The role of mobile services in the evolution of IoT
Along with Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been one of the most heavily hyped broad technology trends because it will touch just about every sector of society and commerce. As it happens, these two great trends will overlap and reinforce each other, while sharing some of the same constraints and concerns as they develop their full potential over the coming five to ten years.
Analyst group Gartner has identified a clear life cycle for such major technology trends, beginning with a discovery that triggers early innovation, which then generates hype followed by an inevitable period of disillusionment when the initial over-stoked expectations are not met. Some technologies die in this trough, but others emerge at the other side into Gartner’s "slope of enlightenment", where they gain adoption before reaching a plateau of maturity occupied now by the ICT sector as a whole.
Canonical releases Snappy Ubuntu Core Linux image for x86-based Intel NUC DE3815TY
The Raspberry Pi is a game-changing computer. While it was primarily designed as a low-cost base on which students could learn to code, it has proven to be much more. Some consumers buy it for HTPC purposes, but more importantly, developers embrace the little computer for other projects, such as IoT.
Unfortunately for some developers, the ARM architecture and rather anemic performance make the Raspberry Pi a poor choice. While some consider ARM to be the future, I'm not so sure -- x86 has been surprisingly adaptable. Today, Canonical releases an Ubuntu Core image for the x86-based Intel NUC DE3815TY. Priced around $150, this NUC is more expensive than the Pi, but it is much more powerful too; a better choice for developers needing an x86 platform.
Bromium launches next generation endpoint protection
Endpoint systems often represent the weakest element in the security of any corporate network. In order to guard against attacks, protection specialist Bromium is launching the latest version of its security product.
Bromium Advanced Endpoint Security integrates threat isolation and analysis, plus has newly introduced continuous host monitoring to enable organizations to protect, detect and respond to targeted attacks, zero-day threats and breaches in real time.
Instantly switch to favorite folders with Quick Access Popup
It happens all the time. You’re working in Explorer, maybe opening or saving a file, but the current folder is so far away that you have to click, and click, and click to get there.
Quick Access Popup -- a new and improved version of Folders Popup -- is a freeware tool which ensures your favorite folders and apps are only ever a click or two away.
Kids and handheld tech -- to have and to 'PLEASE hold'
Technology to previous generations involved radio, TV, record players and perhaps even 8-track tape players, but today's youth have smartphones and tablets and are connected all of the time. Messaging apps have replaced phone calls and social interaction takes place via the internet.
On the heels of the gift-giving season, which likely featured a few iPads and the like, Logitech has looked into the prospect of young children with these devices. The survey includes both US and UK parents.
Microsoft Edge's InPrivate mode no longer records your browsing history
When you use a browser's incognito mode you expect it to keep that browsing session private. That is its purpose, after all, to let you access websites without saving any data or information that might be used to trace your visits from the browser. Thing is, at least in Microsoft Edge's case, its InPrivate mode has not exactly worked as advertised -- in fact, it did not work at all.
Microsoft Edge's InPrivate mode is a "privacy nightmare", as my colleague Mark Wilson puts it. Instead of completely ignoring your session, Microsoft Edge actually records your browsing history, making it possible for others to find out exactly which websites you have accessed. However, the software giant now claims to have addressed this privacy issue in the form of a new Windows 10 update.
Microsoft launches Windows 10 update history site to share update release notes
Keeping up to date with the latest updates for Windows 10 can be something of a full time job -- particularly if you're signed up to get Insider builds. To make it easier to keep track of what changes each update brings, Microsoft has launched the Windows 10 update history site.
The site is in response to feedback from Windows 10 users who have been looking for an accessible way of learning about updates. The site provides details of exactly what the updates delivered through Windows Update. It is something of a work in progress at the moment, but one of the recent updates featured fixes a bug that meant browsing sessions in Microsoft Edge's InPrivate mode were not necessarily completely private.
The economic cost of being hacked
We all know that hacking is big business, 2015 proved to be a record year for cyber crime, and it's predicted that 2016 could be even worse. But aside from the worry of putting customer and employee information at risk, what are the financial penalties of being hacked?
Cyber security specialist Praesidio has put together an infographic looking at just how expensive a cyber attack can be.
IT security teams face increased pressures
Security teams face threats from outside the organization but also challenges within to put protection in place and satisfy executive and regulatory demands.
Managed security company Trustwave has published its latest Security Pressures Report, compiling the thoughts of more than 1,400 IT security professionals around the world, addressing which emerging technologies pose the greatest risks, the top fears of post-breach repercussions, which security responsibilities are top priorities, and more.
NetworkMiner 2.0 adds keyword filtering
NETRESEC has shipped NetworkMiner 2.0, the latest edition of its powerful network forensic analysis tool.
The update does a better job of interpreting your network traffic, with new parsers for SMB2 and Modbus/TCP, file extraction from SMB writes, and improved parsing for SMTP, FTP and DNS traffic.
France orders Facebook to stop tracking non-users
Facebook is facing a great deal of heat in the European Union, where many countries are concerned with the ways in which the social network collects data and how it uses cookies to track Internet users.
The CNIL, France’s data protection authority, has issued a formal notice to Facebook, because it fails to comply with European data protection law. CNIL has given Facebook three months to make the necessary changes to comply with the EU’s laws. If the company is able to do this, it will not face sanctions from the data protection agency. Facebook is currently reviewing CNIL’s order which it is confident that it currently complies with.
Copyfish extends its free OCR to the desktop
Copyfish is a free Chrome extension which can extract text from just about anything in a browser tab -- images, videos, documents, more -- and optionally translate it, too.
That’s great, but it’s just got even better, with new support for desktop OCR.
Apple Music finally arrives on Sonos
Picking a streaming music service can be difficult as they are all largely the same -- listen to all you want for a small monthly fee. While Spotify is my current favorite service, Apple Music has been piquing my interest more and more. The problem? Lack of a web player makes Apple's offering unusable on Linux-based desktop operating systems, while iTunes on Windows and OS X is painfully slow and bloated. On iOS it is a dream, but Tim Cook and company have a lot of work to do elsewhere.
Today, however, Apple scores a major win with official Sonos support -- it is finally out of Beta. If you have invested in a Sonos wireless speaker system, starting tomorrow, you can begin using the Apple Music service with it in many ways.
Your business is likely storing useless data
Your company computer is probably clogged with unnecessary data, and your company’s cloud is probably filled with things no one really uses any more.
Those are the results of a Crown Records Management/Censuswide survey, released on Clean out Your Computer Day.
Ford set to announce new in-car technology at Mobile World Congress
Another big show is looming on the horizon, though it seems the last big electronics expo just recently wrapped up. Mobile World Congress, which runs February 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain, is thought of as strictly a show for handsets. In fairness, that's what it mostly is, but other things tend to premier there also.
This year, for instance, Ford plans to be there again with CEO Mark Fields giving a keynote address featuring the unveiling of new in-car technology, something the company has become known for.
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