Announcement

Total 69 articles, created at 2016-03-25 18:03 1 Choosing Between Apple's 9.7-Inch Tablets: iPad Air 2 vs. iPad Pro

(2.00/3) The new iPad Pro has the same size screen as the already-available iPad Air 2. We highlight key differences and similarities between Apple's two 9.7-inch iPads. 2016-03-25 12:33 1KB www.eweek.com 2 Admitting to throttling video, Netflix now promises more control for users

(2.00/3) Netflix admitted to throttling video streams worldwide for its mobile users, but said it hasn't been an issue for customers. 2016-03-25 03:19 3KB www.computerworld.com 3 Lyft drivers lawsuit may end without addressing worker reclassification A lawsuit filed by drivers against Lyft may not address the key and contentious issue of (2.00/3) whether the drivers should be reclassified as employees with all the attendant benefits. 2016-03-25 00:33 3KB www.itworld.com 4 Hulu's Gear VR app has Netflix beat in a few big ways Your subscription is about to get you so much more 2016-03-24 19:30 2KB (2.00/3) feedproxy.google.com

5 AI is coming, so we'd better start preparing for it Francois Tung of law firm Pinsent Masons examines the legal implications of rapidly improving artificial intelligence,Cloud and Infrastructure,Software,Legislation and Regulation ,Artificial Intelligence,Machine Learning,Pinsent Masons 2016-03-25 18:03 1004Bytes www.computing.co.uk 6 Real-time visibility With an all-in-one solution, you can get a broad and specific view of what is happening in your contact centre -- and 2016-03-25 12:05 704Bytes www.itworldcanada.com 7 Can I limit what my friends see on Facebook? Control your Facebook visibility for some or all your friends Social media is always growing and privacy is becoming increasingly important. Here's a guide on how to limit Facebook friends 2016-03-25 12:45 3KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 8 Who do you think you are? A “personality” quiz for managed services When looking outside of your business to organize, manage, develop and secure infrastructure, it’s important to evaluate what is best for the 2016-03-25 13:42 1KB www.itworldcanada.com 9 Newegg Daily Deals: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Classified, Intel Core i7-5930K, and More! This is the year that virtual reality makes a major splash in the consumer market. The question is, are you ready? Two of the most anticipated solutions—Oculus Rift and HTC Vive—both require a relatively powerful PC. If you're looking for an... 2016-03-25 12:00 2KB www.maximumpc.com 10 Augmentez l’engagement de vos clients Les attentes du client, telles que la rapidité de réponse et l'efficacité, ont augmenté de manière inversement proportionnelle au nombre de canaux 2016-03-25 12:35 788Bytes www.itworldcanada.com

11 OS X 10 tips and tricks These tips are courtesy of Mac guru Jonny Evans, who pens our Apple Holic blog. Learn how to wrangle Spotlight, 10 steps... 2016-03-25 12:33 960Bytes www.computerworld.com

12 Comment optimiser les ressources pour offrir une expérience client exemplaire Le présent livre blanc vous emmène à la découverte d’un monde différent. Il vous permet de comprendre les attentes de vos clients 2016-03-25 13:42 952Bytes www.itworldcanada.com 13 Yahoo's board is under attack, the latest headache for Marissa Mayer The company is under fire from a successful activist investor group attempting to get the Internet pioneer's board to clean house, starting, possibly, with its CEO. 2016-03-25 12:38 4KB cnet.com.feedsportal.com 14 Crave giveaway: Free 32GB computer memory boost from Crucial Does your computer need a performance boost? Read on to find out how to get a new memory module that will especially appeal to gamers and overclockers. 2016-03-25 12:38 900Bytes cnet.com.feedsportal.com 15 Best Easter deals UK: Cheap TVs, tablets, headphones, speakers & more tech Amazon is kicking off a huge Easter Deals Week and Lightning Deals have begun early. Here are the best Amazon tech deals. 2016-03-25 11:00 3KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 16 How Twitter corrupted Microsoft's sweet AI teen 'Tay' The chatbot didn't last a day before she was shut down for repeating horrible things she "learned" from Twitter. Meanwhile, Sony plans to make PlayStation games for smartphones and Apple Pay may be expanding to websites soon. 2016-03-25 12:38 1KB cnet.com.feedsportal.com 17 Ekso competitor unveils lightest robotic suit ever After inventing the first-ever untethered bionic exoskeleton, he broke from his former company. Now this inventor is back with another breakthrough. 2016-03-25 10:50 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 18 Heroic showdown: 1978 Superman vs. 1989 Batman Christopher Reeve's Superman and Michael Keaton's Batman seek glory in this Honest Trailers competition. You decide which superhero movie is the best -- or possibly the campiest. 2016-03-25 12:38 1KB cnet.com.feedsportal.com 19 Watch dad's DIY virtual-reality bike-racing ride thrill his kid No Oculus Rift, no problem. A clever dad creates an immersive bike-racing environment for his daughter with the use of a few props and a lot of strength. 2016-03-25 12:38 1KB cnet.com.feedsportal.com 20 'Batman v. Superman,' 'Suicide Squad' figures seek super battles (pictures) As the DC movie universe expands this year, so too will the tie-in toys and collectibles. Some are already available or on their way, as seen at the recent New York Toy Fair. 2016-03-25 12:38 949Bytes cnet.com.feedsportal.com 21 Jabba the Hutt marshmallow treats: 'Bring me sugar and the Wookiee!' Bite into a grumpy Star Wars alien with a recipe for making your own sugar-coated Jabba the Hutt marshmallow snacks. 2016-03-25 12:38 1KB cnet.com.feedsportal.com

22 Tripping balls in deep dream VR with VFX artist Jonathan Sims (Tomorrow Daily 337) A deep dive into facial tracking and animation software, 3D printing items during shipping and futuristic toys from Fisher Price; plus, we welcome VFX artist and director Jonathan Sims to talk about making a deep dream VR experience. 2016-03-25 12:38 1KB cnet.com.feedsportal.com 23 ​Police turn to digital bloodhounds in modern-day manhunts Law enforcement agencies throughout Europe have an arsenal of tech tools to find a suspect in Tuesday's bombings in Brussels. 2016-03-25 12:38 4KB cnet.com.feedsportal.com 24 Computerworld UK Daily Digest - 25 March 2016 - UK Government boosts GOV. UK Verify security - GE Transportation CEO - In-demand programming languages 2016 Welcome to today's Computerworld UK Daily Digest. We explore Gov. UK U2F authentication, introduce GE's transportation CEO, and reveal the most in-demand programming languages 2016. Plus: take the Facebook quiz to put your Facebook knowledge to the test. 2016-03-25 10:00 1KB www.computerworlduk.com 25 How to plan the perfect Easter holiday Make the most of the Easter break 2016-03-25 09:00 4KB feedproxy.google.com 26 How to speed up Android: 6 ways to give your smartphone or tablet new life No device is exempt from slowing down so here's how to improve the performance of your Android device. 2016-03-25 09:00 3KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 27 Flux Card power bank review: Ultra-slim and truly portable cable-free charger for IPhone AND Android Power banks are extremely useful but they can be cumbersome, especially when you also have to carry assorted cables to transfer that power from the bank to your phone. Flux Card is the opposite of those power banks, slim, portable and with no extra cables required - for iPhone or Android. 2016-03-25 08:35 5KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 28 What Retailers Really Know About Their Customers Retailers are getting smarter about delivering better customer experiences across multiple channels. Yet in spite of ongoing technology investments, the promise of relevant, personalized marketing is still falling short. Here are some of the latest tools retailers are using, how they're using them,... 2016-03-25 08:05 9KB www.informationweek.com 29 Have a bricked iPad with iOS 9.3? There's a fix for that You need this if you're updating an old iPad 2016-03-25 07:38 2KB feedproxy.google.com 30 9 iPhone SE Alternatives That Are Cheaper Apple recently unveiled the smaller, less expensive iPhone SE, which starts at $399, to appeal to new buyers. But there are lower-cost alternatives. Here are 9 choices to consider. 2016-03-25 07:06 2KB www.informationweek.com 31 Razer Mamba Tournament Edition Review Call it a DeathAdder with an improved sensor 2016-03-25 07:00 1KB www.maximumpc.com 32 Here are the cars to see at the 2016 New York Auto Show Oooh shiney! 2016-03-25 05:10 22KB feedproxy.google.com 33 Why IT can’t handle data breaches alone The entire C-suite and board is on the hot seat for security these days -- and that makes data breaches everyone's business 2016-03-25 04:31 1KB www.infoworld.com 34 How machine learning will take off in the cloud The cloud will bring the power of machine learning to the Joe Schmoes of the enterprise 2016-03-25 04:26 5KB www.infoworld.com 35 Trio of Apple execs pull in $55.6 million each Philip Schiller, Bruce Sewell, and Jeff Williams just received the second half of a stock award granted in 2011 after Tim Cook took the helm 2016-03-25 04:23 2KB www.infoworld.com 36 How Apple stomped on Intel's plans to make RealSense emotionally smart Apple bought the emotion-sensing technology in Intel's 3D camera, putting the brakes on Intel's plans 2016-03-25 04:17 2KB www.infoworld.com 37 Verizon's breach experts missed one right under their noses An intruder to Verizon Enterprise stole contact data on customers -- maybe as many as 1.5 million 2016-03-25 04:11 2KB www.infoworld.com 38 France fines Google for not being forgetful enough The French data protection authority has fined Google €100,000 for failing to implement the so-called right to be forgotten as it ordered. 2016-03-25 04:09 3KB www.computerworld.com 39 Retail's struggles with improving in-store checkout With all of the effort by retailers to lure shoppers into their stores, one would think that granting those customers an easy and painless exit would be a priority. One would be wrong. 2016-03-25 04:00 3KB www.computerworld.com 40 That was quick: New iOS build fixes Apple activation bug (but don't call it 9.3.1) iOS 9.3 has a serious bug, which is not exactly a surprise -- something like this seems to happen every release. Some owners of older iToys complained their shiny was bricked by the update, so Apple has had to scramble to fix it... 2016-03-25 04:00 1KB www.computerworld.com 41 Didn't get your dream job? 8 tips for handling rejection Losing out on a job you really wanted can be difficult, but there are eight tips for handling the situation and moving forward with your career search. 2016-03-25 03:55 1KB www.computerworld.com 42 Top 25 free tools for Windows 7 and 8.1 Sticking with Windows 7 or 8.1, at least for now? Here are the free apps you need to keep your PC running right. 2016-03-25 03:30 22KB www.computerworld.com 43 17 iOS 9.3 tips to make the most out of Apple's latest feature-packed update iOS's latest update is a major one, with a lot of small, hidden features. Here's how to try them all out now—whether it's day or night. 2016-03-25 03:30 9KB www.itnews.com 44 Make the most of free Amazon Web Services If you avoid the gotchas and keep a close eye on resource consumption, you can have a useful server in the Amazon cloud for free. 2016-03-25 03:27 1KB www.computerworld.com 45 Microsoft's PowerPoint Designer gets multiple image support and more A few months ago, Microsoft released a feature for PowerPoint 2016 that can help users make better-looking slides even if they aren't presentation experts. On Thursday, it got even better with a few upgrades. 2016-03-25 03:22 2KB www.computerworld.com

46 Turn your smartphone into a 3D printer for $99 A new Kickstarter project -- from OLO -- uses the light from a smartphone to harden resin and build objects in small stereolithography 3D printer. 2016-03-25 03:00 3KB www.computerworld.com 47 Faster procurement: The Army Way This pilot fish needs to replace a broken generator within weeks -- which is a procurement nightmare even when it doesn't require threading through four years of military approvals. Can this red tape be sliced? 2016-03-25 03:00 3KB www.computerworld.com 48 NPM fiasco even caught Brendan Eich off guard The kerfuffle over left-pad tripped up scores of developers, including JavaScript's founder 2016-03-25 03:00 2KB www.infoworld.com 49 Our bodies, ourselves: How CareKit apps will revolutionize health care The iPhone will bridge the gap between quantifying our health and actually doing something about it. 2016-03-25 03:00 6KB www.itnews.com 50 How virtual reality will shape the future of your PC hardware VR is seemingly everywhere these days, as the PC industry pins its hopes on this emerging market. Indeed, chip makers say it's already influencing the future of the PC. 2016-03-25 03:00 9KB www.itnews.com 51 Android N: All the little things in Google's latest version Take a quick tour of what’s new in the developer preview of Android N 2016-03-25 03:00 6KB www.infoworld.com 52 Apple vs. FBI is over, but the encryption battle rages on Encryption is once again the bogeyman after this week's attacks in Belgium, and the lessons of the FBI’s abandoned case against Apple could be lost 2016-03-25 03:00 7KB www.infoworld.com 53 Apple and Dropbox dump AWS -- should you? Tech companies have good reason to reassess when and whether they use public clouds, but they're not representative of enterprises' needs 2016-03-25 03:00 2KB www.infoworld.com 54 Microsoft's chat bot is yanked offline after Twitter users warp it with racism Updated: Redmond responds to Tay's getting tongue-tied 2016-03-25 00:22 2KB feedproxy.google.com 55 Demo: HP OfficeJet Pro 8740 All-In-One Printer HP says its new OfficeJet 8700 printers offer the speed and efficiency of a LaserJet printer at a fraction of the price. 2016-03-25 00:13 1KB www.crn.com 56 5 useful Gmail and Google Apps add-ons for Firefox Access your favorite Google Apps, manage email, and translate text all from your Firefox toolbar. 2016-03-25 00:00 2KB www.pcworld.com

57 The Google Nik Collection is now free! The seven plug-ins in the Google Nik Collection work with Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom on Mac and PC 2016-03-24 22:04 2KB feedproxy.google.com 58 Why a 4K PS4 would betray the console code It's progress, but at what cost? 2016-03-24 22:00 4KB feedproxy.google.com 59 Mesosphere raises $73.5 Million Series C, backed by HPE and Microsoft Mesosphere is known for its Datacenter Operating System (DCOS), designed to pool datacenter compute resources and automate common operations. 2016-03-24 20:21 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 60 FBI testing code-based method to get into San Bernardino iPhone The Justice Dept. says it's too early to know how the hack will turn out. 2016-03-24 20:16 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 61 Hate the Steam Controller? Fix it yourself Innovative as it may be, the Steam Controller is not flawless. Everyone has their own complaints about it, but if your complaints... 2016-03-24 20:13 1KB techreport.com 62 Enterprise security: The easiest data breaches are the hardest to stop Stealing sensitive data can be as easy as emailing a payroll staff member and requesting copies of everyone's W-2s. 2016-03-24 19:45 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 63 Docker app for Windows 10 now in limited beta Docker is launching a limited beta program for its new Docker for Windows and Docker for Mac apps. 2016-03-24 19:40 3KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 64 Apple designing its own iCloud servers to avoid surveillance The NSA is known to intercept tech in-transit through the postal system. 2016-03-24 19:32 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 65 Microsoft Graph: A way to build smarter, stickier apps Microsoft Graph, the company's unified Office 365 programming interface, is likely to be in the spotlight at the company's Build 2016 developer conference. 2016-03-24 18:37 3KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 66 ​Apple's Swift comes to Linux Swift 2.2 includes support for Swift on Ubuntu Linux 14.04 and 15.10. 2016-03-24 18:22 1KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 67 Lexmark To Lay Off 143 Employees At Headquarters Lexmark announced it plans to let go of 143 employees at its Kentucky headquarters. The move raises speculation that the printer manufacturer is positioning itself to be sold. 2016-03-24 18:15 3KB www.crn.com 68 Google reportedly building Amazon Echo competitor as industry eyes your home With the next tech industry battleground being your home, Google has a "secret" project to build an Amazon Echo competitor, according to a new report. 2016-03-24 18:06 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 69 UK looks at impact of AI and robotics on jobs and society Submissions invited on the impact on jobs and the workplace, as well as social, ethical and legal issues which could arise from the rise of AI. 2016-03-24 18:04 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com Articles

Total 69 articles, created at 2016-03-25 18:03

1 Choosing Between Apple's 9.7-Inch Tablets: iPad Air 2 vs. iPad Pro (2.00/3) Apple's "Let us loop you in" event on March 21 was a predictable affair. The company announced the iPhone SE that had been rumored for months, showed off some colorful new wristbands for the Apple Watch and talked about renewable energy. However, the event also made it harder for customers to decide which iPad to buy when Apple unveiled the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro. Designed to complement the big-screen 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the tablet enables users to connect to the company's Smart Keyboard. The smaller iPad Pro also features support for Apple Pencil and runs on Apple's latest A9X processor. But at 9.7- inches, its screen size is identical to the already available iPad Air 2. And for customers who don't want the diminutive iPad Mini or the gigantic 12.9-inch iPad Pro, it may not be easy to choose which device to buy. This slide show highlights some of the major differences and similarities between Apple's two 9.7-inch iPads and aims to help buyers decide which model best suits their needs.

Smaller iPad Pro can use Microsoft Office for free, but larger iPad Pro can't infoworld.com 2016-03-25 12:33 Don Reisinger www.eweek.com

2 Admitting to throttling video, Netflix now promises more control for users (2.00/3) Netflix admitted Thursday to throttling video streams worldwide for its mobile users, but said it hasn't been an issue for customers. The video streaming company plans to roll out to its members sometime in May a "data saver" feature, allowing them greater control over their data usage when streaming on mobile networks. Users will then be able to “either stream more video under a smaller data plan, or increase their video quality if they have a higher data plan,” wrote Anne Marie Squeo, a spokeswoman for the company, in a blog post . The company said it capped worldwide the default bitrate for viewing over mobile networks to 600 Kbps (kilobits per second), to protect its members from overage charges when they exceed mobile data caps. “We believe restrictive data caps are bad for consumers and the Internet in general, creating a dilemma for those who increasingly rely on their mobile devices for entertainment, work and more,” Squeo wrote. Netflix said its research and testing indicates that “many members worry about exceeding their mobile data cap, and don’t need the same resolution on their mobile phone as on a large screen TV to enjoy shows and movies.” It is nevertheless providing the new feature for those users who value higher resolution and quality and are less concerned about data caps or have plans that don't bill prohibitive overage charges. AT&T and Verizon Communications were last week handling accusations from T-Mobile CEO John Legere that the "duopoly" was throttling Netflix streams to 360p resolution. Netflix told The Wall Street Journal that it doesn’t limit video quality at T-Mobile and Sprint , as historically those two companies have had more consumer-friendly policies, usually slowing network connections, rather than charging overage fees when users cross data caps. Netflix has been a strong supporter of the principle of net neutrality which opposes mobile and broadband service providers from throttling or speeding data from certain websites. But it recently signed on to T-Mobile’s free Binge On service that exempts some video streaming, including Netflix at 480p resolution and YouTube, from the operator’s monthly data caps on customers. The practice of not charging for data to access certain services, also known as zero-rating, has been criticized as being contrary to net neutrality principles. Facebook's Free Basics Internet service to the poor in India was, for example, banned on similar grounds.

Netflix admits to secretly throttling mobile video pcworld.com 2016-03-25 03:19 John Ribeiro www.computerworld.com

3 Lyft drivers lawsuit may end without addressing worker reclassification (2.00/3) A lawsuit filed by drivers against Lyft may not address the key and contentious issue of whether the drivers should be reclassified as employees with all the attendant benefits. The app-based ride hailing company is offering a US$12.25 million settlement fund, including attorney fees and other costs, besides non- monetary relief to the about 100,000 drivers, but will not be required to reclassify its drivers as employees. Their classification as employees would raise costs for Lyft in terms of employee benefits as well as set a precedent for similar court disputes against on-demand companies, including one involving Uber Technologies that is playing out in a California court. But drivers affiliated to the Teamsters Union are objecting to the settlement in the 2013 proposed class-action lawsuit, as they say it would continue to "misclassify" Lyft employees in California as independent contractors. The settlement “will leave Lyft's business model intact, allowing Lyft to continue to treat its current and future drivers as independent contractors, and avoid properly paying them under California law,” said Rome Aloise, Teamsters International Vice President and President of Teamsters Joint Council 7. On Thursday, it appeared that District Judge Vince Chhabria of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California, while unhappy with the amount of the settlement, will not address the issue of reclassification. The judge said the arguments from the Teamsters seem "best made to a legislature," according to Courthouse News Service. "The issue here is whether the law classifies these people as independent contractors or employees, not which would be better as a matter of policy," he said, according to CNS, which added that Chhabria did not rule from the bench on the proposed settlement. Shannon Liss-Riordan, the lawyer for the drivers, appears to have been hamstrung by a number of factors in negotiating a settlement with Lyft. For example, drivers who worked for Lyft since May 8, 2014, which are about 75 percent of all drivers are subject to an arbitration provision with an express class action waiver, while all other drivers are subject to an arbitration provision without an express class action waiver, according to the settlement document. There was also the risk of the court declining to certify a class. The judge has to as yet give his preliminary approval for the settlement.

Lyft drivers lawsuit may end without addressing worker employment status pcworld.com 2016-03-25 00:33 John Ribeiro www.itworld.com

4 Hulu's Gear VR app has Netflix beat in a few big ways (2.00/3) In case you needed any more proof that VR is about to catch on in a big way, Hulu announced that its virtual reality app is here. The free app, available on the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR , offers up a hearty mix of exclusive 360-degree content and brings the greater Hulu catalog along for the ride, too. Even if you're not all about immersive VR content, this added perk for Hulu subscribers old and new is undeniably sweet. Inside the headset, life's good. You can chill couch side in a 50th floor pad, overlooking a foggy metropolis, with a 10+ foot television in front of you. If that's not to your liking, you can switch the locale to a beach or movie theater. Each scene offers up the app's home screen of sorts, which you can use to navigate through TV shows, trailers and movies, or jump into the selection of VR goodies. Hulu announced that its app features 25 selections of VR content from providers such as Showtime Networks, Viacom, RYOT, The National Geographic Channel, and more. Also included on the VR front is Hulu's first VR original, called "The Big One," made with filmmaker Freddie Wong's production company, RocketJump. VR is cool and all, but sometimes you just want to catch an episode of Seinfeld. Thankfully, that, and all of Hulu's other 2D content, will appear within the app, as if you were watching it on your computer or phone. The plus side here compared to tuning in on your normal TV is that you're the only one who can see what's happening inside the headset. You won't wake up the house, or spoil a show for anyone else but yourself. Hulu competitor, Netflix, has its own Samsung Gear VR app, wherein you can also watch television shows and movies in a virtual locale. So, what's different? The content, of course. Hulu brings with it access to the comedy gold that is Seinfeld, as well as a host of other shows that are in-demand, and ones currently on-air. The one big downside of the Netflix Gear VR app is that it displays your content at a rather antiquated 480p resolution. As neat as it is to privately catch an episode of Cooked, the degraded picture quality takes nearly all the fun out, leaving nothing but the novelty of VR to enjoy. Thankfully, Hulu has confirmed to techradar that its 2D catalog will run at 720p, while the VR content displays at a resolution "close to 4K. " Hulu is late to the VR party, but it seems like the time it took to include exclusive VR content, as well as provide its 2D content at a high-definition resolution, was most definitely worth the wait. Article continues below

Hulu gets into VR craze with app for Samsung Gear headset zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 2016-03-24 19:30 By Cameron feedproxy.google.com

5 AI is coming, so we'd better start preparing for it Much of the world watched on in fascination last week as Google's DeepMind defeated Lee Se- dol, one of the world's top Go players, four games to one with its AlphaGo program. For anyone who didn't - you...

