News

As Wi-Fi calls come to smartphones, networks get ready to carry them

Software features from Ruckus Wireless are designed to help access points better handle voice calls

China fines Qualcomm $975 million for monopolistic business practices

Qualcomm will settle the fine and modify some business practices in the country

5 projects that push Python performance

JavaScript ascends as Objective-C falls in language popularity

Monthly Tiobe index sees JavaScript reaching new heights. Objective-C? Java? C? Not so much

Linux kernel 3.19 released

In today's open source roundup: Linus signs off on Linux kernel 3.19. Plus: Korora 21 released, and FocusWriter provides distraction-free writing

IT job creation jumped again in January

Strong January numbers suggest last year's record-breaking hot streak for IT jobs will continue through 2015

Twitter reports huge increase in government data requests

In the second half of 2014, requests were up 40 percent for user information, and 84 percent for content removal

Privacy groups want investigation of big data acquisitions

The regulatory agency should conduct stricter reviews before granting approval to big data deals, four groups say

The world of containers doesn’t end with Docker

The open-source app containerization startup has built up quite a bit of momentum, but it's still not entirely ready for enterprise.

Box fixes flaw in Mac desktop Sync app

Mac users are advised to upgrade to version 4.0.6035 of the file storage and sharing service

Lawmakers question White House influence on FCC’s Net neutrality turnaround

The House oversight committee asks whether Obama improperly steered Wheeler toward a tougher stance

Lawmakers call for investigation of Verizon supercookies

Senators may push for legislation to address the hard-to-defeat tracking cookies on Verizon mobile subscribers' phones

The death of CrunchBang Linux

In today's open source roundup: CrunchBang Linux has died. Plus: Android versus the iPhone, and the best keyboard apps for Android

Amazon upgrades Ruby SDK to help developers write less code

Version 2 of the SDK, which supports more than 40 services, is now stable and available for download

DDoS malware for Linux systems comes with sophisticated custom-built rootkit

XOR.DDoS is distributed through SSH brute-force password guessing attacks

Two years in the making, Node.js upgrade arrives

Version 0.12 of server-side JavaScript platform set to become available as reconciliation with io.js fork expected

Dropbox paves a smoother path from Web to desktop

A new 'Open' button will automatically let users launch files in the native apps on their computers

White House picks VMware’s Tony Scott as CIO

Scott will replace Lisa Schlosser, who was filling the role temporarily

Apple previews new Photos app to OS X developers

Replacement for 13-year-old iPhoto may push customers to pay more for iCloud storage

IBM brings more Watson smarts to developers

Mobile apps can now utilize IBM's voice-to-text and text-to-voice translation services as well as a new set of analytics

U.S. lawmakers try again to curb abusive patent lawsuits

The Innovation Act attempts to reduce patent lawsuits by so-called trolls

Net neutrality forever? Not if the lawyers can stop it

FCC proposes no regulation of rates, no new tariffs, and no unbundling; telecoms are horrified by the burdensome regulation

Microsoft backs Java for cross-platform mobile apps

Developers can write in their favorite Java IDE, and JUniversal will translate it to the appropriate language for the platform

IBM Watson branches out into speech, text, visuals, and analysis

IBM introduces five new services for the Watson machine intelligence, including statistical analysis and image and speech recognition APIs

Is Evolve OS the most user friendly Linux distribution?

In today's open source roundup: Evolve OS could be a contender for the most user-friendly distro. Plus: GDC and the next version of OpenGL, and episode 2 of the Game of Thrones adventure released for Android

How to make big data beautiful — and useful

For big data to be more than a buzzword, companies need to focus on design

Free cloud service evaluates JavaScript code quality

Free for open source projects, BitHound analyzes JavaScript code to ferret out subpar Node packages

Dell, EMC, VMware, and others get giddy over converged infrastructure

What started as a niche market has blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar industry led by IT heavyweights

Microsoft said to acquire calendar app Sunrise for north of $100 million

Sunrise's software pulls data from third party services like Microsoft Exchange

Apple’s iOS edges Android in Q4, takes top smartphone OS spot in the US

Apple also chipped away at Android's international smartphone OS market share

Microsoft backs Java for cross-platform mobile apps

Developers can write in their favorite Java IDE, and JUniversal will translate it to the appropriate language for the platform

Microsoft rolls out KB 3036140 patch for Windows 10 Tech Preview, teases Office apps

In two separate moves, Microsoft released a bundle of patches for build 9926, and posts then pulls a touch-first 'universal' Office for Windows 10

Tom Wheeler makes history with full-on Net neutrality proposal

Internet freedom at last! FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal is for full Title II reclassification for ISPs, defining ISPs as utilities and preventing fast-lane profiteering

FCC chairman outlines strong Internet protections

Wheeler's modern Title II approach would prevent rate and tariff regulation of providers

Faster mobile uploads on the way with LTE-Advanced technology

Video apps are the big winners: A 180 percent capacity improvement over current LTE networks will be possible

EMC’s all-in-one compute appliance comes with an app store

Users will be able to download third-party tools to the VSPEX Blue converged appliance for midsized enterprises

US backs IEEE move to modify rules for standards patents

The IEEE proposal aims to prevent high royalty rates and threats of product bans

Free Windows, end of XP spree drop Microsoft revenue by $455M

Downturn in revenue shows the impact of Microsoft's shift in monetizing strategy

ARM unwraps its most powerful mobile chip yet, headed for phones and tablets next year

The Cortex-A72 will provide 3.5 times the performance of ARM's current Cortex-A15 design, the company says

SAP unwraps a new enterprise suite based on Hana

S/4Hana can run in parallel with its predecessor, enabling a nondisruptive transition

Microsoft .Net’s execution engine goes open source

Microsoft opens up further with the release of CoreCLR, the execution engine in .Net Core

JavaScript refinements keep coming, but problems persist

ECMAScript upgrades are on track, but process changes and 64-bit issues remain points of contention with key developers

Samsung and Good combine products to boost Android enterprise credibility

Samsung aims to extend Android's reach into corporations with Good for Samsung Knox, designed to protect the OS, apps, and data

Death knell for Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003 grows louder

As Windows Server 2003's July end of life approaches, Microsoft trumpets the need to upgrade or migrate to Azure

FCC chairman doesn’t plan to release Net neutrality order before vote

Despite calls from congressional Republicans, Wheeler will stick with the FCC's practice of debating rules privately prior to a vote

Are rolling release Linux distros better than fixed releases?

In today's open source roundup: Should you use a rolling release distro or a fixed release? Plus: How the philosophy of Linux affects its users, and why Windows 10 needs the Linux desktop

Dangerous IE vulnerability opens door to powerful phishing attacks

The flaw can be used to steal authentication cookies and inject rogue code into websites

Amazon hits 5-year high in cloud market

Microsoft and Google make strong surges in the cloud while IBM holds steady

FCC chairman looks set to throw down strong Net neutrality rules

A proposal coming Thursday would span fixed, mobile, and back-end networks

VMware’s OpenStack plants itself firmly in vSphere

VMware jumps on the OpenStack bandwagon with a brand new distro designed to be managed with VMware tools