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Total 100 articles, created at 2016-04-13 00:02 1 HTC 10 price, release date, deals and specs Everything you need to know about picking up HTC's new flagship 2016-04-12 15:12 4KB www.theinquirer.net (3.00/4)

2 brings the bots to the next generation of Messenger Facebook officially announced the Messenger Platform beta program, which will give (2.00/4) businesses the ability to deliver automated customer support and content via AI. 2016-04-12 18:08 5KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 3 Facebook wants you to be chattier with new chatbots In the next decade, Facebook will continue to focus on connecting people around the world, and it will do so by using artificial intelligence, virtual reality and chatbots. (2.00/4) 2016-04-12 11:49 4KB www.computerworld.com 4 Let's Encrypt Internet Security Initiative Exits Beta The free SSL/TLS effort from the Linux Foundation is no longer in beta. Here's why it makes the Web more secure overall. 2016-04-12 23:08 5KB www.eweek.com (2.00/4)

5 What to Expect From Facebook's F8 Developers Conference At its F8 developer event, expect Facebook to talk up a number of its significant efforts, including its Messenger chatting app, video live-streaming and AI. 2016-04-12 22:53 2KB (2.00/4) www.eweek.com 6 How to beat The Dancer of the Boreal Valley in Dark Souls 3 Our advice for staying toe to toe with this dancer’s fluid feet. 2016-04-12 19:30 1KB (2.00/4) www.pcgamer.com

7 Microsoft says it pays women almost the same as men It's probably just that the men have the best roles 2016-04-12 17:25 2KB www.theinquirer.net

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8 Microsoft's Windows 10 Roadmap reveals upcoming biz features

(2.00/4) Firm offers snapshot of features in public preview or under development and testing 2016-04-12 14:56 2KB www.theinquirer.net 9 Windows 10: Microsoft adds QR codes to Blue Screen of Death

(2.00/4) Another flawed attempt to be more user friendly 2016-04-12 13:25 2KB www.theinquirer.net 10 HTC 10 rivals Huawei's P9 with 12MP UltraPixel camera and 5.2in QHD screen

(2.00/4) Smartphone also packs Snapdragon 820 power and stripped-back software 2016-04-12 13:00 3KB www.theinquirer.net 11 Microsoft: Sweeping Competency Changes Will Help Partners Capture Cloud, Mobile Opportunities Gavriella Schuster, general manager of worldwide partner programs, says Microsoft will retire 12 competencies to help partners 'shift their investment into what's most relevant for customers today.' 2016-04-13 00:01 3KB www.crn.com

12 SAP's Software-To-Cloud Growing Pains Reflect Industry Shift SAP warned that its software license sales declined in the first quarter of 2016 and that business in the Americas was weaker than expected. Industry analysts said that SAP and other traditional software vendors will likely experience some tough quarters as they transition to offering cloud services. 2016-04-13 00:01 6KB www.informationweek.com 13 Ingram Micro Rolls Out Partner-Branded Cloud Store, Referral Program The distributor is focusing on developing different cloud platforms capable of serving both longtime cloud-savvy VARs and MSPs as well as emerging cloud players in the telco, hosting and ISV spaces. 2016-04-13 00:00 3KB www.crn.com 14 Node.js Foundation Survey Shows Strong Enterprise Developer Adoption A new Node.js Foundation survey shows full stack demand for Node.js, along with developers using it with containers and for IoT development. 2016-04-12 23:09 4KB www.eweek.com 15 eWEEKchat April 13: How AR and VR Will Impact Us All This will be a particularly timely eWEEKchat conversation about a striking new technology in the nascent IoT age. Please join us. 2016-04-12 23:08 4KB www.eweek.com 16 Apple Watch Shipments to Drop by 25% in 2016, Analyst Predicts A lack of very useful apps and its reliance on an iPhone for much of its functionality are key reasons for the expected drop in sales. 2016-04-12 23:06 4KB www.eweek.com 17 Work in Ops? Get used to becoming more like Dev, warns PuppetLabs Describing infrastructure as code will drive efficiencies in operations that developers have enjoyed for decades,DevOps,Business Software ,DevOps,Puppet Labs,IT Leaders Forum 2016-04-12 23:00 3KB www.computing.co.uk 18 The dual-channel AP will eliminate the degradation that comes when a slower device shares the same channel as 5GHz devices. The dual-channel AP will eliminate the speed degradation that comes when a slower device shares the same channel as 5GHz devices. 2016-04-12 22:53 2KB www.eweek.com 19 IBM, Google, Mellanox, Others Unveil OpenPower Wares at Summit This year's OpenPower Summit saw a tripling of the number of OpenPower products on display over last year's event. Here are some of those systems. 2016-04-12 22:53 2KB www.eweek.com 20 Newegg daily deals: UPS backups and surge suppressors You never know when someone's going to veer off the road and crash into a utility pole located near your house, knocking out power for the street in the process. Yes, we've actually seen that happen, and of course there are lightening strikes to... 2016-04-12 19:18 1KB www.pcgamer.com 21 Nvidia Pascal rumors point to three GP104 GPUs in June Nvidia may be getting ready to replace its GeForce GTX 980 Ti, GTX 980, and GTX 970 with upgraded Pascal cards in June. 2016-04-12 19:04 2KB www.pcgamer.com

22 ​The Kumite could be the best V event yet The world's best warriors are headed to Paris. 2016-04-12 19:00 4KB www.pcgamer.com 23 Facebook's self-built 360-camera is a live-streaming mothership Alien design, unreal VR 2016-04-12 18:36 1KB feedproxy.google.com 24 Are software containers the key to reducing operating system sprawl in the cloud? Software containers are not an entirely new concept, but they have been getting a lot attention of late as a way to use 2016-04-12 18:32 4KB www.itworldcanada.com 25 Security Think Tank: Using vulnerability management to support the patching process What strategies can companies adopt to deal with the huge volume of software updates they are facing? 2016-04-12 18:31 1KB www.computerweekly.com 26 Badlock flaw is patched, but failed to live up to the security hype Some accused the developer who found the flaw of ramping up publicity for the bug, a month ahead of its planned patching. 2016-04-12 18:28 3KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 27 Facebook Save's new button lets you save anything to peep later Looks like you'll be spending even more time in FB 2016-04-12 18:16 1KB feedproxy.google.com 28 Why BlackBerry needs to go “all-in” on Android A decline in unit sales for BlackBerry hardware devices is forcing CEO John Chen to update the company’s device strategy. In the 2016-04-12 18:13 3KB www.itworldcanada.com 29 Dell's SecureWorks Security Unit Heading for IPO The business could be valued at as much as $1.4 billion after it goes public, according to a document filed with federal regulators. 2016-04-12 18:11 4KB www.eweek.com 30 National Crime Agency orders activist Lauri Love to supply encryption keys for seized equipment “Hacker” accused of keeping encrypted US government files on PCs,Security,Government ,Hacktivism,hacking,Cyber security,Government 2016-04-12 18:11 3KB www.computing.co.uk 31 CISOs rapped by Symantec for not patching fast enough Security industry has learned nothing from patching lapses: Report Patching strategy needs some depth Are threat researchers becoming jaded at the rising number of data breaches and threats discovered? At Symantec the answer appears to be 2016-04-12 18:08 5KB www.itworldcanada.com 32 PC shipments decline for sixth consecutive quarter, but gaming PCs are on the rise Industry tracking firms Gartner and IDC both reported steep declines in worldwide PC shipments. 2016-04-12 18:08 3KB www.pcgamer.com 33 Facebook Live streaming is coming to all devices - even drones All the devices! 2016-04-12 17:43 1KB feedproxy.google.com

34 Facebook's 10-year roadmap outlined, eyes AI, VR, Internet access infrastructure Facebook's 5-year master plan isn't so surprising, but the 10-year view has a few detours ahead. 2016-04-12 17:40 3KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 35 Microsoft fixes critical security flaw affecting all Windows users The software giant also fixed six serious vulnerabilities, including a nasty Flash bug that affects most newer users of Windows. 2016-04-12 17:38 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 36 Former Rockstar boss Leslie Benzies sues Rockstar for $150 million (updated) Benzies alleges that the Housers forced him out of the company. 2016-04-12 17:36 5KB www.pcgamer.com 37 Roku Streaming Stick review Roku Streaming Stick is smaller, cheaper and almost completely platform agnostic 2016-04-12 17:35 15KB feedproxy.google.com 38 Uber served data on over 13 million users to US regulators The multi-billion dollar ride-sharing company also included a warrant canary, stating that it had not received a national security demand. 2016-04-12 17:05 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 39 Yes, Microsoft should drop Windows Mobile for Android and buy Jide Remix OS James Kendrick sees an easy way for the folks in Redmond to drop Windows Mobile and make Android hardware: Microsoft should acquire the Remix OS through a purchase of Jide. 2016-04-12 17:01 3KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 40 Lesson learned from Amazon Echo: Don't turn customers into developers Don't depend on your user community to bring in core functionality for your IoT device. 2016-04-12 16:59 3KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 41 iPhone users hit by fake Apple Support SMS phishing scam Welcome to the club 2016-04-12 16:41 3KB www.theinquirer.net 42 Titanfall 2 UK release date, platforms and features: Watch the new Titanfall 2 trailer Titanfall 2 is coming this June. Here's everything you need to know, including the UK release date, platform and feature rumours. 2016-04-12 16:35 2KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 43 HTC 10 UK release date, price, pre-order, new features, specifications and photos: HTC 10 looks awesome. Sounds awesome. Is awesome. (And you can get it for just £512.99) HTC has today unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the HTC 10. Successor to the HTC One M9, the HTC 10 is a beast of a phone with the gorgeous design, Quad-HD display, fingerprint sensor and awesome performance and multimedia features it needed to get... 2016-04-12 16:27 7KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 44 How Life is Strange channels Twin Peaks There's more to Twin Peaks than damn fine cups of coffee and cherry pie, and Life is Strange knows it. 2016-04-12 16:22 5KB www.pcgamer.com

45 Perfect World apologises for Shanghai Major mess Heads have rolled. 2016-04-12 16:20 1KB www.pcgamer.com

46 Acer Iconia Tab 10: cheap Android 6.0 tablet packs 10in HD screen, MediaTek chip That's fondle-slab entertainment 2016-04-12 16:18 3KB www.theinquirer.net 47 5X review: Long-term report - how it shapes up five months since launch One of the launch devices for Android 6.0 Marshmallow was the Nexus 5X. It has a great screen and camera, but some frustrating niggles too. Now that it's £40 cheaper, find out if it's right for you in our Google Nexus 5X review. 2016-04-12 15:55 13KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 48 Best Android apps 2016: Best apps for your new phone or tablet At PC Advisor we review a *lot* of phones and tablets, but certain apps are always top of our list. Here's our pick of essential Android apps - the best apps if you've just bought a new Android phone or tablet. 2016-04-12 15:55 14KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 49 Netflix snatching new Top Gear will grind Amazon Prime's gears Warning: this article may contain an exhaust-ive list of car-based puns 2016-04-12 15:51 3KB feedproxy.google.com 50 Android N UK release date, name and new features: Android N Developer Preview announced. Plus: the next Android OS will be called Android Na... Android 7.0 Na...? We round up the rumours on the next version of Android, which is available as a Developer Preview right now. Android N UK release date, name, new features and Android N Developer Preview. 2016-04-12 15:50 8KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 51 Read Mac|Life's guide to the best free iOS apps Download the Mac|Life app and get an apps guide 2016-04-12 15:49 1KB feedproxy.google.com 52 Best phones 2016: What's the best smartphone? The 20 best mobile phones you can buy in the UK today - best Android phone reviews, best iPhone reviews, best Windows Phone reviews, best mobile phone reviews The 20 best available to buy in the UK right now. The best phones you can buy in the UK - Best Android phones, best iPhones, best Windows Phones - best mobile phone reviews. Keep reading to find out what is the best phone of 2016. 2016-04-12 15:48 19KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 53 Come in Microsoft SQL Server 2005, your time is up Another ageing but still used Microsoft product put out to pasture 2016-04-12 15:37 2KB www.theinquirer.net 54 turns Moments into a neat music discovery tool New tunes, new stories 2016-04-12 15:30 1KB feedproxy.google.com 55 Apache Storm 1.0 milestone includes native streaming window API The Apache Software Foundation announces version 1.0 of Storm 2016-04-12 15:29 1KB sdtimes.com

56 Symantec Channel Exodus Continues With Departure Of Americas Channel Chief Stephen Thomas has left the security vendor to join Cyberbit Commercial Solutions in another channel exec loss for Symantec. 2016-04-12 15:20 3KB www.crn.com 57 HP Pavilion Gaming 15 review: good value if you pick the right specification, and don't demand the highest quality This good-looking laptop is aimed at the less-demanding . It's cheaper than other gaming laptops because the graphics card isn't top end, but this doesn't mean it's not good value. There are a few different models on offer and we've... 2016-04-12 15:18 13KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 58 Apple Watch Sales Declining, Report Finds KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a reputation for accurate Apple information, has issued a report claiming Apple Watch sales are slated to decline 25% this year. The report also indicates that Apple will offer some small Watch improvements this year, before a major redesign in 2017. 2016-04-12 15:05 3KB www.informationweek.com 59 How to use to share photos & videos Complete guide to setting up Instagram and using it to share edited photos and videos, follow your friends, celebrities and brands and more. 2016-04-12 15:05 7KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 60 Dell-EMC To Leapfrog HPE, Cisco As Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Soars To $29B As cloud IT infrastructure spending soars, Hewlett Packard Enterprise's leadership position looks to be trumped by a Dell-EMC merger, while Cisco is also seeing massive growth. 2016-04-12 15:00 1KB www.crn.com 61 Computerworld UK Daily Digest - 12 April 2016 - Dropbox vs Box - Cryptocurrency ledger - "There’s actually no reason to go public" says InsideSales.com CEO Welcome to today's Computerworld UK Daily Digest. We reveal the latest updates for cloud storage providers Dropbox and Box, five things you need to know about cryptocurrency ledger and why InsideSales.com CEO doesn't think tech unicorns should IPO. Plus: victorian regulators in a digital economy, examined. 2016-04-12 15:00 1KB www.computerworlduk.com 62 Recap Broken Sword creator Charles Cecil's PCG Weekender presentation Timeless wisdom preserved for posterity. 2016-04-12 14:53 960Bytes www.pcgamer.com 63 Tesla reveals 2017 Model S with front design update, biodefense mode Tesla has brought minor tweaks to its flagship, all-electric sedan. The new front grille design brings it closer to the Model X and Model 3. 2016-04-12 14:53 1KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 64 Our collection of laptop bags is so great that you'll be buying a new one in no time While it used to be standard practice, modern laptops hardly ever come with a branded laptop bag - but how else can you transport it? To avoid being a target for thieves, and to help keep your delicate electronics safe as you travel, we've... 2016-04-12 14:43 996Bytes www.pcadvisor.co.uk 65 Reports of Windows XP's demise are greatly exaggerated Windows XP was the first version of Windows to bring together Microsoft's client and server product families. It became immensely popular after its... 2016-04-12 14:36 2KB techreport.com 66 Free DLC for Total War: Warhammer detailed Chaos isn't there, but another faction will be. 2016-04-12 14:23 1KB www.pcgamer.com 67 Apple briefly pulls third-party Reddit apps in NSFW mix-up Like an indecisive frog: Reddit, not Reddit, Reddit 2016-04-12 14:23 2KB www.theinquirer.net

68 Nvidia's next generation graphics cards are right around the corner 1070 and 1080 Pascal powerhouses revealed next month 2016-04-12 14:14 1KB feedproxy.google.com 69 Optiv Security Bets Big On Identity And Access Management Market With Advancive Acquisition Optiv Security, formerly Accuvant and FishNet Security, is making its first acquisition as a combined company: identity and access management consultancy Advancive. 2016-04-12 14:05 4KB www.crn.com 70 Study shows people care more about data privacy but are doing less to protect themselves A new survey says that data privacy - whilst allowing government access to encrypted files will impact government policies around the world. 2016-04-12 14:03 4KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 71 How credit card fraud in the US supports Russia's underground economy HPE's deep dive into the Internet's underbelly reveals how worldwide operators cash in on your data. 2016-04-12 14:00 4KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 72 Several CAPI-Enabled Accelerators for OpenPOWER Servers Revealed Over a dozen special-purpose accelerators compatible with next-generation OpenPOWER servers that feature the Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface ( CAPI ) were... 2016-04-12 14:00 5KB www.anandtech.com 73 China tech spend to hit $147B in 2016 Fuelled by the public sector, which will be the country's largest spender, China's expenditure on tech goods and services will climb 8 percent to reach US$147 billion this year. 2016-04-12 13:52 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 74 Event: The 13th Annual East AfricaCom 2016 The 13th annual East AfricaCom is set to take place at Radisson blu,Nairobi Kenya on the 18th - 19th May, 2016. East AfricanCom which is part of the knowledge & networking division of Informa PLC presents a forum for high level networking across telecoms, broadcasting, enterprise... 2016-04-12 13:51 2KB pctechmag.com 75 Elon Musk's Tesla cars have acid trip cowbell version We are not making this up 2016-04-12 13:51 2KB www.theinquirer.net

76 Windows 10 wants to help you understand why your PC crashed QR code spotted on the blue screen of death 2016-04-12 13:48 2KB feedproxy.google.com

77 DataStax enters graph market New distributed graph database can spread datastores across the world 2016-04-12 13:45 2KB sdtimes.com 78 Workday names Sisco CFO Robynne Sisco becomes CFO at Workday. She had been chief accounting officer. 2016-04-12 13:38 1KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 79 PC sales stink, but hope for bottom remains Analysts aren't shocked by the PC market declines in the first quarter and expect enterprise upgrades to partially save the day in the second half of 2016. 2016-04-12 13:27 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 80 No more hunting for drivers: Google's WebUSB promises easier plug and play Google engineers want to connect USB devices to webpages to help hardware manufactures bypass the need to build native drivers. 2016-04-12 13:19 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 81 Alibaba bolsters SEA biz with $1B Lazada deal Chinese e-commerce giant pays US$1 billion to acquire a controlling stake in Lazada, in a move aimed at beefing up its presence in Southeast Asia and expand beyond its domestic market. 2016-04-12 13:09 4KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 82 HTC 10 Takes Aim At iPhone 6s, Galaxy S7 The newly unveiled HTC 10 is the company's most refined smartphone in years, making it a true challenger for market incumbents Apple and Samsung. 2016-04-12 13:06 4KB www.informationweek.com 83 Lucidworks View released, Microsoft’s Global CSS Property Usage, and Keras 1.0— digest: April 12, 2016 Lucidworks announced its extension to Fusion so companies can create custom search- driven apps; Microsoft is releasing a new tool for developers 2016-04-12 13:04 7KB sdtimes.com 84 Display expert: The 9.7-inch iPad Pro's color accuracy is 'visually indistinguishable from perfect' The 9.7-inch iPad Pro overtakes Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 in color accuracy and sets records for screen reflectance. 2016-04-12 13:00 2KB www.itnews.com 85 Hootsuite releases APIs for publishing, user management and Ow.ly The APIs are designed to let businesses connect social data and various Hootsuite functionality to their existing platforms. 2016-04-12 13:00 2KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 86 HTC releasing Boost+ for all Android devices, designed to optimize performance The new HTC 10 comes with Boost+ installed, but HTC is also releasing a version for other Android phones on the Google Play Store this week. 2016-04-12 12:47 1KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 87 IBM puts Watson to work on cancer with new patient- adviser tool IBM announced a new weapon in the battle against cancer that will put Watson to work in a new way. 2016-04-12 12:40 3KB www.computerworld.com 88 The Great Availability Challenge: Bridging The Gap Between Business And IT Working from a central model will help create a foundation for business and IT to understand each other. 2016-04-12 12:40 3KB www.informationweek.com

89 iPhone SE early adopters complain of borked and 'distorted' GPS Apple is 'committed' to fixing Bluetooth calls problem 2016-04-12 12:37 2KB www.theinquirer.net 90 Intel on the cheap: Chip maker ships $15 IoT developer board At $15, the Quark Microcontroller Developer Kit D2000 is perhaps the least expensive computer Intel has ever released. 2016-04-12 12:28 2KB www.computerworld.com 91 Microsoft's Skype upgrades for Android, iOS apps are only for Office 365 subscribers Skype for Business updates its Android and iOS apps, bringing useful upgrades to both platforms. But Microsoft is limiting the upgrades to Office 365 subscribers. 2016-04-12 12:26 1KB www.itnews.com 92 Facebook CEO predicts VR headsets will look like glasses in a decade Can Facebook succeed where Google Glass failed? 2016-04-12 12:22 5KB www.itnews.com 93 Why it makes perfect sense for Dropbox to leave AWS On March 14th, 2016 Dropbox publicly announced that they are moving out of the Amazon cloud. It makes perfect sense for Dropbox but should not be an excuse for a reluctant IT department not to proceed with their cloud implementation plans. Here are some of the reasons... 2016-04-12 12:20 4KB www.computerworld.com 94 This is how much a huge cyberattack on the power grid could really cost A catastrophic hack could cost billions to the economy, warns researchers 2016-04-12 12:19 4KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 95 Zuckerberg teases Aries and Terragraph projects to expand data networks Facebook plans to unveil two projects on Wednesday that promise to improve Internet connectivity for users in cities and urban areas. 2016-04-12 12:17 2KB www.computerworld.com 96 Brits suffer more than 2,000 ransomware attacks each day Cyber crime is increasing in the UK as hackers get ever more resourceful 2016-04-12 12:14 3KB www.theinquirer.net 97 HTC 10: Specs sublime, powered amp, BoomSound speakers better than ever HTC triumphs with aluminum unibody design, revolutionary speakers, ear-blowing headset audio, dual OIS-enabled cameras, long battery life, and more. 2016-04-12 12:00 5KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 98 50% off Tripp Lite Rotatable Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip - Deal Alert This power strip has a built-in surge protector, 6 rotatable outlets, an extra long 8 foot cord and a USB port for charging portable devices. Currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from almost 600 people on Amazon. 2016-04-12 11:59 1KB www.computerworld.com

99 iPhone 7 Plus UK release date, specs & features rumours: Apple's next iPhone could feature dual-cameras, wireless charging and wireless headphones Apple's next phablet will be the best iPhone yet, with new specs and features - potentially including dual-cameras and wireless charging. Here's your guide to the iPhone 7 Plus rumours, including the iPhone 7 Plus UK release date, UK price and specification. 2016-04-12 11:57 8KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 100 Sleepless? Use your Amazon Echo as a white noise machine Get a good night's rest by using Alexa's built-in playlist function and loop mode. 2016-04-12 11:50 1KB zdnet.com.feedsportal.com Articles

Total 100 articles, created at 2016-04-13 00:02

1 HTC 10 price, release date, deals and specs (3.00/4) THE HTC M10 is finally official, following months worth of speculation and rumours surrounding the One M9 successor. The smartphone sets its sights firmly on the likes of the Huawei P9 and Galaxy S7 with its premium design and 'market-leading' camera set up, and HTC is no doubt hoping that the handset will boost its fledling position in the smartphone market. We've rounded up everything you need to know about picking up the HTC 10. If you're still unsure, check out our HTC 10 hands-on review. Release date Following its unveiling on 12 April, the HTC said the handset will be available in the UK later this month. An official release date has not yet been announced, but Carphone Warehouse tells us that pre-orders will begin on 13 April. Price HTC has become the first to start taking pre-orders for the smartphone. It's only offering the 32GB HTC 10 model at present , and has slapped that with a £569 SIM-free price-tag. Carphone Warehouse has confirmed to the INQUIRER that reveal its tariffs once pre-orders kick off on 13 April. EE and Three have also confirmed that they will be offering the HTC 10 on its respective networks, but have yet to cough on pricing details. Specs Much like the Huawei P9 , the HTC 10's camera set-up is touted as the big selling point. The handset has only one rear-facing camera, compared with the P9's dual Leica-certified set-up, but HTC claimed that the 12MP 1.55um UltraPixel camera, which features the "world's first optically stabilised, larger aperture f/1.8 lens", is the best quality on the market with a DxOMark score of 88. The camera shoots 4K video and features the world’s first stereo 24-bit Hi-Res audio recording, capturing 256 times more detail than standard recordings. This is paired with HTC's new and improved HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition speakers. There's a 5MP optically-stablised f/1.8 camera on the front of the HTC 10 with an iPhone-style 'screen flash' for illuminating your duck-face when taking selfies. Like its HTC One M9 predecessor, the HTC 10 features a unibody metal design with chamfered edges making it just 3mm thick at its skinniest point. There's a fingerprint sensor, which HTC claims unlocks in 0.2 seconds, a USB Type-C port on the bottom, and a 5.2in 2560x1440 Super LCD screen. HTC claimed that the display is 30 per cent brighter and 50 per cent more responsive than on last year's model. It's also tougher, according to HTC, which said that the phone is as tough as the Galaxy S7 , having been subjected to 168 hours of extreme temperature tests ranging from -20C to 60C, plus over 10,000 drop, bend, scratch and corrosion tests. The smartphone uses a Snapdragon 820 processor, despite analysts blaming lacklustre sales of last year's model on 's Snapdragon 810 chip. This new, and not-so-hot chip comes with Boost+, a feature which HTC claims will make the phone faster. For example, a feature called 'game battery booster' slurps less juice during gameplay, while a new PowerBotics system shuts down apps that use excessive power, improving battery life by 30 per cent. The HTC 10 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow topped with HTC's Sense UI. HTC said that it worked with Google to make the skin less heavy, binning duplicate apps and the usual bloatware on HTC devices. It's also more customisable, according to HTC, as the new 'Freestyle Layout' means you no longer have to stick to a grid layout. This lets you put apps and widgets wherever you want them, while removing those that you don't want. The new App Lock functionality makes it more secure, allowing users to unlock any app they choose. The HTC 10 has a 3,000mAh battery that charges to 50 per cent in 30 minutes with HTC's 3.0 Rapid Charger, and 32GB or 64GB of storage expandable by an additional 2TB via microSD slot. The HTC 10 will be available in four colour combinations: Carbon Grey, Glacier Silver, Topaz Gold and Camellia Red. µ

LG G5 release date, price, new features and specifications UK: LG G5 SE incoming? pcadvisor.co.uk

HTC 10 UK release date, price, pre-order, new features, specifications and photos: HTC 10 looks awesome. Sounds awesome. Is awesome. pcadvisor.co.uk 2016-04-12 15:12 Carly Page www.theinquirer.net

2 2 Facebook brings the bots to the next generation of Messenger (2.00/4) Facebook's technology transformation has seen the company go from a simple online social network run from a college dorm room to a digital destination aiming to serve all internet needs ranging from business to personal, gaming to customer service. The personal and gaming aspects have always been the most featured innovations to the , but in recent years, Facebook's focus has centered on how to attract and serve businesses using its family of platforms. Today at the company's F8 developer conference in , Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed rumors that the social networking giant was building a new way for people to talk to businesses via . "I've never met anyone who likes calling a business," Zuckerberg quipped. So what do people want to talk to? Bots, apparently. But not just any bots -- Zuckerberg's bots will be powered by advanced artificial intelligence and be "better than people" when it comes to perception. To that end, Facebook officially announced the Messenger Platform beta program , which will give businesses the ability to deliver the likes of automated customer support and content via AI that is baked into the Messenger platform. The idea is that chatbot providers and developers will help businesses build automated response systems for customer inquiries, rather than the businesses having to work through the complex technology on their own. Zuckerberg explained that the combination of AI and natural language processing will allow people to talk to Messenger agents just like they would with friends. David Marcus, vice president of messaging services at Facebook, further expanded on the concept during his F8 talk. He said the bots will have a combination of conversation and user interface that will also be self-learning. Marcus also noted there will be a bevy of user controls to manage the bots on a more granular level. "People love to interact with businesses on Messenger," he said. "Brands become a more integral part of daily lives. You have the making of a great new platform. Maybe today is the beginning of a new era. " At launch, Facebook already has dozens of chatbot partnerships for the Messenger platform, including 1-800-flowers, Fandango and CNN. Messenger Bots can be built today with an ad model en route. For businesses, Facebook Messenger chatbots could help reduce the customer service burden as well as service more customers at a time with interactions that are more rich and personalized. A Messenger bot will be able to do things like send automated subscription content such as weather and traffic updates, and offer detailed descriptions of services or features. In terms of discovery, the platform will use plugins, codes and links to help people find the right bot and start a conversation. The plugins can be dropped into a website to create a "Send to Messenger" button. Once clicked, it will initiate a conversation in Messenger. There's also a "Message Us" plugin that takes the person directly to Messenger and allows them to start a conversation from there. Messenger Links use a Page's username to create a short, memorable link that opens up a chat conversation in Messenger when clicked. Similarly, Messenger Codes are unique to each business and can be scanned using a phone's camera in order to start a chat within Messenger. These features first rolled out last week. Additionally, Facebook ads will now serve as a business discovery tool -- a click on an add will open chat threads on Messenger. What's more, Facebook is offering a new customer matching feature powered by a Twilio API that will allow messages usually sent through SMS to be sent on Messenger. Finally, Facebook is releasing the Wit.ai Bot Engine to enable the development of more complex bots with deeper machine learning and natural language abilities. The engine stems from Facebook's acquisition of Wit.ai last year . Outside of the Messenger platform's bot invasion, Facebook also focused a great deal of attention on video, specifically of the live variety. Facebook announced its Live Chat feature is rolling out today via an API. Publishers with verified pages can now use the Live API via Publishing Tools or by using one of Facebook's developer partners. Facebook went even further and introduced Surround 360, which is described as a production- ready 3D-360 hardware and software video capture system. The system includes a design for camera hardware and the accompanying software code. Facebook plans to make both available on GitHub this summer in an effort "to accelerate the growth of the 3D-360 ecosystem". When you boil it down, Facebook's live video ambitions and even the Surround 360 camera all lead back to the company's recently released VR headset. Zuckerberg has repeatedly talked about his lofty goals for the VR headset with plans to establish the next iteration of mobile computing, predicting it to be the future of digital communication. Now that the headset is actually available, it's time to start producing more VR and AR-compatible videos and funneling them into the Oculus ecosystem.

Facebook reveals its chatbots for Messenger feedproxy.google.com 2016-04-12 18:08 Natalie Gagliordi zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

3 Facebook wants you to be chattier with new chatbots (2.00/4) SAN FRANCISCO -- In the next decade, Facebook will continue to focus on connecting people around the world, and it will do so by using artificial intelligence, virtual reality and chatbots. That's the message from Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, speaking at the company's F8 developer conference today. "We are building the technology to give everyone the power to share anything they want with everyone else," Zuckerberg said to an enthusiastic audience of about 8,000 developers, analysts and news media. "The path forward is to connect. That's how we make progress together. " In one of the most anticipated announcements, Zuckerberg took the wraps off chatbots and said he hopes the technology will change the way businesses connect with their customers and how people communicate in general on the Internet. CNN will use a chatbot to send users a daily digest of stories. The stories will arrive in Facebook's Messenger app. Chatbots are programs that largely use artificial intelligence to simulate conversations with humans. The technology will be included in the company's Messenger app, though analysts expect it to be built into Facebook's search service, as well. "How do you communicate with business? " Zuckerberg asked during his keynote. "You probably interact with dozens of businesses every day and some are probably pretty meaningful to you. But who likes calling a business? And you shouldn't have to install a new app for each business you deal with. There's got to be a better way. " Facebook's A. I.-powered chatbots are designed to make it seem as if the user is connecting with a person in a natural conversation. For instance, Zuckerberg noted that CNN will be using a chatbot to send readers a daily digest of stories that of interest to them. The stories will arrive in Messenger, and as people use the chatbot, the program will get smarter and deliver news stories even more pinpointed to the user's interests. He said 1-800 Flowers will be one of the first businesses to use Facebook's Messenger chatbots. "if you want to send flowers, you don't have to install a new app or enter your credit card again. You just send a message," Zuckerberg said. "Now to order from 1-800 Flowers, you never have to call 1-800 Flowers again,. " Facebook's CEO also touched on a topic the company has been spearheading for several years – worldwide Internet connectivity. Zuckerberg said there are three main reasons that people don't have access to the Internet, regardless of where they live. About 1 billion people don't have access because they don't live near a network, another because they can't afford it, and still 2 billion people don't have access because they don't understand why it would be worth the effort and expense. To get more people connected, Facebook is working on ways to make networks cheaper, to build apps that use less data and to bring connectivity to remote areas. For instance, the company is set to launch its first satellite in a few months to connect Sub-Saharan Africa. As for A. I., Zuckerberg said Facebook wants to share its advances with other developers to help propel the technology forward. "What's so exciting about A. I. today is that researchers are using a lot of the same technology we are using. Astronomers are finding new planets, Scientists are diagnosing diseases … We want to make it easier for you all to take advantage of all the advances we're making in A. I. When your A. I. systems get 10 times better, you can be 10 times better at diagnosing diseases. This way we can all make faster progress together. " Virtual reality also is a big research area for Facebook. According to Zuckerberg, since the company started shipping the Gear VR late last year, hundreds of apps have been built for the platform and users have watched more than 200 million hours of video on it. "Eventually, we'll have what look like normal-looking glasses that can give you virtual and augmented realty, overlaying images," he explained. "A lot of things we think about as physical objects, like a TV to display an image, will just be a one-dollar app that you use with your glasses. "

Facebook reveals its chatbots for Messenger feedproxy.google.com 2016-04-12 11:49 Sharon Gaudin www.computerworld.com

4 Let's Encrypt Internet Security Initiative Exits Beta (2.00/4) The free SSL/TLS effort from the Linux Foundation is no longer in beta. Here's why it makes the Web more secure overall. Let's Encrypt is officially exiting its beta stage today as the free Linux Foundation Collaborative Project hits a new milestone. The Let's Encrypt initiative is an effort to provide free Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) certificates to Websites in a bid to help further the adoption of encryption on the Web and improve Internet security for everyone. Let's Encrypt was first announced in November 2014, and in April 2015 it became a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project, with the first publicly available free certificates issued in December. Now, after issuing more than 1.5 million free certificates, Josh Aas, Internet Security Research Group executive director and leader of the Let's Encrypt project, is ready to take the beta label off the effort. "We believe we've gained ample experience and confidence in our systems so that the beta label is no longer necessary," Aas told eWEEK. "We've successfully demonstrated our ability to issue at Web-scale, and while there is always more work to do, we are confident about the maturity of our systems. " Moving a technology out of beta often implies that the software is production-ready and that APIs will be stable. For Let's Encrypt, exiting beta does not imply anything new in terms of API stability, according to Aas. "We have and will try to keep our APIs as stable as possible, ideally only making breaking changes for necessary security and compliance improvements," he said. In addition to removing the beta label, Let's Encrypt today also announced additional sponsors for the project. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Fastly, Duda and ReliableSite.net are joining the Let's Encrypt project as Silver sponsors, while Gemalto is joining as a Gold sponsor. Existing sponsors Akamai and Cisco are renewing their Platinum sponsorships of the project. "Sponsorship is typically a set amount annually, with a discount for multiyear commitments," Aas said. "We've evolved our sponsorship model over time, in part due to experienced advice from the Linux Foundation and partly in response to conversations with potential sponsors. " A platinum sponsorship for Let's Encrypt costs $350,000 per year, or $300,000 a year with a three-year commitment, while a Gold membership is $150,000 a year. The Silver sponsorship level ranges from $10,000 to $50,000 a year, based on the number of employees in an organization. "We don't charge for anything, so sponsorship and donations have to cover all of our costs," Aas said. "The biggest costs include operations staff, software engineers, hardware, hosting, auditing, and general and administrative expenses. " Let's Encrypt is a pretty lean operation, even while operating at entire-Web scale with meticulous attention paid to security, according to Aas. It has approximately 10 full-time employees plus administrative support from the Linux Foundation. Among the latest deployments from Let's Encrypt is one with Automattic, the company behind the WordPress.com blogging Website. Aas noted that Automattic was a pretty early sponsor of Let's Encrypt as it liked what the project was doing and wanted to help. He added that Automattic let him know that it would like to switch to HTTPS by default for its Wordpress.com custom domains using Let's Encrypt. "We got to encrypt a big chunk of the Web, and it was a great chance to test our ability for a very large number of domains in production," Aas said. "I think they requested approximately 29,000 certificates for 1.3 million domains in a single day, something we'd never done before. It went off without a hitch; we did nothing on our end but watch the certs go out. " With Let's Encrypt now officially out beta and the technology proven to work at scale, the project will continue to focus on its mission of improving HTTPS adoption on the Web. Aas noted that according to Firefox telemetry, approximately 38.5 percent of page loads used HTTPS when Let's Encrypt entered general availability in early December and as of last week it's a bit over 42 percent. "The adoption rate has just about quadrupled since we launched, to almost 1 percent per month," Aas said. "That's an incredible rate of change, and we're responsible for a lot of that. We'd love to see HTTPS page loads exceed 50 percent by the end of 2016. " Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

Let's Encrypt free security certificate program leaves beta zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 2016-04-12 23:08 Sean Michael www.eweek.com

5 What to Expect From Facebook's F8 Developers Conference (2.00/4) Facebook's annual F8 developers conference convenes April 12, and the main keynotes will be closely watched for announcements about new features or services being added to the world's largest social network. In that respect, it has become much like other developer events, including Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference and Google I/O, which provide opportunities for these companies to enlist developer support for major new business initiatives. While Facebook has remained silent on what it will discuss at F8, that hasn't prevented industry analysts and news pundits from predicting what CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives will talk about. Those sources are predicting the F8 keynote will touch on several significant Facebook efforts, including its Messenger chatting application, video live-streaming and even artificial intelligence. It's also a good bet that Facebook will talk about the virtual-reality headset. Take a look at this slide show to read more about what Facebook likely has planned when the F8 conference opens April 12 in San Francisco.

