Satya Nadella isn't stopping the job cuts train at Microsoft any time soon. The company revealed Thursday that 2,850 people will lose their jobs by the middle of 2017, on top of the 1,850 cuts announced earlier this year.According to a regulatory filing, those impacted will primarily be in its phone hardware business, which has already been hit hard by layoffs, and in global sales.The cuts are more fallout from Microsoft's decision to downsize its smartphone business, which it acquired from Nokia in 2015. Putting that acquisition in motion was one of the last things that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did before announcing that he would be leaving the company's top job. His successor hasn't taken the same shine to the phone hardware business that Microsoft bought.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It wasn't what Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday night on the stage of the Democratic National Convention that was important to Silicon Valley. His speech was mostly generalities and attacks on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. It was Bloomberg's presence that was the message.Bloomberg is a strong and well-known champion for reducing barriers to highly skilled immigrants and for raising visa caps. He co-chairs the high-skilled immigration advocacy group, Partnership for a New American Economy with Disney CEO Bob Igner and other prominent business leaders. Disney laid off about 250 IT employees last year after hiring H-1B-using IT contractors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Best Deals of the Week - Deal AlertCheck out this roundup of the best deals on gadgets, gear and other cool stuff we have found this week. All items are highly rated, and dramatically discounted.53% off Universal Phone Mount for Bicycle and MotorcycleCurrently receiving 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon (read reviews), the 'Freedom' Handlebar Phone Holder from Tackform offers comprehensive protection for mounting your smartphone while riding your bike or motorcycle. The patented phone cradle provides full support for holding your phone, while providing full access to your screen and buttons while riding. Amazon is currently showing a discount of 53% off the original list price of $39.99, allowing you to purchase the holder for just $18.99.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
An increase in games revenue helped Sony counter to an extent shrinking business in smartphones and the impact of earthquakes in Japan's Kumamoto region on production of the camera sensors that the company supplies to Apple and other smartphone vendors.Sony reported Friday that its revenue was down 10.8 percent to 1.61 trillion yen (US$15.73 billion) in its first quarter ended June 30, while its profit decreased by 74.3 percent year-on-year to 21.2 billion yen.The revenue of its game and network services unit grew 14.5 percent year-on-year in the quarter to 330.4 billion yen mainly because of a significant increase in PlayStation 4 software sales including sales through the network. Sales of PS4 games consoles rose to 3.5 million units from 3 million in the same quarter in the previous year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Donald Trump’s muddled stance on hacking has disturbed security experts at time when the tech industry is looking for clarity on the U.S.'s cyber policy.On Wednesday, the outspoken presidential candidate seemed to call on Russia to break into rival Hillary Clinton’s email system.“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said, referring to emails Clinton had deleted from a private email server. On Thursday, he walked back his comment and said he was being sarcastic.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
When Black Hat convenes next week in Las Vegas, it will be a rich environment for gathering tools that can be used to tighten security but also - in the wrong hands - to carry out exploits.Researchers presenting generally point out the value these releases hold for researchers like themselves who operate in experimental environments as well as for enterprise security pros who want to build better defenses against such attack tools.Presenters will detail a broad range of exploits they’ve carried out against devices, protocols and technologies from HTTP to internet of things gear to the techniques penetration testers use to test the networks of their clients.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Oracle is back at it again today, announcing one of the largest acquisitions in company history with the purchase of enterprise resource planning (ERP) company NetSuite for $9.3 billion.+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Details of Oracle’s NetSuite takeover | Can Oracle buy its way into the cloud? +Larry Ellison and crew are no strangers to acquisitions. The company has made many over the past few decades. For Ellison though, cloud acquisitions are particularly noteworthy, given that not too long ago he derided the market as a fad.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Amazon reported another surge in revenue for its cloud business last quarter, though the growth is slowing as the division gets bigger.Amazon Web Services revenue for the second quarter was $2.87 billion, up 58 percent from the same period in 2015, Amazon announced Thursday. Operating profit was $863 million, up from $391 million a year earlier.It's another positive sign for AWS, which is still the leader in public cloud services, even as IBM, Microsoft and Google step up their efforts to complete.The growth at AWS is slowing, however, which is typical for a company as its business gets bigger. The gain was 64 percent in the first quarter, and 69 percent the quarter before that.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This handy meter gives fast and reliable readings of your oxygen level, pulse rate, and perfusion index, wirelessly on your smartphone or tablet. Using the iHealth app, easily record and save your data to the secure, HIPPA compliant iHealth cloud for meaningful results you can track over time for yourself or a caregiver. This iHealth monitor typically lists for $69.95, but is currently discounted 22% to $54.33. See the discounted item now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
