Apple dropping a cool $1 billion on Intel's smartphone modem business
When you are a supplier for Apple, the iPhone-maker’s moves can have a huge impact on your business. If Apple makes a change to one of its design and no longer needs a supplier, it can pretty much ruin that supplier overnight. For example, when Apple stop doing business with a sapphire glass supplier, that company literally went bankrupt.
And so, with all of that said, the folks over at Qualcomm must be chugging Pepto-Bismol tonight. Why? Because it makes modems for Apple’s iPhone, and Apple is buying a smartphone modem business from Intel for a billion dollars. In other words, if this acquisition works out, Apple may soon no longer need Qualcomm for modems.
Avoid chaos at scale: How to prevent your robots from running amok
Although robotic process automation (RPA) is at the heart of many digital transformation efforts, it’s all too common for organizations to roll out their software robots in a piecemeal fashion. For example, finance deploys its own set of bots, while manufacturing rolls out another, without coordination between the departments. This decentralized approach presents a risk -- one that leads to problems later.
For instance, automated processes often require robots to interact with each other and access or disseminate data, which means they’re often dependent on related systems and policies. But what happens when one of those policies change or a system breaks down?
66 percent of SMBs don't believe they’re vulnerable to a cyberattack
Most small and medium businesses are seriously underestimating their vulnerability to cyberattacks according to a new study.
The report from password manager company Keeper Security shows that 66 percent don't think they will fall victim to an attack. But this confidence is contradicted by a study last year that showed 67 percent of SMBs had been attacked in the past year.
Banking malware grows as cryptominers decline
The latest mid-year Cyber Attack Trends Report from Check Point shows mobile banking malware attacks are up 50 percent compared to the first half of 2018, while the number of organizations hit by cryptominers is down to 26 percent, from 41 percent last year.
Among the top banking malware variants are Ramnit (28 percent), a Trojan that steals banking credentials, FTP passwords, session cookies and personal data; Trickbot (21 percent), which first emerged in October 2016; and Ursnif (10 percent) a Trojan that targets the Windows platform.
Sisoft Sandra 20/20 (2020) adds new AI and machine learning benchmarks
UK-based SiSoftware has released SiSoftware Sandra Lite 20/20 (2020), a major new release of its system information, diagnostics and benchmark tool for Windows PCs.
The 2020 version adds two new Neural Network benchmarks covering AI and machine learning, plus extends support to the latest CPU architectures, including AMD Ryzen 2 (3000 series) and Intel IceLake and CometLake.
Harvard, Puerto Rico and the myth of Internet privacy
"Stupid! You’re so stupid!" That iconic line from the Weird Al Yankovic’s seminal 1989 work, "UHF" (watch the "Wheel of Fish" segment and try not to snort your coffee), is what pops into my mind every time I read about some high profile individual getting outed for saying dumb things in "private" on the Internet.
First off, the belief that anything could remain private on the net is just foolish. Whether you’re an aspiring Harvard freshman who gets his admission rescinded for saying racist things in a closed chat room, or the Governor of Puerto Rico being forced to step down for making dozens of misogynistic and homophobic statements (along with some very real acts of corruption) in a Telegram thread with senior staffers, the truth has a way of surfacing at the worst possible time. And that way is typically someone privy to the conversation objecting to its content and subsequently ratting you out to the world.
Samsung's Galaxy Fold is surprisingly still coming to market -- after some fixes
Folding smartphones are probably still the future, despite Samsung's epic fail with the Galaxy Fold. It's hard to fault the company for being overly ambitious -- we need the envelope to be pushed for true innovation to come to market -- but clearly, it was not ready for prime time. As reviewers who got an early look quickly found out, Galaxy Fold was ridiculously fragile, and what looked like a screen protector actually wasn't -- peeling it off destroyed the damn thing.
After all the bad press, I actually assumed the Galaxy Fold would be canceled entirely. It would make sense to simply try a folding phone again in the future with a new name. Well, surprisingly, Samsung has decided to stay the course and release the Galaxy Fold this September -- after some revisions, of course.
IT professionals under pressure from email attacks
Email attacks are causing major problems for IT professionals, with over a third (38 percent) blaming them for increased stress at work.