Dropbox lands file sharing deal with Facebook Messenger zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 2016-04-12 22:53 Don Reisinger www.eweek.com

6 How to beat The Dancer of the Boreal Valley in Dark Souls 3 (2.00/4) If snakes could walk (and could dress themselves), I’ pretty sure they’d move like The Dancer of the Boreal Valley. As one of the more challenging bosses in Dark Souls 3, her fluid, molasses movements betray how quickly she can actually strike. She’ll tip-toe around the arena without pursuing you and even let you get in a good hit or two—just enough to get the idea that you can hack away without issue—until she swoops into a devastating pirouette of graceful slashes that leave you an inch from death. If you’re extra lucky, she’ll initiate her grab attack, where you’re tossed into the air and skewered on her sword. It was a one hit death for my character. The Dancer is the first Dark Souls 3 boss that doesn't just reward restraint, but requires it. Take a look at our boss guide to watch my successful attempt at the Dancer, while I spout a bit of advice for what kind of gear to take in and a brief rundown of my learning process. Once you finish the Dancer yourself, watch this successful soul level one run and cry.

Dark Souls 3 review feedproxy.google.com 2016-04-12 19:30 James Davenport www.pcgamer.com

7 Microsoft says it pays women almost the same as men (2.00/4) GREAT NEWS if you're a black man or lady of any description and work at Microsoft. You probably earn the same sort of money that the old white dude earns, it's just that he probably earns a lot more of it than you do and has a better job than you. Microsoft has used National Equal Pay day, and a lady spokesperson, to announce in a blog post that it is doing OK when it comes to splitting the cash away from white men and sharing it among the rest of the workers. The post said that Caucasians and non-Caucasians earn the same, dollar for dollar. It's less good for women, but they don't really have the same kind of brains as men, do they? Neither do they have the same options, according to a certain Microsoft executive. Kathleen Hogan, executive vice president for hu man resources at Microsoft, said: "One of the most important aspects of our evolving culture at Microsoft is our deep commitment to building a more diverse and inclusive workforce. "If we want to build products and services for everyone on the planet, we need to represent everyone on the planet. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce is a powerful bridge to the markets and people we serve. "A year and a half ago, our CEO, Satya Nadella, set out three areas of focus for diversity and inclusion at Microsoft: recruiting more diverse talent, expanding training to foster a more diverse and inclusive culture, and ensuring equal pay and equal opportunity. "At that time, for every $1 earned by men, our female employees in the US earned 99.7 cents at the same job title and level. " That was then, and Hogan is here to fill us in on the now. Women are flush with cash and men are starting to feel a little less like superiors and more like colleagues, or at least something like that. "Today, for every $1 earned by men, our female employees in the US earn 99.8 cents at the same job title and level. Racial and ethnic minorities in the US combined earn $1.004 for every $1 earned by their Caucasian counterparts," she said. "Our announcement today is another step forward along the path of greater diversity and inclusion at Microsoft, and in society as a whole. " µ

Microsoft, Facebook Say They Pay Women, Men Equally informationweek.com 2016-04-12 17:25 Dave Neal www.theinquirer.net

8 Microsoft's Windows 10 Roadmap reveals upcoming biz features (2.00/4) MICROSOFT HAS REVEALED its Windows 10 Roadmap, outlining features aimed at business users that are currently in development, or almost ready to implement on the pushy operating system. The Windows 10 Roadmap site went live over the weekend, according to veteran Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley writing on the All About Microsoft blog. The site provides a valuable snapshot of features recently made available, along with those in public preview or still under development and testing, and even those that have been dropped from Windows 10. A glance at the list shows that multifactor authentication for apps and websites is currently in Public Preview for Windows 10, along with the Edge Extensions feature that lets users download add-ons for the Edge browser . Also in public preview is one of Microsoft's headline features for corporate users of Windows 10. Enterprise Data Protection is intended to give organisations greater control over data through file-level encryption, and leak prevention through policies that govern the applications that can be used to access corporate data, for example. Currently still in development is the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection service that Microsoft detailed last month. This is a combination of endpoint and cloud-based tools intended to provide a post-breach layer of protection to the Windows 10 security stack. Also listed as still under development are Start menu updates, a way to unlock a PC with a Windows or Android smartphone, and a bunch of features to enhance the usability of Windows 10, including improvements to the Microsoft Passport two-factor authentication system that can use biometrics. Microsoft is working on updates to the Continuum feature that adapts the user experience to the type of peripherals connected, such as enabling a Continuum-compatible phone to display via a monitor connected to a Windows 10 PC. Also under development is a 'Remote Display Experience' that will allow users to control Windows 10 IoT Core applications from any Windows 10 desktop PC, tablet, or phone, while the Windows 10 IoT Core device will be able to get sensor readings from any connected Windows 10 device. Microsoft warned that the roadmap page is for "informational purposes only" and may change at any time without notice. µ

Microsoft broadens test of Windows 10's Enterprise Data Protection feature zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 2016-04-12 14:56 Daniel Robinson www.theinquirer.net

9 Windows 10: Microsoft adds QR codes to Blue Screen of Death (2.00/4) MICROSOFT HAS added a new feature to the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) in the form of QR codes. First spotted by members of the Windows Insider programme and confirmed on Reddit , several screenshots have begun to circulate showing a new version of the BSOD, still with smiley emoticon but now adding in a snappable QR code. Exact details of who it is or exactly what it does are still being established; after all, if you're seeing the BSOD in the first place that can't be a good thing. However, we know that it started with the current Windows 10 Insider Preview build 14316 (Fast Ring). The QR code replaces the dreaded error code, usually in the format of 0x00000, which you would have to type in on the next reboot to find out why the last boot went askew. This way users can start troubleshooting the problem before the machine has even finished its memory dump sequence, a huge potential time saver if it's as simple as a dodgy driver, which four times out of five seems to be the cause. There is a potential for wags to cause havoc by creating false BSOD pages containing malicious QR codes , but the other big loser from all this will be third-party tech pages and forums that might have had more user friendly, community-sourced information than Microsoft provides. The QR code will bypass these search results in favour of taking users straight to the official response from Microsoft on the matter which, let's face it, isn't always the most helpful. The current BSOD was introduced in Windows 8 and was designed to be more user friendly than the previous lines of gibberish shown in early Windows versions. However, we're still a long way from machines that can fully self-diagnose and fix themselves. µ

Windows 10 blue screen of death? Now Microsoft adds QR codes to BSOD crash support zdnet.com.feedsportal.com 2016-04-12 13:25 Chris Merriman www.theinquirer.net

10 HTC 10 rivals Huawei's P9 with 12MP UltraPixel camera and 5.2in QHD screen (2.00/4) HTC HAS SET ITS SIGHTS on Huawei and Samsung with its latest smartphone, the HTC 10, which the firm hopes will help it to make a long- awaited market comeback. Much like the new Huawei P9 , the HTC 10's camera set-up is touted as the big selling point. The handset has only one rear-facing camera, compared with the P9's dual Leica-certified set-up, but HTC claimed that the 12MP 1.55um UltraPixel camera, which features the "world's first optically stabilised, larger aperture f/1.8 lens", is the best quality on the market with a DxOMark score of 88. The camera shoots 4K video and features the world’s first stereo 24-bit Hi-Res audio recording, capturing 256 times more detail than standard recordings. This is paired with HTC's new and improved HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition speakers. There's a 5MP f/1.8 camera on the front of the HTC 10 with an iPhone-style 'screen flash' for illuminating your duck-face when taking selfies. Like its HTC One M9 predecessor, the HTC 10 features a unibody metal design with chamfered edges making it just 3mm thick at its skinniest point. There's a fingerprint sensor, which HTC claims unlocks in 0.2 seconds, a USB Type-C port on the bottom, and a 5.2in 2560x1440 Super LCD screen. HTC claimed that the display is 30 per cent brighter and 50 per cent more responsive than on last year's model. It's also tougher, according to HTC, which said that the phone is as tough as the Galaxy S7 , having been subjected to 168 hours of extreme temperature tests ranging from -20C to 60C, plus over 10,000 drop, bend, scratch and corrosion tests. The smartphone uses a Snapdragon 820 processor, despite analysts blaming lacklustre sales of last year's model on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chip. This new, and not-so-hot chip comes with Boost+, a feature which HTC claims will make the phone faster. For example, a feature called 'game battery booster' slurps less juice during gameplay, while a new PowerBotics system shuts down apps that use excessive power, improving battery life by 30 per cent. The HTC 10 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow topped with HTC's Sense UI. HTC said that it worked with Google to make the skin less heavy, binning duplicate apps and the usual bloatware on HTC devices. It's also more customisable, according to HTC, as the new 'Freestyle Layout' means you no longer have to stick to a grid layout. This lets you put apps and widgets wherever you want them, while removing those that you don't want. The new App Lock functionality makes it more secure, allowing users to unlock any app they choose. The HTC 10 has a 3,000mAh battery that charges to 50 per cent in 30 minutes with HTC's 3.0 Rapid Charger, and 32GB or 64GB of storage expandable by an additional 2TB via microSD slot. The HTC 10 will be available later this month in four colour combinations: Carbon Grey, Glacier Silver, Topaz Gold and Camellia Red. Prices have not yet been announced. µ

HTC 10 review: Hands-on with UltraPixel 2 and BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition to rival the Galaxy S7 and LG G5 pcadvisor.co.uk 2016-04-12 13:00 Carly Page www.theinquirer.net

11 Microsoft: Sweeping Competency Changes Will Help Partners Capture Cloud, Mobile Opportunities Microsoft Tuesday said it will retire 12 competencies in its partner network and add new ones in an effort to simplify the program and drive partner profitability. The change reflects the Redmond, Wash.-based company’s focus on helping its partners align their competencies with customers’ cloud-first, mobile-first needs in the workplace, said Gavriella Schuster, general manager of worldwide partner programs at Microsoft. “[The changes] are designed to simplify and streamline our program so we can focus our efforts and the investments our partners make … to drive the greatest profitability for our partners today and in the future,” said Schuster. “As customers increasingly look to the cloud to meet their evolving business needs, they want to know that partners have the expertise to help them.” [Related: MobileIron Unveils New Tool For Partners To Secure Cloud Data On Mobile Devices ] Ric Opal, vice president at Peters & Associates, a Microsoft partner in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., said the changes give partners a critical opportunity to evaluate their own strategies in aligning their services and solutions with evolving customer expectations. “Competencies need to add value to what customers are trying to do, and customers have a desire to move to the cloud,” he said. “I think this is a very healthy motion to make sure the competencies align to customers’ requirements and demands.” The competencies that will be retired include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Devices and Deployment, Digital Advertising, Distributor, Hosting, Identity and Access, Intelligent Systems, Learning, Midmarket Solutions Provider, OEM, Software Asset Management and Volume Licensing. Microsoft Gold and Silver partners can earn competencies in an array of areas, including customer segments, core infrastructure, business productivity and business applications. However, Schuster said cutting down the program’s 29 competencies would ensure that partners can be more focused on customer expectations -- particularly a focus on cloud and mobile solutions. Microsoft hopes to further enable partners to align their businesses to fit customers’ expectations for cloud services. According to a report from research firm IDC, 48 percent of partners have already adapted their business models to offer project services, managed services and IP. “Customer expectations are changing dramatically. The opportunities for our partners in the cloud have never been better,” she said. “We’re very focused on helping our partners capture that market opportunity … and shift their investment into what’s most relevant for customers today.”

2016-04-13 00:01 Lindsey O www.crn.com

12 SAP's Software-To-Cloud Growing Pains Reflect Industry Shift Just because the technology is ready for the cloud doesn't mean it's an easy move for the business to make -- especially for a publicly-held company that must report financials each quarter. It was SAP's turn last week to acknowledge that the road can be a little rough sometimes. The company issued a late Friday afternoon press release offering a preliminary look at its first-quarter 2016 earnings. Full earnings will be released on April 20. Software license sales -- that's on-premises software licenses -- declined by 13% year-over-year in the first quarter, according to the preliminary results offered in the press release. CEO Bill McDermott said in the statement that, while the EMEA and APJ regions showed solid execution in the first quarter, "the Americas got off to a slower start. " However, cloud subscriptions and support, which are still a much smaller part of the overall business, grew by 35%, and new cloud bookings grew by 22%. Learn to integrate the cloud into legacy systems and new initiatives. Attend the Cloud Connect Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! Normally when companies put out financial press releases on Friday afternoons after the markets close, it's news that they think could spook investors. But in spite of SAP's timing and mixed news in its preliminary earnings statement, the company's stock gained slightly on Monday closing up 19 cents at $76.90. Perhaps investors are becoming more comfortable with the tradeoffs that come when companies move software license sales to cloud sales. Industry analysts weren't surprised by the news. "These results are in line with the overall industry shift to cloud subscription billing models, especially among the top enterprise application software vendors," Dave Bartoletti , a principal analyst at Forrester Research, told InformationWeek in an email. "During this transition, when customers demand cloud-like subscription models -- especially for new products and development tools they use to extend SaaS apps -- there's pressure on traditional on-premises license revenue. The trick is to grow cloud revenue faster than declining on-premises licenses. " But there's a difference in how revenue is realized from software licenses and cloud bookings, too, which makes it tougher for companies to show big revenues with cloud sales. Companies charge for software licenses up front when they are sold, so all the revenue from the sale is generally realized in the quarter it's sold. Cloud services, however, are different. Even if the sale is booked, the revenue is realized in smaller increments over the course of the contract. Plus, the cloud business makes up a much smaller portion of total revenues. Think of it as a startup with small revenues that grow fast on a percentage basis. But sometimes they don't grow fast enough to make up for declines in software license revenue (which still make up most of the revenues of these companies). "One or two sets of quarterly results tell us very little about a company's transition to the new technology world," said Duncan Jones , vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, in an email to InformationWeek. "You have to look at the numbers of several quarters, in addition to looking at criteria such as product quality, progress in transforming culture, introducing true-cloud commercial models, etc. " But tell that to the investors who beat the drum for transition to the cloud, but are short-sighted when it comes to weathering the quarters during a company's transition. "The problem is that vendors have to balance their customers' expectations for cloud technology and their investors' demands for high profits," Gartner vice president and research fellow Massimo Pezzini told InformationWeek in an interview. Some companies like Informatica and Tibco have gone private in order to pursue their business transformations from on-premises to cloud revenues out of site of the scrutiny of public markets. Pezzini said that SAP's financials in the first quarter saw impacts from a few other factors, too. In the fourth quarter, SAP extended a special offer to customers to move to its newest SAP S/4HANA -- and 2,700 customers took the deal. The offer was made at a very low price. (It expired on Dec. 31, Pezzini said.) "There's less incentive now for customers to quickly move to S/4HANA," he said. "Moving to S/4HANA is not a piece of cake. Most customers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude. The 2,700 who moved are the classic leading-edge organizations. Now, the more mainstream adopters want to see how successful those early adopters are. " Plus, the first quarter is traditionally a weaker quarter for SAP, too, Pezzini noted. The Americas experienced some economic uncertainty in the first quarter, and some concerns about instability in Brazil. Finally, there are the growing pains that come from making any kind of business transition. "You don't turn a software company into a cloud company overnight," he said. "There's a learning curve in terms of sales and marketing. And there's a transitional piece from collecting huge amounts of money up-front towards this scenario when there isn't a huge amount of money up front. " SAP said it will report its full results for the first quarter on April 20. The company also said its previous outlook for the full year is still on target. SAP said that first quarter 2016 total revenue would be €4.73 billion ($5.4 billion), up from €4.50 billion ($5.1 billion) during the same period a year ago. First-quarter revenue from cloud subscriptions and support is expected to be €680 million ($774 million), up from €500 million ($569 million) during the same quarter last year. First quarter software licenses and support revenue climbed to €3.17 billion ($3.6 billion), up 1% from €3.15 billion ($3.6 billion) during the same period last year.

2016-04-13 00:01 Jessica Davis www.informationweek.com

13 Ingram Micro Rolls Out Partner-Branded Cloud Store, Referral Program Ingram Micro is pursuing new types of cloud customers with a partner-branded store, commission-based referral program and single-platform automation offering for cloud and self-hosted services. The Irvine, Calif.-based distributor is focused on developing different cloud platforms capable of serving both longtime cloud-savvy VARs and MSPs as well as emerging cloud players in the telco, hosting and ISV spaces, according to Renee Bergeron, Ingram Micro’s vice president of global cloud. "Most of our competitors offer only one flavor," Bergeron told CRN. "We don’t feel that one size fits all. " [Related: Ingram Micro To Buy 500-Person Cloud Management Vendor ] One of the three new platforms unveiled Tuesday at the 2016 Ingram Micro Cloud Summit in Phoenix brings white-labeling into the equation, allowing end users to shop on the distributor's Cloud Marketplace without ever leaving the channel partner's website. Bergeron said the Cloud Store will also make it possible for solution providers to bundle their own professional services with Ingram Micro's offerings while still providing end users with a fully automated storefront experience. "If you're just reselling an individual service, it's going to become a commodity, and it's going to become a price discussion,” Bergeron said. A beta version of the Cloud Store was launched in the second half of 2015, Bergeron said, and will be generally available to customers this week. For Microsoft Tier I CSP partners, Ingram Micro is introducing the Odin Automation (OA) Essentials, which will enable partners to sell both distributor-sourced and vendor-sourced cloud offerings off a single platform. Bergeron said Odin Automation (OA) Essentials is a piece of on- premise software that can be configured in less than five hours and runs on a single solution provider server. By enabling partners to leverage both their own direct relationships with vendors and Ingram Micro's extensive cloud catalog, the distributor expects to improve its stickiness and streamline cloud operations for top-tier Microsoft partners. The offerings leverages the capabilities of the service automation platform from Odin, which was acquired by Ingram Micro in December. And for channel partners that want to monetize cloud opportunities within their existing customer base while not taking their eye off their core business, Ingram Micro has launched a cloud referral program.

2016-04-13 00:00 Michael Novinson www.crn.com

14 Node.js Foundation Survey Shows Strong Enterprise Developer Adoption A new Node.js Foundation survey shows full stack demand for Node.js, along with developers using it with containers and for IoT development. The Node.js Foundation, a consortium of organizations fostering the development of the Node.js platform, today announced the results of its first Node.js User Survey Report. Node.js is an event-driven server-side JavaScript development environment based on Google's V8 JavaScript engine. Mikeal Rogers, community manager for the Node.js Foundation, said there are more than 3.5 million Node.js users. And with an annual growth rate of 100 percent, Node.js is emerging as a universal platform used for Web applications, the Internet of things (IoT) and the enterprise, he said. The foundation interacts regularly with Node.js developers but decided to conduct a survey to take a more definite pulse of what developers are doing with Node, Rogers said. "We're always looking at what people are doing with Node and how we can help them as a foundation," Rogers told eWEEK. "We do a lot with metrics. But we found that the metrics weren't enough, so we built out this survey and had over 1,700 responses. Every time we pull up new data, we end up invalidating some of our old assumptions. " Indeed, the user survey report features insights on emerging trends in the Node.js community, including microservices architectures, real-time Web applications and IoT. The report paints a detailed picture of the technologies that are being used, in particular, with Node.js in production and language preferences (current and future) for front-end, back-end and IoT developers. Among the key findings of the survey is that Node.js has begun to take off in the enterprise. Indeed, Node.js being increasingly used in enterprises such as PayPal, Go Daddy, Capital One and Intel. The foundation survey results showed that more than 45 percent of respondents said they are already using the Node.js Long Term Support release (v4), which is targeted at medium to large enterprise users who require stability and high performance. Of those who haven't upgraded, 80 percent report definite plans to upgrade to v4, with half of respondents planning to do so this year. In addition, the survey showed there is strong interest in enterprise tooling among 34 percent of technology leaders. " Node has always been very efficient—really fast startup time, good on memory usage, a lot of I/O and throughput on very little resources in a single CPU," Rogers said. "As Docker and microservices and these stacks are built out, they're cutting up machines more and more into smaller chunks and it's very important that you're very, very efficient. So we've been a good technology choice and very competitive in that environment. So it was really no surprise when we saw enterprises start adopting this new stack—like two-speed development and microservices, Node was one of the things that they went for. " Moreover, enterprises are beginning to see the value of "full stack" Node.js development. "One of the things we found is that Node really is this more universal platform," Rogers said. "We kind of redefined front-end development and, of course, we're very good for back-end development. So there's the full stack that we've always maintained. But now the definition of full stack is expanding and starting to include not only mobile and Web front ends and back ends, but also these new API tiers and basically connected devices in IoT. The popularity of real-time, social networking and interactive game applications is advancing this new stack among developers, Rogers said. The MEAN—MongoDB, Express , AngularJS and Node.js—stack can handle the number of concurrent connections and the scalability required by these applications. The MEAN stack also enables developers to more efficiently do both front-end and back-end development. "The MEAN stack has been around for a long time; it's been a buzzword out there for quite a while, but the popularity of it and the market share is tremendous," Rogers said. "We did not expect to see this much of it because our community is so broad. But Express is showing 80 to 90 percent market share in this kind of thing. So the MEAN stack is still very much a dominant force in Node development. " The survey showed that 83 percent of Node.js developers are also using Express.

2016-04-12 23:09 Darryl K www.eweek.com

15 eWEEKchat April 13: How AR and VR Will Impact Us All This will be a particularly timely eWEEKchat conversation about a striking new technology in the nascent IoT age. Please join us. On Wednesday, April 13, at 11 a.m. PST/2 p.m. EST/7 p.m. GMT, @eWEEKNews will host its 42nd monthly #eWEEKChat. The topic will be "How AR and VR Will Impact Us All. " It will be moderated by Chris Preimesberger, who serves as eWEEK's editor of features and analysis. Some quick facts: Topic: "How AR and VR Will Impact Us All" Date/time: April 13, 2016 @11 a.m. PST/2 p.m. EST/7 p.m. GMT Moderator: Chris Preimesberger: @editingwhiz Tweetchat handle: Use #eWEEKChat to follow/participate, but it's easier and more efficient to use real-time chatroom links. Chatroom real-time links: We have two: http://tweetchat.com/room/eweekchat or http://www.tchat.io/rooms/eweekchat. Both work well. Sign in via Twitter and use #eweekchat for the identifier. "How AR and VR Will Impact Us All" Fueled by significant media interest in Facebook's multi-billion-dollar investment in Oculus Rift to Samsung's impressive Gear products to Microsoft's HoloLens to Nokia's 360-degree OZO camera ball, virtual and augmented reality technology is piquing the imagination of millions of people worldwide. All the processor companies -- with Nvidia in the lead -- are readying their wares for this potentially huge new market. All the camera and lens companies are stocking their warehouses; the gaming companies are all retooling their products for this immersive new tech. Apple is deepening its involvement in augmented reality and virtual reality by hiring experts in both fields as it moves to find new markets to help the company maintain healthy revenue and profit streams as its iPhone sales flatten. In its most recent business foray into AR and VR, Apple recently acquired Flyby Media, which contributed its image-recognition software to Google's Project Tango mapping efforts. So far, Apple has hired more than 100 people to look into the business market for AR and VR. The gaming industry is already reaping major rewards in the VR sector, and the sky appears to be the limit on profitability. are drawn fully into the game environment itself, and by some descriptions it can be difficult to pull out of them, they're so enticing. This is where tech rides the slippery slope. VR might be the 21st-century equivalent of gambling casinos, where some people get so caught up that they forget where they are and how many hours they've spent pulling the levers. The difference between "excellent" VR and just "good" VR are tremendously important, one industry expert told eWEEK . "The gaming industry already knows that the consumer will see these differences immediately and will gravitate only to the excellent VR providers," he said. "This can mean the difference between making someone sick to his/her stomach on a 'rollercoaster' ride or totally enjoying the experience with no dizziness or sickness. " Enterprises are testing and/or already using augmented reality systems in warehouses, for example, where forklift drivers wearing Google Glass-type headsets are able to read manifest- type information piped from the cloud directly to their glasses when they look at a container -- or a stack of containers -- on the floor. In real estate, people looking for apartments, for example, will be able to simply walk down the street of the neighborhood where they want to live, use their AR glasses to look at the actual property, and subsequently obtain rental or purchase information on demand from the cloud. Much more efficient than looking at a newspaper or magazine ad. These are just a few of the use cases and data points we'll talk about on April 13. We will pose questions such as: --What do you personally see as the No. 1 business advantage of using AR and/or VR? --Where do you see AR/VR impacting your own life in the next 12 to 24 months? --What other companies do you know will become AR/VR players in 2016? --Do you see, or do you not see, AR/VR becoming mainstream in 2016? Join us April 13 at 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. GMT for an hour. Chances are good that you'll learn something valuable.

2016-04-12 23:08 Chris Preimesberger www.eweek.com

16 Apple Watch Shipments to Drop by 25% in 2016, Analyst Predicts A lack of very useful apps and its reliance on an iPhone for much of its functionality are key reasons for the expected drop in sales. Apple Watch shipments are predicted to drop by some 25 percent in 2016, fueled by shortcomings in the product's app ecosystem, its reliance on an accompanying iPhone and the still-fledgling nature of the wearable device market, according to a recent analyst report. The investment note, by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, estimates that Apple sold about 10.6 million Apple Watches (pictured) in eight months of sales in 2015 and expects shipments of only 7.5 million devices in the full 12 months of 2016, according to an April 11 story by 9to5mac , which saw a copy of the investment note. In his report, Kuo says his expectation of a drop in Apple Watch shipments is based on several factors, including a lack of killer apps for users, as well as limited battery life and the watch's need to work alongside an iPhone, the story reported. Also cited as a negative that will contribute to shipment drops is the need for improvements in its form factor, he wrote. "KGI expects mass-production of the next Apple Watch to begin in the third quarter of this year, suggesting a likely launch alongside the iPhone 7, with better connectivity among the improvements," the story reported. "However, KGI believes this will effectively be an 'S model' refresh, with little change to the form factor. " The investment note predicts that "demand may improve on the back of a new design in 2017," according to the story. In January, a Juniper Research report found that the Apple Watch quickly captured 52 percent of the global smartwatch market in 2015, even though the first Apple Watches didn't go on sale until April of 2015. The popularity of the Apple Watch eclipsed the shipments of competing products from rival companies in less than a year, according to an earlier eWEEK report. In comparison, smartwatches running Android Wear made up less than 10 percent of sales in 2015. At that time, the lack of a strong use case for smartwatches caused consumer sales to lag, the report stated. Since its release in April 2015, the Apple Watch has already received an updated operating system, watchOS 2, which delivers a wide range of new features and options as well as new tools to allow developers to add more future functions. The updated watchOS 2 software gives developers the ability to build faster, more powerful apps running natively on the Apple Watch, while also offering new watch faces and new communications capabilities in the device's Mail, Friends and Digital Touch apps. Reports late last year said Apple is working on a second-generation Apple Watch 2 smartwatch, but the rumored devices have yet to show up. Among the rumors for a Apple Watch 2 are a built- in FaceTime video camera and more independence from accompanying iPhones. The reports focused on an HD video camera being integrated into the front of the watch, as well as the ability for wearers to receive and send texts, emails or app updates without having to be tethered to an accompanying iPhone, as the original watch requires. The front video camera would allow Watch wearers to video conference with other users. The increased iPhone independence would be made possible due to a new WiFi-enabled chipset, which would also offer a "find my watch" feature. Apple also is likely working on power and battery tweaks so that new features don't cause the existing battery pack to run down more quickly. First-generation Apple Watches start at $349 for the Apple Watch Sport version. The standard Apple Watch starts at $549 for a 38mm-wide version or $599 for a 42mm-wide model. Prices for the 38mm version can rise to $1,049, while prices for the 42mm model can go up to $1,099, depending on the watchband selected. The regular Apple Watch can be purchased with a fluoroelastomer band or one of three different leather bands. 2016-04-12 23:06 Todd R www.eweek.com

17 Work in Ops? Get used to becoming more like Dev, warns PuppetLabs Techies working in operations will have to get used to becoming more like developers as the use of DevOps practices and tools spreads, according to Tim Zonca, director of product marketing at IT automation software maker Puppet Labs. Speaking at Computing's IT Leaders Forum in the City of this morning, Zonca said: "Where you have to start with DevOps is describing your infrastructure as code. Depending on your role in the organisation, that can sound a bit nerdy. "But what this means is, if you take a look at what happened in the development landscape in the last few decades, developers were able to adopt agile practices because they were able to put things into version control systems, check it in and out, do peer review, unit testing, share code so they could scale better across teams. "Well, they had the luxury of doing that because all of this [that they were working on] was code. Code is easy to email to someone. It's easy to post on a web site and download so you don't have to write stuff from scratch. It's easy to stick on a repository and version control it. It's easy to automate the testing of that," said Zonca. "If you're managing 'tin' as someone on an infrastructure team, how do you peer-review that? How do you check it in and check it out? You can't. So if you start to define or describe your infrastructure as code, now you can do all the same sorts of things that developers have practised for the past couple of decades for your infrastructure," he added. The key, of course, is the adoption of the appropriate tools so that infrastructure can be expressed as code, and changes rolled out across an entire hardware estate - whether physical hardware or virtual servers running in the cloud under, for example, Amazon Web Services. As a result, though, this means that operations are facing some considerable changes in the way that they work. "One of the foundational tenets of DevOps is to make it visible. It's the idea of transparency. Collaboration is the key practice in DevOps and transparency is required," said Zonca. He continued: "So, the first stage is, establish a single source of the truth. This usually means, what are you doing today? What are your current processes? Where do they work? And - be really honest with yourself - where don't they work, and where are they broken? Those are the places where you'll likely see the biggest bang for your most quickly. "Then, look at standardising processes and the 'artefacts' of those. I think Ops teams today are in a better spot then ever for adopting DevOps practices," said Zonca. Join Computing at DevOps 2016 in London in July where leaders in the world of DevOps in financial services and industry will share their secrets. Places are free for qualifying IT professionals - but are already going fast, so register now.

2016-04-12 23:00 Graeme Burton www.computing.co.uk

18 18 The dual-channel AP will eliminate the speed degradation that comes when a slower device shares the same channel as 5GHz devices. Broadcom officials are introducing a new dual-channel WiFi access platform that is designed to give mobile devices the fastest connectivity speeds possible. The company's 5G-HD wireless access point (AC) platform, which uses Broadcom's new BCM49408 quad-core chip, essentially gives devices that are 5GHz 802.11ac-capabilites a clear fast lane in which to operate that is not impacted by slower clients sharing the channel. With most traditional single-channel access points, the 5GHz-capable devices have to share the channel with slower devices, which can result in degraded WiFi performance, according to Broadcom officials. With Broadcom's dual-channel platform, devices can be partitioned based on what they're capable of. The smartphones, tablets and notebooks with the latest 5GHz capabilities can access the fastest speeds while older, slower devices can still get the performance they're used to, officials said. Such capabilities are becoming increasingly important as enterprises wrestle with the growing number of users and devices on their WiFi networks and the bandwidth-heavy applications running across them. With the new dual-channel platform, businesses can address the needs of all their users. "Enterprise WiFi has evolved from being a technology of pure access to a platform for more personalized and deeper user engagement experiences," Greg Fischer, senior vice president and general manager of broadband carrier access at Broadcom, said in a statement. "This has driven the need for access points that can provide the high-density access and multi-channel capabilities that the 5G-HD platform leveraging the BCM49408 quad-core processor provides. " The 5G-HD platform, announced April 12, comes in two configurations: a dual-band, dual- concurrent AP for mainstream and high-density environments, and a tri-radio AP that offers dedicated radio access for 2.4GHz while concurrently support dual 5GHz capability. The 64-bit ARMv8-based BCM49408 CPU offers 1.8GHz speed for each of the four cores and more than 5Gb/s of throughput. The platform supports other Wave 2 802.11ac products from Broadcom, including 4x4 radios based on the BCM43465 chip, officials said. Both the BCM49408 CPU and Broadcom 5G-HD reference designs are currently sampling.

2016-04-12 22:53 Jeffrey Burt www.eweek.com

19 IBM, Google, Mellanox, Others Unveil OpenPower Wares at Summit At the initial OpenPower Summit last year, the industry consortium innovating around the open- sourced Power processor architecture had fewer than 20 systems on display on the stage and about 130 members on the roster. At the second annual event last week, as officials with the OpenPower Foundation stood at the podium, there were more than three times the number of systems —from servers to network switches to development boards—displayed on a series of tables across the stage. IBM in late 2013 open sourced its Power processor architecture, hoping to expand the reach of the technology into a broader range of data center systems. Intel currently controls more than 95 percent of the data center chip space, but industry analysts say enterprises and service providers are looking for a second source of silicon to help drive competition, control pricing and offer protection against supply chain issues. Now with 200 members and more than 2,300 applications that run on Linux on OpenPower, the OpenPower Foundation is working to push ARM aside and become that second supplier. Calista Redmond, foundation president and director of OpenPower alliances at IBM, noted that a recent survey found that 88 percent of high-performance computing (HPC) organizations expect to use more than one silicon platform in their environments. "It's an important time for us to talk about multiple architectures," Redmond said during her address at the summit. This eWEEK slide show takes a look at some of the systems on display at the event.

2016-04-12 22:53 Jeffrey Burt www.eweek.com

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2016-04-12 19:18 By PC www.pcgamer.com

21 Nvidia Pascal rumors point to three GP104 GPUs in June Nvidia gave us our first in-depth look at Pascal last week at its 2016 GPU Technology Conference when it announced the Tesla P100 , a potent data center accelerator for high- performance computing (HPC) and hyperscale workloads. That only made us more anxious to see Pascal prance over to the desktop, and come June, Nvidia may launch three gaming videocards powered by Pascal. The rumors are starting to heat up as we get closer to Pascal's impending launch to consumers. According to HardwareBattle , Nvidia is planning to replace three of its high-end cards with upgraded Pascal parts in June. The parts to be replaced include the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, GTX 980, and GTX 970. If the information proves accurate, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti will be replaced by a GP104-400 GPU in early June, with both reference and custom options available. Around the same time, Nvidia will replace the GTX 980 with a GP104- 200 videocard, also available in reference and custom designs, followed by replacing the GTX 970 replacement with a GP104-150 graphics card sometime in the middle of June. It's not clear how Nvidia plans to name its Pascal parts, whether it will run with a GeForce GTX 1080/1070 series, GTX 1800/1700, or something else entirely. The -400/200/150 suffixes on the part name are also new for Nvidia, and they might correlate with hardware in some fashion (e.g., the first two digits could indicate the number of SMs), but that's the realm of pure speculation at this point. Bear in mind that none of this is official. That said, as Videocardz points out , HardwareBattle had previously leaked accurate information about AMD's Fury before it launched. In the meantime, check out our deep dive into the Pascal P100 architecture for what we know so far.

