Category: What’s On

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

Kevin Collier/dailydot/Hacktivists operating under the Anonymous banner say they’ve gotten more than 5,000 Twitter accounts affiliated with the Islamic State knocked off the site since Friday. We report that more than 5500 Twitter account of #ISIS are now #down! #OpParis #Anonymous #ExpectUs — #OpParis (@opparisofficial) November 17, 2015 Anonymous's anti-ISIS campaign is part of a broad attempt to make using the Internet harder for members of the terrorist group that’s claimed territory in Iraq and Syria. Anonymous offshoots have been hindering ISIS Twitter accounts for

|By Shara Tonn|WHEN A GREEN architect does a particularly good job, you’ll know it by the bling: the silver, gold, and platinum LEED certifications that emblazon buildings’ exteriors. But the best eco-conscious constructions don’t need a seal of approval—and their builders probably wouldn’t appreciate it anyway. Mound termites, native to Africa, South Asia, and Australia, are pros at building self-regulating structures that maintain oxygen levels, temperature, and humidity. And now human architects and engineers want to adapt that ingenuity for their own

Building on a connected-car technology it first introduced in 2007, Ford today launched an app that will let users remotely lock, unlock, start or locate their vehicles using their smartphones (pictured). The new Sync Connect feature will even allow car owners to, for example, schedule their vehicles to start up at 7:50 a.m. so the interiors are warm and comfortable when they get in to drive to work at 8 a.m. Ford made the announcement during today's kickoff of the LA

In the wake of the ISIS terror attacks in Paris, many technology companies are looking ahead and preparing for the worst. Disaster recovery is a new focus for some, while others have had their eye on the target for much longer. IBM, for example, announced a contest today that gives developers access to its cloud to encourage disaster response-related app development. Just days after Friday evening's attacks that killed 129 people and injured hundreds more in the French capital, IBM has

CEO Satya Nadella (pictured) today revealed Microsoft's plans to enhance enterprise security and help its customers have stronger protection for what he referred to as the "mobile-first, cloud-first world." Addressing the Microsoft Government Cloud Forum in Washington, D.C., Nadella said that Microsoft already invests $1 billion in security research and development each year, but despite that the company is creating a new Cyber Defense Operations Center. Nadella said that center will be a state-of-the-art facility that contains a staff of security

Gone are the days when Microsoft waits for entirely new versions of its software products to make updates -- and the latest PowerPoint upgrade is once such example. After hitting the market two months ago as part of the Office 2016 suite, Redmond is rolling out a new wave of monthly updates for Office 365 subscribers. In November, PowerPoint is front and center. The updates include tools -- Designer (pictured, above left) and Morph (above right) -- that help regular Joes

A security researcher who uncovered a high-risk exploit in Chrome for Android has received more recognition this week after demonstrating how the vulnerability works at a security conference in Tokyo. Late last year, Guang Gong, a researcher at 360 Total Security, uncovered a vulnerability that could be used by hackers to gain system server privileges on Android devices. Yesterday during the PacSec conference in Japan, Gong demonstrated how the vulnerability could enable someone to gain control of a smartphone -- in

Redmond is doubling down on its OneNote note-taking app. Yesterday Microsoft announced a major new upgrade for the app. The latest versions contain a number of new features for a variety of devices, including iOS and Android updates, that will begin rolling out in the next couple weeks. Among the new features is the ability to add audio and attach files to your notes (pictured). The increased functionality should help OneNote keep pace with the features available in other popular note-taking

Unlike Apple, which exerts start-to-finish control over the chips and software that go into its iPhones, Google must deal with a far more diverse hardware/software environment for Android smartphones. But the tech giant might be looking to increase its influence over the systems-on-chip (SoCs) that go into Android devices. An article published yesterday in The Information noted that Google has recently talked with different chip-makers to give them "a road map for how it is thinking about the future of Android

San Francisco-based mobile security company Lookout said it has uncovered a new threat to the Android operating system in the form of malware that disguises itself as a variety of well-known apps -- but that actually exposes devices to root attacks and is virtually impossible to remove. The new malware has been found in software available from third-party app stores. The malware program insinuates itself in legitimate applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat Candy Crush, Google Now and WhatsApp. Lookout said

Two months after announcing a $50 million investment in artificial intelligence (AI) research, Toyota is more than doubling down on its bet. At a press conference in Toyko today, the car maker unveiled plans to spend $1 billion over the next five years to establish a new company -- the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) -- focused on AI and robotics. The institute will be located in Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto's Stanford University and will be led by Gill Pratt (pictured

Drone maker DJI and Canonical want to help developers’ applications take flight. Literally. The companies announced today that they are releasing a computer embedded on a drone platform. The goal is to allow developers to transform drones into more intelligent, autonomous machines capable of performing complex computing tasks on their own, according to DJI. The DJI Manifold, as the new system is called, runs on Canonical’s Ubuntu operating system and supports CUDA, OpenCV and ROS. The platform has been optimized for

Boston-based enterprise storage provider ClearSky Data said it has raised $27 million in a Series B investment round led by Polaris Partners, along with Akamai Technologies. The money will be used by ClearSky to refine its managed service delivery model for enterprise storage, which the company said combines the performance and availability of primary storage with the economics and scalability of the cloud. ClearSky made a splash over the summer with a plan to offer a multi-tiered, fully managed, hybrid data-management

As the latest figures from StatCounter and Netmarketshare for October show slowing adoption rates for Windows 10, Microsoft is looking at ways to nudge more users into its new operating system. The company revealed last week that it will soon classify Windows 10 as an "optional update" for users with devices still running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. And early in 2016, it plans to recategorize Windows 10 as a "recommended update."Originally, upgrading to Windows 10 consisted of a two-step process.

