Could the iPhone lose FaceTime and iMessage?

Back in February, Apple took a big hit when it lost to patent troll VirnetX to the tune of $626 million for supposedly violating four patents related to Apple's messaging technology. Now, VirnetX wants more money and for a federal judge to permanently turn off those features.  download Download the VirnetX vs. Apple injunction court document (pdf)   VirnetX has been labeled a patent troll because it is a patent holding company and sells a single product, the Gabriel Security Platform, but has more than 80 patents. With just 14 employees in its Nevada office, the company makes most of its money by licensing patents to other firms and by suing businesses that it believes has infringed on its intellectual property. It has also sued Microsoft and Cisco.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Marketo gets scooped up into the private world for $1.79 billion

Marketing-software maker Marketo has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $1.79 billion, the company announced Tuesday.Marketo shareholders will receive $35.25 in cash per share -- a sum the company says represents a 64 percent premium over its closing price earlier this month, before reports emerged that it was exploring strategic alternatives.The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016. Marketo's headquarters will remain in San Mateo, California, the company said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: It’s hard to leave Google

What I do respectfully challenge is that first, Google essentially doesn’t “collect all of that information” because they do (see here), and second, that Google somehow is easy to escape,when it comes to collecting one’s private information, because it is not, as I will prove below. Somewhat Reasonable

The post Worth Reading: It’s hard to leave Google appeared first on 'net work.

Broadcom Rival Innovium Raised $50M

Surprise backer: Qualcomm.

Kaby Lake starts strong as Intel retools PC strategy

Intel's upcoming 7th Generation Core processor family, code-named Kaby Lake, is off to a quick start.More than 400 devices with Intel's upcoming chip design will reach the market, said Navin Shenoy, corporate vice president and general manager for Intel's Client Computing Group.One of those devices will be Asus' Surface-like Transformer 3, which will ship in the third quarter starting at US$799. The device has a 12.6-inch screen that displays images at a resolution of 2880 x 1920 pixels. It weighs 695 grams and is 6.9 millimeters thick. The device has a 13-megapixel camera, and it can be configured with a 512GB SSD and up to 8GB RAM.Shenoy, speaking during a keynote at the Computex trade show in Taipei, also showed a 2-in-1 made by Compal during the keynote. It's not clear if the first Kaby Lake chips to reach PCs will be low-power Core M or the faster Core i chips.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Enterprise 911 — Lost in translation

If you work in an office, your work days include the standard routine of commuting to work and taking your place at a cubicle in a corporate facility amid your fellow employees.Most likely, your employer has provided you with a desk and a laptop, and on your desk is a telephone connected to the corporate multi-line telephone system (MLTS) known as an MLTS/PBX. Alice in accounting or David in sales is easily reached by directly dialing that person's extension number. Reaching someone outside of your company is just as easy. First, an access code is dialed, then the 10- or 11-digit telephone number of the desired remote party. The rest is telephone network magic that is likely out of sight and out of mind.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OEM software update tools preloaded on PCs are a security mess

Serious vulnerabilities have crept into the software tools that PC manufacturers preload on Windows computers, but the full extent of the problem is much worse than previously thought.Researchers from security firm Duo Security have tested the software updaters that come installed by default on laptops from five PC OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) -- Acer, ASUSTeK Computer, Lenovo, Dell and HP -- and all of them had at least one serious vulnerability. The flaws could have allowed attackers to remotely execute code with system privileges, leading to a full system compromise.In most cases, the problems resulted from the OEM software updaters not using encrypted HTTPS connections when checking for or downloading updates. In addition, some updaters didn't verify that the downloaded files were digitally signed by the OEM before executing them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OEM software update tools preloaded on PCs are a security mess

Serious vulnerabilities have crept into the software tools that PC manufacturers preload on Windows computers, but the full extent of the problem is much worse than previously thought.Researchers from security firm Duo Security have tested the software updaters that come installed by default on laptops from five PC OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) -- Acer, ASUSTeK Computer, Lenovo, Dell and HP -- and all of them had at least one serious vulnerability. The flaws could have allowed attackers to remotely execute code with system privileges, leading to a full system compromise.In most cases, the problems resulted from the OEM software updaters not using encrypted HTTPS connections when checking for or downloading updates. In addition, some updaters didn't verify that the downloaded files were digitally signed by the OEM before executing them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