2016-04-12 19:04 By Paul www.pcgamer.com

22 The Red Bull Kumite could be the best event yet Due to the fortnightly nature of this column, I have the option to pick and choose the events in the competitive scene that I think are the most important, interesting or exciting. In Paris on April 23rd/24th, an event on the Pro Tour is taking place that fulfils all three of those criteria. The Red Bull Kumite is a sixteen-man invitation-only tournament that features some of the very best Street Fighter players on the planet battling it out for valuable CPT points and, perhaps more importantly to many, the bragging rights you’d associate with tackling this level of competition and emerging the victor. On the 23rd, a 256 player elimination tournament will dictate the final two players who join the elite fourteen who have been invited to take part in this year’s event. The lineup of players confirmed to battle it out on the 24th is a bit ridiculous. First up you’ve got the three Red Bull sponsored players—Snake Eyez, Luffy and Bonchan. At the weekly Wednesday Night Fights event in the US, Snake Eyez has been cleaning house, winning every one he turns up to and leaving an asterisk next to the names of WNF winners at the events he doesn’t attend. It’s not unfair to say he’s the best player in the world right now. Evo 2014 winner Luffy had a rough start to his 2016 Pro Tour at Cannes Winter Clash, when he was eliminated in pools, but after finishing as a runner-up at Hypespotting V using the tricky R. Mika it does seem that Luffy is starting to find his form with this new game. Even so, the competition at RBK will be fierce. Bonchan was one of the best players in the world on Ultra Street Fighter IV and actually won the Red Bull Kumite last year, but hasn’t quite had that stand-out performance on SFV yet. The bracket also contains several former Evo champions—Momochi, , Xian and Infiltration. Momochi and Xian have yet to get off the mark in 2016’s Pro Tour, with Momochi maining his usual Ken—who is quite different in SFV—while Xian has opted for F. A. N. G, the most unique character on the entire roster. Many believe that F. A. N. G’s potential hasn’t been fully explored yet. Justin Wong has performed pretty well since the Pro Tour kicked off, netting himself a top 16, a top 8 and a victory at the Jam Game Cup Ranking event in Brazil this past weekend. Infiltration, however, is currently the best player in the World at Street Fighter V. He has already won two (!) Premier events and remains the only player to have already automatically qualified for the . Right now, his Nash play is unbeatable. There’s a real ‘World Warrior’ feel to the event, with competitors invited from all over the globe. Twitch’s Gamerbee from Taiwan, the recently sponsored by Team Secret Poongko from , ’s own Alioune and Keoma, the Brazilian lad who surprised everyone at the 2015 Capcom Cup finals with his exciting Abel play and the borderline ‘Rocky’ story he almost pulled off by getting much farther than anyone anticipated. Finally, there’s these three Japanese players that you might have heard of: , Kazunoku and none other than , making his first Pro Tour appearance of the 2016 season. Tokido has played runner-up to Infiltration so far this year and ‘Murderface’ will be looking to avenge that. Winner of the Capcom Cup 2015 Kazunoku has got a couple of top 16 finishes under his belt but is yet to break a top 8 in 2016. Daigo’s appearance is interesting. This is his first event of the 2016 CPT. We’ve seen plenty of footage from his DaigoTheBeasTV Twitch channel or the countless compilations of replays taken from his SFV profile and it’s clear that he has—unsurprisingly—a terrifyingly good , but this is our first opportunity to see how he does when up against the Pro Tour’s best. The possible clash between Daigo and Infiltration is worth watching the Red Bull Kumite for alone. The only obvious issue with RBK is the lack of European representation. Problem X has been dominant in weekly tournaments since the release of Street Fighter V, won Hypespotting V a few weeks back and it would be interesting to see how he stacks up against the World’s best in these first few months after release. Mister Crimson, who won the very first Pro Tour event— Cannes Winter Clash—with his relentless Laura, would also be an interesting entrant. Then you’ve got the obvious others—, Valmaster, Phenom—all of whom could qualify for the tournament via the two spaces up for grabs on the 23rd. Regardless, it’s shaping up to be another ‘can’t miss’ weekend of Street Fighter.

2016-04-12 19:00 By Andi www.pcgamer.com

23 Facebook's self-built 360-camera is a live-streaming mothership Facebook is knee deep in virtual reality and it seems like a natural progression for the social media company to announce its own self-built 360-degree camera called the Surround 360 camera. Unlike other 360-cameras made for professional and consumers, the Surround 360 camera is a strictly reference design for high-end video capture. The all seeing camera utilizes a 17- camera array – 14 wide-angle cameras along it circumference with fish-eye camera looking upwards and two more on the bottom. Using web-based software, Facebook claims its camera can also stitch and render the 360- degree footage in real time. Externally, the camera looks like a miniature alien saucer and this is to make room for all the cameras as well as the internal processing hardware. Facebook claims the Surround 360 is the best designed camera of its kind with the ability to record for multiple hours without overheating. That said, says it's not interested in getting in the camera business, instead it has developed the camera as an open source platform for developers to use as a model. Though you won't see it on GitHub until later this summer. Article continues below

2016-04-12 18:36 By Kevin feedproxy.google.com

24 Are software containers the key to reducing operating system sprawl in the cloud? Software containers are not an entirely new concept, but they have been getting a lot attention of late as a way to use existing applications in a different environment, including the cloud. A container is a way of isolating an application so that it can’t see other applications. Done properly, containers can’t impinge on the resources of other applications in containers, and can be an efficient means of packaging up applications for easier deployment and improving data centre efficiency. Last year, Gartner rounded up the “ Cool Vendors in Servers and Virtualization, 2015 .” The report included DH2i, which just announced what is said is the first the first Container-as-a- Service (CaaS) offering for Microsoft SQL Server. Company co-founder and CEO Don Boxley said it allows SQL Server customers to plug into the company’s cloud-based container management software DxEnterprise, which is hosted by Rackspace. DH2i’s CaaS for Microsoft SQL Server allows any new or existing Windows Server application service, file share or SQL Server instance to be containerized so organizations can to deploy these applications in the cloud at 50 per cent of the cost of standard cloud offerings, Boxley said. It supports Windows Server 2008R2 through 2016, and can manage SQL Server instances version 2005 to 2016, of any edition in any combination. He said the idea is to make containers as simple as possible, providing built-in high availability (HA) and easier manageability for small enterprises. DH2i CaaS provides built-in HA and disaster recovery readiness with containerized workload mobility, as well as health and performance quality of service (QoS) and alerting management. DH2i was founded in 2010 and has been focused on the Windows ecosystem, particularly the Windows Server environment, said Boxley. “We’re trying to help customers reduce vendor lock- in related to Windows in the data centre.” By taking a workload and putting into a container, it can be easily moved between different hardware, whether it’s HP to IBM, for example. “They can drag and drop in about 30 seconds,” he said. “That’s the extent of the outage an end user application would see.” It’s great opportunity to keep systems up and running, he said, as it provides agility and mobility to move a workload from a dead host to a new host. Boxley said DH2i CaaS frees up organizations to customize and tune their infrastructure and reduce the number of operating systems they have to deploy. While VMware was about virtualizing operating systems and reducing the number of physical servers, it didn’t reduce the number of operating systems. “Some would argue you increased the number of operating systems exponentially,” he said. “A good container technology should see a reduction in operating systems used.” The barriers to new customers are similar to what VMware ran into with virtualization, said Boxley, as it’s a change in how things have been traditionally done. In the meantime, getting DH2i aligned with the cloud was a natural extension of the technology and allows customer take an on-premise deployment and move it to the cloud without any changes. “They still have control over SQL performance,” he said. Contrl is a cloud issue.” Another issue for the current deployment model of SQL Server in the cloud means enterprises end up overprovisioning, said Boxley. DH2i CaaS for SQL Server takes advantage of the cloud’s fractional consumption and predictable scale to avoid sprawl, and as they expand their environment, they can stack workloads on existing virtual machines. Boxley said reducing the number of operating systems has a ripple effect throughout data center. “It has a significant effect on TCO.”

2016-04-12 18:32 Gary Hilson www.itworldcanada.com

25 Security Think Tank: Using vulnerability management to support the patching process It seems patch management really is difficult. We see a torrent of security breaches enabled by systems with as yet uninstalled security patches. The single biggest reason I can determine is it’s simply impossible to install all the patches required in your network in a timely manner, meaning within a few days of the patch release. Why just a few days? Well, because research shows that criminals are able to develop an exploit immediately after the patch is released, simply by using reverse engineering techniques. So, when a complete and timely security patching process isn't possible, what’s the next best thing? My answer would be a rigorously enforced vulnerability management process, something the Sans Institute’s Top 20 Critical Cyber Security Controls rates as one of the four most important control techniques. My advice is to have a patch management process running at the maximum speed allowed by your IT and business processes, bearing in mind that patch management is managed by IT (not security) and runs in parallel with vulnerability management. Then, the security team can run the vulnerability management process by virtue of discovery and analysis, feeding critical patches to patch management, as well as monitoring effectiveness of implementation.

2016-04-12 18:31 Vladimir Jirasek www.computerweekly.com

26 Badlock flaw is patched, but failed to live up to the security hype Badlock, the latest security flaw with a catchy name and a logo, has been fixed, but not without stirring the controversy pot. Samba, an open-source software that connects Linux and Unix servers and Windows PCs over a network, has patched seven separate vulnerabilities, which would allow an attacker to conduct man-in-the-middle or denial-of-service attacks. Badlock, another 'major' security bug that puts profits before patches Some accused the developer of profiteering by publicly revealing a vulnerability that amounts to effectively fixing their own code. The team said that Samba versions 3.6 and later were affected, but only released fixes on its website for version 4.2 and later. Collectively, the so-called "Badlock" vulnerability, would allow an attacker to listen in on traffic, trigger a session downgrade, and hijack a session. Simply put, an attacker may be able to reveal user passwords and other sensitive information on an affected server. The flaw specifically affects Windows servers running Samba, but also affects almost every version of Linux, which Samba is bundled with. Microsoft addressed the "important" flaw in a patch released on Tuesday as part of its scheduled monthly release of security fixes, but fell shy of rating the issue at the highest-rated "critical" level. A spokesperson said users who apply April updates are "protected automatically. " Josh Bressers, security strategist at Red Hat, one of the Linux distributions affected by the flaw, said in an email that Badlock was "one more potentially dangerous exploit that was identified and addressed by the open source community. " But not everyone thought the bug was as serious as others claimed it was. Karl Sigler, threat intelligence manager at security firm Trustwave, said in a blog post on Tuesday that the three-week lead time ahead of the disclosure was a key indicator of what was to come. "Well, we now know the details and I'm guessing most people will consider Badlock a bust," said Sigler. US government pushed tech firms to hand over source code If source code gets into the wrong hands, the damage would be incalculable. "This is certainly a concern and admins should patch their systems as early as possible. However I can't say that this vulnerability rises to any level that deserves the focus that a dedicated website and three weeks of buildup have given Badlock," he said. Little was known about the security flaw until today, but it nevertheless drew attention -- if not for the wrong reasons. The preemptive publicity push has drawn ire from the security community, amid accusations that the latest bug could allow some to exploit the flaw ahead of its scheduled patching in three weeks time. Stefan Metzmacher, a SerNet employee, found the flaw, but is also named in hundreds of Samba source code files, dating back as far as 2002, according to one analysis . The close connection between Metzmacher's development work and the discovery of the flaw have led some to accuse the company of trying to profit from what was effectively fixing their own code . Metzmacher did not respond to questions when we reached out.

2016-04-12 18:28 Zack Whittaker zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

27 Facebook Save's new button lets you save anything to peep later At its F8 developer conference, Facebook announced that Save is now capable of collecting all of the delicious internet content that you want to save for later reading. Similar to other content aggregating apps, like Pocket, Facebook will soon be implementing a "Save to Facebook" button across the web to make it easy to bookmark stuff that you want to read some other time. When you click on the "Save to Facebook" button, whatever you're currently checking out, whether it be an article, product or video, will be sent to your Facebook account. The Facebook app will soon be updated to include a spot for this saved content in the navigation bar. This is a bold move because it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on already-existing apps, like Pocket, that have been doing this sort of thing for a years. Not just that, it's an interesting effort to keep Facebook users inside of the app longer than usual. We're on the ground at F8 2016 in San Francisco, CA to bring you the biggest news from Mark Zuckerberg and Co. Article continues below

SteelSeries' minimalistic, mechanical keyboard is for competitive gamers feedproxy.google.com 2016-04-12 18:16 By Cameron feedproxy.google.com

28 Why BlackBerry needs to go “all-in” on Android A decline in unit sales for BlackBerry hardware devices is forcing CEO John Chen to update the company’s device strategy. In the fourth quarter, the company sold 600,000 units at an average price of USD $315 (CAD $410). The weak results are hardly surprising; Android and iOS are just too big an ecosystem for apps and an established user base for BlackBerry to topple. More simply, BlackBerry must focus on its strengths that will win niche markets. Appealing to the broader market makes no sense, but BlackBerry still needs to adjust its hardware strategy. On April 7, John Chen said it will address the mid-range market. While the PRIV is a technically superior device for business users, BlackBerry already reached peak sales due to the small addressable market. At its current price of CAD $899, the device will only find serious business users, but not the mass market. Priv also won critics’ praise and beat out 15 other smart phones in “Smartphone Madness 16 on April 6. Now that the initial launch proves the use case for PRIV in the enterprise, BlackBerry is stuck in the crossroads with its device strategy. Open uncertainty bad for sales Chen’s openness in willingly shut down BBOS10 and hardware sales weakens the company’s marketing efforts for phones. The company must either go “all-in” in seriously winning customers, or exit the business entirely. The company is hesitant in addressing the mid-market, because it still makes money from system access fees (for pre BBOS 10 phones). Now that the company will release Android phones for the mid-market, competition may worsen. It makes sense to release mid-market phones having physical keyboards; releasing one with full makes no sense. The Z10, followed by the Z30, and was then replaced by the Leap. These devices faced tough competition: even an Asus ZenPhone for CAD $289 will cost less than any full touchscreen BlackBerry. Conversely, BlackBerry should sell a Passport or Classic running Android having a modest premium of no more than $50 – $100 more than the competition. Last quarter’s sales figures show the consumer is unlikely to pay a premium for security. Therefore, the main selling point for an Android BlackBerry is the physical keyboard. BlackBerry may release its keyboard “app” on Android store and sell it for $0.99. Smartphones becoming a commodity , LG, and Nexus are still addressing the premium market, but if Xiaomi or OnePlus enter the North American market, the average price for devices will fall to $479. At this price range, BlackBerry has little room for charging a premium for its device. When it released BB10, the low- to mid-range Q5 device fared poorly. If it wanted to see unit sales grow, the company could release a consumer-grade PRIV priced between $399 – $549. Any Android BlackBerry must have the following features: BlackBerry has a mountain to climb with its hardware division. The sooner it leverages the sales channel opened from the PRIV launch, the less likely the company will exit the smartphone market.

2016-04-12 18:13 Chris Lau www.itworldcanada.com

29 Dell's SecureWorks Security Unit Heading for IPO The business could be valued at as much as $1.4 billion after it goes public, according to a document filed with federal regulators. Dell is spinning out its SecureWorks cyber-security business in the first IPO of the year. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) April 11, SecureWorks officials said they expect to raise between $134.3 million and $154.9 million, with the per-share price ranging between $15.50 and $17.50. The company could be valued at as much as $1.4 billion after the initial public offering, the officials said. The new company will trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol SCWX. The notice that the company plans to go public follows months of speculation, and comes as Dell prepares to buy data storage vendor EMC for $67 billion, by far the largest acquisition in the tech industry. Dell will remain the largest shareholder in SecureWorks, but officials in the SEC filing said there are no plans to transfer any of the funds raised through the IPO to any other companies, which means none of the proceeds will be used to help Dell fund the EMC acquisition or pay off any of the debt. Dell has wholly owned SecureWorks since 2013, when Michael Dell took his company private in a $25 billion buyout. Dell bought SecureWorks in 2011 for $612 million, part of CEO Michael Dell's larger multi-year effort to transform his namesake company from a PC maker to a more complete enterprise IT solutions and services provider. The company has spent billions to acquire companies to help Dell build out its capabilities in such areas as storage, networking, security, software and the cloud. SecureWorks provides a range of offerings—including managed security services, threat intelligence, incident response and consulting—designed to help businesses protect themselves against hackers and security threats. The company has more than 4,200 customers in 59 countries and analyzes as many as 160 billion security events a day through its Counter Threat Platform. Company officials also said they have an aggressive growth strategy that includes expanding the customer base and investing in R&D efforts. The company since 2013 has seen significant growth, officials said. The number of customers has increased 31 percent and the number of employees has risen from 1,036 to 2,047. At the same time, SecureWorks has seen revenues grow, from $262.1 million in 2014 to $339.5 million last year. However, losses also have increased from $38.5 million two years ago to $72.4 million last year. Since announcing the $67 billion bid to buy EMC and its federated companies—including VMware, RSA, Pivotal and VCE—in October 2015, Dell officials have sought ways to reduce the expected $50 billion or so in debt that the company will take on. Company officials last month said they were selling Dell's services business —which was gained primarily through the $3.9 billion acquisition of Perot Systems in 2009—to NTT Data for more than $3 billion. In addition, Dell also is reportedly shopping around its SonicWall network security and Quest software businesses, putting a price tag of $2 billion on each. The tech vendor reportedly wants to sell the two businesses together, and private equity firms and other companies have shown interest. At the same time, Dell and EMC reportedly are looking to sell EMC's Documentum content management division. EMC bought Documentum in 2003 for about $1.7 billion.

2016-04-12 18:11 Jeffrey Burt www.eweek.com

30 National Crime Agency orders activist Lauri Love to supply encryption keys for seized equipment Online activist Lauri Love is being pressured by the UK National Crime Agency to hand over encryption keys to equipment seized from his home. It follows claims that he broke into the FBI, the US Missile Defence Agency and the Federal Reserve Bank. Love , 31, is also fighting extradition to the US where he faces up to 99-years in prison should he be successfully convicted of the crimes he was accused of and originally arrested for in 2013. Prosecutors in the US claim that Love was part of a network of criminal computer hackers who operated across the country. He has had criminal charges filed against him in New York, New Jersey and East Virginia. Prosecutors are also linking him with "OpLastResort", an online hacktivism protest linked with the Anonymous name. It was set up to protest against the US legal system's treatment of hacktivist and Reddit partner Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in 2013 while under federal indictment for data theft. The NCA's attempts to force Love to hand over the keys used to access his equipment comes after he launched legal action against the NCA to attempt to have his property returned. Instead of using powers introduced with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, the Home Office is seeking a court order in the form of a 'direction' in the civil proceeding brought by Love in a bid to get his computer equipment returned. If the direction is granted and Love refuses to comply, he risks being charged with contempt of court. Love is also being ordered to provide witness statements informing the court whether two particular files encrypted with TrueCrypt software contain data from the US Senate and Department of Energy. " The NCA are trying to establish a precedent so that an executive body - ie. the police - can take away your computers and if they are unable to comprehend certain portions of data held on them, then you lose the right to retain them. It's a presumption of guilt for random data," Love told The Intercept in an interview. Police are also refusing to return a laptop on which they say they have found pirated films. Love has suggested that the Police are simply providing "a bunch of excuses" for not returning property he has a legal right to get back. Love's legal defence team, meanwhile, argues that while he did infiltrate government systems in order to find out information to back his various causes, he did not profit from any of his activities and he made no privileged information available to the public.

2016-04-12 18:11 Peter Gothard www.computing.co.uk

31 CISOs rapped by Symantec for not patching fast enough Security industry has learned nothing from patching lapses: Report Patching strategy needs some depth Are threat researchers becoming jaded at the rising number of data breaches and threats discovered? At Symantec the answer appears to be yes. When the company released its annual Internet Security Threat Report today it noted it had discovered more than 430 million new unique pieces of malware in 2015, up 36 percent from the year before. A record-setting nine so-called mega-breaches of more than 10 million records were acknowledged — one of them involving 191 million U. S. voter registration records. “Perhaps what is most remarkable is that these numbers no longer surprise us,” the report says. The vendor is more alarmed about the fact that security researchers don’t have full insight into the size of the problem. “In 2015, more and more companies chose not to reveal the full extent of the breaches they experienced,” says the report. “Companies choosing not to report the number of records lost increased by 85 per cent.” Official report add up to 429 identities exposed last year — a jump of 23 per cent over 2014. But because of some companies either refuse to publicly state– or don’t know — how many records were exposed Symantec guesses the real number more than half a billion. “The fact that companies are increasingly choosing to hold back critical details after a breach is a disturbing trend,” says the report. “Transparency is critical to security. While numerous data sharing initiatives are underway in the security industry, helping all of us improve our security products and postures, some of this data is getting harder to collect.” The report comes as the federal government is seeking input from the public on data breach notification regulations affected organizations will have to follow when changes to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) come into effect. Under current law organizations can voluntarily notify the federal privacy commissioner of a breach. But under the Digital Privacy Act passed last year organizations covered under PIPEDA will have to notify the commissioner of material data breaches — as well as affected persons. Whether organizations or the privacy commissioner are obliged to make a public statement including numbers could be included in the regulations. Organizations have until May 31 to get their submissions in to the data breach consultations protection directorate of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. The Symantec report also indicates that so far Canada continues to remain low on the target list of attackers. For example, this country was fourth in the number of ransomware attacks a day detected by Symantec (1,641, or 3.8 per cent of all detetections), compared to over 24,000 a day in the U. S. was second with just under 6,000 a day. Canada was the fifth most common target of social media scams, accounting for 4.4 per cent of scams detected. The U. S. was first with just over 25 per cent. The Symantec report says at least one zero day vulnerability was discovered a week in 2015 (about 54 over the year). By comparison between 2006 and 2012 the number of zero-days found a year varied between eight and 15. “It shows that zero day vulnerabilities still remain very common, very popular, especially for cyber criminals who want to attack businesses to get into their environments,” Satnam Narang, a Symantec senior security response manager, said in an interview. It also means for CISOs that patch management has to a priority, he said. “You want to make sure you’re covering not only known vulnerabilities, but unknown vulnerabilities.” Endpoints also need to be protected with anti-virus that has heuristic technology that can ID vulnerabilities before they are discovered, he said. Symantec also found that Web sites are still putting users at risk because of unpatched vulnerabilities. Nearly 75 per cent of all legitimate websites have unpatched holes, the report says. Sixteen per cent of legitimate websites have vulnerabilities deemed ‘critical,’ which means it takes trivial effort for cybercriminals to gain access and manipulate these sites for their own purposes, says the report. “It’s time for website administrators to step up and address the risks more aggressively,” the report urges. Finally, there’s more bad news: Not only is no business without risk. if you get attacked once odds are it will happen again. In 2015, a government organization or a financial company targeted for attack once was most likely to be targeted at least three more times, says the report. Overall, large businesses that experienced a cyberattack saw an average of 3.6 successful attacks each. “As an industry, we need to start moving into a more investigative, clinical-study mindset where we are constantly researching the habits or artifacts that cause the ‘digital diseases,'” the report concludes. “Cybersecurity is not just about employing the right kind of technology, it also requires good digital hygiene on the part of everyone; both at home, and in the office. Education and greater awareness of cybersecurity issues will help everyone to become more digitally healthy. By being aware of just how many risks you face, you can reduce them, and learn how to recognize symptoms, and diagnose ‘digital diseases’ before they put your data, and your customers’ data at risk.”

2016-04-12 18:08 Howard Solomon www.itworldcanada.com

32 PC shipments decline for sixth consecutive quarter, but gaming PCs are on the rise As you traverse the web, you might encounter some doom and gloom headlines lamenting what appears to be the sorry state of the PC based on declining shipments. We've heard this narrative before, and while PC sales may be down, gaming PC sales are still ticking over just fine. Gartner and IDC are the two big tracking firms that routinely report on PC shipments around the world every quarter, and both have some updated numbers to share. According to Gartner, preliminary number crunching suggests that worldwide PC shipments totaled 64.8 million units in the first quarter of 2016, down 9.6 percent from the same quarter a year ago. If that stands true when the final numbers are tallied, it will represent the sixth consecutive quarter of PC shipment declines. It will also be the first time since 2007 that PC shipments dipped below 65 million units. "The deterioration of local currencies against the U. S. dollar continued to play a major role in PC shipment declines. Our early results also show there was an inventory buildup from holiday sales in the fourth quarter of 2015," said Mikako Kitagawa , principal analyst at Gartner. IDC sang a similar song, though its numbers showed global PC shipments totalling 60.6 million units in the first quarter of 2016, down 11.6 percent year-over-year. That's in line with what IDC was expecting, which noted conservative expectations for an 11.3 percent decline. "In the short term, the PC market must still grapple with limited consumer interest and competition from other infrastructure upgrades in the commercial market," said Jay Chou , Research Manager, IDC Worldwide PC Tracker, "Nevertheless, IDC still projects total business IT spending to grow compared to 2015, and as we head toward the end of 2016 things should start picking up in terms of Windows 10 pilots turning into actual PC purchases. " Don't be freaked out by the reported declines. For one, IDC doesn't include handheld PCs or Windows tablets with detachable keyboards in its figures. There's also some question as to how both firms define "shipments" as Moor Insights & Strategy points out. If you're worried that declining PC shipments will affect PC gaming, don't be. These figures mostly represent low-end systems, the general purpose PCs that Lenovo, Dell, and the rest of the gang sell to the masses. The market for high-end gaming PCs is still growing, as IDC noted to PCWorld at the beginning of the year. Jon Peddie Research generally agrees with that assessment. According to JPR , following a slight dip in PC gaming hardware sales in 2015, the market will see steady growth for the next several years. But If you really want to know how gaming PCs are doing, the best approach is to ask the boutique builders themselves. "At Puget Systems, our high end gaming PC sales have never been better. Windows 10, Skylake, 4K, VR, and a strong year of gaming title launches, has made 2015 a strong year for enthusiast gaming PCs, and we expect 2016 to be even stronger," Jon Back, founder of Puget Systems, told Maximum PC. "Keep in mind, when Gartner and IDC talk about PC shipments, they're talking about the volume market, and most of the volume is entry level. We enthusiast PC builders live is a completely different world! "

2016-04-12 18:08 By Paul www.pcgamer.com

33 Facebook Live streaming is coming to all devices - even drones Facebook Live video is a huge part of the social network's future, and today we learned that it's coming to all devices. Facebook is opening up the Live API so the ability to stream can be built into any device. Currently, Facebook Live is on iOS and Android, so we're talking about even more products that extend beyond mobile. Standalone cameras are an obvious next step, and to that end Facebook announced the Mevo camera which lets users sync up with their account with a tap and start streaming live. But even more awesome is that Live streaming is coming to drones. Facebook demonstrated how Live will look when it's soaring above the ground with a DJI drone recording the F8 developer crowd Tuesday. An update to the Go app coming to Phantom drones will let pilots start streaming and interact with viewers as they fly. Another tidbit about the Live API: media organizations can mix video into their broadcasts and respond to users comments as they roll in. Live video streaming got a massive boost last week with new features centered around interaction, discovery and search. Now that any device can stream straight to Facebook, even more users - and more interesting videos - should start populating News Feeds everywhere. Article continues below

2016-04-12 17:43 By Michelle feedproxy.google.com

34 Facebook's 10-year roadmap outlined, eyes AI, VR, Internet access infrastructure Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined a 10-year roadmap that will take the company into drones, telecom infrastructure, artificial intelligence-powered vision and reasoning and social virtual reality. The roadmap, outlined at Facebook's F8 powwow , is notable because it revolves around a simple construct that takes a product, scales it and then works an ecosystem. Over the next five years, Facebook's focus will be on its product set everyone knows. For instance, video, search, Messenger and Instagram. The general theme here is for Facebook to grow an ecosystem and develop tools that can be monetized. For instance, Facebook's Messenger Platform will revolve around connecting businesses to people. Between Messenger and WhatsApp, Facebook processes 60 billion messages a day, or "three times as many messages as SMS ever did. " Where things get really interesting is Facebook's 10-year plan, which takes a departure from the core model. In fact, the Facebook master plan had a Google X feel to it. Zuckerberg quipped that if someone said that Facebook would build a plane he'd say they were crazy. However, Facebook is developing a solar powered plane to beam access to earth. Facebook is also launching a satellite to beam Internet access to Africa. Facebook is building a solar powered plane for Internet access. On Wednesday, Facebook will brief developers on new hardware that will boost access in urban areas. For artificial intelligence, Zuckerberg outlined how AI is being used today and how Facebook wants to learn the comment. "We will be able to read the video and know what they are about," said Zuckerberg. The aim will be to deliver more relevant content, but Facebook's ambitions will be much larger. "In a lot of ways advances in AI can save people's lives," said Zuckerberg. "We want to make it easier for you to take advantages of AI. " Zuckerberg outlined its open source Torch system to train neural networks. On the VR front, Zuckerberg touted Gear VR as a start, but noted that drones will intersect with augmented reality. "One reason VR is important is we're working on new social experiences. VR can be the most social platform," said Zuckerberg. "When we get to this world. A lot of the things we think about a physical thing like a TV will be $1 apps. It's going to take a while. " Here's a look at how Facebook sees VR specs in the future as well as the social experience.

2016-04-12 17:40 Larry Dignan zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

35 Microsoft fixes critical security flaw affecting all Windows users Microsoft's monthly batch of security updates was surprisingly light for April, but one flaw sticks out from the crowd. The software giant said that all users of Windows Vista and later -- including Windows 10 -- should patch as soon as possible to prevent attackers from exploiting a flaw in how the operating system handles graphics and fonts. With Edge inheriting one-quarter of Internet Explorer's flaws, is it any more secure? How secure, based on vulnerabilities, is Windows 10's new browser? The "critical" bulletin ( MS16-039 ) patches a series of vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to remotely install programs, view data, and create new user accounts with full rights. An attacker would have to trick a user into opening a specially-crafted media file, which would let the attacker take control of the entire system. The flaw is not thought to have been actively exploited in the wild. Microsoft also fixed the so-called Badlock flaw , which it rated "important. " The flaw, first revealed last month, drew ire from the security community for publicizing the flaw weeks before it was scheduled to be patched. Two separate cumulative patches to Internet Explorer ( MS16-037 ) and its newer browser, Microsoft Edge for Windows 10 ( MS16-038 ), will fix 12 separate vulnerabilities, which among other things would allow a hacker to remotely run code or malware on an affected computer. Another bulletin fixes a number of critical-rated vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash , affecting Windows 8.1 and later. March patches will be available through the usual update channels.

2016-04-12 17:38 Zack Whittaker zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

36 Former Rockstar boss Leslie Benzies sues Rockstar for $150 million (updated) Former President and Producer Leslie Benzies left the studio in January, apparently deciding at the end of a lengthy sabbatical period that he did not want to return. But in a $150 million lawsuit filed against his former employers, revealed in a statement issued by Locke Lord LLP partner Christopher Bakes, Benzies claims he was “enticed” into taking the sabbatical, and that when he attempted to return to work in April 2015, he discovered that he had been locked out of the building. Benzies' suit (via GameInformer ) states that he, along with Rockstar founders Dan and , were defined as the “Rockstar Principals—a privileged, connected, and financially equal group of three,” in a 2009 “Royalty Plan" that determined how their shares of company profits would be distributed. This agreement, and others that determined the nature of Rockstar's leadership and the disbursement of profits, were headed up by Sam Houser, who Benzies “reasonably trusted and relied on... to be the exclusive negotiator and point of contact for him and the Rockstar Principals.” “Mr. Benzies had no role in negotiations. Sam Houser repeatedly assured him that he did not need to take any role, since Mr. Houser was ensuring that his interests would be protected and, by virtue of Mr. Houser's constant proclamations, that his financial rights would remain equal to his own,” the suit states. “This was borne out by performance under the 2009 Royalty Plan as the Rockstar Principals each received identical profit shares through 2014.” But, the suit says, "While the Royalty Plan was structured to create the appearance that the Rockstar Principals were to be treated financially as equals, Take-Two, Rockstar, and Sam Houser now take the position that it does not.” Benzies claims Rockstar and Take-Two have “corrupted” the Royalty Plan to put him in a “grossly disadvantaged” position by denying him his portion of the shared profits: Between 2009, when the plan came into force, and the beginning of his sabbatical in 2014, Benzies and the Housers “received exactly equal profit shares, consistent with Mr. Benzies' understanding of the plan.” After that, however, “Sam Houser interfered with [Benzies'] rights under the Sabbatical Agreement by directing an end to Mr. Benzies' 2009 Royalty Plan profit shares,” estimated to be worth “at least” $150 million. As for Take-Two's role in the matter, it “breached its mediation obligations by issuing an out-of- bounds and inaccurate press statement regarding his sabbatical and that he would not be coming back to work,” the statement says. “In fact, when attempting to resume his duties upon conclusion of his sabbatical on April 1, 2015, Mr. Benzies found himself unable to enter the Rockstar North office because his facilities access device had been deactivated. After being let inside by building security, Mr. Benzies was then ordered to leave by the Rockstar North office manager without reason.” In response, Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar have filed a counter-suit against Benzies, seeking a declaratory judgment that they have “no further financial obligations” to him under the terms of a Royalty Plan. They acknowledge that Benzies was one of the three Rockstar Principals but claim that bonuses are awarded based on a majority vote of the “Allocations Committee,” which under the terms of the Royalty Plan included two Rockstar Principals and one appointee from Take-Two. More to the point, it does not establish that Benzies is entitled to a “minimum allocation” of royalties, or that his share must be equal to that of the Housers, or anyone else. Furthermore, because Benzies resigned “without Good Reason,” he is not entitled to any further royalties for his work; and even if he had resigned with good reason, or had been terminated without cause, the amount of his post-termination royalties, which he would be eligible to collect for three years, would be “determined solely by Sam Houser, the President of .” Take-Two said it has been in “ongoing discussions” with Benzies since he first demanded a bonus payout equal to that of the Housers, but the parties have been unable to reach a mediated resolution. It is thus now seeking a declaratory judgment establishing that the Royalty Plan doesn't set any minimum bonuses for Benzies, and that even if Benzies had quit with cause (which the studio insists he did not), the amount of his post-termination payout would be entirely at the discretion of Sam Houser. “A judicial determination is necessary and appropriate at this time and under these circumstances for the parties to ascertain their rights and obligations to one another and to avoid the hardship caused on the parties by a protracted dispute, further delay, and potential future actions for breach of the Employment Agreement or Royalty Plan,” the suit states. I've reached out to Rockstar and Take-Two for comment, and will update if and when I receive a reply. Thanks. GamesIndustry.

