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Category Archives for "Network World Wireless"

6 industries that will be affected by virtual reality

VR going mainstream2016 has been a defining moment for virtual and augmented reality. From Pokemon GO to Facebook’s newly announced standalone VR headset, the virtual reality market has taken off and we’ve just scratched the surface in terms of innovation. Previously, virtual reality seemed to be a technology that was reserved only for tech enthusiasts and extreme gamers. However, we are now starting to see its mainstream application. As virtual reality becomes more common in business and personal settings, less expensive equipment is becoming available, providing an opportunity for organizations to adopt the technology at a wider scale.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Samsung faces lawsuit from Note7 owners who couldn’t use their phones

Samsung’s problems with lawsuits from alleged victims of overheating batteries in the Galaxy Note7 smartphone could get compounded by consumers suing for compensation of carrier charges.The three plaintiffs in a proposed class action lawsuit in a New Jersey federal court are not suing for compensation for personal or property damage from the at times overheating and even exploding Note7 smartphones.Instead, they are asking the South Korean phone maker to compensate users for the time it took Samsung to replace and eventually discontinue the Note7s, which resulted in users having to pay for device and plan charges to cellular operators “for phones they could not safely use.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ecuador says it cut WikiLeaks founder’s internet access to prevent U.S. election interference

Ecuador's embassy in the U.K. says it alone was responsible for cutting WikiLeak's founder Julian Assange's internet connection, stating that the country doesn't want to interfere with the U.S. elections."The government of Ecuador respects the principle of non-intervention in the affairs of other countries," it said in a Tuesday statement. "It does not interfere in external electoral processes or support a particular candidate."As result, the government has temporarily cut access to some private communications at the embassy, where Assange has resided for four years.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook’s 100-gigabit switch design is out in the open

Facebook’s bid to open up networking is moving up into nosebleed territory for data centers. The company’s 100-gigabit switch design has been accepted by the Open Compute Project, a step that should help to foster an open ecosystem of hardware and software on high-speed networking gear.The 32-port Wedge 100 is the follow-on to Facebook’s Wedge 40, introduced about two years ago and now in use in practically all of the company’s data centers, said Omar Baldonado, director of software engineering on Facebook’s networking team. Mostly, it’s a faster version of that switch, upping the port speed to 100Gbps (bits per second) from 40Gbps. But Facebook also added some features to make service easier, like a cover that can be removed without tools and LED status lights to check the condition of a the cooling fans from a distance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Gartner Top 10 technology trends you should know for 2017

Considering how much significance Gartner is placing the future influence of artificial intelligence and algorithms, it comes as little surprise that the group is saying that technology will be one of the most strategic and potentially disruptive for 2017. At its Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, David Cearley, vice president and Gartner Fellow detailed the key technology trends for 2017 as the group sees them including how data science technologies are evolving to include advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence is helping create intelligent physical and software-based systems that are programmed to learn and adapt. Other key trends include the impact of melding of the physical and digital environments and how digital technology platforms are influencing the enterprise.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

31% off Roost Smart 9V Battery for Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms, 2-Pack – Deal Alert

The Roost Smart Battery mimics the form of a 9V battery, installs in minutes, and lasts for more than 5 years. Using your home's WiFi, Roost will communicate when it's running low on power, so you can take action to avoid those dreaded middle-of-the-night interruptions. The Roost Smart Battery is designed to be used with your smoke or carbon monoxide detectors/alarms, so if you're following the US Fire Administrations's advice to change your batteries every time you change your clocks, this would be a very timely deal. A 2-pack of Roost Smart Batteries is currently discounted 31% on Amazon, from $65 down to $45, so the more you buy right now, the more you'll save. See the discounted Roost Smart Battery now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hackers create more IoT botnets with Mirai source code

