Fred O'Connor, Author at NetworkingNexus.net

Fred O'Connor

Author Archives: Fred O'Connor

Apple, IBM to bring iPads to 5 million Japanese seniors

An initiative between Apple, IBM and Japan Post Holdings could put iPads in the hands of up to 5 million members of Japan’s elderly population.The iPads will run custom apps from IBM tailored to the needs of Japan’s elderly, who make up about a quarter of the country’s population, IBM said. The programs will remind people to take medication, offer diet and exercise information and connect them to services like grocery delivery, among other tasks. The tablets will also come with standard Apple software like FaceTime for communication, iTunes for organizing music and Photos for managing pictures.Japan Post will manage the devices and its 400,000 employees will receive training from IBM on how to use them. Japan Post, a government-owned holding company that offers banking and insurance services in addition to handling postal operations, will begin testing the iPads in the second half of the year. Details on the size of the trial weren’t provided.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Glitch in iPad app causes travel headaches for American Airlines passengers

Some American Airlines passengers faced lengthy flight delays on Tuesday after a fault in the iPad navigation app used by the carriers' pilots and co-pilots caused the tablets to crash."Some flights are experiencing an issue with a software application on iPads," American Airlines said on Twitter to a passenger whose flight was delayed.The glitch appeared to impact the airline's fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft and occurred suddenly.+ ALSO Big new United Airlines carry-on item: iPhone 6 Plus phablets for 23,000 flight attendants +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Glitch in iPad app causes travel headaches for American Airlines passengers

Amazon opens marketplace for business customers

Amazon has opened a marketplace for businesses where they can purchase items ranging from basic office supplies like paper clips to sophisticated products such as lab supplies and tractor parts.Companies that use Amazon Business will receive free two-day shipping on orders costing more than US$49. Only U.S. businesses can shop at the marketplace, but it’s open to both domestic and international sellers.Amazon built the site in response to strong demand from businesses for an online shopping service similar to the company’s core marketplace for consumers, the company said Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Massachusetts drafts regulations for car-hailing services like Uber, Lyft

Drivers for Web-based, ride-hailing services in Massachusetts would be subject to criminal background checks by the state and their company if a bill unveiled Friday by the state’s governor becomes law.That safety provision is just one outlined in a bill that is designed to regulate companies like Uber and Lyft without stifling themThe proposed law would place such services in a new regulatory category called transportation network companies” and require them to obtain a special license from the state Department of Public Utilities, which oversees other modes of transportation. To cover the cost of this oversight, the companies would be subject to a yearly tax based on the revenue they earn in the state. Details on how the tax would be calculated weren’t provided.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Teardown of Apple Watch shows sensor could measure blood oxygen levels

The Apple Watch's sensor may hold more health monitoring functions than Apple has revealed, including measuring blood oxygen levels, a feature that's not enabled on the device and that Apple hasn't talked about.That's one of the findings from iFixIt, which disassembled an Apple Watch Sport Edition on the day the wearables started shipping to customers.U.S. government regulations may prevent Apple from allowing the watch to capture blood oxygen data, according to iFixIt, whose website lets people offer each other advice on how to fix a variety of things, including computer hardware. The site is also known for breaking apart Apple's new products as soon as they go on sale.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Enterprise software vendors ready Apple Watch apps

Enterprise software vendors are betting the Apple Watch will find a use in the business world and this week announced apps for the smartwatch, which will become available to consumers on Friday.While many of the initial Apple Watch business apps carry out the same functions of their iPhone counterparts, companies emphasized that glancing at your wrist to obtain information is easier than reaching for a smartphone.Blue Jean Networks created an app that reminds people about upcoming meetings and shows them their meeting schedule. The app, which works in conjunction with the company’s cloud-based video conferencing service, also has features that are designed specifically for the watch, like a function that counts down the time until a person’s next meeting and the ability to access a meeting by pressing the watch’s face. Like all Apple Watch apps, Blue Jeans’ app, which was announced today, must be paired with an iPhone to work.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SSL certificate flaw allows hackers to crash devices running iOS 8

A flaw in iOS 8 would allow attackers to render devices running the mobile OS useless if they’re within range of a fake wireless hotspot, according to researchers from security firm Skycure.The vulnerability exploits an issue in how iOS 8 handles SSL certificates. By manipulating the certificates, researchers found they were able to get apps running on iPads, iPhone and iPods as well as the OS to crash. In other instances, the researchers placed the devices in a constant reboot cycle.Yair Amit and Adi Sharabani, Skycure’s CTO and CEO, respectively, discussed the flaw, called “No iOS Zone,” Tuesday during a session at the RSA conference and talked about their findings in a blog post on Wednesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

LA school district seeks millions from Apple over iPad software woes

The Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking a multimillion dollar refund from Apple over a failed project to provide 650,000 students with iPads they could use at home.LA Unified approached Apple in 2013 about using its tablets as part of an ambitious project to provide every student, teacher and administrator in the U.S.'s second-largest school district with an iPad.The initiative, then known as the Common Core Technology Project, would cost around US$1.3 billion, the school district said at the time, with half that figure going to Apple and the remainder being used to build out wireless networks at the schools.Apple hired Pearson Education as a subcontractor to develop software for the iPads, but according to a letter the school district sent to Apple this week, a "vast majority" of the student have been unable to use the software.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Yahoo reportedly close to purchasing Foursquare