2016-04-12 17:36 By Andy www.pcgamer.com

37 Roku Streaming Stick review Update: Roku Streaming Stick is getting a hardware refresh in 2016. The new, smaller device has a quad-core processor and an 802.11n Wi-Fi antenna capable of streaming data at 600Mbps. The smaller version of the Stick is available now and we plan on updating this review after we've spent some time with it. Original review below... The Roku Streaming Stick seems to get better every day. By combining over 1,000 apps - including Sling TV , Plex and now NBC Sports Live Extra in the US - with an HDMI dongle design that's the size of a thumb drive and an irresistible price of $49/£49, the Roku Streaming Stick may just win the streaming cold war with its cord tied behind its back. Recent advancements in home entertainment technology have granted the power of HDMI compatibility, making it the more app-inclusive alternative to the Google Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV Stick. That's important because Roku has been down this road before with a similar streaming stick that only worked with MLH-compatible TVs. It's an idea that pre-dated Chromecast as an affordable way to instantly project apps onto a big-screen television by nine months. But Roku's MHL requirement meant consumers had to buy or already own a "Roku Ready" TV with this special HDMI slot. Now, the company is taking cues from Google with the Roku Streaming Stick 2014 that delivers apps to any TV when it's plugged into an HDMI port. It comes with a handy remote and sports a familiar interface that has made past Roku devices so easy to use. It costs a little more than Chromecast and doesn't have all of the special features like mirroring an entire computer to the TV, but that's the price of having more than 50 times as many compatible apps and a physical remote control. (2,000 at last count.) The Roku Streaming Stick is small, but its designers managed to bathe almost every inch of it in the company's familiar purple hues. It's a bit obnoxious to have what appears to be an oversized purple thumb drive jutting out of a black or gray television, as much as we appreciate Roku for sticking to its guns with the color choice. The good news is that the Roku Streaming Stick dimensions allow it to easily hide behind a TV set - in most cases. It's 3.1 in x 1.1 in x .5 in, which is a tad larger than the Chromecast at 2.8 in x 1.4 in x .47 in. While the Roku stick is a lot lighter at 18 grams vs Chromecast's condensed 34 grams, the more important factor is the size. It can be a tight fit depending on your TV design These extra tenths of an inch could make the Roku Streaming Stick a tight squeeze in the back of a television set, depending on where the HDMI ports are located. We weren't able to slide it into HDMI 1 of the TV we tested it on because there wasn't enough room. Remember, these HDMI slots are designed to accommodate HDMI cables with flexible cords beyond a inch. The Roku? It can't be bent. Google solved this problem by boxing Chromecast with an HDMI extender, an optional adapter with a flexible body. It's an extra accessory just in case your HDMI ports are too close together or the open HDMI slots are inconveniently on the rear of a wall-mounted TV. It's also supposed to boost WiFi reception. The Roku Streaming Stick includes none of this, even though it costs more. Once the Roku is securely in an HDMI slot, it works as advertised as long as you have a way to power it. There's a micro USB cable included that's 6 feet long - the same length as the Chromecast micro USB cable - and a power adapter. They can be plugged into any power outlet or a USB port with enough wattage. Roku says that the streaming stick typically takes less than 2W when streaming HD video, so it's green-planet friendly and not overly demanding if your TV does have a nearby USB port. The vents that line the sides of this HDMI stick ensure the hardware on the inside runs silently, and the dual-band wireless N antennas keeps the WiFi connectivity fast enough for all of the HD video thrown at it. We didn't experience slowdown from the single-band Chromecast once videos got started, but because Roku has dual-band antennas, it supports both the overcrowded 2.4 GHz frequency and the less trafficked 5 GHz frequency. Of course, this only matters if your router supports the 5 GHz variety. Roku always confidently boasts that it has more apps than all of its competitors combined. With over 2,000 apps that statement is true, even if a large chunk of them are niche apps no one has ever heard of. What's important is that all of the major apps or "Roku channels" are here. Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Crackle, Vudu and HBO Go all stream movies and TV shows without a hitch. Includes Amazon Instant Video For US users, there's also a clutch Time Warner Cable app, but it's requirements aren't as subscriber-friendly. It not only needs the name and password of a TWC TV subscriber, it forces streaming to happen in the home using a Timer Warner cable modem. There's no HBO Go-style password sharing possible here. On the other hand, if you're ready to cut the cord you'll find the excellent option Sling TV available to download on the Roku Channel Store. Sling TV made a splash on the Roku Streaming Stick by offering a free $49.99 streamer to new subscribers who prepay for three months of service. Overall the service works really well on the device, with only small amounts of hiccups to interfere with your cost-saving cable service alternative. The Roku Streaming stick ecosystem also has your music streaming playlists on demand with Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, iHeart Radio, Plex and so on. Google Music and the newer Beat Music are the only major music streaming services you won't find on this or any Roku device. There are over 50 apps for kids, including PBS Kids and four separate Disney stations, and 66 apps for sports fans. WatchESPN is the most popular, while MLB. TV, WWE Network, MLS Live and NHL GameCenter make the top 10 list among sports apps. Each requires a subscription or pay-per-view for live streaming. There's an NBA GameTime app, but it only offers live score updates. Still, these 66 sports apps are 66 more than non-athletic Chromecast offers right now. Other channel genres include News & Weather, Science & Technology and the niche among niche apps, Special Interest. QVC is the No. 1 app here followed by the Aliens and UFOs Channel, and it just gets weirder from there. You can fall for the dedicated Pranks channel or spend time checking out the bizarre Occult Network Channel. It's also nice to see the Liquidation channel is still hanging in there like an "everything must go sale" that never seems to end. The Roku Streaming Stick remote control is just larger than the palm of your hand. It's size and pill-shaped form factor make it easy to hold with one hand and still reach all of the buttons. A two-handed approach to this small remote makes you look ridiculous. That's when you know a company got its TV remote design right. Intuitive buttons for going back and home are up top, followed by the traditional Roku directional pad. Below that are skip backward, an OK button and the options key. Rewind, play/pause and fast forward are the only other media playback buttons. It's just the essentials and sometimes that's all you need. The Roku remote is small enough for one-handed operation The bottom portion of the remote is dedicated to four apps. The logos of M-Go, Amazon Instant Video, Netflix and Blockbuster, adorn these four shortcuts and make navigation a bit easier and less confusing. In fact, pretty much the only confusing about the remote is why Blockbuster was included as one of the shortcuts. HBO Go, Hulu Plus or, heck, even QVC wouldn't been a better choice. As easy as it is to use the Roku Streaming Stick remote, it's not as advanced as the Roku 3. That's the one that includes a headphone jack for a unique "private listening" mode. It's one of those ideas that you haven't seen anywhere else before, so it's curious as to why Roku didn't it in this Roku model. Motion control sensors for games are also absent. Fans of Angry Birds Space are going to have to bow out of the remote wagging fun when using the Roku Streaming Stick version. Of course, if it's games you're after, the Amazon Fire TV is shaping up to be the best choice. It has a dedicated gamepad sold separately and promises 1,000 games by the end of April. Losing this Roku remote doesn't spell the end of streaming. There's a Roku remote app offered in the iOS and Google Play app stores, and it goes beyond simple on-screen controls. It boasts a QWERTY keyboard for a much quicker method of searching through content. You'll never want to hunt and peck with the remote's direction pad again after using the app. The Roku Streaming Stick interface is decked out in purple, which helps emphasize the colorful logos of its apps. After all, the 1,000-plus apps are rightfully the main focus of every Roku. Sorting through them is just as clear cut. The default My Channels menu arranges your favorite apps into a easy-to-navigate grid layout that can be customized with a few clicks of the remote. Do you want Netflix in the top row of this 3 x infinity grid? You got it. Want to demote Blockbuster to the very bottom or even delete it? That's just as simple. You just can't get rid of its permanent shortcut button on the remote. Below My Channels are separate sections for movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, both menus are dedicated to the on-demand video service M-Go. As tempting as its "two free movies for signing up" deal is, it would've been nice to see a more fleshed-out pair of sub-sections. Ones that catalogued new and interesting video content from all apps installed, not just M-Go, would've done the trick. Roku search makes it easy to find good movie deals across all apps The comprehensive search menu actually does just that if you do some of the heavy-lifting. It offers a deep dive through all apps installed when typing in the name of a movie, TV show, actor or director. Simply typing in "Wolf of Wall Street" lists four entries, all in HD, with Amazon Instant Video and Vuvu displaying cheaper rental prices. M-Go and Redbox Instant are more expensive. Save a dollar, earn a dollar, and eventually this Roku will pay for itself. Searching through the Roku ecosystem is only matched by the Amazon Fire TV, which lets you perform voice searches via a built-in mic on the remote. There's no hunting-and-pecking with the remote or even a need to pick up a smartphone to activate the on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Saying "Wolf of Wall Street" aloud is a whole lot easier than typing it out with the remote's directional pad. Last but not least is the new ability to download themes from the Roku Store. So far HBO has released a free premium theme for Game of Thrones, while Netflix has offered up some of its House of Cards concept art. The Roku Streaming Stick is the instant winner over Chromecast right now if you're looking for apps like Amazon Instant Video, Time Warner Cable or niche content that isn't available Google's device just yet. However, the Roku Streaming Stick costs $50 (£50, about AU$54), which is half the price of a Roku 3, but more expensive than the Chromecast. Google undercuts the price of all streaming players at $35 (£30, about AU$39). You're paying a premium for Roku's 1,000 apps This Roku is also missing the ability to mirror a computer display onto a big screen. That's the standout feature of Chromecast and its clutch Chrome tab browser extension. All Roku devices can beam photos and music from iOS and select Android devices, but it's clunky software that isn't worth the buffering time. Roku is clearly charging a premium for its more expansive ecosystem. It's going to be some time before Google is able to catch up to the 1,000 apps that are available right now on Rokus. If it says 'This is gonna be fun' on the box, it MUST be true The Roku Streaming Stick is the agnostic older brother to the Amazon Fire TV Stick. If you can't decide which e-tailer to give your money to, and would rather give it to the services themselves, this is the streamer for you. It also has the most content than any other platform. However just be prepared to wait a bit longer for it to load, speed really isn't Roku's strong suit. Amazon Fire TV, on the other hand, is lightning-quick and is best suited for those people who have really sunk their teeth into the Amazon ecosphere. It has better specs than anything in that form-factor and is $10 cheaper than the Roku Streaming Stick. Amazon Fire TV feels like a device specifically engineered for Amazon Prime subscribers and while everyone else is welcome, you'll have a hard time finding something to watch without ponying up a $99 per year subscription fee. The Roku Streaming Stick slims down Roku's popular app delivery system and halves the price of the Roku 3. There are over 2,000 apps and yet the grid is easy to customize. Its interface ties everything together and the remote is small enough for one-handed navigation. Those are two things missing from Chromecast. It requires you to go into individual apps on a phone or tablet to beam them to a TV and it is only compatible with iOS and Android devices. This Roku platform is the remedy for people who want ditch the smartphone and tablet and, instead, press the "easy button" on a physical remote to be entertained. It can't beam mobile apps to a TV, but it also doesn't require a phone or tablet The size of this streaming stick is larger than the head of any HDMI cable, and some TVs tuck their HDMI ports into the frame of the television. That can make the Roku Streaming Stick a tight fit. Roku its all about its apps, but not much else. There's no computer or mobile device mirroring going on here, and its remote doesn't think outside the set-top box like the Amazon Fire TV does with its innovative voice search. The Roku Streaming Stick isn't necessarily better than Roku 3. In fact, it's missing the unique headphone jack in the remote for its private listening mode. It just happens to be cheaper, but not as inexpensive as Google's Chromecast. Needs an micro USB cable, but it's better than the MHL requirement The Roku Streaming Stick is a cinch to plug into any spacious enough HDMI port now that it doesn't require an MHL-compatible TV. From now on a "Roku Ready" HDTV just means having a TV with an ordinary HDMI port thanks to this more compatible version of the device. It's not quite as affordable as the Chromecast, but it has more of the apps that people want right now, including Amazon Instant Video. That's significant because Amazon often has cheaper HD movie rentals than other services. It's an app you won't find on either Chromecast or Apple TV. There are a number of new streaming devices out right now, but the the Roku Streaming Stick stands as the most efficient way to make a normal HDTV into a smart TV without springing for a pricier set-top box. At least until the Google Chromecast app list is able to catch up.

2016-04-12 17:35 By Matt feedproxy.google.com

38 Uber served data on over 13 million users to US regulators Uber, the multi-billion dollar ride-sharing company, has turned over data on more than 12 million users to US local and federal authorities. The company revealed the information in its first transparency report published Tuesday. Uber said it received 33 requests which amounted to data on more than 11.6 million riders. The company, valued at around $62 billion , complied with 58 percent of those requests, either as required or after unsuccessfully narrowing the scope of the request. Uber also said it wholly complied with 33 requests by regulators in relation to airport transportation services, amounting to about 1.6 million riders. The company said regulators may request information about trips, requests, pickup and dropoff areas, and fares for a given time period. But the number of law enforcement requests is just a fraction compared to the number that is collected by US regulators. Uber turned over data on 205 driver accounts over 408 requests. The company fully complied with about one-third of those requests, and partially complied in 52 percent. Most requests were subpoenas filed by state authorities. How tech companies use warrant canaries to secretly communicate with you Tech companies aren't allowed to tell you when the government wants your data. Enter the warrant canary. In most cases, law enforcement requests that were received related to fraud investigations or the use of stolen credit cards, the report said. The company also said it has "not received a National Security Letter or FISA order" as of the date of the report. This so-called warrant canary is a widely-used tool to tell customers that no secret government demands for data have been filed. Many companies have included these public statements on their website, in anticipation of receiving secret requests down the line. Removing the notice suggests one has been received but doesn't violate the gag order because nothing was explicitly said. Reddit recently became the first widely-known company to remove a warrant canary , indicating that it been subject to a top-secret order. The company did not disclose any information on government requests from other countries.

2016-04-12 17:05 Zack Whittaker zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

39 Yes, Microsoft should drop Windows Mobile for Android and buy Jide Remix OS Remix OS from Jide My colleague Adrian Kingsley-Hughes laid it out the way it is. Windows Mobile is dead as a mobile platform given the lackluster adoption in the market. In spite of the massive effort Microsoft has put into it, there's such a tiny market share that even the company recently stated that mobile is not the firm's focus this year. PC, tablet and smartphone trends, and the rise of the hybrid Desktop PCs are not going away anytime soon, and nor are traditional laptops or slate-style tablets. But all are retreating into their core niches and therefore selling in decreasing numbers. Many have said for a long time that Microsoft should move its phone line to Android. Kingsley- Hughes said it best: "One of those foes actually offers Microsoft a possible lifeline, and a way to make a bigger impact in the mobile space. It's time for Microsoft to dump Windows Phone and start making Android smartphones. " I agree. As he points out, Microsoft has done a superb job bringing its major software products to Android so there's a natural fit in moving its mobile hardware to the popular platform. There's even a way to do so that Microsoft could put its own stamp (and brand) on to make it its own. It would require forking Android in a way to distinguish it from (without upsetting) the rest of the pack, something Microsoft could make in line with Windows while embracing Android's strengths. I think Microsoft should acquire Asian firm Jide . This small company wouldn't take much of Microsoft's vast financial resources and would get Jide's Remix OS, an Android fork that has been in existence for well over a year. See Jide Remix Ultra Tablet with Remix OS review on ZDNet Having used Remix OS for over a year, it's clear to me that this variant of Android is tailor-made for Microsoft. It's a full version of Android that has been designed to look and work much like Windows, right down to a file manager and familiar taskbar. Throw in the ability to run apps in windows on tablets and it's perfect for the Windows brand. That's a good fit for the folks in Redmond and would allow them to put a Windows brand on it even though it is Android. Its Android apps already work out of the box on Remix OS and it wouldn't restrict those from OEM partners. It's a win-win for Microsoft. This makes perfect sense to me. Remix OS runs Microsoft's apps so well. This is especially true of Office. It's a Microsoft variant for Android that already exists. It would only have to acquire the company and run with it. The smart people at Microsoft could turn Remix OS into a cool Windows version of Android while still supporting partners' Android hardware. Having a Microsoft "Windroid" phone would have a mass appeal.

2016-04-12 17:01 James Kendrick zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

40 Lesson learned from Amazon Echo: Don't turn customers into developers Yesterday, I was trying to do something with my Amazon Echo that I thought was core functionality -- have it play white noise/music tracks on a continuous loop. You would think that a smart speaker that accepted voice commands would do something like this natively, not with a playlist and loop command workaround like I used. Yeah, it works, but it isn't ideal. Amazon releases Smart Home API for Alexa: Developers, get ready to add 'skills' Amazon's Alexa line of products will soon get new home automation skills thanks to the release of an API by the company. Even better it should be a predefined drag-and-drop visual macro in the Alexa app itself that triggers different actions, such as bringing the lights down in your bedroom if you have connected devices (like Hue or WeMo) and takes additional actions if necessary, such as arming your alarm system and setting your NEST to a cooler temperature. I looked at the Alexa Skills in the official Alexa app to see if anyone had published something that did something like this. Nothing. I contemplated writing an Alexa skill myself that would do this. After spending an hour pouring through the documentation and sample apps and realizing that I didn't feel like spending a weekend or more writing code in Node.js I said to heck with it. I'll just live with my crummy playlist and loop hack. I consider myself a reasonably smart with heavy systems integration background but I'm no coder. Most of the skills in that Alexa Skills Library are written by other IoT device manufacturers or companies that run web services they want to promote. There's also currently no way to directly monetize an Alexa skill. So you either do it for fame and glory or you've got something else you want to integrate with the Echo that you can sell. That's not only a crummy way to build an application ecosystem but it's also an excellent way to piss off your end-users. There seems to be a trend with IoT to want to make your end-users into your core developer ecosystem. I think this is a very geek-oriented and arrogant Silicon Valley-gestated mindset that flies in the face of how traditional consumers interact with products. But having to set up an AWS account and host JavaScript apps on Lambda (which costs money) to do simple end-user stuff is just dumb. Amazon Alexa clearly needs some kind of click-and-choose macro interface similar to IFTTT that allows similar types of function recipes, such as my "Bedtime" command to be executed. Consumers are Consumers, and Developers are Developers. I think you can expect a very small subset of your consumers to become developers, but crowd-sourcing key functionality and then expecting your consumers to go Captain Codebuster to fill major usability gaps is idiocy.

2016-04-12 16:59 Jason Perlow zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

41 iPhone users hit by fake Apple Support SMS phishing scam APPLE USERS are advised to be on the lookout for a new security threat that's actually an old threat, but it is relatively new to iOS. It's a spin on the old support scam tool designed to part people from passwords and user names . Keep getting texts warning that my Apple id is about to expire/be terminated... With a link to click. Bogus?? — Michelle Ogundehin (@MOgundehin) April 4, 2016 The scam messge reads: "The Apple ID associated with this number is due to be terminated. To prevent this, please confirm your details at supportatapple.com - AppleInc. " The all-seeing security eye that is Graham Cluley has measured the threat and is quite concerned. "It's not just your bank accounts that online criminals are keen to break into. They would quite like to hijack your Apple ID credentials too. A number of people have reported receiving a text message from ‘AppleInc' over the weekend claiming that their Apple ID is about to expire and urging them to click on a link if they want to keep it," Cluley said in a blog post. "Of course, the scammers have chosen their words carefully, making the message appear urgent to encourage as many people as possible to click on the link without properly considering the potential pitfalls. The scam was probably even more convincing to the unwary as it used the real first name and last name of recipients. " Cluley urged people not to panic when they get a message out of nowhere suggesting that immediate action is required. "OK, so perhaps you as a regular reader of a security news site wouldn't fall for such shenanigans, but are you certain that there isn't someone among your family and friends who wouldn't be susceptible to a moment of muddied thinking, and click on the link without proper caution? If they did they would be greeted with a convincing-looking replica of the real Apple ID log-in page," he said. Apple's own support account on Twitter has not commented on this latest development, but rest assured that the security industry will. A new #SMS #phishing campaign is trying to steal Apple IDs, telling victims their ID is about to expire https://t.co/HbIOePnnbA via @gcluley — Security Response (@threatintel) April 12, 2016 The bogus log-in page asks the usual questions, including mother's maiden name and password. The good news is that there's an easy fix and you might have enabled it already. In case you haven't, Cluley takes you there with a question to think about. "One obvious question remains. Where did the attackers get the list of names and mobile phone numbers to target their potential victims with the initial phishing SMS message? " he said, raising what might become the real issue here. "Stay safe people, always be wary of the links that you click on and, if you haven't already done so, enable two-factor authentication on your Apple ID account. " Graham Cluley: always watching, always wise. µ To hear more about security challenges, the threats they pose and how to combat them, sign up for The INQUIRER sister site Computing's Enterprise Security and Risk Management conference , taking place on 24 November.

2016-04-12 16:41 Dave Neal www.theinquirer.net

42 Titanfall 2 UK release date, platforms and features: Watch the new Titanfall 2 trailer With Titanfall clocking up an impressive 10 million users, there's hype building around the sequel which already looks pretty interesting. Here we bring you all the news and rumours including Titanfall 2 release date, platforms and features. See also: The most anticipated games of 2016 . Titanfall 2 UK release date: 12 June 2016 EA has confirmed Titanfall 2 will launch during E3 2016. Thanks to an interview with lead writer, Jesse Stern, by Forbes , we know a few details about Titanfall 2 – including the above quote. For starters, he confirmed that although the original Titanfall started life as an Xbox exclusive (it was later released on PC), Titanfall 2 will be multi-platform. "This one is going to be widely available, I believe on all platforms," said Stern. We also know that the game will have a single-player campaign with Stern admitting "One of the shortcomings of the first game was we just did not have the mechanism to tell everyone ‘here’s who you are, here’s where you are and who’s around you.’ We knew all the answers, we just could not deliver it. " "So we are doing our best to deliver a vision of grand global colonial warfare retelling the story of the American Revolution and the American Civil War in space," added Stern. "What inspires us is the junction of technological advancement with the inevitability of conflict and war and what the next war might look like. In Titanfall 2 there will be a lot of [scenes] where science meets magic, but keeping it grounded and dirty and human and real. " In the interview, Stern also alluded to a possible spin-off Titanfall TV show as Respawn Entertainment CEO, Vince Zampella, wants to diversify into scripted and animated TV series with Lionsgate TV. However, Stern said on the subject "It would be very expensive. We are trying to find a way to tell a story in the worlds we want to be in and produce in the TV model. "

LG G5 release date, price, new features and specifications UK: LG G5 SE incoming? pcadvisor.co.uk 2016-04-12 16:35 Chris Martin www.pcadvisor.co.uk

43 HTC 10 UK release date, price, pre-order, new features, specifications and photos: HTC 10 looks awesome. Sounds awesome. Is awesome. (And you can get it for just £512.99) HTC has today unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the HTC 10. Successor to the HTC One M9 , the HTC 10 is a beast of a phone with the gorgeous design, Quad-HD display, fingerprint sensor and awesome performance and multimedia features it needed to get back in the running for best Android phone 2016. We reveal the HTC 10 UK release date, price, new features, specifications and photos. Also see HTC 10 hands-on review and HTC 10 vs vs LG G5. The HTC 10 costs £569 and can be pre-ordered directly from HTC. Use the promotional code HTC10 and you'll get it for just £512.99, including Express delivery. (We have no idea how long this code will remain active for, but thanks @JamesRWP for the tip.) Carphone Warehouse has also confirmed it will be taking pre-orders for the HTC 10 from tomorrow (13 April). As for a release date, we were told it would be available in April by the press release, and in May during our pre-brief; HTC has since clarified it should be available early May. According to our friends at Clove it should go on sale the week commencing 9 May. We’ll update this article as soon as we have more exact details. You can expect the HTC 10 to be available from the four major UK operators, Vodafone , Three , EE and O2. EE has now been in touch to say it will offer the HTC 10 in Carbon Grey with Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling, as has Three , which will sell the HTC 10 with 4G at no extra cost, Feel At Home roaming in selected countries, and a six-month free Deezer subscription. The HTC 10 is available in three colours: Carbon Grey, Glacial Silver and Topaz Gold. HTC builds arguably the best-looking smartphones in the Android world, so last year upon the launch of the HTC One M9 we were disappointed to find not much in the way of new hardware that could help it to compete against its rivals Samsung and LG, which have already unveiled their 2016 flagships in the form of the Galaxy S7 and LG G5. Thankfully, it’s all change for 2016. Also see: Best smartphones 2016. HTC has been building up hype around the #powerof10 for some time - but what does it actually mean? According to the company it represents a decade of building smartphones, and is all about perfection. No longer will you hear us criticise HTC for shunning a Quad-HD screen or a fingerprint scanner, for example. The screen is both larger and higher in resolution, a responsive 5.2in Super LCD 5 2K panel with a 564ppi density. And the new fingerprint scanner responds to the touch in just 0.2 seconds. The HTC 10 has a crazy-fast processor in the form of the Snapdragon 820 (as seen in the LG G5), which it pairs with a massive 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage (plus microSD support up to 2TB). Performance should be very good. Also see: Best Android phones 2016. The design has changed somewhat, but the HTC 10 is just as attractive as previous One-series smartphones, a diamond-cut, chamfered-edge, two-tone metal unibody device with a single sheet of 2.5D curved glass at the front. In common with the Galaxy S7 the IR blaster has gone, while the familiar front-facing BoomSound speakers have been replaced with a new version that sees the tweeter at the top and woofer at the bottom, with a dedicated amp for each. A pair of Hi-Res earphones is supplied in the box, and a world first - optional JBL USB-C headphones - will be available in some territories. The HTC 10 boasts 24-bit Hi-Res audio (for both playback and recording), with a powerful headphone amp, the ability to upscale 16-bit- to 24-bit audio, and a high-performance DAC that delivers 10 times lower distortion than rival devices. A Personal Audio Profile can be created to perfectly suit your personal listening style. There’s also an awesome 12Mp UltraPixel 2 camera - “a world-class camera” in HTC’s words - that has a dual-tone LED flash, 1.55um pixels, OIS, a laser autofocus, and support for 4K video and RAW files. Two awesome cameras, in fact, since the 5Mp UltraPixel UltraSelfie front-facing camera is the first selfie camera to come with OIS. HTC cites a DxOMark score of 88 for the HTC 10, one of the highest camera-quality scores of any phone to date. The non-removable battery is now higher in capacity, rated at 3,000mAh and, although it doesn’t support wireless charging, a combination of Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and HTC’s own Rapid Charge tech means you can charge the battery up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. Boost+ tech is designed to make the HTC 10 faster, consume less power and to provide effective security and application management features, such as automatically optimising the phone’s memory and boosting battery life during gaming. Software has been improved, and notably so, now more simplistic and user-friendly with less duplication between Google and HTC apps. The material design is applied throughout, and HTC has completely ditched the home screen grid in favour of a freestyle layout - you can arrange your app icons however you like. HTC has also tweaked the software to make it more responsive, and claims that apps launch twice as fast. We’re looking forward to watching the camera launch in 0.6 seconds - our one issue with the HTC One M9’s performance. See all smartphone reviews. Read the full HTC 10 specification below. Operating system: Android Marshmallow with HTC Sense Screen: 5.2in Quad-HD (2560x1440, 564ppi) Super LCD 5 with curved-edge Gorilla Glass Processor: 2.2GHz 820 64-bit, quad-core RAM: 4GB Storage: 32/64GB, microSD up to 2TB Primary camera: 12Mp HTC UltraPixel 2, 1.55um pixels, laser autofocus, BSI sensor, OIS, f/1.8 aperture, 26mm focal length, dual-tone LED flash, 4K video recording with Hi-Res Audio, slo-mo video at 720p/120fps, camera modes: Auto-HDR, Panorama, Pro mode with manual control and 12-bit RAW format support , Zoe capture, Video Pic, continuous shooting up to 8fps Front camera: 5Mp, 1.34um pixels, autofocus, BSI sensor, OIS, f/1.8 aperture, 23mm focal length, 1080p video recording, camera modes: Auto-HDR, Auto Selfie, Voice Selfie, Live Make- Up Audio: HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition, Dolby Audio, Personal Audio Profile, Hi-Res Audio certified, Hi-Res Audio earphones, Hi_res Audio stereo recording, three mics with noise cancellation Connectivity: 4G LTE (Nano-SIM), dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS and GLONASS, NFC, DisplayPort, Miracast, Google Cast, AirPlay, HTC Connect, DNLA, USB-C Sensors: Ambient light, Proximity, Motion G-sensor, Compass, Gyro, Magnetic sensor, fingerprint sensor, Sensor Hub for activity tracking Battery: 3000mAh with Quick Charge 3.0 support (up to 50% in 30 minutes), extreme power saving mode, up to 19 days on standby or 27 hours talk time Extras: Display colour personalisation, Ice View case, Motion Launch, Quiet ring on pick-up, Pocket mode Dimensions: 145.9x71.9x3.0-9.0mm Weight: 161g Read next: Best new phones coming in 2016 . Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter. Apple Watch 2 (Apple Watch S) UK release date, price and specification rumours: New Apple Watch will look exactly the same pcadvisor.co.uk

LG G5 release date, price, new features and specifications UK: LG G5 SE incoming? pcadvisor.co.uk

HTC 10 UK release date, price, pre-order, new features, specifications and photos: HTC 10 looks awesome. Sounds awesome. Is awesome. pcadvisor.co.uk 2016-04-12 16:27 Marie Brewis www.pcadvisor.co.uk

44 How Life is Strange channels Twin Peaks When you hear the name Twin Peaks you probably think of Dale Cooper delighting in a damn fine cup of coffee, or a little man talking backwards and dancing in a red room. These have become indelible pop culture images, referenced and parodied countless times, and have given the show a reputation for, above all, being weird. But there’s a lot more to David Lynch and Mark Frost’s cult supernatural soap opera than its eccentric characters, quotably idiosyncratic dialogue, and offbeat nature. Peel away the layers and you’ll discover that, really, it’s a show about the secrets people keep. The picturesque town of Twin Peaks, nestled among the mist-shrouded mountains and towering Douglas Firs of the Pacific Northwest, looks like a peaceful, idyllic place at first glance. But it soon becomes clear, to both the viewer and outsider Cooper, that it has a dark, sinister side lurking quietly in the shadows. This is a common theme in David Lynch’s work, and the opening scenes of his 1986 film Blue Velvet are perhaps the most powerful articulation of this concept. As the saccharine pop song the movie takes its name from plays, we see a brilliant blue sky, a white picket fence, rows of colourful flowers, and idealised images of suburban life. But then the music fades, replaced by an unsettling machine-like drone, and the camera sinks into the dirt, revealing a writhing, repulsive mass of insects below. Several games have famously been compared to Twin Peaks. There’s cult favourite Deadly Premonition, which tells the story of an eccentric FBI agent investigating a murder in a small Washington town. Bright Falls, the setting for horror game Alan Wake, is clearly inspired by Twin Peaks—particularly the Oh Deer Diner and its peculiar patrons. And the Silent Hill series, in which the titular New town has been corrupted by malevolent demonic forces, draws obvious parallels. But the tonal and visual similarities these games have to Twin Peaks is superficial. The inspiration is simplistic and cosmetic, focusing on the odd, quirky elements of the show rather than the deeper themes that run through it. And that’s fine. But as a fan of the series, I’ve always wanted a game to go deeper than cherry pie references, and to capture the dark magic of the show in a more meaningful way. As much as I love the weirder aspects of Twin Peaks, it’s the human side of the story I’ve come to appreciate more over the years. The teenage melodrama, the double lives, and the everyday demons that torment the town’s residents as well as the supernatural ones. Life is Strange is a game littered with references, from Blade Runner to Jack Kerouac. Some of them feel slightly forced, but overall it accurately reflects those exploratory teenage years when you define yourself by the artists, musicians, writers, and filmmakers you enjoy. Among them are a few nods to Twin Peaks, many of which are lacking in subtlety: the ‘TWN PKS’ licence plate on Chloe’s truck, ‘FIRE WALK WITH ME’ scratched into a bathroom mirror, a letter signed by a Dr. Jacoby, red drapes. It’s all fairly obvious stuff, riffing on the popular iconography of the show, but doesn’t serve any purpose other than giving fans a glimmer of recognition. I groaned when I saw Chloe’s plate, because it felt like a cheap, easy way of scoring pop culture points. But the more I played Life is Strange, the more I realised that, as well as these allusions, it also seemed to have a deeper understanding of the show. I don’t know how much of this was intentional—the sheer amount of references suggests it was—but for me it’s the closest a game has come yet to capturing the essence of Twin Peaks. It’s nowhere near as artistically interesting or as hauntingly atmospheric, but it gives you that same feeling of pulling back the veil and uncovering the many hidden, sometimes disturbing, secrets of a seemingly pleasant place. By episode three, which is when the game really clicked for me, the camera has plunged deep into the dirt and revealed the insects swarming beneath the streets of Arcadia Bay. It seems nice enough at first—a sleepy, charming coastal town—but Max digs deeper and finds the reality: corruption, drugs, voyeurism, obsession, bullying, and worse. And when she begins to investigate the disappearance of a fellow student, and realises she’s been leading something of a double life in secret, you can’t help but think of Twin Peaks’ similarly troubled Laura Palmer. The supernatural elements in Life is Strange aren’t as successful—there’s nothing as darkly surreal as the Black Lodge or as abstractly terrifyingly as BOB—but it does the much tougher job of capturing the less obvious elements of the show. The result is that Life is Strange feels more like it than Deadly Premonition ever did, even though its inspiration is far less overt. I'm ashamed to admit that Life is Strange had been sitting unloved in my Steam library for over a year. I tried to get into it once, but couldn’t stomach the occasionally cringeworthy dialogue. But I’m hella glad I gave it another shot (sorry), because I’ve since fallen in love with it. As I learned more about Arcadia Bay, I was reminded of the first time I watched Twin Peaks and saw Laura Palmer’s life unravelling and spilling its secrets. “Beneath the surface there’s another world, and more worlds still if you dig deeper,” says David Lynch. “There’s goodness in blue skies and flowers, but another force—a wild pain and decay—also accompanies everything. If you look a little closer at this beautiful world, there’s always red ants underneath.”

2016-04-12 16:22 Andy Kelly www.pcgamer.com

45 Perfect World apologises for Shanghai Major mess Despite the high-level Dota on display, the Shanghai Major is remembered as the hottest mess—volcanic, even. Chris detailed what went wrong in a post worthy of its own leather-bound tome, but the highlights include starving talent, a manager trapped in a lift, a missing keyboard and the audience being ordered to vacate the premises. The drama peaked with the sacking of the event's production company. Perfect World, Dota's publisher in China, has now issued an apology. From the Chinese Dota 2 site : For all the heavy-handed talk of firing people, I'd say we're safe in assuming that slip-ups of this magnitude are unlikely to happen again. With a lucrative brand to protect and a stake in the future of , I foresee Valve getting its hands dirty at events more often.

2016-04-12 16:20 By Angus www.pcgamer.com

46 Acer Iconia Tab 10: cheap Android 6.0 tablet packs 10in HD screen, MediaTek chip TAIWANESE HARDWARE MAKER Acer has revealed an addition to its Iconia range aimed squarely at entertainment. The Iconia Tab 10 has a 10in Full HD IPS display, and targets the mid-range tablet market with prices starting at £179.99. The device measures 259x167x8.9mm, making it slightly fatter than the similarly sized iPad Pro 9.7 and Samsung Galaxy TabPro S , and it lacks the pseudo 2K displays of more costly tablets. The Iconia Tab 10 comes with four front-facing speakers powered by Dolby’s DTS-HD Premium Sound tech. This should make viewing films and TV programmes a decent aural as well as visual experience, an area where affordable tablets have fallen over in the past. Acer's latest tablet is fairly unremarkable specs-wise. It uses MediaTek’s MT8163A 64-bit quad- core processor, which Acer said has more than enough power for games, video and browsing. This comes with 2GB of RAM and up to 32GB of storage expandable up to 128GB via microSD. Acer has kept tight-lipped on the battery, but said that the device will last over eight hours. The tablet comes with a 2MP front-facing camera for people inclined to risk social exclusion, and a 5MP rear camera with an auto-focus lens. But the ace in Acer’s hole is the custom hardware and software features. The Iconia Tab 10 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and comes with tools aimed at making the device more enjoyable for people less au fait with the intricacies of Android. Acer’s EZ Utilities app allows those with less than perfect eyesight to enlarge the user interface and font beyond the standard sizes offered by Marshmallow. MediaTek’s MiraVision display engine, meanwhile, pumps out bountiful amounts of colour and contrast and makes images razor sharp. EZ Snap allows users to take screenshots instantly with a three-finger pinch, and an anti- fingerprint coating keeps the display relatively grease-free. Acer has clearly put a lot of effort into the display, offering 3.5mm 'Precision Plus' sensors that offer 2.5 times more sensitivity than standard 5.5mm sensors. This means that doodlers who hate styluses can use a real pencil on the display. It sounds like a recipe for screen scratches, but we’ll have to wait to put it to the test. A MediaMaster key on the side of the Iconia Tab 10 allows owners to select the best audio and display settings for the media being viewed. This may sound like overkill, but could come in useful when the tablet is connected to a home cinema or external display though the Wireless Display feature or the built-in micro HDMI port. Apple, Samsung and Huawei target tablet fans who want a device for work and play , but the Iconia Tab 10 will be very much an entertainment and media consumption device when it launches in June. Sometimes tablets just wanna have fun. µ