Malware that can build botnets out of IoT products has gone on to infect twice as many devices after its source code was publicly released.The total number of IoT devices infected with the Mirai malware has reached 493,000, up from 213,000 bots before the source code was disclosed around Oct. 1, according to internet backbone provider Level 3 Communications."The true number of actual bots may be higher," Level 3 said in a Tuesday blog post.Hackers have been taking advantage of the Mirai malware's source code, following its role in launching a massive DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attack that took down the website of cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Om nom Nomulus: Google open-sources TLD registry platform

Google’s latest foray into open-source software is a cloud-based top-level-domain registrar platform called Nomulus, bringing a substantial chunk of the company’s gigantic internet infrastructure into the public eye.What Nomulus does, in essence, is manage the domain names under a top-level domain, or TLD, the largest divisions of the internet’s domain name system (.com, .org, .net, and so on). Nomulus tracks DNS and registry info, so that when domain names change hands, or someone makes a WHOIS inquiry, the system can manage this.ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: A dozen extensions to TCP/IP that optimize internet connections | Microsoft’s Nadella takes on privacy fears about LinkedIn, CortanaTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Patriots coach ‘done with’ Microsoft Surface

In a five-minute rant from a man famous for five-word answers, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick this morning tore apart and then swore off using the Microsoft Surface tablets that are provided to teams by the National Football League.“As you probably noticed, I’m done with the tablets,” Belichick told reporters. “They’re just too undependable for me. I’m going to stick with (paper) pictures, which several of our other coaches do, as well, because there just isn’t enough consistency in the performance of the tablets. I just can’t take it anymore. …”It was only two weeks ago that Belichick threw one of the tablets in frustration on the sideline during a loss to the Buffalo Bills.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Connected cameras will get smarter with new Qualcomm chips

While most of IT is consolidating around the cloud, in some ways the internet of things is moving the other direction. Vendors are putting more computing power in devices near the edges of networks, like sensor modules and gateways.That's because it can be faster and less expensive to do filtering and analytics where the data is collected than to send it all the way to a distant data center. In some cases, this can reduce communications costs and help IoT respond to events more quickly.Connected cameras are among the hardest-working IoT devices, sometimes streaming high-definition video around the clock for surveillance and streaming entertainment. They’re the target of chip and software enhancements that Qualcomm is introducing on Tuesday. The company is announcing these offerings along with other advances at its 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

9% off Nest Cam Indoor Security Camera – Deal Alert

Look after your home 24/7 in crisp 1080p HD. With Nest Cam Indoor, you can check in, even when you’re out, and even at night with its built-in high-quality night vision. Nest Cam features a versatile magnetic stand that lets you put it anywhere. See who’s there, listen in and speak up to get their attention. With Nest Aware, you can get a special alert if Nest Cam sees a person, and save 10 or 30 days of continuous video history in the cloud. Then speed through it in seconds and quickly find the moment you’re looking for in Sightline. Nest's indoor camera is a best-seller on Amazon with 4 out of 5 stars from over 4,000 people (read reviews). Its typical list price of $199 has been reduced 9% to $182.00 on Amazon. Amazon also features a bundle of three cameras that will deepen the discount even further. Right now it's just $454.97 for the pack of three.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

WikiLeaker Assange’s internet access cut by a ‘state actor’

A "state actor" has cut off internet access for Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, the transparency activist organization said Monday.Assange's internet link has been "intentionally severed by a state party," WikiLeaks said in a Monday morning tweet."We have activated the appropriate contingency plans," the organization added.In recent days, WikiLeaks has published thousands of leaked emails from the account of John Podesta, chairman of U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Clinton's campaign, along with President Barack Obama's administration, have accused WikiLeaks of cooperating with Russian hackers in an effort to raise questions about the legitimacy of the upcoming U.S. presidential election.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Parking available! CloudParc uses IoT, machine vision to improve city parking

Finding a parking space is like a treasure hunt. Lots of aggravation for a few moments of joy.Parking is a challenge for city officials, too. How do you maximize both parking revenues and driver convenience?+ Also on Network World: Smart City Challenge: 7 proposals for the future of transportation +Is there a better way to mark parking spots without installing meters? How can drivers be charged automatically for parking? How can cities struggling with tight budgets afford such new services?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Lawmakers question DOJ’s appeal of Microsoft Irish data case