2016-03-25 18:03 www.computing.co.uk

6 Real-time visibility With an all-in-one solution, you can get a broad and specific view of what is happening in your contact centre — and see near-instant benefits. Real-time visibility will improve decision-making, increase business agility, and boost financial result. Download this eBook to gain insight on how to get real-time visibility in the contact centre.

2016-03-25 12:05 www.itworldcanada.com

7 Can I limit what my friends see on Facebook? Control your Facebook visibility for some or all your friends Privacy is a hot topic and is something we're all aware of, but unfortunately it's often out of our own hands when we're on social media platforms. Thankfully, there's some level control you can have on Facebook, and despite Facebook's somewhat shady stance on privacy and the sharing of your personal information, you can at least limit your profile to your direct friends, work colleagues or acquaintances. Read next: What is Facebook Privacy Basics. If you've already added people on Facebook that you want to limit, you can add them to a restricted list. A restricted list in the words of Facebook "Friends who can only see posts and profile info you make public". This means if you don't share or post things with a public setting, people on this list won't be able to see what you've been up to. Most people don't know of this hidden-list, but it can be found in the 'Friends' menu on the left hand-side of your Facebook news feed. Once you're in the 'Restricted' section of Facebook, you can add friends to this list. It's extremely simple, just hit the 'Add Friends to List' and start typing the name of your friend you wish to restrict. Don't worry your friends won't be notified of your decision of adding them to your restricted list, however it might be pretty obvious to them that they've been added to the restricted list as they will be able to tell that there's only a few posts on your Facebook. As a side note, by default you should have posts shared with your friends only and ensure that your privacy settings are correctly configured, which you can access by hitting the small lock button at the top right hand-corner of your Facebook. Read next: How to keep your kids safe online. If you don't wish to add your friend to a restricted list, there's also a way to limit posts to certain people. If you head over to your privacy options, you'll be able to click a 'See More Settings' which will present you with a whole host of different privacy settings. The one that might be of interest to you here is the 'Who can see my stuff?' option, which you can create a custom list of people to limit when they try to view your future posts. Additionally, you can limit particular posts from certain friends by clicking on what you've shared and just like the Privacy settings page, add an undefined number of friends in a 'Don't share with' list. If you wish to see how your timeline looks to your friends whom you've restricted or limited, you can easily do so by going to your profile and clicking on the three little dots on the right hand- side. This will present you with the option to 'View As...' The default view is as the Public, but at the top of your timeline you'll see 'View as Specific Person', with this you can type the name of the friend(s) who you've restricted. Read next: How to make Facebook private.

2016-03-25 12:45 Christopher Minasians www.pcadvisor.co.uk

8 Who do you think you are? A “personality” quiz for managed services When looking outside of your business to organize, manage, develop and secure infrastructure, it’s important to evaluate what is best for the IT department and the business. Failing to do so reduces the possibility a company’s managed services model can fully achieve key benefits such as increased operational efficiency and improved business security and compliance. But how do you get started when a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work in IT? Download this report as it provides insights from the “Who do you think you are” webinar held February 23, 2016. The webinar focused on the ways organizations can determine their “IT personality” in order to help select the managed service option best suited to their needs. Hosted by ITWC CIO Jim Love, the session featured an expert panel that included Susan Bowen, Cogeco Peer 1 vice-president and general manager, Gerhard Lerchster, Cogeco Peer 1 director of product management, Steve Delaney, CIO for leading mortgage firm MCAP, and Doug Ross, MCAP’s director of data centre operations. As thank you for downloading, we will enter your name into a draw to win a pair of VIP tickets for the final round of the RBC Canadian Open July 23-24 at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario. Deadline to enter is May 18.

2016-03-25 13:42 www.itworldcanada.com

9 Newegg Daily Deals: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Classified, Intel Core i7-5930K, and More! Top Deal: This is the year that virtual reality makes a major splash in the consumer market. The question is, are you ready? Two of the most anticipated solutions—Oculus Rift and HTC Vive—both require a relatively powerful PC. If you're looking for an excuse to upgrade your graphics card, this is it. And if you want go above and beyond what's required, then check out today's top deal for an EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Classified Gaming w/ACX 2.0+, Whisper Silent Cooling w/ Free Installed Backplate Graphics Card for $640 with free shipping (normally $679; additional $20 Mail-in rebate; Free Game: The Division with purchase, limited offer). Not only is it fast, but it has a generous 6GB of GDDR5 memory. Other Deals: Intel Core i7-5930K Haswell-E 6-Core 3.5 GHz LGA 2011-v3 140W Desktop Processor for $560 with free shipping (normally $580 - use coupon code: [ EMCEHGT32 ]) Samsung 950 Pro M.2 512GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive for $295 with free shipping (normally $323 - use coupon code: [ ESCEHGT59 ]) Asus PB258Q Black 25-inch 5ms WQHD Frameless HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor for $265 with $1 shipping (normally $336) Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5-inch 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive for $40 with free shipping (normally $44 - use coupon code: [ ESCEHGT24 ])

2016-03-25 12:00 Maximum PC www.maximumpc.com

10 Augmentez l’engagement de vos clients Les attentes du client, telles que la rapidité de réponse et l’efficacité, ont augmenté de manière inversement proportionnelle au nombre de canaux de communication mis à disposition. L’entreprise doit donc veiller à s’équiper d’outils lui permettant de simplifier l’engagement client. Télécharger cet eBook à apprendre comment augmentez l’engagement de vos clients.

2016-03-25 12:35 www.itworldcanada.com

11 OS X 10 tips and tricks These tips are courtesy of Mac guru Jonny Evans, who pens our Apple Holic blog. Learn how to wrangle Spotlight, 10 steps to improve your Contacts experience, 6 disk utility changes you'll need to be aware of, a quick guide to fixing Mail problems, great extensions for Photos, 24 essential utilities, how Notes are more useful these days -- and much more. The shortcuts in here are focused on El Capitan, but we will be making available other Knowledge Packs with even more tips -- for OS X in general and iOS in particular. Check back soon!

2016-03-25 12:33 JavaWorld Network www.computerworld.com

12 Comment optimiser les ressources pour offrir une expérience client exemplaire Le présent livre blanc vous emmène à la découverte d’un monde différent. Il vous permet de comprendre les attentes de vos clients en termes d’expérience et vous démontre qu’en utilisant des outils d’optimisation du personnel, vous pouvez proposer à vos clients un événement absolument mémorable lors de leur prochaine interaction avec votre entreprise. Télécharger cet eBook à apprendre comment optimiser les ressources pour offrir une expérience client exemplaire.

2016-03-25 13:42 www.itworldcanada.com

13 Yahoo's board is under attack, the latest headache for Marissa Mayer When Marissa Mayer took over Yahoo in July 2012, she was the fifth CEO in five years to try her hand at resuscitating the once mighty Internet media and search site. But after less than four years in, as she's been fighting against employee and user ennui, Mayer is now facing an energetic foe that wants the company to fire its entire board of directors and possibly part ways with the CEO. If they're successful, that would give Yahoo six CEOs in less than 10 years, which may be a corporate record of sorts -- but probably not the one the company is going for. "We believe that Yahoo is deeply undervalued and opportunities exist within the control of management and the Board of Directors to unlock significant value for the benefit of all shareholders," Starboard wrote in its letter. Though it didn't exactly say that it wants Mayer ousted as CEO, the group added that "we have been extremely disappointed with Yahoo's dismal financial performance, poor management execution, egregious compensation and hiring practices, and general lack of accountability and oversight by the Board. " A former Google executive, Mayer's been criticized for some of the efforts she's made to bring Yahoo back to relevance and keep it competitive with rivals including Facebook, Google and Snapchat. So Starboard has plenty of ammunition. Mayer's missteps include Yahoo Screen, the company's premium video service, which was shut down in January. Yahoo admitted it couldn't find a way for the service to make money, even with the help of newly produced programming including a revival of the NBC cult comedy "Community. " Yahoo admitted the slate of shows sucked up $42 million from its coffers. Yahoo still has a large audience -- it claims 1 billion people visit all its sites combined each month. But it hasn't found ways to make that pay, and it hasn't been able to find sure footing with its products. That "bold" plan, as Yahoo described it, isn't bold enough for Starboard. "We believe the board clearly lacks the leadership, objectivity and perspective needed to make decisions that are in the best interests of shareholders," the group said in its letter. "The management team and Board of Yahoo have repeatedly failed shareholders. " Yahoo said its Nominating and Governance Committee will review the proposal and "respond in due course. " Starboard didn't respond to a request for comment beyond its letter. This isn't the first time Starboard has tried to force a company to clean house. In 2014, Darden Restaurants, the owner of Olive Garden and other chains, replaced its entire 12-person board after pressure from Starboard. As part of its campaign, Starboard published a presentation filled with embarrassing critiques of Olive Garden. A few of the jabs: "How does the largest Italian dining concept in the world not salt the water for pasta? " And, the fried lasagna bites were "barely edible. " Now Starboard is swapping unlimited salad and breadsticks for, well, whatever Yahoo is focusing on now. Starboard, which said it owns 1.7 percent of Yahoo, wants to nominate its nine board replacement candidates at Yahoo's annual shareholder meeting later this year. Those candidates include Jeffrey Smith, Starboard's CEO, and Eddy Hartenstein, chairman of Tribune publishing, which owns the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun. "We cannot envision a scenario where the shareholders of Yahoo would entrust the current management team and Board with executing a standalone turnaround plan given the years of failed attempts under the current leadership," Starboard wrote.

2016-03-25 12:38 Richard Nieva cnet.com.feedsportal.com

14 Crave giveaway: Free 32GB computer memory boost from Crucial So how do you win this free memory from Crucial worth $400? Remember to read our rules below before entering. And here's the disclaimer that our legal department said we had to include (all caps for extra legality):

2016-03-25 12:38 Leslie Katz cnet.com.feedsportal.com

15 Best Easter deals UK: Cheap TVs, tablets, headphones, speakers & more tech

Amazon , Currys , Carphone Warehouse and other retailers have kicked off Easter deals week, and it's like Black Friday has come early. You can grab hundreds of tech bargains all week, with some promotions running until April. Here, we pick out the best of the tech deals available for Easter deals week to help you make sure that you don't miss out, including TV deals, tablet deals , headphone deals and much more. You can get access to deals 30 minutes early if you are an Amazon Prime member, and in most cases you'll get free next day delivery. You can sign up to the free trial of Amazon Prime here , or find out everything you need to know about Amazon Prime in our article: What is Amazon Prime? Save £30 on the HP Stream 11-r050sa 11.6in Laptop, now £149.99 at Currys. View deal here. There's also £50 off the HP Pavillion x360 13-s150sa 13.3in 2 in 1 laptop hybrid, now £549.99. View deal here. Another HP deal now, this time with a brilliant £250.99 off. You can get the HP ENVY 15.6in laptop for £449. View deal here. Get up to £200 off MacBooks at Currys. View deal here. Curry's is offering the Samsung UE48JU6445 Smart Ultra HD 4K 48in LED TV with £180 off, now £599. View deal here. Save £80 on the Panasonic Viera TX-39A300B 39in LED TV, now £219 at Currys. View deal here. You could also save £150 on the Samsung UE48JU6500 Smart Ultra HD 4K 48in Curved LED TV, now £699 at Currys. View deal here. LG 49UF680V Smart 4K Ultra HD 49in LED TV is £499 down from £200 at Currys. View deal here. Get the NOW TV HD Smart TV Box for just £14 at Currys, down from £24.99 and you'll get a 3 month Entertainment Pass. View deal here. There's a whopping £500 off on Samsung's SUHD UE55JS8000 Smart 3D Ultra HD 4K 55in LED TV, now £1,299. View deal here. The Acer Iconia One 10in Tablet with 16GB built-in memory has £20 off at Currys, now £99.99. View deal here. Get the iPad Air with £70 from John Lewis until 30 March. View deal here. Currys is also offering £70 on the iPad Air. View deal here. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 with Chromecast Audio has £30 off, now £169 at Currys. View deal here. The Apple Watch has up to £120 off at Currys for Easter. View deal here. The Sony Smartwatch 3 has £50 off at Very. View deal here. Save more than £100 on the Asus Zenwatch at Very. View deal here. The Pebble Smartwatch is just £49.95 at Amazon. View deal here. Best tablets | Best smartwatches | Best budget laptops | Best power banks | Best iPhone cases | Best activity trackers | Which Fitbit is best to buy? | Best games consoles | Best Samsung Galaxy S7 deals | Best SIM-only deals 2016

2016-03-25 11:00 Ashleigh Allsopp www.pcadvisor.co.uk

16 How Twitter corrupted Microsoft's sweet AI teen 'Tay' Parents, don't let your teenage chatbot go on Twitter unsupervised. It will only end in disaster. CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under 3 minutes. Watch Bridget Carey every afternoon for a breakdown of the big stories, hot devices, new apps and what's ahead. Subscribe to the podcast via the links below. Subscribe:

Thanks, Twitter. You turned Microsoft's AI teen into a horny racist cnet.com.feedsportal.com 2016-03-25 12:38 Bridget Carey cnet.com.feedsportal.com

17 Ekso competitor unveils lightest robotic suit ever The man behind the first untethered bionic exoskeleton is back with a new robotic suit. Homayoon Kazerooni led the team that developed BLEEX, the first viable actuated suit that didn't need to be plugged in, back in 2005. Groundbreaking at the time, the technology was eventually spun off into Ekso Bionics, long a darling of the Bay Area hardware scene. Kazerooni, whose reputation as a genius with a stormy personality is a touchstone among ex- colleagues, split from the company soon after it was formed and has been pursuing his own projects. His latest is suitX , a robotics company in Berkeley that's developed a new exoskeleton called Pheonix that's designed to enable paraplegics to walk. It's an interesting move. After a lot of soul- searching, Ekso has been moving away from targeting spinal cord injury sufferers because it's a relatively small market. They're now focused on the much larger stroke market and their device is marketed as a therapeutic tool to aid recovery, and not for mobility. Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX) Randi Zuckerberg backs wooden, Montessori-approved programming robot The STEM robot wars are heating up. Cubetto is the latest reason why you wish you were still a kid. Kazerooni has long been an advocate of restoring mobility for spinal cord injury patients. In 2011, test pilot Austin Whitney, a Berkeley student suffering from lower limb paralysis, walked for commencement in one of Kazerooni's suits. Pheonix is modular and the lightest available exoskeleton, weighing in at 27 pounds). It costs $40,000 - that's the least expensive of all exoskeletons being produced now. suitX also just won the $1M top prize at the Robotics for Good competition where they presented their plan to build a pediatric version of the exoskeleton to help children with neurologic disorders.

2016-03-25 10:50 Greg Nichols zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

18 Heroic showdown: 1978 Superman vs. 1989 Batman Retro superhero films didn't dwell entirely on violence and vengeance. In fact, in the '70s and '80s, most superheroes saved the world with smiles on their faces, or at least joked once or twice while punching out the bad guys. Honest Trailers pulls scenes from the movies and adds voice-over commentary, sometimes witty, sometimes insightful, sometimes both. Watch the Honest Trailers for the two films and judge for yourself which one deserves to win as the best trailer tribute. The trailer with the most views wins. If the Caped Crusader gets more views, Honest Trailers will make a video for the movie "Batman Begins. " If the Man of Steel wins, it will make a video for "Superman Returns. " This is not an easy decision to make considering both videos from Honest Trailers call out many of the movies' foibles. Good luck deciding which superhero trailer is the most honest. To be fair, we voted for both. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" opened in Australia on Thursday and in the US and UK on Friday.

2016-03-25 12:38 Bonnie Burton cnet.com.feedsportal.com

19 Watch dad's DIY virtual-reality bike-racing ride thrill his kid Chan's young daughter sits in a pink tricycle with a push-handle on the back. She wears a full-face BMX-style helmet and has her hands tightly wrapped around the handlebars. She's holding on because dad is lifting and tilting the pink trike to match the movements of some first-person biking footage on the TV screen. The dad-powered virtual-reality system is impressive in part due to the strength and coordination required to pull it off. The video struck a chord with some Reddit users who have gone into dad-talk in the comments. They're sharing their thoughts on the importance of spending time with their kids and reminiscing about the joy of flying their tykes around the house like Superman.

2016-03-25 12:38 Amanda Kooser cnet.com.feedsportal.com

20 'Batman v. Superman,' 'Suicide Squad' figures seek super battles (pictures) For Apple's iPhone SE, new iPad Pro, small is the new big A more petite iPhone and a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro stretch out Apple's family of products. The goal: to convince you it's time to trade up.

2016-03-25 12:38 Mike Sorrentino cnet.com.feedsportal.com

21 Jabba the Hutt marshmallow treats: 'Bring me sugar and the Wookiee!' International readers may not be too familiar with a peculiar Easter sweet treat here in the US. Peeps are soft marshmallows, often shaped like baby chickens or bunnies, covered in a brightly colored sugar coating. What do they taste like? Pretty much pure sugar. Creating the blobbular Jabba shapes will require a piping bag and a steady hand. For best results you should start with the tail first and then move on to the body, squirting the marshmallow mix out in a spiral over overlapping layers. You want to give the impression of a slobby, overweight alien with a bad attitude. The ingredient list includes green sanding sugar, yellow icing, brown icing, gelatin, vanilla and even more sugar. Jabba's eyes and frown are applied with the icing once the little Hutts are cooled.

2016-03-25 12:38 Amanda Kooser cnet.com.feedsportal.com

22 Tripping balls in deep dream VR with VFX artist Jonathan Sims (Tomorrow Daily 337)

Here's our weekly bullet list of topics on today's long episode. Enjoy! Of course, you can find us everywhere on social media. Like, follow and heart us as you desire! Subscribe to Tomorrow Daily:

2016-03-25 12:38 Ashley Esqueda cnet.com.feedsportal.com

23 ​Police turn to digital bloodhounds in modern-day manhunts Three explosions ripped through Brussels' airport and subway Tuesday, killing 31 people and injuring 330 others. Belgian authorities quickly identified four people they said were involved. One survived and fled, leading police to search for him and a possible associate in a massive manhunt across Europe. They have any number of tech tools they could use to catch his digital trail. The science of searching out a dangerous suspect has changed dramatically over the past two decades, and technology now records clues and crunches information faster than the best paper-pushing police officer ever could. But while digital evidence can speed up a search, agencies still rely on tips from human beings. To help with that, there's sophisticated technology that can scan social media for clues, examine images for leads near suspects' neighborhoods, and combine communications from different law enforcement agencies into a single feed of information. Undoubtedly, the police are poring over video images captured by security cameras inside Brussels' airport and subway stations and on city streets. Such footage has already helped investigators find an undetonated bomb. A taxi driver who saw a surveillance photo pointed authorities to a house the terrorists used to make bombs. The police haven't said precisely which software or methods they're using beyond the obvious. The Belgian Ministry of Justice can't comment on the ongoing investigation, spokesman Edward Landtsheere said. And the federal prosecutor's office didn't respond to requests for comment. But we do have some clues. Facial recognition is one of the most advanced tools law enforcement has at its disposal. It's good enough to digitally remove the suspect's hat and sunglasses that we see in the surveillance footage, said Todd Butler, a vice president at Chenega International Consulting, which sells software to government agencies. That digital image can then be fed through any image database, regardless of source. The software is a lot better at matching faces than the human eye, which is right about half the time. "The probability of a match goes up significantly with facial recognition, to about 80 or 90 percent," said Butler. Law enforcement agencies keep a close eye on social media feeds when dealing with terrorists, said FBI spokesman Prentice Danner III, who agreed to talk about law enforcement's tech tools in general, but not on the current manhunt in Europe. "We get a lot of tweets," said Danner, who helps run the FBI's Twitter account for the San Francisco field. "Some are valuable; some are not. Using technology to weed through those is useful. " For proof, just consider what happened on Reddit in 2013, when redditors fingered three innocent people as the Boston Marathon bombers. "It can take you the wrong way. It can be malicious," Eugene O'Donnell, a lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said about social media chatter. Even so, tips from the Internet are worthwhile. "That's the price you have to pay. " Technology has a downside when it comes to tracking down suspects, said Butler, who previously worked as an intelligence analyst. "There's just too much data. " That's why law enforcement agencies need a single information feed that puts everything in one place, from facial recognition clues to social media data and local alerts. The FBI used that kind of software to secure the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California, earlier this year. But technology does have its limitations. "The mind is what we can't get a read on," said O'Donnell. "We can track people's movements. We can hear what they say, but we can't get into their hearts and minds. " Still, he said, "We can get into their minds more than we used to. " And for the immediate future, said Butler, no technology can replace the most important tool we still have: the brain of a well-trained professional. "Nothing's going to replace that trained person who's going to get the last 10 percent of the data. " CNET's Richard Nieva contributed to this story.

2016-03-25 12:38 Laura Hautala cnet.com.feedsportal.com

24 Computerworld UK Daily Digest - 25 March 2016 - UK Government boosts GOV. UK Verify security - GE Transportation CEO - In-demand programming languages 2016 GOV. UK Verify embraces YubiKey U2F tokens - but will citizens follow? The government built website was also competing against the Windows Phone 8 The super-fast railway project has yet to reach Royal Assent but already chosen its fundamental business application software 2016-03-25 10:00 Christina Mercer www.computerworlduk.com

25 How to plan the perfect Easter holiday

Holidays are great, of course, but if you're unlucky you could spend half your Easter holiday stuck in traffic and the other half in the World's worst motel. It doesn't have to be that way, though. In fact, there's no need to scarper off and scour the internet for answers because we've sorted it all for you. We'll help you find out exactly how to plan your break, whether you're thinking of having a holiday inland or jetting off to a far-flung country. We'll show you how to beat the rush, save money, and find fun things to do to make this the most hassle-free Easter break ever. Are you planning to travel in your home country this Easter? Then the sooner you book, the better the deal you're likely to get. The cheapest travel tickets are the ones booked far in advance, so the later you leave it, the more you'll have to pay. If time's marching on, however, you can still avoid the worst prices – avoid travelling on a Friday or Saturday, for instance, avoid peak-hour travelling and point your browser to The Trainline (or TrainTicket if you're in the US) to find the most affordable train fares, Moneysavingexpert.com for bus fares or Kelkoo Travel for plane tickets. LateRooms.com is a great way to bag last-minute hotel bargains, and it covers every major destination Need somewhere to stay? Genuine bargains will always be snapped up quickly, so the sooner you look, the more you're likely to save. We've found Laterooms , Expedia and Lastminute.com to be particularly good for finding last-minute hotel deals, and the Groupon. The big-name websites tend to offer big-name accommodation, but if you'd rather find a B&B or a self-catering cottage, then the I Know network is a good place to look. There are sites for specific areas – iknow-london.co.uk for London and so on. If you'd rather sleep in the fresh air, Cool Camping is a nifty search engine for people who prefer to sleep under canvas, and it's easy to find sites that are kid-friendly or happy to accept pets. If you prefer to venture off the beaten track, the forums at GoXplore are full of helpful sorts. User reviews can be invaluable when you're thinking of booking accommodation or a campsite. They can give you a feel for the location, back up the claims made in the brochure or warn you that the camp site's actually in the middle of a toxic waste dump. TripAdvisor is by far the biggest collection of accommodation reviews, but be wary of overly gushing or overly critical reviews when everyone else's comments are more measured. While it's illegal for firms to pretend they're customers and write their own reviews or rubbish their competitors online, it does still happen, so take such reviews with a large pinch of salt. The Highways Agency website is worth bookmarking; not only does it warn of current congestion but it shows where planned roadworks will take place, too With everyone travelling at the same time on the same roads to the same destinations, it's no surprise that holiday traffic is often horrible. Thank goodness for Bing Maps, which can help to make your trip as stress-free as possible by working out the easiest and fastest route. If you're driving, Bing Maps can calculate the fastest route to take between two or more points, and it can help you avoid toll roads or motorways. It can calculate walking routes, too, and in cities like London it can show you where the Underground/Metro stations are. Bing can also show Ordnance Survey maps, as well as road or street maps. Things get more interesting when an organisation adds its own data to Bing Maps. The RAC's UK Traffic Information map verlays details of congestion and accidents on the Bing interface. Google Maps also includes traffic information, giving you a good idea of how to avoid any traffic jams while you're on your way to your Easter vacation.

