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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

10 productivity gadgets to add to your holiday shopping list

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From: "Network World After Dark" <nww_newsletters@newsletters.networkworld.com>
Date: Nov 25, 2014 9:01 PM
Subject: 10 productivity gadgets to add to your holiday shopping list
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  Convert your car into a 2-ton video game console: What could go wrong? | Tablet craze calms down as iPad shipments decline

 
  Network World After Dark  

10 productivity gadgets to add to your holiday shopping list
Holiday Gadget Gift IdeasImage by ShutterstockIt's that time of the year again. You're probably looking for gifts for a loved one, friend or business associate – or maybe you're looking for a reward for yourself. This list of 10 gadgets will help the people on your holiday shopping list stay productive on the go, whether it's for business or personal travel.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 


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Convert your car into a 2-ton video game console: What could go wrong?
My first thought when I encounter a pitch this outlandish is that it must be some kind of hoax, like a combination iPhone case and cup-holder, for example.So with that caveat in mind, allow me to introduce the Baen Cube, which while merely a Kickstarter gleam at the moment, promises to ultimately "enhance your driving experience, letting you play games with your car."Note that's with your car and not merely in your car. From the Kickstarter video.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Tablet craze calms down as iPad shipments decline
It's time to kiss the tablet boom goodbye, as shipments of the once-dominant Apple iPad decline amid a worldwide slowdown for the devices.Shipments of all tablets worldwide will increase by just 7.2 percent this year, compared to 52.5 percent in 2013, according to a projection from research firm IDC. Tablet shipments this year will total 235.7 million.The numbers reflect widespread reliance on PCs and smartphones for computing and communicating. Buying trends show that consumers and businesses still look to run full-fledged applications on PCs, which have experienced a jump in sales recently.Otherwise, users are hanging on to tablets longer than expected, which is one reason for the slowdown in tablet shipments, IDC said. Tablet refreshes were expected every two to three years, but owners are holding on to devices for three years and longer, IDC said. New software can run on old devices, and there is no compelling reason for tablet owners to upgrade, IDC said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Sony Pictures hackers reportedly had help from insiders
A Reddit user who claimed to previously have worked for Sony Pictures posted the image which allegedly popped up on "every computer all over Sony Pictures nationwide" on Monday. The message over a bizarre red skeleton stated, "Hacked By #GOP," which is not the political acronym for "Grand Old Party," but instead stands for "Guardians of Peace." The image contained a warning followed by links to data dumps that are either no longer live or the site has been overloaded by traffic. Warning: We've already warned you, and this is just a beginning. We continue till our request be met. We've obtained all your internal data, including your secrets and top secrets. If you don't obey us, we'll release data shown below to the world. Determine what will you do till November the 24th, 11:00 PM (GMT).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

