First copper network switch-offs begin tomorrow to make way for fibre optics
It's the beginning of the end of an era as 15 sites across five Aussie states will have their copper wire network switched off on May 23, with residents required to make plans to switch to the national broadband network (NBN) by tomorrow.
The switchovers to the NBN will occur in areas of Armidale, Kiama Downs and Minnamurra in New South Wales, Brunswick and South Morang in Victoria, Aitkenvale, Mundingburra and Townsville in Queensland, Willunga in South Australia.
Tasmania will have the largest amount of copper switch-offs, with Deloraine, George Town, Kingston Beach, Sorell, St Helens and Triabunna to be shifted to the NBN.
Business and home phone landlines, as well as ADSL and Telstra's cable lines will be replaced with the NBN's fibre-optic service.
An NBN world
Before the copper lines are switched off tomorrow, all residents are being warned that they will be required to sign up to a new NBN service by the end of May 23 of risk being left without any service."The move to the NBN is not automatic," an NBN spokesperson has said.
"Homes and business owners who want to keep using these services must place an order with their preferred phone company or internet service provider as soon as possible. As long as an order has been received before the scheduled disconnection date, they should not be disconnected."
Residents in the above mentioned areas should check the NBN Co's website to see if their area will be effected before sorting out a new NBN service for phone and internet service, or moving to a mobile and wireless solution.
NBN Co is urging businesses or people using special equipment including EFTPOS terminals, and medical and security alarms that operate on a landline phone connection, to get in contact with their preferred service provider about moving onto an NBN service before the copper network switchoff happens.
For an easier move, NBN Co has put together a guide with information on how to move onto an NBN service before the NBN switchover occurs in your area.
- While the NBN rollout continues, Telstra has other broadband access plans in mind with a national Wi-Fi network
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Qualcomm might walk the walk when it comes to wearables
Qualcomm has already thrown its hat in the wearables ring, but soon it might throw its whole suit in, too.
The chip maker showed off the Qualcomm Toq, a fitness-focused smartwatch, in 2013, but it was only released in a limited US run. Let's just say, it wasn't a massive hit.
But Qualcomm Taiwan president Eddie Chang told Taipei Times that the company has "all the technologies needed" to compete with rival chip maker Mediatek in the wearable chip arena.
Chang didn't go into greater detail, but he did promise that wearables with Qualcomm chips will arrive this year.
Playing it smart
Qualcomm is already at the top of the mobile game, with its Snapdragon processors powering smartphones and tablets in pockets across the globe.A leap into wearables makes perfect sense, if they're as big as we think they are.
Can't blame the company for waiting this long though to see how the chips would fall on this trend.
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Video: The best of Maker Faire 2014
There's no shortage of amazing eye-candy at Maker Faire - the Mecca for those who make robots, use 3D printers, or are do-it-yourselfers in an age of general apathy towards learning to create.
Officially dubbed "The Year of the Maker" by event staff, Maker Faire 2014 exploded onto the San Mateo, Calif. fairgrounds for the ninth consecutive year, bringing with it a slew of astounding projects and jaw-dropping electronics that would make any Radio Shack employee jealous.
At its core, the Maker Movement is a grassroots movement that looks to reinvigorate American innovation at the individual level. By collaborating on open-source projects and sharing information, the community found at these events is empowering, if a little intimidating at first.
While we spend a lot of time covering the titans of technology around here, we thought it'd be nice to spend some time with the little guys - the up-and-coming entrepreneurs of the technology world.
From their hands to yours
3D printing is a turbulent technology, changing and evolving faster than you can say "PSA filament." Thankfully 3D printer pioneer MakerBot was on-hand at this year's event to explain how the Replicator Mini, the company's consumer-facing flagship model technology, is going to become more and more prevalent in your everyday life.
- Check out MakerBot's website here.
- Check out Makelangelo on Marginally Clever.
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As UK rural broadband rollout drags on, EE 4G hits 2,588 small towns and villages
4G mobile broadband speeds are now hitting more of Britain's rural towns and villages thanks to the latest infrastructure upgrade from the UK's leading LTE network EE.
During an event at which network revealed a host of own-branded 4G devices including tablets and an in-car 4G unit, it also revealed next-gen speeds are now available in 2,588 of the UK's smaller regions.
That equates to a further three million people, in areas with less than 10,000 residents, that are able to jump aboard the 4G bandwagon for the first time.
In many cases, the rollout will enable homes and businesses to access speeds far exceeding those on offer from fixed-line broadband offerings.
4G > Superfast?
In recent months, EE's announcements surrounding 4G roll outs in new areas around the UK have lost their lustre due to how common they've become.However, Wednesday's announcement takes on greater significance in light of the slower-than-anticipated government roll-out of super-fast broadband services in the UK's rural communities.
Will complete 4G coverage blanket the UK before BT, Virgin and co get around to offering superfast in all corners of Britain? Share your thoughts below.
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Nest Protect smoke alarm recalled over fears it may not actually protect that well
The Google-owned thermostat company Nest has recalled every one of its Protect smoke alarms over a defect that could cause the alarm to be wrongly disabled.
