Category: What’s On

The seemingly troubled life of an open source technology leader came to a sudden, premature end in San Francisco this week. Software engineer Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian Linux and later a senior staffer at Docker, died Monday at age 42 -- under circumstances that aren’t yet clear. Born in West Germany, Murdock (pictured) moved to the United States and attended Purdue University. In January 2006, he became chief technology officer of the Free Standards Group and was elected chair

It’s almost 2016, which must mean another iPhone is on the way. Not only will we be getting a new iPhone, but one with significant changes over previous models, if we are to believe the rumors. The release date may still be nine months away, but that shouldn’t stop us from parsing through the rumor mill. Reports are leaking out from Cupertino that Apple is considering a variety of upgrades to its flagship product when the iPhone 7 is released in

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, is continuing to advocate for his company’s plan to offer free but limited Internet access in India. Facebook’s Free Basics Internet service, formerly called Internet.org, has faced opposition in India, which has more people without Internet service than any other country. Critics of Zuckerberg’s plan have said that the service is contrary to Net neutrality, the principle that Internet providers allow equal access to all online content, and it also has the potential to discourage innovation and

Google Fiber, the gigabit-speed Internet service that is slowly rolling out to cities across the country, may soon have some competition from an established service provider. Philadelphia-based Comcast has announced that it is testing a new protocol known as DOCSIS 3.1, which it said has the potential to boost download speeds to the gigabit level. Unlike Google Fiber, which requires laying down an extensive fiber optic cable network to service a community, DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) 3.1 won’t

A new type of computer chip developed by researchers at MIT, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, could lead to faster data transmissions and potentially more energy efficient data centers. The technology is based on using light rather than streams of electrons to transmit data. The researchers said the chip (Image: Glenn J. Asakawa) can transmit 50 to 100 times the amount of data per second as a traditional electronic chip.“Data transport across short electrical wires

CRM giant Salesforce is working to fortify the quoting and billing functions of its software platform. To do so, the customer relationship management company just snapped up SteelBrick. Financial terms of Salesforce’s acquisition of the six-year-old startup were not disclosed in the announcement. But the technology giant’s regulatory filing reveals the deal is worth $360 million. That’s about half of the rumored price on the street. Salesforce could not immediately be reached for comment.SteelBrick offers a “quote-to-cash suite” of software. The

While plenty of cyberattacks are still conducted by the stereotypical "hacker in a basement," state-sponsored hacking is also on the rise -- prompting Yahoo to become the latest tech company to offer warnings of such attacks. In a blog post earlier this week, chief information security officer Bob Lord said Yahoo will offer specific security suggestions to users who appear to be the targets of state-sponsored attacks. Facebook made a similar pledge in October. And earlier this month, Twitter also sent

The Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) today approved a new HTTP error code -- 451 -- that can be used to identify online content that is unavailable for legal reasons, such as government-enforced censorship. Taken from "Farenheit 451," the title of the classic Ray Bradbury novel about book burning, the error code has been championed for several years by former Google engineer and XML specification author Tim Bray. Support grew for adopting an HTTP error code designating censored content after London's

The use of broadband Internet in U.S. homes is starting to drop, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center. In fact, just 67 percent of U.S. homes have broadband connectivity, down from 70 percent in 2013 -- the first significant decline in the number of homes with broadband connections, according to Pew’s new Home Broadband report. The reasons? Mobile technology, to name one. The percentage of users who connect to the Internet using only smartphones, is now

Foreign Hackers Accessed U.S. Power Grid 'Dozens of Times'Recently, a private security researcher hot on the trail of hackers who stole information from a California university’s housing files discovered something far more nefarious: the attackers had found a way into networks running America’s power grid. That security researcher was Brian Wallace. Those attackers appear to be based in Iran. According to his research, these bad actors have already swiped passwords, engineering drawings from dozens of power plants, and more. If that’s

Networking equipment maker Juniper Networks revealed this week that it had found spying code planted in some models of its firewalls. The products affected by the malicious code include those running ScreenOS, a Juniper operating system that runs several of the company’s appliances that act as firewalls and enable VPNs (virtual private networks).The vulnerable versions of ScreenOS include 6.2.0r15 through 6.2.0r18 and 6.3.0r12 through 6.3.0r20, according to an advisory the company released on its Web site.The unauthorized code was found