Four U.S. lawmakers are questioning a Department of Justice decision to appeal a July court decision quashing a search warrant that would have required Microsoft to disclose contents of emails stored on a server in Ireland.Last Thursday, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, filed an appeal of the ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Dyre banking Trojan successor rears its ugly head

Cybercriminals have unleashed a new banking Trojan program on the internet and it bears striking similarities to Dyre, a malware threat believed to have been dead for almost a year.The new Trojan is called TrickBot and first appeared in September, targeting users of banks in Australia. After a closer analysis, researchers from Fidelis Cybersecurity believe that it is a rewrite of the Dyre Trojan that plagued online banking users for over a year until the gang behind it was dismantled by Russian authorities.While TrickBot is still a work in progress and doesn't have all of Dyre's features, there are enough similarities in their components to suggest that at the very least one served as inspiration for the other. At the same time, there are also significant differences in how some functions have been implemented in the new Trojan, which also has more C++ code than its predecessor.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco bolsters Spark collaboration with Worklife acquisition

Cisco today said it bought Heroik Labs which does business as Worklife and sells collaborative software that helps companies more effectively run and manage online meetings.“With the Worklife team onboard, we see an opportunity to build on the virtual meeting experience that the Cisco Spark platform currently provides, and enhance meeting productivity across the board. For example, we can start offering additional tools, tightly integrated into Cisco Spark, to help users track calendars, create agenda templates, and collaborate on note-taking in real-time during a meeting,” wrote Rob Salvagno vice president of Cisco’s Corporate Business Development in a blog announcing the buy. “Worklife’s technology and talent builds on the success of Cisco’s previous collaboration software acquisitions such as Collaborate.com, Assemblage, Tropo, Acano and Synata.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cybersecurity Canon Book Report: There Will Be Cyberwar

Given that it’s national cybersecurity awareness month, I hope that all cybersecurity professionals are familiar with the Cybersecurity Canon.  For those that are not, the goal of the cybersecurity canon is as follows:To identify a list of must-read books for all cybersecurity practitioners – be they from industry, government or academia -- where the content is timeless, genuinely represents an aspect of the community that is true and precise, reflects the highest quality and, if not read, will leave a hole in the cybersecurity professional’s education that will make the practitioner incomplete.                To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Application tie-ins are taking center stage in collaboration

Combining different forms of collaboration in one platform is only part of the battle when it comes to helping co-workers connect. There’s also integration with productivity applications so that employees don’t have to constantly switch between screens.Cisco Systems scored a win in this area last month when it made a deal to bring its Spark and WebEx systems into Salesforce. But Avaya, an enterprise networking company that lacks Cisco’s heft and high-profile partnerships, says this is where it can stand out in workplace communication. On Monday, it announced an all-in-one collaboration platform called Avaya Equinox, plus an open SDK (software development kit) for making other applications work with it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

13% off AmazonBasics 17-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper, CD, and Credit Card Shredder – Deal Alert

This powerful shredder from AmazonBasics micro-cuts a letter-sized sheet of paper into 2,235 useless pieces of confetti, up to 17 sheets at a time. Inserted one at a time into the designated slot, it also destroys credit cards, CDs, DVDs, and Blu Rays, rendering them completely unusable. It features a generous 7-gallon bin that pulls out for easy disposal. This micro-cut shredder averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 170 people (82% rate a full 5 stars: read reviews). Its typical list price of $165 has been reduced 13% to $144.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

GitLab deleted then restored list of online stores infected with skimming software

For at least six months, the online store at the National Republican Senatorial Committee site had “hidden skimming software” in the form of malicious JavaScript code; it was far from the only store which hackers had compromised via exploiting vulnerabilities in unpatched versions of ecommerce platforms, such as Magento. In fact, at least 5,925 stores were unwittingly participating in online skimming attacks run by multiple cybercriminal groups. Dutch researcher Willem de Groot estimated that 85 stores are compromised daily.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here