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http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/Generics/Pandora-470-75.jpgThe UK is planning a change to VAT rules which could see downloads being charged for the first time. At the moment digital storeowners "are allowed to sell digital downloads through countries such as Luxembourg, where the tax rate is as low as three per cent." However as pressure mounts for countries to start collecting reasonable taxes from big companies like Apple and Google, it seems that the British are going to force e-tailers to pay up. End of a pound a song daysIt will mean that charging a pound for a song is over, and that the cost to consumers for books, apps, and other digital content will rise at once. The Guardian claims that the government could raise £300 million with the tax change which would meant that it could have paid for the Olympics if it had been charging VAT for downloads. The move will have some support from beleagued High Street retailers who feel that the online sellers are being given all the advantages and tax breaks, according to the Guardian's report. Others have claimed that the increased prices could depress the industry. Now read how the Internet of things will hit the supply chain http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38919dc6/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.pnghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/VdkFqGqI4Vc

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Generic/future-data-centre-470-75.jpgDell has bought analytics firm StatSoft as part of an effort to boost its Big Data range. The deal will see Dell gain access to new solutions for data mining, predictive analytics, and data visualisation. StatSoft will provide platform agnostic information management tools to help businesses manage, integrate and analyse data from on-premises servers or from the cloud. The company's software can be deployed on premises, in the cloud, or as software-as-a-service. Its products are already used in 60 countries, including by universities, research institutions, corporations and manufacturing facilities. The value of analytics is set to grow in the near future. More than 30 per cent of analytics projects will deliver insights based on structured and unstructured data by 2015, according to Gartner. Big family for Big DataThe acquisition adds to Dell's existing portfolio of information management solutions, including Toad, Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise, Shareplex, Boomi, Toad Business Intelligence Suite, and Kitenga Analytics. "We're excited to join the Dell family and add our technology and expertise to Dell's rapidly growing set of information management capabilities. StatSoft's advanced analytics software has a long track record of proven success across a wide variety of predictive analytics and data mining applications including agile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, risk management, fraud detection, and research," said Dr. Paul Lewicki, founder and CEO of StatSoft. The financial terms of the transaction were not revealed. How important is Big Data?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/388e287b/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944843/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e287b/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944843/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e287b/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944843/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e287b/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801944843/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e287b/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801944843/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388e287b/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/G_3Y_u3C9wI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/internet/Hacking/hacking-usethisone-470-75.jpgJust like any major emergency, IT managers must prepare a playbook to follow in case a DDoS attack occurs. What follows are some of the most important considerations every manager needs to consider when creating their DDoS playbook: it's about 75% preparation, 25% organised action. Situation awarenessEvery business operates within the context of certain realities. There are the human, political realities: are there competitors, activists or people who might have something against your organisation? Your team should be actively monitoring social media for indications of growing tension. And then there are known technological realities: what device types and browsers normally access your public websites? What is within the range of normal legitimate traffic and what is not? Document what's normal, what's not, how to monitor for it, and what to do about it when things change. Know thy network, and protect itIn order to effectively protect your network, you and your team must understand it completely. Establish the following practices, share in a safe location, and update regularly: Create a detailed depiction of your network topology. This will ensure everyone is working from the same page and will be useful for team coordination while under attack.Establish baselines. Collect baseline measurements of all network activity as it relates to your public access points. Examples are graphing and threshold alerts for bits per second and packets per second on major ingress and egress links in your network. You should also identify all critical services (for example, DNS, web servers and databases) running in your network and define monitoring indices to assess health in real time.Defend from the edge. Deploy technology at the edge of your network to defend as best as possible. Understand it may have limited capabilities, but can be of use in thwarting a small attack or identifying a ramping attack.Give yourself options. Design a secure remote access configuration, preferably out of band, to allow for remote management of your systems while under attack.Create a strong DDoS response teamHelp your people be successful by designating a strong team leader and making sure everyone knows and understands their responsibilities. Include the following: Who should be notified and when (emergency contact info for your ISP, your own senior management, customer service and PR managers)?What info needs to be collected and when, and where is it logged?What action needs to be taken to protect infrastructure or service?What is the escalation path for critical decisions?Communicate the DDoS planIt's not enough to have created a DDoS plan, but you need to share it and staff needs to know exactly when to initiate a DDoS response. It should be part of orientation for new staff, with hard copies at stations and version in your wiki or online shared resources. Run drills periodically, including contacting your ISP. Partner when necessary If an attack is beyond the capabilities of your team or your ISP, make sure you have done your research and know which expert you want to call. There are companies whose sole expertise is preparing for and defending against sophisticated and large scale DDoS attacks. Make sure you understand your needs and vendors' service offerings beforehand so that when the need arises, you will have taken that difficult decision-making process out of the equation. Jag Bains is Chief Technology Officer for DOSarrest Internet Security. A 15-year veteran in the service provider arena, he has extensive network design experience as well as working with enterprise customers.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/388b3d7f/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7f/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7f/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7f/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7f/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801587198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7f/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/PWrNvADx_cY