The recall, said to total 440,000 units, is the result of an issue with the Wave feature which is designed to let owners disable the sound of the alarm with a simple gesture.
Just last month the firm halted Protect sales, revealing the Wave feature could be falsely triggered, thus preventing the alarm from sounding in the event of a real fire.
The temporary solution for the problem, as listed on the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website, is an automatic software update, delivered when users connect their device to a Wi-Fi network.
Disabled
Once the update is automatically downloaded, the Wave feature will be completely disabled. Following the install, the firm says users can continue to use their smoke alarms safely.A Nest spokesperson told TechCrunch: "Even with the Wave feature disabled, the Nest Protect Alarm will continue to perform its essential safety functions, monitoring for increased levels of smoke and CO, and alerting users via voice alerts and Nest app alerts (if set up) as soon as there is a potential issue."
Users can choose to update their device or claim a full refund, options which were first presented when the issue came to light in April.
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Virtual wars: Oculus and Palmer Luckey sued for allegedly stealing VR tech
Oculus VR and its founder Palmer Luckey are facing a very real lawsuit for allegedly stealing and misappropriating virtual reality trade secrets as well as infringing on copyrights and trademarks.
The suit was filed by game publisher ZeniMax Media and its subsidiary id Software, the former employer of Oculus CTO John Carmack. ZeniMax had already started airing out accusations related to Luckey, Carmack and unauthorized code use earlier this month.
In a press release today, ZeniMax and id claimed Oculus VR and Luckey unlawfully exploited "intellectual property, including trade secrets, copyrighted computer code, and technical know-how relating to virtual reality technology that was developed by ZeniMax after years of research and investment."
It's ZeniMax intellectual property that "has provided the fundamental technology driving the Oculus Rift since its inception," the release stated. Despite requests for compensation, ZeniMax said Oculus and Luckey have "refused" and continue using its IP without permission.
What the lawsuit means for the future of Oculus Rift isn't clear, namely because none of the parties are talking specifics.
Where does Oculus Rift stand?
TechRadar asked ZeniMax, Oculus VR and Facebook (which bought Oculus for $2 billion (about £1.2b, AU$2.1b) in March) for comment on the lawsuit. We've yet to hear from ZeniMax and a Facebook spokesperson said the social network declines to comment. However, an Oculus spokesman sent us the following statement:"The lawsuit filed by ZeniMax has no merit whatsoever. As we have previously said, ZeniMax did not contribute to any Oculus technology. Oculus will defend these claims vigorously."
ZeniMax didn't say what it's seeking in monetary compensation but it has requested a jury trial in US federal court. We asked the firm whether it's seeking a halt to development and/or eventual consumer sales of the Oculus Rift, but again, we haven't heard a peep from them.
As for Oculus, it had nothing more to share outside its statement, including what the lawsuit could mean for its VR hardware moving forward.
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KitKat update touching down on more LG, Sony Xperia devices
The latest and greatest version of Android continues a slow but steady wave across smartphones and tablets from nearly every OEM, with a hump day update heading to a handful of devices from Sony and LG.
Sony Mobile today announced the rollout of Android 4.4 KitKat to four devices, namely the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, the waterproof Xperia ZR and Xperia Tablet Z, with another trio already in the update queue for July.
The over-the-air KitKat update delivers the usual performance improvements and UI optimizations, but Xperia fans also receive an all-new user interface experience ripped straight from the PlayStation 4, including new launch animation and live wallpaper.
With revamped Status Bar and Quick Settings, the Xperia KitKat update also delivers tweaks to Sony's built-in apps, such as slicker "send" animation in Messaging, a smarter social Xperia Camera and a more responsive email client.
Your mileage may vary
Sony isn't the only manufacturer getting into the KitKat game Wednesday, as LG cleared the Optimus G Pro for a similar OTA update for AT&T customers in the US, which is arrives as a free roughly 800MB download.More specifically, AT&T's update brings the LG Optimus G Pro to Android 4.4.2 and delivers restyled status and navigation bars, a new full-screen mode, battery performance improvements and support for Google Cloud Print.
While LG customers on the AT&T network should be on the lookout for KitKat starting today, Sony's updates will be available in select markets, which will arrive in staggered releases at the discretion of carriers around the globe.
Next up for Sony is another wave of KitKat updates starting in July, which promise to land on Xperia T2 Ultra, Xperia E1 and Xperia M2 devices - and in the case of the latter, both available variant models as well.
- Find out if the Motorola Moto E is the little smartphone that could in our review!
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Xbox One update for June adds external storage, real Live user names
Get ready to stop having to delete game installs for the sake of storage and having to look up who's who on your Xbox Live friends list as June's Xbox One update solves these problems and more.
The forthcoming update includes the ability to use up to two external storage devices, share your real name with your Xbox Live buddies and use SmartGlass more seamlessly.
Next-gen gamers will also be pleased to hear about the return of the much-requested Xbox One auto sign-in feature that was available on the Xbox 360.
"Since our launch of Xbox One last year, we've been hard at work to continue making Xbox One the best destination for all your gaming and entertainment experiences," wrote Xbox Live's Major Nelson on his blog.
"Because of the way we've designed the Xbox One platform, we've been able to continually improve the product for you with a more regular cadence of system and app updates."
