Computerworld Articles

Cisco takes its lumps, keeps developing video meeting tools

(Stephen Lawson) — Fri, 25 May 2012 23:31:00 GMT

Cisco Systems owned up to some miscalculations in its video collaboration strategy but showed off some promising future capabilities in a briefing with media this week.

FCC ruling on 800MHz band a boon for Sprint

(Stephen Lawson) — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:59:00 GMT

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved a rule change for part of the 800MHz band at a meeting on Thursday, opening the door for Sprint Nextel to use the band for its 4G LTE network.

Google report sheds light on copyright takedown requests

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:25:00 GMT

Google this week received a somewhat rare accolade from a privacy rights group for publishing a detailed report on all the copyright related content removal requests it has received over the past year

Quickbooks Online outage leaves some customers in sour mood

(Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:12:00 GMT

Intuit's Quickbooks Online service suffered an outage this week that left "a small subset" of customers unable to access their data, but the company says the problems with the on-demand accounting software have now been fixed.

NASA hits new frontier with historic SpaceX rendezvous

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:22:00 GMT

Astronauts using a robotic arm on board the space station, grabbed hold of the unmanned Dragon cargo spacecraft while flying at speeds of 17,000 mph. It was the first time such a maneuver had taken place using a spacecraft from a commercial U.S. company.

Apple CEO Tim Cook passes up $75M

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:08:00 GMT

Apple CEO Tim Cook has passed up about $75 million in dividend payments he would be due when his massive collection of more than 1 million shares vests in the next decade, according to a filing with the SEC.

Coding contest shows how big data can improve health care

(Fred O'Connor) — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:54:00 GMT

A recent coding competition in the Boston area brought together IT professionals, medical workers and others with an interest in health IT to show how data analytics can improve health care.

N.J. mayor arrested on hacking, conspiracy charges

(Lucian Constantin) — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:45:00 GMT

The mayor of West New York, New Jersey, was arrested together with his son on Thursday, for allegedly hacking into a website that criticized him and his administration.

Cisco all but kills Cius tablet computer

(Jim Duffy) — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:29:00 GMT

Cisco is slowly killing off its Cius business tablet less than a year after it started shipping.

IaaS: Renting on-demand technology

(Network World Staff) — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:23:00 GMT

Putting your faith in the cloud can be a risky endeavor. A survey from earlier this year showed that of 600 large companies, only 27% were using public cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service. Insider (registration required)

Untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 available for download

(Loek Essers) — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:56:00 GMT

Absinthe 2.0, the jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1, is ready and available for download, the Jailbreak Dream Team announced at the Hack in the Box conference in Amsterdam on Friday.

Aged Windows XP costs 5x more to manage than Windows 7

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:27:00 GMT

Microsoft has added ammunition to its aggressive battle to get users off Windows XP by citing a company-sponsored report that claims annual support costs for the older OS are more than five times that of Windows 7.

Japan robot lab readies second prototype for work at crippled nuclear reactor

(Jay Alabaster) — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:17:00 GMT

A Japanese robotics lab has developed a new emergency response prototype that will soon be put to work at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan.

Minn. executive branch picks Microsoft to improve email, collaboration

(Juan Carlos Perez) — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

The Executive Branch of the Minnesota state government uses cloud-hosted Microsoft email and collaboration software, first as part of BPOS and later, Office 365.

Microsoft server and tool upgrades demand CIOs' attention

(Juan Carlos Perez and Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

CIOs and IT directors tracking the barrage of major upgrades for Windows and Office also need to stay tuned to the refresh cycle for Microsoft's servers and tools, including Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012, System Center 2012 and Visual Studio 11.

Sony brings streaming music service to the iPhone

(Jay Alabaster) — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:37:00 GMT

Sony released an iPhone app to access its streaming Music Unlimited service, part of its efforts to expand its online platforms to devices from rival manufacturers.

Apple settles patent lawsuit with SimpleAir

(John Ribeiro) — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:24:00 GMT

SimpleAir in Texas said Thursday it had settled its patent infringement litigation against Apple, and entered into a confidential license agreement by which Apple had taken a license to its patents.