In an effort to boost its mobile offerings, Yahoo is reportedly finishing up a deal to buy Foursquare.Foursquare’s search app can be used to as a local city guide to find shops, restaurants and other points of interest. The startup also created the social networking app Swarm, which allows people to check-in at locations and see if friends are nearby.The deal, which would be worth around US$900 million, has been agreed to and the companies are now working through details, according to sources cited by TechCrunch. However, other sources said they had no knowledge of the deal.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple buys Israeli camera technology company

Apple has purchased LinX Imaging, an Israeli company that makes multi-lens cameras for smartphones, tablets and ultrabooks.A distinguishing feature of LinX’s cameras are their small size. Its cameras “are nearly half the height of a standard mobile camera,” according to a news release from 2014 discussing the company’s latest imaging technology. LinX’s cameras can capture images that rival the quality of pictures taken with high-end SLR cameras, the release said.Smaller components could help Apple since the company is known for slimming down its hardware. For example, Apple’s new MacBook replaces the traditional USB Type-B ports and power jack with a single USB Type-C port to cut down on size.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

LinkedIn buys training site Lynda.com, enters professional development market

LinkedIn is acquiring online learning company lynda.com for US$1.5 billion in cash and stock, the social networking site announced Thursday.Lynda.com offers professional development courses on design, creative and business topics. Some of the courses, for example, teach how to write HTML, negotiate better, or use design software like Photoshop. The site was launched by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin in 1995 as a way to teach Web publishing and design.Integrating lynda.com with LinkedIn would allow job seekers to know what skills are required for a position they’re interested in and immediately be prompted to take a course in that subject, Ryan Roslansky, LinkedIn’s head of content, said in a blog post. Further details on whether lynda.com would be combined with LinkedIn, or if the training site would continue to operate independently weren’t provided.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

LinkedIn buys training site Lynda.com, enters professional development market

Cloud computing brings changes for IT security workers

Watch out, computer security professionals: Cloud computing vendors are coming for your jobs.It may be inevitable, or you may be able to take back control by rigorously studying how your organization uses technology. But either way, life is changing for IT security experts.Companies like Google and Amazon have figured out configuration management while enterprises avoid the process, said Marcus Ranum, chief security officer of Tenable.“That’s the reason why Amazon is going to have your jobs in 10 years. We are failing as an industry,” said Ranum, who spoke Wednesday at a meeting of the Information Systems Security Association, New England chapter.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Oyster breaks out of its subscription shell, targets Amazon with e-book store

E-book subscription service Oyster has opened an online book store, a move that pits the young company against heavyweight Amazon.Oyster’s ebook store has the support of the top five publishers in the U.S. While Amazon also offers books from these publishers—Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster—it got into a nasty battle with them over pricing. Amazon wanted to offer their books at steep discounts, ignoring the publishers’ suggested prices.The fight between Amazon and Hachette was especially toxic, with Amazon preventing customers from pre-ordering upcoming books from the publisher and threatening to stop stocking its titles. The two parties resolved their dispute last November, but didn’t disclose the deal’s terms. None of the publishers immediately replied to questions regarding their negotiations and pricing arrangements with Oyster.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple, as Watch rollout looms, emphasizes online ordering

Apple is looking to eliminate the long lines that form outside its retail stores on product launch days.“The days of waiting in line and crossing fingers for a product are over for our customers,” according to a memo from Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and online stores, that was obtained by Business Insider.The memo instructs Apple’s retail employees to encourage customers interested in either the Apple Watch or new MacBook to order the products online instead of from the stores.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Samsung rebuts tester’s claim that Galaxy Edge S6 bends easily

Samsung has taken issue with a stress test that showed the Galaxy Edge S6’s frame bending and screen cracking under applied pressure, saying a smartphone wouldn’t experience such force in normal use.The Galaxy 6S Edge bent and its screen shattered after being exposed to 110 pounds of force, according to a test conducted by SquareTrade, which sells warranties for smartphones, tablets and other electronics. Even with a shattered screen, the phone still worked. SquareTrade posted a video of the test on Thursday.SquareTrade also tested the iPhone 6 Plus and the HTC One M9. The iPhone bent under 110 pounds of force, but the screen remained intact. The HTC device bent and became inoperable after it suffered 120 pounds of force.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Health care industry receives first mobile apps from Apple, IBM

An enterprise mobility partnership between Apple and IBM has yielded more iPhone and iPad apps, including the first ones for the health care industry and industrial production management.Under an agreement announced last July, the two companies develop enterprises mobile apps together, and IBM sells and supports Apple hardware. The first 10 mobile apps debuted in late December and a second batch was released in March. The apps released this week bring the total offered to 22.The four new health care apps are for nurses who work in hospitals and provide home care. Hospital RN replaces a nurse’s pager and phone with an iPhone, and allows them to access a patient’s records. The app uses iBeacon technology to identify patients and displays notifications including status updates on hospital equipment that is offline, backups at the lab and patient requests.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Health care industry receives first mobile apps from Apple, IBM

Obama authorizes sanctions against hackers

U.S. President Barack Obama has signed an executive order authorizing the U.S. government to impose sanctions on people, organizations and governments that partake in “malicious cyber-enabled activities” that harm the country.“The same technologies that help keep our military strong are used by hackers in China and Russia to target our defense contractors and systems that support our troops,” Obama said in a statement.The sanctions would target activities that harm critical infrastructure, disrupt computer networks, expose personal information and trade secrets, and entities that profit from information stolen in cyberattacks. The administration will focus on threats from outside the U.S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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