2016-04-12 16:18 Roland Moore www.theinquirer.net

47 Google Nexus 5X review: Long-term report - how it shapes up five months since launch By Jim Martin | 17 mins ago See full specs £299 inc VAT One of two new Google phones, the Nexus 5X is the smaller brother to the , and one of the first to run Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It has quite a few upgrades compared to the , which arrived way back in 2013, and is also built by LG as Google's manufacturing partner. And as the LG G4 is now cheaper, it's one of the Nexus 5X's rivals. Update April 2016: After living with the Nexus 5X for five months, it remains a great option for those looking for a decent smartphone without breaking the bank. There's plenty of new competition such as the Galaxy S7, LG G5, Huawei P9 and HTC 10 but in reality, they're all much more expensive and - arguably - new competition for the Nexus 6P rather than the 5X. An unlikely rival to the Nexus 5X is the new iPhone SE which is the cheapest phone Apple has launched in a long time at £359. That's still £60 more expensive, though: Google has dropped the price from £339 to £299, and is still offering outstanding value for money. A software update a while ago did cause some performance issues and at times the lag has been very frustrating. However, Google has promised to sort this out with anoter firmware update. Otherwise we've had no problems and really enjoyed using the Nexus 5X. At launch, the Nexus 5X had lots of rivals, including the Play , and the cheaper OnePlus 2. It's great phone overall, with one of the best 1080p screens we've seen to date, along with one of the best cameras. But it's not all great news. This isn't just a Nexus 6P with a smaller screen: the 5X has a slower processor, which means it lacks some of the shooting modes you get on the 6P and - for some reason - Google thinks people won't want any more than 32GB of storage. And the base 16GB model really doesn't have enough usable storage for a phone that records 4K video which uses up 300MB per minute. But instead of dwelling on the negatives, let's get into the detail as there's lots to like about the 5X. The Nexus 5X costs £299 from the Google Play Store as well as from other retailers and mobile operators on contract. That's a reasonable amount cheaper than the Nexus 6P which starts at £449 (this hasn't had a price drop). See also : 20 b est Android phones to buy right now Although it's relatively affordable, there's tough competition. Aside from Apple's 'cheap' iPhone the OnePlus 2 (with its more powerful processor and more RAM) is £239 and the Motorola is £279. Gone are the days when the Nexus flagship was simply the best-value phone on the market bar none. Despite an increase in screen size from 5 to 5.2in, the Nexus 5X is still nice and light. It weighs a comfortable 136g, and is 7.9mm thick. It is larger than the 5, though, so anyone hoping for a bigger screen in a phone the same size will be disappointed. Here’s how they compare: Rounded edges on the rear panel make the Nexus 5X a nice phone to hold in the hand and we like the matt finish plastic which is similar to the original. There’s a choice of colours including Black, White and Ice Blue, although this applies only to the back: they’re all black on the sides and front. There's not a lot else to say on the design front as the device, like the Nexus 5, is fairly plain. That's a good thing we'd say although features such as waterproofing wouldn't go amiss. One thing to note: despite appearances, the 5X does not have stereo speakers. The top grille hides a speaker that’s used for phonecalls, with only the bottom one being a loudspeaker. Another thing to point out is that the camera does stick out a little bit at the back. It’s now positioned centrally and although the Nexus 5's camera wasn't flush the 5X’s protrudes much more. If you're wondering about the circle below the camera, it's a fingerprint scanner which we'll talk in more depth below. You may also be interested in the fact that the Nexus 5X takes a nano-SIM rather than micro which may require a new SIM card if upgrading from the Nexus 5. Given that the Nexus 5 launched two years ago, it’s no surprise that the 5X is upgraded in almost every area. But don't expect it to blow its predecessor out of the water because the top- end hardware has been reserved for the Nexus 6P. Google has decided to stick with a Full HD screen resolution on the Nexus 5X. This of course means a small drop in pixel density to 424ppi. It’s not noticeable of course, and the screen is still crisp with pixels that are invisible to virtually all human eyes. But if you want an upgrade to Quad HD, you’ll have to look at the Nexus 6P – or elsewhere. Staying with the display, the 5X has an IPS LCD panel just like the Nexus 5, but unlike the 6P which uses AMOLED. However, this is no criticism. The 5X has unquestionably one of the best screens we’ve seen on a smartphone. Sure, colours don’t assault your eyeballs as they do on the 6P, but they’re accurate and the screen is bright and has excellent contrast. There’s an uprated Qualcomm processor too. The Snapdragon 808, as used in the flagship LG G4, is a nice upgrade from the 800 model which was top-of-the-line when the Nexus 5 arrived. This means the Nexus 5X has a six-core processor with four A53 cores at 1.4GHz and two A57 cores at 1.8GHz. There's also Adreno 418 graphics which performed well in our tests – better than the Nexus 6P’s Adreno 430 in fact. (This is due to the fact the 6P has more pixels – it’s more powerful if you run the benchmarks at 1920x1080.) Despite rumours suggesting the 5X would have 4GB of RAM, the allocation remains at 2GB. And storage options are more limited than the 6P. The Nexus 5X doesn't offer 64GB or 128GB as the 6P does, instead there are merely 16- and 32GB options. And as usual with Nexus phones, there’s no microSD card slot so you'll probably want to go for 32GB which costs £379. One of several features shared between the two new phones is the fingerprint scanner: Nexus Imprint. It's positioned below the camera at the rear of the phone. It might seem a little strange, but it’s where your index finger naturally lies. It's also super-fast and unlocks the phone almost instantly. The system learns your fingerprint and recognition improves over time. As well as offering easy access to the phone, other apps can use the sensor for logging in or making payments. Plus, of course, Google Pay will be coming to the UK at some point so you’ll be able to pay with your phone in bricks and mortar stores as you can with an iPhone. The next shared feature is a new physical port in the form of USB-C which is fast becoming the standard for new Android phones: it can also be found on the OnePlus 2 and the Xiaomi Mi4C (which, incidentally has very similar specs to the 5X for half the price). USB-C’s main feature is that it's reversible but it also enables fast charging and you can even charge other devices from the 5X should you wish to. The larger frame means a larger battery at 2700mAh, but it's a big shame there’s no wireless charging: that’s a step backwards from the Nexus 5 and a blow for many looking to the 5X as the definitive upgrade. Elsewhere there’s dual-band 11ac Wi-Fi, LTE (both faster than before), NFC and Bluetooth 4.2 but no infrared port or extras such as a heart rate monitor. The last of the shared upgrades between the 5X and 6P are the cameras. Arguably, this is the biggest upgrade for the Nexus 5X. The Nexus 5's 8Mp camera wasn't amazing, even with the software updates which improved things following its launch. But amazing is an adjective which will be used repeatedly for the 5X's main camera. It's one of the best cameras on any phone and as far as we can tell is identical to the unit on the 6P. The new camera is not only higher resolution -12.3Mp - but has a dual-tone LED flash, an IR laser focusing system and can shoot 4K video. There are phones with more megapixels, but the larger size of the sensor and pixels means more light hits them. The improvement in quality is obvious from the photos, but it performs well not only in good light: it's also pretty good in dim conditions too. In photos and videos colours are rich and detail is sharp. As we said in our review of the 6P, there's possibly a little too much sharpening going on. But most people will be over the moon with this level of quality from a £339 phone. It's worth noting that you need to use the HDR+ mode most of the time to get the best quality and this does introduce a second or so delay of processing between images. You can shoot without it, but skies tend to blow out even when the contrast to the foreground doesn't appear that high. The other gripe is the absence of a 1080p60 mode: you can shoot video only at 30fps in 4K or 1080p. That's something which we hoped would be added in a software update, but it hasn't happened. This is a 100 percent crop: Macro perfornance is identical to the Nexus 6P: Again, the 100 percent crop of the original photo: What won't be added is a 240fps slo-mo option, nor SmartBurst. Both are features you get with the 6P. The Snapdragon 808 isn't quick enough to handle the way Google has implemented these features, so you're limited to 120fps at 720p. It's a shame, but won't be a dealbreaker for everyone. More of a disappointment is that the 5X doesn't even have electronic image stabilisation, let alone optical. That means both new Nexus' lack OIS and you'll have to have steady hands if you want shake-free video and blur-free low-light photos from your 5X. At the front is a nice upgrade to a 5Mp selfie camera. Again, it's the same as the 6P's which means decent quality photos. We already know that the Snapdragon 808 isn't as quick as the 810 in the 6P, and that it has only 2GB of RAM versus the 6P's 3GB (and it's a similar story with the OnePlus 2, which is much cheaper than both Nexus phones). The graphs below show the difference in our benchmarks, but again, it's important to note that the lower screen resolution explains why the 5X's frame rates are higher in GFXbench. In general use, the 5X feels very quick whether you're playing games, switching between apps, browsing the web or just navigating around Marshmallow. Battery life is very good, too, lasting a shade under 7 hours in our tests. The new battery saving features in Marshmallow will also help if you need to eke out several hours when power is running low. And there's support for fast charging using the included charger, giving up to 7 hours of use from 10 minutes' charging - according to Google. But it's not Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 or 3.0. Like the Nexus 6P, it seems to be a proprietary system, so you'll need the official charger or a third-party USB-C charger that can output 5V/3A. Out of the box the phone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It's similar to Lollipop but isn't exclusive to the 5X or 6P of course. Existing Nexus devices will be upgraded shortly, including the Nexus 5. The benefit, as with any Nexus phone or tablet, is that you get pure Android as Google intends it to be – no add on skins like Samsung's TouchWiz or HTC's Sense. Not only does it offer something of a blank canvas with which to customise Android to your heart's content, it means you don't have to worry about things like pre-installed apps which you may not be able to delete. Don't forget to check out our 10 best Android Marshmallow features article. Those looking to upgrade from a Nexus 5 will be happy and sad in almost equal measure. The 5X is a fantastic phone overall, with excellent cameras, a good turn of speed and an excellent screen. But it's noticeably bigger than its predecessor despite the small increase in screen size, it has limited storage compared to the Nexus 6P and it lacks a couple of camera features due to the slower processor. The absence of wireless charging is another blow for some, but additions such as the fingerprint scanner will make it a great upgrade for others. HTC 10 UK release date, price, pre-order, new features, specifications and photos: HTC 10 looks awe.… 1995-2015: How technology has changed the world in 20 years Apple's aging Mac Pro is falling way behind Windows rivals iPhone SE review: As fast as an iPhone 6s and as portable as an iPhone 5s, the iPhone SE breathes…

2016-04-12 15:55 Jim Martin www.pcadvisor.co.uk

48 Best Android apps 2016: Best apps for your new phone or tablet At PC Advisor we review a *lot* of phones and tablets, but certain apps are always top of our list. Here's our pick of essential Android apps - the best apps if you've just bought a new Android phone or tablet. Your phone is capable of many things, but at its heart it is a phone, and designed for keeping in touch with friends, family, colleagues and whoever else you fancy a chin wag with. Your phone will have a messaging app and a dialler built-in. What it may not have is online messenger and calling services that allow you to contact friends over an internet- rather than cellular connection. Two of our all-time favourites are WhatsApp Messenger and Skype. WhatsApp is now free for all users, and lets you send and receive free messages, pictures, videos and voice messages over the web. If you have a tablet, laptop or PC you should also check out WhatsApp Web for synching messages between the two. Also see: How to install WhatsApp on a tablet. Skype, meanwhile, is the video chat service for people who don't have iPhones and iPads. It's an excellent way of speaking face-to-face with people who are too far away to visit. If you're not fussy who it is you're chatting to, and you're a fan of online forums, you'll also be pleased to learn Reddit has recently launched its full Android app. What is Reddit, though? " There’s a Reddit community for every subject imaginable: your favorite sports team, relationship advice, memes, silly gifs, the latest in news and politics - all in real time," states the official download page, and we couldn't say it better ourselves. It's free - go get it. Many Android phones and tablets come with social-media apps built-in, but if yours doesn't then top of your list will be Facebook and Twitter . If you're downloading Facebook don't forget Facebook Messenger for private messaging with friends (no, it's not evil ), and if you're a poster rather than a lurker then Timehop offers a fascinating look back at what was on your mind on this day in previous years. If social is your bag, there are loads more free apps with which you can stalk your friends and make them jealous with a picture of what you just ate for dinner or news on your latest job. Snapchat is the latest trending social app, and face-swapping is all the rage (beginners should check out our guide on How to use Snapchat ), while LinkedIn , Instagram and Pinterest are just a handful of other social apps that are available. You can also find all manner of social aggregators that combine all your social feeds into a single feed. At PC Advisor we've recently begun using Slack for instant messaging between colleagues. It's much easier to follow than a long email thread where various people reply to different messages all at once, and some of my team mates are particularly enjoying its GIF support. Large, high-resolution screens are all the rage with today's new Android phones, which paired with their fast processors and graphics makes them ideal devices on which to watch TV, video and films. YouTube is more than likely preinstalled on your Android device - and if it's not you should download it now. Some other free apps that we wouldn't be without include TVCatchUp , which rather than a catch-up TV service actually offers live-streaming of UK Freeview channels, plus some actual TV catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer (you'll also need BBC Media Player ), ITV Player , All 4 and Demand 5. If you subscribe to Sky at home then Sky Go lets you watch Sky TV on your phone or tablet, while Virgin offers a similar deal with Virgin TV Anywhere . Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video are the two big online film-streaming services, each charging a monthly subscription of around £7 and letting you watch as many films as you like within that period. We like Netflix, although you may prefer the associated benefits of having a Prime account, including free next-day delivery on eligible items bought on Amazon and Amazon Prime Music. We've compared your options to help you choose. We're also big fans of NowTV which, like Prime and Netflix, is a subscription service that puts hundreds of TV box sets and catch-up TV from some of Sky's most popular channels at your fingertips. NowTV also has a movies option that lets you tune into a great many of the films broadcast over Sky's movie channels. Film fans will more than likely appreciate IMDB , the world's largest collection of movie, TV and celebrity info, while for TV sport fanatics there's BBC Sport and Sky Sports . Note that a TV Licence is required for streaming of live television broadcasts in the UK. Also see: Do I need a TV Licence? If you have an Android phone or tablet, you can access your entire audio collection by uploading it to Google Play Music , which is more than likely preinstalled on your device. But what about new stuff? In the past if you wanted to listen to new music and you didn't want to pay for it you would listen to the radio. Many Android phones and tablets have a built-in FM radio, and you simply plug in a pair of headphones to act as the aerial. There are also online radio services - one of our favourites is BBC iPlayer Radio. But this is the 21st century, and while radio still thrives online music streaming is where it's at, allowing you to listen to what you want, when you want, and if you want to ditch the ads that's possible too. Spotify and Deezer are two of the most popular online music-streaming services, but even Google has its own subscription-based Music service. Weigh up your options in our best music-streaming service article. Audio fans will also like SoundCloud , to help them find new music, and Shazam , to work out what it was they just listened to. Big screens don't just make for easier watching, they make for easier reading too. Whether you want to read books or magazines, there's an app for that. We'll start with magazines since we are, after all, a publishing company. One of our favourite new services is Readly , which is a subscription-based magazine service that lets you read as many mags as you want for a one-off fee. PC Advisor and its sister titles Tech Advisor, Macworld, iPad & iPhone User and Android Advisor are all available on Readly, and there's loads more good stuff too. Check it out with a free trial. And now books. No matter what other pies it has fingers in, Amazon is still the company we associate with buying books, whether you want them in paperback or digital form. You don't need one of Amazon's own Kindle tablets or e-readers to enjoy its unique reading experience, since the Amazon Kindle app is available for all Android phones and tablets. In fact, all the apps in Amazon's app store are available for your Android device - see how to get truly free Amazon apps for your phone or tablet. Smartphone cameras are getting better than ever, and even out of the box they take some fantastic snaps (also see: What's the best phone camera 2016 ). But there are apps that make a good thing great. We asked around the PC Advisor office, and there was one clear favourite: Snapseed. It offers professional controls that are applied with a fingertip. Easy peasy. Photography fans shouldn't forget Instagram either. Beginners should check out our guide on How to use Instagram. If you are taking photos and video on your Android phone or tablet, make sure you have Google Photos installed and configured. Photos will automatically back up your snaps and video clips over a Wi-Fi connection, meaning they are not only safe if you lose or break your device, but also accessible from any other computer on which you are signed into your Google account. Also see: How to back up Android. Our phones and tablets are not just like mini PCs, they are mini PCs. And with online productivity services and cloud storage you get the benefit of being able to access all your office documents from wherever you are, and collaborate on them with colleagues. At PC Advisor we use Google Apps for Work, so by default we tend to use Gmail , Google Calendar , Google Drive , Google Docs and Google Sheets for work tasks both in and out the office. But there are plenty of other app choices, and not least is Microsoft's Office suite , with free Word , Excel , PowerPoint and OneNote apps for Android phones and tablets. With OneDrive you also get useful cloud storage, or you might prefer Dropbox or Box - see our round-up of the best cloud-storage services. AirDroid is a great app for wirelessly managing your Android phone or tablet from any PC or Mac, too. One app that's specific to us as a tech media publisher, but also useful for anyone whose business involves a website, is Google Analytics. Using the Analytics Android app on my smartphone I can see not only how many people are reading this very article right now, but I can see what drove them to the article, on what type of device they're browsing and other useful stats. We've already rounded up some of the best Android games in our separate round-up, but we can't ignore them entirely in this article for the simple fact that having at least one good game on your phone or tablet is essential for those times you can't get online and need something to do to fill five minutes. And even people who *don't play games* will be sucked in when their competitiveness gets the better of them. And it will get the better of them. We offer loads more suggestions in our best Android games article, but two immediately spring to mind: Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies 2. Download one of these classic games for your Android phone or tablet and long commutes will fly by in seconds. The internet and a wealth of information is at your fingertips, but apps take away the hassle of searching for it. You can have news and weather information delivered directly to your phone simply by launching an app. Here in the UK two that really stand out are BBC News and BBC Weather. But you can install as many as you like - don't fancy that rain and wind the BBC says is coming your way? Perhaps the Met Office is predicting bright sunshine and BBQ weather. We Brits love to shop, and online shopping makes it easier than ever. Now with apps dedicated to online shopping, you'll wonder why you ever bothered getting out of bed to buy a loaf of bread. As well as apps for all the large supermarkets (see Tesco , Ocado , Morrisons , ASDA , Lidl and ALDI ), some of our favourites include Amazon , which sells just about everything, eBay , the online auction site that again sells just about everything, and PayPal , which is used not only to pay for goods on eBay but at multiple online retailers. One of the beauties of online shopping is that it's so much easier to shop around for a great deal. Helping you find some of those great deals is HotUKDeals , and once you've found something you'd like to purchase Voucher Codes can help you obtain even bigger discounts. With all that shopping, you'll probably want to keep an eye on your balance. Obviously here you're going to download the app for the bank you use, rather than the one that has the nicest app, but it's worth keeping in mind that apps such as these exist to make managing your account much easier. Some popular banking apps in the UK include Barclays , Halifax , HSBC , Lloyds , MBNA , Nationwide , NatWest , Royal Bank of and Santander. There are also apps for credit card companies such as American Express , BarclayCard and Capital One. Okay, you've done you're shopping, you've checked your balance and now you're broke. You better go to work - but how are you going to get there? For keeping tabs on trains we like National Rail , for working out where you need to go on the London Underground there's Tube Map , and if you also need buses info then there's CityMapper. Uber is a cool app for grabbing a cab within minutes in more than 50 countries. And if it's cheap flights you're after, try SkyScanner. If you're travelling far away from home, Hotels.com and LateRooms can help you find a place to stay overnight. Or maybe you don't have a job and you need to get one? Try Monster Job Search , LinkedIn Job Search , TotalJobs , Jobsite or countless others. Many of the things we want to do on our Android phones and tablets demand an active internet connection. At home you've probably got Wi-Fi, but out and about you're dependent on cellular data. Unless you can jump on free Wi-Fi. Many UK pubs, bars and restaurants are subscribed to The Cloud, which offers you free internet access during your stay. The FastConnect app makes getting online with The Cloud so much easier, showing you your nearest hotspot on a map and automatically logging you in to the service. And if you're a BT Broadband customer you'd be crazy not to download BT Wi-fi , which lets you jump on any BT hotspot - there are more than 5 million in the UK. The PC Advisor team has also recommended a range of apps that don't easily fit into any of the previous categories, but that we find useful aids in our daily life. One of my favourites is App Lock , which lets me lock down only the apps I want to hide from prying eyes without password- or PIN-protecting my entire phone. PC Advisor's Publisher Simon Jary likes Fitbit , the companion app for Fitbit activity trackers that helps you keep tabs on goals, progress and fitness levels. If you don't have a Fitbit there are still plenty of apps you can benefit from - if you have an Android Wear watch there's Google Fit , if you like to run there's Runtastic , and if you're simply interested in losing weight there's Weight Watchers. Ashleigh Allsopp, PC Advisor's Engagement Editor, likes StarWalk. It's not free, at £1.97, but it's a great app for budding stargazers, showing you an interactive star chart of the night sky and providing all the information you need on stars, planets, satellites and constellations. And Editorial Director Matt Egan is a fan of Podcast Addict and Heat Genius. While Heat Genius is applicable only if you have a Heat Genius smart home heating system, keep in mind that if you have any type of smart home tech there will be an app for it. Has this article inspired you to get a new Android phone or tablet? Check out our round-ups of the best Android phones and best Android tablets . Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter .

18 best new phones coming in 2016 - the smartphones worth waiting for pcadvisor.co.uk

HTC 10 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: What’s the best new Android phone 2016? pcadvisor.co.uk 2016-04-12 15:55 Marie Brewis www.pcadvisor.co.uk

49 Netflix snatching new Top Gear will grind Amazon Prime's gears Top Gear is currently in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most-watched factual TV programme in the world. Thanks to the BBC's brilliant record of shipping its programmes worldwide, it's a show that's watched by 350 million people in some 214 territories. As a brand there's not much bigger, so the news from Buzzfeed that Netflix has secured the rights to Top Gear outside of the UK is massive. It's yet another step to make sure that its main streaming rival, Amazon Prime , doesn't find itself in Pole Position with the rival show it's creating with Top Gear alumni Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. The only reason the show is parked with Amazon is because of a big bidding war. As Netflix CEO Ted Sandros told Buzzfeed: "They bid themselves out to many people and to the highest price, like most creators do. It's a natural process and Amazon paid the highest price. " Netflix hasn't done this with Top Gear. It hasn't had to pay the millions for the hosts. It hasn't had to pay the millions for the stunts. And if it is indeed part of its current deal with the BBC, then it's very unlikely to have dipped much further into its own vast pockets to secure the license. The outlay, then, is minimal while Amazon chief Jeff Bezos told the Telegraph that its car show will be "very, very, very expensive," for Amazon. "They're worth a lot and they know it. " According to The "a lot" equates to £160 million ($250m). The BBC used to make £50 million a year out of Top Gear, which included DVD sales, merchandise and live shows. Oh, and its ability to sell the series globally, according to . For Amazon to just break even over the contracted three series it will have to better this. There is no doubt, for Amazon, the car show it will get from Clarkson and co will be the biggest show ever for Amazon Prime, possible ever. The kudos that comes signing up three former Top Gear stars is massive, as is the press, but then so is the weight of their pay checks. It's clear that Amazon hopes to one day oust Netflix as the streaming but it still has a long way to go. So far, it's made some brave if clumsy decisions to push Amazon Prime as much as it can. Currently for £79 ($99) you can get Amazon Prime bundled with free one-day delivery, Amazon Music, the Prime Kindle eBook Library, Prime Music and Prime Photo storage. It's so close to throwing in the kitchen sink, yet people still prefer Netflix. According to research by Enders Analysis , in the UK, Netflix is outpacing all of the current VOD offerings combined. It believes that in 2015 Netflix saw 37% growth, adding 1.8 million new subscribers pushing its user base to 5.2 million. In contrast Amazon Prime, according to the same research, has just 1.6 million paying subscribers. How has Netflix done this? Through savvy advertising and clever show creation. Netflix will always be known as the house that House of Cards built but then there's also Daredevil, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad's final season, Orange is the New Black... it's had hit after hit, or at least perceived hits given it rarely gives out its viewing figures. Amazon Prime's Originals success has also been fantastic - thanks to Emmy-embraced shows like Transparent - but fleeting. Amazon has yet to ride the wave of success as well as Netflix. Article continues below

2016-04-12 15:51 By Marc feedproxy.google.com

50 Android N UK release date, name and new features: Android N Developer Preview announced. Plus: the next Android OS will be called Android Na... Android 7.0 Na...? We round up the rumours on the next version of Android, which is available as a Developer Preview right now. Android N UK release date, name and new features. Also see: When will I get Android Marshmallow? Following Android Alpha and Android Beta, Google has always named its Android OS updates after sweet treats, and in alphabetical order. So far we've had Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop and Marshmallow. Next in line is Android 'N', sure to be a sweet treat, but Google won't reveal the operating system's full name until the second half of 2016. Google's major Android OS upgrades haven't always come annually, but in May 2015 Google VP of engineering Hiroshi Lockheimer told Fast Company that "As we've grown as a platform, we realize that to some extent predictability is important for the whole industry: developers, manufacturers, operators, and consumers, frankly. So we've landed with sort of a yearly cadence of big releases, so, for instance, one year we release J, the next year we release K, and then the year after that L, and then this year we'll launch M, and so you can predict what will happen next year. You can expect Android O in 2017, Android P in 2018, Android Q - that's going to be difficult to name - in 2019 and so forth. With the exception of KitKat, the naming schemes of all previous Android OS updates have been food stuffs rather than brands. But this naming scheme may create a problem for Android N. How many food stuffs can you think of that begin with N? For now, our money is on Android 7.0 Nectar. It's sweet, it begins with an N, and it's already the stuff of goodness as the name of a UK-based loyalty scheme for shoppers of Sainsbury's, eBay, Argos, BP and more. But that's just our guess. Some other suggestions include Android Nacho, Android Nougat (Android Nugget anyone?), Android Neopolitan and Android Nuts (probably a no-go). And if Google does once again go down the branded route, we love Android Nutella and Android Nerds. Also see: Android M vs iOS 9. Actually, there's a very good chance it could be Android Nacho, if a 'thank you' video posted on Twitter is anything to go by. "We'd like to thank... all of our fans out there, our parents, Janice from craft services, for the lollipops, marshmallows and Na... " reads a card within the video. So, it's likely that the next version of Android could begin Android Na... Add your own Android N naming ideas in the comments below this article. Android N will get its first proper outing at Google I/O 2016, which has now been confirmed to run 18- to 20 May 2016. However, Google has already released the Android N Developer Preview , which you can install on its current Nexus devices for early testing. If you wish to be at Google I/O, note that registrations begin on 8 March. Later in the year, most likely October 2016 (although in 2015 we saw Google announce Android Marshmallow early at the end of September), the final version of Android N will be announced. It will ship preinstalled on whichever new Nexus devices Google creates for 2016, most likely sticking to new Nexus phones, and will be available to download to older Nexus devices soon after. Other flagship Android devices will get the upgrade toward the end of the year or early 2017. The Android N Developer Preview was announced in March 2016, and Google has provided the following timeline. Preview 1 is the initial release or Alpha version of Android N. Preview 2 and Preview 3 are incremental beta updates. Preview 4 will include the final APIs and official SDK, Play Publishing, while Preview 5 is the near-final system image for last-minute tests. The final release will follow Preview 5 in Q3 2016. Some time between the Developer Preview going live and the final version of Android N being announced Google will confirm the new operating system's name and number, revealing a new Android lawn statue at the US Googleplex. And we will find out exactly how far off the mark is our guess of Android 7.0 Nectar. Also see: Best new phones coming in 2016. As we've said above, Android N won't be released until the tail end of 2016, and even then only on Nexus devices. If you have a recent flagship phone or tablet from a well-known maker such as Sony, Samsung, HTC, LG or Motorola, it's likely you'll see the update rolled out within the first few months of 2017. However, before you can get the update both the hardware manufacturer and mobile operator must be ready to roll it out, which can slow down things. It's telling that even a year and a half after its release, Android Lollipop has only recently become the most popular Android operating systems. Often only the most recent flagships get an update to new Android operating systems (also see: How to update Android ), and even then nothing is guaranteed. With thousands of people still using Android phones that are entry-level models, from less well-known manufacturers or simply old, there are still people out there running Froyo and Gingerbread - and they will never get an update to Android N. At the latest count on 4 April 2016, Android Developers published the following breakdown of Android platform segregation: It's been rumoured that the next version of Android will 'kill' Chrome OS, and that the two operating systems will become one with Chrome folded into Android. This is something Google has aparently been working on for a long time and, while it has recently made some progress, the single OS isn't expected to be ready until 2017, making it more likely that if any Android OS is to kill off Chrome OS it will be Android 8.0 O. Google will want to increase its market share with laptops (proper laptops rather than tablet hybrids) running Android, but for now the company has confirmed that both operating systems will continue to exist. But Google wants to do more than put Android on more devices, Lockheimer revealed during his Fast Company interview. Google wants smart Android devices to talk to each other better in order to offer new features that right now aren’t possible. Also see: Best Android apps and Best Android games. In terms of actual new features in Android N, all we know for sure is what can be seen in the Android N Developer Preview. • Multi-window: allows you to work in split-screen modes on phones and tablets • Direct-reply notifications: allows you to reply to notifications within the notification bar • Bundled notifications: multiple notifications from the same app can be grouped together • Efficiency: Doze now also saves battery whenever the screen is turned off • Improved Java & language support: Java 8 language features are coming to Android Nope. There are rumours that a future version of Android will go some way to replace Java with open-source Swift as its first-class language, but it won't be Android N, since it will require a lot of re-writing of Android's core code. According to TheNextWeb , Android would first need a runtime for Swift, to make its entire standard library Swift-ready, to support the language in APIs and SDKs, and to re-write some low-level C++ APIs and high-level Java APIs, which Swift can not currently bridge to. Read next: Check out our round-ups of the best current Android phones and Android tablets . Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter .

2016-04-12 15:50 Marie Brewis www.pcadvisor.co.uk

51 Read Mac|Life's guide to the best free iOS apps Download the Mac|Life app on your iPad or iPhone today and get the definitive guide to the best free iOS apps Mac|Life presents The Best Free iOS Apps - everything you need to know so you can fill your device full of the greatest apps, without spending a dime. Featuring the best apps for photography, design, music making, tutorials, and more. Download the MacLife app and grab it FREE today. Splashing out on a shiny new piece of Apple gear is not the kindest thing you can do to your bank account, that's why immediately buying dozens of apps is not the best move to make. Fortunately getting great apps on your Apple Watch , iPhone, iPad, or iPod needn't cost you anything. Among the 1.5 million apps in the App Store we have singled out a selection of first- rate apps for each of your devices, all of which we've used and enjoyed. Download the Mac|Life app today and read our list. All you need to do is start a free trial. You'll pay nothing for 30-days, and you're free to cancel at anytime. Article continues below

2016-04-12 15:49 By Future feedproxy.google.com

52 Best phones 2016: What's the best smartphone? The 20 best mobile phones you can buy in the UK today - best Android phone reviews, best iPhone reviews, best Windows Phone reviews, best mobile phone reviews What's the best smartphone? The best mobile phone is the , closely followed by the Google Nexus 6P and Apple iPhone 6s Plus. Read more about the best smartphones and some top alternatives in our best phones chart below. The Huawei P9 and HTC 10 have both been announced and we'll add them to this chart once our full review of each is finished. We test and review all the best smartphones money can buy across iPhones, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry (and sometimes others). So here are the best phones of 2016. We review all the major handsets available to buy in the UK. Here we rank them into the 20 best smartphones of 2016. Latest entries: & LG G5 Take a look below, and when you come to buy your smartphone you might be interested in using our exclusive Mobiles.co.uk codes to save you some extra cash if you're buying on contract. Use PC Advisor's exclusive PCAMOB10 code at checkout to remove £10 from the upfront cost of any pay montly deal where a payment of £10 or above is required (excludes O2). Or, use PCASIM10 to add £10 of automatic cashback to any 12 month SIM-only contract (excludes O2). Although these are the latest phones, many previous generation devices are still great buys, especially as most are now available at a discount now that newer ones have launched. Some may stay in the chart for a while even after being replaced with a new model. Here are the best 'old' phones you can buy right now. We test and review smartphones in-depth and here are the best of the best from all the operating systems including iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. We update this story all the time as we review the latest smartphones. See also : Best Android smartphones in UK: What's the best Android phone you can buy in 2016? If you've visited this page in the past you may notice that we've cut the number of smartphone in the list. There are now just 20 to help you get a clearer and more concise look at the best phones on the market. (See also: best smartphones for business .) We have also ranked the phones in order of performance: The fastest smartphones of 2016: processor, web and graphics performance comparison Although we've ranked the best smartphones which we've reviewed, there are some upcoming handsets to be aware of. Once we've had them in, tested them fully, and reviewed them, they are likely to make this chart. This means it might be worth holding off your purchase for a little while. Take a look at : The best tablets of 2016: What's the best tablet in the UK right now? The biggest three are the Samsung Galaxy S7 , Galaxy S7 edge and the LG G5 but there are others which are yet to be announced including the HTC One M10 and iPhone 7. Whether Sony will launch the Xperia Z6 remains to be seen but we can expect new Nexus phones from Google later this year. One of the biggest things you need to decide when choosing a smartphone is which operating system to use. Although there are others around, it's best to stick with the big names including iOS, Android, Windows Phone and potentially BlackBerry. There are no Windows Phones in the chart at the moment but this might change in the future. See: Best Windows Phones 2016. If you're already using one then it might be best to stay in that camp – especially if you've invested time and money in its apps. However, it's not difficult to switch so you should consider them all. Note there aren't any BlackBerry devices on the market at the moment which we think are good enough to make this list but check out our BlackBerry Classic review and BlackBerry Priv review to see what we think of the latest choices. Design will come down to personal taste and most of the top smartphones now have a very thin and light chassis. The best smartphones typically use premium materials like glass, aluminium or even steel and on this front you're best off trying a phone out in the flesh to see whether it feels good for the size of your hand. Some even come with the option of wood, leather or other materials. It's worth pointing out that only a handful of the best phones on the market come with a waterproof design. It's mostly Sony offering this feature across its Xperia Z and Xperia M ranges. The screen size of a high-end phone is typically 5in or above with a key exception being the Xperia Z5 Compact. You're looking at a Full HD (1080 x 1920) resolution typically or even higher at Quad HD (1440 x 2560). Only one phone goes higher than this with a 4K screen (3840 x 2160) and that's the Z5 Premium but we think the resolution isn't needed on a phone so it doesn't appear in this chart. These days, all the best phones have decent processors and plenty of memory. Some may be quad-core or octa-core with 3- or even 4GB of RAM. Despite benchmark scores, you're typically going to get great performance from these devices - you tend to get what you pay for. What is more important to look at is storage as once you run out, that's it. If you want to store lots of apps, photos, videos and music then look for a phone with plenty of internal storage – 64- or even 128GB. Less is ok but check for a Micro-SD card slot meaning you can add more by buying and inserting a memory card. When it comes to cameras, more megapixels is a good sign but isn't the be and end all so make sure you click through to our full review of each phone for our thoughts as well as sample photos and videos. See also: Best phone camera 2016. Whether you care about it or not, the best phones will typically come with some additional hardware. Many phones have fingerprint scanners now, and Samsung's Galaxy phones also often have heart rate monitors and even UV sensors. Lots of top phones have an IR blaster so you can control other gadgets around your home such as your TV, although it's a feature which is disappearing. Audio fans will enjoy the stereo speakers of the HTC One M8 and M9 while Sony's Xperia Z range and some other phones offers High-Res playback support. Also see: Best sounding phone 2016. Battery life will no doubt be important to you and there are still only a handful of phones which come with wireless charging built-in making it easier to keep your handset topped up. Also look out for features such as USB Type-C which is reversible and offers faster charging, plus Quick Charge 3.0. Battery life varies from device to device, so click through to our reviews to see how they got on in our tests. See also: Best power banks 2016 . The OnePlus X is the best value smartphone of the year. We love the premium design in a smaller form factor to the firm’s other phones. Software is a strong point and you get a gorgeous screen. However, cuts had to be made somewhere and the X is lacking features such as NFC, 11ac and Wi-Fi. It also is missing the fingerprint scanner and USB Type-C port found on the OnePlus 2. Battery life isn’t great and cameras aren’t best in class but this is a great phone for the price. Read our OnePlus X review . With more memory and excellent battery life the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a powerful phone and a great choice if you want a large screen. However, it's expensive, unwieldy and Samsung has dropped the IR blaster and hardly added anything to the edge screen. With the regular S6 available for less than £340 it's a no brainer. Read our Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ review . Those looking to upgrade from a Nexus 5 will be happy and sad in almost equal measure. The 5X is a fantastic phone overall, with excellent cameras, a good turn of speed and an excellent screen. But it's noticeably bigger than its predecessor despite the small increase in screen size, it has limited storage compared to the Nexus 6P and it lacks a couple of camera features due to the slower processor. The absence of wireless charging is another blow for some, but additions such as the fingerprint scanner will make it a great upgrade for others. Read our Google Nexus 5X review . Honor has once again impressed us with a flagship smartphone at an outrageous price. For under £250 you get a lot of phone for your money. Performance is good with the main camera and fingerprint sensors being the highlights on the hardware side. Emotion UI isn't our favourite Android skin but it's perfectly usable and you can always change it if you like. Read our Honor 7 review . If you're looking for a big screen phone, the is a great choice. It's got great specs across the board and it cheaper than rivals like the Nexus 6P and Galaxy S6 Edge+. We love the screen, stock Android and cameras. However, it really comes stands out when using the Moto Maker to customise it which costs more. With a screen only slightly smaller and a fingerprint scanner the OnePlus 2 is the spanner in the works here at £289 for the 64GB model. Read our Motorola Moto X Style review . The lack of NFC, a microSD card slot, a removable battery, and quick- and wireless charging means the OnePlus 2 is not a flagship killer. It does have some killer new features though, including USB Type-C, 4G dual-SIM support and some powerful hardware. At the reduced price of £249 (we don't recommend the 16GB OP2), it's an unrivalled deal. Read our OnePlus 2 review . We’re very impressed with the Elephone P9000, which is a great all-round Android phone at an unbelievable sub-£200 price. It’s fast, battery life is good, it’s feature-packed and it even runs Marshmallow. Wireless- and quick-charging-, NFC-, USB-C-, dual-SIM- and microSD support are the icing on the cake. Recommended. Read our Elephone P9000 review . The Xperia Z5 Compact is the best small phone around, but then there's not much competition in this area anymore and there are a number of phones offering decent specs for a lot less. Those looking for Z5 design and specs in a smaller frame will be pleased but it's a shame about the chunky design with the sharp edges. The fingerprint scanner is a great addition and the Snapdragon 810 with almost stock Android provides slick performance. However, the camera isn't as good as Sony makes it out to be. Read our Compact review . The HTC One M9 is a genuinely desirable smartphone with the best design and build available in Android land, even with Samsung upping the ante. It's good to see the powerful Snapdragon 810 and more memory, however, some key hardware remains the same meaning M8 users are unlikely to be tempted to upgrade – and the old model is now an attractive buy at around £350. The fact the Galaxy S6 is the same price with more impressive specs is also not a good thing for HTC. Read our HTC One M9 review . A fantastic Android flagship that comes in at an outrageously low price, the Xiaomi Mi 5 has the braun and the beauty to match the greats. Perhaps not a wise choice for first time Android users, but those comfortable in customising the setup will love the excellent-value, gorgeously designed Xiaomi Mi 5. Read our Xiaomi Mi 5 review . There's no doubt that the Xperia Z5 is a solid flagship smartphone from Sony and an improvement on the Z3+. We certainly like the new frosted glass rear cover and the addition of a fingerprint scanner in that slim power button. Once again, the camera is great but it's tough competition out there and arriving late in 2015 means rivals are now available for a decent chunk less. Once the price drops, which it will, this will be a great option for those of you looking for a waterproof flagship with a Micro-SD card slot but we'd like the Full HD screen to be Quad HD and the design just isn't as nice in the hand compared to rivals. Read our Sony Xperia Z5 review . The SE is what many iPhone fans have been asking for, and it's a great upgrade if you're still using an iPhone 5. For 5S owners, things aren't quite as clear cut. If you're not happy with the 5S's performance, the SE should solve that problem. However, unless you really want to shoot 4K videos, you're not going to notice a massive improvement in photo quality. There's a much bigger jump in quality if you're coming from an iPhone 5 (or earlier), however. Make sure 16GB is enough before you order: we'd recommend the 64GB version for most people. Read our iPhone SE review . We're really impressed by the offerings of the iPhone 6s, especially the 3D Touch technology. If it catches on (and we think it will) 3D Touch will completely change how people interact with their iPhones, both in terms of browsing the web and social media as well as when gaming. The camera overhaul is definitely a welcome addition too, especially when you consider Apple hasn't upped the resolution of its iSight camera since the iPhone 4s back in 2011. This works well with Live Photos, a new software feature that captures a gif-like video complete with audio when you take a photo - 1.5 seconds before the photo was taken, and 1.5 seconds after. It doesn't just boast impressive new features, the boosted internals provide us with a much faster iPhone than we're used to, and tasks that would take seconds on our iPhone 6 Plus took a split second on the iPhone 6s. We're excited about the technology the iPhone 6s offers, and what it means for future smartphones. Read our iPhone 6S review . So, what do we think of the Galaxy Note 5? We’re very fond of just about every aspect of the Galaxy Note 5, from its curved and sleek design to its vibrant display and high-resolution camera. It can handle almost anything you can throw at it thanks to its CPU, GPU and 4GB of RAM and we experienced no lag during our testing. The only bad point is that the Note 5 would sometimes falsely detect the S Pen detaching – and to point out such a minor fault says a lot about the quality of the handset. With this being said, we’re both surprised and sad that the Galaxy Note 5 won’t be heading to UK shores any time soon. Read our Samsung Galaxy Note 5 review . The iPhone 6S Plus is a remarkable phone, and it’s without doubt the best iPhone Apple has ever made. Just don't buy the 16GB model which doesn't have nearly enough storage. Few other phones are launching with screens under 5in which – if anything – makes the iPhone 6S look too small and the ‘giant’ 6S Plus normal. 3D Touch can sound gimmicky, but it’s absolutely not. It requires effort to force yourself to use it to begin with, but it quickly becomes second nature and it will be fascinating to see how app developers put it to use in apps and games. If you’ve already got an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus it’s hard to justify the upgrade for 3D Touch and the improved cameras. But for anyone with an iPhone 5S or earlier, there’s a world of difference and it’s a thoroughly worthwhile purchase. Read our iPhone 6s Plus review . Originally, Nexus phones stood out for being excellent value at a price that was low, but not the lowest. They weren't an alternative to flagship phones, but they had the advantage of running stock Android and getting the next version more quickly. The 6P, though, is not only a flagship, but is arguably the best Android phone to buy at the moment. It won't suit everyone due to its size, nor those looking for a phone with dual-SIM slots or a removable battery. There's no support for wireless charging either. But the excellent screen, front-firing speakers, quick charging, great cameras, speedy performance and Android Marshmallow add up to make this a phone that's a pleasure to use. And yes, it's also cheaper than its rivals, so unless you think it's worth shelling out extra on the Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+ or iPhone 6S Plus, the Nexus 6P is the one to buy. Read our Google Nexus 6P review . Samsung's Galaxy S6 is the best Android phone of 2015 so far, although we've yet to see what's to come from the LG G4 and Sony Xperia Z4. It's fast, it's well built, it has a gorgeous screen and the software isn't overly intrusive. The fingerprint scanner is vastly improved, the heart-rate scanner a potential draw for some users, and the wireless- and fast charging welcome inclusions. We'd like to see the price come down (which we are sure it will) and it's a shame we've lost the removable battery, waterproofing and microSD support, but these are all things we can live with. Read our Samsung Galaxy S6 review . The LG G5 is one of the most radical phones to come along in a while and we’re glad the firm has shaken things up with the modular design. The G5 is innovative and interesting with unique features but it’s a shame the design and build feels unfinished in areas. It’s a top-notch device which can hold its own with the best phones in performance and cameras, but it’s LG’s modular design which is the real selling point here. There is bags of potential but the future of this is unclear so it’s hard to be definite right now. The G5 is one of the best phones around but for completely different reasons to the Galaxy S7. Read our LG G5 review . The Samsung Galaxy S6 was the best phone of 2015 and, although it’s still early days, the Galaxy S7 is a serious contender for best phone of 2016. Samsung has taken into account what its fans want, addressing the three main areas of concern: removable storage, waterproofing and battery life. It’s also upgraded the core hardware and photography gear, added an always- on display and some useful software. Right now the Galaxy S7 is simply unbeatable. Read our Samsung Galaxy S7 review . The Galaxy S7 edge is no longer the semi-gimmick it was before. Although some of the main features are things from the Galaxy S5 – Micro-SD and waterproofing – Samsung has given fans what they want. It's now a refined, sophisticated and highly desirable piece of technology. The battery isn't removable but the phone lasts longer than before and has seriously powerful specs under the hood. It has almost everything you could want from a phone even though the IR blaster is gone. We're also very impressed with the new camera and unless the screen is too big for you (despite some software features to help out) we think it's worth getting the S7 edge for the extra £70 with its gorgeous looks and extra functionality. Right now, this is the best smartphone money can buy. Read our Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review .