Lawmakers call on DOJ to reopen investigation into Google Wi-Fi spying

(Grant Gross) — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:37:00 GMT

Two U.S. lawmakers have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen its investigation into Google's snooping on Wi-Fi networks in 2010 after recent questions about the company's level of cooperation with federal inquiries.

Researchers propose TLS extension to detect rogue SSL certificates

(Lucian Constantin) — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:35:00 GMT

A pair of security researchers have proposed an extension to the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol that would allow browsers to detect and block fraudulently issued SSL certificates.

Judge orders drug evidence suppressed in warrantless GPS tracking case

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:00:00 GMT

A federal judge in Kentucky this week upheld a lower court's decision to throw out crucial evidence in a drug case because the evidence was gathered with the help of a GPS tracking device installed without a warrant.

Yahoo Axis may be game changer for search and the troubled company

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:42:00 GMT

With Axis, Yahoo is trying to change the search game, while also trying to change its image as a troubled company.

IE9 says Yahoo Axis slows down the browser

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:33:00 GMT

Although Microsoft and Yahoo are search partners, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) may complain that Yahoo's new Axis search add-on is slowing down the browser.

Smartphones with quad-core chips and 4G LTE coming soon

(Agam Shah) — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:23:00 GMT

Quad-core processors have not yet been combined with 4G LTE in smartphones, but that could change soon.

Facebook beefs up mobile photo sharing with Camera

(Cameron Scott) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:56:00 GMT

Facebook introduced its own mobile photo app, Camera, on Thursday, bringing richer photo-sharing features to the platform even before the company closes its deal to acquire the popular photo-sharing app Instagram.

4.5 million Catholic school students to get Office 365

(Juan Carlos Perez) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:55:00 GMT

About 4.5 million Catholic school students will get access to Microsoft's Office 365 cloud e-mail and collaboration suite as part of a 3-year deal the software vendor struck with the Catholic International Education Office (OIEC).

GAO: U.S. gov't IT reform slower than claimed

(Grant Gross) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:42:00 GMT

The efforts of President Barack Obama's administration to streamline and improve the government's IT systems aren't proceeding as quickly as officials have suggested, a federal auditor said Thursday.

Microsoft clarifies Ballmer's claims of massive Windows 8 adoption

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:36:00 GMT

Reports earlier this week that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer predicted unprecedented sales of Windows 8 were wrong on multiple counts, Microsoft and independent analysts agreed.

European privacy regulators want more detail on Google's policy changes

(Peter Sayer) — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:42:00 GMT

European privacy regulators want better answers from Google about its privacy policy and the way it informs its users about changes to it.

iPhone, Android account for 82% of smartphones shipped

mhamblen@computerworld.com (Matt Hamblen) — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:14:00 GMT

Android and iPhone smartphones together made up 82% of all such devices shipped to retailers in the first quarter of 2012, IDC said Thursday.

Linux Mint 13 rallies behind Gnome

(Joab Jackson) — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:52:00 GMT

With the new version of Linux Mint, the developers behind the open source Linux distribution have put all energies behind Gnome, offering two versions of the desktop interface.

Ellison, other top execs to take stand in Oracle-SAP retrial

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:49:00 GMT

During the upcoming retrial of Oracle's corporate-theft lawsuit against SAP, the companies plan to call a star-studded array of tech executives as witnesses including CEO Larry Ellison, former Oracle co-president and current Infor CEO Charles Phillips and SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott, according to court documents.

Yahoo leaks private key, allows anyone to build Yahoo-signed Chrome extensions

(Lucian Constantin) — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:41:00 GMT

Yahoo was forced to release a new version of its Axis extension for Google Chrome after the original one contained a private key that allowed anyone to digitally sign extensions in Yahoo's name.

Security researcher urges IT to keep up with SAP patches

(Loek Essers) — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:37:00 GMT

More than 95 percent of over 600 SAP systems tested by security firm Onapsis were vulnerable to espionage, sabotage and fraud, mainly because patches had not been applied, according to a researcher.

