Virtually trampling over Black Friday 2016

We've done more than our fair share of Black Friday, Black November, pre-Black Friday, Cyber Monday and other tech bargain roundups, including looks at virtual reality systems such as HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR that can be had for less this holiday shopping season.MORE: 50+ Black Friday 2016 tech dealsNow a comedy website dubbed Above Average, which has SNL and 30 Rock blood in its veins, brings us a beautiful (and only slightly NSFW) mashup of Black Friday deals and virtual reality systems that's just a little too real.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Open-source hardware makers unite to start certifying products

Four years ago, Alicia Gibb was trying to unite a fragmented open-source hardware community to join together to create innovative products.So was born the Open Source Hardware Association, which Gibb hoped would foster a community of hardware "hackers" sharing, tweaking, and updating hardware designs. It shared the ethics and ethos of open-source software and encouraged the release of hardware designs -- be it for it processors, machines, or devices -- for public reuse.Since then, OSHWA has gained strength, with Intel, Raspberry Pi, and Sparkfun endorsing the organization. Its growth has coincided with the skyrocketing popularity of Arduino and Raspberry Pi-like developer boards -- many of them open source -- to create gadgets and IoT devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Backdoor in Android phones

For about $50, you can get a smartphone with a high-definition display, fast data sendee and, according to security contractors, a secret feature: a backdoor that sends all your text messages to China every 72 hours.Security contractors recently discovered preinstalled software in some Android phones that monitors where users go, whom they talk to and what they write in text messages. The American authorities say it is not clear whether this represents secretive data mining for advertising purposes or a Chinese government effort to collect intelligence. —NY Times

LinkedInTwitterGoogle+Facebook

The post Worth Reading: Backdoor in Android phones appeared first on 'net work.

10 considerations for running WebRTC services on AWS

This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.

You want to embed real-time communications features into your website or mobile application for direct peer-to-peer communication and you’ve landed on WebRTC. That’s a great start.

Now you realize that backend services are critical for building a robust solution. You are thinking about hosting your solution in the cloud, using an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) environment built on top of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Again, good choice. AWS is an obvious first place to look as they’re a leader in the cloud services space.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 considerations for running WebRTC services on AWS

This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.You want to embed real-time communications features into your website or mobile application for direct peer-to-peer communication and you’ve landed on WebRTC. That’s a great start.Now you realize that backend services are critical for building a robust solution. You are thinking about hosting your solution in the cloud, using an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) environment built on top of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Again, good choice. AWS is an obvious first place to look as they’re a leader in the cloud services space.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The end of net neutrality may begin in June of 2017

Yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of Jeff Eisenach and Mark Jamison to the agency landing team responsible for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Fortune called Eisenbach and Jamison staunch opponents of net neutrality, and Re/Code said these appointments may end net neutrality. In addition, Jamison asked, “Do we need the FCC?” in an October 2016 blog post.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Introducing the Docker Community Directory and Docker Community Slack

Today, we’re thrilled to officially introduce the Docker Community Directory and Slack to further enable community building and collaboration. Our goal is to give everyone the opportunity to become a more informed and engaged member of the community by creating sub groups and channels based on location, language, use cases, interest in specific Docker-centric projects or initiatives.

 

Sign up for the Docker Community Directory and Slack

 

Docker Community Directory

Members who join the Docker Community Directory will benefit from the following:

  • Latest product updates and release notes
  • Targeted invitations and promo codes for Docker community events (DockerCon, Docker Summits, Meetups, Docker Partner events, trainings, workshops and hackathons)
  • Ability to participate in raffles for Docker Swag
  • Chance to get priority access to product betas
  • Opportunity to get involved as a user and/or customer reference, meetup organizer, mentor, speaker, etc.
  • Be listed on the Docker Community Directory without sharing your email (built in direct messaging system)
  • Access to the Docker Community Slack

Docker Community Directory

The Docker Community Directory is a tool for community members to collaborate. Everyone should use it respectfully, with genuine and specific Docker-centric messages. It should not be used to send messages that could be qualified as spam or otherwise violate Continue reading