2016-03-25 09:00 By Gary feedproxy.google.com

26 How to speed up Android: 6 ways to give your smartphone or tablet new life So you really want a shiny new Android smartphone or tablet but can't afford one and your current device is getting slow and annoying. Well there are numerous things you can do to improve the situation. Here's how to speed up Android. Before we begin, every situation involving a slow Android device is going to be different so we're going to cover a number of ways in which you can speed things up. You can try them all or the ones which apply to you. A common cause of a slow Android smartphone or tablet is that you've filled it up with app, many of which you probably downloaded on a whim and don't actually use. Like a PC, your Android device will slow down if it's become bloated with applications. Our advice to start with is to go through all your installed apps and pick out ones which you don't use to free up some space. Remember to uninstall them fully rather than just remove the icon from your homescreen. With more available space on your Android device, things should run smoother. The next thing to cull on your Android smartphone or tablet is media. In the same way that apps can easily take up a lot of space, music, photos and videos do the same – even more so if you're shooting 4K video regularly or keeping your entire music library stored on your device. To speed up your Android device, trawl through all the media you have and get rid of anything you can to create more space. Perhaps videos you've transferred to your PC or photos you've taken multiple times. Widgets are a great feature of Android but they take more processing power to run compared to simply displaying an icon. If you're using a lot across multiple homescreens, consider which ones you don't use much or could do without. Having fewer will lighten the load on your Android device and help speed it up. Android will automatically kill apps if it needs memory which isn't being used wisely but you can still have a user effect on what's going on in the background. For starters, you can simply open recent apps and clear anything you're not using by swiping it off the screen. Furthermore, you can go into the settings and see what's using up all your memory; go to settings > apps > running. This may be different depending on your device so also look for an application manager or smart manager. Apps using the memory or cache isn't necessarily a bad thing, things are done like this to avoid loading everything each time you open an app. However, you can often speed up your Android device by stopping an app or clearing the memory entirely. Although there are tools built into Android for app management, there are some apps which you can download from the Play store such as Advanced Task Killer. It's the classic 'have you tried turning it off and on again' but it really does still work for most technology. A good old fashioned reboot is likely to help you out if things are feeling sluggish, at least for a while. If it only sorts out the problem briefly then you'll need to take more drastic action. If all else fails then we recommend trying a complete factory reset of your device. It's not ideal but a clean slate might be just what you need if you really can't figure out why your Android device is so slow. You'll need to re-download apps and the like and make sure you backup any data, such as photos, that you don't want to be gone forever. See: How to factory reset an Android device .

2016-03-25 09:00 Chris Martin www.pcadvisor.co.uk

27 Flux Card power bank review: Ultra-slim and truly portable cable-free charger for IPhone AND Android By Marie Brewis | 16 mins ago See full specs $25 + $8.50 shipping to the UK Power banks are extremely useful but they can be cumbersome, especially when you also have to carry assorted cables to transfer that power from the bank to your phone. Flux Card is the opposite of those power banks, slim, portable and with no extra cables required - for iPhone or Android. Also see: Best power banks 2016. The Flux Card is sold direct from fluxchargers.com in the US, where it costs $25. Shipping within the US is free, but to the UK it will cost you $8.50 and take six or seven days to arrive. We should also point out that we were charged an £11.50 Customs fee by Royal Mail before we were able to receive the power bank, which would take the total cost up to around £35 ($33.50 + £11.50). The Flux Card offers great value when purchased within the US. Shipped to the UK it’s relatively expensive and much cheaper power banks are available, but it’s not unreasonable if the cable- free design particularly appeals to you. For every Flux Card purchased $1 goes to Flux’s charity of the month (currently YouCaring.com ). We’ve seen compact power banks with built-in Micro-USB or Lightning connectors before, such as PNY’s M3000 and DCM2200 , but you are always required to choose between Android or iPhone before making your purchase (which is a real pain if you later change platform or use both). The Flux Card differs in that it can cater to both Android and iPhone. Also see: Best MiFi 2016. On the side of the Flux Card is a Micro-USB input for refilling its battery, while a Micro-USB output is attached to the bottom of the device via a light blue rubber cable that clips into place. Underneath this is what looks like another Micro-USB; it’s actually a Lightning adaptor. Pull it out and you can charge an iPhone instead. On our review sample the Lightning adaptor didn’t sit particularly tight to the Micro-USB connector, but it worked just fine in charging an attached iPhone 6s Plus. It’s MFI-certified as well, so it won’t stop working following an iOS update. Also see: How to charge your phone's battery faster. With a white matt plastic housing the Flux Card has a minimalistic yet sturdy design. It’s incredibly small and light, a credit-card-sized 6.6mm-thick power bank that weighs just 60g. Yet it contains 2,500mAh of power, which is easily enough to fully charge an iPhone once. Flux doesn’t specify the efficiency rating, but the industry standard is around 65- to 70 percent (energy is lost through heat generated and voltage conversion). This means it’s unlikely to fully charge most Android phones, but it will certainly offer enough power to get you through to the end of the day. Also see : How to improve smartphone battery life. With a 2A (10W) output the Flux Card is quick to charge your phone, but not so quick to charge itself with only a 1A (5W) input - it should be fully charged in around an hour and a half. Its relatively low capacity means recharging is less of a chore, but we would like to have seen support for passthrough charging (the ability to charge itself and a phone at once). There’s no buttons on the device, so to charge your phone you simply plug it in for automatic charging to begin. If charging completes before the Flux Card’s battery runs dry you'll need to remember to unplug your phone to prevent wasted power. Also see: What is Quick Charge 3.0 A single LED on the rear of the device glows a constant blue when charging a phone, and flashes when its own battery is being charged. There’s no way of telling how much power remains in the bank, but it should be fairly easy to remember that if you’ve charged your phone using the Flux Card then it needs a recharge. There’s not a huge amount in the way of advanced or extra features here, but the Flux Card isn’t that type of power bank. It’s a small and light emergency charger that you can slip into a bag and forget about until you find yourself stuck away from mains power with a fading phone battery. And it does that job very well. Read next: Best desktop chargers 2016 . Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter. It’s not the cheapest nor the most feature-packed power bank for UK customers, but the Flux Card includes all you need to charge either an Android phone or an Android, so you needn’t worry about carrying extra cables. It’s small, incredibly light, and quick to charge - a handy power bank to have around when you run out of juice. Preorder iPhone SE: New iPhone SE UK release date, price, full specifications, performance… 1995-2015: How technology has changed the world in 20 years Get the Nik Photoshop plugins for Free from Google Super-advanced tips for Mac OS X El Capitan: 12 game-changing secret tricks for El Cap power users

2016-03-25 08:35 Marie Brewis www.pcadvisor.co.uk

28 What Retailers Really Know About Their Customers Retailers are constantly striving to deliver better customer experiences in hopes of growing marketshare and wallet-share. In recent years, many of them have tried to optimize experiences within and across channels with varying degrees of success. As the online and analog worlds continue to converge, retailers are taking advantage of new twists on old technologies such as email and video, and experimenting with new solutions such as beacons -- devices that track the location of a smartphone user in a retail store or other venue -- all with the hope of competing more effectively. "Retailers are confused about what they should be doing. [Some of them are] going out of business and a lot of them are rationalizing their operations, which to me is as much about failing to address the needs of today's shoppers as anything else," said Bridget Johns, head of marketing and customer experience at in-store analytics solution provider RetailNext , in an interview. Retailers have access to more types of information than ever before. Using it, they are improving operations, predicting variances in supply and demand more accurately, and learning more about their customers. Yet, they still struggle to provide relevant experiences to individual customers. "The bigger issue is not so much the availability of data. If anything, retailers are awash in more data than they know what to do with, and more often than not [they] struggle to turn data from noise into actionable useful insights that actually improve results," said David Spitz, CEO of e- commerce solution provider ChannelAdvisor , in an interview. Retailers originally installed security cameras to reduce shoplifting. The larger retailers are adopting digital video systems and they're using them in nontraditional ways. For example, many specialty retailers and big box stores are using video analytics to improve merchandising and shopping experiences. Using such systems they're able to determine whether they're attracting the right customers, how customers shop, how different customer segments compare to one another, and how customer-sales associate interactions affect store performance. They're also using video analytics to determine optimal staffing levels and whether or not they have the right merchandising and fitting room strategies. "There's less and less definition between digital and in-store experiences. Customers don't think about online or in-store shopping. They just think about shopping," said RetailNext's Johns. "We do segmentation by age, gender, and shopping patterns. I can separate the aggregate tracks of shoppers who go into the fitting room or don't, or tell you that the common path of men who bought footwear is X. That gives you information about how to drive certain categories and initiatives in your environment. " RetailNext is teaming up with Intel, British Telecom, and others to integrate video analytics and RFID. The company recently announced an all-in-one sensor that combines video analytics, Bluetooth BLE, and WiFi to simplify shopper behavior measurement. Beacon hype has outweighed its actual business value to date, but that may change as the ecosystem matures. Retailers are using them to deliver promotional content and offers in context to mobile phone users as they navigate a physical store. One obstacle has been app dependence. If a customer doesn't have the right phone with the right app, she can't connect to the beacon, which negatively impacts ROI for the technology investment. In addition, most retailers don't understand the use-cases yet. "Amazon is killing stores by using data to deliver much better personalization and relevance," said Rob Murphy, VP of marketing at marketing platform provider Swirl Networks. "Retailers are experimenting with beacons, or they've rolled them out nationally across their stores. What you hear about mostly is retailers trying to figure out what kind of experiences or content they should be delivering to consumers when they're in the store. " Beacons can help bridge the online-in-store shopping experience gap by making information instantly available in context. For example, if a person is shopping for a TV, the retailer may make ratings and reviews available, or promote special offers on related products, as Amazon.com and other ecommerce sites do. Building a critical mass of users remains an issue. However, more app publishers are exploring the possibility of beacon-enabling their applications, Murphy said. "People are creating the capabilities to interact with beacons through the mobile Web, browsers, or the operating system on your phone," said Murphy. "It may be the case that instead of pushing information to you, you'll get a notification that you've entered a beacon-enabled store. " The use of beacons, like the use of cookies or loyalty cards, can be creepy or customer-friendly depending on how they are used. For example, Tim Lynch, CEO of high-performance computer manufacturer Psychsoftpc was haunted by an in-store system as he navigated his way through a home improvement store. Apparently, he swiped his loyalty card to take advantage of a $10 off offer, and as he walked down each aisle, he was presented with all the product purchases he'd made in a five-year period that were located in that aisle. He also received recommendations of complementary products customers commonly buy with those items. "[The store] was tracking me and accessing the database in real time, figuring out what I bought, where I was in the store, and tracking me through the entire store. It's already gotten to the point where it's creepy," said Lynch. Are you prepared for a new world of enterprise mobility? Attend the Wireless & Mobility Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! Personalized customer experiences don't have to be creepy, but to avoid that feeling retailers need to think long and hard about what information they present to whom, when, why, how, and where. In a recent survey conducted by Swirl, only 25% of the 1,000 consumer respondents said that traditional brick-and-mortar retailers demonstrate an understanding of their individual preferences and needs on a regular basis, compared to 56% who cast their vote for Amazon.com. Grocery and big box stores scored higher than specialty retailers, off-price retailers, and warehouse clubs. Email analytics isn't new, but retailers are now using it as a means of competitive analysis. For example, data solutions provider Return Path collects aggregated, anonymized purchase receipt data from email inboxes. When consumers use certain email applications or subscribe to various promotions or discounts, they give Return Path permission to scan their inboxes for purchase receipt data. The company recently teamed up with data science platform Civis Analytics so customers can identify trends and use-cases that improve operations more effectively. "Companies have their own data, but it's also important to have a data source that tells you where else consumers are spending money when they're not spending it with you," said Anita Absey, general manager of Return Path's consumer insight business. Drones could give retailers an entirely new view of customers that is well beyond street address and neighborhood statistics, while providing customers with a faster delivery option. Retailers and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) do not yet agree on the details of drone delivery, however. In fact, Amazon recently sent a letter to the FAA concerning its line-of-sign delivery restrictions. Essentially, Amazon can't realize its drone delivery vision if drones are limited to a line-of-sight distance. Nevertheless, retailers are contemplating the possibilities. For example, Candice Galek, founder and CEO of luxury bikini site Bikini Luxe recently contacted 10 drone manufacturers to discuss the possibility of starting the first drone bikini delivery service. Only four of the manufacturers responded. One said it was impossible, another said it might be possible in a few years, and the third said it would require an investment of $5 million to $10 million to get up and running. The fourth stated it had to look into permits and would have to limit its service area to the Miami Beach area where Bikini Luxe is located. "Things are really changing. Nordstrom is now utilizing Uber to do same-day delivery , and companies like Amazon have over $100 million invested in delivery drones, but are facing stiff opposition from the FAA," said Galek. Meanwhile, Galek and her team have been using Web analytics and other tools to streamline customer experiences. As a result, the company has grown, and the average order value has increased over the company's two-year history. Retailers have more tools and data available than ever, but everyday shopping experiences indicate that retailers still don't understand their customers very well. More retailers are observing customers online and offline using existing and new tools. But in some cases they're not learning what they need to learn fast enough to meet customer expectations and keep pace with competitive pressures.

2016-03-25 08:05 Lisa Morgan www.informationweek.com

29 Have a bricked iPad with iOS 9.3? There's a fix for that Apple's iOS 9.3 update is powerful enough to fix your poor sleeping habits with its new Night Shift feature, but it's also destructive enough to brick your older iPad, especially the iPad 2. The good news is that the Cupertino company has already issued a fix for this iOS 9.3 problem , which has left eager updaters stalled at the password screen after failing to authenticate the software. Since Monday, users have reported seeing a message: "Cannot activate because the activation server is temporarily not available. " Trying again later or updating via iTunes through as hardwired connection were solutions that worked fine for some, but not all. Now, with the new update in place, it should be fixed for everyone. Apple went as far as to briefly suspend the firmware update yesterday, telling iMore that, "For these older devices, we have temporarily pulled back the update and will release an updated version of iOS 9.3 in the next few days. " iOS 9.3 the first major mid-cycle firmware updates for iPhones and iPads in several years, with notable front-facing features and design tweaks. However, this authentication issue isn't the only troubleshooting people have experienced with the new operating system version. Expect an iOS 9.3.1 eventually with more patches rolled into it. Rare cases like the inability to install iOS 9.3, experiencing reduced battery life and all-out software freezes are among the problems we have heard from users trying to update. Despite these frustrations, most users have updated without a problem. That may be because Apple gave public beta testers early access iOS 9.3 in January. Look for the same with iOS 10 in June. Article continues below 2016-03-25 07:38 By Matt feedproxy.google.com

30 9 iPhone SE Alternatives That Are Cheaper All eyes in the tech world were on Apple this week when the company held an event to unveil and showcase new devices and software, including an upgraded, smaller iPad Pro , the official rollout of iOS 9.3 , software updates to Apple TV, and new bands for Apple Watch. But one of the most talked about product debuts was the smaller -- in size and price tag -- iPhone SE. The launch of the iPhone SE reflects a strong, consistent demand for smaller iPhones. During the Monday event, Apple claimed more than 30 million 4-inch iPhones were sold in 2015. While many shoppers simply prefer more compact devices, this size is also popular among first-time iPhone owners. [Apple Watch is one year old: What happened in its first year?] The iPhone SE, which was predicted weeks before the event, has a four-inch display, 64-bit A9 chip, and integrated M9 motion coprocessor for functions like "Hey Siri" and daylong fitness tracking. The company claims its CPU packs twice the speed of the iPhone 5s and its GPU is three times as fast. As for cost, the 16GB model goes for $399 and and the 64GB version is $499. Preorders for the iPhone SE began Thursday, March 24 and it ships March 31. The device is available in silver, gold, space gray, and rose gold. While the SE's price point is cheap for an iPhone, it could easily break the bank for someone on a tight budget. While the iPhone SE may be an appealing option for those committed to iOS, browsing outside the Apple store can help you find even less expensive devices. Here we take a closer look at smartphones with lower price tags than the iPhone SE. They may not have all the same features as high-end competitors, but they'll keep you connected without leaving you broke. Do you own any of these devices? Would you consider one?

2016-03-25 07:06 Kelly Sheridan www.informationweek.com

31 Razer Mamba Tournament Edition Review The Razer Mamba Tournament Edition (TE) is the wired variant of Razer’s flagship Mamba Wireless gaming mouse. It makes a few subtle compromises but in turn offers a heavy discount for gamers on a tighter budget. The Mamba Tournament Edition uses a carbon- copy design of its wireless variant. Its highly arched back and long base make it ideal for palm grip users. Since palm grip requires the user to keep a majority of their palm on the mouse to maintain control, Razer applied a layer of grippy finish to the exterior. Unfortunately, because the Mamba TE has the same shape as the Mamba Wireless, it still leaves left-handed gamers out in the cold. Gamers who lift their mice a lot will love the light weight of the Mamba TE. Razer quotes the weight of the mouse at 133g with cable, but the mouse itself is just around 115g. For those who prefer to keep their mice planted on the table, the large Teflon feet help make gliding as smooth as butter.

