Cisco’s Spark Board looks like an iPad — and acts like one

The Spark Board meeting device that Cisco Systems introduced on Tuesday is not so much a whiteboard or a videoconferencing screen as a giant tablet that everyone in the room can share.There’s even a “home” button in the center of the bottom bezel that takes you back to the main menu. If Apple didn’t have a partnership with Cisco, you might even expect it to accuse the networking giant of copying its iPad design.But Apple and Cisco are in fact working together, so closely that iPhones can work with the Spark Board a little more smoothly than other phones do. And in developing the new all-in-one device, Cisco focused on simplicity and ease of use, which haven’t exactly been hallmarks of the networking giant’s products up to now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco’s Spark Board looks like an iPad — and acts like one

The Spark Board meeting device that Cisco Systems introduced on Tuesday is not so much a whiteboard or a videoconferencing screen as a giant tablet that everyone in the room can share.There’s even a “home” button in the center of the bottom bezel that takes you back to the main menu. If Apple didn’t have a partnership with Cisco, you might even expect it to accuse the networking giant of copying its iPad design.But Apple and Cisco are in fact working together, so closely that iPhones can work with the Spark Board a little more smoothly than other phones do. And in developing the new all-in-one device, Cisco focused on simplicity and ease of use, which haven’t exactly been hallmarks of the networking giant’s products up to now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco snatches AppDynamics from IPO market for $3.7 billion

Cisco has agreed to acquire AppDynamics for $3.7 billion in cash and assumed equity awards, scooping up the application performance management company just days before its expected initial public offering. The deal, which Cisco announced late Tuesday, is expected to close by the end of April.AppDynamics was going to be the first tech company to go public in 2017, with its initial offering set for Thursday, January 26. Tech industry insiders and investors were watching AppDynamics’s IPO closely, because Wall Street investors’ treatment of its business could signal how other companies would fare later in 2017.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Android Instant Apps testing begins, gives developers 2 bites at the SEO apple

“Software companies are the medium through which investors give money to PR and advertising companies,” said Marv Goldschmidt, vice president of marketing at Lotus Development, a long time ago.His advice holds true today. The biggest problem mobile software developers have is getting their apps found, downloaded and installed. It isn’t creating great apps.Marketing campaigns boosting new-user download of an app are very expensive—so expensive that the leadership team at bookmarking app maker Pocket spent a week sequestered with designer impresario Jake Knapp focusing on the user experience to decrease early uninstalls, thus retaining more users per install without increasing marketing spend.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft’s OneDrive for Business gets Mac client, shared folder sync

Microsoft gave users and administrators of OneDrive for Business some new features on Tuesday that they’ve requested for a while.The company also launched a new Mac client for its business-focused cloud storage service that can be deployed outside the confines of the Mac App Store. Users will also be able to sync files from SharePoint sites and OneDrive for Business shared folders to their desktops, like they have been able to for files that they own.IDC Research Manager Chandana Gopal said in an interview that she saw the new features are Microsoft’s attempt to play catch up with other players in the enterprise cloud storage market like Box and Dropbox, which already offer Mac clients and broad syncing of all the files stored in their services. What’s more, Box and Dropbox are working on making it possible for people to stream files from the cloud to the desktop when they need them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cyber criminals avoid fraud within their own ranks with new site

Sometimes it's not easy being a cyber criminal. In addition to law enforcement and private security companies, cyber thieves have to battle fraudsters out to beat them at their own game, but a web site offers to help.Ripper.cc has been maintaining a database of known “rippers” or scammers since June last year and security firm Digital Shadows, which has been investigating it, says it may help online black markets flourish.Fraud is a nagging problem in the cyber criminal world, according to Digital Shadows. Although some hackers believe in honor amongst thieves, others are peddling bogus goods, such as stolen credit card numbers or user credentials that turn out to be fake.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cyber criminals avoid fraud within their own ranks with new site

Sometimes it's not easy being a cyber criminal. In addition to law enforcement and private security companies, cyber thieves have to battle fraudsters out to beat them at their own game, but a web site offers to help.Ripper.cc has been maintaining a database of known “rippers” or scammers since June last year and security firm Digital Shadows, which has been investigating it, says it may help online black markets flourish.Fraud is a nagging problem in the cyber criminal world, according to Digital Shadows. Although some hackers believe in honor amongst thieves, others are peddling bogus goods, such as stolen credit card numbers or user credentials that turn out to be fake.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Getting Started With NETCONF and YANG on Cisco IOS XE

Everyone who has any interest in network automation inevitably comes across NETCONF and YANG. These technologies have mostly been implemented for and adopted by big telcos and service providers, while support in the enterprise/DC gear has been virtually non-existent. Things are starting to change now as NETCONF/YANG support has been introduced in the latest IOS XE software train. That’s why I think it’s high time I started another series of posts dedicated to YANG, NETCONF, RESTCONF and various open-source tools to interact with those interfaces.

