Economic pressure forces connected device makers to seek efficiencies
Economic pressures are forcing delays and price increases on connected device makers, with 38 percent experiencing delays in bringing devices to market, while almost half (48 percent) say they have been forced to increase prices.
New research from the Qt Group -- based on a survey of 250 embedded device manufacturers in the US, UK, France and Germany, conducted by Censuswide -- finds manufacturers are adopting various techniques in order to fuel efficiencies.
Plugable USB-C Stand Dock can turn an Apple iPad, Windows tablet, or Android device into a legitimate desktop PC
Apple's iPad is a tablet, obviously, but when you add a keyboard case, it magically becomes a laptop too. But did you know M1 or M2-powered iPad tablets (running iPadOS 16.1 and higher) can also serve as a desktop PC with full-screen monitor support? It's true! By plugging in a USB-C dock, you can connect a keyboard, mouse, monitor, external storage, and more.
Today, Plugable launches a new USB-C Stand Dock (model number UDS-7IN1). While this product is primarily designed for M1/M2 iPad devices (such as iPad Pro and iPad Air 5), it can work with USB-C Android devices and Windows tablets (such as Surface Pro) as well. While this dock should technically work with laptops and desktops, the "stand" aspect (which props up the phone or tablet like a monitor), would be wasted.
The latest Windows 11 problem sees updates failing with 0x800f0988 and 0x800f0831 errors
It is no secret that the updates released for Windows 11 have been rather more problematic than updates for previous versions of Windows. Microsoft has managed to earn itself an unenviable reputation for poor quality control, with update after update causing a wide range of issues over the past year and a half.
The problems with updates tend to rear their heads once they have been installed, but there is also an issue that is preventing people from installing updates in the first place. The recently released KB5022303 and KB5022360 updates are among those that fail to install, generating various unhelpful error codes including 0x800f0988 and 0x800f0831.
Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows is getting an amazing new look
Microsoft has revealed details of an upcoming visual update to Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows which is due to hit general availability by the end of this quarter.
"Vivid" and "vibrant" are words Microsoft is using to describe the new look and feel that will be making its way to the software soon. A quintet of new themes will be added for greater customization options, and there are new buttons, an updated calendar and better alignment of interface appearance across Windows and Android.
GitHub hit by hackers; code signing certificates for GitHub Desktop and Atom applications stolen
GitHub has issued a warning about "unauthorized access to a set of repositories used in the planning and development of GitHub Desktop and Atom" in a hack that took place back in December.
Users are being advised to ensure that they install the latest updates for the affected software, but there is currently no suggestion that GitHub.com has been impacted. With the attackers having stolen code signing certificates, GitHub is revoking the certificates for some versions of Atom and GitHub Desktop on February 2, so users should update before this date.
Real time data collection is needed for eCommerce companies to reach their full potential
According to new research, 62 percent of eCommerce organizations say that real-time data collection will be at the forefront of their priorities for 2023.
The study, carried out for Oxylabs by Censuswide, surveyed over 1,000 senior data decision-makers, split between UK and US eCommerce companies. It finds that as companies begin to rely more on efficient and low-cost data collection methods such as external data gathering, used by 40.54 percent of respondents, there is a clear shift towards gaining more actionable insights.
Whether you like it or not, AI is coming to search engines
The public release of ChatGPT has started an AI craze that has taken the online world by storm. ChatGPT, for those unaware is a language model that has been trained for dialogue specifically.
It works similarly to chatbots, but is not as limited to returning information based on certain keywords in requests.
Say goodbye to dead batteries: Calculators now live forever on the Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is home to all manner of emulated hardware, including retro handhelds and vintage consoles.
Now the archive offers a new family of emulators for people to play around with online -- calculators! Like the various console emulators, this has been made possible thanks to the power of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator).
Why quantum computing threatens security as we know it [Q&A]
Much of our current IT infrastructure relies on DNS to safely route traffic. Securing that infrastructure is in turn heavily reliant on cryptography, but there's a threat looming on the horizon.
Quantum computing will offer a level of processing power that could render current cryptographic techniques obsolete, and that's a problem for the entire internet and networking world. We spoke to Peter Lowe, principal security researcher at DNSFilter, to discuss the possible impact of quantum computing on security and what can be done to address the threat.