So. Much. Storage.
The feature leading the charge is the ability to have not one but two external hard drives hooked up to your Xbox One. The only requirements are that the external drives have a USB 3.0 port and a minimum 256GB of space available.Once the console formats the drive, any games and software you choose to download will default to the external first and then any overflow will spill onto the console itself. By moving installed apps to your external hard drive you'll be able to take them with you to, say, a friend's house or anywhere you'll have access to another Xbox One.
Two additional drives should mean plenty of extra room for those sweet free Games with Gold titles that come out every month.
It's for friends but don't call it Friendster
By choosing to take advantage of Xbox's real name sharing program, you'll finally be able to tell which one of your coworkers is B00MxH34DSH0T and which one is L4D13SMAN300.After the June update rolls out, you'll be able to choose either opt-in and display your real name, or opt-out and continue sporting your moniker as the only form of identification. The feature is entirely optional and if you opt-in you'll be able to choose which of your friends see your real name.
But if your privacy meter is set on "outgoing," Microsoft will allow a discovery option that will show you friends of friends real name. Microsoft has firmly stated that your followers, however, will only see your tag and not your real name, avoiding any potential privacy concerns.
Update errata
The video also details how you'll be able to use SmartGlass to rearrange pins, bring up OneGuide directly on your phone or tablet, and use streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu without an Xbox Live Gold subscription.It's nice to see Microsoft working hard on the constant usability updates, especially ones of that fulfill the original promises Microsoft touted at E3 last year.
We'll surely see more Xbox One announcements at E3 2014 as Microsoft attempts to rival PS4 now that the two systems are at the same price point.
Check out our Xbox One video review below:
- How do the systems stack up? Read our PS4 vs Xbox One debate
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Benchmark video reveals oddly familiar Galaxy S5 Active specs
Yet another video of the alleged Samsung Galaxy S5 Active has appeared online, this one claiming to benchmark the unannounced Samsung flagship variant.
The video, from YouTube channel TK Tech News, goes over the device in detail, though it's unclear how they got their hands on it.
The video clocks the S5 Active with a 1920 x 1080 Super AMOLED display, a 16-megapixel camera, a quad-core Snapdragon 80-1 chip, Android 4.4.2 KiKat, 2GB of memory, and a heart rate monitor and barometer.
In other words it's a carbon copy of the Samsung Galaxy S5 - at least on the inside.
A book by its cover
Outside the Galaxy S5 Active appears to sport some metal and rubber that should help protect it from the elements (and being dropped during your regular mountain climbing and BMX activities).That "Active" in the name isn't just for show, after all.
That may be the only difference between the S5 and the S5 Active - and while that may not sound like great news, it sort of is, when you consider that the Galaxy S4 Active actually had downgraded specs compared with the proper Galaxy S4.
One has to wonder, though, why Samsung needs to bother with two variants of the S5 when they're identical except for one version's improved durability.
Shouldn't the S5 have been as durable as possible to begin with?
- Is bigger better? Read TechRadar's Samsung Galaxy Note 3 review
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Facebook gets its Shazam on with new audio recognition feature
Since its inception, Facebook has slowly been putting together a digital identity from everything you like and do, down to your real-life movements. Now the social network has launched a new service that listens, too.
Facebook updated its iOS and Android apps with a new tool that can identify songs and television shows. Similar to Shazam, this new audio recognition feature will identify almost anything your listening to, making it easy to post in a status update.
Friends seeing any posted songs will be able click on your shared activity for a quick 30-second preview of the tune.
The feature also works with TV shows, including live TV and sporting events. Unlike songs, there won't be any embedded media in the News Feed, but you can discuss Game of Thrones spoilers with your friends.
The update is gradually coming to mobile apps over the coming weeks to app users in the US. Facebook has yet to release a timetable for when the update will arrive for all.
Say what
The new listening feature is off by default so the Facebook app won't ever listen in without the user knowing. Once users manually turn it on, the feature is one tap away with the smiley face icon on the status update window.As a new part of Facebook's "Feelings" options, the feature is just another way for users to skip typing and make the News Feed a media rich experience.
See, hear, publish nothing
Facebook has a crummy privacy track record and history may be repeating itself again here.Mashable alleged that the Facebook app listens in whenever users goes to the compose page, identifying songs or shows. Supposedly even if the user choses not to publish the information, it's still logged into Facebook's database.
Then there's the question of what else Facebook might be listening in on.
To help dissuade spying fears, the Facebook app prompts users with a message before turning on the listening tool that reads, "We can't identify background noise and conversation. Sounds are only used to find a match and are never stored."
- Your secret love of Cher, pfftt - here's the 10 worst recent data breaches
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Ads, ads everywhere: Google has a plan to put them on everday items
If there's one thing Google isn't serving enough of, it's ads.
Thankfully the company might someday address that, if it follows through on a proposal that it could put ads on everything from thermostats and refrigerators to car dashboards, watches and glasses. The search (an ad) giant outlined its proposal in a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
These everywhere-ads are currently hypothetical. At least we have no proof that they're otherwise.
