Minor tweaks and bug fixes aren’t new for Android updates, but Google wants to make the process far less haphazard. A post on the Android Developers Blog details that Google is moving to a regular maintenance schedule “over the coming quarters,” with an eye towards a predictable process and more feedback from developers.Vice president of engineering Dave Burke said Google has already started work on some issues that are on the list and will transition to a new schedule in the coming months. Just as it did with the Android N Preview, updates will come first to a Dev Preview before they’re sent out to everyone else. You’ll be able to download and flash the latest preview to try it out in advance of a final release.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
SimpliVity is a vendor in the hyperconverged infrastructure market. What that means in plain English is that SimpliVity offers a product that is both hardware and software. Essentially it's about specific software tailored to the infrastructure on what it sits.
The hyperconverged space is a busy one with several vendors all trying to justify their existence and differentiate themselves from the commodity way the large webscale vendors think about their infrastructure. The continuum is very stark. On one end lies Google, Facebook, et al., which consider physical servers to be replaceable, generic items that they think little about, focusing instead on the software that sits on top of them. At the other end, lies vendors such as HP, VMware and SimpliVity, which articulate the extra value that comes from converging hardware with software.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Based on no shortage of product leaks and rumblings from the rumor mill, the iPhone 7 design will in large part be similar to what we've already seen on Apple's iPhone 6 and 6s models. In fact, there will likely be only two minor design changes on Apple's next-gen iPhone: the removal of the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and the migration of the iPhone's antenna lines from the back to the side of the device.In turn, it's only natural that some industry analysts have expressed concern that the current iPhone design is getting a little bit long in the tooth. Compounding matters is the fact that surveys have suggested that current iPhone owners would be more inclined to upgrade with a completely new design as opposed to the standard introduction of improved internals.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Civil liberties and tech advocacy groups have opposed a move by the Department of Homeland Security to collect social media information from certain categories of visitors to the U.S.“This program would invade individual privacy and imperil freedom of expression while being ineffective and prohibitively expensive to implement and maintain,” wrote organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Democracy & Technology and Electronic Frontier Foundation in comments to the Department of Homeland Security on Monday.The provision allows for collection of information on their online presence from certain categories of visitors in their visa-waiver arrival/departure records (Form I-94W) and their online application for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Anonymous hackers probably gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential sales in the black market when they leaked valuable cyberweapons allegedly stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency.The hackers, known as the Shadow Brokers, posted a sample file of the cyberweapons earlier this month and at least some of them appear to be zero-day exploits, or attacks that rely on software defects that practically no one knew about.Before they were publicly leaked, each of these zero-day exploits could have sold for a great deal of money, according to security researchers. They’re designed to affect firewall and router products from Cisco, Juniper Networks and Fortinet, in addition to those from Chinese vendors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Republicans in Congress have subpoenaed three technology companies that declined to hand over documents about former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server.On Monday, Datto, SECNAP Network Security and Platte River Networks received subpoenas from U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican.Smith is demanding documents from the companies as two congressional committees from the House and Senate investigate the Democratic presidential nominee’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.All three companies either sold products used in Clinton’s email server or were hired to maintain it, Smith said in the subpoenas. For example, Datto provided an online backup system that eventually began storing Clinton’s emails off site.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Data visualization specialist Tableau Software is bringing in seasoned talent to help it compete in an increasingly cloud-based world. The company has hired longtime Amazon Web Services executive Adam Selipsky as its CEO, replacing cofounder Christian Chabot.Chabot, who has been CEO for 14 years, will continue to serve as chairman of Tableau’s board of directors. Selipsky, who currently is vice president of marketing, sales and support for AWS, will join Tableau on Sept. 16.“Adam is going to take Tableau to the next level,” Chabot said in a press release, citing Selipsky's cloud experience. “He is the right person to lead Tableau to the next stage of growth.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
According to ESG research, 63% of networking and cybersecurity professionals working at enterprise organizations (i.e. more than 1,000 employees) believe that network security operations is more difficult today than it was two years ago (note: I am an ESG employee). Why? Because enterprises have to deal with more connected devices, network traffic, and applications than two years ago. What’s more 47% of respondents claim that it is difficult to monitor network behavior from end-to-end while 41% claim that network security operations difficulties result from increasing use of cloud computing.Yup, enterprise networks are a series of moving parts and these parts continue to move faster and faster all the time. You just can’t keep up with the pace with limited cybersecurity and network operations personnel, and you certainly can’t keep up by managing network security operations on a box-by-box, CLI-by-CLI basis. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Smartphones can disclose locations through non-location sensors when combined with algorithms and iffy apps, researchers say. And the device doesn’t need to have traditional location services such as GPS and network positioning turned on, or even ask your permission.The scientists from Northeastern University documented a number of roads and then drove real and simulated routes on them. They found that the phones in use knew where they were, without using the GPS or the other radios traditionally used for location reporting.