Apple’s iPhone trade-in program in China could boost sales

Apple has quietly launched a trade-in program to let Chinese customers exchange their old iPhones and iPads for the latest devices, which could help promote adoption of its upcoming Apple Pay and Apple Watch.The trade-in program has already been available in the U.S., but Apple on Tuesday brought the service to China, mentioning it in an update to its website.Chinese customers will be able to exchange iPhones as old as the iPhone 4 to receive store credit that can be used towards the purchase of a new unit, according to an Apple store worker in Beijing.The company, however, will only accept units that were officially sold in China, and not in other countries. Customers can bring the old devices to a local Apple store, where the product serial numbers and overall quality will be checked.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google cloud platform can now be managed from a phone

Google is testing a version for Android smartphones and tablets of a console that will help its customers monitor services in the cloud while on the move.Following the beta launch of the Cloud Console for Android, Google said a version for Apple’s iOS operating system is expected to launch later this year.Using the app, users can set up alerts, manage Google cloud platform resources and access health graphs to gain insights into the performance and availability of their cloud-powered applications on Google’s Cloud Monitoring feature, wrote Michael Thomsen, a product manager at Google, in a blog post Monday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Inaugural Customer Symposium Highlighted Fast Move to SDN/NFV

Inaugural Customer Symposium Highlighted Fast Move to SDN/NFV

by Andy McFarland, VP of Customer Care - March 31, 2015

Our inaugural symposium featured registrants from 5 continents.

In Paris a few weeks ago, Packet Design hosted our first ever Customer Symposium to discuss industry trends and share our latest product developments. Partners and customers joined us from four hemispheres and five continents (with a handful who travelled over 10,000 km). In addition to a showcase of our SDN product (due out later this year) and a sneak preview of our 15.1 release (stay tuned for more on this), the highlight was a presentation by Heavy Reading industry analyst Caroline Chappell. Here’s a quick summary of her talk.

Chappell discussed SDN and NFV adoption trends and shared deployment strategies being used by leading communication service providers. She also outlined the new architectures and management systems needed to successfully operate SDN and NFV-based networks.

One quote that stood out was her contention that, in her more than 25 years of industry experience, “I have never seen the telco industry transition so quickly." She said the timeline for widespread SDN adoption has been pared down from 10 to five years. Continue reading

IBM to pump $3 billion into new IoT business unit

Hungry for a bigger piece of the Internet of things market, IBM will invest US$3 billion over four years to establish a new business unit dedicated to providing IoT systems and services to enterprises.“We’re only at the very beginning of an amazing revolution. If we thought we were dealing with big data now, we haven’t seen anything yet,” said Erick Brethenoux, IBM director of analytics.IBM General Manager Chris O’Connor will oversee the new unit, which will initially court enterprises in travel, logistics, insurance, public utilities, transportation and retail, Brethenoux said.IBM will also tailor a new cloud service, the IBM IoT Cloud Open Platform, providing a way for enterprises to build their own data-driven systems, Brethenoux said. Over time, it will also develop specialized packages for specific fields like the insurance industry.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

EFF questions US government’s software flaw disclosure policy

It’s not clear if the U.S. government is living up to its promise to disclose serious software flaws to technology companies, a policy it put in place five years ago, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.The digital watchdog said on Monday it received a handful of heavily redacted documents from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which it sued last July after it and the National Security Agency moved too slowly on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.Last year, the EFF sought documents related to the U.S. government’s efforts to beef up its Vulnerability Equities Process (VEP), a framework for notifying companies about zero-day vulnerabilities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to update Docker on CentOS 7

I recently noticed that the Kubernetes guys are moving their container images from the Docker hub registry to their own repository…

image
A quick look tells me that Google now has it’s own image repository (gcr.io) so it seems to make sense that the Kubernetes team would be using that rather than the Docker hub registry.  That being said, I though all I’d have to do was update my YAML files to point to the new location.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.  After pushing the controller definitions to the Kubernetes cluster it became apparent that the containers were stuck in a pending state.  When I logged into one of the hosts and check the Docker logs I saw the issue…

image 
After some digging, I found this…

image

Since the container image name had a ‘-‘ in it, Docker didn’t know what to do with it.  So the fix is to update Docker to the latest stable code which happens to be version 1.5.  In my case, the repositories I was using with YUM didn’t have 1.5 so we need to pull the latest binaries from Docker and use those.  To update, Continue reading

Three Tips for Technical Blogging

From time to time, I’m asked by new or potential technical bloggers for advice on how to get into writing, or how to overcome some kind of mental reservation that he/she may have. It’s actually somewhat ironic - I still suffer from many of the same issues that I suffered from back before Keeping It Classless existed. I have been having some serious "Newbie Blogger" issues last few weeks. Ironically, I feel compelled to write about them.

Three Tips for Technical Blogging

From time to time, I’m asked by new or potential technical bloggers for advice on how to get into writing, or how to overcome some kind of mental reservation that he/she may have. It’s actually somewhat ironic - I still suffer from many of the same issues that I suffered from back before Keeping It Classless existed. I have been having some serious "Newbie Blogger" issues last few weeks. Ironically, I feel compelled to write about them.