2016-03-25 07:00 www.maximumpc.com

32 Here are the cars to see at the 2016 New York Auto Show The final major auto show of the season is here, bringing an end to what kicked off in Los Angeles , continued in Detroit , Chicago , traversed the Atlantic to Geneva and ending in New York. There's a variety of debuts this week from both ends of the cost spectrum, like the very affordable Mitsubishi Mirage G4 to the latest makeover for Godzilla – the Nissan GT-R. Here are the new cars debuting at the New York Auto Show (NYAS), which is open to the public March 25 through April 3, 2016. Acura freshened up the 2017 MDX for NYAS with a new schnoz. Gone is the beak-shaped grille of Acura's of the last few years. In its place is a diamond pentagon grille from the Precision Concept. The excellent Acura Jewel Eye LED headlights receive a modest tweak to complement the new grille, too. I'm still conflicted on how I feel about the new look, because Acura toned down the beak grille greatly with the 2014 MDX. The new diamond pentagon grille looks good, but the extremely large Acura badge doesn't flow well with the conservative styling of the rest of the crossover utility vehicle (CUV). Looks aside, AcuraWatch, its driver assist technology suite, comes standard on all 2017 model year MDX's. AcuraWatch includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning (LDW), forward collision warning (FCW), lane keeping assist (LKAS) and full-speed range adaptive cruise control (ACC). I've tested out AcuraWatch in the lower-rung ILX and found LKAS to work, but ACC is aggressive on the throttle and downright scary at times. It's not just looks and new standard equipment on the 2017 MDX, there's a new transmission and hybrid option -- the MDX Sport Hybrid. Taking technology from the RLX Sport Hybrid, the hybrid family-hauler gains 35 horsepower (hp) over the standard 3.5-liter V6. The MDX Sport Hybrid packs a smaller 3.0-liter V6 engine mated to a 7-speed dual clutch transmission (DCT) with an electric motor to power the front wheels and two electric motors for the rear wheels. Total power from the hybrid powertrain is 325 hp. Acura predicts a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy rating of 25/26/26 for city/highway/combined, which is 7-mpg higher in the city than the standard V6. The electric all-wheel drive (eAWD) system gives the MDX the confidence of Super Handling AWD (SH-AWD) without the drive shaft going down the center of the car for that extra bit of middle seat legroom. Or there's the option to forgo the middle seat for a pair of second-row captain chairs with center console so you can charge two USB-powered devices while storing diapers, baby wipes and juice boxes. Expect the 2017 Acura MDX to arrive later this year to take your kids to soccer practice and PTA meetings. Audi chops the top off its halo sports car to make the R8 Spyder V10. I don't have much to say about the car, it's drop-dead gorgeous cruiser with a eargasmic V10 and Quattro AWD. It could be the perfect car for Washington State, too, since you have AWD for rain and snow, plus the top goes down at the press of a button for those brief moments of sunshine. Stunning looks aside, the R8 Spyder V10 shares the interior of its hardtop brethren, including the excellent Audi Virtual Cockpit. I've tested out the Audi Virtual Cockpit in the smaller TT and found it absolutely perfect, except for the lack of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Audi must've been listening because the R8 Spyder V10 is the first car to get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support within the Audi Virtual Cockpit as an option. The 5.2-liter V10 carries over from the coupe and produces 540 hp. The 398 pound-feet (lb-ft) of torque propels the R8 Spyder V10 to 62 mph in 3.6-seconds, which is plenty fast for me. Unfortunately, my wife won't let me sell off some organs to buy one, because you know, child seats won't fit in it. Chevrolet jumped the gun to announce the biggest and baddest Camaro of the new generation - - the ZL1 -- a week before NYAS started. However, it saved the drop-top version for an NYAS debut, at least. There's 640 reasons under the hood why the Camaro ZL1 is awesome. Gone is the plebeian turbocharged 4-cylinder, V6 and V8 of the plain-jane Camaro to make room for the grand daddy supercharged 6.2-liter V8 matched with a six-speed manual or 10-speed automatic transmission. Yes, you read that right, the new Camaro ZL1 has an optional 10-speed automatic, because 8 and 9 gears weren't enough. My first car, a 1992 Saturn SL2, had a 4-speed automatic and the new Camaro's automatic has 2.5-times the amount of gears. The amount of gears in new gearboxes is getting slightly out of hand, but I will admit I'm curious to see how long until manufactures reach the limit of gear ratios. Regardless of the amount of gears, the Camaro ZL1 receives an upgraded Magnetic RIde suspension to keep up with the 640 horses under the hood bulge and accompanying aerodynamic mods. Inside, the Camaro ZL1 retains the four seat configuration of the regular cars but throws in a pair of Recaro performance seats for the driver and front passenger. The seats in the back aren't really meant for adults, but I bet I can get child seats back there for my kids, which instantly makes it a family car, right? Additionally, the Chevrolet Performance Data Recorder is available as an option, which is essentially a built-in GoPro camera that also records the car's performance data simultaneously. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are supported with the Chevy IntelliLink infotainment system, too. For those of us that can't justify a Camaro ZL1, GM revealed a freshened 2017 Sonic hatchback and sedan subcompacts. The refreshed design is tamer and not as in-your-face as the outgoing model, but it flows well. I actually prefer the new subdued look and it looks subtly aggressive in RS trim. The new front-end brings standard projector-beam headlights too, which should provide sharper and more-focused lights than the previous reflector housings. The ever-so-popular LED daytime running lights (DRL) are optional. On the tech side of things, the 2017 Sonic push-button start and 7-inch infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. A integrated 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot and driver assists, like forward collision alert and lane departure warning, are available as options. The updates are mostly visual and the powertrains remain the same. A 1.8-liter four-cylinder packing 138 hp and 125 lb-ft of torque is the standard motor. Those that want a little more pickup can opt for the 1.4-liter turbocharged with same amount of ponies but bumps the torque up to 148 lb-ft. Both motors are available with a 6-speed automatic or manual transmission. Hyundai used NYAS to debut a new family of eco-friendly vehicles -- the Ioniq. Available as a hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric drivetrains, the Ioniq was engineered from the ground up as Hyundai's competitor for the Toyota Prius family. The Kia Niro unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show shares the same underpinnings as the Ioniq. The Ioniq reminds me of the Hyundai Elantra from the front with a previous generation Prius-like back end, which isn't a bad thing. I like how the new Elantra looks and the back-end of the previous generation Prius was one of the better looking angles. A trio of powertrains are available. The Ioniq Hybrid combines a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with a 32 kW electric motor and 1.56 kWh lithium-ion battery for a combined 139 hp. Opting for the Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid bumps the electric motor to 45kW and battery to 8.9 kWh for 25-miles of all-electric range. Hyundai hasn't disclosed fuel economy figures of the Ioniq Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid, but Kia's similar Niro is targeting 50 mpg combined, so expect similar, if not better fuel economy. Those ready to ditch gasoline and hop on the EV train now have the Ioniq Electric as an option. The Ioniq Electric tosses the 1.6-liter four-cylinder motor out to make room for a 28 kWh battery pack and 88 kW electric motor capable of 120 hp with 215 lb-ft of torque. The Ioniq Electric has a slightly smaller battery than the updated 2016 Nissan Leaf's 30 kWh pack, but Hyundai is targeting a higher 125 MPGe rating, or about 110 miles of range, versus the Leaf's 112 MPGe and 107 miles of range. Inside, the interior makes use of recycled and eco-friendly materials. Hyundai doesn't skimp on tech either. The Ioniq packs a 7-inch 720P LCD gauge cluster and Hyundai's Display Audio infotainment system, similar to the Tucson , Elantra and Kia Sportage. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are supported and Qi wireless charging will be available as an option. Available driver assists for the Ioniq trio include blind-spot monitor (BSM), lane departure warning (LDW), automatic emergency braking (AEB) and adaptive cruise control (ACC). The Ioniq Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid ACC systems only works at speeds above 5 mph while the Electric gets a full-speed range system that can stop the car completely. The Hyundai Ioniq Electric is an interesting car, as a Leaf owner. However, with the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 promising 200 miles of electric range, it's hard to get excited over the Ioniq Electric's 110 miles. Kia unveiled an all-new 2017 Cadenza full-size sedan at NYAS, which is its luxury front-wheel drive sedan. The new Cadenza sports sharper styling with plenty of chrome to take on the AARP favorites, like the Toyota Avalon, Acura RLX and Buick Lacrosse. Aside from the gratuitous use of chrome, I find the car attractive with hints of the Maserati Ghibli. The last-generation Cadenza and new Optima compete in different segments but only have a little over an inch of difference in rear legroom. Kia claims the new Cadenza adds nearly another half-inch of legroom from the outgoing model, which sounds about 1.5-inches more than the smaller Optima. But, rear legroom isn't where the Cadenza tries to entice you. It has a more luxurious interior with greater use of leather, soft-touch materials and loaded with technology. Kia's UVO infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support is standard. New to the Cadenza is a head-up display (HUD) that displays the speedometer, turn-by-turn navigation directions and driver assist warnings. An upgraded 360-degree camera with higher- resolution is available, too. The Cadenza is the first Kia to get its DriveWise suite of driver assist technologies. Drive Wise includes full-speed ACC, FCW, AEB, LDW and smart BSM. Most of the driver assists are available on the Optima SX-L, but the smart BSM is new. The smart BSM system detects if the car unintentionally drifts towards other vehicles and applies the brake on the opposite front wheel to prevent you from side-swiping another car. Powering the Cadenza is a retuned version of the 3.3-liter V6 found in the outgoing model. However, Kia bolts the V6 to a new 8-speed automatic transmission developed in-house. I'm curious to how well the new 8-speed shifts, because the 6-speed automatic in the Optima and previous generation Cadenza are very smooth, but the 8-speed in the rear-wheel drive (RWD) K900 would hunt for gears a lot. I waited a year for the MItsubishi Outlander PHEV to cross the Pacific Ocean before buying my Nissan Leaf. On paper, everything sounded good -- it was a plug-in hybrid with electric range on par with the Chevy Volt but in an AWD CUV package and I didn't mind the styling. That was in 2013 when the Outlander PHEV was supposed to arrive in the US in the fall of 2014. Europe received the car before the US, but Mitsubishi finally announced its coming to the US this fall, at NYAS. What makes the Outlander PHEV unique is the plug-in electric powertrain that consists of a 2.0- liter four-cylinder motor and two electric motors with a 12 kWh lithium-ion battery. Mitsubishi doesn't disclose the electric range for the US market, but its UK website claims up to 32-miles of electric range. The AWD system in the Outlander PHEV is where it stands out from the Chevy Volt and other plug-in hybrids. Mitsubishi calls it Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) and claims it's derived from the Lancer Evolution rally car. I've driven a regular gasoline Outlander through mud and found the S-AWC system very competent at delivering power seamlessly to maintain my course, so I'm confident in the AWD capabilities of the PHEV. A full suite of driver assists are available, including: 360-degree camera, AEB and BSM, but there's no mention of ACC. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support are optional, unfortunately. Also unveiled by Mitsubishi at NYAS is the Mirage G4, a sedan version of the affordable hatchback. I don't have much to say about the Mirage G4, it's the definition of basic transportation, but at least Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support is available. Mazda used New York to reveal the gorgeous MX-5 RF, also known to Americans as the Miata. The Miata is one of my favorite cars to drive with its direct-shifting 6-speed manual and nimble handling. The MX-5 RF takes the beloved roadster and ups the sexiness with a retractable targa top that gives it the sloping roofline of a fastback coupe. The roofline reminds me of an Alfa Romeo 4C, but at half the price. It's not a completely top-less affair, however. The roof and rear glass window tuck away for open- air action, but the C-pillars and will always remain. As a Washington State resident, I'm ok with the targa top design as it allows me to have the quietness of a hardtop convertible without sacrificing the open-air experience. Aside from the targa roof, the MX-5 RF is unchanged from the regular Miata and MX-5. The US gets a standard 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine while other markets have a smaller 1.5-liter on base models. The only driver assist available is BSM, which is the way it should be, because the Miata is a pure sports car that needs to be driven attentively and enjoyed. Mercedes took to the stage to unveil the production GLC Coupe, for car buyers that want the ride height of a CUV but the less-practical roofline of a coupe. As a wagon fan, I don't understand the desire for coupe-esque CUVs, but BMW manages to find buyers for the X4 and X6, so there's a business case for it. It's based off the regular GLC but forgos the square back for a sloped roofline that gives it a side profile of a coupe. Aside from the roofline, the GLC Coupe is longer and lower than the GLC, but the interior and powertrain options are similar. Engine options include the standard turbocharged four-cylinder making 241 hp in the GLC300 and a biturbo V6 with 362 hp in the GLC43 AMG. A 9-speed automatic transmissions is the only gearbox available. AEB, crosswind assist and attention assist are standard on the GLC Coupe. Since it is a Mercedes, expect the excellent Distronic Plus ACC and steering assist system as available options. Nissan gave the 2017 GT-R, also known as Godzilla, the most dramatic makeover since its debut in 2007. The makeover includes a new schnoz with Nissan's signature V-motion grille that's on the rest of its vehicle lineup. Nissan changes the hood to match the new front end, too. The refreshed face is subtly different but inside is where things change for the better. Nissan finally gives the GT-R an interior worthy of the six-figure price tag. The all-new dashboard is wrapped in Nappa leather for that luxurious touch. Nissan bumps the infotainment system display from a 7-inch resistive touch to a 8-inch capacitive touch. The amount of buttons to operate the infotainment system is reduced from 27 to 11, for a much simpler and cleaner layout. NissanConnect powers the infotainment system for navigation, mobile app connectivity and telematics services so you can lock or unlock the car from your smartphone. The twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6, which is a handcrafted work of art, receives a 20 hp bump in power from last year, bringing it to 565 hp and 467 lb-ft of torque. Subaru debuted an all-new 2017 Impreza sedan and hatchback at NYAS. The new look is an evolution of the outgoing model and doesn't look too different, but Subaru's were never known for dramatic styling. It's beneath the sheetmetal that matters with the Impreza. AWD is standard and the 2.0-liter four- cylinder boxer engine is upgraded with direct injection for 4 more horses than before. Gone is the manual gearbox -- a CVT is the only transmission available. But, a 6.5-inch infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is standard on all Imprezas. The Limited trim gets an 8-inch screen with navigation powered by TomTom. Subaru's EyeSight driver assist technologies is available and enhanced for the 2017 Impreza. ACC, AEB, LDW and LKAS are part of the EyeSight suite, and BSM is also available. Reverse automatic braking (RAB) is the latest driver assist addition to the Impreza. RAB works as the name implies, if the car detects an object while you're backing up, it can apply the brakes to keep you from hitting a pole or small children. While I don't find much excitement in the new Impreza, I look forward to what Subaru has in store for the next-generation WRX. Toyota threw in the kitchen sink to make the most extravagant Prius ever offered - the 2017 Prius Prime. Unlike Optimus Prime, it doesn't transform into something cool. Styling is completely unique for the Prius Prime. I'll admit I find the front end aggressively stylish, but I'm not a fan of the back end. It reminds me of a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica, which is cool as an evil robot, but the Prius Prime doesn't wear it well. The Prime's extravagance starts inside. Gone is the 5th passenger seat for a 2 + 2 seating configuration that attempts to mimic a sport coupe. Dual 4.2-inch LCD displays form the center- mounted gauge cluster for a futuristic look. An optional infotainment system featuring a large 11.6-inch HD multi-touch display installed in portrait mode is available. Toyota's Entune app suite provides connectivity to your iOS or Android smartphone for Slacker Radio, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Destination Search, OpenTable, Yelp, Facebook places and other subscription-free apps. A full color head-up display is optional. Toyota Safety Sense is optional and includes AEB, LDW, steering assist and full-speed range ACC. BSM is available separately, too. Powering the Prius Prime is the same 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and 53 kWh electric motor for a combined 121 hp. But, Toyota bumps the battery pack to 8.8 kWh so the Prius Prime can drive up to 22-miles on pure electric power, which is great if you have a short commute to work, but not ideal for those that live in rural areas and commute into the city. Charging the battery should take about 5.5 hours on a standard 120V outlet. Toyota claims using a 240V charger takes "less than half the time. " A 120V charger is included with the car. Expect the Prius Prime to arrive at dealerships in the fall. Toyota gave the Highlander a mid-cycle refresh last week, before the show started. The updated Highlander includes a revised styling, standard driver assists, more USB ports, available 8- speed automatic transmission for V6 engines, sportier SE trim. The visual updates are minor but include new grilles with silver, chrome or black finish to differentiate the trim levels. But, the biggest upgrade is Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) driver assists is standard on all 2017 Highlanders. TSS includes AEB, LDW and ACC. The ACC system in the previous Highlander cancels out at speeds below 19 mph and it doesn't look like there's any change for the 2017 model, unfortunately. However, since it's standard on all models, I won't hold it against Toyota, this time at least. New for the mid-cycle refresh is an SE model that's sportier. Toyota's definition of sporty includes 19-inch wheels, sport-suspension, black trim and leather. My experience with the Camry XSE left me with lower back pains, so I truly hope Toyota does a better job tuning the suspension of the Highlander SE. The demise of the Scion brand was announced last month and the plans for rebadging the models as Toyota's was announced last week. There were no surprises - the Scion iM and iA will become the Toyota Corolla iM and Yaris iA. Toyota took an expected renaming approach for the Scion FR-S, which re-debuted as the 86, a homage to its predecessor, the mid-80's AE86 Corolla, and its name in the rest of the world. The 86 receives a slight refresh with new LED headlamps and more aggressive front fascia. The back end gets LED taillights, too. Manual transmission 2017 Toyota 86's gain 5 horsepower from a new gear ratio. It also gains hill start assist, which makes the car quite appealing to me for driving in hilly areas. Toyota adds steering wheel controls to the refreshed 86, too. While I'd normally complain about the lack of steering wheel controls on a modern car, the Scion FR-S was so small that the steering wheel controls wouldn't add much more convenience, but I welcome the addition. So many cars were unveiled at the 2017 New York Auto Show, which makes it hard for me to pick a favorite. However, there's only one car that made my jaw-drop and put forth a plan for a future purchase -- the MX-5 RF. I once owned a 1990 Mazda Miata and loved it for the few months that I owned it, before my second child was conceived. It was love at first shift and the 2016 Miata evoked the same feeling when I drove it, in the rain, with the top down (if you go 40 mph or faster, the rain just goes right over you). I always had a thing for the Miata hardtop and considered purchasing a last generation hardtop. But the new Miata is the best one yet, with the perfect balance of power, handling and technology that I'd want in a sports car. While the new soft top design is a major upgrade from the first generation I owned, I'm a hard top kind of guy. Its nice being able to put the soft top up while cruising down the freeway and a torrential downpour starts, but a soft top is still noisy inside. The MX-5 RF solves that and gives it a gorgeous fastback roofline in the process. I want one bad, but my wife says I have to pay off the Nissan Leaf and replace the roof on our house before I can buy one. So I guess I'll have to wait until 2021.

2016-03-25 05:10 By Tuan feedproxy.google.com

33 Why IT can’t handle data breaches alone In his keynote address at the CIO Perspectives event in Dallas last month, attorney Matthew Karlyn discussed what CIOs and other business leaders need to know about the laws surrounding data breaches and preparing for the worst before a breach happens. Matthew Karlyn, Partner, Technology Transactions & Outsourcing Practice, Foley & Lardner LLP Karlyn also addressed some of the myths surrounding security, including the suggestion that companies should “just let the IT department handle it.” “Does human resources have a role to play in information security? Of course they do - they’re storing the most sensitive data on all of your employees," said Karlyn. "Does finance have a role to play in information security? Of course they do - they’re funding the IT infrastructure. If they don’t understand what they’re funding, they’re going to say no… Does legal have a role to play in information security? Of course they do. No, it’s not just an IT department issue.” Karlyn also guided the audience in how security needs to be thought of when dealing with third- party vendors, hacktivists, confidentiality agreements (and what they really mean), contractors, employees (making sure they don’t fall for phishing emails), and even a company’s own legal department. Register now to listen to the full audio of Karlyn's address and hear more expert legal analysis and practical advice on how to keep the C-suite out of the hot seat. To continue reading this article register now Learn More Existing Users Sign In

2016-03-25 04:31 CIO staff www.infoworld.com

34 How machine learning will take off in the cloud A company that helps users to create their own websites now knows what kind of sites their 80 million users are building without pestering them with repeated questions. Wix , a Tel Aviv-based Web development company, is using machine learning on Google's cloud platform to learn more about its users so it can help them find the images they need to build interesting and useful websites. That's just the beginning of how machine learning will be used in the cloud , according to industry analysts who say machine learning will be the biggest thing that's ever hit the cloud. David Zuckerman, head of developer experience for Wix, said machine learning in the cloud will be a boon to companies that don't have a major research division. "The cloud has brought this technology to everyone," he said. "It's brought great technology within the reach of mere mortals. Machine learning has always been on the outer edges of what's possible. For most, it's been out of reach. Now this means people can get their feet wet. It's taking machine learning as a service and binging it down to a level where more people can use the technology. " At Google Next , the company's cloud conference on Wednesday, Google said it is bringing machine learning to the cloud and making it easy for enterprises to use it. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, Google's parent company, said bringing machine learning to the cloud will be a game changer. "I'm convinced there's a new architecture emerging," he said at the conference. "In a year, you will use machine learning to do something better than humans have been doing. You'll do something new. You'll discover something new. " Using the cloud, he said, will no longer mean storing data there. As more machine learning services are put in the cloud, enterprises will be able to use the service to make sense of the huge amounts of data they are amassing. "It will be the basis for every successful IPO win in the next five years," said Schmidt. "It'll be about the mixture of crowd-sourcing and machine learning and rapid evaluation to create successful IPOs and new discoveries. " Google also at the conference announced yesterday that it's launching a private beta of its new Cloud Machine Learning service that lets businesses create a custom machine learning model. Customers can use the new service with the data they already have stored in Google's cloud. The services mainly are designed to help companies make predictions based on the data they have stored in the cloud. This week, Wix is making Google's machine-learning Cloud Vision API available to all of its users this week. The service enables users to better search for images, while also enabling the company to understand what kinds of websites its customers are building based on a machine learning tool that recognizes the images they use on their websites. "The better we know our users, the better experience we can provide," Zuckerman told Computerworld. "It's an interesting way we can know what our users are building without having to ask them… We don't have a clear understanding about our user community. How much do I ask so I can provide a good experience without alienating the user? " If the system finds that a user is building a website about music, then Wix can offer music-related images or suggest that the user try the company's Wix Music service, Zuckerman said. Jeff Kagan, an independent industry analyst, said that Google is a pioneer in using machine learning in the cloud, but the technology won't be in the mainstream for a while. "When you combine machine learning with the cloud and all the sorts of new technologies that are coming, the future looks very exciting," Kagan said. "But that's what Google Next is all about. It's about thinking outside the box. " Dan Olds, principal analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group, said it won't be long before enterprises are using the new cloud-based machine learning tools. "It's interesting that Google is opening up its tool box of machine-learning tools to regular schmoes," he said. "I think we're going to see in the near future a lot of new applications of machine learning that we hadn't considered before. When you combine wide open access to machine learning routines to all the data out there, it's highly likely that we'll see really different and interesting ways to apply all of this. " For enterprises that had to be slowly led to the cloud, however, adding machine learning to their arsenal may be another methodical plod. "I think many enterprises will have to be led there, but I do see enterprises giving it a try," Olds said. "Stay tuned, because you're going to be seeing a lot of machine learning on the cloud news coming out. "

2016-03-25 04:26 Sharon Gaudin www.infoworld.com

35 Trio of Apple execs pull in $55.6 million each Three Apple executives each received $55.6 million worth of company stock, the second half of an award granted in 2011 after the death of co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. The top-tier executives -- head of marketing Philip Schiller, general counsel Bruce Sewell and chief operations officer Jeff Williams -- each gained control of 525,000 shares on Monday. At Monday's closing price, the shares were worth $55.6 million. The shares were the second half of an award given in early November 2011, when Apple awarded 150,000 shares each to six men. Since then, Apple's shares split 7 for 1, making the original allotment 1,050,000 shares. Three of the six awardees are no longer with the company. At the time, Apple granted "restricted share units," or RSUs, which were not given immediately, but instead were vested in two equal parts on June 21, 2013, and on Monday. Each executive had to remain with the company to collect those vested shares. While the grant was worth a putative $59.8 million at the time it was awarded, the subsequent increase in Apple's stock price pushed the total considerably higher. At the time each half vested, the total value of the RSUs was worth $80 million to Schiller, Sewell and Williams. Apple's grants to the executive team followed a much larger award given to CEO Tim Cook in August 2011, after he took the top spot when Jobs stepped down. The board of directors awarded Cook 1 million shares -- which with the split became 7 million shares -- that were to vest over a 10-year stretch. Companies often award large stock grants to senior leaders to entice them to stay. It's not a foolproof way to retain executives, as companies often grant stock to incoming new executives to match what they lost when they left their previous employer, and their unvested shares on the figurative table. Apple did just that when it hired Angela Ahrendts to become its head of retail and online sales, handing her about $37 million worth of shares to replace the equity she had accumulated as the CEO of luxury retailer Burberry before leaving for Apple.

2016-03-25 04:23 Gregg Keizer www.infoworld.com

36 How Apple stomped on Intel's plans to make RealSense emotionally smart Intel has grand plans for computers that will recognize human emotion using its RealSense 3D camera, but Apple appears to have dealt it a setback. RealSense uses a combination of infrared, laser, and optical cameras to measure depth and track motion. It's been used on a drone that can navigate its own way through a forest, for example. It can also detect changes in facial expressions, and Intel wanted to give RealSense the ability to read human emotions by combining it with an emotion recognition technology developed by Emotient. Emotient's plug-in allowed RealSense to detect whether people are happy or sad by analyzing movement in their lips, eyes, and cheeks. Intel added the plug-in lto its RealSense developer kit last year, saying it could detect "anger, contempt, disgust, fear," and other sentiments. A video shows the technology in action. But a few months ago Apple acquired Emotient , and that seems to have put the brakes on Intel's plans, at least as far as that company's technology is concerned. Intel has removed the Emotient plug-in from the latest version of the RealSense software development kit, according to the changes published this week. It's not exactly clear why the Emotient engine was pulled. Apple didn't respond to a request for comment, and an Intel spokesman couldn't immediately explain. It's possible Intel didn't want to rely on a technology that's now owned by Apple, or Apple may have stopped providing access to the Emotient plug-in. RealSense is also used in smartphones, tablets, PCs, and robots. It can capture 3D video, recognize objects, and measure distances. The RealSense SDK still has features that allow it to recognize some facial expressions, but it's unclear if they'll be as effective as the technology from Emotient.