“Changing positions, including the angles of turns and the trajectory of curves” derived from sensors, which include the accelerometer, were enough to provide data that gave locations away sometimes, the scientists from Northeastern University claim.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The cannabis industry is growing up, and it would be tough to imagine more convincing proof than Microsoft's recent announcement that it's getting involved.Though the software giant will stay very much in the background -- its role will focus primarily on providing Azure cloud services for a compliance-focused software push -- the move is still widely viewed as a telling sign."Having them come out and say, 'we're willing to have our name in the same sentence as the word cannabis,' adds to the legitimacy of our industry," said Kyle Sherman, cofounder and CEO of software maker Flowhub.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If your webcam is freezing after about a minute when using Skype, or another app, then you can thank Microsoft.The Redmond giant meant to allow multiple apps to access the camera at the same time, but didn’t want users to suffer poor performance as those apps concurrently accessed the webcam and the MJPEG or H264 encoding processes. So Microsoft decided the best plan was to stop USB webcams from using MJPEG or H264 and instead to only support webcams that use YUY2 encoding.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In a technology-driven, increasingly digital world, you might think you need a computer science, engineering, technology, mathematics or other degree to succeed. Turns out that's far from the truth.Arijit Sengupta, CEO of advanced analytics firm BeyondCore, holds a bachelor of science in computer science and a bachelor of arts in economics and fell one class short of having a minor in dance. He brings elements of all three to his daily work with BeyondCore, and some of the most valuable lessons he's learned have come from his liberal arts education and his dance training, he says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It's not surprising that network and security teams aren't always on the same page. After all, networks need to be fast and efficient, while security is about slowing things down and implementing extra steps to help meet security measures. While both teams are a part of the IT department, and need to work together in the event of a breach, each group has its own objectives and expectations. But when a data breach or security threat strikes, businesses need both teams working together to help get it fixed as soon as possible, especially as networks become more intricate."It's more important to get these two teams on the same page than it has ever been in the past. Enterprise networks are becoming more complex, and at the same time security issues are more common," says David Vigna, Cisco practice director at Softchoice.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Enterprise security pros are often seen as heavy-handed gatekeepers obsessed with reducing risk. They'd rather be viewed as enablers who help the organization complete tasks and gain access to needed data.To make that transformation, security teams must become faster, more efficient, and more adaptable to change. That sounds a lot like devops.[ Also on InfoWorld: 19 open source GitHub projects for security pros. | Discover how to secure your systems with InfoWorld's Security newsletter. ]
Indeed, security can derive inspiration from devops, says Haiyan Song, VP of security markets at Splunk. Devops encourages automation and better integration among tools, two trends security professionals are increasingly exploring to make security more transparent throughout the enterprise.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Mobile app performance management (APM) software provides visibility into mobile app performance and helps pinpoint and resolve issues that affect end-user experience. It typically provides crash reporting, network monitoring and user interaction monitoring to keep users active and satisfied with the app.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
IT leaders in companies of every size and speciality are under pressure these days to digitally transform their organizations in order to move closer to the customer and grow the business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
One of the best things about Chromebooks is that they’re built to last. Thanks to automatic security and feature updates from Google, along with a lightweight browser-based operating system, longtime users may find that their laptops run as well, if not better, than they did on day one.But despite Chromebooks’ theoretical longevity, it’s possible for Google to cut their lives short. Per the company’s End of Life policy, Chromebooks and other Chrome OS devices are only entitled to five years of feature and security updates. After that, Google doesn’t guarantee that these systems will run safely or properly.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Safe and soundImage by ThinkstockNew web applications are making their way into the workplace at an unprecedented rate. By 2017, enterprises are projected to rely on an average of 52 cloud applications at work, leaving employees with a pool of credentials to keep track of. If you don’t take the necessary precautions to keep your credentials secure, your accounts and data are at risk of being compromised. With these tips for good password hygiene and deploying an identity and access management (IAM) solution, you can keep your data safe from the rapidly evolving threat landscape. Richard Walters, senior vice president of security products at Intermedia, offers these tips.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Before we start the work week, here’s a tiny personal tale from the weekend that has me puzzled.I’m at the local liquor store buying wine and my tab is $21.98. I hand the clerk $22 cash and patiently wait for my two pennies change, as I always do, because I like putting them in the “leave a penny, take a penny” (LAPTAP) container that you’ll see at all of your finer booze stores.That’s what I did, left my two pennies.There had been zero pennies in the container before I donated my two. As I was walking out, my back to the check-out, I distinctly heard the clerk slide the two pennies out of the LAPTAP container, open the cash register, and drop them in.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
10 of the coolest sci-fi tech that are almost a realityScience fiction TV shows and movies are filled with cool technology. From Star Trek and its transporter and food replicator—to name just a couple of things—to The Minority Report and its air touch displays and jet packs.Some of that futuristic technology has arrived. For examples, “push to talk” mobile devices are very close to Star Trek like communicators. And the video conferencing depicted in The Jetsons is now available on nearly every home computer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here