Predictions 5 & 6: Drones and driverless cars? Not this year
When it comes to predictions it is often easiest just to take some really popular new technology and point out the obvious time it will take to be actually adopted. You could say I’m doing that here with drone deliveries and driverless cars, but I like to think my value-added is explaining why these will take so much longer than some people expect.
Amazon.com has been making a lot of noise about using small helicopter drones to deliver packages. I’m not here to say this is an impossible task or that drones won’t at some point be used for this purpose, but what I am saying is that it won’t happen this year, won’t happen next year, and in any true volume won’t happen even five or 10 years from now.
BlackBerry will only release Android devices in 2016
BlackBerry has heralded the new year with a new move -- that is, to shift to Android for its upcoming devices in 2016.
In BlackBerry’s statement, company CEO John Chen said that its BB10 operating system will take a back seat this year as the company intends to launch two Android-powered devices to accompany the BlackBerry Priv.
NirSoft’s WifiHistoryView reveals your laptop’s network history
NirSoft has unveiled WifiHistoryView, a free tool for Windows Vista and later which displays the history of your computer’s wireless network connections.
For every time you’ve connected to or disconnected from a network, WifiHistoryView displays the date and time it occurred, the network name (SSID), profile name, network adapter name, MAC address, BSSID of the router/Access Point, and more.
EFF vs John Legere
John Legere waved his magic spin-control wand today, following accusations from Google and the EFF—that's Electronic Frontier Foundation to you, Bud—that the cellular carrier throttles video streams in violation of Net Neutrality rules. In a video, T-Mobile's CEO calls the throttling accusations a "game of semantics" and "bullshit".
"We give our customers more choices, and these jerks are complaining?" Legere blasts. "Who the Hell do they think they are? What gives them the right to dictate what my customers or any wireless consumer can choose for themselves?" I wonder, too.
Toshiba embraces USB Type-C with Canvio Premium HDD and TransMemory EX Dual
USB is one of the most important inventions in the history of computing. You young folks don't know how good you have it -- before USB, installing hardware was a huge headache. Over time, the standard has become faster and ubiquitous, but always had one huge issue -- knowing which way to connect it! A rectangle is a stupid port design; that was one way the now-dead FireWire was superior.
The invention of USB Type-C, however, remedied that large user pain point. This new connector can now be inserted in any direction, making USB even better. Some companies, like Google and Apple, were early to adopt it, but now, it is starting to explode in popularity. Today, Toshiba announces some good-looking USB Type-C drives, with its new Canvio Premium HDD and the TransMemory EX Dual flash drive.
Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo balk at UK's Investigatory Powers Bill
The Investigatory Powers Bill may only be in draft form at the moment, but the UK government has already come in for criticism for its plans. Today, scores of pieces of written evidence, both for and against the proposals, have been published, including input from the Reform Government Surveillance (RGS) coalition.
Five key members of the coalition are Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo. In their written evidence, the quintet of tech companies express their concerns about the draft bill, seek clarification from the UK government, and issue warnings about the implications of such a bill.
Intel Security and AirWatch team up to boost mobile protection
Intel Security has expanded its partnership with VMWare’s enterprise mobility subsidiary AirWatch, placing a greater emphasis on mobile security initiatives.
The two companies aim to help organizations cope with the numerous security issues posed by mobile devices, as well as integrating enterprise protection across PCs, operating systems, networks and the cloud.
Linux Mint 18 details revealed -- code name, release date, and more!
When it comes to desktop computing, I love me some Linux. While Ubuntu is my favorite distro of the moment, I use many others from time to time, such as Fedora, deepin, and Linux Mint. My desktop environment preference is Unity or Gnome, but I understand the love for Mint's Cinnamon or MATE. If you are coming from Windows, and prefer the "Start Menu" approach as an interface, both of those primary Mint DEs will make you comfortable.
Since Mint is based on Ubuntu, there are tons of available packages, and online support -- no wonder it is so popular in the Linux community. Today, new details about version 18 of the operating system have made their way to the web. We now know the code name, approximate release date and Ubuntu version for its base! What is the code name? Well, if you are a fan of Sex and the City, you might be excited, as it shares the first name of the lead actress. Can you guess?
Harman Kardon is releasing new wireless whole-home audio system
Whole-home audio has become popular recently thanks to products like Sonos making it easy. In the old days speaker wires had to be fished through walls, but those days of cables and intense labor are gone. Now it can be done via a wireless means and almost everyone has a home network -- something else that was once the domain of geeks and experts.
Now one of the top-tier makers of home audio equipment is getting in on the act as Harman Kardon announces its newest offering at the Consumer Electronics Show taking place this week in Las Vegas.
Hybrid IT systems hinder innovation
Research from Sungard Availability Services, a provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, has revealed a dark side to hybrid IT systems.
Sungard’s findings based on a study which questioned 150 senior IT decision makers in UK organizations with more than 500 employees with an average IT spend of around £36m per year, found that over half of UK organizations believe that the complexity of their IT environment is hindering their ability to innovate.
Finding the right balance between business security and employee productivity
Don’t you wish you could give your users all the access they need, without worrying about them becoming frustrated with the increased security measures put on the business and then taking actions into their own hands to avoid those security measures in order to remain productive? Simply providing users with IDs and passwords for each application or data set will not keep your business secure…or productive... anymore. A truly successful security strategy must look at information in context, exploring the "who, what, when, where, and why" of access activities. Your strategy must understand where gaps exist, while supporting secure and convenient access to both legacy and emerging applications for users -- who expect to stay productive -- and the IT staff responsible for keeping the business secure.
The theory behind security is noble: IT should ensure that only approved users can access systems and data, that they access them only for the right reasons, and that they’re doing the right things once they’ve gained access. In practice, though, security has been a static process of IT administrators saying "no", denying access and placing barriers (multiple passwords and access protocols) between users and the resources they need to do their jobs.
New malware attack targets WhatsApp users
A new malware campaign is aiming specifically at businesses and consumers using the WhatsApp mobile messaging service.
Uncovered by researchers at Comodo Labs the campaign uses emails masquerading as WhatsApp content. These have an attached zip file containing a malware executable.
Intel's new smartphone comes with a 3D RealSense camera
Most people may not know this, but Intel is no stranger to the smartphone world. It develops mobile processors that power a wide range of Android devices, like ASUS' ZenFone 2 line. But the company is not stopping there as at CES 2016, it just unveiled a smartphone equipped with a RealSense camera.
Virtually every smartphone has cameras on the front and rear, so what makes Intel's device special? Well, the RealSense camera allows the handset to recognize 3D objects and gestures, similar to Microsoft's Kinect.
Intel's RealSense camera used in first 'intelligent consumer drone'
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has revealed his company’s entry into the burgeoning drone market during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Yuneec's Typhoon H drone utilizes Intel’s RealSense camera and infrared lasers to instinctively avoid collisions, making it the world’s first "intelligent consumer drone" according to Krzanich.
Run fuzzy content-aware searches on your PC with AIKIN Desktop Search
The average desktop search tool doesn’t exactly have much initiative. Run a search for "Stephen" and it doesn’t matter how many Steves or Stevens you’ve got, records with the original spelling is all that you’ll see.
AIKIN Desktop Search ($99) uses fuzzy searching to take this further. Search for Stephen here and you might get hits for Steven, Steve, Stevie, Stephanie, right down to Staten Island any anything similar, all neatly organized with the best results (usually) at the top.
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