‘Candy-bar’ phones will get smartphone features with new Qualcomm chip

The Nokia 3310 phone, a replica of its iconic namesake, took Mobile World Congress by storm last month. It was a surprising show of enthusiasm for so-called candy-bar phones, which remain popular in developing countries because of their rock-bottom prices.Qualcomm believes there's an untapped opportunity in such feature phones and believes it can bring smartphone-like capabilities to these handsets. So it made the 205 Mobile chip, which will bring LTE capabilities, better graphics, and more responsiveness to candy-bar phones.There is a big need for a chip like the 205, especially when you look at the limited features of the new Nokia 3310. The Nokia 3310 offers only 2G connectivity capabilities for texting and calling, while newer candy-bar phones with the 205 chip will be LTE capable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

GelTouch adds a new dimension to touch-sensitive controls

The problem with a lot of touch-sensitive controls is that the communication is one-way: They can feel you, but you can't feel them. With touch-screen displays it's easy enough, as the button does what it says on the screen. Not all buttons are designed to be looked at as they are pushed, though. Take video-game controllers or car entertainment systems, for example, or some industrial controls. The user's attention is typically elsewhere when these are operated. Manufacturers can mold raised blobs into the surface to show where to press, perhaps even using the shape of the blob to identify the button's function, but that means that, unlike a touch-screen, the number and function of the buttons is fixed from the moment the device leaves the factory.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why Didn’t We Have Leaf-and-Spine Fabrics a Decade Ago?

One of my readers watched my Leaf-and-Spine Fabric Architectures webinar and had a follow-up question:

You mentioned 3-tier architecture was dictated primarily by port count and throughput limits. I can understand that port density was a problem, but can you elaborate why the throughput is also a limitation? Do you mean that core switch like 6500 also not suitable to build a 2-tier network in term of throughput?

As always, the short answer is it depends, in this case on your access port count and bandwidth requirements.

Japan looks beyond Industry 4.0 towards Society 5.0

Declining birth rate, aging population, natural disasters, pollution: Do these sound like issues the IT industry can deal with? Japanese businesses say yes, and a number of them are at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, to explain why. Industry 4.0 -- the building of "smart factories" in which machines monitor one another and make decentralized decisions about production and maintenance -- has been a theme of recent Cebit shows. Now, under the banner Society 5.0, the show's partner country for 2017, Japan, wants to take the transformation beyond industry, making "smart society" one of the show's talking points. Behind the drive are some very real societal problems. Japan's population is falling, but the average age of its citizens is increasing. A consequence of a low birth rate and extreme longevity, this is leading to an imbalance between young, active workers and those needing care. But with the country in a seismically active area, and having an ageing industrial infrastructure, this shrinking workforce is likely to deal with natural disasters and incidents of pollution.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cebit showcases security after Snowden

It's almost four years since Edward Snowden leaked U.S. National Security Agency documents revealing the extent of the organization's surveillance of global internet traffic, but he's still making the headlines in Germany.At the Cebit trade show in Hannover, Germany, he'll be looking back at that period in live video interview from Moscow on Tuesday evening.There have been a lot of changes on the internet in those four years, but one of the biggest is the growth in the use of encryption.In 2013, the NSA had free rein and could listen in on almost any communication it wanted. Now, it's commonplace to encrypt traffic to webmail services and even popular websites such as Microsoft.com or Google.com using the https protocol. And you don't have to be an enemy of the state to use an end-to-end encrypted messaging system such as WhatsApp simply to chat with friends.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cebit showcases security after Snowden

It's almost four years since Edward Snowden leaked U.S. National Security Agency documents revealing the extent of the organization's surveillance of global internet traffic, but he's still making the headlines in Germany.At the Cebit trade show in Hannover, Germany, he'll be looking back at that period in live video interview from Moscow on Tuesday evening.There have been a lot of changes on the internet in those four years, but one of the biggest is the growth in the use of encryption.In 2013, the NSA had free rein and could listen in on almost any communication it wanted. Now, it's commonplace to encrypt traffic to webmail services and even popular websites such as Microsoft.com or Google.com using the https protocol. And you don't have to be an enemy of the state to use an end-to-end encrypted messaging system such as WhatsApp simply to chat with friends.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

McDonald’s India asks users to update app after data leak report

McDonald’s India operation asked users to update their McDelivery app as a 'precautionary measure' after a security firm said it had found that it was leaking personal data of over 2.2 million users.The Indian operation of the food chain, which is owned and managed by franchisees, said in posts on Facebook and Twitter over the weekend that its website and app do not store any sensitive financial data of users.The operation did not admit or deny that there had been a breach, but urged users to update the online ordering app as a precautionary measure. “The website and app has always been safe to use, and we update security measure on regular basis,” according to the post.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

McDonald’s India asks users to update app after data leak report

McDonald’s India operation asked users to update their McDelivery app as a 'precautionary measure' after a security firm said it had found that it was leaking personal data of over 2.2 million users.The Indian operation of the food chain, which is owned and managed by franchisees, said in posts on Facebook and Twitter over the weekend that its website and app do not store any sensitive financial data of users.The operation did not admit or deny that there had been a breach, but urged users to update the online ordering app as a precautionary measure. “The website and app has always been safe to use, and we update security measure on regular basis,” according to the post.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Gearhead Toolbox, second opening. Tools for diagrams and gauges.

