News

Nymi Band uses your heartbeat to secure mobile payments

A Canadian company claims to have enabled the 'world's first biometrically authenticated wearable payment using your heartbeat.' The pilot is a small, consumer-oriented program, but the target audience is much larger.

The Takeaway: India tops in H-1B use for computer jobs

Most of the H-1B visas that the U.S. government granted for workers in computer jobs are for people from India, a Computerworld analysis shows.

CIOs vastly underestimate extent of shadow IT

New study from Cisco reveals CIOs are operating in the dark, failing to meet end users' needs for cloud applications and services.

Firefox zero-day hole found, exploited: Update now

Go update Firefox. Then come back and read this story. No, really, I mean it.

Have Bug bounties finally become mainstream?

The laws of supply and demand have helped to bridge the gap between security hackers-for-hire and the CIOu2019s office.

IT customers slow to embrace outsourced DevOps

While enterprises are experimenting with new DevOps application delivery methods, theyu2019re not yet convinced that their IT service providers can help with the transformation.

Tectonic meets OpenStack: Container earthquake expected

CoreOS and Mirantis come together to integrate their open source technologies.

IBM looks to let Watson Health ‘see’

IBM plans to acquire medical image handling and processing specialist Merge Healthcare for $1 billion to add advanced image analytics to Watson's cognitive capabilities.

Obama pushes tech startup community for more diversity

President Obama hosts White House Demo Day as the administration teams with the industry to bolster diversity in a tech-heavy startup landscape.

NFL teams test virtual reality at 2015 training camp

A handful of National Football League teams are using virtual reality technologies at this year's training camps as a way to simulate different perspectives, analyze player performance and, ultimately, crush the competition.

LibreOffice 5.0 released with major improvements

The fully open source office suits hits a milestone with 5.0 release

Did Android get a case of Stagefright?

Recent u2013 and mostly incorrect u2013 reports of an Android phone system hack have finally been put to rest by the only source that matters.

The Takeaway: Could Apple’s El Capitan arrive sooner than expected?

The faster pace of developer releases of Apple's next version of OS X indicates that the desktop/laptop operating system upgrade could launch earlier than expected.

GE launches industrial Internet PaaS

GE's Predix Cloud is a purpose-built platform-as-a-service designed specifically for industrial data and analytics.

Cultural challenges slow federal open data efforts

Federal CIOs face cultural challenges and governance issues in trying to comply with DATA Act requirements to make spending information accurate and available.

The Takeaway: Why Windows 10 wants your upload bandwidth

Some new Windows 10 users have been caught off guard by a new peer-to-peer service in the OS that relies on a customer's upload bandwidth to distribute updates and apps.

Government CIOs fret over apps reliability in the cloud

Government officials cite security and user experience as top concerns in delivering apps in a cloud setting and pushing out online citizen services.

Google boasts Android for Work success

Android for Work, Googleu2019s answer for enterprise mobility management, has signed up 40 partners and more than 10,000 business customers since it launched less than five months ago. Itu2019s also gained broad support from the countryu2019s four la

Congress probes Internet of Things privacy, security

As lawmakers consider how the government should respond to proliferation of new network-enabled devices, industry leaders appeal for a light-touch approach to avoid stifling innovation.

How predictive analytics will revolutionize healthcare

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System is using Microsoft's Cortana Analytics Suite and Microsoft Dynamics to create a new type of healthcare. It will use predictive analytics to focuses on prevention, better care and cutting costs.

How should the U.S. respond to state-sponsored cyberattacks?

A new poll suggests the general public views the growing threats from nation-states as significant, but they may be off base in terms of their prescriptions for how to respond.

Move over Skype, Facetime, Hangouts. Here comes Spreedbox, a fully open source, secure videoconferencing solution

Spreedbox can offer private and secure video chat using Linux and open source technologies. All it needs is your support.

The Takeaway: No, Windows 10’s roll-out won’t break the Internet

But it could lead to sluggish traffic for some users

The Takeaway: Tech bubble redux?

The NASDAQ's been on a tear, leading some to wonder if it's 1999 all over again

Most Android phones can be hacked with a simple MMS message or multimedia file

Why CIOs can’t wait to renegotiate their outsourcing contracts

Rapidly changing business and technology needs are forcing IT leaders to renegotiate their IT outsourcing contracts and rethink their sourcing portfolios sooner rather than later. Hereu2019s how to do it.