National Moth Week, Black Hat exploit presentations, edible insects, Pornhub's bug bounty, Flash vulnerabilities and Zica prevention at the Rio Olympics all came up on this week's Bugs & Bugs Facebook Live event, the program on which we discuss the latest in computer bugs and real insects (view saved version of video below).As my colleague Tim Greene, our resident IT security editor discusses, next week's Black Hat event in Las Vegas will be filled with intriguing presentations by white hat hackers sharing their latest exploits, including one involving Bluetooth Low Energy that could impact internet of things devices. Tim also hits on researchers taking Pornhub up on its $20K bug bounty challenge, which turns out to benefit PHP developers everywhere, and dives into the latest on Flash exploits, which Cisco warns can lead to ransomeware attacks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With their purchases of DirecTV, AOL and Yahoo, the nation's two biggest wireless carriers -- AT&T and Verizon -- have pivoted beyond their traditional business in the search for alternative revenues.Those purchases -- the latest being Verizon's announcement Monday to snap up Yahoo for $4.8 billion -- came about because the carriers realized more than two years ago that traditional wireless services are becoming saturated in the U.S. As a result, wireless services revenues have shrunk or remained flat in recent quarters.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Intel's RealSense 3D camera technology was the star of last year's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. Along with robots and drones that used RealSense to "see" the world around them, CEO Brian Krzanich showed the first prototype smartphone to incorporate the technology.The phone went on sale in January for US$399, along with a software kit that allowed developers to built augmented reality applications using RealSense and Google's Project Tango platform. It put Intel on the front edge of mobile AR, a technology that's now having its breakout moment thanks to Pokémon Go.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google is using third parties to make its productivity apps more useful on Android. The company announced Thursday that it's now possible to bring functionality from apps like Scanbot, DocuSign, and ProsperWorks into Docs and Sheets on its mobile operating system.The third-party add-ons will let users do things like access CRM data, start to electronically sign a document, and create mobile apps based on data they have stored in a spreadsheet. The new add-ons are aimed at making it easier for people to get work done within Google Docs and Sheets while they're on the go.Google is in tight competition with Microsoft to attract users to its productivity suite, and both companies are working to bring the power of third-party applications into the apps people already use to get things done.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
I was at CiscoLive a few weeks ago in the 100 degree+ heat of Las Vegas and like other cybersecurity professionals I am off to Sin City again next week for Black Hat.Now Black Hat has become a technically-focused little brother of the RSA Security Conference, chock full of cybersecurity geeks at the beginning of the week and forensic investigators, researchers, analysts, and hackers as Black Hat turns to Defcon. Given this focus, I’m looking forward to hearing about a number of things including:1. Anti-ransomware fact and hyperbole. Last December, I predicted a rise in ransomware in my blog, even going so far to talk about enterprise ransomware that impacted multiple systems on the network simultaneously. Unfortunately, I was right about this one as ransomware has become a cybersecurity scourge of 2016. Nasty stuff and once you’re hit, there is little you can do except replace the hard drive, reimage systems and hope you’ve done a recent full backup. Alternatively, you can pony up a bunch of rubles to Vladimir in Odessa. Nevertheless, there are in fact ways to prevent ransomware before it bricks your system. New types of Continue reading
Security researchers have shut down a large-scale malvertising operation that used sophisticated techniques to remain undetected for months and served exploits to millions of computers.The operation, dubbed AdGholas, has been running since at least October 2015. According to security vendor Proofpoint, the gang behind it managed to distribute malicious advertisements through more than 100 ad exchanges, attracting between 1 million and 5 million page hits per day.The Proofpoint researchers estimate that 10 to 20 percent of computers that loaded the rogue ads were redirected to servers hosting exploit kits -- web-based attack tools that attempt to silently exploit vulnerabilities in popular applications in order to install malware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If you ever needed a sign that a new era has dawned at Microsoft, this is it: The company announced it is bringing ChakraCore to Linux and OS X. ChakraCore is the main element of the Chakra JavaScript engine used in both the Microsoft Edge browser and the company's Universal Windows Platform.
So, the company whose not-invented-here mentality was so iron-clad in the 1990s is now developing a JavaScript browser and app engine for its two competitor desktop operating systems.
+ Also on Network World: Microsoft cozies up to Linux containers +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
I can’t believe this exists. I certainly can’t believe it works well. But, heck, I’d pay good money to find out that I’m wrong. And San Franciscans now have the opportunity.From a report on SFGate:
Shut down the tech industry because San Francisco now has the only new piece of innovation it ever needs: a vending machine that dispenses hot baguettes.The Le Bread Xpress vending machine is up and running on Market and 15th at the new Myriad market hall. The baguettes are part-baked at a bakery and finished in the vending machine after you place your order.
Bet the name came to them in less time than it takes to bake bread.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Future versions of Android will be more resilient to exploits thanks to developers' efforts to integrate the latest Linux kernel defenses into the operating system.
Android's security model relies heavily on the Linux kernel that sits at its core. As such, Android developers have always been interested in adding new security features that are intended to prevent potentially malicious code from reaching the kernel, which is the most privileged area of the operating system.
One older example is Security Enhancements for Android (SEAndroid), a set of kernel add-ons and tools that make exploitation of certain vulnerabilities harder by enforcing access controls.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
One of the biggest issues with collaborative work is sitting around twiddling your thumbs while waiting for someone else to get their work done. Asana announced a new feature on Thursday that's aimed at cutting down on emails asking when a particular task will be finished. Users of the collaboration and tracking software will be able to mark that a task they're assigned to is waiting for someone else to complete their work, using the new Dependencies feature. That way, for example, a designer can say her final layout of a web page is waiting on a marketer to put the finishing touches on the copy and on images that are supposed to be included. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Oracle's US$9.3 billion purchase of NetSuite may be the most anticipated acquisition in the history of enterprise software."It’s like the high school sweethearts you always knew would get married but they had to get through four years of college first," said analyst Frank Scavo, president of Strativa.There's no denying the two companies share a long history. Not only was Oracle chairman and chief technology officer Larry Ellison an early backer of NetSuite, but both NetSuite founder Evan Goldberg and CEO Zach Nelson spent time at Oracle.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here