What is AWS planning to do next?
Amazon Web Services is looking to transform the fortunes of all UK customers.
The company took over London’s ExCel center this week for its AWS Summit, the largest ever event held in Europe, and laid out its view for the next 12 months in the opening keynote.
Luxury smartphones are a terrible idea and Vertu's problems confirm it
When I dream of being rich, the one thing that I never imagine buying is a luxury smartphone. It just doesn't make sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a device that, realistically speaking, isn't better than an iPhone or Galaxy S flagship. I have not conducted a scientific study to back this up, but I suspect that people who are actually wealthy would agree.
A luxury item, at least from my perspective, has to stand the test of time. It has to be just as attractive today as it was yesterday. A Rolex Submariner from 10 years ago isn't looked down upon now or perceived as worse compared to the latest model. But a phone, that's different. It actually becomes less appealing as time goes by, because its core functionality becomes less and less attractive to the owner when new generations hit the market.
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will simplify enterprise device deployments
We've already seen that with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Microsoft is aiming to strengthen security. The company has today revealed a number of other new features aimed at business users.
The flagship among these is Windows AutoPilot Deployment, a cloud service designed to simplify the deployment and management of new Windows 10 PCs.
System76 unveils its own Ubuntu-based Linux distribution called 'Pop!_OS'
When Canonical announced the death of the Unity desktop environment, it sent shock waves through the Linux community. After all, Ubuntu is probably the most popular Linux-based desktop operating system and switching to GNOME was changing its trajectory. With Unity, Canonical was promising Ubuntu would be an OS that could scale from smartphone to desktop with a focus on convergence, and then suddenly, it wasn't. Overnight, Ubuntu became just another desktop distro -- not necessarily a bad thing.
While this hit many people hard, computer-seller System76 was probably impacted the most. The company only sells machines running Ubuntu, meaning its entire customer base would be impacted by Canonical's decision. Not content with simply following Canonical and embracing vanilla GNOME, System76 has decided to take its future into its own hands. Today, the company releases the first alpha of an all-new Linux-based operating system called "Pop!_OS," which will eventually be the only OS pre-loaded on its computers. While it will still be based on Ubuntu and GNOME, System76 is tweaking it with its own style and included drivers. In other words, the company is better controlling the user experience, and that is smart.
The original iPhone was considered a high-end feature phone, not a smartphone
It may seem strange now, but when the iPhone originally launched (10 years today, as if you didn’t already know by now), it wasn’t viewed as a smartphone in some quarters because of restrictions placed on the device by Apple.
Wireless industry analyst firm ABI Research’s definition of a smartphone was "a cellular handset using an open, commercial operating system that supports third-party applications", but Apple at that time was blocking third-party apps from the iPhone.
Enterprises gear up to face the inevitability of cyber attacks
A new study finds that while attacks increase and financial losses continue to mount, a growing number of companies are preparing to respond to breaches
The research from forensic security company Guidance Software finds that 54 percent of organizations feel well prepared to respond to a major breach in the coming year (up from 51 percent in 2016). Additionally, 25 percent of respondents say they're looking to build a formal security and incident management team within the next year up from 12 percent in 2016.
How AWS helps BP improve efficiency and minimize costs
Producing around 3.3 million barrels of oil through operations in over 70 countries, BP is one of the world’s largest energy companies. With so many crucial operations around the world, it’s no surprise that a reliable and robust IT system is required to keep everything on track and running smoothly.
"IT underpins every single part of our business at BP", Claire Dickson, the CIO of BP Downstream, which focuses on the refining and marketing of fuels, lubricants, and petrochemicals told the recent AWS Summit in London.
Huawei MateBook line of Windows 10 devices available for pre-order starting tomorrow
My favorite Windows 10 device of 2016 was the Huawei MateBook. Much like the Surface Pro, it is a tablet that can become a laptop with an optional keyboard purchase. While it was less powerful than Microsoft's offering, it was also less expensive. For basic needs, such as web surfing and word processing it was an absolutely fabulous value. Despite the meager internal specs, Huawei made the device feel premium with a beautiful outward design and the addition of USB-C (something no Surface has).
Last month, Huawei announced that it would expand the MateBook line beyond a single tablet to a total of three distinct machines -- MateBook X, MateBook E, and MateBook D. The "E" variant is the successor to the aforementioned tablet (which now comes with the keyboard), while the X and D are traditional 13 and 15.6-inch laptops, respectively. Sadly, exact availability and pricing for the USA was unknown. Today this changes, as Huawei not only reveals cost and pre-order date, but configuration options too.
BPing: a network Ping tool with added audio
BPing is a tiny console-based ping tool with an unusual extra: sound. Why? It gives you instant feedback on what’s happening without any need to watch the console window.
Double-click the program and by default it pings Google.com, playing a sound every time a reply arrives. That’s useful all on its own as a very obvious "my internet connection is up and the device is responding" message. If your connection goes down or the device doesn’t respond, the pings will stop.
10 years ago today the iPhone went on sale and changed everything -- so why didn't I want one?
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
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
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
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
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
Microsoft has announced a new tie-up with Box that will extend the intelligence and reach of its Azure cloud platform.
Under the terms of the deal, Box will now use Azure as a strategic cloud platform, with a new "Box on Azure" now being offered out to enterprise customers around the world.
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