News

The mainframe turns 50: Why the IBM System/360 launch was the dawn of enterprise IT

In 1964 mainframes weren't new, but the System/360 revolutionized the computer industry

Microsoft to start blocking adware that lacks easy uninstall

The company revised the policies for classifying, detecting and handling adware programs in its security software

Microsoft eases development for Windows and Windows Phone with new App Studio

The company has also integrated Facebook with the App Studio service

3D-printed modules for Google’s Ara phone coming early next year

3D Systems' CEO says modular parts for the Project Ara customizable smartphone will have basic circuitry at first but grow more sophisticated over time

Chicago Sun-Times first major US paper to accept bitcoins

Backed by Coinbase, the newspaper's move is part of a 'digital-first' strategy

Google amends terms to clarify that data is analyzed for ads

The company seeks to add greater clarity around its automated scanning of emails and other data for ad tracking and customized search purposes

T-Mobile offers credits to retain BlackBerry customers

The $100 credit is extended to any new device, including the BlackBerry Q10 or the Z10

Fifty years on, mainframer remembers ‘a fantastic time to be an engineer’

Build: Microsoft Azure embraces outside technologies

The cloud technology now incorporates the open source Chef and Puppet configuration managers

Mozilla CEO Eich resigns amid controversy over opposition to gay marriage

The announcement comes after days of backlash from some Mozilla employees

Microsoft sketches out final Windows XP security updates for next week

The company also plans to patch a Word vulnerability already being exploited by cyber criminals

Controversial Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigns

Eich steps down as Mozilla CEO as company affirms its support of marriage equality

SAP offers business users a MOOC for HANA

The course is free of charge and follows one launched for developers last year

Hackathon gold: How to win a job offer in a coding competition

Cash prizes are nice, but hackathons can also serve as auditions for employment

Yahoo turns on encryption between data centers

Users must, however, manually flip the switch for some sites like Yahoo News and Yahoo Sports

Intel plans new ‘Braswell’ chip for PCs, over 20 Chromebooks

The Braswell chip, a successor to the power-efficient Bay Trail, is targeted at entry-level products like desktops and notebooks

Ubuntu One’s shocking shutdown bodes well for Canonical

In today's open source roundup: Canonical announces Ubuntu One file services will shut down. Plus: Amazon launches an Apple TV killer, and a review of Wine 1.7.15

Microsoft open-sources Windows Library for JavaScript

The Windows WinJS JavaScript library can now be used to help build apps for non-Microsoft browsers

EU votes Net neutrality into law, abolishes mobile roaming charges

The European Parliament has adopted the strictest of three definitions of Net neutrality

Canonical to close Ubuntu One cloud-storage service

In the face of stiff competition, the company will quit to focus on its OS

Salesforce.com pins growth hopes on industries, wants to be bigger than SAP

Salesforce.com will focus on six industries, including automotive, health sciences, and manufacturing

Cortana, Microsoft’s response to Siri, says ‘Hello world’

The voice-activated personal assistant was demonstrated at the Build conference

Reversible USB connector will be in products by year end

USB Implementers Forum says the final USB 3.1 specification will be published in July

Researchers disclose vulnerabilities in Oracle Java Cloud Service

The flaws could allow attackers to break into Java applications hosted on the service, researchers from Security Explorations said

Should you use Debian testing or stable?

In today's open source roundup: Is Debian testing or stable your best bet? Plus: Frustrations with Linux, and five myths about elementary OS debunked

Cisco reveals OpenFlow SDN killer

Cisco proposes OpFlex as alternative standard for software-defined networking, adds the protocol to its ACI programmable networking architecture

LucidWorks preps Solr stack as Splunk killer

LucidWorks' SiLK combines the LogStash log engine with the highly scalable Lucene search engine

BlackBerry will not renew tie-up with T-Mobile

BlackBerry criticized T-Mobile in February for pushing iPhones to BlackBerry customers

Enterprise software, devices to fuel IT spending growth in 2014, Gartner says

Companies will start pulling the trigger on projects they planned in 2013, driving 3.2 percent growth in worldwide IT spending, according to a Gartner analyst

Intel bases innovation hub in China to fuel its mobile processor business

Intel is establishing a new center in Shenzhen, the heart of one of China's major technology hubs

Intel to offer exclusive content to mobile devices powered by its chips

Intel is hoping to attract more vendors to its mobile chips as ARM processor flood the market

Sorry, JavaFX — Java 8 won’t help you matter

Why Java 8 is no fix for JavaFX

Apple patches Safari’s Pwn2Own vulnerability, two-dozen other critical bugs

Cupertino again leaves Snow Leopard users out in the cold by omitting fixes for Safari 5.1.10

Google asks US Supreme Court to review ruling on Wi-Fi packet sniffing

Google claims that its collection of data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks was legal

Judge orders Mt. Gox’s CEO to US for questioning

Mark Karpeles must answer questions about the exchange's bankruptcy on April 17, a Texas judge ruled

Apple demands more than $2 billion from Samsung for patent infringement

Apple lawyers spoke of 'massive' infringement by Samsung as a jury trial began in Califronia

Google trumpets extra encryption for Gmail, but stays mum on other apps

Analysts say Google's dissembling on whether other apps will get increased security does a disservice to customers

Amazon Web Services super-sizes instances to lure Hadoop users

AWS has launched 12 new virtual servers that can be used for image processing and financial analytics

Mozilla steps up damage control as pressure for CEO Eich’s ouster mounts

Petition calling for Brendan Eich to renounce past support for a same-sex marriage ban nears 70K signatures

Offshore firms took 50 percent of H-1B visas in 2013

Government data shows a major share of the H-1B visas go to firms that use visa holders to displace U.S. workers

Mistake in CryptoDefense ransomware leaves decryption key accessible

It's unlikely, however, that the average user would have the technical skills to pick up on the error and reclaim the files held hostage

Open-Xchange adds spreadsheet program to its online app suite

OX Spreadsheet offers online collaboration and allows editing of Excel documents

Microsoft slashes Azure prices, introduces new basic tier

After recent price cuts by Amazon Web Services and Google, Microsoft announces it's cutting prices on compute by up to 35 percent and on storage by up to 65 percent

Oracle overtakes IBM as second-largest software vendor, Gartner says

Global spending on software grew 4.8 percent overall last year

Many SAP customers struggling to figure out its mobility strategy

In response, SAP pledges to provide more clarity on its mobile offerings

Healthcare.gov experiences maintenance outage on deadline day

Technicians took the site down in order to fix a software bug

Is Linux Mint the best distro to replace Windows XP?

In today's open source roundup: Linux Mint might work well as a replacement for Windows XP. Plus: What is open source? And the Budgie desktop resembles Chrome OS

SQL and NoSQL come together with new MariaDB Enterprise offerings

The products are based on MariaDB 10, which became generally available on Monday

Oracle doubles the speed of MySQL query handling

MySQL 5.7 can process twice as many query requests as the previous version could

Activists to appeal US judge’s ruling on Baidu’s ‘censorship as free speech’

Lawyer for the eight pro-democracy activists said the court had a 'fundamental misunderstanding' of how search engines work