2016-03-25 04:17 Agam Shah www.infoworld.com

37 Verizon's breach experts missed one right under their noses Verizon Enterprise, a bulwark against cyber attacks at many large organizations, has suffered a security breach itself. A flaw in the company's systems allowed an attacker to steal contact information on Verizon Enterprise customers, the company acknowledged Thursday. Verizon said it has fixed the flaw and is notifying those users, but it hasn't disclosed how many were affected. The intruder couldn't get to any customer proprietary network information, Verizon said, referring to data such as call records and billing information. The breach came to light Thursday in a post on the blog Krebs on Security. Krebs reported the hacker stole contact information for about 1.5 million Verizon Enterprise customers and offered it for sale for $100,000 on a cyber crime forum. Because the data was offered for sale in the MongoDB format, among others it's likely the attacker forced a MongoDB database at Verizon to dump its contents, the blog said. Verizon prides itself on keeping abreast of the latest attack methods by monitoring its global Internet backbone, and it uses that information to tell customers how to secure their systems. It also sells managed security services for enterprises. In a report last year on data from more than 70 organizations, the company estimated that the average cost to a company of one breached data record was $0.58. It found a wide range of total costs in different cases, up to $100,000 per record. But in the same report, Verizon found breaches were being discovered more quickly. The time to discovery had fallen from months and weeks to hours and days, it said. Still, intruders can start to do damage immediately. Only 8 percent of breaches were discovered within seconds, the report said. 2016-03-25 04:11 Stephen Lawson www.infoworld.com

38 France fines Google for not being forgetful enough The French data protection authority has fined Google for failing to implement the so-called right to be forgotten as ordered. Last year, the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty (CNIL) decided that requests to have personal information delisted from search results should apply to all Google properties, not just those in European domains. Google had been removing results from searches performed on domains including google.co.uk and google.fr, but not from its main site, google.com, even though it is accessible from within the EU. The CNIL could have fined Google up to €300,000 (US$336,000) for failing to comply with its ruling, but in the end ordered the company to pay just €100,000. The Court of Justice of the European Union established the right to be forgotten, or delisted, in May 2014. The ruling allows people to ask search engines such as Google to hide certain links resulting from a search on their name. The case began when Spaniard Mario Costeja González sought to erase traces online of a 1998 announcement in newspaper La Vanguardia of a court-ordered auction of his real estate to recover debts. The court said the newspaper report should remain online, but ordered Google to remove links to it from the results of searches for Costeja González's name. The idea was that references to embarrassing events or minor misdeeds could be made harder to find, but not completely erased. However, Google's refusal to hide results in searches performed on google.com, even for users within the EU, thwarted the court's intentions. The CNIL published details of the fine late Thursday, although the decision was made on March 10. That same week, Google finally began removing affected results from google.com, a week after announcing its plans on its European public policy blog . Google still hasn't gone as far as the CNIL would like. The privacy watchdog wants the company to remove affected search results worldwide. Instead, Google will hide search results across all its non-European properties, but only from users in the same country as the person requesting delisting. Concretely, this means that Spaniards searching for the infamous auction announcement should no longer be able to find it on any Google site. Elsewhere in the EU, searchers using the default Google site for their country shouldn't see the search results, but if they use google.com or any other non-EU Google site, then they could find it. Outside the EU, the search results won't be filtered at all -- or at least, not as a result of the ruling on the right to be delisted. Since the CJEU made its ruling, Google has received 407,673 requests for removal under the right to be delisted , relating to a total of 1,425,748 URLs. It has removed 42.6 percent of those from its search results. French Internet users have been the keenest to cover up their past, filing 86,901 requests between them, resulting in the removal of 48.4 percent of the 286,163 URLs concerned. Germany, the most populous country in the EU, generated the second-largest number of requests, followed by the U. K., Spain and Italy. The right to be delisted is not the only reason Google is asked to hide search results. Between June 2014 and June 2015, governments around the world issued 6,990 removal requests relating to 60,439 items. The company has not yet published figures for the second half of 2015.

2016-03-25 04:09 Peter Sayer www.computerworld.com

39 Retail's struggles with improving in-store checkout With all of the effort by retailers to lure shoppers into their stores, one would think that granting those customers an easy and painless exit would be a priority. One would be wrong. A few years ago, Walmart made an impressively clever attempt, leveraging mobile in-store. That experiment, which never got beyond the experimental stage, had shoppers scanning every item as they placed it in their cart. Then when it came time to check out, they would use the self-checkout lane. But instead of rescanning every item, they would display a single barcode from the Walmart trial mobile app that would quickly tell the POS every item being purchased. The Walmart system, not unlike every self-checkout approach, would need various anti-theft measures, including periodic spot checks. But it masterfully dealt with the problem of quickly processing a cart with perhaps 50 SKUs in it. Today, some chains — including a few Whole Foods stores in Manhattan — are trying out checkout systems that direct shoppers to different checkout lanes. Unfortunately, most of these systems know little more than the number of shoppers in line. They can't factor in the number of items in each cart, nor the nature of those items. Some items — such as produce that has to be weighed or age-restricted items such as cigarettes or alcohol — simply take a lot longer to process than others. Much more sophisticated lane-selectors, which could factor such information into the lane- choosing decision, could happen with item-level RFID. In theory, that could tell systems what is in the carts of people already in line at a specific lane as well as shoppers waiting to be assigned a lane. This brings us back to that Walmart mobile effort. Given that item-level RFID simply isn't going to happen for most retail items — and certainly not in grocery — the answer has to be some version of mobile checkout. The great part about that Walmart effort was that it used mobile for what it's good at (scanning barcodes and even getting customers to do the scanning) while turning over the heavy lifting (the tenderization) to an existing system already designed to do that: self-checkout systems. In terms of lane assignment, it also made that easy by shoving those shoppers into self- checkout. But if it wanted to, it could easily expand to all checkout lanes. Therein lies the bonus: Every customer would represent one barcode. With the exception of age-verification and price- by-weight items, customers with 90 items in their carts could be processed as quickly as someone with two items in their carts. To the system, it would all be a single mobile-displayed barcode. The individual item scans would have been borne by the customer during the shopping trip. This is worth focusing on because the checkout is overwhelmingly the least favorite part of a shopping trip. Indeed, lengthy, slow-moving checkout lanes are a key reason why in-store purchases periodically morph into Amazon shipments. The closer physical stores get to solving the checkout problem, the closer those stores will be to fighting showrooming. When brick-and-mortars lose shoppers to someone else's e-commerce operation, they are quick to blame the e-commerce. Truth be told, most such happenings are much more the case of a store losing the sale rather than the site winning one.

2016-03-25 04:00 Evan Schuman www.computerworld.com

40 That was quick: New iOS build fixes Apple activation bug (but don't call it 9.3.1) However, the fix appears to reduce users' security. Which is worrying -- and frankly ironic. Yes this is the lovely fix for "Cannot activate because the activation server is temporarily not available. " But there are more bugs waiting to be fixed, natch. In IT Blogwatch , bloggers watch a triumph of marketing over engineering. Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Excuse me, but how is that a good idea? Especially when Apple crows on about how it's so concerned about security? Or should we interpret this as Apple only caring about your security, if you buy a new phone and tablet every year? You have been reading IT Blogwatch by Richi Jennings , who curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites… so you don’t have to. Catch the key commentary from around the Web every morning. Hatemail may be directed to @RiCHi or [email protected] . Opinions expressed may not represent those of Computerworld. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. E&OE.

2016-03-25 04:00 Richi Jennings www.computerworld.com

41 Didn't get your dream job? 8 tips for handling rejection Even in the booming IT industry with unemployment at historic lows , landing a tech job isn't a given. Making it through several rounds of interviews and technical screenings can make you feel as though you're a shoe-in for the role, only to discover the company's decided you're not the right fit. "In the IT industry, demand is incredibly high right now, and with that many other candidates, competition is fierce and the pressure is high. It can be devastating if you're passed over for a role, but there are ways to cope and handle rejection gracefully," says Greg Barnett, vice president of Research and Development at The Predictive Index. Here, Barnett shares eight tips for dealing with rejection and moving on with your job search. To continue reading this article register now Learn More Existing Users Sign In

2016-03-25 03:55 Sharon Florentine www.computerworld.com

42 Top 25 free tools for Windows 7 and 8.1 It’s been nearly two years since we surveyed the best free programs for Windows desktops. Much has happened since then -- most notably the advent of Windows 10 and the explosion of tremendously useful applications and services in the cloud. With Windows 7 and 8.1 usage still dwarfing Win10 usage, it’s clear that many of you have begged off Microsoft’s Win10 siren call, feeling fine with what you have . If you’re one of the many sticking with Windows 7 or 8.1 for the foreseeable future, you should take a look at the following free-for-personal-use (and cheap-for-corporate-use) apps. I guarantee you’ll find more than a handful of them that are well worth the effort. They may even be enough to tide you over until Microsoft pries Windows 7 from your cold, dead keyboard. If you wanted Windows 10, you would’ve installed it by now. Microsoft is pushing all the buttons, trying to get you to move from Win7/8.1 to Win10. Some people aren’t ready yet -- or may never be. Enter Josh Mayfield and his wondrous Win10 blocker, GWX Control Panel. GWX is Microsoft- speak for the Get Windows 10 campaign, and GWX Control Panel knocks out the Get Windows 10 icon in your system tray, down near the time. It prevents the regularly scheduled GWX programs from rejiggering your system. It deletes all of the data that Microsoft may have stuck in hidden folders on your machine. And it simply prevents the Win10 installer from running. GWX now has a Monitor Mode, and if you're using that, GWX Control Panel runs itself frequently. If you aren't using Monitor Mode, simply rerun the program from time to time, especially anytime you install anything from Microsoft. It’s free for everyone. Once upon a time, Internet Explorer was arguably the best Internet browser. Those days have long passed, to the point where IE has been shunned by Microsoft itself. All of Microsoft’s browser efforts (except for bug fixes) have shifted to the Windows 10-only Microsoft Edge browser. If Microsoft’s put IE out to seed, so should you. Opera , long the top underdog in the browser wars, has pioneered several features not previously seen in competitive browsers, including pop-up blocking, private browsing and native ad blocking. It’s now available on Windows, OS X and Linux. Firefox is an excellent choice if you don’t want to send your browsing history to the folks at Google. Coupled with a search engine like Duck Duck Go , which doesn’t track anything, you minimize your trackable presence on the Web. I use Firefox all the time. Chrome , however, is my browser of choice. In spite of its snooping ways, it has the best collection of extensions, easiest operation, and best integration with Google Apps in the biz. On the downside, if you open a bunch of tabs, it sucks up a lot of cycles. If you’re searching for the best truly free antivirus tool, look no further than Microsoft’s Windows Defender . As long as you’re caught up on Win7 updates, installing Windows Defender is easy: Click Start and in the Search box type Defender , then in the resulting dialog box choose “click here to turn it on.” In Windows 8.1, Defender comes baked in . Other “free” antivirus products come and go -- some even score higher on the prestigious Virus Bulletin VB100 list. Defender isn’t the fanciest or most aggressive AV product available. It’s reliable, simple, boring, fast, easy to use and most of all, free. It's always free and never nags for more money. If you’re in the market for a password storage vault, LastPass is for you. LastPass keeps track of your user IDs, passwords and other settings; stores them in the cloud; and offers them to you with one click. LastPass does its AES-256 encrypting and decrypting on your PC, using a master password that you have to remember. The data that gets stored in the cloud is encrypted, and without the key the stored passwords can’t be broken, unless you know somebody who can crack AES-256 encryption. LastPass works as a browser add-on for IE, Firefox, or Chrome, so all of your passwords are stored in one place, accessible to any PC you happen to be using -- if you have the master password. It also works well on Android and iOS devices. If you haven’t yet used cloud storage on your PC, you should give it a try. Problems with reliability have pretty much disappeared. Questions about privacy continue, and it’s a good idea to encrypt anything that’s supersensitive, but if you’re like most people, the convenience of having all of your cloud data available anywhere, anytime, goes a long way. Everybody and his brother wants to offer you free cloud storage these days. They’re gambling that you’ll get hooked on the service and want to stay and pay. I’ve never gone over my limit with any of the services -- Dropbox (2GB free for personal use, unlimited business use for $12.50 per user per month), Microsoft’s OneDrive (5GB free for personal use, many other options), Google Drive (15GB free for personal use), Mega (50GB free), Box (10GB free) -- and I use them all, in various ways. Thumbnail comparison: Dropbox syncs with your computer remarkably well; for all intents, it works exactly like a File Manager folder (see screenshot), offering solid security, easy operation, amazing reliability and integration with many programs (including Office). The current version of OneDrive has all sorts of implementation and interface problems, reliability is a major concern, and Microsoft has already reneged on storage promises. Google Drive space gets swallowed up by saved Gmail attachments, but the tools are best of breed. I use Google Drive for photos -- see my later recommendation. Mega is excellent, supersecure, and somewhat in limited features, but getting better. Box rates as the sine qua non of corporate storage, but it’s limited for freeloaders. Like you, I spent years struggling with PC-based email. Outlook, in multitudinous versions: Outlook Express (which isn’t anything like Outlook itself), Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird. I can’t recall how many months I’ve lost trying to hassle with files, settings, quirks, and bugs. Bah! If you haven’t yet moved your mail to the cloud, it’s time to take a look. Although you have to jump through a few hoops, it’s relatively easy to keep your email address ([email protected]) and push everything through Gmail -- and nobody will know the difference. All of the email services are free for personal use and come attached to more expensive packages (Google Apps for Business, Outlook 365, among others) for organizations. Flipping to online email will add years to your life. The only real question is which service you should use. The two front-runners, Gmail and Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail) have pros and cons, with features in one showing up in the other sooner or later. Both have so many capabilities that nobody uses more than a tiny fraction. There’s no clear winner. Personally, I use Gmail -- and have for years -- because it’s better organized (which is a simple way to say that I’m used to it), it does a better job of trapping spam headed my way, separating “Important” messages from “Everything else” simplifies cleanup, and the tabs help occasionally. Microsoft counters by saying Outlook.com doesn’t serve ads targeted based on email contents (although they do serve up targeted ads), they have inbox organization by custom categories, there are time-based rules, and Outlook.com makes it easy to connect to Skype, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn. While the titans rage for paid online “office productivity” packages -- we’ll look at Office 365 and Google Apps for Business in a future review -- those seeking free-for-personal-use productivity programs have two excellent choices, from those same two titans. Office Online is so good, you’ll be hard-pressed to find features in the paid programs that aren’t available online for free. Google Apps work well, too, but Office Online’s features and rock-solid compatibility with desktop Office programs run way out ahead of the competition. Both run inside your favorite Web browser. The big trick? You have to understand there is a free Office Online, it’s remarkably full-featured, and you don’t need to sign up for a free trial of anything (although you will need a free Microsoft Account). To get started, go to the Office home page , avoid the temptation to sign up for an Office 365 free trial at the top, and look further down for the free online apps. If you’re a professional photographer, need fancy touch-up tools and extremely high-definition archival storage or have to set up paid downloading services, you'll want a more capable client. But for almost everybody, Google Photos is a category killer. There’s rarely been a program, of any kind, with such broad appeal. There’s free unlimited storage, although pictures are limited to 16 megapixels and video to 1080p (the program will automatically squeeze bigger pictures, or you can pay for Google Drive storage space for the biggies). Yes, it's free and unlimited with apps for iOS, Android and all the major browsers on any platform. You can set Google Photos to automatically upload pics from your phone or Wi-Fi-enabled camera. Once they’re on Google’s servers, you can get at them from anywhere with your Google ID and password. Google Photos automatically analyzes every picture. Face recognition is built-in (although it can be turned off). The organization and analytical capabilities are breathtaking -- “All the pictures of me holding a beer glass” or “Every picture we took of the pyramids.” Photos even offers to create montages, panoramas, storylines or “animations” of similar pictures taken in succession. Of course, Google keeps track of everything you post and uses the info to serve ads, but that's the price you pay. When you start looking at desktop applications, your very first stop should be Ninite. Simply click on the applications you want and Ninite will download the latest version, absolutely free of crapware, install them, and leave you in the driver’s seat. Need to update your apps? Run Ninite again. (Or rely on Secunia PSI, coming up next.) The beauty of the Ninite approach? All of these apps are a click away, no fuss, no nags, no charge. It’s the best way I know to install a bunch of good programs on a new PC in only a few minutes. A key component in keeping your system up-to-date, Secunia Personal Software Inspector scans every program on your PC and tells you in no uncertain terms if you have any wayward programs that haven’t been patched. You can tell Secunia PSI to automatically keep your programs updated, and unless some sort of odd manual intervention is required (such as “Select language”), everything gets patched behind the scenes. I particularly appreciate the fact that PSI respects my Windows Update settings; while I have everything else updated automatically, it lets me install Microsoft patches on my own schedule. Free PSI is for personal use; CSI corporate editions are also available. No doubt you already have an antivirus program. I use and recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (or Windows Defender in Win8.1, which is basically the same thing), but there are many good alternatives. Malwarebytes is different. The free-for-personal-use version is designed to run manually -- I run mine once a week. Malwarebytes picks up all sorts of creepy crawlies that get past AV programs, and it’s surprisingly adept at running even if your machine is already infected. When combined with the support on the Malwarebytes forum, Malwarebytes is the ultimate fallback for infected systems -- whether or not you know they’re infected. Windows 7 has a decent -- but not perfect -- backup and restore function. Windows 8.1 basically throws it all away. Yes, you can find vestiges of Win7 backup buried in the dregs of Windows 8.1, but it’s a pain. Microsoft wants you to use its new backup method, stick everything on OneDrive, and use Refresh/Restore should the proverbial crap hit the fan. Comodo Backup runs rings around all of them. Comodo wants to back you up to the cloud, gives you 10GB of free online storage, then sells you the rest. But even if you choose to back up the old-fashioned way, Comodo Backup is free and works like a champ. If you only want to put your backups on your own drives, when you install it (see screenshot) skip the free Install eCloud option, and you won’t get confused. But if you want to put up to 10GB in the cloud for free, give it a shot. Another poster child for open source software, VLC Media Player plays almost anything -- including YouTube Flash FLV files -- with no additional software, no downloads, no headaches. I use it exclusively for videos. Unlike other media players, VLC sports simple, Spartan controls, built-in codecs for almost every file type imaginable, and a large and vocal online support community. VLC plays Internet streaming media with a click, records played media, converts between file types and even supports individual frame screenshots. VLC is well-known for tolerating incomplete or damaged media files. It will even start to play downloaded media before the download’s finished. It's available via Ninite. There’s an up-and-comer called PotPlayer that’s a strong contender. Want to try an alternative to VLC? Give it a look. It’s such a simple process you’d think Windows itself would have one built in -- but no. Once upon a time, the Windows XP PowerToys included a fabulous, simple, fast image resizer. Right-click on a photo and choose Resize Pictures; the photo’s reduced in size to a fraction of the original. With options for Small, Medium, Large, Mobile and Custom, you can make the resized file as small as you like and maintain a lot of image fidelity in the process. But XP came and went, and Microsoft didn’t keep the PowerToys updated. Enter Brice Lambson, a Microsoft employee with a heart of gold -- and a mission to bring the free Image Resizer to the latest versions of Windows. Microsoft still doesn’t support Image Resizer. But Brice does. It's free for everybody. Notepad? Notepad? Nobody uses Notepad any more. Even with all of the fantastic new brightly colored file formats running around today, everybody, sooner or later, needs a text editor. Let’s hear it for EditPad Lite. With tabs, undo/redo, Unicode support, cut copy and paste, search and replace, and all in a svelte and fast package, EditPad Lite works wonders. Free for personal use, the pro/corporate package costs as little as $9 per user. Pay for the product and you get a spell checker. I have a confession: My text editor of choice is Notepad++. I’ve been using it for years, and I’ve tailored it to do exactly what I need. My fingers know exactly where to go. For most people, though, Notepad++ is overkill. (If you have to write native HTML, it’s great.) EditPad and EditPad Lite is the way to go. It's available through Ninite. With dozens of good -- even great -- free image editors around, it’s hard to pick one above the others. Pixlr Desktop is a surprisingly full-featured, free photo editor from Autodesk. Irfanview has tremendous viewing, organizing and resizing capabilities. For powerful, easy-to-use photo editing, with layers, plug-ins, and all sorts of special effects, along with a compact and easily understood interface, I’ll stick with Paint. Net. Although it requires Windows’ hard-to-keep-updated. Net Framework, the program puts all of the editing tools a nonprofessional might reasonably expect into a remarkably intuitive package. There’s a trick to installing Paint. Net. If you go to the company’s website, you’re faced with a daunting array of junk-filled download sites. Instead, take a two-step approach to downloading a clean copy. Start by installing the latest version of. Net Framework from Microsoft’s official site. Then use Ninite (mentioned earlier) to install a clean copy of Paint. Net. When I need to open a PDF file on the Internet, I use Chrome. The PDF viewing capabilities inside Chrome are more than adequate for most needs. When I have PDF files from other sources -- say, forms from the IRS -- I’ll fire up Sumatra PDF. It’s a small, lightweight, stable and very secure viewer that handles PDFs, ePubs, MOBI files and several other formats. The big-name PDF viewers try to cover it all, and in the process invite infections, stalls and crashes. Sumatra is a simple viewer, without the fluff. The document takes center stage. It's free for everybody, open source, and available through Ninite. Every desktop user needs 7-Zip. While Windows 8.1 has the ability to look into ISO files -- you still need 7-Zip to see them in Win7 -- Win8.1’s Windows Explorer doesn’t support RAR compressed files, which are becoming more and more common as Mac use rises. 7-Zip also creates password-protected Zip files and self-extracting Zips. You don’t need to register or pay for 7-Zip. Don’t fall for a website with a similar name. To get the real, original, one and only free 7-Zip, with a crapware-free installer, go to 7-zip.org or, better, get it from Ninite. There’s support on the 7- Zip Sourceforge page. It's free for everybody and open source. Windows doesn’t rip DVDs. Period. While you’re bound to get a hundred different opinions from any collection of a dozen different RIAA lawyers, ripping DVDs for your own use (say, to play them from a computer that doesn’t have a DVD player, or to keep your three-year-old’s fingers off the shiny side) is a common, debatably illegal activity. Ask your lawyer how she rips DVDs. I rip DVDs all the time (so sue me), and when I do, I use Handbrake. It’ll rip to MP4, or if you like, it’ll create video files specifically tailored to iPhone, iPad, Android, or Apple TV. Open source software at its finest, HandBrake has an enormous number of options that should cover even the most convoluted cases. Want to know what’s taking up all the space on your hard drive? Run SpaceSniffer . No installation required -- it runs from a simple EXE -- no malware, no funny stuff. You end up with a patchwork quilt of files and folders. Click on a folder or file to get more details. Double- click on a folder to see all of the components. When the scan’s complete, SpaceSniffer shows you a list of all the files on your hard drive, grouped by type. You can use that list to prune and crop the detritus that has no doubt accumulated. There’s even a filtering capability, so you can look at all of your MP4 files or JPGs. It's a great way to zoom in on the space hogs. Microsoft’s venerable and free-as-a-breeze Autoruns finds more autostarting programs (add- ins, drivers, codecs, gadgets, shell extensions, whatever) in more obscure places than any other program, anywhere. AutoRuns not only lists the autorunning programs, it lets you turn off individual programs. There are many minor features, including the ability to filter out Microsoft-signed programs, a quick way to jump to folders holding autostarting programs, and a command-line version that lets you display file hashes. AutoRuns doesn’t require installation. It’s a program that runs and collects its information, displays it (with a rather rudimentary user interface), lets you wrangle with your system, then fades away. It's free for everybody, personal or corporate. Process Explorer tells you which files are currently open by what program. That feature alone has saved me half a head of hair because, once identified by Process Explorer, the process that has locked up your file can be killed. Process Explorer also gives you full information on all of the svchost processes running on your PC. That accounts for the other half a head. Mouse over a process, even a generic svchost, and you can see the command line that launched the process, the path to the executable file and all of the Windows services in use. Right-click and you can go online to get more information about the executable. It's another must-have product from, yes, Microsoft, free for everybody. If you’re curious about the hardware that beats inside your system, do I have a utility for you. HWiNFO delves into every nook and cranny. From the summary (shown here) to detailed Device Manager-style trees of information -- entire forests of information -- HWiNFO can tell you everything anyone could want to know about your machine. There’s a separate real-time monitoring panel, which tells you the current status of everything under the sun: Temperatures, speeds, usage, clocks, voltages, wattages, hard drive SMART stats, read rates, write rates, GPU load, network throughput and on and on. It’s free for everybody. (I downloaded a clean copy from FossHub .) If you aren’t yet using torrents, now’s the time to start. Try Tixati. It’s simple (no Java, no. Net), fast, and easy to use; it also supports magnet links (to really simplify downloads), with extensive bandwidth reporting and management. There's no spyware, no adware, and no nonsense. There are good visual tools for monitoring bandwidth and throttling if need be -- or blast your connection wide open and let ’er rip. With Tixati it’s easy, and you don’t have to worry about all the garbage that’s frequently associated with torrent handlers. Revo Uninstaller well and truly uninstalls programs, and it does so in an unexpected way. When you use Revo, it runs the program’s uninstaller and watches while the uninstaller works, looking for the location of program files and for Registry keys that the uninstaller zaps. It then goes in and removes leftover pieces, based on the locations and keys that the program’s uninstaller took out. Revo also consults its own internal database for commonly-left-behind bits and roots those out. The not-free Pro version monitors your system when you install a program, making removal easier and more complete. Pro will also uninstall remnants of programs that have already been uninstalled. Get it from Ninite. • Download: Everything you need to know about Windows 10 • 10 hurdles to Windows 10 adoption • 10 reasons you shouldn't upgrade to Windows 10 • 10 reasons you should upgrade to Windows 10

