In spite of a recent effort to improve the performance and detection rates in Windows Defender, Microsoft's anti-malware tool is still not very good at its job. According to the latest tests, it's downright lousy. The latest round of tests performed by German institute AV-TEST, one of the most respected and regarded malware testing shops, show that Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool fared the poorest in removing an existing infection. AV-TEST conducted a lengthy, comprehensive test over a 12-month period to determine the best malware removal solutions for Windows 10. This involved 897 individual evaluations for each product, evaluating eight security suites. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The 5G hype from the World Mobile Congress started early as Verizon said it would roll out pilot 5G network services on the back of Cisco communications gear.Verizon said its 5G pilot will be one of the world’s largest and will feature “several hundred cell sites that cover several thousand customer locations.”+More on Network World: Cisco execs foretell key 2017 enterprise networking trends+Verizon said it will begin offering 5G to pilot customers during the first half of 2017 in the following metropolitan areas: Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Bernardsville (NJ), Brockton (MA), Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Sacramento, Seattle and Washington, D.C. This is another important step in commercializing gigabit broadband service to homes and offices via a wireless 5G connection. Ericsson, Intel, LG, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung are also part of the Verizon pilot.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If your travel plans over the next week or so include Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, then one thing I am sure you will know is that 5G will be a hot topic. The 5G requirements are now well-aired and the triumvirate of use cases (enhanced mobile broadband (emBB), ultra-low latency reliable communications (URLLC) and massive machine type communications (mMTC) are commonly understood.+ Also on Network World: 4 things we expect from Mobile World Congress 2017 +
But as we prepare, let’s take a breath and ask one simple question, where are we right now in terms of standardization for 5G?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
While next-generation 5G cellular will bring faster downloads for consumers, the new networking technology is poised to bring big benefits to business users enabling new uses for cellular networks.At this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Japan's NTT DoCoMo is demonstrating one such use: remote control of robots via a wireless virtual reality system.In one corner of the company's booth was a simulated factory floor with three robots. The area was surrounded by four depth-sensing 3D cameras that together provide enough video for an immersive, all-around virtual reality image.That 3D video, totaling roughly 700Mbps of data, was sent across a 5G radio link to a receiver where it was processed and fed to a VR headset. The radio link was running across a few meters on the crowded expo floor but it was hitting a top speed of around 15Gbps -- that's many times faster than is possible with the fastest of today's 4G networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Sony's Xperia XZ Premium shines, quite literally. The first thing you notice about the new phone is the mirror-finish that surrounds the device giving it a sparkly appearance that seems destined to require lots of polishing.
But the innovation in the phone is found below the surface. Its primary features are both firsts on a smartphone: a 4K HDR display and super slow-motion video.
The 4K screen is 5.5-inches across, which means it's small enough that the 4K resolution shouldn't make too much of a difference. On a large screen like a television, the extra resolution is immediately noticeable but on a small screen it's much more difficult for the human eye to discern the extra resolution.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Eliminating a “tangled Christmas tree lights” wiring scenario in data centers is imperative and can be achieved with infrared, reckons an academic network engineering team.Infrared lasers should be installed on the top of data center racks and be used to transmit information. It would be far superior and cheaper than fiber optic, and it would be better than attempted, but lacking, radio signaling.Radio doesn’t work, says Mohsen Kavehrad, the W. L. Weiss Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering at Penn State and one of the developers, in an article on the school’s website.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Windows Server 2016 was officially released in September, but we waited until all of the bits were at production level before taking a deep dive into Microsoft’s flagship server operating system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
New products of the weekImage by Transition NetworksOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.ONLYOFFICE app for ownCloudImage by ascensioTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
SAN FRANCISCO -- The sprawling show floor at this year’s RSA Conference featured hundreds of shiny, new companies, from Acalvio to ZingBox. It seemed like every vendor in the hall managed to incorporate into its marketing pitches at least one of the 2017 hot buzzwords – Advanced Threat Protection, machine learning, AI, threat intelligence, IoT.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
T-Mobile USA's Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray prescribed a dose of reality for the 5G mania overtaking Mobile World Congress this week, telling Ericsson’s kickoff press briefing Monday morning he’s still in the LTE business.“5G is not ready yet,” Ray said. “It’s maturing quickly, but it’s not real today, and I can’t go and deploy a 5G radio to serve my customers with and give them a handset.”For one thing, using millimeter-wave frequencies like 28GHz for mobile services is still a big technical challenge, Ray said. He dismissed so-called commercial 5G deployments in the U.S. involving fixed-wireless service to homes, including one involving Ericsson and Verizon, as fringe use cases for the technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Later this evening, the 89th Academy Awards ceremony will kick off live from Los Angeles. With Jimmy Kimmel assuming hosting duties once again, we'll undoubtedly be greeted with a number of hilariously crafted sketches as we learn which films and actors were Oscar worthy in 2016.If you're one of millions who have cut the cord, or even if you just so happen to be on-the-go during tonight's televised broadcast, there's no need to fret. Indeed, catching all of the festivities straight from your iOS device is certainly doable, though there are some restrictions which we'll get to in a second.The Oscars ceremony is set to air on ABC and will begin at 8:30 on the east coast and 5:30 on the west coast. That said, here's how you can ensure that you won't miss even a second of the festivities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple’s much anticipated 10th anniversary smartphones, possible the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 10, iPhone X or some combination of these, are expected to arrive in the fall of 2017. Creative minds are sharing videos of their design concepts, and who knows, maybe Apple will be inspired? Take a look...Now you see it
This iPhone 8 design with a transparent screen, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and piezoelectric speaker comes from designer Georgy Pashkov.
