Mikael Ricknäs, Author at NetworkingNexus.net

Mikael Ricknäs

Author Archives: Mikael Ricknäs

Microsoft isn’t giving up on basic phones, upgrades the Nokia 105

Microsoft has launched an upgraded version of the Nokia 105 phone, but a growing interest in smartphones will make it difficult for the company to repeat the success of the original version.The US$20 Nokia 105 is aimed at first-time mobile phone buyers and people looking for a long-lasting backup device for their smartphone, according to Microsoft, which decided to keep the Nokia brand for its most basic phones.The new model has a bigger phonebook, better voice quality and longer talk time. Users can choose between models that have one or two SIM slots. It still has a 1.45-inch screen and an FM radio.The original model was introduced in 2013, and has sold more than 80 million units to date. Repeating that will be hard for Microsoft, since consumers all over the world are increasingly choosing smartphones. Microsoft’s overall phone sales dropped by about 30 percent during the first quarter year-on-year, even though Windows smartphone sales increased slightly, according to Gartner. At the same time smartphones represented 73 percent of total phone sales, up from about 63 percent.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BQ announces second Ubuntu phone and plans to build PC-smartphone combo

Against the odds, Canonical and Spanish company BQ are continuing to push Ubuntu for smartphones over Android and iOS. BQ’s second Ubuntu phone is a step up from its inaugural effort, and the two companies are also working on a smartphone that’s also a PC.Earlier this year, BQ started selling the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition and will later this month start shipping the Aquaris E5 HD in Europe from its online store for €200 (US$220).The struggles of Samsung’s Tizen, Mozilla’s Firefox OS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone have shown how difficult it’s to compete with the dominant smartphone platforms of Apple and Google, but that doesn’t seem to scare Canonical and BQ.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Nokia wants to build data centers for mobile operators

Nokia wants to help mobile network operators launch new services and cut their costs with a new range of servers, switches and storage they can use to virtualize their networks.Enterprises have already adopted virtualization and cloud-based IT infrastructures, and now telecommunications operators are looking at doing the same thing. Meanwhile equipment vendors like Nokia are increasingly offering operators the hardware and software to provide telephony, messaging and mobile broadband as virtualized services.Telecommunications operators instigated the move away from dedicated, proprietary equipment to virtualized hardware. A group including AT&T, Verizon, China Mobile, Orange and Deutsche Telekom proposed a concept called NFV (Network Functions Virtualization), which is now being standardized by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Windows 10 to ship on July 29 for PCs and tablets

Microsoft will start shipping Windows 10 on July 29 for PCs and tablets. The upgrade includes the Cortana digital assistant, a whole host of new apps and the return of the start menu.After the failure of Windows 8, Microsoft has a lot to prove with the latest version of its operating system. The launch date puts pressure on Microsoft’s developers to finalize the feature-set and the look of the operating system. On Friday, the company released the latest version, dubbed Build 10130, which has new icons, Cortana improvements and some changes to the Start menu.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Seven things Google is doing to please developers

At its I/O keynote, Google did its best to get developers excited about building apps for Android with new tools and money-making schemes. But Google is also expanding support for developers who’d rather create iOS apps.Google hasn’t always been the best partner a developer could have, but this year’s I/O conference is showing how that’s changing with better developer tools and services. Here are some of the most important ones announced by the company during the opening keynote.Android Studio gets C/C++ supportGoogle launched a preview of Android Studio version 1.3, which includes some useful features. The most notable addition to the IDE is code editing and debugging for C and C++. This means Java and C/C++ code support is integrated into one environment free of charge for Android app developers, letting them choose between the two languages. The implementation is based on the JetBrains Clion platform, and the Google NDK (native development kit) plugin provides features such as error correction and code completion. Version 1.3 also offers faster build speeds and a new memory profile.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Avago buying Broadcom for $37 billion to create networking chip giant

Avago Technologies has agreed to buy Broadcom in a deal that will create a networking chip giant with a wide variety of products, including components for the burgeoning IoT sector.It has offered US$37 billion for Broadcom, including $17 billion in cash and equity valued at approximately $20 billion, it said on Thursday. The combined company will offer products for wired and wireless networks.MORE M&A: 2015 enterprise network/IT acquisition trackerBoth companies’ chips are found in wireline and wireless networks. Avago also makes chips for optical networks, while Broadcom’s are used in connected home and car equipment and the Internet of Things. It recently announced support for Apple’s HomeKit platform, and chipsets for 802.11ac networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Server sales bolstered by cloud expansions