2016-04-12 15:48 Chris Martin www.pcadvisor.co.uk

53 Come in Microsoft SQL Server 2005, your time is up MICROSOFT HAS brought another popular product to a close. Today sees the end-of-life for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 which, although dwindling in popularity, still holds significant market share. The official Microsoft statement reads: "If you are still running SQL Server 2005 after 12 April 2016 you will no longer receive security updates. Now is the time to upgrade to SQL Server 2014 and Azure SQL Database to achieve breakthrough performance, maintain security and compliance, and optimise your data platform infrastructure. " Despite this, many companies have opted not to bother with the upgrade, not least because it's often difficult for CTOs to explain the need for new software bundles to CFOs who don't understand what the product does. The move is compounded by the fact that, in a rare show of compassion at the time, Microsoft offered an 'Express' version free of charge. The product was launched in London in October 2005 by Bill Gates himself, but times have moved on and SQL servers have to be bigger, bolder and leaner than ever before. The latest version has been benchmarked at 13 times the size of its 2005 predecessor. Microsoft offers an Assessment and Planning Toolkit to help customers with the transition. Despite the advice from Microsoft, many customers have yet to upgrade from Microsoft Server 2003, which reached end-of-life in autumn last year and left businesses open to hack attacks. Adrian Foxall, CEO of application migration firm Camwood, warned that a lackadaisical approach to migration could prove the undoing of many a firm. "While we’d like to hope that most organisations have learned their lesson from the end of Windows XP and Server 2003 , there will always be a temptation to leave these migrations to the last minute. This is especially true for low-profile migrations such as SQL Server 2005, which many businesses are yet to even register on their IT agendas," he said. "Ironically, this lack of preparation is in part due to the improved migration process behind much of Microsoft’s software. Many businesses now leave their migrations to the last minute in the hope that, come April, the upgrades will be little more than a process of 'click Next, click Next, click Finish'. Sadly, this will not be the case. " Microsoft, of course, emphasises the relatively shonky performance offered by these legacy products, and what a great opportunity this presents, but it would say that. The firm once said that the Zune was a good idea. µ

2016-04-12 15:37 Chris Merriman www.theinquirer.net

54 Twitter turns Moments into a neat music discovery tool Twitter has let users embed SoundCloud tracks into tweets for some while now, but starting today that integration extends to Twitter Moments. Moments curators can now include tweets with SoundCloud embeds, meaning users can start listening to tracks with a simple swipe to the right or left. However useful you find Moments right now, this new tie-in could be a big deal for music fans. Stereogum has already launched a playlist of its favorite songs of the moments, demonstrating how it can be used for music discovery. It also gives SoundCloud musicians some much-needed extra promotion. There's only a handful of brands using it for now, but this looks set to change as the feature rolls out. Article continues below

2016-04-12 15:30 By SJ feedproxy.google.com

55 Apache Storm 1.0 milestone includes native streaming window API Apache Storm hit a milestone release today. The Apache Software Foundation announced version 1.0 of the open-source distributed real-time computation framework for processing large streams of data with a new native streaming windows API. “Window-based computations are common among use cases in stream processing, where the unbounded stream of data is split into finite sets based on some criteria (e.g. time) and a computation is applied on each group of events,” wrote Taylor Goetz, vice president of Apache Storm, in a blog post . (Related: New management tooling on display at Hadoop show ) Windows are often used for functions such as aggregations, joins and pattern matching. In previous releases, users had to rely on their own windowing logic, and there was no way to define a window in a topology. With version 1.0’s native streaming window API, users can specify windows as window length or sliding interval. Goetz also claimed that with version 1.0, Apache Storm runs up to 16x faster with 60% reduced latency than previous releases. Other features of the latest version include: Apache Storm was created in 2011, and graduated to an ASF top-level project in 2014. “Storm makes it easy to reliably process unbounded streams of data, doing for real-time processing what Hadoop did for batch processing. Storm is simple, [and] can be used with any programming language,” according to the project’s website.

2016-04-12 15:29 Christina Mulligan sdtimes.com

56 Symantec Channel Exodus Continues With Departure Of Americas Channel Chief Symantec has lost yet another one of its top channel executives: Americas channel chief Stephen Thomas has left the security vendor. Thomas has joined Cyberbit Commercial Solutions as vice president of sales for North America. Cyberbit, a subsidiary of Israel-based Elbit Systems, focuses on solutions for protecting critical infrastructure and other high-value assets. The company announced his appointment Tuesday. Sources told CRN that other top members of the channel team have left recently, including Matt Smith, senior director of global partner sales and business development. [Related: Q&A: Symantec CEO On Split, New Security-Focused Channel Vision And Apple Vs. FBI ] Symantec confirmed the departure of Thomas in an email to CRN, as well as naming which executives would be assuming Thomas' role. "We can confirm that Stephen Thomas is leaving the company and we wish him the best. John Sorensen has been appointed the permanent leader of worldwide enterprise sales. Rob Potter will continue to oversee the Americas channel and the management team will report directly into him," a Symantec spokesperson said in an email. The team reporting to Potter includes Scott Lieberman, director of channels and national access resellers; Mo Sabnani, director, system iIntegrators and service providers; and Erick Foy, director of distribution and managed partners. In a statement about the news, Cyberbit CEO Adi Dar said the company is looking to "rapidly grow" its North American commercial cybersecurity business. "The North American market is an important part of our cyber security business, and I am excited to have Stephen Thomas join our team. Stephen is a proven leader who brings exactly the right skills to help execute on our North American growth strategy," Dar said in the statement. Cyberbit did not respond to a CRN request for further comment on the move by publication time. The Symantec channel executive shuffle is happening in a time of significant change for the security vendor, which just completed its split from storage vendor Veritas earlier this year. Symantec has also seen multiple top channel-focused departures in the past six months, including Adrian Jones , executive vice president and general manager of global sales and operations; Tom LaRocca, vice president of global channel programs and sales; and Sean Maxwell , vice president of global sales strategy and field enablement.

2016-04-12 15:20 Sarah Kuranda www.crn.com

57 HP Pavilion Gaming 15 review: good value if you pick the right specification, and don't demand the highest quality By Jim Martin | 17 mins ago See full specs From £649 inc VAT (£719 inc VAT as reviewed) The HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is for people who want to wander into a shop and get hold of a gaming laptop with as little bother as possible, and come away with plenty of change from £ 1000. It ’ s a sensible laptop that knows its owner may use this as their main computer, not just as pure gaming machine. However, you should also be aware the Pavilion Gaming 15 is really an entry-level model among gaming laptops, and that its screen is not as accomplished as the more fashionable slim laptops you can get at the price. It ’ s a solid all-rounder, though The HP Pavilion Gaming comes in a few different specs, ranging from £ 649 to £ 999 from HP's website. They all have a 15.6-inch screen and the Nvidia GTX950M graphics card. No matter which version you buy, the gaming performance is roughly in the same league. Differences between the models concern storage and CPU. The cheaper models have a 1TB hard drive and an Intel Core i5 CPU. Paying more - £849 for the 15-ak113na from John Lewis - gets you a 128GB SSD and an upgrade to an Intel Core i7 CPU, as well as a free three-year warranty. The model on test here is the 1 5-ak003na, which has a 2.6GHz Core i7 -6700HQ, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive but lacks an SSD. It costs £719 from Laptops Direct. The very top-end version has a 2TB hard drive instead of a 1TB one as well, but this doesn ’ t seem to be on sale widely in the UK. We ’ d struggle to recommend it anyway, as it doesn ’ t appear to represent a good deal when you look at the raw component costs involved. Today ’ s laptops come in more shapes and forms than ever before. From hybrids to thick ’ n ’ heavy gaming rigs to laptops so slim you could forget they ’ re in your rucksack, there ’ s plenty of choice. The HP Pavilion Gaming fits the ‘ old ’ mould of what a laptop looks like, though. It ’ s thick, chunky and heavy enough to ensure you won ’ t want to lug it around with you everywhere. But at 2.3kg it isn ’ t so weighty the mere idea of taking it out of the house is ridiculous. Its look sits in a middle-ground between an in-your-face gaming laptop and a regular one. The shell is matt black plastic, and it looks like a standard laptop from the rear. It ’ s on the inside a little gaming flair appears, with a green gradient honeycomb pattern at the bottom, gradually fading into the black of a case. The sides of the keys are also green, as are the rubbery feet on the bottom. If you don't like it then it's tough as there are no alternative colour options. Just as “ HP Pavilion Gaming ” sounds, this laptop does appear to be a tweaked ‘ gaming ’ edition of a more conventional Pavilion laptop design. And there ’ s nothing wrong with that. Just don ’ t expect top-notch build quality, though. This is a practical no-nonsense design that feels solid. The HP Pavilion Gaming has a job to do, and it does it without too much showing off or fuss. It sticks to a bog-standard array of connections, leaving out the USB-C connector you'll see on the trendiest new laptops. Quite how important this omission will be in 12 months ’ time isn ’ t clear. Mobile devices were meant to lead the charge on the take-up of the standard in 2016, but several of this year ’ s flagship phones have stuck with the older microUSB. There are two USB 3.0 ports and one additional USB 2.0 one, full-size HDMI and Ethernet sockets and an SD card slot. This is a pretty retro setup, particularly the USB 2.0 port, but as we said at the start, this isn't designed for the most demanding user. In keeping with the traditional style, there ’ s a tray-type DVD writer so you can still rip your audio CDs, install software and burn your own CDs and DVDs. The HP Pavilion Gaming does have up-to-date hardware where it really matters, though. It has a 15.6in IPS LCD 1080p screen, which is perhaps the perfect balance of size and resolution for a gaming laptop that isn ’ t intimidatingly huge. It is a matt finish, too, which diffuses reflections to make them less distracting. An IPS panel ensures good viewing angles, which you almost certainly won ’ t have had if you ’ re upgrading from, say, a five-year-old laptop with a nasty old TN screen. The HP Pavilion Gaming ’ s display doesn ’ t bend back far enough to show these angles off, but even with a totally standard laptop hinge the difference between IPS and TN is immediately obvious. This is not a particularly impressive screen among £ 600-800 laptops more generally, though. Its colours are noticeably undersaturated. They don ’ t look wrong, but they won ’ t make games pop like a great TV might. Testing the HP Pavilion Gaming with our colorimeter, its display hits a pretty dismal 57 percent of the sRGB standard, which is low for an IPS screen. It achieves just 41 percent of the more demanding Adobe RGB standard. Contrast is perfectly acceptable at 832:1, though, which helps the HP Pavilion Gaming avoid looking weak or legitimately washed-out. Colour calibration is fine too, with a DeltaE of 0.15- 0.52. While the display just can ’ t render those really deep reds, greens and blues, the tones it can handle look natural enough. The last little glitch is that top brightness is just OK, at 228cd/m2. As such it ’ s going to struggle with very bright outdoors conditions even with a matt-finish screen. Overall, it's decent enough without being remarkable. Thinner, more expensive-looking laptops at the same price will net you a higher-grade display than this, but that is because the goal of the Pavilion Gaming is to provide real gaming power at a reasonable price. Our review model has an Intel Core i7-6700HQ CPU, a Skylake-generation chipset with enough power to be effectively paired with a far more powerful GPU than features here. If gaming is the most taxing thing you ’ re going to do with the HP Pavilion Gaming, the cheaper Core i5 version has enough power to ensure the graphics card will be the performance bottleneck 95 percent of the time. Such a capable CPU makes this particular HP Pavilion Gaming laptop spec a solid all-round productivity machine for those who will appreciate the extra processing power. However, in general day-to-day use you won ’ t see the benefits of this added power because the non-SSD version we have uses a fairly slow hard drive that only reads and writes at 105MB/s. There are obvious pauses in loading apps that would not be there with the 128GB SSD-added version of the laptop. When considering which version to buy, the Core i5 with 128GB SSD is going to get you a better all-round experience than the Core i7 with HDD alone. The spec we ’ re reviewing isn ’ t the spec we ’ d choose, in other words. To compound the issue, the HP Pavilion Gaming uses single-channel RAM, meaning it ’ s a single stick of 8GB DDR3. That ’ s cheaper-but-slower than 2x4GB sticks, and there ’ s no quick-release panel to upgrade the HP Pavilion Gaming. You ’ d have to take the whole casing apart. The Intel Core i7-6700HQ will prove speedy when Windows 10 is loaded onto an SSD, though. In this non-SSD configuration it still achieves 12067 points in Geekbench 3, comparing well with laptops costing over £ 1000. It comes out with a similarly strong score of 2814 in PC Mark, using the Home benchmark, designed to replicate the everyday uses of the average laptop owner. Now let ’ s tackle the most important element here: gaming performance. The HP Pavilion Gaming has an Nvidia GTX 950M with 4GB dedicated RAM. This is the entry-level card in Nvidia ’ s current line-up of what might be considered ‘ proper ’ cards that provide far better performance than an integrated chipset. It is a card that will be able to play any current game, but more demanding titles will demand significant tweaking of settings to get smooth results. Our Thief benchmarks tell the story. At 1080p with the settings maxed, the game trundles along at an average of 18.5fps, too slow to be enjoyable. With the resolution brought down to 720p and the settings cut down to ‘ Low ’ , it achieves 50.9fps (average). This is a game not at all enjoyable to play with integrated chipsets. This laptop won ’ t let you max out its visuals, but you can play Thief perfectly well at 1080p with low (42fps) or medium (32.7fps) graphics. It will be a case of testing how far you can comfortably push the visuals on a game-by-game basis. Alien: Isolation runs at a reasonable 36fps at 1080p with ‘ everything turned on ’ , racing along at 84.29fps with effects decreased and resolution knocked down to 720p. You may want to consider paying more if you ’ re very sensitive to the difference between 30fps ad 60fps, or react to moving that graphics slider down like someone listening to fingernails scraped across a chalk board. Under strain the HP Pavilion Gaming ’ s starts putting a fair amount of hot air out of the vent sat on its right side, but its fan noise isn ’ t too distracting. It has the lower-frequency drone that suits a gaming laptop, rather than the higher-rpm whine you might hear in laptops intended to be truly tested occasionally. There ’ s one issue: the placement of the main fan outlet means it ’ ll act like a small heater for your mouse hand. Thanks to the high-power CPU, the fans run all the time, but are very quiet unless the load on the system increases beyond web browsing and the like. This is good news for the speakers, which are fine, but (as is often the case) nothing quite as special as their B&O hifi branding might suggest. There is more mid-range bulk than some laptops that care little for sound quality, but at max volume there is some mid-range distortion and there ’ s not much width to the sound. The HP Pavilion Gaming ’ s speaker drivers sit in the grille above the keyboard, giving them no chance to push out audio beyond the sides of the laptop or create a proper stereo effect. Other than having a gamer-inflected font, the HP Pavilion Gaming has a very familiar keyboard. It is comparable with those of the better portable laptops rather than the deeper-action keyboards used on a few of the big top-end gaming machines. It ’ s a perfectly pleasant keyboard, with a crisp and not-too-shallow action that makes typing quick and easy. There are no worrying soft spots in the keyboard surround that might make using it feel spongy, and the 15.6-inch-display frame lets HP fit in a numerical pad. There ’ s a keyboard backlight too. If you haven ’ t guessed already: it ’ s green. There ’ s no control over the intensity or colour of the backlight, though. And unlike some of the true hardcore gaming laptops, there are no programmable macro keys. Like the basic HP Pavilion Gaming design, it ’ s conventional good-quality laptop fodder, but with a gaming twist. The trackpad is solid too, but it ’ s a patchwork of stronger and weaker elements. Good parts include that the surface is smooth and non-tacky, and that we didn ’ t bump into any signs the drivers have been poorly implemented, which is generally why so many laptop trackpads feel slightly wrong. Less strong elements include that the mouse button action is deep and noisy. A shallower, easier, quieter click would be better. Looking at the layout, you can ’ t help but wonder if HP could have extended the pad a bit too, which would be particularly useful when using the HP Pavilion Gaming as a ‘ normal ’ computer. A rather more pressing concern for this sort of use is battery life. Left to play a video on loop at 120cd/m screen brightness, the laptop lasts four hours and 40 minutes. While not a disastrous or an unexpected result, it ’ s nothing more than the norm for a laptop with this CPU. That smaller, lighter laptops can offer all-day battery life using tiny CPUs that barely use any power and don ’ t even need a fan makes the disparity between laptop classes all the more evident. However, another benefit of the traditional style is that the battery can be easily removed and swapped for a spare. The HP Pavilion Gaming is a classic HP laptop given a gamer’s refresh. A little bit of green trim here, a dedicated Nvidia graphics card there and you have a gaming laptop that’s both capable and practical. Highlights include a good keyboard and performance that can handle all current games at reasonable settings. However, you do need to pick your spec carefully. HP has devised these systems to look good on paper to an extent. The lower-end version uses slow storage that impacts day-to-day performance and the extra cost of the Intel Core i7 CPU would be better spent on an alternative with a step-up GTX960M CPU instead. That all models use single- channel RAM in a laptop that isn't really upgradeable is disappointing too. The sweet-spot model with a 128GB SSD and Intel Core i5 processor is a decent buy, though. HTC 10 UK release date, price, pre-order, new features, specifications and photos: HTC 10 looks awe.… 1995-2015: How technology has changed the world in 20 years Apple's aging Mac Pro is falling way behind Windows rivals iPhone SE review: As fast as an iPhone 6s and as portable as an iPhone 5s, the iPhone SE breathes…

2016-04-12 15:18 Jim Martin www.pcadvisor.co.uk

58 Apple Watch Sales Declining, Report Finds Apple Watch sales are likely to fall by 25% this year, according to a research note from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that was obtained by 9to5Mac and AppleInsider. Apple sold approximately 10.6 million units in 2015, and this year it's likely to see sales of fewer than 7.5 million units, according to the KGI report. Apple will report the results of its second fiscal quarter on Monday, April 25. The statement may offer more guidance. The reasons for the drop are twofold, according to Kuo: a still immature wearables market and an Apple wearable that still fails to fully impress. Kuo argues that the device lacks killer applications as yet, and that the form factor has room for improvement, 9to5Mac reported. He also believes that its limited battery life and its reliance on the iPhone for functionality are holding back demand. The KGI report also expects that Apple will treat the Watch with the same interval schedule it applies to its iPhones, providing a major update every other year and focusing on internals on the years in between. It's expected that Apple will introduce its newest Watch during its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which, if history is any guide, is likely to take place June 13 to 17 at the Moscone West center in San Francisco. At the WWDC, Kuo expects news of a larger battery and a display with improved outdoor visibility. Those anticipating a thinner design will have to wait until 2017. That forecast contradicts an April 8 note from analyst Brian White with Drexel Hamilton. While on a "Chinese tech tour," according to a MacRumors report, White wrote that Apple may unveil an "Apple Watch 2 [that] could be 20-40% thinner than the current Watch" at this year's WWDC. Are you prepared for a new world of enterprise mobility? Attend the Wireless & Mobility Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! That same report noted that Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcurio have also predicted the mid to late June introduction of a thinner Apple Watch. During Apple's first fiscal quarter, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple had expanded its distribution of Apple Watch to nearly 12,000 locations in 48 countries, and that, as expected, Apple "set a new quarterly record for Apple Watch sales, with especially strong sales in the month of December. " The Watch became available on April 24, 2015. Slowing Watch sales could account for the handful of new Watch ads Apple released April 11. Seemingly aimed at a broad demographic, the 13- to 15-second ads feature celebrities including Nick Jonas, Alice Cooper, and Chloe Sevigny. When it comes iPhones, Apple's every-other-year approach -- paired with massive global expansion -- would seem to be working just fine. In the December quarter, Apple sold 74.8 million iPhones, which Cook called an all-time high. "To put that volume into perspective," Cook added, "it's an average of over 34,000 iPhones an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 13 straight weeks. "

2016-04-12 15:05 Michelle Maisto www.informationweek.com

59 How to use Instagram to share photos & videos Instagram is getting bigger and bigger, with celebrities and brands among those sharing images on the social app. If you're new to Instagram, it can be a bit overwhelming, so here we take you step-by-step through how to use Instagram in our complete guide. Looking for information on Instagram's changing algorithm that's caused everyone to share photos asking you to turn on notifications? We've got that covered in our Should you turn on Instagram notifications article. The first thing you'll need to do in order to use Instagram is download the app. There is an Instagram website but it's very limited – you can't upload new images there, only view them and like or comment on them. You can download the app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store . Once you've downloaded Instagram, read on to find out how to master the app. Once the app has downloaded, you'll want to create an account. When you launch the app you should see a link at the bottom of the screen that reads: "Don't have an account? Sign Up. " Click that to start the process of signing up to Instagram. You can sign up with Facebook, or sign up using your phone number or email address. You'll then be asked to create a username and password. Your username is a lot like a Twitter handle in that it'll be the name your followers will see when you post a new photo or when they tag you in a photo, so choose wisely. You can also add your full name and a profile photo if you wish to. Once you're done, you'll be offered the chance to find your Facebook friends on Instagram, then contacts from your phone. You can skip by tapping at the bottom of the screen if you'd prefer not to. Next, you'll see suggestions of people you might want to follow. These suggestions are likely to be celebrities and brands, and if you skipped the Facebook and contacts parts you can change your mind by clicking Connect to Facebook or Connect Contacts at the top of the Discover People screen. Tap Done when you've followed some people. If you decide not to follow anyone yet you can tap Done and then tap Continue Anyway in the pop-up. If you've followed all of the steps above, you'll now have created an Instagram account. Congrats! Now, you'll see the Explore screen, which lets you search for photos posted by other Instagram users from around the world. Tap the search bar at the top to search for a topic, hashtag, person or place. Use the tabs along the top of the search screen to find what you're looking for. If you're not looking for anything in particular, you'll see popular and personalised suggestions on the Explore page. To return to the Explore page at any time, tap the magnifying glass button in the navigation bar along the bottom. To share a photograph on Instagram, you can tap the square icon in the centre of the navigation bar. From there, you can choose Library for photos and videos you've already captured that are stored on your phone, Photo to take a new photograph within Instagram, or Video to capture a new video within Instagram. Videos can be three to 15 seconds long, and you can stop and start the recording simply by letting go of the big red record button and then pressing and holding it again when you want to record more. If you physically can't move closer to the subject of your photo you can zoom in on Instagram when using the camera. You just need to pinch zoom - in simple terms, touch the screen with two fingers and move them away from each other to zoom in. Once you've chosen your image, tap next to go to the filters and image editing tools. You'll first be able to swipe through and apply filters by tapping on them at the bottom of the article. The sun icon lets you change the brightness and contrast of the image, and you can use the slider to change the effect. When you're happy, tap the + to apply. For the finer details, tap the spanner icon and play around with the options. We like to up the structure for a more crisp-looking image, and we often add vignette or tilt shift when we're feeling creative. When you're happy with the edits you've made, tap next. You can now add a caption to your image, and include hashtags to help people find it. You can also tag people, add your location, and if you've connected your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Flickr accounts you can share the image there directly from within Instagram too. To connect your accounts, tap on the relevant option on the share screen and log in. If you want to share your image with a select few people, you can tap Direct at the top of the page and select the Instagrammers you want to share it with. Tap Share at the bottom of the screen and your Instagram photo has been shared! Now, you might start to see likes, follows and comments on your newly shared Instagram photo. Those will appear in the Activity section, which you can access by tapping the speech bubble icon in the navigation bar at the bottom of the app. There, you'll see all of your recent activity, including new followers , mentions, tags and likes. By tapping following, you can see what the people you follow have been liking, and who they've started following too. The last icon in the navigation bar is usually your profile picture or a little person symbol. That's where you can have a look at your account and edit your profile. Tapping the Pin icon will show you a map of your Instagram posts if you've been tagging your location, and the person icon will show the photos you've been tagged in. If you don't like the idea of your Instagram posts showing where you've been, you can keep your whereabouts private using this tutorial: How to remove location from Instagram Most of the time, though, you'll probably simply browse through the Home page of Instagram. It's a bit like your Facebook or Twitter timeline, in that it'll show a long, scrollable feed of photos shared by the people you follow in chronological order. You can double tap on an image to like it, or press the speech bubble icon to comment on the image. You can also see other images from the same location by tapping the location beneath the Instagrammer's username, or send the image to someone you follow by tapping the arrow. Once you've mastered Instagram, you might find the need to set up a second account for your small business or for work. The set-up process is the same, but Instagram has recently introduced the ability to switch between your accounts quickly and easily within the app. To find out more, visit: How to add extra accounts to Instagram. And if you no longer want your Instagram account, you might want to read: How to delete your Instagram account .

2016-04-12 15:05 Ashleigh Allsopp www.pcadvisor.co.uk

60 Dell-EMC To Leapfrog HPE, Cisco As Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Soars To $29B Dell-EMC, HPE, Cisco Battle For Cloud Infrastructure Market Although Hewlett Packard Enterprise is leading the rapidly growing $29 billion worldwide cloud IT infrastructure market, a combined Dell-EMC merger would leapfrog the leader. HPE captured more than $4.5 billion in cloud IT infrastructure revenue in 2015, owning 15.7 percent of the total market, according to market research firm IDC's new Worldwide Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker report. But if Dell, ranked No. 2 in the market, and EMC, ranked No. 4, combined their cloud IT infrastructure revenue for 2015, the total would surpass $5.2 billion. "HPE is the leader and has been the leader in this combined space, but there's so many moving pieces," said Kuba Stolarski, research director for computing platforms at IDC, in an interview with CRN. "The Dell-EMC merger, looking just at the positions -- a leader in the server space and a leader in storage -- clearly, that gives you a potential synergy from the customer perspective … but there's still a lot of questions remaining. " Networking giant Cisco is also gaining significant momentum in the market and jostling for position, according to Stolarski.

2016-04-12 15:00 Matt Brown www.crn.com

61 Computerworld UK Daily Digest - 12 April 2016 - Dropbox vs Box - Cryptocurrency ledger - "There’s actually no reason to go public" says InsideSales.com CEO Here are all the latest tech trends, just for you. Insidesales.com is a genuine tech unicorn that's looking to make the sales industry smarter and faster through its predictive analytics software Industry experts make predictions for 2016

2016-04-12 15:00 Christina Mercer www.computerworlduk.com

62 Recap Broken Sword creator Charles Cecil's PCG Weekender presentation At last month's PC Gamer Weekender, we were lucky enough to have a few legends of game design knocking around. They included adventure guru Charles Cecil, founder of Revolution and creator of the much loved Broken Sword series. We weren't going to let knowledge like that be lost to the ages, so here's the presentation for you to catch up on. In the 40-minute talk, including the Q&A session, Cecil explores the adventure games that he's written and how the industry has changed since the days when he was going toe-to-toe with LucasArts and Sierra. 2016-04-12 14:53 By Angus www.pcgamer.com

63 Tesla reveals 2017 Model S with front design update, biodefense mode Tesla revealed an updated Model S on Tuesday with a new front design more akin to the Model X SUV and budget Model 3 sedan. The new Model S also comes with further tweaks including a "bioweapons defense mode" like on the Model X. It also adds adaptive headlights, which use 14 LED turning lights capable of three different positions for better illumination on dark roads, and "Next Generation" seats as a $2,500 add-on from the factory. The new changes were shown in an update to the Tesla website and come after the announcement of Tesla's budget Model 3 sedan earlier in April. The Tesla design studio is already reflecting the changes.

2016-04-12 14:53 Jake Smith zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

64 Our collection of laptop bags is so great that you'll be buying a new one in no time HTC 10 UK release date, price, pre-order, new features, specifications and photos: HTC 10 looks awe.… 1995-2015: How technology has changed the world in 20 years Apple's aging Mac Pro is falling way behind Windows rivals iPhone SE review: As fast as an iPhone 6s and as portable as an iPhone 5s, the iPhone SE breathes…

2016-04-12 14:43 Lewis Painter www.pcadvisor.co.uk

65 Reports of Windows XP's demise are greatly exaggerated Windows XP was the first version of Windows to bring together Microsoft's client and server product families. It became immensely popular after its 2001 release. This is all ancient history familiar to any regular TR reader. What you may not realize is that Windows XP is still immensely popular, despite being obsolete and unsupported for nearly two years. Mainstream support for Windows XP ended in 2009 , and Microsoft finally withdrew extended support—including security updates—in 2014. Two years later, between 7.3 and 10.9 % of internet users world-wide are still running the aged operating system, depending on who you ask. That figure is higher than many other operating systems, including OS X and every flavor of Linux. In some regions, like mainland China, as much as a quarter of internet traffic still comes from Windows XP computers. Running an outdated and unpatched operating system is a dire security scenario for an individual, never mind a business. According to Spiceworks' 2016 State of IT report , some 67% of North American businesses surveyed are still using Windows XP in some capacity despite that fact. That number is even larger outside of North America. Not bad for what ESET Security calls a "zombie" OS. Given that upgrading from Windows XP likely means purchasing some new hardware, it's easy to understand why a large business might hesitate to upgrade. Even so, it's difficult to overstate the importance of moving on from unsupported software. For just one example, the 2011 hack of Sony's Playstation Network cost that company $171 million, and it may have been made possible via unpatched software.

2016-04-12 14:36 by Zak techreport.com

66 Free DLC for Total War: Warhammer detailed If you still harbour rage at the relegation of Total War: Warhammer's Chaos faction to a pre-order bonus or paid DLC, take heart: free extras are on the way too. You might call it a peace offering. On the Total War: Warhammer Future Content Blog , Creative Assembly tells us to expect light additions such us new units, spells, quest chains and Legendary Lords to compliment existing armies and open up new tactical avenues. More excitingly, towards the end of the year we'll get a new playable race. I know there's no shortage of evil in the Old World, but gosh darn I'm hoping for Dark Elves. As to the paid stuff, Lord Packs will contain a selection of Legendary Lords and units, complete with quest chains, campaign bonuses and items, while Race Packs do what you'd expect. Campaign Packs headline, however, adding a new playable race and a Challenge Campaign themed around a landmark event in Warhammer lore. How are we feeling about the Chaos thing now? Placated or madder than a bag of Screamers?