Docker Online Meetup: Kitematic in action

Three weeks ago, we announced that Kitematic, an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) for running Docker containers on your Mac, was joining the Docker family. Today we’re happy to share with you the video recording from the last Docker Online Meetup about Kitematic (for those … Continued

Software Stack Choices in Cloud Networking

The networking industry is changing rapidly with demand for more dynamic control of big data, and scale-out cloud applications. The inevitable shift to software-defined workloads and workflows is crystal clear. This calls for more “disaggregation” of software models for the network stack.

Should networking move to a more open standards-based approach or continue with legacy stacks? The answer is defined by considering the following three options for networking software stacks, and the actual choice depends on the factors as shown below in Figure 1.

1. Classic OS: The established network vendors tend to develop multi-million lines of complex software code with enterprise or service provider class features for LAN or WAN. This closed monolithic “Blob-OS” model can be based on modified and proprietary versions of a BSD or Linux Kernel. Traditional enterprise support is the hallmark of this model, but innovation is rarely evident. Claims of programmability usually include band-aid APIs, or guest virtual machine access. The classic OS addresses mature markets akin to a mainframe usually for customers with siloed IT stacks that support legacy applications.

2. Cloud OS: At Arista, our software engineers build based on an open Linux Kernel, providing programmable capabilities that legacy switch-based Blob-OSs do Continue reading

Tim Cook takes stand against Indiana’s ‘religious freedom’ law

In a testament to Tim Cook's character, the Apple CEO recently penned an op-ed piece in the Washington Post regarding the recently passed legislation in Indiana which allows business to discriminate against individuals on account of their sexual orientation, all in the name of religious freedom.With the Apple Watch set to launch in under a month, April is arguably the most important month Apple has seen in quite some time. And still, Cook has no qualms about throwing his hat into the ring and getting involved in a debate that might alienate some more closed-minded customers. All of this reflects highly on Tim Cook insofar as he's not afraid to speak out on important issues even in anticipation of one of the company's most important product launches ever.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tim Cook takes stand against Indiana’s “religious freedom” law

In a testament to Tim Cook's character, the Apple CEO recently penned an op-ed piece in the Washington Post regarding the recently passed legislation in Indiana which allows business to discriminate against individuals on account of their sexual orientation, all in the name of religious freedom.With the Apple Watch set to launch in under a month, April is arguably the most important month Apple has seen in quite some time. And still, Cook has no qualms about throwing his hat into the ring and getting involved in a debate that might alienate some more closed-minded customers. All of this reflects highly on Tim Cook insofar as he's not afraid to speak out on important issues even in anticipation of one of the company's most important product launches ever.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Is Juniper The Next Cisco?

Juniper flexed its muscles at the Innovation Showcase held in March 2015. What did they talk about? What does it mean for their customers going forward? I perform an introductory analysis.

With Tidal relaunch, Jay Z doubles down on streaming for audiophiles

Tidal, the Jay Z-owned streaming service built around high quality tracks, is relaunching in a move that could give consumers a new option when weighing competitors like Spotify or Pandora.The revamped Tidal will go live on Monday at 5 p.m. U.S. Eastern time, as indicated by a large countdown timer that dominates its homepage. A company spokesman confirmed the relaunch plan but declined to comment further on how Tidal’s service might change. It’s reasonable to speculate that the new Tidal may feature lower pricing, new app functions, or an expansion of its existing database of 25 million “lossless” CD quality songs.Tidal’s ad-free flagship service currently costs $19.99 per month, and can be accessed on the desktop, iOS, Android and home audio players like Sonos. A version offering standard sound quality costs $9.99 per month. Ad-supported services from competitors like Spotify, Pandora, Rdio and Deezer are free, although premium versions without ads cost around $9.99 per month or less.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How SDN will help earn money, not just save

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is transforming the network and giving network operators unprecedented network programmability, automation, and control. Network administrators are exploring it as it can help them not just optimize total cost of ownership, but do more with fewer people. However, SDN is not just about simplifying the network or cost savings; SDN enables new revenue production opportunities. Here are three ways you can look at how SDN helps monetizing.Customized deliveryWe live in the "Experience Era." The rapid consumer adoption of mobile devices, cloud services, new interfaces, and changing behaviors have transformed how customers engage and what they expect. Customers are looking for services aligned with their needs and abilities, at that moment, on that device. Companies need to deliver experiences that are customer-centric, natural, anticipatory and adaptive. And SDN enables you to do that.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Silk Road investigators charged with stealing bitcoin

Two former U.S. government agents face charges related to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin while assisting with an investigation of the Silk Road underground online marketplace, with one accused of using a fake online persona to extort money from operators of the site.Facing charges of wire fraud and money laundering are Carl Force, 46, of Baltimore, a former special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and Shaun Bridges, 32, of Laurel, Maryland, a former special agent with the U.S. Secret Service. Both served on the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force, which investigated illegal activity on the Silk Road website, the Department of Justice said Monday in a press release.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Bit by bit, Intel looks to quadruple SSD storage

With all the photos, videos, apps and tunes you have, the storage on your smartphone may not be enough. With that in mind, Intel is researching new ways to up the storage capacity in mobile devices and PCs without hurting the size or price of devices.One effort underway at is to stuff more bits in a single cell, which could increase data storage capacity in mobile devices and PCs by as much as fourfold. Intel is trying to cram four bits in a storage cell, an improvement over the three bits that can be put in a single storage cell currently."This could enable denser devices in a broad range of mobile and compute applications," said Bill Leszinske, vice president of strategic planning and marketing for non-volatile memory solutions at Intel, in an email.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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