Server vendors recorded the strongest shipment growth in over four years for the first quarter, mainly driven by continued investments in the hyperscale server infrastructures that power public and private clouds.It was a great start to the year, with the largest shipment growth since the third quarter of 2010, when the market was recovering from the economic downturn. First-quarter server shipments grew by 13 percent year on year to 2.7 million units, while revenue grew by almost 18 percent to US$13.4 billion, Gartner said on Thursday.This growth was driven by particularly strong demand from the so-called hyperscale area in the U.S. Hyperscale is a term used to describe distributed systems that use thousands of servers to power cloud and big data infrastructures, according to Gartner. Growth came from all form factors, including rack-optimized, blade, density-optimized, and tower servers, according to IDC, which reported similar server numbers on Thursday. Consolidation and virtualization in the enterprise boosted server vendors’ revenue, IDC said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Over 4 billion people still have no Internet connection

The number of people using the Internet is growing at a steady rate, but 4.2 billion out of 7.4 billion will still be offline by the end of the year.Overall, 35.3 percent of people in developing countries will use the Internet, compared to 82.2 percent in developed countries, according to data from the ITU (International Telecommunication Union). People who live in the so-called least developed countries will the worst off by far: In those nations only 9.5 percent will be connected by the end of December.This digital divide has resulted in projects such as the Facebook-led Internet.org. Earlier this month, Facebook sought to address some of the criticism directed at the project, including charges that it is a so-called walled garden, putting a limit on the types of services that are available.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Over 4 billion people still have no Internet connection

Infinit improves its iPad user interface, partners with HTC to speed up file sharing

French start-up Infinit has customized its iOS client for Apple’s iPads and partnered with HTC to put its free software for speeding up file sharing on the company’s smartphones.Infinit has developed a peer-to-peer technology that the company says lets users share files faster than when using services such as Dropbox, Google Drive or Apple’s AirDrop,. The Tuesday’s announcements build on the launch of its applications for Android and iOS at the end of March.The iOS app has been upgraded to work better on Apple’s tablets. A lot of people share files between their MacBooks and iPads, so customizing the layout of the user interface for the bigger tablet screens made sense, according to chief operating officer and co-founder Baptiste Fradin.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Charter Communications confirms bid to buy Time Warner Cable for $78.7B

Charter Communications has confirmed it plans to acquire of Time Warner Cable, a deal that if approved would create the second-biggest cable operator in the U.S.Cable operators are under pressure from a new generation of companies such as Netflix that offer competing video services, and Charter is hoping scale will help it compete more effectively. It values the deal at $78.7 billion including assumed debt.MORE M&A: 2015 Enterprise networking & IT M&A trackerCharter also plans to acquire Bright House Networks, a smaller cable company. If successful, the deals would make Charter, currently the fourth-biggest cable company in the U.S., second only to Comcast. The combined entity would serve 23.9 million customers in 41 states.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Charter Communications confirms bid to buy Time Warner Cable for $78.7B

Sony’s Xperia Z4 renamned Z3+ outside Japan, goes on sale in June

Sony’s new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z4, will be called the Xperia Z3+ when it goes on sale outside Japan in June. The phone has a sleeker design, faster processor and better front camera than the Z3 it replaces.Like the Z4, the Xperia Z3+ was announced with little fanfare compared to events organized by competitors Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. The low-key launch on Tuesday doesn’t necessarily reflect badly on the product, but raises the question of how committed Sony is to its struggling smartphone unit.The Z3+ and Z4 are both available with 32GB of integrated storage. The only difference between them is that the Z4 is also available in a 64GB version. Both models have the option to add another 128GB using their microSD card slots.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Adblock browsers for Android and iOS to keep mobile ads, tracking at bay

By building browsers with integrated ad blocking, German company Eyeo hopes to attract more users. A beta version of the Android browser is now available for download from the Play store.There are several reasons people choose to block ads: They can cause pages to load slower, consume data plans, and shorten battery life, according to Eyeo. The company also contends users are safer since malware often hides behind ads.The Adblock Browser for Android is based on Firefox and Adblock Plus. The functionality is the same as when using the existing Adblock Plus add-on.The reason for developing browsers with ad blocking baked in is that the add-on hasn’t attracted many users. By integrating the functionality, it becomes easier for non-tech savvy users to benefit from it, according to Ben Williams, communications and operations manager at Eyeo.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Amazon adds groceries, meals to one-hour Prime Now delivery service