Motorola Mobility has infringed Microsoft patent, says Munich court

(Mikael RicknA$?s) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:24:00 GMT

Google-owned Motorola Mobility has infringed a Microsoft patent related to SMS messaging, according to a ruling in the Munich regional court, which also dismissed a second case related to a localization patent.

SpaceX Dragon flies by space station

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:15:00 GMT

The first U.S. commercial spacecraft to head for the International Space Station made its first fly-by of the orbiter this morning and now is undergoing a series of pre-rendezvous tests.

Box boosts to IT admin tools in cloud content management software

(Juan Carlos Perez) — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Box will start letting customers test a new set of IT administration controls for its cloud-hosted enterprise collaboration and content management software on Thursday.

Bounty hunters find 8 Google services bugs

(Loek Essers) — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:56:00 GMT

Security researchers unveiled eight vulnerabilities in Google services during the Hack in the Box conference in Amsterdam on Thursday -- but they claim to have discovered more than 100 such bugs over the past few months.

ZTE's latest LTE test shows how operators can increase bandwidth

(Mikael Ricknäs) — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:47:00 GMT

ZTE has successfully completed a hand-over test between two different versions of LTE, allowing operators to more effectively use their spectrum in a way that is seamless to the end user, the company said on Thursday.

Sony pulls out of LCD JV with Sharp, gets $126M back

(Jay Alabaster) — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:15:00 GMT

Sony said Thursday it will pull out of its over three-year LCD TV panel joint venture with Sharp, which had been part of its ongoing attempts to reform its foundering TV business.

Supercomputer to connect to 400PB of storage via Ethernet

lmearian@computerworld.com (Lucas Mearian) — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications has chosen a massive tape library and disk array system to support of Blue Waters, one of the world's largest supercomputers.

Google to offer mapping and other software in Syria

(John Ribeiro) — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:46:00 GMT

Google is now allowed under U.S. export control rules to offer downloads in Syria of its mapping software Google Earth, photo sharing software Picasa, and its Chrome browser, it said Wednesday.

Apple claims US government sides with monopoly in e-book case

(John Ribeiro) — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:35:00 GMT

The U.S. government has sided with monopoly rather than competition in bringing a case of e-book price-fixing against Apple, the company said in a filing on Tuesday before a federal court.

Yahoo launches stand-alone mobile search app

(Cameron Scott) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:01:00 GMT

Yahoo beefed up its search offerings on Wednesday when it launched Axis, an HTML5-based browser app that delivers search results as page previews rather than as links.

Most jurors sided with Google on APIs and 'fair use'

(James Niccolai) — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:34:00 GMT

Most of the jurors in the Oracle v Google trial thought Google's use of 37 Java APIs in Android should be allowed under the doctrine of fair use, one of the jurors revealed Wednesday after the trial had ended.

CIOs will soon blend non-tech, traditional IT roles

(Fred O'Connor) — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:35:00 GMT

Next-generation CIOs will have to consider how technology affects other corporate departments as well as handle traditional IT management functions, especially those accompanying mobile device management and greater data analysis, according to panelists who spoke at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Wolfram unveils system modeling tool

(Joab Jackson) — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:04:00 GMT

Expanding beyond its scientific and engineering number-crunching software, Mathematica maker Wolfram Research released a desktop application for full-scale system modeling and simulation.

HP to cut 27,000 jobs

(Agam Shah) — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:52:00 GMT

Hewlett-Packard will trim 27,000 employees as part of its long-term restructuring plan, the company said Wednesday when it announced quarterly financial results.

McAfee reports big spike in malware

(Cameron Scott) — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:08:00 GMT

PC malware had its "busiest quarter in recent history," according to McAfee's quarterly security report released Wednesday.

Google's Android did not infringe Oracle patents, jury finds

(James Niccolai) — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:08:00 GMT

Google's Android operating system does not infringe Oracle's Java patents, a jury in San Francisco found Wednesday in a setback for Oracle.

Obama orders agencies to optimize Web content for mobile

(Grant Gross) — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:06:00 GMT

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered all major government agencies to make two key services available on mobile phones within a year, in an effort to embrace a growing trend toward Web surfing on mobile devices.