Faster, longer-range Bluetooth 5 to reach devices soon

A new version of the Bluetooth wireless spec will be coming to devices soon, giving users faster connectivity among devices over longer distances.The new version, Bluetooth 5, is a big upgrade over Bluetooth 4.2, the current specification. In a clear line of sight, the range of Bluetooth 5 could stretch to 400 meters, said analysts at The Linley Group in a research note this week. That means users could connect a smartphone to a Bluetooth speaker that may not even be visible.Final Bluetooth 5 specifications will be disclosed by the end of this year or early next year, the Linley analysts said.In a typical, realistic setting, Bluetooth 5 will offer a range of up to 120 meters, which is four times that of Bluetooth 4.2, and be two times faster, with data transfer rates of 2Mbps, said Chuck Sabin, director for business strategy at the Bluetooth-Special Interest Group, which sets the standards for Bluetooth.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Faster, longer-range Bluetooth 5 to reach devices soon

A new version of the Bluetooth wireless spec will be coming to devices soon, giving users faster connectivity among devices over longer distances.The new version, Bluetooth 5, is a big upgrade over Bluetooth 4.2, the current specification. In a clear line of sight, the range of Bluetooth 5 could stretch to 400 meters, said analysts at The Linley Group in a research note this week. That means users could connect a smartphone to a Bluetooth speaker that may not even be visible.Final Bluetooth 5 specifications will be disclosed by the end of this year or early next year, the Linley analysts said.In a typical, realistic setting, Bluetooth 5 will offer a range of up to 120 meters, which is four times that of Bluetooth 4.2, and be two times faster, with data transfer rates of 2Mbps, said Chuck Sabin, director for business strategy at the Bluetooth-Special Interest Group, which sets the standards for Bluetooth.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Star Trek’s 50 years of technology, optimism and naiveté

Thursday marked the 50th birthday of a TV and film institution, "Star Trek," and was met with far more joy and happiness than most 50th birthdays are.What started as a struggling TV series that limped along for three years has become an institution and part of our culture, with terms, references, and catchphrases now a regular part of our lives.At the time of its creation, science fiction was more optimistic than it is today. It tried to envision a better future where our problems were solved.Even so, it took some serious brass to put an Asian, Russian, and black woman on the bridge of that ship in 1966. Creator Gene Roddenberry wanted to go one further and make the second-in-command a woman but that was a bridge too far, which paved the way for Spock.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

This new imaging system can read closed books

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but a new imaging system from MIT can see right through the cover and read the book while it's still closed.That's thanks primarily to terahertz radiation, the band of electromagnetic radiation between microwaves and infrared light, and the tiny gaps of air between the pages of any closed book.Terahertz radiation can distinguish between ink and blank paper in a way that X-rays can’t, and it also offers much better depth resolution than ultrasound does. The prototype new system developed by researchers from MIT and Georgia Tech uses a standard terahertz camera to emit ultrashort bursts of radiation and then measure how long it takes for that radiation to be reflected back. An algorithm then gauges the distance to each of the book's individual pages.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple takes iPhone 7 preorders, quickly exhausts supply of Jet Black

Apple began taking pre-orders for its iPhone 7 and 7 Plus earlier today, and not surprisingly, some models quickly exhausted their supplies, leaving customers with weeks to wait.The scramble to order an iPhone began at midnight PT, 3 a.m. ET, when Apple and U.S. carriers opened the doors to their online sales sites.By business hours, Apple's iPhone 7 Plus in Jet Black -- a new, highly-polished finish -- faced a delay in shipping that stretched into November, with the smaller iPhone 7 Jet Black reporting a shipping delay of 3 to 4 weeks. The matte black iPhone 7 Plus was also in demand, with shipping dates out two to three weeks. However, other colors of both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were still available for pre-ordering with Sept. 16 arrival dates.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 million tiny computers: Raspberry Pi Foundation announces milestone

