Martyn Williams
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Alibaba could generate 1 million new US jobs, Ma tells Trump
The billionaire head of China's biggest e-commerce retailer met with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday to promote his site by dangling the possibility of a million new U.S. jobs.Jack Ma met Trump in New York and the two talked U.S.-China trade and specifically small business. Ma promoted Alibaba as a platform through which U.S. small businesses could sell products to consumers in China and Southeast Asia.By doing that, up to a million new jobs could be created at a million small businesses, Alibaba said. Alibaba didn't commit to hiring new staff in the U.S. itself."We mainly talked about small business, and young people and selling American agricultural products to China," said Ma.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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TCL targets Apple, Samsung with new BlackBerry handset
TCL Communication has big plans for BlackBerry, even though it's a brand that's been written off by many.The China-based electronics company recently acquired rights to design, manufacture and sell smartphones under the BlackBerry name with BlackBerry's security and service software installed. The deal puts TCL in the driver's seat on hardware and the first phone under the new deal was previewed on Wednesday.While still in the final stages of development, the new handset sports the physical keyboard that propelled BlackBerry to the top of the smartphone market in the 2000s and is the first to combine that keyboard with the Android operating system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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TCL targets Apple, Samsung with new BlackBerry handset
TCL Communication has big plans for BlackBerry, even though it's a brand that's been written off by many.The China-based electronics company recently acquired rights to design, manufacture and sell smartphones under the BlackBerry name with BlackBerry's security and service software installed. The deal puts TCL in the driver's seat on hardware and the first phone under the new deal was previewed on Wednesday.While still in the final stages of development, the new handset sports the physical keyboard that propelled BlackBerry to the top of the smartphone market in the 2000s and is the first to combine that keyboard with the Android operating system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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The US has sanctioned Russia over election hacking
The U.S. government has sanctioned Russia's main two intelligence agencies, four military intelligence officers and is kicking out 35 Russian diplomats over what it says was aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations around the 2016 presidential election. The move follows up on a pledge made by President Obama to retaliate against Russia for hacks of the Democratic National Committee and other political targets. The U.S. also released a detailed assessment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the cyber attacks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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The US has sanctioned Russia over election hacking
The U.S. government has sanctioned Russia's main two intelligence agencies, four military intelligence officers and is kicking out 35 Russian diplomats over what it says was aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations around the 2016 presidential election. The move follows up on a pledge made by President Obama to retaliate against Russia for hacks of the Democratic National Committee and other political targets. The U.S. also released a detailed assessment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the cyber attacks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Oracle CEO Safra Catz joins Trump’s transition team
Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz is joining President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, the team said Thursday. She will sit on its executive committee and remain in her position at Oracle.The appointment comes a day after Catz and other tech leaders met Trump in a high-profile meeting at his New York offices."I'm actually privileged and honored to even be here, and we are looking forward to helping you, and your administration," Catz said at the beginning of the meeting.+ ALSO: Trump to tech CEOs: We're there for you +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Trump, tech leaders avoided encryption and surveillance talk at summit
A Wednesday summit between some of the most powerful people in technology and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump covered a wide ground but avoided discussion on two of the biggest issues facing the industry: the use of encryption and government surveillance.Trump's team called the meeting the start of "a conversation and partnership in order to spark innovation and create more jobs in the U.S." and said it could be repeated as often as once a quarter once he assumes the presidency.Many in Silicon Valley had been vocal opponents of Trump prior to the election, but in meeting executives of the region's biggest companies on Wednesday, Trump sought to gain their support. In particular, he asked them for "specific innovative solutions that have been blocked by narrow thinking in Washington," his team said in a statement.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Trump, tech leaders avoided encryption and surveillance talk at summit
A Wednesday summit between some of the most powerful people in technology and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump covered a wide ground but avoided discussion on two of the biggest issues facing the industry: the use of encryption and government surveillance.Trump's team called the meeting the start of "a conversation and partnership in order to spark innovation and create more jobs in the U.S." and said it could be repeated as often as once a quarter once he assumes the presidency.Many in Silicon Valley had been vocal opponents of Trump prior to the election, but in meeting executives of the region's biggest companies on Wednesday, Trump sought to gain their support. In particular, he asked them for "specific innovative solutions that have been blocked by narrow thinking in Washington," his team said in a statement.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Trump to tech CEOs: We’re there for you
President-elect Donald Trump kicked off a meeting with U.S. tech leaders on Wednesday by promising his administration was there to help them do business and make money."We want you to keep going with the incredible innovation," Trump said. "There’s nobody like you in the world, in the world, there’s nobody like anyone in this room. And anything we can do to help this go along, and we’re going to be there for you."Among the issues the tech CEOs might discuss with Trump is his proposed curbs to immigration. Silicon Valley relies on bringing in large numbers of immigrants every year or keeping them in the U.S. after college. Making immigration more difficult or restricting the number of H-1B high-skill visas available could cause tech companies problems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Google publishes national security letters for the first time
Google is providing for the first time a look into the world of national security letters -- demands from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to hand over details about account holders and keep quiet about it.The letters are a part of business for Google and other major internet companies, but traditionally they have been barred from acknowledging the letters' existence. That changed in 2013 when, in light of revelations about Internet surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies, Google and others started fighting to disclose more about the demands.That led to the creation of Google's "transparency report," which revealed the company receives thousands of requests for user data each month from law enforcement agencies around the globe. The national security letters remained secret, but on Tuesday, Google published a handful that are no longer covered by nondisclosure rules.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Google publishes national security letters for the first time
