Aruba all-in-one box simplifies branch office communications

Aruba Networks today announced the availability of the 7000 series cloud services controller, an all-in-one box that aims to dramatically simplify branch office IT for far-flung businesses.The 7000 series combines a host of capabilities into a single unit, featuring a stateful firewall, deep packet inspection, WAN optimization, RF interference control and user access control, Aruba said.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: HP will buy Aruba to bolster its wireless networking business | Google's new campus plans hint at staggering ambitions | Will network disaggregation play in the enterprise? +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Is the Samsung Galaxy S6 a true iPhone 6 killer?

The Galaxy S6 is a great-looking phone with great specs -- but is it really an iPhone 6 killer? I've got specs and details. (Note that I'm comparing the non-curved version of the S6 to the iPhone 6, not the iPhone 6 Plus.)ScreenThe nod goes here clearly goes to the S6. It's got a 5.1-inch screen compared to the iPhone's 4.7-inch one. And it wins on resolution as well, 2560 x 1440 at 576 ppi, versus 1334 x 750 at 326 ppi for the iPhone 6.ProcessorThe S6 is powered by an Exynos 7 series quad 2.1GHz chip plus a quad 1.5Ghz, Octacore application processor. The iPhone 6, meanwhile, has an A8 64-bit chip. There's no real way to do a head-to-head comparison on this one, so we'll call it a tossup.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to run Linux and Chrome OS on your Chromebook

Chromebooks are pretty darn handy. Even some hardcore Windows users now acknowledge that a Chromebook might be just what you need for work. But, as great as Chromebooks are, and as much progress as Google has made in getting "Web-only" apps such as Google Docs to work offline, there are still times that you want an application that's only available off-line such as the LibreOffice office suite or the GIMP photo editor. For those times, it's darn handy to be able to run a Linux desktop on a Chromebook.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 tips to secure your Android device

Securing your Android deviceImage by ShutterstockAndroid security news has been heating up lately, with Google going on the defensive when it came to  its recent patching kerfuffle. And then there are the steady warnings about Android malware and warnings to enterprises about cheap Android-based phones.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How wireless power and wireless charging works

In the 1890s, Nikola Tesla captured the imagination of the world with his invention of the Tesla coil, a device that could transmit electricity through the air, no wires required. More than 100 years later, the world has responded by adapting this breakthrough technology… mainly to recharge their electric toothbrushes.But things are changing rapidly in the world of wireless power, with some new ideas coming to the forefront in the last few years. As more and more gadget makers get hip to the idea of a world without power bricks, this is a technology category that’s about to explode.MORE: 10 mobile startups to watch How will your phone, your lights, and even your electric car someday be powered without a wire? Here’s a primer on how wireless power works.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to connect to enterprise Wi-Fi security on Android devices

Connecting to wireless networks using the enterprise or 802.1X mode of Wi-Fi security is a bit different compared to using the personal or pre-shared key (PSK) mode. Though connecting to enterprise networks with your laptop may have been straightforward, Android presents you with additional settings you may not understand.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, March 3

Google will sell wireless service in the U.S.At Mobile World Congress on Monday, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed the rumors: The company plans to sell mobile service in the U.S., but insists it won’t mount significant competition to mobile carriers. Pichai said the offering will give Google a platform for experimenting with new services for Android smartphones....And teases launch of Internet-via-balloon, but Zuckerberg scoffsGoogle’s ambitious efforts to bring balloon and aircraft-borne connectivity to underserved areas of the globe are pushing past some key milestones, with a public launch likely in a few years, Pichai said at MWC. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later picked holes in the plans, criticizing them as costly and impractical, and said the best way to grow Internet access worldwide is to work with telco operators—as he’s doing with the internet.org effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, March 3

Google will sell wireless service in the U.S.At Mobile World Congress on Monday, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed the rumors: The company plans to sell mobile service in the U.S., but insists it won’t mount significant competition to mobile carriers. Pichai said the offering will give Google a platform for experimenting with new services for Android smartphones....And teases launch of Internet-via-balloon, but Zuckerberg scoffsGoogle’s ambitious efforts to bring balloon and aircraft-borne connectivity to underserved areas of the globe are pushing past some key milestones, with a public launch likely in a few years, Pichai said at MWC. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later picked holes in the plans, criticizing them as costly and impractical, and said the best way to grow Internet access worldwide is to work with telco operators—as he’s doing with the internet.org effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Tuesday, March 3

Google will sell wireless service in the U.S.At Mobile World Congress on Monday, Google executive Sundar Pichai confirmed the rumors: The company plans to sell mobile service in the U.S., but insists it won’t mount significant competition to mobile carriers. Pichai said the offering will give Google a platform for experimenting with new services for Android smartphones....And teases launch of Internet-via-balloon, but Zuckerberg scoffsGoogle’s ambitious efforts to bring balloon and aircraft-borne connectivity to underserved areas of the globe are pushing past some key milestones, with a public launch likely in a few years, Pichai said at MWC. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later picked holes in the plans, criticizing them as costly and impractical, and said the best way to grow Internet access worldwide is to work with telco operators—as he’s doing with the internet.org effort.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Geofencing could add security layer for mobile devices

Geofencing technology -- tracking the location of a mobile device -- could offer an extra layer of security for enterprises trying to manage both company-owned and employee-owned devices. However, the technology can also raise worries about privacy and battery life.Extra layer of securityLast fall, Romania-based CoSoSys Ltd. added geofencing to its mobile device management software, tracking location via GPS, Wifi and Bluetooth beacons.But the first major use of the technology wasn't for companies tracking employees -- but for companies tracking visitors.MORE: 10 mobile startups to watch CoSoSys has customers in the high-tech industry who want to ensure that visitors can't take pictures when they enter particular secured areas. Typically, they ask visitors to leave their mobile devices at the door, to put tape over the camera lenses.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Volvo cars to start talking to each other

