Don’t look now, but that iPhone-toting intern is eyeing your corner office!
You see them in the elevator with their shiny white earbuds. You hear them gabbing by the espresso cart while thumbing through their Instagram feeds. They’re the new crop of iPhone-toting corporate interns, and they’re out to take your job!
Not right away, of course. But eventually, somewhere down the line, when you’ve checked-in your last MDM code update and handed over your server room key card, they’ll be there. Watching. Waiting for their turn to "run the IT show". And if the author of a recently published article on the future of OS technology is to be believed, those interns will be dancing on the grave of the legacy Windows and Linux systems they just ripped and replaced with -- you guessed it -- Apple iOS.
MemSQL announces integrated Spark solution
The in-memory performance and functionality of Spark is a valuable building block for enterprises looking to implement real-time data pipelines and streaming analytics.
This becomes more important as companies are faced with an increasing number of data points across different sources, and the need to deal with varied data types. Leader in real-time databases for transactions and analytics MemSQL, today released Spark Streamliner, an integrated Spark solution to give enterprises immediate access to real-time analytics.
Instagram now has 400M active monthly users
Photo sharing app Instagram has reached another milestone earlier this week, 400 million active monthly users.
That is 100 million more since the last update a few months ago, when Instagram surpassed Twitter. In the same time, Twitter has managed to add 25 million new users. The photo sharing app is growing at a faster rate than Facebook, but slower than Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
The day the music didn't die -- Earbits is now supported by You42
In June of 2014 music streaming service Earbits closed down. It seemed a shame, but the big players in the game like Spotify and Rdio are hard to compete with. However, Earbits had a niche, allowing new artists to be heard and discovered by record labels. The shutdown lasted only three days and the company emerged again.
While we knew it had found financial backing, details were not made available. Now finally, after more than a year, we learn that it was acquired by You42.
Apple Watch may have saved teenager's life
Apple Watch has received a nice bit of publicity in the form of a health notification that may have saved 17 year old Paul Houle, a senior student at Tabor Academy, Massachusetts.
After practice, Houle noticed his heart rate was at 145 and it didn’t change once he got back home. He contacted his doctor, who diagnosed Houle with rhabdomyolysis, a fatal condition (if untreated) that can lead to kidney, liver, and heart failure.
Secretly monitor your PC with Windows Spy Keylogger
SecurityXPloded has shipped Windows Spy Keylogger, a simple PC activity monitor for Windows XP and later.
The package is very easy to use, launching on demand or when Windows starts, and recording any keypresses to a log file in a configurable location.
Fast data platform combines analytics and transactions
The rapid growth of mobility and the Internet of Things is driving a need for real-time data analysis, and intensifying demand for faster insight and action in the enterprise.
In response to this demand, database specialist VoltDB is announcing version 5.6 of its SQL in-memory operational database, a fast data platform that combines streaming analytics with transactions to support mission-critical, real-time applications.
RightScale aims to simplify cloud management
Whilst moving systems to the cloud can deliver savings in costs and efficiency, it presents new challenges in terms of managing systems and data.
With the launch of its Universal Cloud Appliance, California-based RightScale is aiming to deliver the self-service access that cloud users demand and give IT teams visibility and control over any cloud, any virtual machine, or any server through a single pane of glass.
The Office 2016 team just killed Windows 10 Mobile
Call it a missed opportunity. Microsoft finds itself with a unique chance to leverage its full range of products and services to promote the new OS. Unfortunately, not all parts of the Redmond giant are on board with the new strategy. The Office team, in particular, has only half-heartedly embraced key Windows 10 technologies, like Universal Windows Apps and XAML. And this lack of commitment may very well prove fatal to Windows 10 Mobile.
But first, some perspective: Rewind the clock to late last year when Microsoft was touting the forthcoming Office 2016, including the much anticipated "touch-centric" version of Office (code-named "Gemini") that customers had been clamoring for. Next, fast forward a few months to when the first technical previews were released -- both Office 2016 and what would go on to be known as "Office Mobile" -- and reality set-in. Not only were the new fangled "Mobile" versions less functional than their Win32-based counterparts, they lacked much of the core integration plumbing (COM/OLE/VBA) that had made traditional Office such a powerful in-house development platform.
Zoomdata unifies analytics for cloud and on-premise data
Businesses are increasingly dealing with a mix of data, both real time and historical, and stored locally and in the cloud. This can mean that they end up having to use a mix of analytic tools.
Visual analytics specialist Zoomdata is announcing its AnyCloud initiative, which enables enterprises to visually interact with all data in the enterprise, whether on-premise or in the cloud.
Surprise! Microsoft Edge ditches Bing for Baidu in China
Bing may now be the default search engine in Microsoft Edge, but that is about to change for Windows 10 users in China. Microsoft has announced that it will replace Bing with a local alternative, making its new browser a more attractive option to Windows 10 users in the country.
The new default search engine -- and homepage -- in Microsoft Edge will be Baidu, which Microsoft says has over 600 million active users. In turn, according to Microsoft, Baidu's "'Windows 10 Express' will make it easy for Chinese Internet users to download an official Windows 10 experience".
Capture, record and share your ideas with Microsoft’s Snip
Microsoft’s Garage division has released Snip, a simple tool for capturing, annotating and sharing screenshots.
There are plenty of similar tools around, and Snip doesn’t begin to compete with the best of breed freeware, but it still has a few features you might find very interesting.
The PC market's decline continues, despite Windows 10's release
The PC market is in a decline, and there’s nothing new about it. We reported earlier how the upgrade cycle for the PC won’t be complete before 2017, when people are mostly expected to upgrade their machines.
However, much was expected from the recent release of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10. To be more precise, the OS was expected to boost PC sales before 2017. That, according to a Gartner report, didn’t happen.
LG video shows off V10's secondary 'ticker' screen
Talk may focus on the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus and new Nexus devices at the moment but LG also has something in store. Recognizing that phone screens can only use larger dimensions as a selling point for so long, LG has taken a leaf out of Samsung's book and come up with a phone with a secondary display.
While the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge provides a little extra screen space with its curved edges, the upcoming LG V10 takes a different approach. A new video shows that it utilizes 'wasted' space at the top of the handset to house a secondary 'ticker' screen that can display notifications from apps.
Lufthansa will offer high-speed Internet to European travelers in 2016
Lufthansa will offer high-speed internet to passengers flying on its planes in Europe as of next year.
Travelers will benefit from in-flight net access thanks to a partnership between Deutsche Telekom and Inmarsat, with the broadband delivered by a combination of the former’s ground-based cellular network and the latter’s satellite network.



