10 years ago today the iPhone went on sale and changed everything -- so why didn't I want one?
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On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco. It was the usual quality presentation from Apple’s sorely missed boss, with some great moments of humor. Our first glimpse of the phone was in fact actually a mock-up of an iPod with a rotary dial in place of the usual click wheel. The audience clapped and hooted. Jobs then went on to show the real device, and it was pretty mind-blowing.
Here was a phone that looked nothing like a phone. It looked nothing like an iPod, for that matter either. It was pretty much all screen, controlled by touch using your finger -- or fingers, thanks to the power of multi-touch -- and was, according to Jobs, powered by OS X. The device could tell if you were holding it portrait or landscape, and knew when you were holding it up to your ear, and so prevent you prematurely ending a call with the side of your face. It came with a 620MHz processor, 128MB of memory and a 2MP camera. It was a magical device. This was the future, being shown right here. A device to be coveted by all. But I didn’t want one.
Information security and the generation gap
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Cyber attacks are becoming a regular feature of everyday life and it's more important than ever to be aware of the risks and take steps to protect yourself.
But, according to a survey of 1,000 people across the US by password management company LastPass, different age groups have very different attitudes to security.
This is what people thought about the first iPhone
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The original iPhone went on sale ten years ago today, and in celebration I’ve been trawling through the BetaNews archives. Sadly we didn’t review the first iPhone, but we did gather together some of the best press and user comments following the device’s announcement, and they are amusing to say the least.
Below is the original story written by Ed Oswald, and underneath that are some of the best reader responses to it. Knowing what we know now, I think you’ll find it entertaining.
The original iPhone launch in pictures
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When the original iPhone went on sale ten years ago today, there was a lot of excitement, and people queued up outside of Apple stores to get their hands on what was to be a game-changing device.
Trawling through the BetaNews archives I found two examples that best illustrate the excitement at the time, including a very illuminating first hand report from Tim Conneally. First up is a selection of photos from iPhone launches across the US.
The iPhone Legacy
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Steve was right, and I don't refer to Apple cofounder Jobs, but to an iPhone buyer I met 10 years ago today. He was among the eclectic group of people waiting outside Apple Store Montgomery Mall to spend $499 or $599 on the fruit logo company's first smartphone. The amount was outrageous at the time for a locked, unsubsidized handset. "I think this is a day that you’re going to see a change in how computers, how handheld computers are done", he told me. "I think we’ll look back in 10 or 15 years, and like on that day the gadget came out...it changed the game". Could anyone realistically disagree a decade later?
But you had to be a believer in June 2007, with iPhone launching on a single carrier (newly rebranded AT&T) in a single geography (USA) from a company with no cellular device experience going against hugely established competitors—with Nokia, the smartphone's inventor, standing atop the heap. By every sensible measure imaginable, Jobs and his team took nothing but risks, making Steve the customer's prediction all the more remarkable.
Microsoft to sell Box storage to Azure customers
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Microsoft releases Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16232 to the Fast ring
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We’re back on the weekly release schedule, and after two jam-packed exciting new builds you might be forgiven for thinking the latest big Insider release would be a little light on new features and… you’d be wrong.
Build 16232 introduces some of the new security features which will be coming to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, including Exploit Protection, and Controlled folder access in Windows Defender Antivirus. It also introduces improvements for Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG).
VMware will release security solution for virtual machines
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VMWare is finally going to release its security solution for virtual machines, and according to the company's senior VP, it could be released in the third quarter of this year.
Speaking at a global roadshow in Melbourne, Australia, Jeff Jennings said the product (which will probably be called App Defense) will be looking at the "context of a virtual machine."
ASUS releases affordable XG-C100C 10Gbps PCIe network adapter for Windows and Linux
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Do you need a 10Gbps network adapter? I am going to go out on a limb and say no. Many homes only use Ethernet for the internet -- not transferring files between machines on the network. While some businesses could absolutely benefit from the speed, installing such a card in a workstation would be pointless without a 10Gbps network to which it could connect. That's the thing, to get the full speed of such a card, you need a compatible network, which you probably do not have.
I say all of this to highlight that a 10Gbps PCIe network adapter card for consumers is as bit silly right now, but that hasn't stopped ASUS from making one. Today, the company announces the XG-C100C 10Gbps PCIe network adapter for both Windows and Linux. While not the first 10Gbps card, it is surprisingly affordable.
Turning the Open API promise into reality: A roadmap for U.S. banks
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Most major U.S. banks today seem to be singing the same tune, when it comes to acknowledging the potentially transformative impact Open API could have on their fortunes. Be it enabling reduced time to market, or helping reimagine the customer experience with personalized core and value-added services, the wide-ranging promise of Open API is not lost on banks.
And, many U.S. lenders are beginning to walk the talk by sharing customer data with third parties through rollout of application programming interfaces (APIs). Bank of America recently announced plans for an API-driven information sharing agreement with two data aggregators, conditional upon its customers giving consent for the same. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, too, have struck partnerships with third-party service providers and data aggregators like Finicity, Xero and Intuit to allow the latter to import their customer data.
Forget 'Steam Summer Sale' -- check out the Microsoft Xbox and PC 'Ultimate Game Sale'
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Summer is here, meaning many folks will spend time outdoors at places like the beach, the park, or in the pool. Let's be honest though, not everyone is into going outside. If you are like me, rather than relaxing in the sand or playing in the water, you might choose to play video games, watch movies, or chat on IRC instead. There is no shame, guys.
Now is the time that Steam historically has its PC game sale for the summer, but the company is getting some major competition from Microsoft. The Windows-maker is once again having its own discount celebration called "Ultimate Game Sale." Unlike Steam, which only offers PC game deals, Microsoft is also offering Xbox One title discounts too. In fact, you can even go into a retail Microsoft Store to pick up the games.
Milwaukee sued over stupid Pokémon Go permit requirement
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If you were like any other human being who grew up with Pokémon video games, cartoons, and trading cards, you've played Pokémon Go within the past year or so. It's essentially a scientific fact. The game was lauded with exorbitant praise as something that encouraged people to go outside, explore, and be active.
That is, except for the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which declared in an ordinance earlier this year that such behavior wasn't welcome around its breweries and cheese factories.
More than 8 million Brits work from home
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More than eight million of British employees now work at home for at least one day per week -- equivalent to almost a third (31 percent) of the entire working British populace.
The news comes from Virgin Media, which based its conclusions on a study of 2,006 employees. The report says homeworkers are bringing in £167 billion to the UK economy every year, and that number will only continue to grow.
NirSoft unveils NetworkUsageView 1.0
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NirSoft has released NetworkUsageView, a handy portable program which displays some of the applications that have been using your network over the past few hours, days or weeks.
Details available include the app name, description, the time of access for that session, user, internet adapter and the bytes sent and received.
Half of organizations hit by ransomware will suffer more than one attack
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With ransomware hitting the headlines at the moment thanks to the Petya/NotPetya attack, a timely new report from cloud data protection specialist Druva reveals it's becoming a ubiquitous global threat affecting enterprises large and small and devices of all types.
The survey of more than 800 companies shows that over 80 percent of respondents report ransomware attacks are on the rise and that half of businesses hit by ransomware have been attacked multiple times.
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