And a Google spokesperson told TechRadar that the letter "does not reflect Google's product roadmap." Hm.
The definition of mobile
So it seems some context might help, before you start looking at your thermostat sideways expecting to see an ad for whatever you last Googled.The search company mentioned the possibility of putting ads on appliances and other unusual places to explain to the SEC why it shouldn't be required to disclose revenue generated from mobile devices, like Twitter, Facebook and other companies are.
Google said it doesn't make sense to single out mobile devices as their own category, since the definition of mobile is always evolving, especially as more household items turn smart.
In fact, the Google spokesperson let us know that the company is "in contact with the SEC to clarify the language in this 2013 filing."
Explanations
Google said the content it could (hypothetically) display on weird devices might not even be limited to ads."Our expectation is that users will be using our services and viewing our ads on an increasingly wide diversity of devices in the future," the company told the SEC.
With Android already getting behind the wheel, Google Glass headsets causing headaches all over the place, and Google buying up home appliance companies like the smart thermostat makers at Nest, it's not hard to imagine its expectation coming true.
But imagination is all it might be: "Nest, which we acquired after this filing was made, does not have an ads-based model and has never had any such plans," Google's statement to TechRadar explained. We'll see.
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Price watch: Moto 360 smartwatch may be cheaper than expected
The Moto 360 watch may be as stylish as it is affordable, according to Motorola's own words that peg the wearable at just US$250 ( AU$271).
This cheaper-than-expected price can be found within the official rules of a Motorola contest that asks anxious Android Wear fans to design a Moto 360 watch face.
One grand prize winner will receive the Moto 360 for free, notes the the legal documents that claim it has an "average retail price" of US$249 (about AU$270).
But really, we're all winners already because this dapper-looking smartwatch won't cost nearly as much as some have estimated.
Moto 360 cheaper than prior estimates
Moto 360 has previously been rumored to cost as much as US$340 (about AU$365), which is a price estimate converted from a French source that cited a €249 (AU$369) price tag.That's awful steep for a tethered device that can't make phone calls on its own, especially when compared to the similarly fashionable Pebble Steel costs US$229 (about AU$244).
The Moto 360 would naturally cost a little bit more thanks to nifty features like a circular watch face and newly confirmed wireless charging via magnetic induction.
Expect to hear more about the Moto 360 and rival LG G Watch next month, as Motorola's watch face design contest ends and Google IO 2014 begins.
- Why stop at watches? Read our Google Glass review
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Industry voice: How to stay safe from the Heartbleed Bug
The impact of the 'Heartbleed' vulnerability is potentially very far-reaching. OpenSSL is widely-used to secure Internet-based communications, including web, e-mail, IM (instant messaging) and VPN (virtual private networks). If exploited, this vulnerability allows an attacker to read the memory of vulnerable systems and intercept sensitive information – including usernames and passwords.
The responsibility for applying the fix to address this vulnerability lies with the providers of online services, network appliances and products that make use of the OpenSSL library. But what should the rest of us do?
First of all, although it may sound a bit bizarre, don't simply change your passwords automatically. You should only do this once you know that an online provider has patched the OpenSSL library and regenerated its digital certificates.
If you change your password before the provider does this, your new password could be compromised too. So it's essential to first check that providers of the sites you use (this includes banks, online stores, social networks, etc.) have applied the fix. If they have, you should change your password. If they haven't, you need to wait until you know that they have.
Checklist
So here's a quick check-list of what to do.1. Check if the site of an online provider you use is vulnerable now, using this tool http://filippo.io/Heartbleed/.
2. Check to see if it was vulnerable before by looking through this list of sites. Or you could contact the provider to ask them directly.
You might wonder why you should care if it was vulnerable before - isn't it just important that it's fixed now? But remember that if it was vulnerable before, your personal data could have been stolen before the provider applied the fix. So you need to know both if it's vulnerable or if it *was* vulnerable.
3. If the site was vulnerable, but has now been fixed, change the password you use to access the site. This should be done after the site has been fixed - otherwise your new password can be compromised too. If you have been using the same password on other sites (which is never a good idea!), make sure you also change your password on those sites.
4. Make sure the site is using a new security certificate - one issued on 8 April or later. You can find an explanation of how to do this here http://blog.kaspersky.com/heartbleed-howto/.
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In depth: 5 big brand buys to make Microsoft mighty again
Tech behemoths have been very busy this year, splashing cash and buying up new companies. With Apple's acquisition of Beats rumoured to go through before WWDC 2014, Facebook's snapping up of Oculus Rift and Whatsapp, and Google's rumoured interest in purchasing Twitch, the video games streaming service, you have to wonder: what is Microsoft doing?
Microsoft has missed out on mobile and is now having to play catch-up in other areas, which makes it a prime candidate for acquiring hot startups and expanding into new product categories. Having splashed out $7.2 billion on Nokia it is clear Microsoft is not afraid of spending money, so here are the top five companies it should be looking at.
1. Square
The technology press has been buzzing with rumours that Square (the payments company started by Jack Dorsey, the ex-CEO of Twitter) would file for an IPO in 2014 but weak financials and the possibility of a bubble in the stock market have prevented it so far. While Microsoft currently has no interest in the buying or selling of goods, the Square's technology could be integrated into future devices.