Google acquires AWS training vendor Qwiklabs

Google is acquiring Qwiklabs, a company that helps people learn how to use public cloud services to run applications without operating a data center.It's a helpful move for Google, which is trying to expand the use of its cloud platform and stands to gain when developers and IT professionals get a handle on making applications run in the cloud. The company will create tools to help get people up to speed on the Google Cloud Platform and G Suite productivity service, Jason Martin, the director of professional services for Google Cloud, said in a blog post.But there's a wrinkle to the acquisition, announced Monday: Qwiklabs's existing portfolio is entirely focused on educating people about offerings from Amazon Web Services, including Alexa skills. For the time being, those offerings will still be available.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Holiday shopping goes high-tech: 3 trends retailers have adopted

With the holiday shopping season upon us, retailers are feeling the pressure to make big numbers during their busiest time of the year. Retailers generate 25 percent of their annual sales during this lucrative period according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).There are more challenges for retailers than ever before. Brick and mortar stores are struggling with fierce online competition. Department stores such as Target, Walmart and BestBuy posted year-over-year declines of 7.3 percent. Further, mobile commerce is on the rise. Mobile shoppers now make up 61 percent of total ecommerce traffic, according to Unbxd.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Facebook’s latest experiment: Helping you find free Wi-Fi hotspots

Facebook says it’s not a media company, but it just might be turning into a Wi-Fi finder service. Users of the social network’s iOS app report seeing a new feature in the More section that lets them find nearby public Wi-Fi access points.The feature does not appear to be widely available at the moment, which means this is probably something Facebook is only testing. The social network tests numerous features all the time but this one is particularly notable.As The Next Web points out, helping users find public Wi-Fi could enable more people to use Facebook Live. If your cellular connection isn’t strong, a nearby Wi-Fi location can be a big help—unless, of course, your Facebook Live broadcast is dependent on your specific location.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Decentralized IT management raises concerns

VMware is in the midst of seismic change. The company was a pioneer in server virtualization and has grown to dominate the space. In the process, it became a supplier to virtually every large organization on earth. But the time, as they say, are a-changing, and VMware is under pressure. The rise of cloud computing vendors such as Amazon Web Services, new approaches towards technology such as containerization and serverless computing, and a fundamentally different way of doing enterprise IT all mean that some clouds are on the horizon for VMware. So, this is one company that wants to be tightly aligned with the wishes of its customers. Some, less sympathetic commentators would suggest that this is, in fact, a company that wants to spread fear and uncertainty within its customer base so that those customers will want to stick with their “trusted partner.” Either way, a survey recently commissioned by the company is interesting reading. Both in and of itself, but also given the unusual context VMware sits within.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

HP’s EliteBook 705 laptops pack AMD’s latest Pro chips

PC makers can't wait to test AMD's mysterious Zen chip in laptops. For now, HP and other manufacturers are making the best out of AMD's current chip offerings, the latest of which target professional users.HP has announced the EliteBook 705 family of laptops with AMD's Pro chips, which were released last month. Starting at $769, the laptops seem pricey for AMD-based systems.The EliteBook 705 family includes the 12.5-inch 725, the 14-inch 745 and the 15.6-inch 755 models. These systems can be configured with full-HD screens, up to 500GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.The laptops are targeted at business users, which may explain the price. Most high-priced laptops have Intel chips, but AMD wants a share of that market as it tries to squeak more profit out of chip sales.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Amazon slashes cloud prices ahead of re:Invent

The week before Amazon Web Services kicks off its annual re:Invent user conference the company has cut prices of its two biggest products: virtual machines and object storage.The moves come as some analysts have noted that cloud price cuts have slowed in recent years. Price cuts are not dying though, as AWS’s moves from the past few weeks show.On Nov. 14 AWS announced between 5% and 10% reductions in the cost of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), it’s core virtual machine IaaS product, effective Dec. 1.This week, the company announced between 20% and 28% reductions in Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), also effective Dec. 1. Before the EC2 price reduction this month, that service’s price had not been reduced since January 2016.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

1 … 2,505 2,506 2,507 2,508 2,509 … 3,841