EFF challenges patent troll’s vaporous claim to the emailing of USPS tracking numbers

So we live in a world where a guy can’t begin to sell vaping-related goods over the Internet without being shaken down by a patent troll claiming a legal right to the courtesy of sending USPS tracking codes via email. From an Electronic Frontier Foundation press release: In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, EFF is representing Jason Cugle, who last year began running a small business selling accessories for electronic cigarettes. Cugle, a Maryland resident, received a letter accusing his company and website (Triple7vaping.com) of violating Shipping & Transit’s patents, which relate to ideas for monitoring and reporting the status of delivery vehicles. Cugle simply sent customer shipments through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and manually emailed each customer a message saying the package had been shipped and providing the USPS tracking number. Florida-based Shipping & Transit claims its patents cover a variety of methods of notifying people when a vehicle is about to reach its destination, including Cugle’s.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

EFF challenges patent troll’s vaporous claim to the emailing of USPS tracking numbers

So we live in a world where a guy can’t begin to sell vaping-related goods over the Internet without being shaken down by a patent troll claiming a legal right to the courtesy of sending USPS tracking codes via email. From an Electronic Frontier Foundation press release: In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, EFF is representing Jason Cugle, who last year began running a small business selling accessories for electronic cigarettes. Cugle, a Maryland resident, received a letter accusing his company and website (Triple7vaping.com) of violating Shipping & Transit’s patents, which relate to ideas for monitoring and reporting the status of delivery vehicles. Cugle simply sent customer shipments through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and manually emailed each customer a message saying the package had been shipped and providing the USPS tracking number. Florida-based Shipping & Transit claims its patents cover a variety of methods of notifying people when a vehicle is about to reach its destination, including Cugle’s.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

12 reasons why mobile already ate the world, according to Ben Evans

Evidently discarding any reservations he might have had about mobile becoming the dominant computing platform, Benedict Evans, Andreesen Horwitz venture capital analyst and blogger, says mobile is no longer in the process of eating the world, but that “mobile ate the world.”Evans made the statement during his yearly mobile presentation, which he published at the end of March. Over Memorial Day weekend, I read his presentation, which has become a high-tech industry touchstone, and summarized the tall tent poles of this 76-slide tome for those short on time. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Russia’s oldest bank found itself on the leading edge of in-memory computing

It's not your average company that can trace its origins back to a nineteenth-century Russian tsar, but then, Sberbank is no average financial institution.Established through a decree by Emperor Nikolai I in 1841, Sberbank is Russia's oldest bank and has played a long and storied role in the nation's history. Today, with more than 16,000 branches in all 83 constituent entities of the Russian Federation -- traversing 11 time zones -- it serves roughly 70 percent of the Russian population.Therein lie the roots of the bank's very modern challenge.Whereas once virtually all transactions were conducted in person during office hours and on bank premises, the arrival of the Internet turned that pattern on its head. No longer constrained by branch operating schedules or the on-site availability of bank officers, customer-service demands skyrocketed as consumer expectations extended 24/7.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Russia’s oldest bank found itself on the leading edge of in-memory computing

It's not your average company that can trace its origins back to a nineteenth-century Russian tsar, but then, Sberbank is no average financial institution.Established through a decree by Emperor Nikolai I in 1841, Sberbank is Russia's oldest bank and has played a long and storied role in the nation's history. Today, with more than 16,000 branches in all 83 constituent entities of the Russian Federation -- traversing 11 time zones -- it serves roughly 70 percent of the Russian population.Therein lie the roots of the bank's very modern challenge.Whereas once virtually all transactions were conducted in person during office hours and on bank premises, the arrival of the Internet turned that pattern on its head. No longer constrained by branch operating schedules or the on-site availability of bank officers, customer-service demands skyrocketed as consumer expectations extended 24/7.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

44% off LOOP International Travel Plug with USB Charging and Power Bank – Deal Alert

