Computing

What Happens When Android Fails?
April 29, 2013

I've just finished doing yet another news program on the increasing risks of using an Android phone, and the discussions have started to drift to the potential for class-action lawsuits, commercial plane crashes, and cyberdisasters that would make 9/11 seem trivial -- all connected to this platform.

FOSS Fact or Fiction? A Tale of Two Surveys
April 29, 2013

It's a well-known fact that statistics can be manipulated to suit virtually every occasion and purpose, but every once in a while an example comes along that illustrates that rule with breathtaking clarity. Case in point? Two recent surveys on the topic of FOSS that came out in the very same week.

Wanted in Healthcare: More Wireless Devices for In-Home Patients
April 27, 2013

The machine-to-machine communications industry is undergoing a period of fundamental change and significant growth. Encouraged by declining chipset and sensor costs, manufacturers are increasingly embedding their products with wireless connectivity. Mobile operators and key players in industries as diverse as automotive, oil and gas, and healthcare all have a strong interest in pursuing this growing market.

LinkedIn Bundles a Personal Assistant Into New Contacts App
April 26, 2013

LinkedIn unveiled a new contacts application for Web and mobile users this week with the goal of helping members manage the relationships they build on the professional social network. The company is billing LinkedIn Contacts as a digital personal assistant. It will pull information from user address books, calendars, emails and previous LinkedIn activity to create a single virtual Rolodex.

Ubuntu 13.04 Emerges to Less-Than-Stellar Reviews
April 26, 2013

Canonical has released Ubuntu 13.04, also known as "Raring Ringtail," on the desktop. However, the release failed to thrill many reviewers, whose complaints included the point that Canonical had left out several features, including privacy protection and the Windows-based Ubuntu Installer.

Have Linux Distros Gotten Too Tubby?
April 25, 2013

The size of Linux's waistline has long been the focus of recurring attention here in the Linux blogosphere, even drawing occasional criticism from Linus Torvalds himself. Recently, however, a fresh weight-related complaint was made -- not about the kernel itself, but about today's Linux distros.

BitTorrent Sync Flies Around the Cloud
April 24, 2013

The peer-to-peer technology company BitTorrent this week introduced the alpha version of BitTorrent Sync, a service that will let people sync and transfer files between multiple devices. "There are no file size limits, and the speed of transfer is only limited by your Internet connection," said Brett Nishi, director of product management at BitTorrent.

All Things Appy: 5 Best Windows 8 Sports Apps
April 24, 2013

You can do a whole lot more than watch your favorite sports on television these days if you take advantage of a second screen. The concept is simple: The big TV screen provides the visual action, while your laptop or tablet dishes out in-depth analysis and social media commentary on the side. Windows 8 has some superb apps for this purpose.

Android: A Second Career in Security?
April 23, 2013

Many of us have a wealth of decommissioned corporate-provisioned mobile devices: We've bought them, handed them out, and seen them used successfully for years. Now they're on their way to the great docking station in the sky. However, because these devices are already off the books adapting them for specific security functions can mean achieving certain goals practically for free.

Samsung Tinkers With Mind-Controlled Tablet
April 22, 2013

Samsung is researching a system that would allow consumers to use thought control on a tablet computer, according to published reports. Together with Roozbeh Jafari, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, the company is testing how sensors and brainwaves could let users turn on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, launch applications, select contacts or choose songs from playlists.

Social Sharing May Be Eroding Office Security
April 22, 2013

It's no secret that security experts don't have a lot of love for social media. Information freely available at social media sites makes it easier for net marauders to fashion targeted attacks on organizations. However, social media may be undermining data security in a more profound way. Much has been made of the growing willingness of people to cough up personal information about themselves.

Farewell, Fuduntu: The Untimely Demise of a Winning Linux Distro
April 22, 2013

Last Monday delivered both death and taxes. April 15 was not only the day U.S. taxes were due, but also the day two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon. The magnitude of that tragedy is far beyond the scope of this column, of course, but Monday also brought a casualty -- albeit on a much smaller scale -- to those of us here in the Linux world. It wasn't a human death, fortunately.

Improving IT Ops Service Levels and Efficiency
April 22, 2013

New tools are available to help with service level management, but they require a new perspective on how IT infrastructure components should be managed. The key is to embrace a new ideal of managing every infrastructure component from the perspective of how it impacts end-user service levels. To do this, IT operations teams must understand the three laws of service-oriented IT operations management.

Mighty Microbattery Delivers Lightning-Fast Charge
April 19, 2013

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a super-dense battery that measures only a few millimeters, but can both store and release a lot of power, resolving a problem that has long plagued consumers and electronics manufacturers. Capacitors can release power very quickly but can't store much. Fuel cells and batteries can store power but release it slowly.

Google Grooms Chrome for the Office
April 19, 2013

Google this week introduced two new features for its Chrome browser in a move to bolster demand in the corporate sector. "There is a massive concern surrounding Google and privacy that generally has corporations avoiding this browser officially in favor of Firefox or Internet Explorer," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Is 'Linux' a Word Better Left Unspoken?
April 18, 2013

It's no secret that brand image is a crucial consideration in most any consumer product's success, and Linux is surely no exception. That's been a hot topic of conversation before, but recently it's popped up again with a fresh new twist. "The Linux Inside Stigma" was the title of the post that started the ball rolling this time, and rolled it has.

DDoS Attacks Hammering Targets Harder
April 17, 2013

The number, size and impact of distributed denial of service attacks increased sharply in the first quarter of this year, according to a new report from Prolexic. The average attack bandwidth in this period was 48.25 Gbps, 718 percent more than the 5.9 Gbps chalked up by attacks in the previous quarter. The average packet-per-second rate hit 32.4 million, and the average duration of an attack increased 7.14 percent.

Mystery Computer Problem Grounds All AA Flights
April 17, 2013

American Airlines created a nightmare for its customers for at least two hours Tuesday. Its electronic reservation system went down in the middle of the afternoon, forcing the carrier to hold all flights until after 4:30 p.m. ET. The incident may have exposed a rift between AA and Sabre, the company managing its computerized reservations system, which used to be part of the airline.

PC Slump Chips Away at Intel's Q1
April 17, 2013

Intel released a quarterly earnings report Tuesday that fell slightly short of already low expectations, thanks to weak worldwide PC sales. The world's largest computer chip manufacturer reported first quarter revenue of $12.6 billion, a 2 percent drop from the same time a year ago. Net income was $2 billion, or about 40 cents per share, compared with $2.7 billion, or 53 cents per share a year earlier.

HP Takes Leap of Faith Into Motion Control Tech
April 17, 2013

HP will be incorporating Leap Motion's motion control technology into some of its upcoming products, both companies confirmed Tuesday. Select PCs from HP bundled with Leap Motion's technology will be available this summer, HP spokesperson Cherie Britt told TechNewsWorld. Devices with the Leap Motion Controller technology embedded in them will come later.