The signs were there at the Raspberry Pi’s launch. The debut of the beloved little card-computer was marked by overwhelming demand, so much so that the Raspberry Pi Foundation, “punch-drunk” at the response, had to suspend orders temporarily.Now, more than four years after the fact, 10 million Raspberry Pis have been sold and the demand shows no signs of slowing down. It represents orders of magnitude more success than project founder Eben Upton anticipated.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Ultimate guide to Raspberry Pi operating systems, Part 3 | 10 more fascinating things to do with a Raspberry Pi +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

23% off SnapPower Guidelight – Outlet Coverplate with LED Night Lights – Deal Alert

The SnapPower Guidelight is a plug-and-play replacement for standard plug-in night lights and hardwired lights. It installs within seconds and requires no wires or batteries. SnapPower is designed to look and function like a standard outlet cover by day, with LEDs that provide ambient lighting at night. It's list price of $22 has been reduced on Amazon to $16.95.  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A satisfying tale of sleuthing, justice

Texas-born Christian Hascheck teaches computer science in Vienna, Austria when not working on his own projects, which include a novel grading system. In 2012, he won $500 worth of Apple gift cards for a funny sysadmin story about ferreting out a not terribly sophisticated rogue Wi-Fi operation.Then the move aboard. He tells the story on his blog: Since then I have repeatedly tried to use or sell (the cards) but since I'm not currently living in the US it wasn't possible for me.My last attempt to sell them was via reddit. I know there are a lot of scammers out there, so I thought Bitcoin would be the right choice since the scammer can't just reclaim their money after I gave them the card codes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A satisfying tale of sleuthing, justice

Texas-born Christian Hascheck teaches computer science in Vienna, Austria when not working on his own projects, which include a novel grading system. In 2012, he won $500 worth of Apple gift cards for a funny sysadmin story about ferreting out a not terribly sophisticated rogue Wi-Fi operation.Then the move aboard. He tells the story on his blog: Since then I have repeatedly tried to use or sell (the cards) but since I'm not currently living in the US it wasn't possible for me.My last attempt to sell them was via reddit. I know there are a lot of scammers out there, so I thought Bitcoin would be the right choice since the scammer can't just reclaim their money after I gave them the card codes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hardware Slaves to the Master Algorithm

Over the long course of IT history, the burden has been on the software side to keep pace with rapid hardware advances—to exploit new capabilities and boldly go where no benchmarks have gone before. However, as we swiftly ride into a new age where machine learning and deep learning take the place of more static applications and software advances are far faster than chipmakers can tick and tock to, hardware device makers are scrambling.

That problem is profound enough on its own, and is an entirely different architectural dance than general purpose device have ever had to step to. Shrinking

Hardware Slaves to the Master Algorithm was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

HPE Trims Back To The Core Enterprise Essentials

The Hewlett Packard that Carly Fiorina and Mark Hurd created through aspiration and acquisition is hardly recognizable in the increasingly streamlined Hewlett Packard Enterprise that Meg Whitman is whittling.

We joked earlier this week that with its acquisition of VMware and EMC and the sales of its outsourcing and software businesses that the new Dell was stop trying to be the old IBM. Well, the same is true of the new HP. It is not clear when and if Oracle will get the same memo, but it seems content to build engineered systems, from top to bottom, and we

HPE Trims Back To The Core Enterprise Essentials was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

The 4 Biggest Questions About Docker from VMworld 2016

Simply incredible. We spent last week at VMworld speaking with thousands of enterprise security, infrastructure and virtualization pros. It was humbling to witness all of the curiosity and excitement around Docker at the show, and how Docker clearly made a strong impression on the attendees.

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This curiosity around Docker and its use within enterprise environments is the reason why i’m writing this blog. We noticed that there were many of the same questions that arose, and we figured we should share them with you, as you start your journey towards adopting Docker containers and VMs.

Here are the most commonly asked questions from the conference.

  1. What is Docker? Or even a container? Is it a lightweight VM? Can I use it with vSphere? What value do they provide?

 

 

A Docker container is a standard unit in which application code, binaries and libraries can be packaged and isolated. The Docker Engine is the runtime installed on your infrastructure of choice and is what executes commands to build and deploy containers. Many containers can be connected together to form a Continue reading