A survey of 660 IT professionals by Barracuda Networks reveals that 38 percent also admit to worrying about email attacks outside of work hours and 16 percent have canceled personal plans due to email attacks.
Alleged critical VLC flaw is nothing to worry about -- and is nothing to do with VLC
There has been a degree of confusion over the last few days after news spread of a supposed vulnerability in the media player VLC. Despite being labelled by security experts as "critical", VLC's developers, VideoLAN, denied there was a problem at all.
And they were right. While there is a vulnerability, it was in a third-party library, not VLC itself. On top of this, it is nowhere near as severe as first suggested. Oh -- and it was fixed over a year ago. An older version of Ubuntu Linux was to blame for the confusion.
Microsoft reveals what you need to do if you have rogue Windows 10 Build 18947
Yesterday, Microsoft accidentally released Build 18947 to all Windows Insiders. The build wasn’t intended for a wide release, and today the software giant reveals how it came to be released, and more importantly, what you need to do to avoid installing it.
If you have already installed the build, with its new ugly Start menu, you can easily remove it.
Awair Glow C smart indoor air-quality monitor is here
Many smart home products just make your life easier -- they don't really add anything new. For instance, in my house, I have a smart thermostat and smart lamps. Using my phone or voice, I can adjust the temperature in my home or turn the lights on. Cool? Yes, but I could always do that -- I just walked to the lamp or thermostat and did it by hand.
With that said, there is a smart home product I began testing lately that actually adds to my life. Called Awair, it is a little wooden box that monitors air quality in my house. If things like humidity, dust or chemicals become too high, Awair lets me know. It even gives me a score to show how healthy my air is overall. I can then make changes, such as opening a window, to improve the air. It is truly a product I love, and I can't recommend it enough.
Microsoft accidentally releases internal Windows 10 preview build with new Start menu and no Live Tiles
Microsoft has unintentionally released Windows 10 Build 18947 to all Insiders, including those on the Slow and Release Preview rings. It was originally believed it was only rolling out to 32-bit devices, but that appears not to be the case. This build hasn’t undergone proper testing, so could cause problems if installed.
Microsoft says it is "looking into" the leak, but in the meantime, if you’re an Insider and you don’t want this build, be sure to reject it when it turns up. However, the new build, which was apparently meant for internal Xbox development, does have an interesting new feature that could tempt you into installing it -- a Start menu without Live Tiles.
Personal data encryption: The ultimate trolley problem
There’s a bomb hidden somewhere in a city. Law enforcement is in possession of a suspect’s mobile phone but can’t gain access because the device is encrypted, and the suspect is deceased. The authorities then demand that the device manufacturer create a backdoor so that they can bypass the encryption and learn how to stop the bomb. The clock is ticking. Literally thousands of lives are at stake. If the company complies, they will be exposing many times more users to potential security breaches in the future once the backdoor they provide is inevitably leaked to the world. If they don’t, a lot of people may die that needn’t if the company had simply given in.
Save lives now? Or keep the world safe from future tyranny? That’s how I look at the ultimate trolley problem. On the one hand, I hate the idea that -- through some inaction on my part -- I might be complicit to an event that causes mass casualties. On the other hand, I’d also hate to be the person who, by giving in this one time, leaves some poor slob to be persecuted by a state actor who gained access to his or her private communications and deemed them to be "criminal."
X-Doria launches premium vertical Qi charger and hardcore AirPods case
X-Doria is most well known for its excellent phone cases, but in recent years, it has also been cranking out some premium mobile accessories too. For instance, late last year, the company released a really cool Qi phone charging mount for the car.
Today, the company launches two new mobile accessories -- the Defense Vertical Charger and the Defense Trek. The former is a premium USB-C Qi fast charger for iPhone and Android that props up your phone, while the latter is a durable case for your AirPods that comes with a handy carabiner (clip).
Department of Justice's Antitrust Division launches big tech investigation
Without naming any names, the Department of Justice has announced today that its Antitrust Division is to launch an investigation into the practices of "market-leading online platforms".
The probe comes amid concerns that the big names in technology are "engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers". While the DoJ has not officially named any of the companies it is planning to look into as part of its investigation, the likes of Facebook, Google (or Alphabet) and Amazon are likely to feature prominently.
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