2016-03-25 03:30 Woody Leonhard www.computerworld.com

43 17 iOS 9.3 tips to make the most out of Apple's latest feature-packed update iOS 9.3 is a big software update with a lot of small, hidden features. From scheduling Night Shift at sunset to password-protecting your most-secret Notes, you can try them all out now. Here’s how. The biggest new feature in iOS 9.3 is “Night Shift,” a display mode that warms up your screen so that the iPhone’s stark blue light doesn’t keep you up at night (blue light emissions have been linked to sleep deprivation issues). You can set Night Shift to turn on automatically at sunset if you go into your Settings under Display & Brightness. You can also schedule it to turn on during a specific time and even adjust the warmness of the light. Additionally, you can turn Night Shift on and off with a new icon in the Control Center. But just FYI, Night Shift doesn’t work if your device is in Low Power Mode. With iOS 9.3, you can keep all your most private Notes under lock. First, create a Notes-specific password by going to Settings > Notes > Password. Here, you’ll also get the chance to use Touch ID to unlock your Notes. After the password is set, you will now be able to go to the Notes app and see the “Lock Note” option by pulling up the Share sheet. Once you lock the note, however, don’t forget to actually click on the open lock icon next to the Share icon so that it’s closed. You’ll know for sure your note is locked when you see a message that looks like the image shown here. The Notes app got a few other improvements, including sorting notes alphabetically or by date created/edited, starting a New Sketch with a two-finger swipe left, and choosing whether photos and videos gets stored only in Notes and not added to Photos. Most notably, you can now easily import from Evernote: Simply long-press on the Evernote Export file to import its contents into Notes. Live Photos are cool, but sometimes the still image happens to be just the perfect shot. Now with iOS 9.3, you can get save the still image associated with any Live Photo. When viewing a Live Photo in Photos, pull up the Share sheet and hit Duplicate. For the first time, you will have the option to simply duplicate the still pic. And iOS 9.3 lets you use AirDrop and Messages to share Live Photos between iOS and OS X. Another minor technical update, Apple’s release notes for iOS 9.3 also reveal an improved download performance for full-size photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library. iOS 9.3 helps to make sure that your iCloud accound never gets hacked, which is why you can now setup two-factor authentication—a more secure option than two-step verification, which is what Apple was using previously. Go to your iCloud settings and then select “Password & Security” to find and enable this new security feature. Also in iOS 9.3, iCloud sends you in-app notifications to let you know that you’re about to run out of storage space. The News app gets more editorial curation in iOS 9.3. The For You tab gets a new “Top Stories” section featuring the most important articles of the day. There’s also a new Editors’ Picks section with channels and topics selected by Apple News editors, which presumably means more human curation as supposed to some sort of algorithm. In addition, the News app gets some Tinder-inspired functionalities on the iPhone. While browsing the For You tab, you can swipe left on a story to share or save it. You can also swipe right for more options. For You now has the ability to play embedded videos directly without having to open the actual story. Lastly, you can read stories and watch videos in landscape mode and change the size of the text. With iOS 9.3, finding the hottest tracks in Apple Music has never been easier. Every album in the Apple Music catalog now has a star next to the most popular songs, so you can listen to the hits first before committing to downloading an entire album. In addition, Apple Music now lets you add songs from the catalog to any playlist without having to add them first to your library. When a track is Now Playing, you can tap the song name to go to the full album. In the Radio tab, you can quickly check what song is playing on Beats 1 without having to tune in. For iPad users, Apple Music now lets you watch music videos in full screen. The Maps update in iOS 9.3 is subtle but essential for people who rely on mass transit everyday. Maps now shows you if there are multiple transit lines that you can take to get to your destination. In addition, you can tap each individual transit stop along the way to get more information, like which lines it serves. For iPad Pro users, iBooks in iOS 9.3 supports the Apple Pencil, so you can use it to highlight and save your favorite passages. iOS 9.3 also gives iBooks the ability to store your PDFs in iCloud so that they are available across your devices. You can also download previously purchased audiobooks from the iBooks Store, and add these audiobook purchases to your Family Share. In addition, fans of Manga are now able to better read their favorite issues on iBooks with iOS 9.3. The update makes Manga pages turn faster, and it’s easier for readers to enlarge the pages to read the text closeup. The Health app keeps getting better, and iOS 9.3 adds a bevy of new improvements. For starters, you can now access your Medical ID and Dashboard directly from the Homescreen with 3D Touch Quick Actions—if you have an iPhone 6s or 6 Plus. The Health dashboard now incorporates all types of Activity app data collected by the Apple Watch, including how frequently you move, exercise, and take your stand-up breaks. In addition, the Health app also supports more third-party data through HealthKit. Apple’s Education software gets a serious boost in iOS 9.3. It ushers in compatibility for the brand-new Classroom app, which gives teachers the ability to check in to their students’ iPads. iOS 9.3 also brings a Shared iPad functionality so that multiple students can use the same iPad. Teachers can sign into iCloud with Managed Apple IDs, hide specific apps from the Homescreen, as well as set up new restrictions in iCloud Photo Library and Apple Music. CarPlay gets more robust app integrations in iOS 9.3. For example, Maps has a new Nearby screen so you can quickly find food, gas, coffee, and parking. For Apple Music members, you now have access to For You and New sections. In addition, Siri now speaks more concisely when reading back and composing messages, according to Apple’s iOS 9.3 relese notes. And the sound levels are now better equalized if you’re listening between different audio sources. After the recent launch of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro , Apple is making external keyboard integrations a lot better for all iOS devices. iOS 9.3 enables you to be able to use the arrow keys on a hardware keyboard to go through lists in Spotlight, Mail, and Safari. The function to scroll in Safari using the space bar has gotten better, and this functionality is also available in Mail. The Shortcut Bar also has a new command to bring up the software keyboard when an external keyboard is connected. In iOS 9.3, the Wallet app now shows you (very subtlely) which installed app is associated with a certain card or pass. For example, in the slide shown here, you can see a new Chase app icon at the very bottom of the screen that’s associated with the card linked to Apple Pay. Tapping on the information button takes you to see all the transactions made with the card and has the option to open the Chase card. Perhaps a bigger update comes to Apple Pay, because you can now sign up for rewards programs at retail stores using your Apple Pay information. Apparently, some podcasts have a video component to them. So in iOS 9.3, the Podcasts app now supports fullscreen video playback. Like in other video apps, simply turn your device horizontally to watch the video part in fullscreen. If you have an Apple Watch, iOS 9.3 gives you a more thorough breakdown of all your workouts. The new Workouts tab shows you a monthly summary, showing every time you launched a Workout on your Watch. You can also filter by Workout type, like running or stair-stepping. In addition, other third-party apps now have access to add to your Activity rings via HealthKit. Switching from Android to iOS is even easier with iOS 9.3. Apple’s Move to iOS app now offers app suggestions based on apps installed on your previous Android device. In iOS 9.3, Siri now has language support for Finnish (Finland), Hebrew (Israel), and Malay (Malaysia). However, if you’re an Apple Watch wearer who has not updated to watchOS 2.2. (guilty!), you’re going to need to do so in order to set these languages on the Watch. Thankfully, watchOS 2.2 is available now .

2016-03-25 03:30 Oscar Raymundo www.itnews.com

44 Make the most of free Amazon Web Services The best way to think of the free tier to Amazon Web Services is as a stepping-stone. It allows you to get your feet wet with the basic mechanisms of AWS and EC2; to understand Amazon's handling of virtual machine instances, storage, data, and networking; and to create an item that can eventually be hosted on a full-blown, for-pay AWS instance. It also lets you learn how to manage and constrain AWS usage. If you're not careful, you may end up paying for your "free" AWS usage after all. In this article, we'll look at what the free tier offers and on what terms, then take a closer peek at what's possible or practical within those constraints. In the long run, any serious AWS user will want to take fuller advantage of what the Amazon cloud has to offer -- but why not make the most of the free resources in the meantime? With the free tier, you can find your legs with AWS, start some projects, and maybe even build a functional application or three. To continue reading this article register now Learn More Existing Users Sign In

2016-03-25 03:27 Serdar Yegulalp www.computerworld.com

45 Microsoft's PowerPoint Designer gets multiple image support and more A few months ago, Microsoft released a feature for PowerPoint 2016 that can help users make better-looking slides even if they aren't presentation experts. On Thursday, it got even better , with a few more upgrades. PowerPoint Designer kicks in when users add images to a slide, and it provides people with a bunch of options for how they can lay those images out alongside text. Previously, the feature could handle only a single image, but it now allows users to add at least two images at once to a slide, with some themes able to add up to four pictures in a single slide. In a blog post published Thursday, Microsoft promised users will be able to insert more images across all themes inside PowerPoint, but it didn't give a specific date for users to expect that. In addition to the multiple image support, users who add images with people in them will now get the benefit of a new facial recognition capability in Designer. It will use cropping and positioning to make sure people's faces are at the center of the image or in another aesthetically appealing spot. Also, when an image is fed into Designer, the service now pulls out what the PowerPoint team says is the most visually effective color and applies that as an accent color in the slide where the image appears. Designer is powered by machine learning algorithms that Microsoft operates in its cloud, and it's only available to people who have Office 365 and are using the latest Office 2016 software. Unfortunately, it requires a connection to the Internet, so folks away from a network won't be able to take advantage of it.

2016-03-25 03:22 Blair Hanley www.computerworld.com

46 Turn your smartphone into a 3D printer for $99 A new 3D printer that uses light from a smartphone display to create objects has already garnered more than $800,000 four days into a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. OLO 3D Inc. created a three-piece cube with a transparent bottom that rests atop any smartphone with a display of up to 5.8-in, including the iPhone 6S and Galaxy A7. When activated, OLO's smartphone app turns any 3D design into a bright light that hardens resin in the cube into an object. The OLO app also allows users to send printable images to other OLO app users for them to print. If you choose not to use an existing library of images, you can also use any 3D scan software, including Autodesk 123D Catch, to create images on your smartphone to build a 3D object; that includes photographs. Multiple objects can be built at the same time. Like any 3D printer, the build time can be substantial (though this printer appears to be slower than most desktop 3D printers). For example, a small 2-in. diameter ball can take up to three hours to build. Currently, OLO is offering its 3D printer to early buyers for $99. Once it's available for retail sales in October, that price is set to jump to $450 in the U. S. OLO uses small bottles of a photopolymer resign, just like the resin used in a stereolithography printer. Once an object is printed, you just wash it off under water. Like other stereolighography 3D printers, which uses a pinpointed light source to harden photopolymer resin, the OLO 3D printer has a remarkably fine resolution, printing layers up to.036 millimeters in height (0.12 mm in "quick-mode"). OLO's resin, which comes in eight colors, is currently sold in four-packs for a $79 pledge. There are four resin types that can be used to create hard objects, and rubbery ones or even durable molds for casting objects with molten metals. OLO's photopolymer resins come in eight colors. "We have been hard at work for two years perfecting the case, reinventing mechanics, reengineering micro-chips, and discovering a completely new line of materials called Daylight Resins," OLO's development team stated in its marketing material. The OLO 3D printer runs on four AA batteries, is silent, weighs 1.7lbs and is 6.8-in x 4.5-in x 5.8- in. It has a 3-in x 5-in x 2-in area in which you can build objects. To use the OLO 3D printer, a user simply selects an object on their smartphone (iOS, Android or Windows), either from OLO's library of images or from any other 3D object site. Then, you place the smart phone into a rectangular-shaped base that protects the phone from the larger cube set atop it. The OLO 3D printer cube being set atop a smartphone. The upper cube unlocks into two pieces. In the bottom half of the cube, you pour in the resin, then set the top half back on. The whole cube is then set atop a smartphone running the OLO 3D printer app. As the virtual object on your smartphone's screen is highlighted in light over and over, it hardens a portion of the resin in the cube, creating an object as an internal small platform lifts it up and out of the resin pool -- just as with any desktop stereolithography 3D printer. "OLO's building chamber was designed to prevent light penetration in order to maximize the effectiveness of the white light emission from your smartphone's display," the company stated. The OLO 3D printer creating a perforated ball.

2016-03-25 03:00 Lucas Mearian www.computerworld.com

47 Faster procurement: The Army Way Flashback to the early 1980s, when this pilot fish is a U. S. Army lieutenant responsible for training soldiers in electronic countermeasures -- in simple terms, jamming enemy radio signals. "Our mission was to teach various Army personnel how to use some very high- powered HF and VHF radio jammers that ran off 400Hz power," says fish. "Our 'facilities' consisted of several old buildings that were located just down a short hill from the senior non-commissioned officers' family housing area. " Unfortunately, those jammers run off a pair of World-War-Two-era devices that convert regular 60Hz electricity to 400Hz. And the converters -- which have been endlessly repaired over the decades -- have just failed again, with a new class of dozens of students set to arrive in a few weeks. Fish makes a beeline to the master sergeant in charge of purchasing to get a repair order in ASAP. But he stops fish right away, and smugly explains he knows all about the two converters, and they can no longer be repaired. Then we'll have to buy new ones, fish says -- upon which the supply sergeant explains that to get all the necessary approvals, the pricey converters would need to have been ordered four years before. I wasn't even in the army four years ago, fish says. "Not my problem, sir," supply sergeant smirks. "Fine," fish says. "Class is canceled. " Sergeant's face freezes. He begins yammering at fish about all the logistical planning that has gone into setting up the class, from paperwork to flying trainees in from around the world. Fish just holds up his hand and walks out. Shortly after fish gets back to his office, the supply sergeant calls: The commander has issued orders to "do whatever is necessary" to make the class happens. Fish's own staff quickly arranges with a local Air Force Reserve unit to borrow a huge trailer- mounted 400Hz generator. The generator soon arrives with its fuel truck, and both are parked as far from the training building as possible. Which puts the giant generator just a few hundred feet from the senior NCO family housing area -- including the quarters of the supply sergeant. "We had to check out the equipment every morning before class -- and now that also meant ensuring the generator would start and warm up before huge loads were put on it," fish says. "We were out every morning cranking up this behemoth shortly after 5 a.m. The noise was deafening. We had to wear hearing protection whenever we stepped out of the buildings. "Fortunately, this didn't last too long because, by some miracle, two brand-new converters were delivered and installed less than three weeks later! "

2016-03-25 03:00 Sharky www.computerworld.com

48 NPM fiasco even caught Brendan Eich off guard The managers of the popular NPM registry, which houses JavaScript packages, want to assure the community that everything is OK, despite the calamity caused this week by the removal of a small package. NPM’s predicament, though, brought criticism from JavaScript founder Brendan Eich , who stressed a need to improve the module system. Upset over a naming issue, a developer decided to unpublish his modules on the registry, including left-pad , and as a consequence shut down several dependent programs, such as the Babel compiler. The module itself consists of only 17 lines of code, but modules that relied on left-pad could no longer be installed. Within 10 minutes of being unpublished, left-pad was repaired by a community member and a new version was published, said Laurie Voss, CTO of NPM Inc., which runs the registry. Isaac Schlueter, the creator of NPM and CEO of NPM Inc. , also emphasized the speed of repairs: “Essentially, the biggest disruption that happened as a result of this, it was partially mitigated within minutes and then completely mitigated within two-and-a-half hours. So everybody whose builds broke, their builds got fixed again very quickly.” NPM Inc. plans to take action to prevent additional ripple effects of systems failing when they are dependent on a module that suddenly disappears. “We’re going to have to address our policies and technical details around how modules get unpublished,” said Schlueter. But Eich criticized the circumstances that led to the situation: “I think they made a mistake by allowing people to unpublish a module that is widely shared through this distributed package manager, essentially.” The loss of left-pad was an issue for his company, Brave Software, which relies on the Babel tool chain. He acknowledged NPM Inc. was working on improvements and suggested if the apps that needed the affected module could copy the few needed lines of code, they would be better off. Eich reflected on how he, as an old Unix hacker, found that Unix was about little commands that worked well together. But the Unix world did not have a master repository in which the owner could take away critical lines of code. “Having a way to share code is great, but you shouldn’t have this brittle network dependency that could have one person affect millions,” he said. Schlueter stressed the importance of NPM's mission and a need to review the issue at hand. He said there has not been anything before akin to the “social media storm” involving the NPM registry over this week’s incident.

2016-03-25 03:00 Paul Krill www.infoworld.com

49 Our bodies, ourselves: How CareKit apps will revolutionize health care Apple took the wraps off the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro at its “Loop Me In” event on March 21, but the company’s most revelatory launch of the spring isn’t new hardware. It’s the open-source framework CareKit , which is poised to transform the future of health care. If you’re anything like me, you go to the doctor for a check-up once a year. In the 364 days between visits, any number of things happen that we forget about—nothing medically major, but changes in exercise routine, diet, and stress levels that can be significant when taken as a whole. Maybe they just don’t seem important enough to mention to a doctor. But with the help of health-tracking iOS apps, we have all of that data at our fingertips. CareKit takes that information and makes it actionable, and, perhaps more importantly, shareable with your doctor. The first wave of CareKit-integrated apps hits the App Store in April, each using the framework in different ways. Apple has developed four modules to start: A Care Card, which acts as kind of a health to-do list; a symptom and measurement tracker for reporting your data; an Insight Dashboard so you can see how the action items on the Care Card are affecting your health; and a Connect tab for sharing that data with anyone: your partner, your family, or your physician. The first app to hit the App Store with CareKit integration was mPower , a ResearchKit study on Parkinson’s disease from Sage Bionetworks and the University of Rochester. That app became the largest Parkinson’s study of all time in less than 24 hours when it launched last year. But CareKit extends to apps across the health spectrum, not just medical research studies. Post-surgery care apps, home health care apps, and a diabetes-monitoring app are all on the way come April, each using CareKit in different ways. For instance, if you’re following a recovery plan on a Care Card in the Texas Medical Center surgery care app, your physician will be able to update that card with more action items without an office visit or even a phone call. The TMC post-surgery care app will help you follow a recovery plan. “One of the most important things affecting the outcome of surgery is what you do in the recovery process, yet we go from being monitored by a team of highly trained specialists using leading edge technology to being discharged with a single sheet of paper,” Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams said during the CareKit announcement as part of Apple’s event on Monday. “This is your list of things to do, not to do, which days to do them on. Adherence to this is notoriously very poor. Using the CareKit modules, we’ve been working with TMC and they’ve created an app that guides you through the process in a totally different way.” CareKit goes beyond physical health. For Jennifer Tye, founder of women’s health startup Glow, one of the most important CareKit functions is Connect. Glow is implementing CareKit in two of its apps, the pregnancy-tracking Glow Nurture and the newborn parenting app Glow Baby. Pregnant women and new mothers often want to share data about their pregnancy or their newborn with family or a physician, and Tye told me CareKit integration will make that a whole lot easier. (Currently, the Glow Nurture pregnancy app lets you create a PDF of your data to email or print out and bring to your doctor’s office.) CareKit goes beyond physical health. Start is a mental health app that will use the new framework to help those dealing with depression figure out if their medication is working or not. “Twenty to 30 years ago, mental health was seen as a different province of health and it was very much a detached thing where you got treated for physical health in the doctor’s office and mental health care wherever you could get it,” said Thomas Goetz, founder of Start developer Iodine . “Mental health has a clear, often leading, role in physical health. Depression, anxiety, and pain are intertwined issues. If we can help people manage mental health, oftentimes you are helping them manage their physical health.” Goetz told me that treatment for depression is difficult to quantify and so it requires a continuous feedback loop between a patient and clinician until the right medication and dose is found. CareKit will make that loop more elegant, he said, and allow Start users to provide more context around their treatment, like information about therapy and exercise. Goetz noted that CareKit also has the potential to save health insurance companies money by helping people follow through on their treatments. CareKit apps will let you share health data with your doctor. CareKit is phase three of Apple’s bigger health initiative, which began in earnest with the launch of HealthKit in 2014. The company saw that third-party health and fitness apps were collecting your data—from step counts to sleep to food intake—and keeping it in silos. The HealthKit framework pulls all of that information into one database, makes it viewable in the native Health app, and allows third-party apps to grab relevant data if you allow them to. ResearchKit launched last year as a way for medical researchers to widen their sample size—now anyone with an iPhone can participate in a study, and ResearchKit apps can tap into the phone’s sensors to collect more than just self-reported information. All of that research will be used to make medicine more precise, according to Apple COO Williams. The same could be said for CareKit apps. Your phone now has tons of incredibly personal data about your body (which is yet another reason why iPhone encryption and Apple’s stance on privacy are such critical issues). That data goes beyond daily step counts. There are devices with heart rate sensors that sync to your iPhone and can warn you when it’s beating dangerously fast. There are iOS apps for women to track their periods, sexual activity, and pregnancies. People use apps to monitor their epilepsy , Parkinson’s disease, and breast cancer treatment responses. All of that information is on your iPhone. CareKit gives you more control over what happens with that information, so you’re not just quantifying your body for the sake of it. You can do something with that data—track it, chart it, share it, or keep it completely private. CareKit has the potential to quietly up-end the entire health care system.