After inking an enhanced deal with Salesforce earlier this week, Box has also expanded its strategic alliance with IBM. Box, which lets enterprise users access and manage information in the cloud, announced the move today. Apparently, the initial tie-up between Big Blue and Box was so successful that the companies decided to press the go-to-market and sales pedals a little harder. Under the revamped deal, the companies will be working together for at least 10 years. That’s a long-term commitment in

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is asking several mobile carriers to provide it with more information about how their free-data streaming offers relate to the agency's goal of "maintaining a free and open Internet." The FCC's Wireless Telecommunication Bureau sent inquiry letters yesterday to AT&T, Comcast and T-Mobile. All three companies have been promoting programs whereby customers can stream some video and other content without having that traffic count toward their monthly data plan allowances. The FCC said its informal inquiry

Alleged VTech Hacker Arrested in the U.K.Police in the United Kingdom believe they have caught the culprit behind a massive cyberattack against leading electronic toy maker VTech that compromised the information of nearly 5 million adults and over 6 million children. The South East Regional Organized Crime Unit, or SEROCU, in Bracknell, a town about 30 miles west of London, arrested a 21-year-old man yesterday for alleged unauthorized access to a VTech computer. The police also seized several electronic items from

Engineers at a "secret" Apple lab in Taiwan are reportedly working to develop innovative new screen technologies for iPhones and iPads, according to unnamed sources "with knowledge of the facility."A Bloomberg report today said the lab, which began operating sometime this year, is focused on new ways to make device displays thinner and better. The lab is located in the Longtan District in northern Taiwan and reportedly employs at least 50 people. The building was formerly owned by U.S. chipmaker

MacKeeper is under some hacker fire this week. Kromtech, the company that develops software that works to make Mac computers more stable and secure, is reporting a “potential vulnerability” in its data storage system. That potential vulnerability reportedly exposed the personal data of 13 million people. Kromtech could not immediately be reached for comment. But here’s what we know: Security researcher Chris Vickery identified this issue privately to Kromtech before the company announced the breach. In a statement, Kromtech said it

Coldhak, a Canadian non-profit, is among the Twitter users recently warned by the microblogging service that their accounts might be targeted for hacking by "state-sponsored actors." Coldhak on Friday posted a tweet with the text of the warning from Twitter. The e-mail warning said hackers "possibly associated with a government" might be trying to gain information about Twitter users' e-mail addresses, IP addresses and/or phone numbers. This is the first time Twitter has sent out such a warning about state-sponsored security

Leading memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. is going all in on Inotera Memories, snapping up the remaining shares of the company it doesn’t already own. The sale price: about $3.2 billion. Micron already owned 33 percent of Inotera, which it acquired from Qimonda in 2008. Inotera, which provides DRAM foundary services based on 30nm process technology, produces about 120,000 wafer starts every month for Micron."The acquisition is the culmination of a highly successful seven-year partnership with Inotera,” said Micron CEO Mark

What’s the most frustrating part of owning a smartphone? A lot of users will point first to the meager battery life and the need to recharge more than once a day in some cases. A phone now available for pre-order, however, claims that one charge of its battery can last more than two weeks.China-based smartphone maker Oukitel has just announced a new Android-based smartphone called the K10000 (pictured) that it said can be used from 10 to 15 days without

It's been only two months since Google rolled out Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but some Googlers are already hinting at some new features that might arrive with Android N, the next update to the operating system. One of those features might be support for a split-screen to enable easier multi-tasking on tablets. That's according to a couple of comments made during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit featuring several members of Google's Pixel C team. The Pixel C, which came

Two months after adding support for Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail and AOL Mail to its email app, Yahoo announced today that Gmail has also joined that list. The app can now connect users’ Gmail and Google Apps accounts to Yahoo Mail. Multiple mailbox support for Gmail within Yahoo Mail was launched in both the mobile app for Android and iOS and in a desktop browser version. Gmail is the world’s most widely-used Webmail service.Yahoo said that it has expanded its server-side IMAP

Currently being tested by several hundred companies, including the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Club Med, Facebook at Work is expected to see a wider rollout next year. Available for desktop and mobile devices, the app will function much like the regular Facebook, except that posts, messages and other content will be visible only to users with company work accounts. "More than 300 companies are part of the pilot, including Heineken, Coldwell Banker, and Lagardere, and we are targeting a

Docker support. OpFlex backing. A stronger focus on layer 4-7 service. These are among the upgrades Cisco is rolling out with the new software release for its Application Centric Infrastructure, or ACI. Cisco’s bigger picture goal is to improve its Software Defined Networking (SDN) portfolio built on open APIs, open standards and a flexible ecosystem. The move could appease some Cisco critics that have accused the firm of being too proprietary in the past.“Customers tell me that only five to 10

