Intel CEO Brian Krzanich's meeting with new U.S. president Donald Trump was followed by a big announcement: The company will invest US$7 billion over the next three to four years to complete a factory to make 7-nanometer chips.The completion of Fab 42 -- where the chips will be made -- will create about 3,000 jobs in the Chandler, Arizona, area, Intel said. The chipmaker expects to help create 10,000 jobs tied to supporting the activities of Fab 42.Trump has been pushing for more jobs in the U.S. and for bringing manufacturing back to the country. Making the announcement after meeting with Trump amplifies Intel's efforts to promote itself as a jobs creator.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
From mobile hardware breakthroughs to the explosion of cloud services and leaps in mobile and wireless network speeds, many factors have contributed to the rise of smartphones and mobile devices as prominent tools in the office and workplace.More and more companies are now adopting Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies and issue tablets and smartphones to their employees to access company email and digital resources. According to analytics firm IDC, 90 percent of companies support BYOD policies. Further, Flurry Analytics, the firm that monitors mobile app usage and statistics, says business app usage had a 30 percent year-over-year growth in 2016. And every year, more enterprise applications offer mobile app versions or become mobile friendly.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
JBL Charge 3 is the ultimate, high-powered portable Bluetooth speaker with powerful stereo sound and a power bank all in one package. The Charge 3 takes the party everywhere, poolside or in the rain, thanks to the waterproof design, durable fabric and rugged housing. Its high-capacity 6,000mAh battery provides 20 hours of playtime and can charge your smartphones and tablets via its USB output. A built-in noise and echo-cancelling speakerphone gives you crystal clear calls with the press of a button. Wirelessly link multiple JBL Connect-enabled speakers to amplify the listening experience. The Charge 3 currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 1,140 people (read reviews), and its typical list price of $180 has been reduced to $123. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With the elevation of Ajit Pai to chairman of the FCC, everyone is waiting for Pai to tip his hand on net neutrality. Looking at his first few actions, though, we can get a sense of what’s to come.Since becoming chairman, Pai has used his authority to rescind much of the work implemented by his predecessor, Tom Wheeler, in the past 30 days. Pai’s orders are similar to President Trump’s executive orders. They are exercises of his discretion as chairman that do not need sign-off by the other commissioners.+ Also on Network World: The end of net neutrality is nigh—here’s what’s likely to happen +
Steve Augustino, a partner at law firm Kelley Drye who specializes in telecommunications, expects to see a lot of disruption until we get a better understanding of what Pai considers importantTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A tornado struck NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Tuesday.
About 3,500 employees were at the facility when a large tornado hit at 11:25 a.m. Fortunately, only five people suffered minor injuries. After the tornado, local law enforcement helped employees reach their homes, as NASA reported about 200 parked cars had been damaged.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In light of its increasingly prominent and strategic role, IT continues to remain in control of technology budgets. One-third of the CIOs responding to CIO.com's 2017 State of the CIO survey said IT controls 71 percent or more of their organizations' technology budgets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Eight years ago, the CyanogenMod project exploded onto the mobile device software scene. The Android-based open source mobile operating system quickly caught the attention of developers, Android fans and investors, and attracted interest from tech giants including Microsoft and Google. But at the end of last year the project imploded spectacularly. Today the CyanogenMod project is no more, but the arc of its story offers fascinating insight into the world of open source software development.The project started out innocently enough following the discovery, in 2008, of a way to root mobile phones running Google's Android operating system, allowing modified firmware to be installed on rooted devices. One such piece of firmware was created by a developer called Steve Kondik, whose online handle was Cyanogen — a colorless toxic gas made by oxidizing hydrogen cyanide. The modified firmware was known as CyanogenMod.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Allstate has spun out an analytics business that harnesses driver risk scores, roadside rescue services and other telematics data, which it is packaging into software to sell to rival insurers, automakers, as well as ride-sharing companies. So it is fitting that the startup, called Arity, is also aping the API-based platform strategies of the very startups that have blown up the transportation industry.The symmetry isn't lost on Chetan Phadnis, vice president of Arity Platform, who says a platform is the best way Arity can make its APIs and software development kits (SDKs) available to customers in the software-is-eating-the-world era. Arity’s products could help insurers, for example, better price policies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Portions of this post were originally posted on the Puppet blog, and are republished here with Puppet's permission.Enterprise companies turn to the cloud for lots of reasons: to quickly and economically provide development and testing environments; to burst at times of peak customer demand; and to generally be able to make changes faster and more flexibly.Whatever you think you may need from the cloud — and whatever concerns and reservations you may have — others have been there.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Accenture wants to help businesses use blockchain technologies more securely by locking away the encryption keys they use to sign transactions.It's built a system that blockchain developers can use to store credentials in specialized cryptoprocessors called hardware security modules (HSMs).HSMs are typically used by banks to store the PINs associated with payment cards or the credentials used to make interbank payments over the SWIFT network, and are much more secure than storing the credentials, even in encrypted form, on network-connected servers from where attackers could steal them.The PINs or credentials never leave the HSMs, and their use within them is strictly controlled.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Evernote decided last year that it wanted to move away from running its own data centers and start using the public cloud to operate its popular note-taking service. On Wednesday, it announced that the lion's share of the work is done, save for some last user attachments.The company signed up to work with Google, and as part of the migration process, the tech titan sent a team of engineers (in one case, bearing doughnuts) over to work with its customer on making sure the process was a success.Evernote wanted to take advantage of the cloud to help with features based on machine learning that it has been developing. It also wanted to leverage the flexibility that comes from not having to run a data center.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With a regular list price of $149.99, the current discount makes the Jaybird X2 Sport is now available with a 13% discount for this deal. Features include:
Premium Bluetooth Audio For Skip-Free Music Outdoors
8 Hours of Music + Calls With Complete Remote Controls
Secure Over/Under-Ear Fit Options
Lifetime Sweat proof Warranty
Includes Comply Premium Sport Memory Foam Ear Tips, Patented Secure-Fit Ear Fins, Friction-Fit Silicone Sport Carrying Case, Silicone Ear Tips, Charging Cable & Cord Management Clips.
