The iPad Pro is a productivity powerhouse—or at least, that’s what Apple wants it to be. The 12.9-inch Pro was released last November, and the 9.7-inch model debuted in March, so we weren’t expecting to see any new hardware at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. But we were hoping Apple would add some iPad-only features in iOS 10 that would fix a few problems and make the Pros even more awesome, or at least show off some new partner apps that take advantage of all that screen real estate.Alas, the iPad was a footnote in iOS 10’s parade of features. The device gets most of the good stuff, like the revamped Messages app, a new lock screen with rich notifications, and smarter Photos, but the iPad-only tweaks are just that: minor changes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Researchers are adding bugs to experimental software code in order to ultimately wind up with programs that have fewer vulnerabilities.The idea is to insert a known quantity of vulnerabilities into code, then see how many of them are discovered by bug-finding tools.By analyzing the reasons bugs escape detection, developers can create more effective bug-finders, according to researchers at New York University in collaboration with others from MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory and Northeastern University.They created large-scale automated vulnerability addition (LAVA), which is a low-cost technique that adds the vulnerabilities. “The only way to evaluate a bug finder is to control the number of bugs in a program, which is exactly what we do with LAVA,” says Brendan Dolan-Gavitt, a computer science and engineering professor at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
An investigation into the use of a personal email system for official communications by Hillary Clinton, while she was U.S. secretary of state, has been closed with no charges filed, U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said Wednesday.The move comes after FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday said he did not recommend bringing charges against her although he described as “extremely careless” the use by her and her aides of unsecured email networks for distribution of very sensitive, highly classified information.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple's iPhone 7 unveiling is just about two months away, and it still remains to be seen if the device will offer any exciting new features. While some sources from within the rumor mill have hinted that this year's iPhone refresh cycle will be short on new bells and whistles, the optimists among us hope Apple still has a trick or two up its sleeve come September.In the meantime, iPhone users in the market for an upgrade can smile at the fact that Apple with the iPhone 7 will finally be getting rid of its entry-level 16GB iPhone model. While 16GB may have been more than sufficient back in the early days of the smartphone era, it's decidedly lacking in today's age with 4K video, high-resolution photos and an endless number of apps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Microsoft is working on a new offering called Dynamics 365 that will combine its current ERP and CRM cloud services into a single bundle and include applications purpose-built for specific business functions.Due to be available this fall, Dynamics 365 will feature apps for functions including financials, field service, sales, operations, marketing, project service automation and customer service. The apps can be independently deployed, allowing users to buy only what they need.Microsoft's Power BI and Cortana Intelligence tools will be natively embedded for predictive capabilities. With Cortana Intelligence, for instance, sales reps will be able to predict which products and services a customer will need next, thereby helping to focus their cross-selling efforts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google released a new batch of Android patches on Wednesday, fixing over 100 flaws in Android's own components and in chipset-specific drivers from different manufacturers.Android's mediaserver component, which handles the processing of video and audio streams and has been a source of many vulnerabilities in the past, is at the forefront of this security update. It accounts for 16 Android vulnerabilities, including 7 critical flaws that can allow an attacker to execute code with higher privileges. The bugs can be exploited by sending specifically crafted audio or video files to users' devices via the browser, email or messaging apps. Because of the repeated mediaserver flaws, Google Hangouts and the default Android Messenger applications no longer pass media to this component automatically.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
BlackBerry isn’t giving up on phones with physical keyboards, but the company does appear to be backing off the concept.
The company recently announced that it will no longer make the BlackBerry Classic. The handset was first launched in late 2014 as a replacement for the BlackBerry Bold.
This may be the end of the Classic handset but it isn't the end of physical keyboards for BlackBerry. The company still produces the Passport, which features a smaller physical keyboard to create more space for the phone’s touchscreen. There's also the Android-based BlackBerry Priv, which has a slide-out keyboard.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A new study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by password management provider Keeper Security analyzed the state of cybersecurity in small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and found that confidence in SMB security is shockingly low (just 14% of the companies surveyed rated their ability to mitigate cyber attacks as highly effective).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
In what could be foreshadowing a momentous shift in the IaaS public cloud computing market, investment bank Morgan Stanley’s survey of CIOs found they’re more likely to use Microsoft Azure compared to Amazon Web Services in the coming years.The results of the survey are noteworthy because since the dawn of the IaaS cloud computing market Amazon Web Services has been seen as the top vendor. Morgan Stanley’s 2016 State of the CIO report shows that could be changing though. Morgan Stanley
More CIOs are using Amazon Web Services over Microsoft for IaaS cloud now, but in three years more expect to use Azure over AWS. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Android was once a big part of Intel's plans in mobile devices, but the company is now paying much less attention to the OS.Intel is moving away from developing Android for x86 processors used in smartphones, since it is exiting the handset market. The company's commitment to Android development for tablets, however, is also under question.The company still has a strong partnership with Google, with an Intel spokeswoman saying in email, "We continue to work with Google on supporting their OS for different product lines including Chromebooks, tablets and IOT products."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Millions of Americans willingly share passwords with family or friends to access devices or accounts, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said using a willingly shared password is covered under the anti-hacking Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).After previously being found guilty of violating the CFAA, David Nosal appealed because he doesn't believe he actually hacked his former employer, Korn/Ferry. Instead, he gained access through passwords that other employees voluntarily shared with him after he left the company and his credentials were revoked.But in a 2-1 decision, the federal appeals court may have set a dangerous precedent that could ultimately affect millions of Americans who use a willingly shared password. Password sharing was not allowed by Korn/Ferry, so Circuit Judge Margaret McKeowin wrote (pdf) that Nosal had acted “without authorization” and, therefore, falls under the CFAA.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The best tech jobs in 2016Image by ThinkstockComputers, smartphones, tablets, e-readers -- technology touches every aspect of our daily lives. It facilitates business, communication, travel, entertainment and healthcare, just to name a few, and the industry boasts high salaries and low unemployment rates. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that technology jobs will grow at a rate of 12 percent this decade, almost twice the growth rate of jobs growth overall.