Square is currently valued at around $5 billion on private markets and could give Microsoft an entrance into new markets that go beyond computer and enterprise software. Jack Dorsey would also be a key asset for Microsoft to have with his vision and ideas having already propelled two companies (Square and Twitter) to billion dollar valuations.
2. Dropbox
As consumer-focused second cousin to Box, Microsoft could make good use of Dropbox in getting back leverage in the consumer market —something they sorely need. While there are rumours that Dropbox is going to IPO within the coming few years, the company is valued at over $10 billion, a drop in the ocean compared to Microsoft's war chest of $80 billion.
While Microsoft already has a cloud storage service in the form of OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive), much could be learnt from Dropbox and the combination of Dropbox and OneDrive could result in some exciting technologies for storing data in the cloud. Dropbox recently unveiled Carousel, an online gallery for all your photos and videos, which was met with wide praise from critics and customers alike and is a feature that OneDrive lacks.
3. Jawbone
After the $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia and potential growth in the wearables market, Microsoft should be looking to invest heavily in this opportunity. Having missed the boat on smartphones and then tablets, Microsoft should be eager to catch up. The purchase of Jawbone, already a reputable wearables company, could help this.
Jawbone is privately valued at over $3.3 billion and has design pedigree in wearables after years of making bluetooth headsets, a pedigree that could easily be expanded to cover a smart watch. Jawbone's design language is functional and clean which fits with the "Modern UI" aesthetic of Windows 8 and Windows Phone.
4. Adobe
Already an established company and brand, Adobe has a long history of making high-end creative software used by photographers, video editors, Web designers and more. Microsoft's software prowess is in enterprise and office applications, the antithesis of what Adobe produces.
Adobe is already a publicly traded company and would be a moon-shot purchase for Microsoft, costing in excess of $40 billion—half of their total cash on hand and 18 months worth of profits. With a net income of just $47 million in Q1 2014, Adobe is no monetary giant but the software they create is renowned throughout the world and would open up new industries to Microsoft.
5. Valve Corporation
Microsoft has a big foot in the door when it comes to hardware sales related to gaming. In the second quarter of 2014 the company shifted 4 million Xbox One units to customers with more expected in the third quarter due to a reduced price. Where Microsoft doesn't have a big presence is PC gaming. The majority of PC gamers use Windows as their operating system but Microsoft has no way to leverage that.
Valve, the company behind Half-Life and Steam, do, however, and Microsoft should acquire the company for that reason. As a private company, Valve is not at liberty to disclose its financial situation but estimates by Forbes in 2012 pinned the companies' worth at around $4 billion. In 2013 Steam announced that 65 million people use its service (more than Xbox Live) making it a snatch for such a small valuation.
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Salesforce.com lifts revenue 37%, boosts full-year outlook
CRM giant Salesforce.com saw revenue rise 37% year-on-year to $1.23 billion for the quarter ending April 30.
Driven by higher demand for its cloud-based sales and marketing solutions, that figure was higher than the $1.21 billion figure predicted by analysts at Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company posted a net loss of $96.9 million, compared with $67.7 million one year ago. Revenue from subscription and support services increased 36% to $1.15 billion, while professional services revenues rose 58% to $79 million.
Looking up
For its full fiscal year 2015, the company predicts that revenue will reach between $5.30 billion and $5.34 billion, up from its prior projection of $5.25 billion to $5.3 billion."Salesforce.com had a strong start to its fiscal year. We delivered 37% year-over-year growth in revenue, and 67% year-over-year growth in operating cash flow in the first quarter," said Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO, in a statement.
Salesforce.com recently announced that it will open its first UK data centre in August 2014, along with plans to open data centres in France and Germany. The move is set to create up to 500 jobs across Europe during its fiscal 2015.
How did Salesforce.com answer a "Mayday" for the enterprise?
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LG G3 advert spills everything about the Quad HD phone
Just about every detail of the LG G3 has just been revealed, after some photos of LG's advertising material were leaked online.
Starting with the specs and moving on to focus on the phone's biggest features, the images don't tell us a lot that we already don't know from other leaks.
But that 5.5-inch Quad HD display, 3GB of RAM and Snapdragon 801 processor are all confirmed here, and we reckon this leak looks pretty legitimate.
Vive la resolution
LG's clearly keen to show off just how gorgeous that screen is going to look, putting its G3 against what looks like a Samsung Galaxy S5 in one of the slides.Although we can only base it on the grainy pictures, it looks like that black oval sensor on the rear is there to either improve colour accuracy, or to make focusing a lot faster as we'd already heard.
It also looks like the rear buttons will probably control the front-facing camera, while some mysterious cartoon hands hint at some gesture-based controls. Or at least that's our guess.
But the less said about LG cashing in on the "selfie" here, the better.
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Industry voice: Staff must be trained to handle BYOD policies
With bring your own device (BYOD) employees can, within reason, use the device they truly want. Windows Phone fans can go with a Nokia Lumia, Apple fans an iPhone, while Google lovers can opt for one of the myriad of Android devices on the market.