Google is providing for the first time a look into the world of national security letters -- demands from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to hand over details about account holders and keep quiet about it.The letters are a part of business for Google and other major internet companies, but traditionally they have been barred from acknowledging the letters' existence. That changed in 2013 when, in light of revelations about Internet surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies, Google and others started fighting to disclose more about the demands.That led to the creation of Google's "transparency report," which revealed the company receives thousands of requests for user data each month from law enforcement agencies around the globe. The national security letters remained secret, but on Tuesday, Google published a handful that are no longer covered by nondisclosure rules.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AirMap, DigiCert to issue digital certificates for drones
Drones will start getting digital identification certificates under a new service being launched on Tuesday that hopes to bring trust and verification to the skies.The Drone IDs will be SSL/TLS certificates from DigiCert issued through AirMap, a provider of drone flight information data, and will first be available to users of Intel's Aero drone platform.Under the system, drone owners receive the digital ID in the form of an SSL/TLS certificate when they register for AirMap services. The ID is different from the identification number issued to drone owners by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and isn't part of any government scheme.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AirMap, DigiCert to issue digital certificates for drones
Drones will start getting digital identification certificates under a new service being launched on Tuesday that hopes to bring trust and verification to the skies.The Drone IDs will be SSL/TLS certificates from DigiCert issued through AirMap, a provider of drone flight information data, and will first be available to users of Intel's Aero drone platform.Under the system, drone owners receive the digital ID in the form of an SSL/TLS certificate when they register for AirMap services. The ID is different from the identification number issued to drone owners by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and isn't part of any government scheme.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Synaptics has a new fingerprint sensor that will mean smoother phone screens
A Silicon Valley biometrics company says it has developed a fingerprint sensor that can sit under glass so smartphone screens don't need a cutout or extra button to accommodate the sensor.The Synaptics FS9100 sensor can sit under a millimeter of glass and still provide accurate fingerprint readings, so it should be easier to integrate one under a display.At present, most fingerprint sensors have to sit above the glass, necessitating a cutout in the face of the phone or a dedicated button that houses the sensor. That's the case on market-leading handsets like the iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S7.And while there are some fingerprint sensors that work under glass, that glass needs to be thinner than 1mm, so the glass needs to be shaved in the area of the sensor.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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With CIA choice, Trump picks a foe of Silicon Valley’s encryption stance
In his nomination of Representative Mike Pompeo to head the CIA, President-elect Donald Trump has picked someone who has supported NSA surveillance programs and has criticized Silicon Valley's stance on encryption.Pompeo, a Republican from Kansas, is a former cavalry officer in the U.S. Army and a graduate of West Point military academy. He currently serves on the House Intelligence Committee and is perhaps best known for his role on the Benghazi committee that investigated Hillary Clinton.But his committee assignment has also put him in the middle of several recent issues that have pitched the U.S. intelligence community against major tech companies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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With CIA choice, Trump picks a foe of Silicon Valley’s encryption stance
In his nomination of Representative Mike Pompeo to head the CIA, President-elect Donald Trump has picked someone who has supported NSA surveillance programs and has criticized Silicon Valley's stance on encryption.Pompeo, a Republican from Kansas, is a former cavalry officer in the U.S. Army and a graduate of West Point military academy. He currently serves on the House Intelligence Committee and is perhaps best known for his role on the Benghazi committee that investigated Hillary Clinton.But his committee assignment has also put him in the middle of several recent issues that have pitched the U.S. intelligence community against major tech companies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AI beating humans? Not in my lifetime, says Google’s cloud chief
The head of Google's cloud business says she doesn't expect machine intelligence to exceed that of humans during her lifetime, despite recent rapid progress that has surprised many.Diane Greene, who turns 61 this year, said that while researchers are making strides in programming intelligence into computers, there's still a long way to go."There is a lot that machine learning doesn’t do that humans can do really, really well," she said on Tuesday at the Code Enterprise conference in San Francisco.Her remarks came hours after Google said Greene's division had hired two leading machine learning and artificial intelligence experts: Fei-Fei Li, who was director of AI at Stanford University, and Jia Li, who headed up research at Snap, the operator of SnapChat.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Salesforce CEO says it’s time for companies to stand for something
One of Silicon Valley’s most opinionated CEOs says it’s time for more companies to be vocal about important social issues.“You should have a point of view, you should be clear on what your point of view is,” Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, said on Monday at the Code Enterprise conference in San Francisco. “You have to be clear what your company stands for.”His comments come less than a week after Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election — a victory that has hit hard at the liberal core of Silicon Valley and left some of America’s most wealthy corporations asking about their role in the outcome.MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 3D printing will transform these five industries Benioff said the election has underlined that need for companies to be more vocal. Benioff himself has been leading corporate America all year in a push against several issues.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Intel launches 500 drones for nighttime light show
Could hundreds or thousands of drones in the sky ever replicate the thrill we get from watching a fireworks display?Intel is hoping to reproduce a little of that magic with its Shooting Star drones. They're equipped with lights to provide a show in the night sky, and Intel is offering a whole fleet of them as a service to theme parks, entertainment companies, and cities.Last year, the company managed to get 100 of them flying in formation to produce patterns and, of course, the Intel logo. Now it's managed to synchronize 500 of the devices to display more ambitious and complex patterns (and yes, a better Intel logo).+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD Infographic: Commercial drones by the numbers +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Lost thumb drives bedevil US banking agency
A U.S. banking regulator says an employee downloaded a large amount of data from its computer system a week before he retired and is now unable to locate the thumb drives he stored it on.The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is a part of the Department of the Treasury, said the loss represented "a major information security incident" as it reported the case to Congress on Friday.The data was taken in November 2015, but its loss was only discovered in September this year as the agency reviewed downloads to removable media devices in the last two years.The employee in question used two thumb drives to store the information, both of which he is unable to locate, the agency said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here