In a split decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. today ruled that Apple has the right to seek an injunction to prevent Samsung from using several smartphone features found to have infringed on Apple patents. In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court asserted that U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh erred in an earlier ruling against Apple's request for an injunction against Samsung. Part of today's ruling is based on case law established by

Russian Hackers Targeting U.S. Government, F-Secure SaysState-sponsored cyberattacks have been tied directly to a hacking group that gathers intelligence for Russia’s Kremlin. F-Secure Labs has just published a white paper that outlines seven years of attacks against governments in the United States, Asia and Europe. A malicious group called the Dukes uses a family of malware toolsets to steal information by infiltrating computer networks and sending the data back to the attackers, according to F-Secure Labs. The former Georgian Information Center

A recently discovered vulnerability in Android Lollipop allows an attacker to bypass the password lockscreen on a mobile device and gain full access. The flaw was discovered by a security researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, who said he has already alerted Google about his findings. The exploit requires an attacker to have physical access to the device but it will only work if the device’s owner has secured it with a password. The attack won’t be successful if

New York-based developer FiftyThree today launched Paper version 3.0, calling the new version of the note-taking program the biggest update in the app's history. The free app brings all of a user’s text notes, lists, photos, and sketches together, providing a space to collect ideas in any form the user prefers. The updated version of the three-year-old app comes with support for the Apple iPhone and several new features. In announcing the new version, FiftyThree said its goal is to turn

Developers and IT pros have been test-driving a preview of Office 2016 since March, but the final version is now set to launch starting September 22. Microsoft said the "seminal" release will be chock full of new IT management features. The new suite of Office applications will give Office 365 ProPlus business subscribers a choice of two types of ongoing updates. As they have in the past, company and organizational users can continue to receive feature and security updates on a

In a move to compete against Apple Pay, Google is revamping its mobile payment system. The search engine giant is starting to roll out Android Pay, a “simple and secure” way to pay for goods with your Android mobile operating system-powered phone. In fact, consumers with Android Pay installed on their smartphones can pay for goods at over 1 million locations in the United States. Beyond making digital payments, Android Pay even stores gift cards, loyalty cards and special offers on

It’s the first plug-in vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot to hit the market -- at least the first from AT&T. The wireless giant has tag-teamed with ZTE USA to offer ZTE Mobley, which launches on September 11 in AT&T brick-and-mortar and online stores. Packing a a powerful punch, the ZTE Mobley allows you to connect up to five devices to the Internet. You can use the hotspot data plan to surf the Web, play games and watch videos on AT&T’s LTE network.“The ZTE

Russian-speaking hackers with the cyberespionage group Turla have found a way to exploit weaknesses in global satellite networks to steal data while disguising the locations of their computers, the security firm Kaspersky Lab has revealed. Researchers at the firm said the hacking group, which has infected hundreds of computers in nearly four dozen countries over its eight-plus years of operation, has found an "exquisite" way to steal information by infecting the computers of Internet users connecting via satellite.The strategy allows Turla

Apple unveiled its iPhone 6S (pictured) and 6S Plus today at its annual new product blowout in San Francisco. The form factors and screen sizes of the two phones (4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, respectively) are the same as previous models, but that's about where the similarities end. The big news on the iPhone 6S and 6S plus is the new input feature, previously called Force Touch and now branded 3D Touch. The feature offers on-screen sensors that respond to pressure.

When it comes to Microsoft Windows 10, the momentum is huge. At least that’s the message Redmond is sending to the masses. Nick Parker (pictured), corporate vice president of Microsoft’s OEM division, took the stage at the IFA 2015 consumer electronics show in Berlin today to talk about the new operating system and how much traction it’s gaining even in the early days of its release. “Our strategy is clear and our strategy is to build the best mobile and productivity

Fast-growing, Portland, Oregon-based video-streaming infrastructure company Elemental Technologies is becoming a property of Amazon Web Services. AWS has reportedly clinched a deal to acquire Elemental, which will continue to operate under its own brand name, for $500 million. Founded in 2006, Elemental provides cloud-based software that lets its customers more easily reformat and stream video from live and on-demand sources onto laptops, tablets, smartphones and other devices. The company has more than $44 million in funding, in addition to hundreds of

A new update for Facebook’s Conversion Lift tool aims to make things a little easier for advertisers on the social network’s site. While the previous version compared audience members who were served ads and those who were not, the latest iteration will allow companies to compare multiple ads to see which are more effective. The updated version of Conversion Lift is designed to help advertisers discover which ads perform best; whether brand and direct response ads work better than brand ads