Author: Eva Glass

Eva Glass first rose to prominence in The INQUIRER. She continues to work behind the scenes to dig out the best stories.

Microsoft waves goodbye to Nokia

Posted on October 22, 2014 by - News

nokia-lumiaThe Nokia brand name can’t be worth very much because Microsoft is going to ditch it from its line of phones.

It originally planned to use the Nokia name for as long as 10 years but freshly fledged CEO Satya Nadella is obviously revisiting just about everything ex-CEO Steve Ballmer had committed to.

Microsoft bought Nokia for a rather expensive $4.6 billion but the former Finnish mobile phone unit had already seen its fortunes wane.

Microsoft already had a mobile phone division so plenty of people scratched their heads and wondered why it even bothered to pay that much money for a firm that had seen its day.

Microsoft is currently going through a gigantic culling exercise which will see over 12,000 people lose its jobs.

Microsoft, like its long time partner Intel, has never really hit it big in the mobile phone market.

Future phones will be sold under the name of Microsoft Lumia, it appears.

Outsourcing is a fail

Posted on October 22, 2014 by - News

depressionWhile the services market grew in 2013, revenues failed to shine.

That’s according to a report from market research company IDC, which said the whole service market grew from 12.3 percent in 2012 to 13.4 percent last year.

But, as IBM and SAP results showed earlier this week, the gloss appears to have faded on the services industry.

Vendors, said IDC, attributed the small increase in income to cutting jobs, making people work harder for less money, and finind new places where labour is cheaper.

IT outsourcing appears to be on he wane, said IDC. It was the least profitable service line last year and in 2012.

But support and training services are still profitable, while the second and third most profitable lines were “business consulting” and IT project based services, said IDC.

Chad Huston, a senior analyst at IDC, said the lacklustre revenue growth hasn’t stopped what he described as “an upward trajectory”.

But, he added, that’s because vendors are cutting their costs.

The supply chain is the weakest IT link

Posted on October 22, 2014 by - News

Rusty chain - Wikimedia CommonsThe University of Maryland (UMD) said it has created counter measures to prevent the supply chain being targeted by hackers.

A research team at the university’s School of Business said that hackers are targeting vendors and suppliers that have access to enterprises’ IT systems, software and networks.

The researchers point to the Target breach last year, when a criminal cracked into a refrigeration system supplier that was connected to an enterprise IT system.

But UMD has a counter measure which it developed after looking at 200 different companies across various industries.

Sandor Boyson, a research professor at UMD, said the research showed that the cyber supply chain is fragmented and companies fail to respond to real time risks.  “Just half of our subjects used an executive advisory committee such as a risk board to govern their IT system risks,” said Boyson.

You can test UMD’s counter measure, at no charge, here.  Boyson said that will let companies map their IT supply chains and measure themselves against their peers and competitors.  The scalable portal has already been used by companies in aerospace, telecomms, real estate, medical, and professional services.

Boyson’s team funding comes from US quango the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Chromebooks start to shine brightly

Posted on October 22, 2014 by - News

google-ICNotebooks using the conventional Wintel model seem to be past history, but Chromebooks are selling like there’s no tomorrow.

That’s the conclusion of research by ABI Research, which said that shipments of Chromebooks soared by 67 percent in a quarter.

Acer is the top dog in the sector, followed by Samsung and HP – those three accounted for 74 percent of shipment share during the first half of this year.  That isn’t going to change in the second half of this year, said ABI.

So-called vertical markets like schools are a driving force, and Chromebooks also sell well in emerging markets. But ABI said that North America will account for 78 percent of the Chromebook market and other regions such as Asia Pacific and Western Europe are set to grow shipment market share over the next five years.

Stephanie Van Vactor, an analyst at ABI, said that while Chromebooks might be a temporary fad like the netbook, but the price and design mean that it’s attractive to the world+dog.

“People are hungry for a product that is cost effective but also provide the versatility and functionality of a laptop,” she said.

Driverless car hits 149MPH

Posted on October 21, 2014 by - News

Audi's Hackenberg with the RS7 driverless carGerman car firm Audi said it has demonstrated a car without a driver clocking nearly 150MPH at the Hockhenheim racing circuit.

A number of automotive manufacturers are experimenting with the concept of cars that don’t need drivers.  And Google is at the forefront of such attempts.

It may be quite a while before we see such vehicles on the roads, however, with a number of obstacles on the way including the question of liability in case of accidents.

The RS7 Audi used a heap of sensors including GPS to navigate around the race track, with the data generated being analysed and processed by software. The car took two minutes to complete one lap of the circuit.