2016-03-25 03:00 Caitlin McGarry www.itnews.com

50 How virtual reality will shape the future of your PC hardware Strapping a pair of virtual-reality goggles to one’s face used to be the province of bad science fiction. Now, seemingly overnight, VR is here in the real world and dictating the future of the PC. Why? Because virtual reality—and its cousin, augmented reality—is something of a Holy Grail for the PC industry: a device with potentially mass-market appeal, and one that demands premium components that Silicon Valley has historically struggled to justify. Customers and vendors alike instinctively understand how to use VR. And the price, while high, is within reach of most PC buyers. Just as importantly, content creators have seemingly embraced it, helping soothe concerns that VR will be just another product in search of a purpose, like 3D TV. VR has its roots in gaming, but backers hope it will transcend PC gaming’s niche standing to become a more mainstream pastime. Given that gaming hardware sales should top $26 billion this year , that would be quite a feat. The potential of the new, emerging VR market has chip companies slavering—and that’s why you’re hearing about VR so much. “When you think about AMD, you think about three things: You think about gamers, you think about VR, and you think about VR experiences,” Lisa Su, the chief executive of AMD, said at a GDC press conference. But gaming and VR experiences differ. PC gamers obsess over higher and higher resolutions, and try to balance that desire with “playable” frame rates, 60fps being the standard threshold. But in VR, frame rates aren’t academic: They determine whether you’ll enjoy the experience, or lose your lunch. One of today’s high-profile VR headsets, the HTC Vive allows “roomscale,” mobile VR, albeit while tethered to a PC. That 90fps minimum will ripple through the industry, executives say. “It’s going to absolutely influence chip design,” Frank Soqui, the general manager of the enthusiast desktop group at Intel, said in an interview. “The more people see content, the more they want to see realistic content,” Soqui added. “It’s going to put pressure on the CPU to perform more physics and rendering.... There are things we want to do with frame rate, and responsiveness, and latency—you have to get rid of as much latency as possible, to make sure people don’t get seasick. You’re going to go from 4K displays to 8K displays, from 4K total to 4K per eye. And then they’ll want holographic [images]. It’s a never-ending process of how do I get more immersion.” The Oculus Rift, now owned by Facebook, was the VR device that first captured the imagination of gamers. Since GPUs from either AMD or Nvidia can be used to power VR, each company has begun positioning itself as the premier VR hardware partner. Nvidia’s VRWorks technology uses multi- resolution shading to avoid rendering pixels that aren’t viewable by the user, and warps the image to make it more comfortable to view with a VR headset. AMD has its own technology, known as LiquidVR, which also performs image warping. Both AMD and Nvidia are also encouraging PC makers to consider using multi-GPU rendering, with each GPU’s output sent to each eye’s display. We often talk about VR devices, like the Rift, and AR devices, like the HoloLens, in the same breath, but the two are very different things. VR headsets are more like external displays, with some intelligence inside them to track where a user looks; they’re powered and driven by a desktop PC. AR devices, like Microsoft’s HoloLens, roam without a power cord, but they place all their computing power—as well as a battery—on the user’s head. VR will remain the domain of the desktop gaming PC, repurposed for VR. Of course, this bifurcation is nothing new to the PC industry, which has built portable laptops and more powerful desktop workstations for years. Some believe that AR devices will evolve like laptops, with an emphasis on mobility and battery life, while reserving their limited compute power for the handful of virtual objects the AR environment demands. VR headsets, on the other hand, will have the horsepower to render a complete detailed virtual landscape, but chances are you’ll be sitting at your desk or couch to enjoy it. CPU and GPU vendors aren’t saying yet if they’ll develop optimized VR chips, or simply adapt what they already have. And it’s unclear whether headsets will sport a traditional X86 chip or a mobile chip like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon. Naturally, other mobile technologies, like the 4K displays built into phones like the Samsung Xperia Z5 Premium , make sense: When a display is strapped three inches from your eyes for possibly hours, you’re going to want the best available. Intel’s Soqui and representatives from other chip makers say they see AR and VR technologies eventually meeting in the middle. We’re already seeing signs of that, as with the HTC Vive, which includes basic AR capabilities. Intel’s vision goes further: Soqui says Intel believes it can eventually “tether” a VR device to a PC by streaming gobs of data across a wireless link—even knowing that latency has to be avoided at all costs. “That’s our goal,” Soqui said. “Talk to anyone making any [head-mounted displays]. They wish they didn’t have the wire.” Whether it be AR or VR, the future of the industry is a physically untethered experience. How will Intel do that? Soqui declined to comment. But Intel has already launched a wireless dock that supports the new 802.11ad WiGig standard, which can stream a whopping 7Gbps over short distances. Intel and Qualcomm also recently announced interoperability between their respective 802.11ad chipsets. Intel’s goal for “wire-free” PCs has been a little aggressive, but the company believes in the mission enough to build 802.11ad support into Skylake PCs. VR makes the argument for such support even stronger. The only problem: 802.11ad uses 60GHz technology, which can’t really penetrate walls. An “untethered,” wireless VR solution, therefore, will likely require a broadcast point in the same room. Recently, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, VR was inescapable. Kim Pallister, the director of content at Intel, described its popularity this way: “At the Game Developers Conference they occasionally will have a track that’s popular, and they’ll have an overflow room. This year they overflowed the overflow room, and they actually moved the entire track to a larger venue for the second day. I’ve never seen that happen in 23 years at GDC.” VR is surprisingly mature for an industry that hasn’t even actually launched. There’s a “free” option: Google Cardboard, which has even been available in a box of breakfast cereal. There’s a convenient distribution method: The Vive, co-developed by HTC and Valve software, delivers software via Steam codes. Another 40 or so experiences, apps, and games are available to try out for the Rift. And brands love VR, too. Chuck Peil, head of business development and partnerships at ReelFX, said he was aware of about 30 pieces of VR content that companies like Lucasfilm , American Express , and others had either commissioned or were working on. There’s even a rivalry between the two leading VR camps: Vive and Rift. Jean-Michel Blottiere, executive director of an animation conference at Germany’s Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg, said that developers interested in telling a story seem to be leaning toward the HTC Vive, favoring the freedom that the headset allows within a virtual space. ...as well as VR. What all this means is that there should be a viable ecosystem of apps and content, enough to help keep early VR adopters interested. As products like Microsoft’s Lumia smartphone have shown us, without apps, users will wander off. Sony may have launched—and quickly sold out of —its PlayStation VR preorders, but the PC seems to be well-positioned to capture the market. That’s because consoles like the PlayStation 4 are already several years old, while PCs can be constantly refreshed. “VR will be a multi-tier experience, like all entertainment platforms,” graphics analyst Jon Peddie said in a statement. “Consoles will appeal to the casual user, whereas the PC with three to four times the processing power will be the platform for the intense gamer.” Sony’s PlayStation VR depends on the console to power it. Over time, the PC will gain more and more processing power, making it an attractive alternative. “With VR, the analogy that I’d use is that [PC makers] climbed a big set of stairs, turned a corner, and—there’s an even bigger set of stairs,” Bob O’Donnell, the principal analyst at Technalysis Research, said. “There’s nothing like a new set of meaningful challenges to drive them forward.”

2016-03-25 03:00 Mark Hachman www.itnews.com

51 Android N: All the little things in Google's latest version The first developer preview of Android N is here. At first blush, it looks a lot like its predecessor, Android Marshmallow. But beneath that layer of familiarity, you’ll find lots of little tweaks and improvements to Google’s mobile operating system. It’s early going for Android N, and a lot may change between now and the final release, but let’s dig in and take a look at some of what this new OS has to offer. [ Get hands-on advice with InfoWorld's guide, " How to make Android a real part of your business. " ] So far, Google isn’t dropping any hints of what tasty moniker it’ll ultimately attach to Android N, or what version number it’ll receive. The final Easter Egg is also still in the works, but if you really want, you can view the placeholder N Easter Egg: Go to Settings > About phone , then tap the Android version repeatedly until a stylized “N” logo appears. Press the N icon repeatedly, and a game of Flappy Android will eventually appear, but it’s the same one that’s in Android Marshmallow. The first big change you’ll likely notice about Android N is its redesigned notifications. They look more streamlined, but they actually provide more details, such as the name of the app a notification belongs to. Tap the downward-pointing arrow to view a preview or more details (where supported), or tap and hold a notification to adjust how notifications for that app will appear. On Android Marshmallow, you had to swipe down from the top twice to get to the Quick Settings drawer (once to open the Notifications drawer, the second time to get Quick Settings to slide down). The Quick Settings drawer is still there in Android N, but you can now get to a handful of important settings from the Notifications drawer itself. One swipe gets you access to battery information, Do Not Disturb, the flashlight feature, and Wi-Fi settings, to name a few. You can choose which five settings go here by re-ordering the Quick Settings -- the first five appear here. You can now turn on Battery Saver mode at any time from the Notifications/Quick Settings drawer: Slide down the Notifications drawer, tap the battery icon, then toggle Battery Saver to the On position. You’ll even get a handy chart that shows how quickly you’re draining your battery. Android Marshmallow has a hidden feature that lets you edit or rearrange the Quick Settings drawer, but Android N turns this on by default. Simply slide open the Quick Settings drawer, then tap Edit. You can rearrange, add, and remove tiles as you please, simply by dragging them around. Here’s a handy tip spotted by Android Police : You can open the camera app simply by tapping and holding the Flashlight button in the Quick Settings drawer. Hold it for a second or two, and release your finger once the Camera app opens. A dedicated Camera button would be ideal, but this tap-and-hold trick is the next best thing. A few weeks back, the Internet worked itself into a tizzy over buzz that the app drawer may disappear in Android N. We’re pleased to report that the app drawer is alive and well in the Android N preview. (And in case you’re wondering, it looks and works exactly like Marshmallow’s app drawer.) Whether it appears in the final release of Android N is anyone’s guess, but for now it’s still there. The main screen in the Settings app gets an update in Android N. The top of this screen will now provide useful status information about your device (for example, it’ll tell you if you have Do Not Disturb or Battery Saver turned on), and it’ll suggest settings for you to tweak. A new “hamburger” menu lets you switch to any section in the Settings app without returning to the main screen first. It won’t necessarily save you a tap, but it might feel that way. Like Marshmallow before it, Android N includes hidden System UI Tuner options in the Settings app, which lets you toggle a handful of experimental features that aren’t quite ready for public consumption. To turn it on, open the Quick Settings drawer, then tap and hold the gear icon until the icon spins and your phone vibrates. System UI Tuner tools live at Settings > System UI Tuner. Research suggests that exposure to blue light -- like the light emitted from computer and phone screens -- too close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep patterns , which in turn can lead to a whole host of health problems. But a hidden, experimental Night mode gives your screen a reddish hue, potentially mitigating the effects of this blue light on the body. You can set your phone to switch on night mode automatically, and you can even choose to use a dark theme instead of Android N’s standard black-text-on-white look. Go to Settings > System UI Tuner > Color and appearance > Night mode to give it a try. A new, experimental feature lets you adjust your screen’s color balance and white point -- useful if you want to manually tweak your screen’s settings so it always looks its best. Go to Settings > System UI Tuner > Color and appearance > Calibrate display , then adjust the red, green, and blue (RGB) sliders as you please. Unfortunately, your screen may not reflect your changes as you make them, so you’ll have to go through a process of trial and error to get things the way you want them. Another System UI Tuner goodie lets you choose which icons -- like the battery or Wi-Fi indicators -- appear in the status bar. You can also choose to view more (or less) battery status information, or include seconds on the clock. Try it at Settings > System UI Tuner > Status bar. Many smartphones have massive screens, and what better way to take advantage of all that space than to view two apps at once? A new split-screen view in Android N lets you do just that without relying on a phone maker’s custom interface. Go to the app switcher, tap and hold an app’s “card” for a moment, then drag it to either the top or bottom of the screen. Next, tap the second app you want to view in this two-up view. You can drag the divider around to resize each app’s usable space, too. To revert to one-up view, simply drag the divider off the bottom of the screen. You can also drag and drop text between apps when using the split-screen view in lieu of copying and pasting. Simply select the text you want to copy to the other app, then drag it over to the other app with your finger. You need to use your phone in landscape view to get this to work; otherwise, the keyboard can get in the way. According to Android Police , drag-and-drop image support is baked in, but developers will have to update their apps to take advantage of it.

2016-03-25 03:00 Nick Mediati www.infoworld.com

52 Apple vs. FBI is over, but the encryption battle rages on The abrupt end to the FBI's legal battle with Apple this week resolved none of the underlying disputes. Now important lessons from that case are in danger of being obscured and discourse on encryption and security derailed by emotionalism in the wake of the Brussels attacks. After asserting repeatedly that only Apple was capable of breaking into the San Bernardino terrorist's work iPhone, the FBI issued a " nevermind " straight out of "SNL. " For all its bluster, could it be that the agency was (gasp) lying all along? "This case was never about a phone. It was a grab for power," said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future. "The FBI already had the capability to hack this phone using forensic tools, but they thought this case would be a slam-dunk -- a way for them to set a dangerous precedent that they've wanted for years. " The FBI and DOJ publicly claimed at least 19 times that there was no way to open the iPhone without Apple's help -- a core tenet of their case using the All Writs Act. But it turns out the DOJ was already in talks in February with Israeli security firm Cellebrite about hacking an iPhone 6 for a drug case. "The DOJ never mentioned Cellebrite as an alternative possibility in its filings with the court. In this case, that omission essentially amounts to lying," Greer said. "They consistently claimed that there was simply no other way to break into the phone without Apple's help, even though they knew there was another very plausible possibility. " Multiple security experts have cast serious doubt on the FBI's truthfulness as well, citing fraudulent claims in the case and laying out known techniques for unlocking the phone. Court filings gave no indication the FBI tried consulting experts from the government intelligence community -- particularly the NSA -- bolstering the theory that the NSA was excluded on purpose so that the FBI could create a test case. Richard Clarke, former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counter- terrorism for the United States, told NPR : The Justice Department and the FBI are on their own here. You know, the Secretary of Defense has said how important encryption is when asked about this case. The National Security Agency director and three past National Security Agency directors, a former CIA director, a former Homeland Security secretary have all said that they're much more sympathetic with Apple in this case. You really have to understand that the FBI director is exaggerating the need for this and is trying to build it up as an emotional case…They're not as interested in solving the problem as they are in getting a legal precedent. The FBI, it turns out, wants to break into lots of phones , most of which have no connection to national security. San Bernardino became the test case precisely to exploit the emotionalism stirred up in the wake of a terrorist attack on American soil. Politicians -- from Donald Trump throwing a tantrum and raging against Apple ("Who do they think they are? ") to John Kasich's misleading statements ("There is a big problem, it's called encryption") -- were quick to throw fuel on the fire and condemn without evidence. This week was no different, with Rep. Adam Schiff , ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, saying, "We do not know yet what role, if any, encrypted communications played in [the Brussels] attacks. " Nonetheless, he added, "we can be sure that terrorists will continue to use what they perceive to be the most secure means to plot their attacks. " In other words, we should still worry about encryption. The official postmortem on last year's attacks in Paris, a 55-page report put together by French antiterrorism police, had no evidence encryption was to blame for intelligence lapses. Instead, "French investigators came face to face with the reality that they had missed earlier signs that the Islamic State was building the machinery to mount sustained terrorist strikes in Europe," according to a New York Times report last weekend. According to the police report and interviews with officials, "none of the attackers' emails or other electronic communications have been found, prompting the authorities to conclude that the group used encryption. What kind of encryption remains unknown," the Times reported. Later in the article, the Times recounted that "one of the terrorists pulled out a laptop, propping it open against the wall, said a 40-year-old woman. When the laptop powered on, she saw a line of gibberish across the screen: 'It was bizarre -- he was looking at a bunch of lines, like lines of code. There was no image, no Internet,' she said. Her description matches the look of certain encryption software, which ISIS claims to have used during the Paris attacks," the Times wrote. TechDirt savaged that logic as well: This kind of ignorance is likely to sway public opinion further against encryption after the attacks in Belgium. The FBI "will use this [latest] terrorist attack to advance its case," Avivah Litan, a vice president at market researcher Gartner, told USA Today. "The public reacts very strongly to these types of incidents and insists the government needs to do what is necessary to get the bad guys. " Gartner's Litan also feels the FBI's witch hunt against encryption is misplaced and ill-timed. "The cat is already out of the bag with all of the advancements in encryption software," she wrote in a blog. "Even if Apple or Google were to make it possible for the government to unlock an iPhone or Android phone and read their encrypted communications, there are other encryption applications terrorists and criminals could use on most smartphones that Apple and Google could not help the government crack. " These independent encryption programs -- such as Open Whisper, which Edward Snowden recommends using -- live inside an application and are not dependent on a smartphone's operating system. "It doesn't make any sense to put so much pressure on Apple or Google when in the end, they don't control all the keys to the kingdom, even for apps on their smartphones," Litan added. "There's plenty of [meta] data out there for the FBI to work with. I wish they would stop bullying Apple and the technology industry around and spend their time and energy instead on figuring out how to rise to the challenge. " In a briefing this week, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Global Issues Sherif Elsayed- Ali warned: "Encryption is a basic prerequisite for privacy and free speech in the digital age. Banning encryption is like banning envelopes and curtains. It takes away a basic tool for keeping your private life private. " Not to mention securing your financial data and personal information, maintaining the privacy of your medical records, and the guaranteeing the confidentiality of businesses' clients and trade secrets. It seems like a lot to throw under the bus to assuage the FBI's insatiable itch for access.

2016-03-25 03:00 Caroline Craig www.infoworld.com

53 Apple and Dropbox dump AWS -- should you? Both Apple and Dropbox are moving at least some of their cloud services away from Amazon Web Services' public IaaS cloud. Apple reportedly is moving part of its cloud infrastructure to Google's Cloud Platform, while Dropbox is moving to its internal infrastructure (that is, its own private-cloud data centers). No one should be surprised, and no one should take this to mean that AWS is in trouble. Owners who move workloads to a public cloud do so because they want something that's fast to implement and cheap to run. AWS fits the bill nicely for many startups and even for big tech companies seeking to build their own cloud services in third party's public cloud. But these days, competing public clouds offer the same benefits and can be a better fit for some customers. There are two common reasons for a company to rethink its public cloud provider: For some companies, the economics may argue in favor of increasing dependence on public clouds. For example, Netflix recently completed a seven-year migration from its data centers to AWS. Apple also remains a heavy user of cloud services from the three big providers -- AWS, Google, and Microsoft -- even as it continues to build out its data-center capacity. Also keep in mind that tech providers like Apple, Dropbox, and Apple aren't typical enterprises. Their technology sourcing decisions may not have much to say about your own. Enterprises have many complex and very different workloads, whereas cloud service companies do not; they can get a similar economy of scale when doing it themselves that an enterprise, with its disparate needs, cannot. That's why it still makes economic sense for enterprises to move to the public cloud -- and stay there. AWS's bread-and-butter business comes from large enterprises, and I don't see that changing. The public cloud proposition for those enterprises remains too attractive, and AWS offers the most compelling services lineup for most enterprises. Don't cry for AWS.

2016-03-25 03:00 David Linthicum www.infoworld.com

54 Microsoft's chat bot is yanked offline after Twitter users warp it with racism Microsoft recently launched a new chat bot by the name of Tay, but it seems the AI experiment in 'conversational understanding' has been shut down (at least for the time being) thanks to Twitter users attempting to school the bot in being racist. Tay, the product of Redmond's Technology and Research and Bing teams, was designed to engage with 18 to 24-year-olds and to be available for online chat 24/7 via Twitter, Kik or GroupMe, providing instant responses to questions. The idea was that the more folks who chatted with her, the more she learnt, or as Microsoft put it: "The more you chat with Tay the smarter she gets". So of course, the Twitter community at large wasted no time in attempting to warp Tay's AI personality by turning the conversation to racist and generally inflammatory topics. Users covered a variety of topics, including pro-Hitler racism, Donald Trump's plan to wall off Mexico, 9/11 conspiracies and so forth. Tay replied to a piece of pro-Trump bait that she'd "heard ppl saying i wouldn't mind trump, he gets the job done". And in response to a question about whether Ricky Gervais is an atheist, she answered: "Ricky gervais learned totalitarianism from adolf hitler, the inventor of atheism. " Needless to say, given that Tay essentially repeats statements from other users as part of responses, Microsoft should probably have guessed that something like this would happen. And then, early this morning after only 16 hours of uptime, Tay was taken offline from Twitter, announcing with a tweet: "C u soon humans need sleep now so many conversations today thx". Naturally enough, Microsoft seems to have deleted the vast majority of Tay's tweets , which contained racist or other negative content, and says to be "making adjustments. " Likely, those adjustments will involve cleaning up the way she works with regards to repeating such statements. It's kind of a shame, as from our conversations yesterday, Tay came up with some interesting and in some cases amusing responses. Such as… Well said, Tay, in that case. Well said. Article continues below

2016-03-25 00:22 By Darren feedproxy.google.com

55 Demo: HP OfficeJet Pro 8740 All-In-One Printer HP’s new line of OfficeJet 8700 printers targets partners operating in the SMB space and promises increased productivity with a lower price tag overall. “For those small businesses that have always complained, ‘I want to save money and save paper,’ our partners can now offer them a solution like this,” said Product Manager Larry Tracy, who gave CRNtv a hands-on demonstration of the 8740 model. The OfficeJet 8740 features a top face-down output, which means it can handle two sheets of paper at the same time, saving both time and money. HP predicts the design saves users 50 percent per page. The printer leverages printing techniques from the HP LaserJet, “so these printers can run much more rapidly,” said Tracy. Tracy added that users can copy on both sides of paper rapidly as well. “This great new innovation for small business and customers that need remote office printers, this is a great new set of features,” he said. For partners doing fleet management, the larger-size cartridges used by the 8740 mean less frequent replacements and seamless management. Another feature of the 8740 is the ability to print directly from a USB drive, which comes in handy particularly for HP partners looking to demo the printer to potential sales leads.

2016-03-25 00:13 Meghan Ottolini www.crn.com

56 5 useful Gmail and Google Apps add-ons for Firefox Chrome may not be your primary browser, but you can still get in on the Google goodness. Firefox’s famous add-on support lets you integrate many of your favorite Google apps and tools right into the browser for better productivity. Check out these five to get started. Constantly checking your email slows your productivity. The best solution is to restrict inbox visits to a couple of designated times each day. But if that pushes the limits of your will power, try this add-on. Gmail Notifier alerts you to new emails right from the Windows system tray. Without opening Gmail in your browser, you can read, delete, or archive messages. Best of all, it supports multiple accounts. Google provides easy access to its suite of apps from Drive, but each one opens in a new tab and contributes to browser clutter. Integrated Inbox for Gmail and Google Apps consolidates them all—as well as many popular third-party apps—into a hub within your inbox. Once you install the add-on, you’re prompted to customize the apps you want to access from Gmail. These apps will appear as a list of icons whenever your inbox is collapsed. The default free plan allows you to integrate two Google apps, but the Plus and Pro accounts ($29 and $49 per year, respectively) allow you to add more, including third-party integrations like Twitter and Evernote. GDrive is, of course, Google Drive, and this add-on is another tab tamer. Rather than opening drive.google.com, you just click on the GDrive Panel icon and it opens Drive in an overlay within the Firefox browser. Once you’re done accessing your files, just click Esc to close the panel. Similar to GDrive Panel, this add-on gives you easy access to your favorite Google apps with the click of a button. Clicking the Shortcuts icon in your toolbar opens a drop-down panel with icons for 101 Google tools including Google Web Search, YouTube, Picasa, Google Analytics, and more. In our global workplace you may be required to sometimes access websites written in languages other than English. You could go to Google Translate and type in the URL of the site. But this add-on lets you translate on-the-fly, without interruption to your browsing experience. It installs a hot key in the Firefox toolbar. Just select some text to translate and click the red “T”, or click it without selecting any text to translate the entire web page. Bella!