Web-based information displays such as dashboards, have become a popular way to present summaries of complex data and in this issue of the Gearhead Toolbox I have two killer JavaScript libraries for creating and editing diagrams, and another equally great library for creating gauge displays. Enjoy ... Mark Gibbs GOJSTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPhone 8 may actually be called the ‘iPhone Edition’

Apple's rumor mill sometimes works in mysterious ways. With Apple's next-gen iPhone, for example, a sketchy report that surfaced in mid-2016 claimed that Apple's upcoming iPhone was such a huge upgrade that Apple was going to skip the iPhone 7s nomenclature and simply call its 2017 iPhone the iPhone 8. And from there, the iPhone 8 naming convention stuck.More recently, reports surfaced indicating that Apple was still planning on releasing three brand new iPhone models, an iPhone 7s, an iPhone 7s Plus, and a newly redesigned iPhone dubbed the iPhone 8. This of course never made much sense given that releasing an iPhone 8 alongside an iPhone 7s would not only cause widespread confusion, it might also stifle overall iPhone sales. After all, who would want to buy an iPhone 7s when an iPhone 8 is already out on the market.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPhone 8 Rumor Rollup: Gentler curves and facial recognition security

Apple just might whet our appetites for a September unveiling of the iPhone 8 (or iPhone X) with an event later this month or early in April regarding some new iPads and maybe some low-end iPhones. But we won’t be distracted: On to the iPhone 8 rumors! KINDER, GENTLER CURVES The word is that Apple and Samsung are going to hogging up most of the shiny, energy-efficient OLED displays being pumped out this year, leaving poor Huawei and others on the outs. And after all that, it turns out that Apple’s OLED displays on its anticipated 5.8-inch iPhone 8 will have a “gentler” curved screen than that found on the rival Samsung Galaxy S7 (and likely, the S8). To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPhone 8 Rumor Rollup: Gentler curves and facial recognition security

Apple just might whet our appetites for a September unveiling of the iPhone 8 (or iPhone X) with an event later this month or early in April regarding some new iPads and maybe some low-end iPhones. But we won’t be distracted: On to the iPhone 8 rumors! KINDER, GENTLER CURVES The word is that Apple and Samsung are going to hogging up most of the shiny, energy-efficient OLED displays being pumped out this year, leaving poor Huawei and others on the outs. And after all that, it turns out that Apple’s OLED displays on its anticipated 5.8-inch iPhone 8 will have a “gentler” curved screen than that found on the rival Samsung Galaxy S7 (and likely, the S8). To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Brocade Update: No Update

This blog has been quiet since my last post in November 2016, covering the announcement that Broadcom is acquiring Brocade, and selling off my part of the business. That was over four months ago, and many of you will be wondering what’s happening. Unfortunately I have no real news: we still don’t know what’s happening.

Originally we were unsure if the IP business would be sold in whole, or broken into parts. We can now see that it is being broken into parts: Arris is acquiring the Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business unit. That does not include my part of the business.

Broadcom is continuing to seek buyers for my business unit (Data Center IP, covering SLX, MLX and VDX product families, and of course StackStorm). They are also looking for buyers for the Software Business Unit (vRouter, SDN Controller, and vADC). There are no published timetables for when this process will be complete: it will be done when it’s done.

This means that I still don’t know what’s going to happen to me. My visa is tied to my employer. A change in employer could mean I have to leave the United States. Continue reading

Brocade Update: No Update

This blog has been quiet since my last post in November 2016, covering the announcement that Broadcom is acquiring Brocade, and selling off my part of the business. That was over four months ago, and many of you will be wondering what’s happening. Unfortunately I have no real news: we still don’t know what’s happening.

Update: We now have news: It’s Extreme Networks

Originally we were unsure if the IP business would be sold in whole, or broken into parts. We can now see that it is being broken into parts: Arris is acquiring the Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business unit. That does not include my part of the business.

Broadcom is continuing to seek buyers for my business unit (Data Center IP, covering SLX, MLX and VDX product families, and of course StackStorm). They are also looking for buyers for the Software Business Unit (vRouter, SDN Controller, and vADC). There are no published timetables for when this process will be complete: it will be done when it’s done.