Software is notoriously bug ridden and some governments would be a little nervous about licensing potential death traps to scoot around increasingly congested cities.

Audi board member Dr Ulrich Hackenberg said the test allowed Audi to test several concepts which could be applied to cars with drivers.

GloFo gets a Big Blue boost

Posted on October 21, 2014 by - News

IBM logoAs we reported yesterday, IBM has sold off its semiconductor business giving Global Foundries (GloFo) a considerable leg up in the foundry business.

IBM spelled out the details saying that GloFo will get its intellectual property, technology and technologists formerly part of Big Blue’s IBM Microelectronics business.

GloFo also gets some business from the deal because it will act as its exclusive server processor provider for 22 nanometre, 14 nanometre and 10 nanometre processes in a 10 year deal.

IBM was eager to say that despite it disposing of its Microelectronics division, it will still work on semiconductor research. And as part of this commitment, IBM will continue to invest $3 billion over the next five years in semiconductor technology research.

GloFo will get primary access to the research through the investment, will get thousands of patents and other benefits including technology related to advanced geometries at 10 nanometres and below.

Dr Sanjay Jha, CEO of GloFo, this gives his company leadership in the semiconductor business.  “This acquisition further strengthens advanced manufacturing in the US and builts on established relationships in New York and Vermont,” he said.

IBM will take a charge of $4.7 billion in its third quarter financial results because of the acquisition. Most former employees of IBM Microelectronics will keep their jobs.

The internet has a snooze

Posted on October 21, 2014 by - News

sleepyScientists suggest that the internet goes to sleep a bit like human beings do.

According to Professor John Heidemann at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the results of a survey he conducted will help people to make better systems to measure and track internet outages.

“Understanding how the internet sleep will help avoid confusing a sleeping internet with an internet outage,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, the richer a country is, the more likely it is that the internet will develop insomnia rather than nodding off and having a good nap.

“While the internet is always up and running for some, such as those with broadband access in the US and Europe, in other areas, people’s access to the internet varies over the course of the day, notably in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe,” said Heidemann.

To discover the way the internet works, Heidemann and his team pinged 3.7 million address blocks – that’s about 950 million addresses – every 11 minutes over two months.

Bring your own device use grows

Posted on October 21, 2014 by - News

tesco-hudl-tabletAs many as 40 percent of US citizens who work for large corporations use their own smartphones, desktops, laptops, and tablets to do business.

That’s according to IT market research company Gartner, which recently surveyed over 4,300 people about their technology and attitudes.

Amanda Sabia, a principal research analyst at Gartner, noted in her report that the lines beween work and play are becoming ever more blurred.

The Gartner survey demonstrated that personal desktop PCs were used the most for work at 42 percent, smartphones by 40 percent, laptops at 36 percent and tablets at 26 percent.

But it appears that enterprises aren’t putting pressure on people to use their own devices with only 25 percent of employees asked to do so by their employers.

The trend is firmly in favour of smartphones and tablets, with 32 percent of those surveyed likely to buy a smartphone, 23 percent to buy a notebook, 20 percent to buy a tablet and 14 percent a desktop PC.

Four out of five of those surveyed have downloaded mobile apps, said Gartner.

Bleak outlook for notebooks – report

Posted on October 21, 2014 by - News

notebooksThings continue to look less than rosy on the notebook front with shipments worldwide expected to drop in the fourth quarter of this year.

That’s according to Digitimes Research, which said the downward movement is in spite of Intel and Microsoft applying subsidies in a big to boost demand.

The report suggests that global notebook shipments will drop 4.4 percent compared to the same quarter last year. The fourth quarter always used to be a buoyant period for the PC industry, but those rules now seem to be things of the past.

Digitimes Research said that Lenovo and Asustek will do better than the rest of the pack and are expected to show growth in the quarter.

Acer will see a hit, it reports while Lenovo appears to be having some success in Europe, shipping 10 million units in the quarter.

It appears that at the consumer end of the market few have been convinced that Windows 8.1 is the bee’s knees.

Avnet picks up Lenovo’s server business

Posted on October 20, 2014 by - News

avnettsMegadistributor Avnet said it has been appointed as a global Lenovo route to market.

This follows Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s System x (X86) server business early in the month.

Avnet said it will sell Lenovo servers in over 40 different countries around the world.

As well as Lenovo System x systems, Avnet will sell BladeCenter and Flex System blades and switches, X86 integrated system, NextScale and iDataplex servers, software and maintenance.

But this does not mean Avnet is waving goodbye to IBM. It’s worked with Big Blue for nearly 30 years and will continue to distribute IBM Power Systems, Storage Systems, Power Flex servers, training, software and services.