Here, based on the number of projected jobs from 2014 to 2024, the median salary and the unemployment rate are the nine best technology jobs as ranked by US News & World Report.
1. Computer systems analystImage by ThinkstockTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
What's the biggest threat to IT organizations today? According to global human resources and staffing solutions firm Randstad Technologies' 2016 Workplace Trends Report, it's the scarcity of skilled talent and an increasingly competitive landscape in which to attract and hire that talent.Of the 2,004 hiring managers and hiring decision makers surveyed between November and December 2015, 55 percent say finding the skilled talent they need is the biggest threat to meeting their revenue or business performance targets in 2016."These results validated for us what we already suspected -- there's absolutely a skills shortage, the war for talent is real, and it's having a corresponding effect on ROI and productivity and on companies' bottom line," says Bob Dickey, group president, technology and engineering, Randstad U.S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The first quarter of 2016 may have shown some softness in hyperscale cloud service provider (CSP) demand for IT infrastructure products for deployment in cloud environments — server, enterprise storage and Ethernet switches — but it's coming back with a vengeance in the second half, according to the latest forecast from IDC).The IDC Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, released yesterday, forecasts that total spending on IT infrastructure products for deployment in cloud environments will hit $37.1 billion in 2016, an increase of 15.5 percent. IDC forecasts that spending on public cloud IT infrastructure, in particular, will increase by 18.8 percent in 2016 to $23.3 billion.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
“Why did they come in such a big box,” asks my 14-year-old daughter, Emma, who is hopeful she won’t need them – special dental flossers for kids who wear braces – beyond summer’s end. But she needs them now and none were available at my local grocery or two pharmacies, so, I had resorted to Amazon.
Two days later, a box big enough to hold a DVD player lands on our doorstep carrying two tiny packages of 24 flossers, the pair wrapped tightly together in more Amazon plastic.
The box measures 15.5 by 13 by 3.5 inches.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Someone at Google really likes sneakers: The company has just bought a French machine learning startup that taught a computer how to recognize 15,000 different types of them.Paris-based Moodstocks builds image and object recognition software using deep learning techniques, and offered an Android app and visual search API that could recognize certain kinds of object. By analyzing video from a smartphone camera, and correlating it with accelerometer readings to determine how the camera is moving around, the software is able to infer information about the three-dimensional shape of objects in the video, facilitating their recognition.In February 2015 the company demonstrated its ability to identify sneakers through its app. Three months later, after training the software using 15,000 photos of shoes from an online retailer's website, Moodstocks claimed to be able to shop online for all the sneakers on sale in a Macy's store.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The just-released draft of the Democratic party platform calls for increasing investments in science and technology research. It supports net neutrality and expansion of high-speed broadband networks. But its biggest push is in the areas of clean energy and infrastructure investment.The platform says nothing about the offshore outsourcing of IT jobs and other types of work susceptible to offshoring. It is silent on the use of H-1B visa, similar to the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.Clinton has not discussed the temporary visa program and doesn't mention it in her platform, but does call for "stapling" or nearly automatic green cards for STEM advanced degree graduates.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) represents the first release from Canonical to deliver long-term support since 2011 (version 14). While the latest improvements may not be entirely revolutionary, Ubuntu 16.04 rounds up exciting features to fortify the server base and enhance the desktop experience. InfoWorld reviewed the new desktop release in April. In this review, I’ll focus on the server.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Police officers held up a sign saying "Welcome to Hell" at the Rio airport last week, according to local and international news reports, and the region's acting governor warned of a total collapse in public security. More funding is on its way, but it might not be enough to make a difference in time for the Olympic games. Meanwhile, physical safety isn't the only thing that travelers need to worry about -- security experts warn that travelers need to be extremely careful when they access computer networks, as well.MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 26 crazy and scary things the TSA has found on travelers
"The Rio situation is a mess," said Shaun Murphy, CEO at communication security firm PrivateGiant. "I would suspect that from a cyber security front, it's going to be just as messy."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Despite a barrage of new handsets launched by phone manufacturers on an annual or half-yearly basis, consumers are drastically curtailing their phone upgrades, new research has found.And many are now waiting for “phones to die before replacing them,” speculates eMarketer, which has been writing about digital advertising company Fluent’s replacement cycle study.The reason for the slowdown is said to be a combination of the demise of the two-year phone contract from mobile network operators (MNOs) and a lack of ground-breaking technology exciting consumers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here