Growing concern over privacy has prompted the Federal Trade Commission to turn to academia for its new chief technologist. The commission announced this week that it has appointed Carnegie Mellon University professor Lorrie Cranor to assume that post effective in January. She will replace Ashkan Soltani, who has served as chief technologist since November 2014. Soltani was a privacy practitioner who worked with The Washington Post to work some of the technical details out of surveillance programs revealed by documents from

This has never happened before. The global smartphone market is posting its first single-digital growth year on record. That’s according to the latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker from market research firm IDC. The firm predicts worldwide shipments will grow 9.8% to hit 1.43 billion units this year, thanks in part to slowing growth in Latin America, Western Europe and the Asia Pacific. The slower-than-expected growth actually signifies an industry downturn.And that’s not the worst of the bad news for smartphone

No longer just for celebrities, Facebook's Live Video feature is now available for testing by "a small percentage" of U.S. iPhone users, the company said today. Facebook launched its Live streaming feature in August for public figures with large followings on the site. Celebrities who have sent out live broadcasts through the Facebook Mentions app since the launch include Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Serena Williams, Martha Stewart and Michael Bublé. Their videos are made available live through News Feed, and are

In a move to help more companies adopt hybrid cloud infrastructures, IBM is beefing up its Direct Link service that allows customers to set up dedicated network connections from their IT infrastructures to the SoftLayer private network and cloud services. Big Blue just inked new collaboration deals with a number of new partners, including Equinix, Verizon and Digital Realty. IBM is focusing on the bigger picture: Organizations need reliable and secure cloud connections that eliminate the need to transfer data over

At Microsoft’s annual general meeting yesterday, former CEO Steve Ballmer made his opinions on the company’s current course crystal clear. For one thing, he thinks Microsoft's universal Windows app strategy is not destined to succeed. For another, the company needs to focus more on whether Windows Phone handsets can run Android apps, he said.Ballmer also said that the company should disclose profit margins and sales for its cloud and hardware businesses. "It’s sort of a key metric -- if they

Starting this week, Office 365 enterprise subscribers will have access to numerous new features of the productivity service, including the meeting, conferencing, and calling features of Skype for Business. Microsoft is launching its new subscription model for Office 365 tomorrow. The highest-end plan, Office 365 E5, is priced at $35 per user per month, or $420 per user per year. Microsoft introduced Office 365 E5 today during its Convergence EMEA conference in Barcelona.Office 365 E5 will include Skype for Business (pictured)

The release of Apple's iPhone 7 might still be nearly a year away, but rumors are already circulating that the company might ditch the standard headphone jack in favor of a thinner, proprietary Lightning connector. Switching from a standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack to a Lightning connector would enable Apple to make the iPhone 7 even thinner than the iPhone 6, which came out in September. The iPhone 7 is expected to be released sometime in the fall of 2016.News of the

Chinese electronic toymaker (pictured: VTech Tote 'n Go Laptop) VTech, has been hacked, revealing the information of 5 million customers. The database of the company’s Learning Lodge app store, which allows customers to download apps, e-books and learning games, was breached on November 14 HKT (Hong Kong Time). The hack was discovered on November 24 and customers were notified on November 27. The customer database holds a slew of user profile information. The personal identifiers mentioned in the company’s report include

Samsung [made] history of a sort by launching the first major consumer-oriented virtual-reality headset. (It comes with an asterisk; prototypes and other not-quite-mass-market versions have been available for a while.) And its Gear VR headset is pretty impressive as first-generation devices go. The biggest surprise after using the new Gear VR for a few days: There's a lot of stuff to watch and play in the virtual worlds the headset opens up. Granted, some of that material is gimmicky or amateurish.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. is the latest known hotel target of cyber attackers. The company on Friday announced that hackers had injected malware into point of sale systems at some of its hotels in North America.That malware ultimately made it possible for unauthorized parties to tap into the payment card data of some hotel guests. Starwood, which operates brands including Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft, Element, and Westin, now joins the Trump Hotel Collection and the Hilton chain

Gunmen attacked a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in Mali's capital Bamako early on Friday and are believed to be holding hostages, a senior source with the security forces and witnesses said.The raid targeted the Radisson Blu hotel, located just west of the city center in a neighborhood that is home to government ministries and diplomats, they said.Northern Mali was occupied by Islamist fighters, some with links to al Qaeda, for most of 2012. Although they were driven out by