Volvo has developed a system that provides real-time warnings to drivers of black ice or disabled vehicles on the road ahead.The technology is currently being tested in Sweden and pulls data from wheel sensors to detect when tires encounter black ice. When that happens, the car transmits a GPS location to a Volvo server, which then sends the data to other vehicles nearby that are equipped with the system.Drivers of those cars see a small warning icon on the dashboard to alert of the black ice ahead. The icon gets bigger as the car approaches the dangerous area, said Erik Israelsson , project leader for safety at Volvo, during a demonstration at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BlackBerry launches all-touch Leap with $275 price tag

BlackBerry isn’t giving up on the smartphone market, and now hopes to make a mark with the Leap, an all-touch LTE device with a keen price tag. The company launched the new product on Tuesday at an event in Barcelona, where Mobile World Congress is now in full swing. And just like many other vendors at the event, BlackBerry isn’t focusing on the high end of the market but the mid-range, with smartphones that cost about US$300 or less.+ See our full coverage of MWC 2015 + The Leap will run BlackBerry 10 OS and cost $275 unlocked when it goes on sale in April. The smartphone has a 5-inch, 720 x 1280 pixel screen and is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Best business-class tablets for front office and factory floor

Business-class tabletsIn this review, we looked at two types of business-class tablets, traditional tablets used by the sales force or other front-office workers, and ruggedized devices that can be used on the factory floor or other back-office environments. In the front-office category, we tested the Lenovo ThinkPad 10 and the E FUN Nextbook 10. In the back-office category, we looked at the Adlink IMT-1, Arbor Gladius Atom and Gammatach’s Durabook R11. Here are the individual reviews:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Best business-class tablets for the front office and factory floor

In this review, we looked at two types of business-class tablets, traditional tablets used by the sales force or other front-office workers, and ruggedized devices that can be used on the factory floor or other back-office environments.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

China defends cybersecurity demands, amid complaints from U.S.

President Barack Obama isn’t happy with new rules from China that would require U.S. tech companies to abide by strict cybersecurity measures, but on Tuesday the country was quick to defend the proposed regulations.“All countries are paying attention to and taking measures to safeguard their own information security. This is beyond reproach,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying in a news briefing.She made the statement after Obama criticized a proposed anti-terror law that he said could stifle U.S. tech business in China. The legislation would require companies to hand over encryption keys to the country’s government, and create “back doors” into their systems to give the Chinese government surveillance access.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Response: Why Technology Still Matters

My good friend Tom Hollingsworth wrote a great blog post about hypermyopia in the networking industry. I agree with most everything he wrote (I have to – I’m always telling people to focus on business needs and to change their mentality before relying on shiny new gizmos), but I still think it’s crucial to consider the technology used in products we’re looking at.

iPhone theft victims tricked into unlocking devices

It seems there can be further indignity foisted onto people who’ve had their iPad or iPhone stolen.Symantec has discovered a campaign that aims to unlock Apple devices after they’ve been lost, which requires either the device’s passcode or the credentials for a person’s iCloud account.To get in contact with victims, the criminals appear to be relying on information displayed on the lost device, wrote Joji Hamada of Symantec in a blog post.Apple’s Find My iPhone feature has a “Lost Mode” that allows users to display a message on the screen of their lost device, such as a phone number, he wrote.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Is data on your new Lollipop Android device encrypted? Maybe not

Some smartphone manufacturers are not configuring devices running the latest version of Android to automatically encrypt personal data, which Google had said would scramble data by default.Google has apparently left it up to manufacturers to turn encryption on or off, a surprising change that came after the company pledged last September to strengthen defenses around personal data.It’s unclear why Google did not publicize the change, although it is possible some hardware devices will not perform as well with encryption turned on. Analyst Canalys tweeted it was a wise move for Google, as many devices do not have the right hardware to accommodate it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Control an Amazon EC2 server from an Apple iPad using SSH and VNC

I recently configured an Amazon EC2 instance so that I could run the XFCE desktop environment on it and control it from my local laptop computer using SSH and VNC. But what if I want to use my iPad to do control the remote Amazon EC2 server?

I want to experiment with complex network simulations running on open-source networking software when I happen have the time, from any location with a WiFi connection. I do not always have my laptop with me, but I usually have either my iPad or iPhone.

In this blog post, I will show how to configure and use an iPad (and iPhone) VNC viewer app to view and control the desktop environment running on my Amazon EC2 server.

iPad software

To connect to a remote server from an iPad, we need a VNC viewer app. The VNC viewer app I use is Screens.

I use the Edovia Screens iPad app, which displays the full-screen desktop environment running on the remote server. There are other VNC viewer apps in the App Store but Screens seems to have a lot of functionality and I was confident it would support SSH tunneling. Screens is also a universal iOS Continue reading

A quick hands-on with Cherry Trail: screaming graphics for tablets

Intel’s Cherry Trail Atom chips are almost here, and if you’re in the market for an Intel-based tablet the future looks bright.We briefly got our hands on what could be the first Cherry Trail tablet shown publicly—an 8-inch prototype from Intel running Android with a variety of apps and games installed. The graphics in particular stood out.The game “Real Racing 3” took some time to load, but when it started the display kept pace easily with the fast-moving visuals. A previous Bay Trail chip in an Asus Transformer Book T100 struggled with demanding games, showing how far the Atom X5 and X7 chips, as they’re known, have come.The tablet wasn’t connected to the Internet, so we didn’t get a taste of the Wi-Fi speed or how fast cloud applications will load. But other local apps fired up quickly. The tablet had USB 3.0 and HDMI ports and a audio jack.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here