On the tablet side, one can go with an iPad, a Kindle Fire or another Android tablet, or Windows tablets like the Surface. However, all this personal choice comes at a cost. And with the rise of BYOD, these costs are going up.
BYOD concerns fall into four major categories:
- Security (including Wi-Fi exploits)
- Bandwidth Abuse
- Data Leakage
- Support/Help Desk Headaches
Running risks
A staggering 100% of those queried said they use open public Wi-Fi for work activities – and much of this access is from personal devices that likely have a lower level of installed or enabled security than company-issued machines.Furthermore, 20% of mobile devices have no security enabled; while just 5% have corporate security policies enforced on their devices. While public Wi-Fi presents major security concerns, corporate Wi-Fi presents both security and bandwidth challenges.
More devices on the network means more casual bandwidth being consumed. This can have serious productivity implications. When the network is being saturated with BYOD traffic, it slows to a crawl when trying to serve business needs.
A BYOD environment consists of different machines and operating systems, which all have to be as well protected as company-owned assets. That means they need to be safe from malware, have up-to-date systems software including fixes, and need to be regularly monitored with the ability for IT to take action if the device is stolen, lost or otherwise compromised.
Employers must take initiative
That said, you can have all the best mobile device security and management tools in the world, but without a clear policy and training, it may all be for nothing. Companies with serious security restrictions may opt to not allow BYOD but most businesses are better served allowing some BYOD use.Not letting employees use their own devices can be a real morale killer. Doing BYOD right means having a policy, training users on it, and sticking to it. A well-designed and implemented policy can help mitigate these issues:
- Hacker access to a network
- Infecting a network with viruses and malware
- Failing to follow compliance regulations, opening a firm up to fines and lawsuits
- Data theft and improper distribution of confidential information
- Misuse of BYOD creating help desk nightmares
Policies are all well and good, but they only work when backed up with training. Users should understand how to create strong passwords and regularly change them, how to lock a device, how to manage security settings, how to use encryption, and how to handle company data.
- Doug Barney is director of IT research for GFI Software. Barney was the founding editor of Redmond Magazine, Redmond Channel Partner, Redmond Developer News and Virtualization Review.
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Desktop PC revival boosts Lenovo sales and revenues
Lenovo has announced that its profits have jumped by a quarter in the fourth quarter of its financial year with desktops and mobile devices fuelling its growth globally.
2014 has been a great year for the Chinese technology company following the headline-grabbing acquisitions of IBM's server business and Motorola Mobility for $2.3bn and $2.91bn respectively.
Both purchases allow it to expand its global footprint and capitalise on the growing Post-pc market.
Full year revenues grew 14% year-on-year to reach $38.7bn (about £23bn, AU$42bn), which means that Lenovo should comfortably surpass $40bn if it maintains this growth rate. The company's profits surpassed $1bn (about £600m, AU$1.1bn) for the first time ever, up a whopping 27% year-on-year.
It consolidated its position as the biggest personal computer in the world with a near 18% share of a market that has been declining by 8% over the last year.
Lenovo, a true global tech giant?
For the first time ever as well, EMEA revenues for the company surpassed those of mainland China, a fact which highlights Lenovo's lesser reliance on its traditional home base.Laptops and desktops still account for the bulk of the company's revenue (80%) with smartphones and tablets accounting for another 13%.
Lenovo shipped nearly 13 million units, adding a percentage point to its market share, to 4.6%, a figure that's bound to increase after the Motorola Mobility purchase. The company will be looking to boost its operating profit margins which are currently in the single-digits.
IBM's low-end server business unit is likely to give that a boost as it brings a 14% market share to Lenovo along with the possibility to offer a more complete end-to-end solution to businesses dealing exclusively in Intel-based hardware.
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Lenovo to join wearable device party in 2015
Lenovo has revealed that it has spent years working on R&D for its wearable technology, and we will see the fruits of this in January at CES 2015.
The wearable market is a burgeoning one but it is crying out for a standout device. Lenovo is hoping that its approach to wearables will make sure that it will be its name that adorns your wrist.
Speaking to TechRadar at its global headquarters in Beijing, Liu Jun, EVP president of mobile at Lenovo, explained that the wearable market was one they were looking at closely - and once the deal with Motorola goes through, they will have multiple options to choose from.
"We are very positive about the wearable device market. Not only will Motorola launch the 360 watch this year - and that is a great product - we will also announce a wearable device at CES," noted Jun.
Playing the waiting game
Arthur Wei, chief marketing officer at Lenovo, explained to TechRadar that it could have actually launched a wearable device years ago, but it has been patiently waiting for a number of things to happen."We started to study wearable technology two and a half years ago," Wei explained. "We could have launched some eye-catching products at that time, but we delayed to make sure price point and the weight of the devices were right."
He isn't as convinced that the current crop of wearables are doing enough, though, saying: "Everyone is trying, but still the market isn't that promising."
- Get up to speed on the Moto 360
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Moto 360 will charge wirelessly, says Motorola
The much-coveted Moto 360 will charge wirelessly via magnetic induction, a Motorola spokesperson has said.
The information was given to Techzine and translated for TechRadar. The publication says it spoke to Motorola programme manager Philip Worth, who confirmed suspicions that the watch would use a wireless method for juicing its battery.