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Meet new Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott

Call it the first real result from Microsoft's recently finalized $26B buyout of LinkedIn: The former has named the career networking site’s Kevin Scott as its new CTO, a job he will hold in addition to being LinkedIn’s SVP of Infrastructure. Having not actually met Scott, where else to start learning about him than on his LinkedIn page, which features a nice fresh post dated Jan. 24, 2017 and titled “Dream Jobs”? (I checked his Twitter profile too, but this self-described “Old School Geek, Husband, Father, Hacker of Things Large and Small” had no public posts there since late 2014.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New Microsoft CTO: Meet the real Kevin Scott (according to LinkedIn)

Call it the first real result from Microsoft's recently finalized $26B buyout of LinkedIn: The former has named the career networking site’s Kevin Scott as its new CTO, a job he will hold in addition to being LinkedIn’s SVP of Infrastructure. Having not actually met Scott, where else to start learning about him than on his LinkedIn page, which features a nice fresh post dated Jan. 24, 2017 and titled “Dream Jobs”? (I checked his Twitter profile too, but this self-described “Old School Geek, Husband, Father, Hacker of Things Large and Small” had no public posts there since late 2014.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Docker Meetup Community reaches 150K members

We are thrilled to announce that the Docker meetup community has reached over 150,000 members! We’d like to take a moment to acknowledge all the amazing contributors and Docker enthusiasts who are working hard to organize frequent and interesting Docker-centric meetups. Thanks to you, there are 275 Docker meetup groups, in 75 countries, across 6 continents.

There were over 1000 Docker meetups held all over the world last year. Big shout out to Ben Griffin, organizer of Docker Melbourne, who organized 18 meetups in 2016,  Karthik Gaekwad, Lee Calcote, Vikram Sabnis and Everett Toews, organizers of Docker Austin who organized 16 meetups, Gerhard Schweinitz and Stephen J Wallace, organizers of Docker Sydney who organized 13, and Jesse White, Luisa Morales and Doug Masiero from Docker NYC who organized 12. 

We also wanted to thank and give a massive shout out to organizers Adrien Blind and Patrick Aljord have grown the Docker Paris Meetup group to nearly 4,000 members and have hosted 46 events since they launched the group almost 4 years ago!

 

Apple to roll out ‘enhanced’ version of Siri on next-gen iPhone

Ahead of the iPhone 8 launch later this year, a new report from Digitimes relays that Apple is currently working on a more "enhanced" version of Siri that may take advantage of Apple's ongoing research in the field of machine learning.While iOS 10 ushered in a number of improvements in this regard—such as the ability to search for photos and people by name—it's no secret the AI space is becoming more and more competitive with each passing month. As a quick example, Samsung with its upcoming Galaxy S8 will introduce a new AI personal assistant dubbed Bixby that will be built on technology the company picked up when it acquired Viv Labs. As a quick point of interest, Viv Labs is led by Dag Kittlaus who helped co-found Siri.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple to roll out “enhanced” version of Siri on next-gen iPhone

Ahead of the iPhone 8 launch later this year, a new report from Digitimes relays that Apple is currently working on a more "enhanced" version of Siri that may take advantage of Apple's ongoing research in the field of machine learning.While iOS 10 ushered in a number of improvements in this regard -- such as the ability to search for photos and people by name -- it's no secret the AI space is becoming more and more competitive with each passing month. As a quick example, Samsung with its upcoming Galaxy S8 will introduce a new AI personal assistant dubbed Bixby that will be built on technology the company picked up when it acquired Viv Labs. As a quick point of interest, Viv Labs is led by Dag Kittlaus who helped co-found Siri.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

In PC comeback, ARM will battle Intel in Chromebooks and Windows 10

ARM tried to break into the PC market but had a disastrous outing starting with Linux-based smartbooks and then tablets with Windows RT.But ARM is launching a comeback in PCs, and the third time could be a charm. ARM chips could emerge as a threat to Intel's x86 as super thin laptops get smartphone-like usability with cellular connectivity and long battery life.The comeback for ARM is starting with Chromebooks, with more models hosting the chip architecture. Lenovo's new N23 Yoga Chromebook -- a 2-in-1 with an 11.6-screen -- has MediaTek's quad-core MT8173c chip, based on ARM.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

GPG Suite updated for secure email on OSX Sierra

GPG Suite, an application that brings encrypted email to Mac OS, is now available in public beta for Sierra.The software package had been compatible up to El Capitan but wasn't working with Sierra, which was released by Apple in September. The new software can now be downloaded from the GPG Tools website.It adds support for the OpenPGP encryption standard, which is an open-source version of the PGP encryption package first developed in 1991.Four software apps are contained in the package:-- GPG Mail is a plugin for Apple Mail that allows users to encrypt, decrypt, sign, and verify mails sent using OpenPGP.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

GPG Suite updated for secure email on OSX Sierra

GPG Suite, an application that brings encrypted email to Mac OS, is now available in public beta for Sierra.The software package had been compatible up to El Capitan but wasn't working with Sierra, which was released by Apple in September. The new software can now be downloaded from the GPG Tools website.It adds support for the OpenPGP encryption standard, which is an open-source version of the PGP encryption package first developed in 1991.Four software apps are contained in the package:-- GPG Mail is a plugin for Apple Mail that allows users to encrypt, decrypt, sign, and verify mails sent using OpenPGP.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here