Will the Olympics ‘payment ring’ jumpstart NFC demand?

Near Field Communication (NFC) – the “mobile wallet” technology – hasn’t exactly gone mainstream yet. And experts don’t expect it will anytime soon, even with some high-profile promo at the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio.While it has been available to consumers for a couple of years from mega-vendors like Google, Samsung and Apple, it is a long way from displacing the legacy credit card. Google even dropped support for its Google Wallet Card last month (Android Pay is still available).But, perhaps hearing about, or seeing, Olympic athletes using an NFC device will get the masses more interested.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Will the Olympics ‘payment ring’ jumpstart NFC demand?

Near Field Communication (NFC) – the “mobile wallet” technology – hasn’t exactly gone mainstream yet. And experts don’t expect it will anytime soon, even with some high-profile promo at the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio.While it has been available to consumers for a couple of years from mega-vendors like Google, Samsung and Apple, it is a long way from displacing the legacy credit card. Google even dropped support for its Google Wallet Card last month (Android Pay is still available).But, perhaps hearing about, or seeing, Olympic athletes using an NFC device will get the masses more interested.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

9 must-have ‘smart’ gadgets for your connected office

Must-have smart gadgets for your small officeImage by ThinkstockAre you setting up a new small office? Simply looking to revamp an existing location with some spiffy "smart" automation technology? We combed through piles of today's novelty IoT tech to find practical gadgets that can transform your workspace into a smart office that's sure to be the envy of all your coworkers and clients.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

IDG Contributor Network: Identity Finder rebrands and comes out with a fear-inducing report

First, the easy part:Identity Finder, a company focused on helping organizations reduce the risks they face when it comes to the leakage of sensitive data, is rebranding as Spirion. At the same time, it has named Dr. Jo Webber as its new CEO. Webber, who previously headed up Energy Solutions International among, comes on board at a good time for the company. It has seen 250 percent growth in customer adoption across many different verticals. That customer growth is fueled in part by concerns around recent high-profile cases of data leakage from retail, health, insurance and other sources. These leaks have meant that both boards and CEOs are increasingly putting huge pressure on CIOs to ensure data is safe.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Identity Finder rebrands and comes out with a fear-inducing report

First, the easy part:Identity Finder, a company focused on helping organizations reduce the risks they face when it comes to the leakage of sensitive data, is rebranding as Spirion. At the same time, it has named Dr. Jo Webber as its new CEO. Webber, who previously headed up Energy Solutions International among, comes on board at a good time for the company. It has seen 250 percent growth in customer adoption across many different verticals. That customer growth is fueled in part by concerns around recent high-profile cases of data leakage from retail, health, insurance and other sources. These leaks have meant that both boards and CEOs are increasingly putting huge pressure on CIOs to ensure data is safe.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

25 surprising facts about Google

25 things you probably don’t know about GoogleGoogle (now officially a subsidiary of Alphabet) has a relatively storied history for being such a young company. Founded in the late 1990s by Stanford grad students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s search engine quickly supplanted more established players in the search space before ultimately becoming synonymous with search altogether. Today, Google is much than a search engine, as the company leveraged its success to branch off into many other tech areas, including mobile operating systems, robotics, and self-driving cars.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple’s earnings report surprises investors

Apple yesterday released its earnings report for the June quarter and investors were left pleasantly surprised. Even though overall revenue and iPhone sales were down year over year, the decline wasn't nearly as bad as many analysts and investors were anticipating. As a result, shares of Apple jumped up nearly 7% in after-hours trading on Tuesday.As for the nitty gritty details, Apple during the June quarter generated $42.4 billion in revenue while enjoying a quarterly profit of $7.8 billion. By way of contrast, Apple in the same quarter a year-ago posted revenue of $49.6 billion and a profit of $10.7 billion."We are pleased to report third quarter results that reflect stronger customer demand and business performance than we anticipated at the start of the quarter,” Tim Cook said in a press release. “We had a very successful launch of iPhone SE and we’re thrilled by customers’ and developers’ response to software and services we previewed at WWDC in June.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Qualcomm agrees to pay $19.5M to settle charges of bias against women

Qualcomm has agreed to pay US$19.5 million to settle a gender discrimination class action lawsuit that alleged that women at the company get lower pay and have lesser chances of promotion under its current programs.The settlement on behalf of a class of about 3,290 female employees was reached before suit was filed, but still requires the filing of a class complaint and a move for preliminary approval of the agreement from a judge in a federal court in California, according to Sanford Heisler, the legal firm representing the women.The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California alleges that in Qualcomm’s U.S. operations, women in science, technology, engineering, and math, known together as STEM, and related roles face discrimination in pay and promotions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IETF 96

The IETF meetings are relatively packed events lasting over a week, and it’s just not possible to attend every session. From the various sessions I attended here are a few personal impressions that I took away from the meeting that I would like to share with you.

In light of increased cyberattacks, White House sets defense plan with FBI in charge

Faced with increasingly troubling attacks on its cyber infrastructure, the United States has outlined new measures intended to help it respond more effectively to attacks that might compromise public safety or its national security interests.On Tuesday, President Obama approved a directive that lays out how federal agencies will respond to “significant cyber incidents," with the FBI to be formally in charge of investigating.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

In light of increased cyberattacks, White House sets defense plan with FBI in charge

Faced with increasingly troubling attacks on its cyber infrastructure, the United States has outlined new measures intended to help it respond more effectively to attacks that might compromise public safety or its national security interests.On Tuesday, President Obama approved a directive that lays out how federal agencies will respond to “significant cyber incidents," with the FBI to be formally in charge of investigating.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google Fosters Another OpenStack Kubernetes Mashup

Because Google is such a wildly successful company and a true innovator when it comes to IT platforms, and because we know more about its infrastructure at a theoretical level than what has been built by other hyperscalers and cloud providers, it is natural enough to think that the future of computing for the rest of us will look like what Google has already created for itself.

But ironically, only by going into the public cloud business could Google have to change its infrastructure enough to actually have to make it look more like what large enterprises will need, and

Google Fosters Another OpenStack Kubernetes Mashup was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

Apple reports second straight quarter of declining iPhone sales

Apple has reported its second straight quarter of falling iPhone sales, hit by stiff competition in China and the ongoing slowdown in the worldwide smartphone market.The company sold 40.4 million iPhones from April to June, down from 47.5 million in the same quarter last year, Apple announced Tuesday.Revenue for the quarter, the third of its fiscal year, was $42.4 billion, down 17 percent from $49.6 billion a year earlier. Its net profit fell 27 percent to $7.8 billion. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here