Category: News

Microsoft PR is in damage control after a ‘social strategist’ was caught trying to pay people to write good things about IE. Wed, June 18, 2014 Network World — It was only a couple days ago when Microsoft released its Internet Explorer Developer Channel, “a fully functioning browser designed to give Web developers and early adopters a sneak peek at the Web platform features we’re working on.” Any chance IE might have gotten some long-term social media love was dashed after a clueless “social strategist on behalf of Microsoft” invited the…

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Amazon entered the smartphone business Wednesday — and made a big splash doing it. At an event in Seattle, the retail giant unveiled the Fire Phone, a high-end, 3-D smartphone. It is the first smartphone Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) has produced on its own. “Can we build a better phone for our most engaged customers?” asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the event. “Can we build a better phone for Amazon Prime members? Well, I’m excited to tell you that the answer is yes.” Display: The Fire Phone has a 3-D, 4.7-inch high-definition display. It uses…

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Heathrow Terminal 2 can use the data to analyse whether new loos are needed… Heathrow airport has installed sensors into its toilets at the newly opened Terminal 2 to monitor the number of people using each unit. When a certain number of people have used a unit, cleaners are alerted and they are cleaned. The data is also sent to the cloud so it can be analysed by planners who are then able to see where the highest demand for toilet facilities around the terminal is. In the long term,…

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Is Oracle on the hunt for another acquisition? Oracle is in talks to buy Micros Systems, which makes software for retailers and hotel chains, for more than $5 billion, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. While the companies are in exclusive talks, they could still fail to reach an agreement, the report said. (http://r.reuters.com/hyw22w) Micros shares were up 16 per cent at $67.10 in early afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. Oracle shares were up one per cent at $42.61. Micros Systems makes point-of-sale hardware and software for restaurants…

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Complaint alleges anticompetitive behavior in the app market IDG News Service (Brussels Bureau) — Google has been hit with yet another antitrust complaint in Europe, this time for alleged anticompetitive behavior in the app market, the European Union’s top competition authority confirmed Tuesday. The formal complaint was filed by Aptoide, a Portuguese startup in the apps sector, according to officials at EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia’s office. Aptoide runs an independent apps store for Android smartphones. It claims that Google is leveraging its dominant position in the Android market to…

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Although the Gameover Zeus botnet and Cryptolocker ransomware have been disrupted, it is still too early for a victory celebration. First, the two week deadline expires on June, 17th, leaving just one week left before cybercriminals could regain control of their botnet. Second, stories of the Gameover Zeus and Cryptolocker campaign have already spawned a number of copycats, also among mobile malware writers. Last Sunday, June 8th, Kaspersky Lab detected a mobile Trojan now operating in the USA and UK, called Svpeng, which combines the functionality of financial malware with…

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Crowdfunded project would enable users to dual-boot Android on any Windows PC, as well as on any Windows tablet based on Intel processors. Will it fly? (Image: Intel Free Press (Flickr)) “Imagine if your PC could run all the million-plus Android apps that your phone and tablet could.” It’s a nice thought for Android devotees who also use Windows PCs. It’s not a new thought, either, though it’s far from an accessible reality for most users. Among other reasons, some of the intriguing hardware pre-engineered to run both operating systems — such…

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TOKYO — Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) and Toshiba Solutions Corporation today announced that they have started to demonstrate a home energy monitoring system and community management system (CMS) in the  Lyon redevelopment area in Lyon, France. The demonstration is a part of the Lyon Confluence Smart Community Demonstration Project developed by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), with support from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The project is a key element of the Lyon Confluence program organized by the Grand Lyon Community a major redevelopment…

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On Tuesday, CRM and cloud giant Salesforce.com announced the Salesforce Wear Developer Kit, a set of resources designed to help the company’s 1.5 million developers experiment with and build applications for a variety of popular wearable devices, including smartwatches, smartglasses, smart armbands and biometric authenticators. The new wearable-focused developer kit represents “the first in a series of steps” in the company’s broader Salesforce Wear initiative, according to Daniel Debow, senior vice president of emerging technologies, Salesforce.com. Eventually Salesforce plans to setup open wearable-focused developer zones at its events and hold…

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On May 27-28 Kaspersky Lab held its annual Emerging Markets Partner Conference, which took place in Marrakech, Morocco and brought together more than 100 visitors from 42 counties from the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. The company’s partners found out more about its new enterprise-level security strategy, partnership enhancements and heard about the latest trends in the world of cyberthreats; they shared their best practices, received technology training and discussed the latest hot topics. Some partners received awards for their outstanding results in a number of spheres.…

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