Jump to Amazon now for additional details, and to explore buying options.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The transformation of businesses to digital enterprises was supposed to create an enormous market opportunity for the storage industry.As companies such as Netflix and Rosetta Stone transformed from DVDs and CDs to online data delivery models, their data footprint increased exponentially every year. In fact, digital transformation is increasing the data we store by over 2.5 exabytes every day. That’s equivalent to 530 million songs or 250,000 libraries of congress or 90 years of HD video! Each and every day. 100% growth every year.+ Also on Network World: How the 'digitization of everything' will become a reality +
Conventional wisdom held that all this data needed to be stored somewhere, and the market outlook for the storage industry never looked better. Instead, there has been a rapid commoditization, consolidation and implosion of the storage market over the past three years, culminating in Dell’s acquisition of the market leader, EMC, in September of last year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google is wooing enterprise customers with the forthcoming launch of a service that will let employees find information they need from multiple sources.Cloud Search is a new service that will allow users to find content from their company email, cloud storage and directory. Directory lookup provides users not only with their colleagues’ contact details, but also information about shared files and calendar events. More than that, Cloud Search is also built to proactively help users access information they need.When users log into Cloud Search either on the web or on their Android device, they’ll be greeted by “assist cards” that are supposed to highlight key files. At launch, those cards are built to show users files that are relevant for their upcoming calendar events, as well as those that require attention based on recent edits.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The internet of things will have nearly one-third more devices by the end of this year, though many of them won’t exactly be exotic.There will be 8.4 billion IoT devices in use at the end of 2017, up 31 percent from the end of 2016, Gartner estimated on Tuesday. That's slightly faster than the growth rate last year. The number will keep growing at about the same pace until 2020, when there will be just over 20 billion devices, the research company says.Nearly two-thirds of the connected objects in use this year will be consumer products, especially smart TVs, set-top boxes, and in-car devices such as entertainment systems and sensors that help insurance companies monitor driving. Home IoT gadgets like connected door locks and lightbulbs are still popular mostly among tech-focused early adopters, analysts say.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With a thin body and light weight design, the USB-powered Havit HV-F2056 cooling pad allows you to take it wherever you go and cool your laptop anytime you want. Three ultra-quiet fans create a noise-free environment, and a high-quality multi-directional metal mesh provides your laptop with a wear-resistant and stable laptop carrying surface. A built-in dual-USB hub allows for connecting more USB devices. The cooling pad from HAVIT averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 3,500 people on Amazon (read reviews). Its typical list price of $29.49 has been reduced 27% to $21.49. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Meet DragonBoard 820c, a supercharged board computer that will make Raspberry Pi 3 look like a turtle.The computer can be used as an Android OS computer and is based on components in premium smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy S7.The board is now listed on the website of Arrow Electronics but isn't commercially available so far. The price isn't yet available. The board has Qualcomm's 820 chip, which is used some premium smartphones today. Qualcomm recently announced the Snapdragon 835, which succeeds the 820 and 821 chips, and next round of premium smartphones with the new chip will be announced in the coming months.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
BlackBerry on Tuesday announced a new line of business to provide developers with a secure, cloud-based, mobile communications platform for texting, voice, video and file sharing.Developers can insert these capabilities into their existing custom apps and services using the new BBM Enterprise SDK (software developer kit), BlackBerry said. The SDK will be sold as a per-user license on a subscription basis to developers, including those employed at enterprises, and to independent software vendors (ISVs).BlackBerry didn’t say what the licenses would cost, but did say the cost would be affordable, especially compared to communications products from competitors that usually charge on a usage basis for texts, voice and video calls. The SDK will be available worlwide later in February for apps running on iOS and Android.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For H-1B workers, one of the most hated and frustrating parts of working in the U.S. is this: Their spouses were idled, unable to work under law. That changed in 2014, when President Obama signed a regulation that allowed some spouses to get a job. But the future of this rule may be in doubt under the new administration.President Donald Trump's administration, which is broadly repealing Obama-era regulations, is reviewing the H-1B spouse rule as well, according to a new court filing.The Obama rule change affected H-1B holders who were seeking green cards or permanent residency. It allowed their spouses to get work authorization. There may have been as many as 180,000 spouses eligible, according to a lawsuit that's challenging this rule.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here