2016-04-12 14:23 By Angus www.pcgamer.com

67 Apple briefly pulls third-party Reddit apps in NSFW mix-up IOS USERS have been up in arms after Apple started to remove third-party Reddit reader apps from the App Store. Reddit finally released official apps for Android and iOS last month, ending years during which third-party apps, such as Blue Alien, Narwhal, Baconreader and Antenna, have filled the void. But many of these apps were silently removed from the store over the weekend, leading to speculation that Reddit had somehow decided to get autonomous about it all. Most un-Reddit-like. The community had already expressed concerns that the new apps were closed, rather than open source . 'Mattallica' began a post on Reddit saying: "Not sure if this is just temporary or not but it seems the App Store is pulling all the 3rd party Reddit apps. Might want to grab any before they're gone. Looks like Narwhal, Antenna and Baconreader have already been pulled. " Narwhal's developer added to the alarm on Reddit, saying: "Developer of Narwhal here. I'm not sure what is going on, but it is quite suspicious that our apps are being removed, but the official app is still there. " As it turns out Reddit had nothing to do with it and the entire thing was a coincidence. It was Apple that had pulled the apps, explaining why the more chilled out Google Play store was still carrying the Reddit apps. Several readers said that they would rather not use Reddit Mobile at all if their favourite apps were gone. But with the jury still out on the official app - an inevitable by-product of having kept users waiting so long - loyalty builds elsewhere. Reddit has been under fire in recent weeks after removing its "warrant canary" that warned readers when government agencies had attempted to access certain data from the firm's servers. As it turns out, the real reason was that all the pulled apps had 'Not Suitable For Work' (NSFW) filters that were not switched on by default, meaning that super-clean Apple had become concerned that young minds might be corrupted. All the apps are now back in one form or another, some reverting to older builds with no NSFW option at all. Which, if we're not mistaken, is exactly the same thing. µ

2016-04-12 14:23 Chris Merriman www.theinquirer.net

68 Nvidia's next generation graphics cards are right around the corner Nvidia is going to reveal its powerful, next generation Pascal graphics cards at Computex, or that's at least that's the word on the rumor mill. As PC & Tech Authority spotted, the next- generation GeForce GTX 1070 and 1080 video cards will be unveiled at the show which kicks off at the end of May. These Pascal-toting GPUs should then hit shelves starting in July, with Nvidia already starting to reduce stock of its existing cards in preparation for the launch of the new models. Obviously there's some pretty major anticipation concerning what Nvidia is bringing to the table, and ditto for AMD, with the rumour mill suggesting that Team Red will also be unveiling its Radeon R9 490/490X cards at Computex. These will allegedly run with Polaris technology and will be going directly up against Nvidia's GTX 1070/1080, although some of the buzz on the net has argued against this match-up, due to the fact that Polaris has a focus on power efficiency – which is great news for laptop GPUs, but could impact the possible performance levels we will see from the R9 490 series (assuming it does indeed use Polaris). But all of this is speculation right now, of course, although it seems increasingly likely that we will see both the R9 490/490X and GTX 1070/1080 step into the ring to face-off in a battle of specs at Computex. In other video card news, AMD's Radeon Pro Duo is expected to be available to purchase in just over a fortnight, but this beefy beast of a dual-GPU card will run to $1,499 (around £1,060, or AU$1,980). Article continues below

2016-04-12 14:14 By Darren feedproxy.google.com

69 Optiv Security Bets Big On Identity And Access Management Market With Advancive Acquisition Optiv Security, formerly Accuvant and FishNet Security, has made its first acquisition move as a combined company, revealing Tuesday that it had bought identity and access management consultancy Advancive. Terms of the deal, which closed Friday, were not disclosed. Advancive, based in Pasadena, Calif., focuses on providing services and solutions around identity and access management. That's an area that Denver-based Optiv is looking to place a big bet on in the coming year, Bryan Wiese, vice president of identity and access management, told CRN. The identity and access management space is one of Optiv's fastest-growing business practices, he said, with 40 percent to 50 percent year-over-year growth for the past three years. [Related: Optiv Security Joins Identity Defined Security Alliance ] "For Optiv, this is a big thing," Wiese said. "From here on, we are going to continue to see a lot of growth from an identity and access management perspective. " The acquisition nearly doubles Optiv's current identity and access management practice, Wiese said, adding 35 new employees to Optiv's 50 and adding new capabilities around services and solutions. In particular, Wiese said, Advancive brings new vendor specialties around Ping Identity and RSA, adding to Optiv's expertise with CyberArk and SailPoint. Advancive also adds capabilities around managed security services for identity and access management and global consulting and services capabilities with the company's offshore office in Bangalore, India. Those capabilities will prove key for Optiv, Wiese said, as the market for identity and access management continues to grow and change in the coming years. According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the identity and access management market is expected to grow from $7.2 billion in 2015 to $12.8 billion in 2020. Wiese said Optiv is already seeing "a ton" of growth in the space, driven by customer demand for better solutions in response to many recent breaches that involved identity issues. "Within Optiv, we're aligning our messaging and focus and growth around growing identity to address those concerned customers," Wiese said. "We're doing this, not just to tackle the growth we're seeing but position us for bigger, larger growth going forward. " Advancive co-founders Art Poghosyan and Alex Gudanis will take new positions at Optiv to help spearhead some of those areas that the company sees as key in the identity and access management market going forward, Wiese said. Poghosyan will now serve as vice president of managed identity and access management at Optiv, building from the ground up a practice around managed security services for identity and access management. Gudanis will be responsible for running a new intellectual property development group at Optiv, focused on adding value through product integrations and solutions. The integration of the two companies will take place over the next 120 days, Wiese said. That process will include combining customer bases as well as internal people from a culture, process and benefits perspective. Wiese said there are no plans to relocate employees at this point. "Even though this is an acquisition from a company perspective, it's really a merger," Wiese said. "We will merge everything from a delivery methodology perspective, tools perspective and people perspective over the next 120 days. " The result, he said, will be a "new, shiny, better identity and access management consultancy" within Optiv. The Advancive acquisition "certainly won't be the last" move by Optiv to grow inorganically in the coming months, Wiese said. He declined to comment on what other areas Optiv might be looking to make acquisitions in.

2016-04-12 14:05 Sarah Kuranda www.crn.com

70 Study shows people care more about data privacy but are doing less to protect themselves Business owners recognise how important it is to keep their customer data safe to avoid data breaches that threaten customer perception about the company. In the wake of the Apple and US government negotiations, data privacy is a hard choice. There are hard questions to ask yourself about how much you are willing to sacrifice your privacy to accomplish other goals. Collaboration and communications company Open Xchange has released its second Consumer Openness Index . It surveyed 3,000 internet users in the US, UK and Germany. We're at a crossroads for data privacy and encryption. In a lot of ways, 2016 is a turning point for how the entire world will define these issues for years to come. The survey showed that internet users are demanding elected officials to take a stance to protect the privacy of their data. Eighty-one percent of respondents in the US care about the presidential candidates' positions on data privacy, and 51 percent believe the candidates should pay more attention to it. The majority of Americans indicated that a candidate's position on data privacy would influence their vote at the elections. Eighty percent of respondents believe in a fundamental right to privacy, but more than half of then also believe that the government should be able to access encrypted files to keep them safe from foreign attack. 64 percent of respondents across each country believe that data privacy will impact related government policy around the world. In the UK, 53 percent of respondents believe that the impact of the Investigatory Powers Bill, a proposal that would increase the UK government's surveillance powers, has not been adequately explained by Home Secretary . In Germany, 46 percent are in favour of the European Court of Justice's decision to invalidate Safe Harbor. Internet-savvy respondents in the US, UK, and Germany are more likely to report that they would stop using many types of companies if news of a privacy scandal emerged. 57 percent of respondents in the three countries believe that companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google never have the right to share their personal data. 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. The proportion of internet users who view themselves as the most responsible for preventing invasions of privacy now amounts to 31 percent of the population. 31 percent of respondents replied that they actually did not know if their personal data had ever been compromised (28 percent US, 36 percent UK, and 28 percent Germany). In 2016, only one in five internet users across the US, UK, and Germany uses email encryption. Germans (36 percent) are twice as likely as Americans (18 percent) to employ email encryption, and three times as likely as the British (12 percent). 10 percent of internet users reported that they used encryption for email, messaging, voice chat, or other online communication all the time; however 22 percent of used reported using it some of the time. Although we all believe in the right to privacy, we tend to have difficulty with the trade-off and balance in the right to security. OpenXchange believes that 2016 will be the year when many of us will have to make up their minds and demand the level of data security we want. Related content:

2016-04-12 14:03 Eileen Brown zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

71 How credit card fraud in the US supports Russia's underground economy HPE researchers have uncovered a complex web of shipment scams which rely on US operators and stolen credit card information to provide goods fradulently to customers in Russia. Credit card fraud is big business. Data breaches at high-profile companies are becoming commonplace, and as data collection -- and theft -- surges, the sale of stolen information has become established as a business in its own right. Unfortunately for victims that often bear no responsibility for such theft, this can lead to pillaged bank accounts and identity theft as goods are purchased using their funds for other purposes. Large-scale criminal operations often rely on fraud to keep going. According to Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE)'s security research analyst report, stolen credit card data is being used in "reseller" operations in areas where many US companies will no longer ship due to high levels of fraud -- such as Eastern . Items in high demand are purchased in the US using stolen information and then resold for cash through international scams made possible through the Internet. Bypassing these corporate restrictions is important, and so cybercriminals will often find an intermediary able to receive the goods before they are sold on in other countries. This intermediary part of the supply chain is of particular interest to HPE's researchers. In a study taking place between August 2015 and February 2016, the team found that reshipping websites are commonly used to maintain contact with "stuffers" -- those who use stolen credit card data in the United States to purchase items fraudulently -- and "drops," who often unwittingly will accept these products for reshipment across restricted areas, such as Russia and Ukraine. Drops are most often recruited in the United States through email, where they later visit reshipment websites to be assigned their tasks. "Bosses make their profits by selling high-demand goods in grey markets, realising high margins due to low acquisition costs," said the report, released on Tuesday. "Admins make a cut of these profits by creating the website, recruiting drops, providing fraudulent shipping labels and selling the goods. Stuffers make their cut of the goods purchased typically as a percentage assigned to each product type. " Most drops are located in the US, however, Germany is also impacted by such schemes. Everything from consumer electronics to clothes and toys are purchased online by stuffers. While a number of the reshipping websites have only been in operation for a few months, business is booming. HPE found that despite this short time frame, hundreds of drops have taken place, leading to thousands of products already being purchased using stolen information before shipment. People seeking a "work from home" setup are most often recruited. They may be promised a base monthly pay or as cash-per-package. Often, however, the stuffers are scammed and no payment is ever made, bumping up the profit margins of the cybercriminal operator -- who makes every effort to appear legitimate to recruit staff. In short, not only are the victims of credit card fraud left potentially out of pocket, but the mules which support the underlying structure of the scam through their efforts under the belief the work is a legitimate enterprise receive nothing, either. "Spotting these fraudulent transactions can be difficult as they often occur soon after a card is breached and before the issuer is able to shut down the card number," HPE says. "HPE Security Research advises retailers to monitor for this activity and stay aware of scam operations such as these, as the operations in turn evolve their tactics to avoid detection and maximise profit. "

2016-04-12 14:00 Charlie Osborne zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

72 Several CAPI-Enabled Accelerators for OpenPOWER Servers Revealed Over a dozen special-purpose accelerators compatible with next-generation OpenPOWER servers that feature the Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface ( CAPI ) were revealed at the OpenPOWER Summit last week. These accelerators aim to help encourage the use of OpenPOWER based machines for technical and high-performance computing. Most of the accelerators are based on Xilinx high-performance FPGAs, but some feature custom silicon. IBM’s CAPI port is a PCIe 3.0-based interconnection specifically designed for programmable processors (e.g., ASICs, GPUs, FPGAs, etc.) that enables them to address the same memory address space as the CPU. CAPI requires custom hardware incorporated into IBM’s POWER8 processors , which is called the coherent accelerator processor proxy (CAPP), as well as a POWER service layer (PSL) integrated into CAPI-supporting processors. CAPP maintains a directory of cache lines held by the accelerator and snoops the processor bus for the accelerator. The PSL performs address translations and holds the coherent data for quick access by the accelerating hardware. To work, CAPI has to be supported by the hardware, the operating system and the application in use. At present, IBM’s POWER8 CPUs, a number of accelerators, RedHat Enterprise Linux 7.2 LE (and higher), and Ubuntu LE, as well as select programs, support CAPI. IBM and the OpenPOWER Foundation need CAPI in order to enable a relatively simple and inexpensive way to build special-purpose accelerators for various workloads. The aim is to make POWER8-based machines viable for a variety of market segments as well as to create platforms that can process modern workloads faster. While it is possible to enable unified memory for CPUs and co-processors using custom hardware and multiple tweaks in device drivers, this requires huge investments in silicon development, complex drivers and a number of other things. By contrast, programming an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) is considerably cheaper, and the CAPI technology brings them key heterogeneous processing capabilities. While this does not necessarily enable higher bandwidth between the CPU and the accelerator (after all, CAPI is layered on top of PCI Express 3.0 and a specified peak bandwidth), according to IBM they remove overheads, improve performance and can potentially simplify the workflow for programmers. In short, CAPI is an important part of IBM’s POWER strategy in general as well as OpenPOWER initiative. At this year’s OpenPOWER Summit, IBM and its partners revealed over a dozen of special- purpose CAPI-enabled FPGA-based accelerators. This shows that the OpenPOWER platform is gaining interest and investment from different sources. The list of developers includes such companies as BittWare, DRC, IBM, Mellanox, Xilinx and others, but some decided not to publish details about their accelerators, as it seems from OpenPOWER’s press release. The accelerators revealed at the conference are either available or are set to become available in the coming quarters. The devices come in the form of PCIe 3.0 x8 or x16 cards and are compatible with IBM POWER8-based servers. Some are also compatible with machines running other processors (and in this case, CAPI is not supported). One of the important announcements at the summit was Edico Genome’s DRAGEN genomics platform, which uses an accelerator powered by the Xilinx Virtex-7 980T FPGA and is equipped with 16 GB of quad-channel DDR3L-1866 memory. The platform, which is based on a 2-way IBM S822LC server, can analyze an entire genome in 26 minutes, down from approximately 30 hours on general-purpose processors. An earlier prototype was shown at SuperComputing 2015, however this seems to be the announcement of the full product. Other interesting solutions discussed at the summit include an FPGA-based accelerator for discovering relationships hidden in big data; an FPGA-powered fuzzy search engine for imprecise string searching and matching, which can analyze millions of messages and data streams without indexing; as well as various reconfigurable accelerators for HPC, Big Data, and so on. IBM also mentions that there are companies offering CAPI-enabled building blocks for FPGAs for computer vision, machine learning, and other applications. Some of those companies are startups or working in stealth mode (we do not know whether they developed their building blocks thanks to the SuperVessel program, though this is a possibility), and they may announce their products over time. While the number of CAPI-enabled accelerators available today is not high, it is growing, which is a good news for the OpenPOWER ecosystem. Positive news (from IBM) is the number of China-based companies developing accelerators featuring CAPI, which shows that local companies in growing markets for servers are expressing interest in such solutions.

2016-04-12 14:00 Anton Shilov www.anandtech.com

73 China tech spend to hit $147B in 2016 China's spending on technology goods and services is expected to climb 8 percent to reach U$147 billion this year, driven in large by the public sector and businesses' digital transformation efforts. While the country's GDP growth dropped to its lowest in 25 years, to below 7 percent last year, spending on tech would remain robust in 2016, according to Forrester. The research firm added that local organisations would continue to implement digital transformation initiatives, pushing investments in business technology up by 25 percent this year to U$11 billion. Expenditure in this segment would account for 16 percent of overall tech spending, with CIOs across all verticals tapping such tools to better understand customers and improve user experience. Tech spending in the public sector was projected to grow 12 percent to US$30 billion, driven by government-led initiatives in healthcare, education, social services, and across its agencies. Forecast to be China's biggest tech spender in 2016, the government would be looking to upgrade its central infrastructure and systems for better efficiency and to tap data analytics to enhance citizen services. According to Forrester, the Chinese central government would launch several "golden projects" this year that would see further investment in data centers and big data. The Guangdong provincial government, for instance, would establish a data coordination bureau to collect and analyse data to improve internal processes. Local governments would focus its efforts on improving citizen services, such as Beijing, which had partnered Tencent to tap the latter's WeChat messaging platform to deliver information to as well as gather feedback from citizens. Forrester noted that these initiatives would drive investments in cloud, data analytics, mobile apps, and consulting services to help the government integrate new technologies with legacy systems.

2016-04-12 13:52 Eileen Yu zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

74 Event: The 13th Annual East AfricaCom 2016 The 13 th annual East AfricaCom is set to take place at Radisson blu,Nairobi Kenya on the 18 th – 19 th May, 2016. East AfricanCom which is part of the knowledge & networking division of Informa PLC presents a forum for high level networking across telecoms, broadcasting, enterprise ICT and the entire digital community to translate meetings and experiences into real business gains. It represents the most radical region of the continent for mobile and digital communications, mobile money and ICT development. East AfricaCom has an exciting and educative topics which will cover everyone of their target audience such as: how to launch a TV channel in the digital world for the broadcast media, how to gain edge from streamlining technical and infrastructure operations to investing in service delivery, transforming the digital enterprise through the CIPO forum, putting mobile and increasing video at the centre of the consumer’s experience for enterprises that want to retain their customers. This event brings a wide range of benefits to its audience among others; business partnerships, one to one meetings, evening networking and transformational exhibitions. Regulators, operators ISPs, digital leaders, innovators will use East African com to discuss high level infrastructure projects, broadband and LTE rollout, reducing costs of networks and also point out the key challenges for rural telecoms and connectivity hinderances across the region. ICT leaders and heads of technology at SME’s and large corporations will also gather at this event to discuss how quality ICT is a necessity tool for enterprises and large corporations to transform into efficient digital businesses. A wide range of speakers will grace the event such as: Bobbie Mellor ; Government Campaign Manager Vodafone Group, Yvonne Makolo ; CMO MTN Rwanda, Larry Mdowo ; Technology Editor & Anchor NTV Kenya, Mark Lisboa ; Vice President StarTimes Kenya, Katherine W. Getao ; ICT Secretary Ministry of ICT Kenya, Thibaud Rerolle ; Chief Technical Officer Safaricom and many more. This event is only FREE for regional operators and regulators (senior level). For applications, bookings and registration, follow their link .

2016-04-12 13:51 PC Tech pctechmag.com

75 Elon Musk's Tesla cars have acid trip cowbell version EARLY INVESTING Tesla drivers are being treated to an Easter egg that will let them drive, though not literally, down a rainbow-style road like the one in that Kart game with the plumber and his reckless, rocket hurling menagerie. The Easter egg, which is a name for things that people hide in other content for fans to find, was revealed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter before anyone really had a chance to work it out themselves. For example, one Easter egg in Mike Tyson's Punchout , which is over two decades old, has only just been discovered. That one is not going to make anyone think that they are in control of a vehicle, or at least its navigation services, while on peyote or high-grade LSD. The Mario Kart Rainbow Road egg, in case you haven't worked it out yet, is to be joined by another one soon. Musk said that this would involve cowbells, which are a popular thing on the internet. Gamers seem to like the experience, but it does appear to be a bit off-putting. A bright psychedelic display just under the windscreen with cowbells and more cowbells to come? And people say that eating a sandwich is a driving distraction. When @elonmusk promises more cowbell, he means it. Feels like Mario Kart Rainbow Road in here: https://t.co/5i7kLSYVk3 — Brian Stucki (@brianstucki) April 11, 2016 Musk is a bit of a joker. We've seen him suggest that the Apple Watch is not one to, um, watch , and that robots are likely to chase him all the way to Mars eventually. Some people have suggested that this is a gag, but a good many others have confirmed that the trick works, that it is trippy and that it does come with cowbells. Whatever, you can be certain that, given the opportunity, we would be all over having a go at that. We'd probably stick to doing it in a closed car park, though, or at best watching other people's videos while ringing our own cowbells. Heck, we might even play Mario Kart . µ

2016-04-12 13:51 Dave Neal www.theinquirer.net

76 Windows 10 wants to help you understand why your PC crashed Lately we've been hearing a lot about major changes coming to Windows 10 with this summer's Anniversary Update , but naturally Redmond has plenty of minor tweaks in the pipeline as well, one of which will make the dreaded 'blue screen of death' (BSOD) more useful and comprehensible. A denizen of Reddit has posted an image which shows a BSOD with a novel addition, a QR code you can scan with your phone, along with a web link. As PC World reports, the QR code transports you to Microsoft website, which offers generic suggestions of "some things you can try when you experience a blue screen error", but the hope is that in the future, Redmond is planning to link through to specific details of what caused the crash, and possible solutions. That would certainly make troubleshooting a crashed computer a far easier process. Fortunately, BSOD is something we see less of these days as Windows has become much more stable in general – but of course they still inevitably pop up when things have gone horribly wrong. Blue screens have been a downer and they're also practically useless, providing little information as to what has caused your PC to crash in the first place. With Windows 10, you might get some sort of semi-useful cryptic error code – at least it's an improvement from the incomprehensible and lengthy hexadecimal codes Windows used throw at us – but still, the BSOD up until now hasn't been particularly helpful. Now it seems the QR code may be a new addition for the latest preview build of Windows 10. Another Reddit user in the thread noted he also received a code during a crash trying to install the latest preview of the OS. Hopefully, the same update will come down the main pipeline for Window 10 in the near future, because this is definitely a useful little extra. Article continues below

2016-04-12 13:48 By Darren feedproxy.google.com

77 DataStax enters graph market DataStax today moved into a new database market with the announcement that it will be releasing the DataStax Enterprise (DSE) Graph datastore later this year. The new database is built on the foundations of and the Apache TinkerPop Project. DSE Graph is a distributed graph database, meaning it can be hosted in multiple datacenters while still keeping data coherence. It’s designed to run on a cluster for maximum scale-out potential. Martin Van Ryswyk, executive vice president of engineering at DataStax, said that the DSE Graph is a bit different from traditional graph databases. This is particularly apparent when it comes to how the DSE Graph is queried. (Related: HPE introduces new Machine-Learning-as-a-Service offering ) “The graph language you write graph traversals with is different from what people are used to,” he said. “The DataStax team has built and committed to using Apache TinkerPop’s Gremlin query language. Almost all our competitors will be using that. Neo4j uses Cypher. They made a play to make that open, but it’s not truly open. We’ve given ours to the Apache Foundation.” The DSE Graph is also the product of the Aurelius acquisition made by DataStax last year, which brought the TitanDB graph database into the company’s stable. The back end for that database was interchangeable and could be switched between NoSQL solutions. For DSE Graph, however, Cassandra is the storage engine of choice. DSE Graph, however, does not end with just a distributed graph database. The DSE Graph suite also includes analytics tools to allow developers and administrators to get the information they need back out of the datastore. “We also integrated deeply with Apache Spark,” said Van Ryswyk. “If you want to compute major statistics of the graph, or to compute recommendations over the entire graph, you cannot do that at runtime over the graph. We use Apache Spark to distribute those computations. The nice thing about DSE Graph is that it uses Gremlin. We take those queries and compile them down to the most efficient execution engine, be it Cassandra for real-time or Spark for analytics. The other interesting integration point we have is Apache Solr. DSE Graph provides full a text search implementation based on Apache Solr.” DSE Graph will be generally available sometime during the second quarter of this year.

2016-04-12 13:45 Alex Handy sdtimes.com

78 Workday names Sisco CFO Workday on Tuesday said that it has named Robynne Sisco chief financial officer. Sisco will report to co-president Mark Peek. Sisco had been chief accounting officer at Workday. She joined the company in 2012. Before coming to Workday, Sisco was the chief accounting officer and corporate controller at VMware. She held a similar position at VeriSign and had finance roles at Oracle, Visa, General Electric and Ford. Sisco takes over the finance reins at Workday as the company makes a push to hit $3 billion in revenue in the years ahead. More:

2016-04-12 13:38 Larry Dignan zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

79 PC sales stink, but hope for bottom remains The first quarter for the PC market was ugly, but analysts still maintain that a bottom may be in place. First, the stats: Add it up and the PC market is either toast or making a bottom. A pair of Credit Suisse analysts are taking the optimistic side of the argument. Credit Suisse analyst Thompson Wu said that the PC market is "showing signs of a bottom. " Wu said: We believe IDC PC data and our conversations with the supply chain indicate trends we outlined in April PC outlook report are still on track. 2Q16 remains the seasonal slowest quarter; we forecast flattish sequential units. We also forecast mild quarter over quarter growth in the Taiwan PC manufacturers; 1.5% by notebooks and flattish in desktop. We expect 3Q16 PC shipments to outpace seasonality; driven by mild channel restocking before reverting back to seasonality in 4Q16. Overall, these sequential changes reach 7% decline in 2016. The bet for Wu is that the rebound for the PC industry comes in the third quarter. Corporate replacements and virtual reality upgrades will stabilize the market. On the Microsoft front--Gartner said Windows 10 hasn't spurred PC upgrades--Credit Suisse analyst Philip Winslow said the software giant could see some weakness, but its operating system uptake should improve. Winslow said that Windows pricing should improve, enterprise PC upgrades will help margins and an inventory glut is now being worked off. Fortunately for Microsoft, it isn't tethered to the PC market nearly as much as it used to be. Microsoft is about the cloud subscriptions, Azure and enterprise applications.

2016-04-12 13:27 Larry Dignan zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

80 No more hunting for drivers: Google's WebUSB promises easier plug and play WebUSB might be useful in allowing 3D printer makers to build the device setup into their website. Two Google engineers have outlined a draft interface for securely connecting USB devices to any webpage. The draft for WebUSB isn't for things like keyboards, mice, and hard drives, but rather for tomorrow's gadgets that might benefit from having system software delivered over the web. 3D printing nears inflection point; Mattel ThingMaker may make it mainstream 3D printing has primarily been a technology for enterprises making prototypes. Can a toymaker create buzz on the consumer end of the equation? The idea is to help gadget makers have their USB devices work on any platform without having to write drivers and SDKs native to each platform. "With this API, hardware manufacturers will have the ability to build cross-platform JavaScript SDKs for their devices. This will be good for the web because, instead of waiting for a new kind of device to be popular enough for browsers to provide a specific API, new and innovative hardware can be built for the web from day one," Google engineers Reilly Grant and Ken Rockot write in the draft W3C spec for WebUSB. The engineers acknowledge there have been published attacks that have reprogrammed USB devices to maliciously target a computer they are connected to. To deal with this risk, they suggest limiting connections to a set of approved sites. To address the possibility of USB devices leaking information that could be used to breach a person's privacy, they also suggest prompting the user to authorize a site to search for the presence of a device and connect to it. One example where they consider WebUSB might be useful is in supporting 3D printers, allowing manufacturers to build the device setup into their website. The engineers note that it is only a draft of a potential specification and that it does not represent support from any standards group.

2016-04-12 13:19 Liam Tung zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

81 Alibaba bolsters SEA biz with $1B Lazada deal Alibaba Group has acquired a controlling stake in Southeast Asian e-commerce operator, Lazada Group, in a deal aimed at beefing up its international presence. Worth US$1 billion, the deal would see Alibaba forking out some US$500 million for new shares and another US$500 million to take over shares from some existing shareholders, according to the Chinese e-commerce giant. Lazada's crop of investors included Rocket Internet and Tesco. Asia's e-commerce sites can outsell Amazon More specifically, China, which can leverage its manufacturing hub and market size. However, e-commerce sites in the region should first resolve key challenges with user interface, service support, and logistics. Founded in 2012, Singapore-headquartered Lazada operates retail websites in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, peddling some 10 million active SKUs (stock keeping units). In third-quarter 2015, mobile transactions accounted for 57 percent of its GMV (gross merchandise value). Alibaba said the deal provided the company significant new footprint outside its domestic market and would help existing merchants and brands on its e-commerce platforms reach the Southeast Asian consumer market. Its group president Mike Evans said in the statement: "With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base, a proven management team, and a solid foundation for future growth in one of the most promising regions for e- commerce globally. " Lazada Group CEO Max Bittner noted that Southeast Asia, while an "attractive, mobile-driven consumer market", was highly fragmented and diverse, presenting significant barriers to entry. He added that Alibaba's industry knowledge and technology would help enhance Lazada's shopping and selling experience. The latter runs local marketing sales operations and online payments, and operates 76 last-mile distribution hubs as well as 10 fulfilment facilities. Its presence in the Southeast Asian region would give Alibaba access to a mobile-first market, where competitive dynamics were more favourable than those in Europe and North America, according to Forrester's forecast analyst Satish Meena. The New Delhi-based analyst said acquiring a controlling stake in Lazada would allow Alibaba to focus on bringing more merchants to its platforms, while leveraging the former's brand name to further grow its business. "Setting overseas expansion can be very expensive when you include the cost of building the brand and investment in logistics," Meena said. "Some of the key challenges in Southeast Asia for e-commerce includes use of cash-on- delivery, insufficient logistics infrastructure, and inconsistent customs and import duty," the analyst explained. "In particular, the lack of warehouses outside Singapore and Thailand is a key concern as e-commerce players that want to penetrate further into the rural areas and support the last-mile delivery will have to invest more in non-metropolitan areas to ensure efficient time to market. " He added that Alibaba would tap Lazada's infrastructure alongside its investment in SingPost to further build out the logistics network required to support its expansion across Southeast Asia. Alibaba in May 2014 committed S$312.5 million (US$227.91 million) for a 10.35 percent stake in the Singapore postal service operator, before investing another US$206.45 million a year later. That same year, in July 2015, Alibaba sold off its US e-commerce venture to online marketplace OpenSky as well as three US companies it had acquired for their logistics and fulfilment services. The Alibaba-Lazada deal comes months after Rakuten in February announced plans to shutter its online stores in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The Japanese e-commerce operator said it would focus on increasing its footprint in growth markets, specifically, Taiwan as well as its domestic market. Just this week, it was said it have opened a business office in Bengaluru, India, where it had been operating a development centre since 2014, reported The Economic Times .

2016-04-12 13:09 Eileen Yu zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

82 HTC 10 Takes Aim At iPhone 6s, Galaxy S7 HTC Tuesday officially announced the HTC 10, its flagship smartphone for the year. Crafted in aluminum, the device has some high-end specs that can go toe-to-toe with the industry's best. HTC also took pains to refresh its software to improve usability. Is HTC's best effort enough to help it win back marketshare? The HTC 10 is not a dramatic reimagining of the smartphone, like the LG G5 , but it demonstrates HTC's deadly serious commitment to competing with Apple and Samsung. The company clearly took criticism of last year's One M9 to heart and made much-needed improvements across the board. HTC's first all-aluminum smartphone, the M7, set the tone for years to come. The M8 was similar to the M7, but had its own personality. The M9, however, was a near identical copy of the M8 -- and HTC fans cried foul. The 10 still relies on the milled-metal chassis approach, but is different enough from the M9 that it has its own identity. For example, the heavily chamfered rear edges. The level of craftsmanship in this phone is equal that used by Apple in the iPhone 6s and Samsung in the S7. The materials and quality of manufacturing are on all a level playing field for the first time in years. The specs impress, too, but largely mirror what's available from Samsung and LG's 2016 flagships. That means the Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The 10, Galaxy S7, and G5 all support expandable memory cards. Other details shared by these three Android titans include Quick Charge support, LTE, Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS. The 10 and G5 have USB-C, but the S7 still uses micro USB. HTC hopes its new camera helps set the 10 apart from competitors. HTC has for years claimed to have an excellent camera in its flagship, only to fail miserably with poor imaging performance. The 10 is here to silence the critics. The phone uses a 12-megapixel camera with larger pixels and an aperture of f/1.8. Together, those should help improve low-light performance -- a weak point on previous HTC phones. The camera also boasts optical image stabilization for sharper focus and a two-tone flash for more accurate flesh tones. Impressively, the user-facing camera includes an aperture of f/1.8 and optical image stabilization, too. (We must have the best selfies possible!) BoomSound is different in the HTC 10. It now features a separate tweeter and woofer to deliver higher-quality sound. Of note, HTC added some software to allow users to create and save their own sound profiles, or tweak how their headphones sound. Are you prepared for a new world of enterprise mobility? Attend the Wireless & Mobility Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now ! The 10 runs Android 6 Marshmallow and HTC's Sense user interface skin. Sense, like Samsung's TouchWiz and LG's UX 4.0, adds a healthy amount of customization. HTC says it worked hard to reduce bloat and app duplication on the 10 so that it looks and feels leaner. It's a flexible user interface skin that borrows from Google's Material Design so that HTC's apps look more native to the Android operating system. On paper, the HTC 10 is a win. It covers all the right bases and purports to have resolved some of the issues that plagued older HTC smartphones. Whether or not it can truly compete with Apple, Samsung, and LG is another matter. It needs support from carriers to sell in the US. Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless have all committed to selling the HTC 10, but AT&T will not. HTC plans to sell the phone online directly. The price? A staggering $700.

2016-04-12 13:06 Eric Zeman www.informationweek.com

83 Lucidworks View released, Microsoft’s Global CSS Property Usage, and Keras 1.0— digest: April 12, 2016 Lucidworks, a search and analytics software company, today released Lucidworks View, an extension to its flagship product Fusion. It allows companies to create custom search-driven applications that use Apache Solr and Apache Spark. Companies that build a recommendation-driven e-commerce site, or a searchable customer service portal, can use Lucidworks View to give their customers access to information while still utilizing their everyday business tools. Another big change with this release is that it connects and creates value from data sources, allowing companies to build data-driven experiences, according to the release. “Our aim is to eliminate the costly, time-consuming complexities usually associated with the front- and back-end development of intelligent apps, moving companies quickly from the question, ‘What do I do with my data?’ to the statement, ‘Data drives every part of the business,’ ” said Will Hayes, CEO of Lucidworks. The capabilities of Lucidworks Fusion and View include: Microsoft’s Global CSS Property Usage Microsoft is releasing a new tool to help developers collect and analyze data internally. The company has introduced Global CSS Property Usage on Microsoft Edge Dev, designed to give users insight into how CSS properties are used across the Web. The solution uses two crawlers to do this: The first looks at Edge’s point of view, and the second is a new Azure-based Interop Crawler that looks at CSS properties through any browser. “This is more efficient and accurate than having to instrument our browser with no-op APIs that we don’t support just to see their relative usage across the Web,” wrote Greg Whitworth, program manager for Microsoft Edge, in a post . Keras 1.0 released with progress on the development front Keras, a deep learning library for Python, introduced Keras 1.0 with new features on the development front, as well as news for the Keras community. Keras 1.0 isn’t a patch on top of the previous version; instead, it’s a rewriting of Keras nearly from scratch, according to the Keras Blog. Keras 1.0 maintains backward compatibility with new features and better design under the hood, according to the blog. Keras 1.0 provides deep learning accessibility and a set of building blocks for building deep learning models faster. An important feature that Keras highlights is the functional API, which is a new way to define Keras models. A short guide on how to get started with the functional API can be found here. Some other new features include better performance, modular metrics, and a better user experience. Since code has been rewritten from scratch, the end user has been kept in mind throughout all stages of development, according to the blog. There is a library UX with two components, the APIs and the ability to understand error messages. Yahoo is for sale Bidders are ready to pick up Yahoo, as the company reportedly has interested parties wanting to purchase the longtime Internet company, said CNN Money . The CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, would like to see Yahoo trudge along through its struggles, reported CNN, but bidders like Daily Mail and Time Inc. are ready to make an offer. Yahoo has given interested parties until April 18 to make their offers. Technology companies like Google and Microsoft are also looking into bidding for other pieces. Private equity firms General Atlantic, TPG and KKR are also widely reported to be considering buying Yahoo. After April 18, Yahoo will decide if it likes any of the offers and go from there. If it turned down those offers, Starboard Value, an activist hedge fund, said it would nominate an entirely new slate of directors at Yahoo’s upcoming shareholder’s meeting this spring, said CNN. Flexera Software solution provides visibility into cloud services Flexera Software announced the launch of FlexNet Manager for Cloud Infrastructure. It will give organizations centralized visibility into their cloud services use and allows them to optimize utilization and control costs. This first release of FlexNet Manager focuses on optimization of Amazon Web Services (AWS), and it will import usage and billing data from multiple accounts to deliver a centralized view of all AWS accounts across the enterprise, according to a company announcement . The cloud dashboard that goes along with this launch provides a view of an organization’s use of cloud resources. Cloud usage analysis and reporting allows organizations to eliminate waste and increase speed. Additionally, according to the company, FlexNet Manager for Cloud Infrastructure helps companies: Node.js Foundation survey finds ‘Full Stack’ is Nearly 50% of Node.js developers using container technology saw strong growth in the cloud, front end, mobile and devices, according to a Node.js User Survey Report. This survey is the first of its kind according to the Node.js Foundation . The survey identified that Node.js is emerging as a universal platform or language used for Web applications, IoT and enterprise. The report takes a look at the technologies that are being used with Node.js in production and language preferences for front-end, back-end and IoT developers. Some key findings from the survey include 45% of developers responded saying they use Node.js with the technology of containers. Also, 58% of respondents said they are IoT developers that use Node.js with Docker. Although Docker is a server technology, many IoT developers (58%) are using Node.js with Docker, compared to only 39% of back-end developers. This means that the new IoT world also is quickly adopting containers and microservices, according to the survey. Facebook to provide students with developer training Facebook and coding boot camp Dev Bootcamp have announced the creation of a scholarship designed to improve access to technology careers for minority and underrepresented communities. The F8 scholarship is available to prospective Dev Bootcamp students. It was created with a US$250,000 donation from Facebook and was combined with contribution from Dev Bootcamp. The scholarships will cover full tuition for 20 women and other underrepresented minority students so they can join the Dev Bootcamp program in San Francisco. Applications open today and close on May 2. Enrollment of the selected Scholars starts in early June.

2016-04-12 13:04 Madison Moore sdtimes.com

84 Display expert: The 9.7-inch iPad Pro's color accuracy is 'visually indistinguishable from perfect' Just in case you don’t believe your eyes, a third- party display expert has given top marks to Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro . Although Apple’s latest iPad looks similar to the iPad Air 2, it contains major improvements in color, reflectance, and brightness, says Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies. But, as with all displays, there’s room for improvement. Soneira was especially impressed with the new iPad Pro’s color accuracy. While the 12.9-inch iPad Pro got edged out by Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 last year in terms of noticeable color differences, the smaller iPad Pro has retaken the throne. “It is visually indistinguishable from perfect, and is very likely considerably better than any mobile display, monitor, TV or UHD TV that you have,” Soneira wrote. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro also set a record among tablets and smartphones for low screen reflectance—an often-overlooked quality that helps the screen remain legible in bright ambient light. Although the iPad Air 2 was already a top performer in this category, the new iPad Pro does even better, thanks to an anti-reflection coating that kept out all but 1.7 percent of ambient light in DisplayMate’s tests. Despite Soneira’s high praise for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, he noted display tech can always get better. A major challenge, he said, is preservation of image quality and readability in bright light, where color saturation gets lost. Future innovations could include “tunable Quantum Dots, special phosphors, fluorescent films or discrete Blue, Green and Red LEDs in order to implement the necessary large Color Gamuts.” DisplayMate’s tests also took into account the iPad Pro’s ballyhooed True Tone display feature, which automatically adjusts white point and color balance based on ambient light to look more like physical paper. Soneira didn’t seem so enthused about this feature, saying he’d like to see a slider to make the effect more or less pronounced. Soneira also reviewed Apple’s Night Shift feature, which reduces blue light as the evening goes on, though the feature isn’t likely to help with sleep as much as Apple claims. Soneira previously told Macworld that these features may not accomplish much beyond a placebo effect and subconscious behavioral changes, and has written his own piece on what consumers can do when using displays at night.