KDE Community announces fully open source Plasma Mobile

Watch out Canonical, here comes another fully open source mobile OS.

YouTube chief claims ‘best year ever,’ plays down Facebook threat

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki spoke at the annual VidCon conference yesterday in Southern California, where she detailed the company's growth and its plans amidst a collection of the online-video world's brightest stars.

The Takeaway: Windows 10 could be on more than 440M PCs in 20 months

More than 80% of PCs running Windows 8 or 8.1 will likely make the jump

EHR vendors slammed for interoperability struggles

Healthcare providers cite vendors for failing to deliver promised data portability in electronic health records.

Linux Foundation offers cheaper courses and certifications for India

This makes India the first region in which the Linux Foundation will offer country-specific pricing on select training and certification products.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.7 comes with new security features

The new version of RHEL comes with many new features that enhance security and stability.rn

IBM woos cloud developers

IBM has announced a three-pronged approach aimed at helping developers build and deploy open source cloud apps, including the developerWorks Open platform, the release of 50 projects to open source and partnerships with universities.

The Takeaway: Windows 10’s big change — 10 years of support from day 1

In a big shift for Microsoft, Windows 10 users will get new features and functions for a full decade from the time the OS is purchased.

CIO role is crucial to federal data governance

As data piles up across the federal government, insiders agree that it falls to the CIO to manage competing interests and ensure that data becomes an asset that serves the mission objectives.

Startup launches big data-as-a-service

Cazena, a startup founded by former Netezza execs, is aiming to help enterprises solve the big data engineering challenge with a managed service platform that addresses the security and complexity challenges that have kept many enterprises from the

The Takeaway: Mountain Lion support likely to end this fall

If it follows previous practices, Apple will send the final security update for OS X 10.8 in September.

Google tests $2 custom Gmail addresses

Gmail users who want more professional and unique email addresses now have a new low-cost option, thanks to the 'Gmail at work' service, which offers custom addresses. But is it really a good deal?

The Takeaway: With Firefox for Windows 10, Mozilla hopes to keep its users

Mozilla plans to release the Windows 10 version of Firefox in August or September, and hopes that doing so will allow it to keep users from jumping ship to Microsoft's Edge browser.

HBO Now available on Google Android and Amazon devices

Users of these Linux-powered devices can now access HBO Now and watch all episodes of the Game of Thrones.

The Takeaway: The devil in the details of the Windows 10 license

The end-user license agreement for Windows 10, not surprisingly, includes changes that spell out everything from how automatic updates are handled to what happens to pirated copies when a user tries to upgrade.

The Takeaway: The Windows 10 update cadence explained

One thing is certain: Different users will get different versions of Microsoft's new OS at different times.

How Facebook uses IT automation to manage 16,000 MacBooks

Facebook wasn't always a well-oiled machine when it came to IT automation, but the company's phenomenal growth led to some key changes in how its technology staff manages an ever-growing collection of Apple MacBooks.

The Takeaway: Mobile payments gain momentum

The push for mobile payments in the U.S. continues to build steam as banks shift to chip-embedded cards and merchants roll out new payment terminals that can accept them.

Mirantis just made it easy to get started with OpenStack

The company has launched its Unlocked Appliances program to assist customers in setting up OpenStack

The Takeaway: As Windows 10 rollout nears, Microsoft halts preview releases

Early-bird Windows 10 testers won't be getting new preview builds of the new OS for now because the company has stopped deliveries to focus instead on distribution.

GE, Pitney Bowes team up on predictive and prescriptive analytics

The two companies will use GE's Predix software platform for the Industrial Internet of Things to develop customized asset performance management applications.

The Takeaway: The war over H-1Bs heats up

Microsoft's laying off workers, Sen. Marco Rubio sees a skills gap and the feds are investigating.

Microsoft becomes first 2015 Gold contributor to openBSD Foundation

The move makes good on an earlier statement by Angel Calvo, Microsoft's PowerShell Team Group Software Engineering Manager, that they won't be just adopting openSSH, they will also be contributing to it

The Takeaway: For Windows phones, it’s all over but the shouting

Microsoft is still making smartphones for its Windows 10 Mobile OS, but the company has largely given up on the mobile course set by former CEO Steve Ballmer.