Amazon.com has expanded its Prime Now one-hour deliveries to include groceries, meals and baked goods from local stores in New York, in a move that will soon be extended to other cities.The deliveries will be available in some Mahattan neighborhoods starting Thursday, and then expand across the island in the coming weeks. The Prime Now website lists 11 zip codes where residents can use the service. Amazon will add local stores in other cities soon, it said.The first batch of stores are D’Agostino, Gourmet Garage and Billy’s Bakery, and Eataly and Westside Market will be the next, according to Amazon.Prime Now and the Android or iOS apps people use to shop were announced in December last year. The service is also available in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Dallas and Miami. It can be used from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. Two-hour delivery is free and one-hour delivery costs US$7.99. As the name implies, users first have to sign up for a regular Prime membership to use the service, which is priced at $99 a year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

E-paper display gives payment cards a changing security code

By embedding an e-paper display in the back of credit and debit cards, payment specialist Oberthur Technologies hopes to make online fraud a lot more difficult. An upcoming test in France will show if the underlying technology can cut it.Using payment cards with an embedded chip makes payments more secure in physical stores, but it’s still relatively easy for criminals to copy card details and use them online. Oberthur’s Motion Code technology replaces the printed 3-digit CVV (Card Verification Value) code, usually found on the back of the card, with a small screen, where the code changes periodically.Today, any criminal who has seen a card or overheard the owner dictating the CVV code can make an unauthorized purchases online or by phone. With Motion Code, because the CVV changes from time to time, the time a fraudster has to act is reduced.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

LTE smartphones are becoming faster and cheaper

High-end smartphones offer high-speed wireless connections—but few mobile operators have made the infrastructure investments required to keep up with them. The arrival of cheaper phones with 300Mbps LTE capabilities may encourage that investment.LTE chips with real-world download speeds over 100Mbps have become a standard feature on high-end smartphones, while smartphones costing under US$100 now include LTE chips, albeit slower ones.Better cameras, screens and design have gotten most of the attention on this year’s crop of high-end smartphones, but support for the latest versions of LTE, a rarity a year ago, has become a standard feature. Download speeds on the HTC One M9 and the LG G4 top out at 450Mbps on paper, while the Samsung Galaxy S6 is theoretically capable of 300Mbps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AWS upgrades highlight growing focus on cloud management

Amazon Web Services is hoping better management tools will convince enterprises to move more applications to the cloud, but getting their internal management processes right is even more important than anything the vendor can offer.On Monday, Amazon updated its OpsWorks management platform to work with Windows Server, and published a new API that lets IT staff start thousands of so-called spot instances with one request.Step by step, cloud providers like Amazon are adding new features to make the IT management capabilities they offer to their customers more efficient and all-encompassing. As enterprises move more and larger IT systems to the cloud, advanced management functionality is becoming increasingly important.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The LG G4: Three things right, three things wrong

This week the G4 smartphone from LG Electronics starts shipping outside its home country, with arrivals in the U.S. and Europe expected in a couple of weeks. While the smartphone has a great screen and camera, it doesn’t get everything right.What works:Screen: Even though the G4’s screen has the same size and resolution as the one on the G3 (at 5.5 inches and 1440 by 2560 pixels) it’s noticeably better. LG has improved its performance in several regards, including brightness and color reproduction, making it one of the best screens ever. All those pixels put higher demands on the processor, GPU and battery, but it’s nonetheless worth it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The LG G4: Three things right, three things wrong

This week the G4 smartphone from LG Electronics starts shipping outside its home country, with arrivals in the U.S. and Europe expected in a couple of weeks. While the smartphone has a great screen and camera, it doesn’t get everything right. What works: Screen: Even though the G4’s screen has the same size and resolution as the one on the G3 (at 5.5 inches and 1440 by 2560 pixels) it’s noticeably better. LG has improved its performance in several regards, including brightness and color reproduction, making it one of the best screens ever. All those pixels put higher demands on the processor, GPU and battery, but it’s nonetheless worth it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

« Previous 1 2 3 4 … 6 Next »