This means that I still don’t know what’s going to happen to me. My visa is tied to my employer. A change in Continue reading

BlackBerry readies a more secure version of the Samsung Galaxy S7

Secusmart, the BlackBerry subsidiary that secures the German Chancellor Angela Merkel's smartphone, will roll out a version of its SecuSuite security software compatible with Samsung Electronics' Knox platform later this year.That means that organizations looking for smartphones offering government-grade security will be able to buy the Samsung Galaxy S7 or, soon, the S8 rather than the now-discontinued BlackBerry OS smartphones like the one Merkel uses.In addition to encrypting communications and data stored on the device, the new SecuSuite also secures voice calls using the SNS standard set by Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Organizational app traffic is passed through an IPsec VPN, while data from personal apps can go straight to the internet. Encrypted voice calls go through a different gateway, not the VPN.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BlackBerry readies a more secure version of the Samsung Galaxy S7

Secusmart, the BlackBerry subsidiary that secures the German Chancellor Angela Merkel's smartphone, will roll out a version of its SecuSuite security software compatible with Samsung Electronics' Knox platform later this year.That means that organizations looking for smartphones offering government-grade security will be able to buy the Samsung Galaxy S7 or, soon, the S8 rather than the now-discontinued BlackBerry OS smartphones like the one Merkel uses.In addition to encrypting communications and data stored on the device, the new SecuSuite also secures voice calls using the SNS standard set by Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Organizational app traffic is passed through an IPsec VPN, while data from personal apps can go straight to the internet. Encrypted voice calls go through a different gateway, not the VPN.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel claims storage speed record with first large-capacity Optane SSD

Intel's first Optane storage modules came out in early January, but were only 32GB. Larger Optane drives with up to 1.5TB of storage capacity are on their way, and we now have a better understanding of how they're going to perform.The first large-capacity Optane SSD drive is the DC P4800X, which has 375GB of storage and started shipping on Sunday. The $1,520 SSD is targeted at servers. (Intel didn't provide regional availability information.)Intel says an enterprise Optane SSD with 750GB will ship in the second quarter, and that a 1.5TB SSD will ship in the second half of this year.These SSDs will fit as add-in cards in the PCI-Express/NVMe and U.2 slots. That means they could work in some workstations and servers based on AMD's 32-core Naples processors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Star Trek-themed Kirk ransomware has Spock decryptor, demands ransom be paid in Monero

While you may want to live long and prosper, you don’t want to be “kirked” – an extension added to files encrypted by the new Star Trek-themed Kirk ransomware.Kirk ransomware, which was discovered by Avast malware researcher Jakub Kroustek, doesn’t want the ransom to be paid in bitcoin; Bleeping Computer said it “may be the first ransomware to utilize Monero as the ransom payment of choice.”It is not known how the ransomware is being distributed, but researchers know that Kirk ransomware masquerades as the Low Orbital Ion Cannon network stress tool; LOIC was once favored for denial of service attacks. The fake version sports the LOIC slogan, “When harpoons, air strikes and nukes fail,” and claims to be initializing once executed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Star Trek-themed Kirk ransomware has Spock decryptor, demands ransom be paid in Monero

While you may want to live long and prosper, you don’t want to be “kirked” – an extension added to files encrypted by the new Star Trek-themed Kirk ransomware.Kirk ransomware, which was discovered by Avast malware researcher Jakub Kroustek, doesn’t want the ransom to be paid in bitcoin; Bleeping Computer said it “may be the first ransomware to utilize Monero as the ransom payment of choice.”It is not known how the ransomware is being distributed, but researchers know that Kirk ransomware masquerades as the Low Orbital Ion Cannon network stress tool; LOIC was once favored for denial of service attacks. The fake version sports the LOIC slogan, “When harpoons, air strikes and nukes fail,” and claims to be initializing once executed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

VRF for Linux — a contribution to the Linux Kernel

If you’re familiar with Linux, you know how important and exciting it can be to submit new technology that is accepted into the kernel. If you’re not familiar with Linux, you can take my word for it (and I highly suggest you attend one of our bootcamps). Many networking features are motivated by an OS for switches and routers, but most if not all of those features prove useful for other use cases as well. Cumulus Networks strives for a uniform operating model across switches and servers, so it makes sense for us to spend the time and effort getting these features into upstream code bases. An example of this effort is VRF for Linux.

I joined Cumulus Networks in June 2015 to work on a VRF solution for Linux —to create an implementation that met the goals we wanted for Cumulus Linux and was acceptable to upstream maintainers for Linux as a whole. That solution was first available last year with Cumulus Linux 3.0 and because of the upstream push that solution is rolling out in general OS distributions such as Debian Stretch and Ubuntu 16.

This post is a bit long, so I start with a high Continue reading