Wireless charging is currently used on a number of smartphones, but the Qualcomm Toq is the only major smartwatch charging without wires right now.
It explains the lack of any visible ports on the watch in the Moto 360 promo videos. Plus, it means we can stop speculating that the Moto 360 might charge itself using body movement, as some had guessed.
The Moto 360 is rumoured to be arriving this July with a price of around £200/$340/AU$365.
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In Depth: Unknown but unstoppable: the next-gen smartphone brands you can't ignore
Standing out in the fiercely competitive smartphone market is becoming ever more difficult.
A specs bump just doesn't cut it anymore when phones that are two years old are still performing admirably and there's only so much bigger that the screens can get before we're forced to stop pretending we're not making calls on tablets.
The fact is it's getting boring too. Phones are becoming the same and we doubt we're alone in saying that we're itching for some innovation. But there's no need to wait because there are already some truly innovative and exciting handsets out there, they're just not the big names.
They might one day be though. The smartphone market of the future is going to be a radically different place, where innovation and value trump power and the current big hitters are going to need to adapt or die.
There's already evidence of this change. With the launch of the OnePlus One we're seeing high end hardware delivered at a fraction of the price we're used to, while brands like Yota Devices and Jolla are thinking outside the box to deliver unique experiences.
But even if the spec wars continue, Apple and Samsung will need to watch their backs, as phones like the Xiaomi Redmi Note and the Meizu MX3 are outdoing them with octo-core processors and 128GB of built in storage respectively, while current big name handsets top out at quad-core processors and 64GB of storage.
In short the old guard are in trouble and if you want to be on the front lines of the revolution the following are the companies you should be looking to.
OnePlus
The OnePlus One is arguably the current poster child for alternative flagships. It had very little build up and is made by a new company which isn't well known, or not yet anyway.In that sense the odds are definitely stacked against it, but the OnePlus One has a few tricks up its sleeve. Firstly it's tremendously powerful, with a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM theoretically giving it more muscle than even the Samsung Galaxy S5.
It's not just power that it has on its side either. The OnePlus One also runs CyanogenMod 11S, which is a more tweakable and customisable version of Android and something which no other handset currently runs.
The real reason that Samsung and Apple should fear the OnePlus One though is its price, which at just £229 (US$299, around AU$320) for the 16GB model makes it less than half the price of their flagships.
It suddenly makes it very hard to justify spending £500+ on a phone and if OnePlus can get the word out then it should have a very bright future indeed.
Yota Devices
So far Yota Devices has only made one phone, the appropriately named YotaPhone, but that one phone is among the most innovative handsets on the market.While every other phone is content with one screen, the YotaPhone has two. There's a standard LCD screen on the front and an e-ink display on the back.
The obvious use for that is as a combined phone and e-reader, but the YotaPhone goes beyond that, by also using the e-ink screen for notifications and reminders. It can also save whatever you were last viewing to it if your battery dies, so you'll still be able to access tickets and maps.
Vlad Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices explained to us what makes YotaPhone different: "YotaPhone is the first game changer in smartphones in a very long time. Since the Apple iPhone debut in 2007, there has been very little innovation in the smartphone industry.
"The form factor basically hasn't changed. Instead, the industry has been in a specs race, focusing on bigger screens, better cameras and faster CPUs.
When Yota Devices first introduced the YotaPhone concept, no one had heard of company nor were they embracing the concept of a dual screen, always-on smartphone. Today, YotaPhone is the benchmark by which all similar products are compared.
YotaPhone has also demonstrated that the future of smartphones and mobile devices belongs to always-on displays, which allow users to stay connected without turning off the real world and disrupting the people around you.
Information hidden behind a black screen is of limited use to us. It creates bad habits - like phubbing, the act of snubbing the people around you for your smartphone. And, technology already exists - namely battery saving electronic paper display - that allows you access to information without sapping your phone's battery.
The company has recently announced the next generation of the handset too, complete with a more stylish design and high end specs, so that it's better able to compete with conventional smartphones. The YotaPhone 2 will be launching towards the end of the year.
Jolla
Jolla isn't just rethinking hardware, it's also making big changes to the software we use on it. The company's Sailfish OS is the result of that. It's open source, has a button free and gesture based interface and supports Android apps.In the words of Juhani Lassila, Head of Communications at Jolla: "With Jolla and Sailfish OS it's all about the user experience." In practice that seems to mean a focus on multitasking and the aforementioned gesture based UI.
The one and only Sailfish phone currently available, the Jolla, is a bit different too, with swappable smart covers which change not just the look of the hardware but can also change the software theme, with new colours, wallpapers and sound effects.
It's available to order now from Jolla's site for €399 (about £327, US$555, AU$593).
Launching a whole new OS is a brave move and convincing users to ditch the tried and true experiences of Android and iOS could be a tough job. But on the other hand it injects a burst of fresh energy into an environment which hasn't changed much in the last few years.
Plus in supporting Android apps it makes the transition for users as painless as possible. Though unsurprisingly there's no access to Google Play, so you'll have to rely on third party app stores.