NASA sets huge $5M cubesat competition
NASA this week opened what it called its largest ever prize purse – the Cube Quest Challenge which will offer a package worth $5 million for competitors to build unique propulsion and communications technologies for small, inexpensive satellite systems known as cubesats.When it first talked about offering a cubesat challenge in June, NASA said it wanted to focus on building better communications and propulsion technologies for the cube-shaped satellites are typically about four inches long, have a volume of about one quart and weigh about 3 pounds.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Twitter, in time for the holidays, puts digital coupons in your feed
If ads on Twitter weren't annoying enough, some will start asking for your credit card info, in the hopes you'll load up on store discounts.Twitter Offers, launched Tuesday, lets companies incorporate in-store promotions in ads that appear in users' feeds. This is not a way to buy things on Twitter; it's a tool to add a discount to your credit or debit card, which can be redeemed in physical stores. The data stands to give Twitter a huge leg up on gauging the effectiveness of its ads on in-store sales.If enough people go along with it, that is.Starting in the U.S. only, a handful of brands will include a "get offer" button in their ads on Twitter. It could be, say, $2.00 cash back when spending $5 or more at a particular coffee shop. Click the button, and Twitter will ask for the user's credit or debit card information. The promotion is applied when the user makes the purchase with that card in the store, and the cash back savings appear on his or her statement within a few days, Twitter says. There is no charge to use the offer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Internet of Things helps asthma patients breathe easily
With a bit of help from Microsoft and the Internet of Things (IoT), Swedish medical device company Aerocrine is helping doctors around the world diagnose and treat millions of asthma sufferers more effectively. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes the airways of the lungs to swell and narrow, resulting in shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing. Asthma affects nearly 10 percent of the world population (generally more in developed countries and less in developing countries) and is responsible for about 250,000 to 345,000 deaths a year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Pew poll: Limited knowledge on privacy policies, more on net neutrality
U.S. Internet users have a limited understanding of what net neutrality means and what protections are contained in company privacy policies, according to the results of a national survey by the Pew Research Center.Just 61 percent of people responding to Pew's Web IQ survey correctly answered a multiple-choice question and identified net neutrality as equal treatment of digital content by Internet service providers, the research center said Tuesday. You can test your own Web IQ at Pew's website.And just 44 percent of respondents correctly answered a true or false question on company privacy policies. The minority correctly answered that the presence of a privacy policy does not necessarily mean that the company keeps the information confidential that it collects from users, Pew said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Mobile broadband modems are losing their appeal with consumers
If you're using a smartphone as a hotspot, you aren't alone—sales of USB sticks and embedded PC modems are plummeting as a result of that use.Shipments of these products are expected to decline by 24 percent by year end, following a 17 percent drop last year, according to market research company Strategy Analytics, which added that the value of the market has halved since 2010.Using a smartphone to share an Internet connection is more convenient than having to carry around another device. The drawback is that it drains the battery. The best solution is to whenever possible have the smartphone plugged in while using it as a hotspot.Modems are just one example in a long line of product categories that have been negatively affected by the growing popularity and functionality of smartphones. Cameras, handheld navigators and portable game consoles have also seen their fortunes wane as smartphones have taken over 70 percent of total mobile phone shipments.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

OK, BlackBerry, What Else Have You Got Besides Security?
BlackBerry's pitch to get back into the warm embrace of corporate IT shops seems logical enough at first glance: We're the most secure in mobile. Mobile is where all of your data and interactions are heading. Therefore you should give us all of your corporate business. But when you take a closer look, the argument crumbles. It's not going to arrest BlackBerry's plummeting enterprise market share.  BlackBerry still has some good selling points on the security front, and it hits all of those in the current campaign, arguing that BlackBerry phones have better security because they protect not just data, but voice, email and text communications as well. Of course, BlackBerry has cited security as its great differentiator for years, to no avail, and this new campaign probably wouldn't have a chance of reverberating beyond its core markets in areas such as finance, healthcare and the military if that were the extent of the message. So BlackBerry, like a flailing politician far behind in the polls, turns to that old standby, fear. It cites headlines about cyberattacks, the implication being that BlackBerry phones could have saved the day. The problem is that — well, no. None of the security disasters cited involved cellphones at all. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

7 tools tuned for agile development success
7 tools tuned for agile development successImage by Alexandr MitiucAgile development remains an increasingly popular way for development teams to get work done. The iterative alternative to fully mapped-out waterfall processes has become widely accepted in recent years, bringing with it software tools designed to help agile practitioners hone their processes, collaborate efficiently, and monitor progress.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

10 mind-blowing Oculus Rift experiments that reveal VR's practical potential
The Oculus Rift's official consumer release is still months away, but that hasn't stopped developers from getting excited about the virtual reality headset and forging deeply innovative software that takes full advantage of VR's breathtaking potential. And it's not just gaming developers whipping up mind-blowing projects, either.   Although it was originally created for games, the Rift headset is already promising to transform more practical fields like tourism, filmmaking, medicine, architecture, space exploration, and the battlefield. Even the basic way we perceive ourselves is up for grabs when the lines between physical and virtual begin to blur.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

Fidelity's top IT exec sees potential in A.I.
Since his January 2013 appointment as enterprise CTO at Fidelity Investments, Stephen Neff has made a significant impression in the financial services company's highest IT post. Earlier this year, he was named one of five finalists for the 2014 MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award. Fidelity Investments He oversees an IT organization with an annual budget of $2.5 billion and 12,500 tech employees, associates and contractors around the globe. And he's tasked with running a distributed technology organization where a majority of workers operate within the various business lines reporting into business unit CIOs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read More
 

 

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