Apple of your Eye
Iskander Utebayev and Ran Avi's "Just iPhone 8" conceives the camera lens being sort of in the middle of the smartphone, in the Apple logo. Now that's a fresh twist.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Lenovo is working with Amazon to get the Alexa voice assistant into a range of Motorola smartphones, and in the process, looking to depose Google's voice assistant technology.The partners will first focus on developing an Alexa "Mod," a block that will attach to a Moto Z modular handset. The companies will then integrate Alexa directly into a variety of Moto handsets and devices, Lenovo said during a press conference in Barcelona on Sunday.The Moto Z is much like Google's Project Ara, where individual parts like speakers and projectors can be added to boost the functionality of the handset.The exact details of the Alexa Mod for Moto Z weren't provided, but an onstage image showed a speaker that could hook up to the handset. It looked like a flatter and curved version of Amazon's Echo or Echo Dot.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) over the weekend, Samsung finally gave us a clue as to when we might see an official launch introduction for the company's highly anticipated Galaxy S8. To be sure, you can bet that Samsung is eagerly counting down the days so that they can firmly put the fiasco that was the explosion-prone Galaxy Note 7 behind them once and for all.Cutting right to the chase, Samsung's Galaxy S8 will be unveiled at what will presumably be an extravagant launch event on March 29 in New York City. To help build excitement for the event, we were also graced with a short but sweet teaser video which takes us on an incredibly quick journey through the history of cellular phones.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Enterprises and cloud companies will start trying their hands at cellular this year, Nokia President and CEO Rajeev Suri predicts.“Enhanced reality” and events such as concerts may be where cloud giants first get into mobile services, Suri said at a Nokia event in Barcelona on the eve of Mobile World Congress.“The first webscale players will enter the wireless access domain with mainstream technologies,” Suri said. Webscale usually refers to operators of big clouds, like Google, Facebook, and Alibaba. Suri didn’t name any names.For enterprises, an emerging technique called network slicing will allow them to virtually run their own private services on mobile operator networks. Meanwhile, systems that bring LTE to unlicensed or shared frequencies, like LAA (Licensed Assisted Access), will also help open doors to private cellular networks. Nokia is already working with some energy utilities on these kinds of deployments, and at MWC it will join Qualcomm in demonstrating a private LTE network, Suri said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Samsung's Windows-based Galaxy Books, unveiled Sunday at Mobile World Congress, point to a critical weakness in the company's multiple-OS strategy.
The company uses Windows 10 in PCs, Android in smartphones, and Tizen across wearables and smart appliances. This has led to a lack of coherence among Samsung devices, in contrast to the near-seamless product integration that has fueled Apple's success as the world's most valued company.
The specific issues with the Galaxy Books are relatively small, but are nevertheless symptoms of the larger problem: walls among devices and an inconsistent user experience across the company's product line. The lack of a broad app ecosystem for Samsung devices has not helped.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google has begun populating its 2017 graveyard, with its Spaces app for group discussion and messaging grabbing an early plot.Google Space won't even last one year: It was introduced in May of 2016 and will be shut down on April 17, 2017, according to a Google support page. Google
Google
MORE: What Google killed in 2016To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Classic phone brands from yesteryear are coming alive in Barcelona.Nokia, Blackberry and Moto were among the unlikely headline makers ahead of the Mobile World Congress trade show, which starts on Monday. Moto is owned by Lenovo, and the unit is still called Motorola Mobility.The new smartphones mixed up retro ideas with new features. A new Nokia 3310 candy-bar phone is the modern version of its classic namesake, while the new Blackberry KEYOne handset has a hard keyboard, which made previous smartphones under the brand popular.The Blackberry and Nokia brands have tremendous cachet, and fans will root for these brands to win again, said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Over the past decade there have been several attempts to cram video projectors into smartphones. All ultimately failed, but a Silicon Valley startup reckons it has the recipe right and is hoping for a warm response from consumers when its phone debuts later this year.
The Akyumen Hawk is a 5.5-inch Android handset that packs a low-profile projector into the upper half of the phone. The 35-lumen projector has enough power to display an image over a distance of about a meter in a normally lit room and at up to 100 inches in a more dimly lit room.
Akyumen says the secret to its phone is a proprietary projector that stays cool even after hours of use. And indeed, during a demonstration in Barcelona on Sunday, the phone was only slightly warm despite the projector being used for at least 20 minutes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Soon, your Samsung phone may be able to recognize your iris and log you into your Windows PC.
Iris-scanning via phone is not yet a feature available for Samsung's latest Galaxy Book 2-in-1s, which were announced at Mobile World Congress. But the company wants to quickly bridge the gap between its Galaxy smartphones, which run on Android, and its Windows PCs and 2-in-1s.
Software called Samsung Flow links the company's Android smartphones to Windows PCs. Samsung and Microsoft are looking to collaborate on logins via Windows Hello -- designed to use biometric authentication to log into PCs -- and one big Flow feature is the ability to use Galaxy smartphones to wirelessly log into the new Galaxy Book.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here