Jolla believes that usability is key, as Lassila told us that "the heart of Jolla and Sailfish OS is in the user experience, not in the specs. We aim to provide a better, faster, effortless UX. The specs will never be our most important competing factor."
It's an ideology that makes sense. As with most of the world so focused on specs the best way to stand out is surely to take a different approach. Which in this case primarily means an intuitive and fully gesture based interface.
Project Ara
Google itself deserves a mention here as while it's a massive corporation which is already a big part of the smartphone landscape, it's also looking at ways to fundamentally change that environment.With Project Ara, Google is exploring modular smartphones, where a base handset could cost as little as $50 (about £29, AU$53) and individual components, such as the camera or processor, could be swapped out and upgraded as needed.
So rather than buying a whole new phone every one to two years you could stick with the same one indefinitely and just change the individual parts.
Not only could that work out cheaper for users but it empowers them to create exactly the phone they want. And while its modular nature means that it will inevitably be bigger and blockier than standard smartphones, the size and weight penalty is now at under 25%, so it needn't look like a brick.
If it takes off it could be the biggest disruption yet to the current way of doing things, with new handsets and phone contract renewals becoming rarities.
Project Ara isn't commercially available yet, but the first handset is set to launch in January 2015 for just $50.
Oppo
Oppo might not be a big name in the west, but in China it's a major player, albeit a relatively recent one, and it's likely to start making a dent in the US and Europe over the coming years too.There's no one thing that Oppo is doing to stand out, but it's a company which isn't afraid to innovate. With the Oppo Find 7 it delivered the first 2K display on a smartphone, while the Oppo N1 has the option to run CyanogenMod and has a swivelling camera, so you can leverage its 13 megapixel lens for selfies and video calls.
Only the latter of those two phones is currently available in the UK though, carrying a price tag of roughly £390 (about US$661, AU$750).
Oppo might never be as big over here as Samsung or Apple but with a few more ideas like that it could certainly make a name for itself.
GeeksPhone
GeeksPhone is perhaps the least well known of all these, but that doesn't make it any less exciting or potentially disruptive.It's a recent company focussed on building phones for open source operating systems and as part of that it's one of the handful of manufacturers currently supporting Firefox OS.
Its Revolution handset is one of the most powerful Firefox phones around so far in fact, though with a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and a 4.7-inch qHD display it's still distinctly mid-range.
But it's got more than specs and a fledgling OS going for it, as it can also dual-boot Android, so users have a choice of two operating systems at any given time. The Revolution can be ordered now for €164.46 (about £135, US$229, AU$244) excluding taxes.
GeeksPhone is also involved in the making of Blackphone, a handset with top of the line security features.
Ultimately GeeksPhone is unlikely to rise to the top of the ranks, but it's providing some compelling if niche alternatives for people who want something a bit different.
- In fairness to Samsung, it sometimes thinks outside the box too.
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Time to change your passwords again: Ebay's been hacked
Cybervillains have accessed Ebay's password database, meaning that anyone with an Ebay account should change their password as soon as possible.
The company is set to email Ebayers later today - two weeks ago, it discovered that some employee log-ins had been "compromised" by hackers in February/March.
Extensive investigation showed that this gave the attackers access to the corporate network which contains a database full of encrypted passwords.
Your money is safe
The good news is that no financial details will have been accessible by hackers, and the company also says that it sees no evidence that anyone has accessed credit card details as they are stored in a separate encrypted database.The company also said that all Paypal data is safe as it is stored separately on a secure network, and all Paypal financial information is encrypted.
As ever, you should change your password on any site you've been using the same password on - it's always more secure to use different passwords on different sites and networks.
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EE's new flock of portable Wi-Fi devices includes an in-car special
Not content with launching the Eagle tablet, EE has also announced a trio of new portable Wi-Fi devices.
The EE Buzzard has been specifically designed for the after-car sales market and we're told it's the first in what will become a range of in-car solutions from the network.
EE claims the Huawei-made Buzzard is the first device that allows you to bring 4G into the car, providing a Wi-Fi connection for passengers, including the irritable kids in the back and the front seat passenger who's frantically trying to locate you on a map.
The Buzzard consists of a traditional USB dongle which can be plugged directly into your cars USB port - if it has one.
If your rocking a less tech savvy motor the Buzzard also comes with a cigarette lighter adapter and both items are stored in a bright yellow tub which will fit snugly in a cup holder.
You'll be able to pick the Buzzard up from May 28 for £49.99 on PAYG, £19 on a two year contract setting you back £10 per month, or it's free if you choose to pay more each month for more data.
Bird is the word
EE isn't done there though, with the introduction of the Kite and Osprey as well. On the surface they provide the same function - mobile Wi-Fi with superfast, double speed 4G.The EE Kite is aimed at business professionals and sports a slightly more premium design and slender body making it easy to pocket.
Meanwhile the EE Osprey is aimed at the youth market with a more rugged build, a choice of colours and a lower price of £49.99 on PAYG, or £19 up front on a two year contact at £10 per month.
You'll be able to pick the Osprey up from May 28, but the EE Kite won't be available until July with a £69.99 PAYG price tag that equates to £29 up front on a two year, £10 per month tariff.
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