Tony Madden, a senior VP at Avnet Global said: “Avnet is working closely with Lenovo to ensure a seamless transition for existing System x channel partners and their customers.”

EU lets Huawei off the hook

Posted on October 20, 2014 by - News

huawei-liveChina and the European Union have decided to bury the hatchet over subsidies made to telecoms giant Huawei and others.

The EU was worried that the government of China was subsidising Huawei and ZTE, so threatening European vendors’ ability to compete.

But, reports Reuters, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said the telecoms matter has now been resolved.

De Gucht said that the EU takes every opportunity “to level out the playing field” for European vendors.

Both China and the European Union are expected to hammer out a free trade deal in the near future.

Huawei was started by a former member of the Chinese PLA.  It has come under repeated criticism in the USA because of fears by some politicians that its gear is embedded in American infrastructure.

Microsoft has a smartwatch. Again

Posted on October 20, 2014 by - News

fobwatchNever let it be said that Microsoft doesn’t copy its competitors. Because it always has, and always will and has never “innovated” anything apart from marketing hype.

So it is no surprise to read that Microsoft is going to launch a so-called “smartwatch” in a few weeks, according to a report in Forbes. It has dabbled in these waters before, but without any conspicuous success.

While analysts predict that the so-called “wearable” market will be worth millions in a few years, the jury is still well and truly out on whether people will want to pay good money for smartwatches.

Forbes predicted that the Microsoft watch will track your heart rate and work with different operating systems than just Windows.  And it claims it will have a battery life of only two days.

Apparently Apple’s smartwatch has to be charged every night, which is a bit of a pain in the butt.  There’s no word on pricing.

PC shipments still shrinking

Posted on October 20, 2014 by - News

A not so mobile X86 PCWhile Intel turned in remarkably buoyant financial results last week, the news remains somewhat gloomy on the PC front.

Figures released by IDC showed that shipments to consumers in the potentially lucrative Asia Pacific region in the third quarter of this year fell by five percent compared to the same quarter last year.

Sales were up compared to the previous quarter by eight percent and totalled 26.6 million units.

China and India showed better than expected shipments in the quarter.

Handoko Andi, research manager for client devices at IDC said: “[Windows] XP migration helped boost commercial PC spending earlier this year.  But in recent quarters, we have seen Microsoft add a lot to the entry level segment by launching the Windows 8.1 with Bing programme.”

Lenovo is numero uno iin the region, followed by Dell, HP, Acer and Asus.  HP showed a decline of 16.1 percent in shipments in the region compared to the same quarter last year, while Acer showed an 11.2 percent decline.

Scientists solve superconductor conundrum

Posted on October 20, 2014 by - News

A building at MITMicroprocessors using superconducting circuits can be 50 to 100 times more energy efficient and faster than Intel chips but obstacles have prevented the dream being realised. Yet.

Now MIT researchers claim to have developed a circuit design that will make superconducting devices cheaper to manufacture using so-called Josephson junctions.  MIT said chips using these junctions clock at 770GHz – that’s pretty fast, folks.

Adam McCaughan and Professor Karl Berggren have dubbed their circuit the nanocryotron.

McCaughan said that the world has seen devices come and go without real world applications.  “We have already applied our device to applications that will be highly relevant to future work in superconducting computing and quantum communications,” he claimed.

The cool thing about superconductors is they don’t have any electrical resistance. When electrons trundle along copper wires or circuits in regular chips, they tend to keep bumping against atoms and that generates energy, that is to say heat.

The good Professor’s lab uses superconducting circuits made from niobium nitride, operating at the rather chilly temperature of minus 257 degrees Celsius.  The scientists are experimenting with liquid helium.  “Superconducting computation would let data centres dispense with the cooling systems they currently use to keep their banks of servers from overheating.”

BBC to remember web pages forgotten

Posted on October 17, 2014 by - News

beebGoogle removal of BBC web pages under the so-called “right to be forgotten” is being challenged by the broadcasting giant.

The BBC feels that some of its own pages shuld not have been taken down.  David Jordan, who heads up the BBC’s editorial policy said it would publish a regularly updated list of pages that Google has removed.

The European Court of Justice told Google that people should have the right to have content they objected to removed.  Google, said Jordan, doesn’t let people or organisations that run pages know links have been taken down.

Jordan said that the BBC wouldn’t publish any identifying information or republish pages.  He said there isn’t an effective appeal process and said one page about members of the Real IRA was removed from the BBC website even after two people were convicted.

Jordan made the remarks at a meeting organised by Google. The search engine is currently engaged in a PR campaign around Europe in a bid to help people understand Google really isn’t evil.