Microsoft is working on a major Edge update known as Phoenix -- and you can try one of the best features right now!
Since consigning Internet Explorer to the trash can and adopting the Chromium engine, Microsoft has developed Edge quite rapidly and it has evolved into a browser that does a lot to make up for its predecessor.
And Microsoft is showing no signs of slowing down. The company is currently working away on a revamped version of Edge, code-named Phoenix. In addition to a more Windows 11-like look, there are some new features on the horizon, including the ability to split an Edge window into two tabs -- and you can even try this out in the preview builds of Edge right now to get a taste of what the future holds.
Battle tested: Continuous testing helps chatbots thrive
If you’ve been interacting with your favorite brands lately, you’ve likely noticed that chatbots seem to be everywhere. We are a society obsessed with instant gratification. We want answers immediately and often that means rolling the dice on using a chatbot to see how close they can get to what we are looking for. As the use of chatbots expands, so can the number of chatbot failures each day. At the same time, customers’ expectations of what a 'good' chatbot experience is has never been higher. And not meeting these stringent expectations means disappointing the customer, which can also result in loss of business, or worse, damage to your brand.
No matter what industry a chatbot operates in, connecting and communicating with people is its primary function. The formula for success for chatbots is the same as it is for traditional customer service channels: quick and effective service. Even though conversational AI has made great technological strides, the user experience is still lacking, especially when it comes to handling natural language processing (NLP), latency, data security, and other issues.
Debugging the monolith: How to change the thinking of an entire tech company
In recent history the tech industry has been impervious to market forces that have crippled adjacent sectors, predominantly because of the public’s insatiable demand for digitization.
However, over the course of the past year vulnerabilities have begun to emerge, with the economic climate growing so harsh that even the mightiest tech giants have faltered. Tech industry investment was down 40 percent in Q3 2022 compared to the same quarter in 2022, while market leaders such as Meta, Amazon and Twitter have all cut jobs to manage costs.
Redefining the 'metaverse' -- how to determine real utility in the Web3 world
It’s time to redefine what has come to be known as the metaverse -- a reimagined internet, integrating both established and new technologies (think mixed reality) -- to Web3. Though possibilities appear to be plentiful, the 'digital reality' perception of the metaverse is too far off in the horizon and not currently widely relevant.
Rather than focusing on the metaverse, then, businesses need to consider the real-life use-cases for Web3 -- including decentralization, blockchain, and token-based economics -- including crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to gauge their true value, sustainability, and future. Web3 has given us an incredible tool -- the ability to create a 'digital value economy', whereby something can have value in and of itself online, without a trusted intermediary.
Data Privacy Day: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Privacy Day is of extra importance this year because of a dramatic increase in attacks designed to get around measures that make account log-ins more secure, and therefore protect our privacy.
For example, in mid-September, Uber reported a network breach that led to shutting down some of its internal communications and locking its codebase to prevent any new code changes. The attacker reportedly targeted a contractor by repeatedly sending multi-factor authentication login messages until the contractor accepted and gave the attacker access, according to Uber. Several days later, video game maker Rockstar Games announced it also had suffered a network intrusion from an unauthorised third party. The company says the attacker was able to gain confidential information, including early development footage for its upcoming and much anticipated game, Grand Theft Auto VI.
Ransomware affects every aspect of your organization -- here's how to keep your business-critical applications safe
Cybersecurity continues to be an increasingly complex landscape for businesses to navigate as cybercriminals become more sophisticated and the frequency of attempted attacks grows at a rapid pace. One of the biggest cybersecurity challenges that businesses have to contend with today is ransomware, which has become the biggest global cyber threat as attacks strike fast and can do massive damage.
We particularly saw the rapid rise of the ransomware threat during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, a time when most organizations and industries were increasingly adopting new technologies to help adapt to a new, remote environment characterized by digital transformation. According to the latest ransomware statistics, more than a third of organizations across the globe suffered an attempted ransomware attack in 2021, an increase of 105 percent -- to 623.3 million ransomware attacks -- compared to 2020. And, while the volume of ransomware attacks fell by 23 percent in 2022, as organizations began to more aggressively respond to cyber threats, attack methods are continuously evolving at the same time that average ransomware demands are dramatically increasing.
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