2016-04-12 13:00 Jared Newman www.itnews.com

85 Hootsuite releases APIs for publishing, user management and Ow.ly Social media management platform Hootsuite on Tuesday rolled out a trio of open APIs for publishing, user management, and the link-shortening service Ow.ly. The rollout marks the first time Hootsuite has opened up its platform to developers. The APIs are designed to let businesses connect social data and various Hootsuite functionality to their existing platforms. For instance, the publishing API connects the Hootsuite platform to a company's CRM platform, content management system, or other content creation portal. The idea is to give someone like a social media manager a centralized content hub where they can publish social media posts directly from within a company's preferred technology platform. The user management API allows for the automated management of Hootsuite user accounts within existing enterprise systems like CRMs. Hootsuite said the API can be used to automate the onboarding of new users as well as for policy control from existing technologies. Hootsuite's Ow.ly API can be used to automatically synchronize click stats from Hoostuite with existing dashboard and reporting systems to consolidate visualization and analytics for social posts. "By opening up access to the Hootsuite platform, we empower businesses to get more value out of Hootsuite and our best-of-breed partner ecosystem to provide meaningful customer experiences and interactions," said Patience Yi, VP of Platform at Hootsuite. Beyond the APIs, Hootsuite has been looking to all corners of its business as it aims to bolster its platform for more enterprise appeal. Last month, Vancouver, British Columbia-based Hootsuite announced plans to acquire Sales Prodigy, a mobile app that offers social selling tools for businesses. The company plans to integrate Sales Prodigy's technology into its platform to make it easier for business users to engage with prospective customers in real time on social media. In November, Hootsuite tightened its ties to Microsoft with a series of platform integrations with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Office 365, and SharePoint, along with more capabilities tied into Yammer. And last summer the company partnered with IBM in a commitment to move its App Directory, a marketplace of social applications, to IBM's SoftLayer cloud infrastructure.

2016-04-12 13:00 Natalie Gagliordi zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

86 HTC releasing Boost+ for all Android devices, designed to optimize performance One of the new pieces of HTC software included on the HTC 10 is Boost+. HTC is providing this application to non-HTC devices as well and it should appear in the Google Play Store within the next couple of days. HTC Boost+ is designed to optimize the performance of your device. We've seen utilities like this from other manufacturers, such as LG's Smart Cleaning. Boost+ will help you optimize, declutter, fortify, and maximize your device's performance. HTC Boost+ comes preloaded on the new HTC 10 so I've been using it for the past couple of weeks. When you launch the app, a quick status check is performed with the storage and memory status appearing around a circle at the top of the display. Below this you will see buttons for the following: While Boost+ is available for non-HTC devices, there are a couple limitations on what is available for these devices. Game battery boost and manage apps are not available for these non- HTC devices. Smart boost is enabled by default on HTC devices. Boost+ is powered by HTC Corporation. HTC has been developing mobile software since the first Android devices, with a focus on delivering the best user experience for customers.

2016-04-12 12:47 Matthew Miller zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

87 IBM puts Watson to work on cancer with new patient-adviser tool IBM is developing a new weapon in the battle against cancer that will put Watson to work in a new way. Partnering with the American Cancer Society, IBM is building a virtual adviser that uses machine learning to give patients personalized information and advice. The adviser will begin by looking at the type of cancer the patient has, the stage of the disease and the treatments administered so far. Using that and other data, it will try to offer care advice and answer patients' questions. Watson's voice recognition and natural language processing will enable users to ask questions and receive audible responses. A person with breast cancer, for instance, could ask the adviser what might be causing her pain. Having learned from the experiences of people with similar characteristics, the tool can respond with information about symptoms and options for self care based on the patient's situation. Over time, the adviser will become increasingly personalized as it learns more about the user, resulting in recommendations that match her preferences, such as for online support groups over telephone calls. To create the tool, IBM and the cancer society will tap their massive combined stores of data and use it to train Watson. Included in that data will be Cancer.org's 14,000 pages of detailed information on more than 70 cancer topics as well as the cancer society's National Cancer Information Center’s aggregated data about self-management, support groups, wellness activities and cancer education. The tool will also surface insights from IBM's Watson Health Cloud . "It’s about providing the right information to the right people at the right time,” said Gary Reedy, CEO of the cancer society. More than 1.6 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year. IBM's effort is one of several in the tech industry that aim to make it easier to share and analyze large amounts of data to help treat patients and, ultimately, advance cures for diseases. Intel has a project called the Collaborative Cancer Cloud , for instance, which will allow hospitals and universities to more easily share genomic, imaging and clinical patient data for research purposes. Ultimately, the cancer society and IBM aim to integrate their patient adviser with IBM’s Watson for Oncology offering for doctors. In related news, IBM on Tuesday also launched a new program called the IBM Health Corps that aims to help communities address health challenges around the world.

2016-04-12 12:40 Katherine Noyes www.computerworld.com

88 The Great Availability Challenge: Bridging The Gap Between Business And IT Availability -- a characteristic that describes whether a resource is operable and capable of performing its designated function -- is a frequently discussed topic in the IT sector. In today’s world, in which everyone has a mobile device and is connected all the time, enterprises must offer always-on services to stay competitive. Thus, availability has become relevant to the business as well as to IT. Unfortunately, the gap that often exists between business and IT is one of the greatest hindrances to availability. Understanding Availability From Different Perspectives In my role as an availability consultant, I regularly use a model that distinguishes availability requirements on the following three levels: Availability is relevant on all these levels, but depending on their backgrounds, people tend to use different terms to express availability requirements. Working from a central model will help create a foundation for business and IT to understand each other. Getting Clarity On Availability Requirements Understanding and then harmonizing the requirements across the business, service, and component view is key to ensuring overall availability needs are met. I have seen mismatches in many cases. In engagements with IT organizations, I often see situations in which high availability is realized for all types of components regardless of whether they are critical for the business. This leads to unnecessary costs and can become a competitive disadvantage. On the other hand, if an IT solution is built in a way that is below the required availability level, the business risk can be higher than expected. Clarifying the availability requirements is important to understanding whether the actual implementation truly satisfies what is needed. An assessment should start from the business perspective, include IT services, and then define the availability for the individual IT components. These requirements must be translated into a level-specific language to ensure a common understanding. Use cases and what-if scenarios are good ways to help facilitate the alignment between stakeholders. Agreeing On Improvement Measures A clear understanding is necessary to conduct risk assessments and make investment decisions. Putting IT investments into the perspective of business requirements and ensuring the traceability of IT operations or maintenance activities back to business relevance is important for any organization since it helps IT leaders demonstrate their business acumen and contributions to a company’s overall success. Once everyone knows and understands the required availability across all levels, agreements can be made on the improvement measures that should be taken.

2016-04-12 12:40 Jens Rathgeber www.informationweek.com

89 iPhone SE early adopters complain of borked Bluetooth and 'distorted' GPS THE NEWLY-RELEASED iPhone SE has already found itself in the bad books, with users complaining that the handsets' Bluetooth audio functionality is borked. As spotted by MacRumours , iPhone SE early adopters have taken to Apple's support forums to moan about the handsets' shoddy audio quality when its hooked up to a Bluetooth headset. The issue appears to be affecting all Bluetooth- earpiece-waring iPhone SE owners, with many noting that the same problem wasn't present on their iPhone 6S. "I have a new iPhone SE and have so far paired it to a 2014 BMW 328i and a 2011 Kia Optima and a 2015 Kia Santa Fe," one user said. "In all cases, I have terrible quality bluetooth call reception... the audio while on a phone call is extremely scratchy and distorted. If I pair an iPhone 6S to each of these vehicles (same iOS version - 9.3.1), I do NOT experience these issues and calls are clear. " Another moaned: "I actually had to return my SE back to Verizon because my Bluetooth calls reception quality was terrible. Playing music or YouTube videos through the Bluetooth was excellent but when it came to phone calls, the sound was constantly cutting in and out and sounded "scratchy" and distorted. " Other users on the forum reports that their GPS has gone tits up, too, with one user complaining "GPS navigation is massively distorted and static-y to the point of unbearable". Apple has yet to respond to the problem, but one user on the firm's support forum said that he has spoke to the firm, which is reportedly working to fix the Bluetooth issue as priority. "I have been working with a high level support person who has assured me he is working directly with engineering," they said. "Apple has very much become engaged in this issue. They have had me do extensive testing of various conditions in order to document and troubleshoot. "Further, there is an internal 'Issue' board and tracking system for Apple support and this BT issue is on the top of the list. It was conveyed to me that this has become a very real issue internally and resources are now committed to its resolution. " There's no word yet as to whether a fix is coming for the apparent GPS problems too. µ

2016-04-12 12:37 Carly Page www.theinquirer.net

90 Intel on the cheap: Chip maker ships $15 IoT developer board At $15, the Quark Microcontroller Developer Kit D2000 is perhaps the least expensive computer Intel has ever shipped. The single-board computer has all the components mashed onto a tiny circuit board. It can be used to develop gadgets, wearables, home automation products, industrial equipment and other Internet of Things products. Developers could also use the computer to hook up sensors for temperature, light, sound, weather and distance to devices. The developer board is now available from Mouser Electronics. It will also be available from Avnet, according to Intel. Intel is targeting companies developing IoT devices and the community of do-it-yourself hardware makers with the new board. These boards typically provide a cheap way to prototype electronics or to make fun devices. Intel is following Atmel, SparkFun, and other vendors that develop inexpensive boards. This board can't be compared to a high-powered board computer like Raspberry Pi 3, which can double as a PC. The Intel board is smaller, consumes much less power and has a much slower CPU. Intel has shown examples of how such developer boards can be used. Its Curie board was used on snowboards at X Games to capture and provide real-time information on speed, the height of a jump, and other statistics to viewers and athletes. Intel has been partnering with well-known products and TV shows to establish its brand recognition with makers, but the core community hasn't warmed up to the chip maker's products yet. Developer boards are mostly ARM-based, but the $15 board could provide Intel a breakthrough in the maker community. The new developer board has the Quark D2000 microcontroller, which operates at a speed of 32MHz, the same frequency as the Quark chip on the button-sized Curie board. The Intel board has a six-axis accelerometer, a magnetometer with a temperature sensor, and one USB 2.0 port. It also has a coin cell battery slot and a 5-volt power input. The board is compatible with the hardware specifications of Arduino Uno, a popular software development tool with makers. A development kit called Intel System Studio for Microcontrollers, which is based on the Eclipse integrated development environment, is also included in the kit.

2016-04-12 12:28 Agam Shah www.computerworld.com

91 Microsoft's Skype upgrades for Android, iOS apps are only for Office 365 subscribers Skype users who subscribe to Microsoft’s Office 365 but use Android or iOS hardware have received some significant upgrades: screen sharing on both platforms, as well as a cellular fallback option in case your connectivity goes south. Screen, or “content,” sharing was already present on the Skype for Business iOS app, but has now been added to Android. Microsoft also acknowledged that content sharing on iOS hadn't been ideal, making upgrades to significantly reduce the latency when content is shared, and to cut the app's power consumption by between 10 percent and 15 percent. If Skype senses that the cellular network is going to drop the conversation, it will offer to switch to a voice call instead. This Office 365 subset of Skype users will receive another, handy addition: When you’re using your phone on the go, you might roam through an area of poor or weak signal. If that happens, the Skype for Business app promises to proactively alert you that your meeting may be affected. You can opt for Skype to call you back on your voice-only cellular number to continue the call. This option is available on both iOS and Android, but you’ll have to have the Enterprise Voice technology enabled.

2016-04-12 12:26 Mark Hachman www.itnews.com

92 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicts VR headsets will look like glasses in a decade When Facebook launched in 2004, CEO Mark Zuckerbeg couldn’t have imagined that his fledgling social network would one day build a solar- powered plane that would beam Internet connectivity to remote areas. That’s happening right now: It’s called Aquila, and it flys 60,000 feet above the ground for months at a time to connect the world. This plane is part of Zuckerberg’s vision for the next year. But he also has incredibly specific long-term goals, like this one: In 10 years, virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift will look like your average pair of prescription glasses with the ability to view VR worlds and augmented reality overlays at the same time. Zuckerberg outlined Facebook’s 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year roadmaps during the opening keynote of F8, the network’s annual developer conference. Facebook’s highest priorities are virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and bringing Internet connectivity to the entire globe. A rendering of what Facebook’s VR/AR glasses will look like. The company is obviously hyper-focused on VR right now , with the Rift’s consumer release last month and the launch of Samsung’s more affordable Gear VR headset late last year. But right now, the headsets are used primarily for gaming. Facebook has bigger plans. Zuckerberg said the company is working on social experiences for VR headsets that will let Facebook users hang out in virtual spaces. Right now, that experience looks pretty rudimentary, with avatars representing real people playing simple games. But Facebook is dreaming up a richer landscape to bring your social network to life. The company is also envisioning the day when VR headsets like the Rift are glasses that offer virtual reality worlds and augmented reality overlays in one device. It’s “going to take a long time to make this work,” Zuckerberg said. “But when we get to this world, a lot of things that we think about as physical objects today, like a TV to display an image, will just be $1 apps in the app store,” Zuckerberg said. “This is the vision, this is what we’re trying to get to in the next 10 years.” Facebook uses artificial intelligence to determine which stories to show you in your News Feed, but that effort is pretty low-tech compared to what Facebook is working on. Chat bots in Messenger can help you stay informed. “In the future, we’re going to be able to look at photos and videos and understand what’s in them,” Zuckerberg said. “We’re going to be able to read the articles and know what they’re about.” Zuckerberg thinks AI will eventually be able to diagnose diseases based on photos you upload. But today, AI is coming to Facebook Messenger. Facebook launched Messenger Platform so developers can build AI-powered chatbots that you can converse with when you need information. It’s particularly useful when you want to avoid dealing with businesses on the phone. Companies will use Messenger in different ways. CNN can send you news headlines and you can send a message to read the full story, get a summary of the story, or ask CNN questions about it. If you want to send a bouquet, 1–800-Flowers is using Messenger to show you floral arrangements and let you place an order without having to actually call 1–800-Flowers. The future is now. Connecting the world requires scale, which Facebook has already achieved. Every time Zuckerberg speaks in public, he talks about Facebook’s mission of connecting the world. That mission includes Aquila, the solar-powered Internet delivery plane. It also includes a satellite the company is launching in space to connect sub-Saharan Africa. Facebook also has plans to improve connectivity on the ground in rural and urban areas with two systems it will dive into tomorrow, Aries and Terragraph. The company is still committed to its Free Basic program, which has run into opposition in countries like India, where the program was banned for running afoul of net neutrality tenets. Facebook just launched a Free Basics simulator so developers can build apps that will help people access the Internet in areas with spotty connectivity or none at all. The company is also building open-sourced infrastructure for telephone companies. “The idea is if we can make it cheaper for telcos to operature their mobile infrastructure, then some of those savings will be passed on to people in the form of lower data prices,” Zuckerberg said. If F8 is any indication, Facebook has grand ambitions. Some of Zuckerberg’s big plans, like the VR/AR glasses, require the company to scale products like Rift to a large audience before creating an ecosystem around them. But unlike many companies, Facebook actually has products with more than 500 million users. Facebook itself has more than a billion users. It has reached scale many times over. Its plans for the next decade don’t seem so crazy.

2016-04-12 12:22 Caitlin McGarry www.itnews.com

93 Why it makes perfect sense for Dropbox to leave AWS On March 14th, 2016 Dropbox publicly announced that they are moving out of the Amazon cloud. It makes perfect sense for Dropbox but should not be an excuse for a reluctant IT department not to proceed with their cloud implementation plans. Here are some of the reasons why it is the right move for Dropbox but unwise for a corporate IT department. Dropbox is far from being the dominant player in the cloud storage. Google Drive, One Drive and Box offer competing alternatives that are not difficult to migrate to. Likewise, AWS faces tough pricing pressures from their competitors. Dropbox earns their profit margins on the difference between their technology investments and earnings from the services. So does AWS. Both compete with other cloud services providers in their respective areas. Each of them needs to keep lowering the costs while also earning money. Unlike a corporate IT department, Dropbox is a technology-first company for whom IT is a profit center. With heavy investment in technology they are able to innovate and invent new approaches to distributed storage. In his Wired article on Dropbox exodus from AWS, Cade Metz says : Over the last two-and-a-half years, Dropbox built its own vast computer network and shifted its service onto a new breed of machines designed by its own engineers, all orchestrated by a software system built by its own programmers with a brand new programming language. Only a handful of corporate IT departments with tech-company budgets can afford to invent their own hardware, network storage protocols, and programming languages. The vast majority of corporate IT departments rely on old guard vendors whose main source of income is in milking of the installed base. In his article called “How To Find the Next Generation of IT Leaders” IDG contributor Esteban Herrera writes : Corporate IT is not sexy. In my generation, IT was an attractive career. We knew the Internet would shake things up, and corporations had big appetites -- and big dollars -- for people who could implement and manage corporate systems. Today, few young people get excited about a career in corporate IT. For one thing, they know it is a job they could lose to outsourcing -- they might as well work for the service provider and have more job security. The truth is most won’t even do that. Young people with technology skills want to be with Google, Uber, Amazon or the next Facebook. Not only do these employers offer fun, millennial-friendly work environments, they also offer jobs that are quite lucrative, and their employees can enjoy knowing they really are changing the world. Dropbox is routinely listed in the top tier of the most desirable companies to work for. Dropbox employees consider Dropbox the best company to work for and write articles on what it is like to work there. Try as they might, corporate IT departments simply do not have the budget and the culture to compete for the top talent. Outsourcing is a simple manifestation of the capitalist division of labor, in which one company hires another to do something that they can’t do on their own. Cloud computing commoditizes routine and yet expensive tasks such as infrastructure and data center maintenance. Dropbox’s decision to roll their own cloud infrastructure does not mean that AWS is inadequate for more traditional corporate IT. IT departments should only roll their own technologies if they have the budget and the talent to do it better than a cloud provider.

2016-04-12 12:20 Oleg Dulin www.computerworld.com

94 This is how much a huge cyberattack on the power grid could really cost An attack on the UK's power distribution network could cost the country's economy between £12bn and £85bn. Governments have long worried about the potential for a cyberattack on their country's critical national infrastructure, and now researchers have attempted to calculate just how much such an event would cost the economy. The report by University of Cambridge researchers models the economic impact of a coordinated and sustained cyberattack on the UK's power distribution networks. The calculations are based on a theoretical cyberattack carried out by a rogue employee with the backing of a nation state. It concludes that a widespread cyberattack on a piece of the UK's critical national infrastructure could cost the country tens of billions of pounds. The paper was written by academics from Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, part of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, and sponsored by Lockheed Martin. UK boosts spending on cyber army to launch hack attacks on enemies The UK's Strategic Defence and Security Review earmarks more spending on cyber offensive capabilities. In the model, the disruption is caused by installing malicious hardware in 65 or more substations in south east England -- expanding to 95 and 125 substations in the "extreme" versions of the scenario. This hardware allows the attackers to trigger rolling blackouts across the region during winter, shutting down parts of the London area, and impacting all aspects of the UK economy. In the most limited scenario, such an attack would cost the UK's economy £12bn, and cut £49bn from gross domestic product over five years. In the most severe scenario that rises to £85bn -- and £442bn over five years -- slashing 2.3 percent off the UK's GDP over the period. In the basic scenario the UK is able to recover quickly -- within just three weeks compared to 12 weeks for the most extreme attack. But even this would see roughly nine million people hit by the blackouts, alongside disruption to 800,000 train and 150,000 air passenger journeys each day. In the most extreme scenario, these impact rises to 13 million affected, with one million and 330,200 rail and air travel tickets cancelled. The researchers predict that financial services, retail, real estate, and professional services would be the industries hit hardest. The researchers said they consulted with the UK power industry, as well as government and industry regulators for the study, but aren't suggesting an attack is coming -- or that there are weaknesses in the power grid. Simon Ruffle, director of technology and innovation at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Risk Studies, said: "Through hyper-connectivity, we have created fantastic opportunities for smarter infrastructure use that also bring with them a complex set of cyber risks for the foreseeable future. " An attack on such a scale -- especially one where a disgruntled worker is able to introduce so much rogue hardware across the power network -- is an extremely unlikely scenario. It's often noted that squirrels or downed trees are much more of a danger to the power supply than hackers. However, what is clear is that attacks on power grid infrastructure have already occurred: earlier this year Ukraine suffered power outages after hackers gained access to industrial control systems. And US law enforcement has warned that terrorists have shown interest in attacking the power grid there, too -- although they lack the skills to do any damage. As more companies connect industrial control systems to the internet, there is an increasing fear that such attacks will become more likely, and that state-sponsored hackers in particular are probing such systems and cataloguing weaknesses which could potentially be used in any future conflict. The UK government has listed cyberthreats as a 'tier one' security issue alongside international terrorism, war, and natural disasters, noting as long ago as 2010 that: "Attacks in cyberspace can have a potentially devastating real-world effect. Government, military, industrial and economic targets, including critical services, could feasibly be disrupted by a capable adversary. " 2016-04-12 12:19 Steve Ranger zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

95 Zuckerberg teases Aries and Terragraph projects to expand data networks Facebook plans to unveil two projects on Wednesday that promise to improve Internet connectivity for users in cities and urban areas. The two, called Aries and Terragraph, will be detailed at its F8 conference in San Francisco, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday. Together, they represent an extension of Facebook's connectivity efforts that so far have been most closely identified with Aquila, a high- flying drone designed by the company to beam down an Internet signal to remote areas. Getting people online and keeping them connected is key to Facebook's expansion plans. After all, it won't be able to persuade new users to come to its services if the Internet connection isn't reliable. "Tomorrow, you’re going to hear about two powerful new systems we’ve built to improve connectivity on the ground in urban and rural areas," Zuckerberg said during a keynote speech to developers. As he spoke, photographs of the two hardware projects were displayed on a screen. Images of Facebook's Aries and Terragraph systems. In previewing the announcement, Zuckerberg didn't give anything away, but both appear to be pieces of wireless networking gear. Aries appears to have multiple antennas that could be used to more accurately serve signals to particular areas or create small cells to improve the use of wireless bandwidth. Terragraph appears to have four antennas, each casting a wide beam around a central mast. Zuckerberg estimated around a billion people are currently not on the Internet because they live in areas with poor or no connectivity. A Facebook screen informs users of the Globe and Touch Mobile networks in the Philippines that a basic version of the service can be used free of data charges.

2016-04-12 12:17 Martyn Williams www.computerworld.com

96 Brits suffer more than 2,000 ransomware attacks each day DON'T PANIC but the amount of cyber crime bashing the UK is increasing, at least according to Symantec and one of its regular round robin threat missives. The Symantec 2016 Internet Security Threat Report warned that threats are rising in several areas. The firm logged an international increase of 35 percent in crypto-ransomware attacks, the UK taking the third largest chunk with up to 2,215 attacks a day. Some of the best advice from the security community is to use strong passwords, a suggestion Symantec makes in its summaries and guidance information. The security firm said that the enemy is now more organised than ever before, and that most groups have the same kind of resources, skills and support as nation-state hacker groups. "Advanced criminal attack groups now echo the skills of nation-state attackers. They have extensive resources and a highly skilled technical staff that operate with such efficiency that they maintain normal business hours and even take the weekends and holidays off," said Kevin Haley, director of Symantec Security Response. "We are even seeing low-level criminal attackers create call centre operations to increase the impact of their scams. " These sophisticated hackers are often the first to embrace zero-day vulnerabilities, which increased by 125 percent in 2015 to 54. "Meanwhile, malware increased at a staggering rate with 430 million new variants discovered in 2015. The sheer volume of malware proves that professional cyber criminals are using their vast resources to overwhelm defences and enter corporate networks," said Symantec. The numbers keep on coming. Over 500 million personal information records were stolen over the past 12 months, and one leak involved 191 million records. There were nine major breaches during the period. Most large businesses will find themselves attacked at least three times a year, according to the report, and only 15 percent will be open enough to talk about them. "The increasing number of companies choosing to hold back critical details after a breach is a disturbing trend," said Haley. "Transparency is critical to security. By hiding the full impact of an attack, it becomes more difficult to assess the risk and improve your security posture to prevent future attacks. " Ransomware attacks by a third during the period, and are now more aggressive and damaging. The attacks have spread from Windows to Android smartphones and Mac and Linux machines. The report also noted a resurgence in fake technical support calls. There were 7.6 million of these calls in 2015, and the UK got the second largest amount. µ To hear more about security challenges, the threats they pose and how to combat them, sign up for The INQUIRER sister site Computing's Enterprise Security and Risk Management conference , taking place on 24 November.

2016-04-12 12:14 Dave Neal www.theinquirer.net

97 HTC 10: Specs sublime, powered amp, BoomSound speakers better than ever Three years ago I purchased the HTC One and awarded it the title of the best smartphone I have ever used. I haven't felt as passionately about an HTC device since the One M7... until now. I've been using the new HTC 10 daily for the last couple of weeks (full review coming very soon), and it's clear that HTC has returned to its roots with a fantastic aluminum unibody design, revolutionary BoomSound stereo speakers, ear-blowing headset audio quality that brought out my emotions when listening to music, decent rear and front cameras with OIS, long battery life, and more. HTC needed a hit device and after stumbling last year with the One M9 I am pleased to see a device as worthy of HTC design as the HTC 10. Forget Apple vs. Samsung. There's no stopping China in the smartphone war The problem comes down to industry commoditization. As you can see below in the specifications list, HTC has a couple of standout features from the rest of the pack. These include front and rear cameras both with optical image stabilization (OIS), UltraPixel 2 rear camera with 1.55 µm pixel size, a 5.2 inch Super LCD 5 display with 564 ppi, and the return of HTC's iconic BoomSound stereo speakers. The only specification that someone might have an issue with is the use of a non-removable battery, but HTC gave that up years ago as it went with a focus on refined design rather than having a removable battery. Given my experiences of using it as a daily driver over the past couple of weeks, users will be satisfied with the integrated 3,000 mAh battery. It's also difficult to integrate water resistance with a metal design so you won't find that here on the HTC 10. HTC stated that the HTC 10 has an IP53 rating, which means it is resistant to spray, rain, mist, and other typical daily usage. Don't dunk it, swim with it, or take a shower with it though. The rear camera uses UltraPixel 2 technology, which means a pixel size of 1.55µm. The UltraSelfie 5 megapixel front-facing camera has a pixel size of 1.34µm and also has OIS. HTC continues its tradition of aluminum unibody design with the HTC 10. It chamfered the front and back edges in order to make it appear thinner when held in your hand or placed down on a table. The HTC 10 incorporates 2.5D curved glass so that the entire front is one piece of glass that melds into the metal body. It's quite a departure from what we have seen in the past from HTC, but it looks, feels, and functions well. The power button has defined ridges and is easy to find and activate. The BoomSound speakers are radically different with the top one integrated into the handset speaker and the bottom one positioned on the bottom. They are tuned together with one as a tweeter and one as a woofer to offer a fabulous stereo BoomSound experience. The headphone jack has an amp that provides two times the power of a conventional headphone amp, along with the ability to upscale from 16-bit to 24-bit audio, and sounds stunning. I started out using the low-priced HTC Active earphones and honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing from the HTC 10. The HTC 10 also ships with Hi-Res audio certified earphones. The earphones feature an 8µm thin aerospace polymer diaphragm and 70% oversized drivers, treating the listener to richer sound and twice the frequency range. JBL and HTC will also be bringing you the world's first USB-C sport earphones with noise cancellation and adaptive noise control. As stated by HTC, "JBL Reflect Aware C earphones combine sweat-proof design with digital audio and battery- free active noise cancellation, so you can shut the outside world out and enjoy better-than-CD level music. " The fingerprint sensor is modeled after the one we saw on the HTC One A9. It's extremely fast and has performed nearly perfectly for me over the past two weeks. I prefer front-facing fingerprint scanners where I can unlock a device resting on my desk so it's great to see it used again here on the HTC 10. The HTC 10 will be offered in Carbon Grey, Glacier Silver, Topaz Gold and Camellia Red. I'm testing out a Glacier Silver model. HTC will also offer a new Ice View case with a semi-transparent front cover that shows you notifications while allowing you to capture images or control your music. In the U. S., the HTC 10 will be available across multiple wireless providers including Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile. Carriers will soon make announcements regarding availability, pricing, and color options. The better option for AT&T, T-Mobile, and GSM customers will be to purchase the HTC 10 directly from HTC as an Unlocked edition. This Unlocked edition will be available for preorder beginning today, 12 April, with shipping scheduled for early May. The Unlocked edition from HTC.com comes in Glacier Silver and Carbon Gray with a price of $699. The major benefit of purchasing the Unlocked edition from HTC is that it comes with UH OH Protection, which includes one replacement at no charge within the first 12 months of ownership for a cracked screen or water damage. My full review will be posted here on ZDNet soon, but in the meantime I can share a few brief initial impressions. There's a lot more to discuss and all will be revealed soon. If there is anything in particular you want me to comment on in my review, please leave a comment on this post.

2016-04-12 12:00 Matthew Miller zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

98 50% off Tripp Lite Rotatable Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip - Deal Alert If you're in the market for a full featured power strip with surge-protection, this model from Tripp Lite may be worth reviewing, especially given the current 50% discount. The TLP608RUSBB averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from nearly 600 customers ( browse reviews ). With a list price of $54, you can purchase now via Amazon for just $27.12 . The strip is mountable, and its 6 outlets are rotatable, so it can be placed anywhere and each cord is conveniently free to run in its own direction. Also convenient is its 8 foot long cord and 2 built-in USB charging ports. The most critical spec though may be the AC surge protection which guards against voltage spikes, and comes backed by a lifetime warranty and $50,000 Ultimate Lifetime Insurance for any connected components damaged by a power surge. If you need one, or need to upgrade your existing ones, jump over to Amazon to access this deal and review buying options.

2016-04-12 11:59 DealPost Team www.computerworld.com

99 iPhone 7 Plus UK release date, specs & features rumours: Apple's next iPhone could feature dual-cameras, wireless charging and wireless headphones The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are only five months old, but rumours are already flooding in about Apple's next iPhones, presumably called the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. We're expecting big things from the new phones including the possibility of dual-cameras and wireless charging. After the 21 March 2016 Apple event, it is clear that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will arrive in September of 2016. Read on to find out all of the latest iPhone 7 Plus rumours, including iPhone 7 Plus UK release date speculation and potential new features. (If you do want to keep tabs on what was launched at the March 21 event, head over to one of our iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7in. Here's also the latest on the Apple Watch 2 ) You might also like: Best smartphones 2016 and Best new phones you should be excited about. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were unveiled on 9 September 2015 and were released shortly after, and prior to that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also launched on 9 September in 2014, so it's quite possible that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will launch on 9 September 2016. The only flaw in that theory is that the 9 September will fall on a Friday in 2016, and Apple tends to host its events on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, so a more likely suggestion would be 6 September or 13 September. We're expecting Apple to keep the pricing for its iPhones the same when it launches new models next year. For the past two iPhone releases, Apple has kept pricing the same, which would mean the iPhone 7 Plus will be priced at £619 for the 16GB model, £699 for the 64GB model and £789 for the 128GB model. There's also rumours that the iPhone 7 Plus might feature a 256GB SanDisk NAND flash chip, which might mean we could be getting more storage for less; where the 16GB model might be scrapped and the base price of £619 might be for the 64GB variant. However, Apple makes a premium on higher capacity storage models so keeping the 16GB model in order to tempt users to upgrade is certainly likely as a continued strategy. Apple's iPhone cycle tends to follow a 'tick' and 'tock' sort of model, with the tick being the main iPhone update such as the iPhone 6, which generally looks quite different from the previous model, and then the secondary iPhone update such as the iPhone 6s, which looks almost identical to the iPhone 6 but has some big spec changes. That's why we think the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will look quite different from the current iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus design. We think it'll still come in Silver, Gold, Space Grey and Rose Gold colour options, but we might see some other changes when it comes to the overall look and feel of the phone. Apple could well decide to bump the screen size up from 5.5in on the iPhone 6s Plus to 5.7in on the iPhone 7 Plus, with the smaller model bumping up from 4.7in to 5in, but rather than increasing the overall size of the phone itself, we expect Apple will aim to increase the screen- to-body ratio. This could be achieved by an edge-to-edge screen, perhaps, something that's been rumoured to be in the works at Apple for a while now and Apple has actually patented. Apple called the technology "Sidewall displays" and describes how parts of the display would be on the side of the phone a lot like the Galaxy Note Edge, S6 Edge and S6 Edge Plus. The iPhone 7 Plus may also be thinner thanks to a new headphone jack that's rumoured to be coming with the next iPhone. According to Apple Insider, Apple has patented a new, slimmer headphone jack technology called D Jack, which has a diameter of just 2mm to allow the iPhone to be thinner overall. This could also allow the iPhone 7 Plus to feature a dual speaker design. We might also see a complete removal of the headphone jack, where the audio output would be from the Lightning port or over Bluetooth. Apple might provide a set of wired headphones in the box which have a Lightning connector and sell a Lightning-to-3.5mm minijack as an option if you want to use conventional headphones. Apparently, Apple has registered the name AirPods, which could be a new wireless set of headphones for the new iPhone. The iPhone 7 Plus could be waterproof, too, as Apple has recently patented waterproofing technology that doesn't compromise design. Instead, it coats all of the important components inside the phone to make it waterproof without requiring outer armour. There's more on the design front from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo , well known for revealing details of new iPhones who told Mac Rumours : "We expect the 2017 new iPhone model to adopt a structural design similar to that of iPhone 4/ 4s, meaning it will be equipped with glass on both the front and back sides, and a metal frame surrounded the edges. The difference is that the new model will likely come with a curved screen and curved glass casing, with other important features including a 5.8-inch AMOLED display, wireless charging, and more biometric recognitions (facial or iris). Given the curved design, the new model may look smaller than an existing 5.5-inch iPhone. " Although he's talking about the 2017 new iPhone this could still be the iPhone 7 since most of its time as the flagship phone will be spent in 2017 following a late-2016 launch. The iPhone 6s Plus saw the introduction of an impressive new 12Mp iSight camera, up from 8Mp in the previous model. We think that the 12Mp camera will remain in the iPhone 7 Plus, as it's already an impressive snapper for a smartphone. However, it has been rumoured that the iPhone 7 Plus will feature dual-cameras , based on tech acquired in 2015 from LinX Imaging. This could follow in the footsteps of Huawei, which has put twin cameras on the P9. If true, you can expect improved noise reduction, indoor photos, low- light photos and 3D depth mapping. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told MacRumors he thinks both single- and dual-camera versions of the phone are in development, and that a 2-3x optical zoom function is likely to feature in the iPhone 7 Plus. Pictured below is an image render from Feld & Volk, a premium iPhone modification company. An area Apple might improve is screen resolution. At present, the iPhone 6s Plus offers 401ppi, but rivals such as Samsung and LG have with Quad- and Ultra-HD screens with pixel densities well above 500ppi, However, we suspect Apple will stick with 400ppi, which is plenty for sharp- looking images. There's only minor benefits to higher densities, and plenty of disadvantages such as the cost of manufacturing, higher battery drain and slower 3D performance (if running apps and games at the native resolution). We've already got the 3D Touch functionality in the iPhone 6s, which has opened up a whole new way of interacting with the iPhone, but it's possible that the display could become a Touch ID display too, which could sense your fingerprint and securely unlock the phone wherever you touch on a screen and therefore remove the need for the Home button. It's very likely that the processor will be improved, too, with a new A10 processor and M10 motion co-processor likely to make an appearance, and we could see a bump up from 2GB RAM to 3GB, although that seems less plausible as the iPhone 6 and earlier all had 1GB. There are some rumours stemming from Bloomberg that suggest the next iPhone will feature wireless charging, yet the truth is this is much more likely to come in 2017 with the iPhone 7s Plus. According to the site, " Apple is exploring cutting-edge technologies that would allow iPhones and iPads to be powered from further away than the charging mats used with current smartphones. " As for software, iOS 10 is expected, and this'll be shown off at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2016 and could give us some iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus clues. Specs summarised: To keep up with any recent Apple news on the Apple March event, here's our live blog!

2016-04-12 11:57 Jim Martin www.pcadvisor.co.uk

100 100 Sleepless? Use your Amazon Echo as a white noise machine Do you have a hard time falling asleep at night? Perhaps you might want to try adding some white noise and nature sounds to your bedtime regimen. White noise , which is characterized by sounds that are random that often occur in nature such as waterfalls, rain and ocean sounds (but also man- made, such as fans, air conditioning units, and others) can help you get a good night's rest. There are apps you can get for your mobile device that produce these sounds which you can pipe through a Bluetooth speaker or even an IoT streaming device like Amazon's Echo, which duplicate the effect of white noise machines. But you can actually make the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot play continuous white noise soundtracks without the use of an additional mobile device or software. It just requires use of playlists and the built-in loop function. See our gallery below to learn how to do this.

2016-04-12 11:50 Jason Perlow zdnet.com.feedsportal.com

Total 100 articles. Created at 2016-04-13 00:02