If you travel internationally, or know someone who does, this may be one to consider. LOOP Electronics travel adapter is an all-in-one travel plug that not only keeps you powered in over 150 countries, but also includes dual USB charging ports and a battery backup (power bank) for when you need power or charging but can't locate a plug. The adapter has a built-in fuse, is made of fire-resistant materials, and comes with an 18-month warranty. It currently averages 4 out of 5 stars from 99 customers (read reviews). With a regular list price of $40, it's currently discounted to just $22.45. See this discounted travel plug now on Amazon to learn more and explore buying options.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Researchers: Cloud is no commodity

A new report from 451 Research theorizes that the “race to the bottom” of public IaaS cloud prices is an unsustainable model that is not expanding market share. Instead vendors have transitioned to a “race to the top” to add higher-level application services on top of their clouds to grow their businesses.Three years ago IaaS vendors dropped prices regularly, sometimes within hours of each other, in what appeared to be a race to the lowest prices in the cloud. Today, public cloud IaaS vendors focus much more on providing higher-level application services that run on top of their infrastructure in an effort to attract and retain customers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Researchers: Cloud is a no commodity

A new report from 451 Research theorizes that the “race to the bottom” of public IaaS cloud prices is an unsustainable model that is not expanding market share. Instead vendors have transitioned to a “race to the top” to add higher-level application services on top of their clouds to grow their businesses.Three years ago IaaS vendors dropped prices regularly, sometimes within hours of each other, in what appeared to be a race to the lowest prices in the cloud. Today, public cloud IaaS vendors focus much more on providing higher-level application services that run on top of their infrastructure in an effort to attract and retain customers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Shadow IT 101: Beyond convenience vs. security

Shadow IT, a term that loosely refers to any technology that is used in a company without the oversight of the IT department, isn't a new concept. But companies don't seem to have a better handle on it now than they did when we first started writing about it.Today, about a third of a company's tech purchases take place outside of IT. And a survey by Cisco found that while IT departments assumed their companies used 51 cloud service, employees in fact used 730 cloud services. Now consider that the average organization has 19.6 cloud-related security incidents each month. Suddenly, you've got a big problem on your hands.[ Also on CSO: How to prevent shadow IT ] This infographic from cloud file management and storage provider SmartFile offers insight into the Shadow IT phenomenon, the hidden costs to your organization, and why it isn't likely to go away anytime soon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Shadow IT 101: Beyond convenience vs. security

Shadow IT, a term that loosely refers to any technology that is used in a company without the oversight of the IT department, isn't a new concept. But companies don't seem to have a better handle on it now than they did when we first started writing about it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

No, Microsoft hasn’t backtracked from zealous Windows 10 upgrade tactics

Contrary to scattered reports, Microsoft has not backpedaled from its latest aggressive tactic to boost Windows 10 adoption.Accounts claiming that Microsoft has only now introduced a new warning dialog are incorrect: That secondary notice has been part of Microsoft's campaign since at least the first week of May -- before word spread about the company's unusual interpretation of a click on the red "X" in the upper-right corner of a notification that a pre-scheduled upgrade to Windows 10 was imminent.Since at least March 23, and probably as far back as February, Microsoft has been defining a click-the-X as approving the scheduled upgrade, rather than the expected behavior of ignoring the notice and closing the window. Microsoft's interpretation of clicking the X runs counter to its own design rules.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft’s investing arm is back on the market, but will entrepreneurs bite?

After laying dormant for quite some time, Microsoft has announced that it is getting back into directly investing in startups. Microsoft Ventures has been overhauled, though it’s not clear why Microsoft has decided to get back into investing — or if the company is in it for the long haul.Nagraj Kashyap, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Ventures, laid out his vision for the investing arm in a blog post Monday, saying that the fund will be used to support early-stage companies and help Microsoft be more involved in new technology developments.Microsoft’s existing series of startup accelerators, and its BizSpark program to offer discounts on software, will be rolled into a new Microsoft Accelerator organization. For larger business partnerships and acquisitions, Microsoft will rely on a different team. This version of Ventures is supposed to fill in a gap Microsoft left open when it stopped directly investing in companies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here