankly, it is shocking that the company has supported 32-bit Linux this long. Look, yes, Linux-based operating systems can breathe new life into old hardware, but computers without 64-bit processors are way beyond their expiration date.

  If you are clinging to such old hardware, it is time to move on -- you can get a more powerful machine for a few hundred bucks nowadays. With that said, if you insist on holding onto your existing obsolete hardware, you have an alternative; the Chromium browser -- on which Chrome is based -- will continue to support 32-bit for the time being.

  Are you still running a 32-bit Linux-based OS? Why? Tell me in the comments.

  Photo Credit: Roman Rybaleov/Shutterstock

  
• 

  The threats of November 2015, Linux ransomware leads the way according to new report

  Publié: décembre 1, 2015, 1:26am CET par Alan Buckingham

  

  November is almost in the books and we're into the holiday season. Unfortunately that means some people would like your money to shop with. November was about ransomware, not just viruses, trojans and malware, or at least that's what a new report has found.

  Dr Web states that Linux was at the top of the list in terms of what could go wrong. Linux.encoder.1 ranked as the top threat of the month. This is a derivative of Trojan.encoder.737 which was found in 2014 and has since been changed into this iteration.

  Dr Web also says "According to Google data, this encoder has managed to infect more than 3000 websites worldwide". The report points out that the sites targeted were created using WordPress and Magento. The first is a very commonly used CMS around the web. The compromised sites total more than 3,000.

  The good news for this threat is that it has a number of flaws in the code and the data it locks up can be decrypted, so at least there's a bit of happiness among this gloom.

  Meanwhile, the most common malware was a pair of trojans labeled trojan.crossrider1.42770 and trojan.crossrider1.50845. These are simply designed to display ads on your screen. Not far behind was trojan.download3.35067, which the security service describes as "A Trojan that can download other malicious programs from the Internet and install them on the infected computer".

  The company is also monitoring a botnet, well probably many. This one is known as Win32.Rmnet.12. Activity in this area has receded two months in a row now, though. The most active area, by far, is China. It is very distantly followed by the US. The margin is 88 percent to six.

  The security firm did add more than 670,000 sites to its "dangerous" list, which more than doubles the month of October.

  All of this means that it's still a war zone out there, just not as bad as it was. Be safe shopping this holiday season.

  Image Credit: Maksim Kabakou / Shutterstock