Microsoft rebrands Revolution R Open, will keep it free and open-source
Microsoft has announced new offerings regarding the recently acquired Revolution Analytics and its R language for statistical computing and predictive analytics.
Most importantly, its Revolution R Open is now called Microsoft R Open and will remain open-source and free for download.
Xiaomi's new Redmi Note 3 with Qualcomm Snapdragon processor will launch in India
Xiaomi announced Redmi Note 3 last year, in late-November, alongside the Mi Pad 2 slate. The affordable phablet, which sports a metal body and fingerprint sensor, arrived with a MediaTek Helio X10 processor, but the company is now adding a Qualcomm Snapdragon version into the mix.
The new Redmi Note 3 version is powered by a mid-range, 64-bit, 1.8 GHz hexa-core Snapdragon 650 processor, which offers Adreno 510 graphics, support for UltraHD video and VoLTE, and an integrated X8 modem which enables higher transfer speeds over cellular networks. This model is likely introduced for international markets.
Google becomes serious about VR
The revival of virtual reality is nearly upon us and Microsoft and Facebook have both put a great deal of resources into carving out their place in this new form of entertainment.
Facebook is heavily invested in the Oculus Rift while Microsoft has spent years developing its own version of virtual/augmented reality with its HoloLens.
AT&T chooses Ubuntu Linux instead of Microsoft Windows
While Linux's share of the desktop pie is still virtually nonexistent, it owns two arguably more important markets -- servers and smartphones. As PC sales decline dramatically, Android phones are continually a runaway market share leader. In other words, fewer people are buying Windows computers -- and likely spending less time using them -- while everyone and their mother are glued to their phones. And those phones are most likely powered by the Linux kernel.
Speaking of smartphones, one of the largest cellular providers is the venerable AT&T. While it sells many Linux-powered Android devices, it is now embracing the open source kernel in a new way. You see, the company has partnered with Canonical to utilize Ubuntu for cloud, network, and enterprise applications. That's right, AT&T did not choose Microsoft's Windows when exploring options. Canonical will provide continued engineering support too.
EFF goes after Cisco for human rights violations in China
China can be a difficult place to do business and it's sometimes a question of conscience or pocketbook. It's a huge market and companies stand to make a lot of money there, but the government isn't shy about wanting data in return. Is it worth it? To many corporations the answer seems to be yes, but for those who suffer there because of it the answer is a resounding no.
Now the Electronic Frontier Foundation is pursuing Cisco in court. This isn't a particularly new accusation or case, but the organization isn't ready to let it die.
Will your NCAA basketball team reach March Madness? Ask Microsoft's Bing Predicts
Whether or not you attended or graduated from college, if you are a fan of basketball, you can totally enjoy March Madness. If you aren't familiar, this is a nickname for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Sixty eight teams will participate, but only one will be left standing at the end. Not only is it fun from a sports perspective, but for bracket competition and gambling purposes too.
While 68 teams sounds like a lot, there are far more colleges that won't even qualify for the tournament. My alma mater, Stony Brook University, has never qualified, but came close last year. Today, Microsoft announces a new website powered by Bing Predicts, which can predict the likelihood of a team participating in March Madness. Will your team make it?
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 11099 arrives on the Fast ring
It’s been a while since we’ve had any new Windows 10 preview builds, thanks to the holiday season, but Microsoft has at last pushed out a new build to the Fast ring. The software giant plans to make the Fast ring live up to its name this year with an accelerated release schedule.
In the future Microsoft’s criteria for releasing builds to the Fast ring will be much closer to its criteria for releasing them to its internal rings, which means new builds are likely to be buggier and suffer other issues. Build 11099, which is available for Insiders to download now, should be relatively stable however, as Microsoft has had a while to iron out any big problems.
Employees don't want a paperless office
The paperless office isn’t happening, people. We can blame lousy tablets or whatever we want, but research is clear: people still believe they’re more productive with the old fashioned pen and paper.
Epson Europe has conducted a research and surveyed more than 3,600 European employees, and here’s what they say: 64 percent said they’d rather read reports and brochures on a hard copy, as it’s easier to share (53 percent), easier to read (44 percent) and easier to edit (41 percent).
Sharing ransomware code for educational purposes is asking for trouble
Trend Micro may still be smarting from the revelation that there was a serious vulnerability in its Password Manager tool, but today the security company warns of the dangers of sharing ransomware source code.
The company says that those who discover vulnerabilities need to think carefully about sharing details of their findings with the wider public as there is great potential for this information to be misused, even if it is released for educational purposes. It says that "even with the best intentions, improper disclosure of sensitive information can lead to complicated, and sometimes even troublesome scenarios".
Windows 10 adoption is strong among home users, lags behind in the enterprise
Windows 10 seems to be building a core user base very nicely, just as Microsoft said when it revealed last week that it now runs on 200 million devices.
However, a study in the US suggests that most of those devices are in homes, not offices.
The study is based on US government data expressed as each Windows version’s percentage share of the total of Windows traffic reaching federal web sites.
Google Nexus 5X gets $30 price cut
Last year, for the first time, Google introduced two new Nexus smartphones, giving its fans the option to choose between a smaller LG-built Nexus 5X, which is the much-awaited follow up to Nexus 5, and a premium Huawei-made Nexus 6P phablet, which replaces Nexus 6 in its lineup.
The former is definitely the more appealing of the two for price-conscious shoppers. The base Nexus 5X arrived with a $379 price tag, while the more expensive Nexus 6P launched at $499. Now Google has made Nexus 5X even more attractive, thanks to a permanent $30 price cut.
Almost a quarter of companies are willing to pay $1m ransom to hackers
We all know that cyber attacks can be enormously disruptive, but how far would companies go to prevent an attack?
A new survey by the Cloud Security Alliance and Skyhigh Networks reveals that 24.6 percent of companies would be willing to pay a ransom to hackers to prevent a cyber attack and 14 percent would pay more than $1 million.
DevOps adoption is limited among UK businesses
According to a new study sponsored by CA Technologies and conducted in partnership with Freeform Dynamics, more than two-thirds of UK organizations claim they have broadly implemented DevOps or have done so in selected areas of the business.
However, only 11 percent of UK organizations have implemented DevOps across at least six different business areas.
Browse, play and organize your movie files with Saleen Video Manager
We’re usually skeptical of media managers. They always promise big benefits, but often require a lot of setup time before they deliver, if you ever see them at all.
Saleen Video Manager is a little different. Yes, you can spend an age entering library data, if you like -- but it also gives you plenty of movie manager tools you can use right away.
PC market sees biggest-ever drop in shipments, but don't blame Windows 10
Things are not looking good for the PC market. The fourth quarter of 2015 registered the biggest-ever year-over-year drop in shipments, as IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker revealed a 10.6 percent fall compared to the same period in 2014. For the whole of 2015, shipments are said to have dropped by 10.4 percent compared to the year prior.
Lenovo was the vendor with most PCs shipped in 2015, followed by HP and Dell. However, with the exception of Apple, all other vendors in IDC's top five have seen their shipments dropping last year. Mac shipments rose by 6.2 percent, according to the report.
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