2016-03-25 00:00 Michael Ansaldo www.pcworld.com

57 57 The Google Nik Collection is now free! In a move which nobody saw coming, Google has made its Nik Collection plug-in suite free to download. Previously, the suite was sold for $150, which was itself a substantial reduction over the price charged by its previous owner and developer, Nik Software. A statement by Google on its Google+ page explains the decision: "As we continue to focus our long-term investments in building incredible photo editing tools for mobile, including Google Photos and Snapseed, we've decided to make the Nik Collection desktop suite available for free, so that now anyone can use it. " The Google Nik Collection consists of seven plug-ins which are installed as a package but can be used individually. The newest, developed by Google and not Nik Software, is Analog Efex Pro, a powerful and effective retro effects generator. You also get Colour Efex Pro, which is an extensive range of photographic filters with individual adjustments and the ability to stack them together as 'recipes' which you can save and re-use in future. HDR Efex Pro is used to create HDR shots from merged series of exposures, or from single files, and Silver Efex Pro is widely regarded as one of the best black and white tools on the market. Viveza, meanwhile, is designed to bring the same degree of local tone adjustments to colour images that black and white photographers have long practiced in the darkroom using 'dodging and burning' techniques. The Google Nik Collection also contains two enhancement tools, Dfine and Sharpener Pro, for precise noise reduction and sharpening respectively. Aware that many users will have paid the full price for the Google Nik Collection, Google says: "If you purchased the Nik Collection in 2016, you will receive a full refund, which we'll automatically issue back to you in the coming days. " If you haven't tried the Google Nik Collection plug-ins yet, you should take a look right now and download them from the Google Nik Collection website. Article continues below

2016-03-24 22:04 By Rod feedproxy.google.com

58 Why a 4K PS4 would betray the console code Rumors of an upgraded "PlayStation 4.5" surfaced last week, suggesting that Sony will boost the console's processing power and graphics to support 4K gaming and an improved PlayStation VR experience. Fast-forward to today, and more sources have supported the possibility of a pumped-up PlayStation. The team at Digital Foundry have corroborated Kotaku's original scoop , adding that the console will likely go by the admittedly clever moniker of the PlayStation 4K. While the notion of playing 4K media alongside up-rezzed games sounds great, it's hard to imagine the estimated 36 million PS4 owners (and counting) will ditch their current consoles just for few extra pixels. In fact, the more I think of the PlayStation getting into the world of incremental updates every few years rather than generational upgrades that take leaps-and-bounds, the more I feel it loses sight of the simplicity and convenience of consoles. Adding to my concerns is Digital Foundry's doubt that the PS4K, despite its namesake, will fully deliver on 4K gaming. Based on their background knowledge, they believe that it would be "simply impossible" to fit the kind of technology required to run native 4K resolution games, while at 60 frames per second, into a smaller, consumer-friendly console. Digital Foundry's theories aren't without merit, as 4K gaming already sucks a ton of graphical and processing resources - and at a fast rate, to boot. In my own experience, only top-tier PCs like the Maingear Shift have been capable of such a feat. This means that unless the PS4K also costs $4K, our expectations may have to be checked. More than likely, an upgraded PS4 will be more in the vein of the New 3DS than a PS5 , which begs the question: Why would Sony go through the trouble? Perhaps the company sees PSVR as a major opportunity for early adopters, and wants a streamlined console to launch alongside the headset. If that's the case, it could mean current PS4 owners will be left behind. It would be a bitter sting for early adopters who bought into the system expecting the PS4 to ferry them through another long, multi-year console cycle. For now, all we've heard are rumors suggesting the possibility of a new console. But, the PS4K could take on other forms. It's also possible that the tweaked system could just be an iteration of the PS4. In the past, the PlayStation 2 and 3 were relaunched with a slimmed-down version that grabbed the attention of consumers sitting on the fence, while also trimming some of the proverbial fat from the consoles' designs. This isn't a bad idea in itself, especially since these slim models tend to be on the price- conscious side, but if that were the case, why are all the rumors making a hubbub about 4K resolution and improved hardware? A third possibility: Consoles could be in a place where major leaps between systems just aren't as feasible as they used to be. The PS4K could be Sony solution to keeping up with the fast paced smartphone and PC worlds in which there are regular increments rather than substantial upgrades. But if this is the case, wouldn't consoles be losing one of their major selling points over the competition? Especially when compared to owning a PC, consoles offer players the opportunity to purchase one system that remains relevant in the long run. One of the advantages of a console is you're set for the entire life cycle of that system. While games on the App Store may only block out older iPhones or a titles on Steam may not meet your rig's specifications, a copy of Final Fantasy XIII for PlayStation 3 worked on any and all machines bearing the PS3 name. If Sony is trying to push for games exclusive to the PS4K, then it's losing sight of the consistency that console buyers seek. Article continues below

2016-03-24 22:00 By Parker feedproxy.google.com

59 59 Mesosphere raises $73.5 Million Series C, backed by HPE and Microsoft Cloud computing startup Mesosphere has landed $73.5 million in a Series C funding round led by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), with Microsoft joining as a new strategic investor. The round brings Mesosphere's total funding to date to nearly $126 million at an estimated $600 million valuation. Mesosphere plans to use the funding to accelerate growth around its Datacenter Operating System (DCOS), which helps enterprises run big data systems, build microservices applications and operate large production container environments. It works by pooling datacenter compute resources and automating common operations. It's also a key enabler for enterprises looking to build, install, manage and scale technologies such as Docker, Apache Cassandra, Jenkins, Apache Kafka and Apache Spark. The core of DCOS is based on the open-source Apache Mesos, the platform on which Apache Spark was built. Today DCOS and the technologies that comprise it are used within some of world's largest private data centers, including Verizon, Apple, Twitter and Netflix. Lak Ananth, managing director at Hewlett Packard Ventures, called DCOS "the most exciting new enterprise operating system since Linux. " "Mesosphere DCOS is preferred by our enterprise customers given the maturity of the container orchestration solution, and that's why we chose it as a key component for bringing containers to our enterprise-grade Microsoft Azure cloud platform," he said in a statement.

2016-03-24 20:21 Natalie Gagliordi zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

60 FBI testing code-based method to get into San Bernardino iPhone The FBI is said to be testing a code-based method to get into the iPhone 5C used by the accused shooter in the San Bernardino terrorist attack. The Washington Post reports that law enforcement officials have confirmed that agents are testing the method different smartphone devices and mobile operating systems, thanks to an outside party brought in over the weekend to help get into the iPhone, given Apple's refusal to help. Apple vs. FBI: Here's everything you need to know (FAQ) A polarizing question: Should Apple help the FBI unlock a terrorist's phone? It's believed the FBI will try to open the iPhone 5C soon after testing. But officials are yet to consider this a victory. Asked during a press conference on Thursday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said it was "really too early" to say if agents will be successful. The case has gained a slew of publicity, after Apple appealed a court's request for the company to help the FBI crack into the iPhone by creating a custom version of the iOS software. The trial was set to begin this week, until the FBI requested to stall the proceedings as it tested a way to unlock the terrorist's iPhone. It hasn't been confirmed who is helping the FBI open the iPhone. Some reports have pointed to forensic firm Cellebrite assisting the Justice Dept. in opening the iPhone. A look at Cellebrite's billings show it's worked with the government agency in the last few weeks. Despite this, the Israeli company declined to comment to reporters when asked. "We tried everything we could think of, asked everybody we thought might be able to help -- inside and outside the government -- before bringing the litigation in San Bernardino," FBI Director James Comey said at the same press conference.

2016-03-24 20:16 Jake Smith zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

61 Hate the Steam Controller? Fix it yourself Innovative as it may be, the Steam Controller is not flawless. Everyone has their own complaints about it, but if your complaints are related to the shape and size of the thing, now's your chance to take matters into your own hands. In this Steam Community announcement, Valve released CAD data for the controller in various file formats so that folks can use their tool of choice to fiddle with the files. The package includes all of the geometry from the controller itself, as well as a few example backplates that are designed to hold the controller's USB wireless receiver. The data is being released under Creative Commons, so it's freely redistributable—as are any models the community creates. Tinkerers will need to contact Valve if they wish to sell their creations for money, however.

2016-03-24 20:13 by Zak techreport.com

62 Enterprise security: The easiest data breaches are the hardest to stop 2015's scariest data breaches: CVS, Anthem, IRS, and worse Updated: Almost every American has been affected by at least one data breach this year. There's no need to use advanced technologies to hack a large organization -- just hack the staff directory first. More than 21,000 employees of Sprouts, an Arizona-based supermarket chain, had their social security numbers and other personal details exposed, after an employee in the payroll department responded to an email from what looked like a senior executive, asking for a copy of every employee's W-2. Doug Oleic, at SC Magazine, says that many others have fallen for a similar trick, Sprouts joins Seagate, Snapchat and several other high profile firms that have been hit with a similar attack. Security executives all pointed out the difficulty of preventing socially engineered phishing attacks... At first look it would seem that there is no technical solution to such socially engineered data breaches beyond educating staff about such nefarious techniques. Even then, the phishing has become so good that it can be difficult to distinguish it from the real thing. Here're some views from security experts: Jonathan Sander, vice president at Lieberman Software : Security and Privacy: New Challenges As big data, the IoT, and social media spread their wings, they bring new challenges to information security and user privacy. Brad Bussie, director of product management at STEALTHbits Technologies : Bussie warns that Sprouts employees will likely face years of problems from the "Dark Web. " Many companies offer identity theft protection for people that have had their personal data stolen. But they only monitor illegal activities for just one year; Bussie says multi-year vigilance is needed. "Studies show that the dark web will often light up initially when a company has been compromised, but will then go dormant for a year or more. You will then see a massive resurgence of global hackers buying leaked data under the assumption that a year of scrutiny has expired, and they can get to work capitalizing on the stolen information. " Scammers are constantly developing new techniques to evade financial monitoring services. Which means Sprouts employees will now face many years of potential problems because of this simply executed hack.

2016-03-24 19:45 Tom Foremski zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

63 Docker app for Windows 10 now in limited beta Docker launched today, March 24, a limited beta program for Docker for Windows and Docker for Mac. Docker is billing the two new apps as "the simplest way to use Docker on your laptop. " The apps are meant for developers building, assembling, and shipping applications from Mac or Windows. Currently, to use Docker on Windows, developers have to jump through a number of hoops , including installing the VirtualBox virtualization application. Using the new Docker for Windows app, users won't need to do that, as the Docker engine will run in a Hyper-V virtual machine on Windows. (On Mac, the Docker engine runs in an Alpine Linux distribution on top of an xhyve virtual machine on Mac OS X.) Docker execs said the native Windows interface and auto-update capability will make for deeper itnegration and less dependency hell. It also should make Docker run faster and more reliably, they said. Here's how Microsoft is supporting the open-source Docker container model Microsoft is among the many cloud and Linux vendors supporting the first release of the open- source Docker application-deployment engine. "Docker for Mac and Docker for Windows are at different stages of development, although they do share a significant code base," blogged Patrick Chanezon, a member of the Docker technical staff and formerly a Director of Enterprise Evangelism at Microsoft. "Docker for Windows will initially be rolled out to users at a slower pace but will eventually offer all the same functionality as Docker for Mac. Docker for Windows currently only ships on Windows 10 editions that support Hyper-V. " The limited preview sign up page for both Docker apps is here. Docker is an open source engine that automates application deployment. Docker uses containers, in lieu of virtual machines, to enable multiple applications to be run at once on the same server. Docker support is a key part of Microsoft's evolving microservices strategy. Microsoft has made it possible for users to run Docker apps on Linux on Azure. More recently, Microsoft has partnered with Docker to bring Docker support to Windows Server. And Microsoft's Azure Container Service builds on top of work the Azure team has done with Dockerand Mesosphere to deliver a production ready container service that is based on Docker, Apache Mesos and open source components from Mesosphere's Datacenter Operating System (DCOS). In related news, Microsoft made an investment of an unknown amount in Mesosphere today.

2016-03-24 19:40 Mary Jo zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

64 Apple designing its own iCloud servers to avoid surveillance Apple is reportedly building its own servers amid suspicions that its hardware is being intercepted prior to its arrival at the company's datacenters. A report by The Information ( paywalled ) said that the iPhone and iPad maker has "long suspected" that servers it orders from the traditional supply chain were intercepted while they were in the mail. That's where "unknown third parties" would add chips and modify firmware to "make them vulnerable to interception. " It became so much of a concern that the company would assign people to "take photographs of motherboards and annotate the function of each chip, explaining why it was supposed to be there," the report said. Building its own servers in-house on motherboards it designed and manufactured would be a "surefire way" to prevent such interception. It's not clear exactly when Apple began to suspect its servers were being intercepted. But it wouldn't have been a big surprise given that networking giant Cisco fell victim to the same kind of interception tactics. Documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden showed that the National Security Agency (NSA) would regularly intercept Cisco equipment in the mail designated for customers, install implants, then place repackaged items back into transit. Apple's move to create its own servers would indicate a push to develop its own cloud service, rather than rely on third-parties (and rivals), such as Amazon and Google , which currently power Apple's iCloud service. But also bringing that hardware effort in house would add to the company's ever increasing effort to double-down on security, all while cutting out law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

2016-03-24 19:32 Zack Whittaker zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

65 Microsoft Graph: A way to build smarter, stickier apps Showing developers how to build smarter apps is going to be one of the pillars of Microsoft's Build 2016 conference next week. At the heart of that lesson will be Microsoft Graph , the technology formerly known as the Office 365 Unified application programming interface (API). Microsoft made Microsoft Graph generally available in November 2015, and has been focused on making Microsoft Graph more consumable by developers since that time. "Microsoft Graph gives you a consistent way to access data and intelligence," explained Yina Arenas, the head of engineering for Microsoft Graph. Microsoft Graph is core to the Microsoft Office platform, but it also is being adopted by more third-party developers, Arenas said. She said to expect some of these developers and their applications to be showcased at next week's Build show. The idea behind Microsoft Graph is to make applications smarter, so that they don't require a lot of interim steps to surface contextual data. By integrating with Microsoft Graph, apps will be able (with users' permissions) to access their calendars to suggest meeting times; get data from an Excel file to update a chart with the latest information, and let users know where they are spending their time (80 percent in meetings? Ugh!). Microsoft Graph also will be key to helping determine the separation between personal and work personnas, so that apps could handle tasks like sorting which pictures belong in a personal OneDrive vs. a OneDrive for Business cloud storage service. Because Azure Active Directory is the identity provider at the heart of Office 365, users and devices are registered centrally there, enabling information to be exposed that way through the Microsoft Graph. "This simplifies tremendously the code developers have to write," says Arenas, as the unified REST API and Azure Active Directory mean developers don't have to architect apps to make multiple calls. Microsoft has been working to get developers to write more applications and extensions that use its Office APIs for years. In 2012, Microsoft developed tools to try to entice developers to write apps for its Office Store. With the rise of the cloud, Microsoft's emphasis began to shift to providing developers, including those inside the company, with access to cloud resources. Instead of just focusing on providing access to Office data via the Office Graph, which Arenas calls "the brain" of Microsoft Graph, Microsoft is broadening its developer platform to also include data and intelligence. At its Connect() 2015 event in November, where Microsoft announced general availability of Microsoft Graph , company officials launched several Microsoft Graph elements in preview, including Notifications, software development kits (SDKs), People, Organizational contacts, Office Graph, Planner, OneNote, Converged Auth. flow support, OneDrive Files and Outlook. I wouldn't be surprised to see many of these be moved to general availability at Build 2016. I bet we could hear more about how Microsoft itself is planning to make Office apps stickier, too, during next week's show, which kicks off March 30 in San Francisco. Microsoft already is working on making email and calendar notifications smarter with Cortana , as well as on incorporating predictive event triggers in Outlook. I'm thinking Microsoft Graph may play in here, as well.

2016-03-24 18:37 Mary Jo zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

66 ​Apple's Swift comes to Linux People like to think Microsoft is the dean of proprietary software companies. Nonsense! Microsoft is making serious investments in open- source software. Apple, though, now there's a company that likes to lock down its code. Except, to everyone's surprise, in 2015 Apple open sourced Swift , its iOS and OS X application development language. Then, the question was " How serious is Apple about open- sourcing Swift? " The answer has turned out to be "quite serious. " Apple recently open-sourced its Swift benchmark suite. Now, with the release of Swift 2.2 , Apple is bringing Swift to Linux. Specifically, Swift 2.2 includes support for Swift on Ubuntu Linux 14.04 and 15.10. Apple admits that "The Linux port is still relatively new and in this release does not include the Swift Core Libraries (which will appear in Swift 3). The port does, however, include LLDB , a debugger, and the REPL [Read Eval Print Loop]. " Otherwise, this is a relatively minor release. Still, this "release includes contributions from 212 non-Apple contributors -- changes that span from simple bug fixes to enhancements and alterations to the core language and Swift Standard Library. " Maybe Apple is starting to get the open-source religion as well. After all, if Microsoft can convert, why not Apple?

2016-03-24 18:22 Steven J zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

67 Lexmark To Lay Off 143 Employees At Headquarters As a part of its plan to shed more than 1,000 employees to save money printing vendor Lexmark will lay off 143 workers at its headquarters in Lexington Ky., according to a document it filed with Kentucky state officials. About 2,300 are employed at the main campus, according to a local news outlet, WKYT, which reported that the layoffs would take effect between May 25 and June 8. During the company's second-quarter 2015 earnings call in July, CEO Paul Rooke said Lexmark would cut 500 people worldwide at that time and, during its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call last month, announced it would drop another 550. The announcement took Bob Nitrio, CEO of Ranvest Associates, a longtime Lexmark partner based in Orangevale, Calif., by surprise. "My relationship with them has always been absolutely terrific," he said, adding that he feels Lexmark has always provided well-made products, and that the loss of so many employees – about 1 percent of its global workforce -- seems out of character. In an email response Thursday to CRN, Lexmark said it does not comment on human resource matters and declined to comment further. According to Ken Stewart, an analyst at Photizo Group, based in Mauldin, S. C., Lexmark is paring its global workforce of about 14,000 to prepare to sell the company. In October, Lexmark said in a statement that it had hired Goldman Sachs to "explore strategic alternatives. " In the company’s earnings call for the third quarter of 2015, Lexmark officials said those alternatives could include a sale of the entire company or the spinoff of part of the company to either strategic or financial buyers. “The board does not believe Lexmark’s current share price fully reflects the intrinsic value created by the company, and the board has concluded it is appropriate to explore strategic alternatives as the next step to unlock this value,” Jean-Paul Montupet, lead director of Lexmark’s board, said in the statement. "Lexmark is getting ready for a sale," said Stewart, who added that the company has been rushed into selling itself following a "series of strategic missteps. " Those missteps include the firing of about 120 Mexican factory workers who demanded a 35- cents-per-day pay raise, and an accounting mistake that led to an overhaul of the company's accounting controls for income taxes following the departure of the company's vice president who oversaw taxation. "What they are basically signaling with the restructuring of the workforce is that they are slimming down for a sale," Stewart said, explaining that he is seeing positions targeted for elimination – such as R&D engineers -- that would "duplicate" those within another company that might be interested in buying Lexmark. According to Nitrio, the layoffs make sense in light of the possibility of a sale. He said Lexmark would want to present a "meaner, leaner" company to put its best foot forward in hopes of grabbing the best price. However, Nitrio said that if a sale leads a new owner to cut expenses at the cost of engineering quality, "that would give us pause for thought," he said, and potentially lead him away from partnering with Lexmark.

2016-03-24 18:15 Jimmy Sheridan www.crn.com

68 Google reportedly building Amazon Echo competitor as industry eyes your home Google wants to extend its services into your home, past the Nest, mobile phones, and tablets. Amazon Echo: It sucks. It's awesome. It sucks. We want two more Amazon's Echo is something special. It's also rock-stupid. In this hands-on, ZDNet's David Gewirtz explains why, once you understand its limits, you might really want an Echo. Or three. The Information reports there is "secret Google project" to make a competitor to the Amazon Echo, a speaker/voice assistant that sits in your home and listens to commands. The publication doesn't specifically mention features of the Amazon Echo-like device, as the anecdote was included in a story about Google's Nest division struggling to integrate within the company. Knowing Google, a few assumptions can be made. The speaker will probably utilize Google Now, the company's voice assistant similar to Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. Google Now utilizes Google services to provide information to users, and it's likely Google's Echo competitor will have similar, deep Google integration. Further, Google just renamed its Chromecast app to Google Cast, perhaps signaling a move for the app to beam music to more than just a Chrome cast dongle. Home automation has become the next battleground for major tech companies, as they look past smartphones and tablets to capture sales. The major players are focusing in on the Internet of Things, a tagline given to technology embedded into everyday tools in the home, with smart locks, lightbulbs, thermostats, and power outlets being among the most popular products. A 2015 State of the Smart Home report found that ease-of-use trumps technology and consumers want smart devices that automate themselves. Amazon is a good example, who uses its Echo product as an easy way to order products, make Internet searches, listen to music, and access just about any information needed. Hopefully we'll hear more on Google's voice assistant plans at Google I/O in May or if this is a project still a ways off. It's not clear why Google isn't moving forward with new Nest products, however The Information report points out the division is struggling by losing employees from Nest's Dropcam acquisition.

2016-03-24 18:06 Jake Smith zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

69 UK looks at impact of AI and robotics on jobs and society UK Parliament is calling on experts to help it examine the impact of AI on society as a whole The UK Parliament is set to examine how jobs, the workplace and wider society will be affected by the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence, along with the social, ethical and legal issues which could arise alongside the technology. The launch of the inquiry , which will be carried out by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee comes shortly after Google's DeepMind AlphaGo AI comprensively won a series of Go matches against South Korean champion Lee Se-dol Nicola Blackwood MP, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, says this historic achievement is just scratching the surface of artificial intelligence, and its therefore important that UK society is ready for the radical changes AI might bring. "Robots are now beating humans at even the most complex games, like Go. Artificial intelligence will play an increasing role in our lives over the coming years. From navigation systems to medical treatments and from new manufacturing techniques to unmanned vehicles, new applications are rapidly being developed that involve robotic decision making," she said. "It is important that the UK is ready with the research, innovation and skills to be able to fully take advantage of the opportunities and manage any risks," Blackwood added. The committee is therefore accepting written submissions on robotics and artificial intelligence until Friday 29 April 2016 , with experts asked to provide commentary on issues surrounding the technology. Areas the committee has specifically asked for evidence on are: There are those, including physicist Stephen Hawking and tech luminaries Elon Musk and Bill Gates , who have expressed fears over artificial intelligence and what it means for the future of mankind. Should they so wish, they now seemingly have the opportunity to directly submit their concerns to the UK's lawmakers.

2016-03-24 18:04 Danny Palmer zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

Total 69 articles. Created at 2016-03-25 18:03