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Abstract/Apps%20on%20tablet/iStock_000019925348Small-scanrail-470-75.jpgBring Your Own Device (BYOD) is increasingly impossible to ignore. Fairly recent research from Gartner suggests both BYOD and the related Bring Your Own Application (BYOA) are the new ways to consume IT. By 2015, Gartner predicts that the number of employees using mobile apps in the workplace will double. By 2017, Gartner expects half of employers to require employees to supply their own devices. Yet the risk is this: both BYOD and BYOA can be complicated and challenging. IT managers need to be on the ball to manage the effects. How are they dangerous? To start with, businesses have the common security concerns associated with a technical device: spyware, malware, viruses, and so forth. These are all exacerbated by the fact that BYOD involves foreign devices coming into the office in an uncontrolled way. Yet common concerns like security are not the only challenges that come with BYOD and BYOA. Let's look at BYOA. BYOA is becoming a growing issue in terms of complexity and management. Employees are bringing their own computers and tablets. Suddenly things like applications and virus software become variable. Gartner noted that 70% of employees using their own device have sourced their own apps to do the job. With BYOA, employees within a business decide about the use of their own apps. They do this without involving the IT department. This makes BYOA the more irksome cousin of BYOD, and increasingly complicated. These unmonitored apps greatly increase complexity of the traffic mix along the network which puts business-critical solutions at risk. This makes troubleshooting particularly challenging, as it's hard to fix things in an environment where users are bringing a multitude of different technologies. Then there's BYOD, which also provides an indirect threat: additional devices running numerous applications could crash the networks themselves by putting too much stress on the available bandwidth. Handling the challengesCompanies must be prepared to handle these challenges before they rush after BYOD and allow BYOA. They need tools to manage applications on behalf of multiple users and protect business apps against recreational ones. They must understand how employees are using their networks, and prioritise business-critical applications above others. They need application performance guarantee solutions. BYOD and BYOA can be positive, powerful tools for businesses. Only companies need to figure out how to handle both now, rather than waiting until issues arise. In a far more de-centralised world, where users increasingly make their own IT decisions, the IT department must transition to understand these changes. They need to ensure they are able to support company productivity. Béatrice Piquer-Durand is VP Marketing at Ipanema Technologies.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/388b3d7a/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587197/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7a/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587197/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7a/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587197/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7a/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801587197/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7a/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801587197/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/388b3d7a/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/t04Q0ezzFPI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/CCleaner-470-75.jpgJust like the car sitting in your drive, your PC is going to benefit from a regular service and check-up. As the months and years go by, computers can show a tendency to get sluggish, cluttered and wheezy, but keeping your Windows machine factory fresh doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Control%20Panel-420-90.jpg No matter what the weather may say, we're into the months of spring, so there's no better time to wipe the virtual dust off your PC and clean out some of the apps, settings and files you're no longer using. By the time you've finished, you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier. ApplicationsKeeping old, neglected applications installed on your computer may not seem like such a crime, but these redundant programs take up storage space, clog up the Windows registry and can interfere with the apps you're actually using. It's also a good idea to remove any useless 'bloatware' that came installed on your PC when you first bought it. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/app%20sizes-420-90.jpg Windows 8.1 gives you plenty of options for removing applications. You can follow the link in the Control Panel to uninstall a program, right-click (or tap and hold) on a tile on the Start screen, or head through the Settings charm to the Search and apps page. If you go via the Control Panel route, you can sort your apps by the last used date, which should highlight programs that are starting to show their age. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Task%20Manager-420-90.jpg Even if you don't want to remove programs completely, you can stop them from booting up at the same time as Windows and taking up precious memory unnecessarily. Run the Task Manager utility from the Search charm and switch to the Start-up tab to see everything that launches with Windows. Use the Publisher information or a quick Google search to see which of the entries in the list you can safely disable. Disk spacehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Disk%20Clean-up-420-90.jpg Disk Clean-up scours your hard drive for files that are no longer required and carefully excises them from your system. Log files, downloads, archives, error reports and more are included in the search, and you have the option of reviewing each type of file before it's deleted. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Glary%20Utilities-420-90.jpg There are plenty of third-party applications around that will do the same sort of job in a friendlier interface: Glary Utilities is one of our favourites. It includes a '1-Click Maintenance' module for fast and convenient cleaning. As well as looking at redundant files, Glary Utilities can also tidy up the registry settings, spot any duplicate files that have appeared and remove empty folders for you. Web browsersMany of us spend a lot of computing time inside a web browser, and these apps can become bloated and sluggish in the same way as Windows itself. Look at removing unnecessary extensions and cleaning out temporary data to improve performance. The process will vary from browser to browser, but in Chrome you can use the 'Clear browsing data' button on the Settings screen to tidy up your browsing and download history, the temporary file cache, and cookies stored by websites you've visited. All browsers have similar tools as well as an extensions manager that you can use to disable toolbars, add-ons and plugins that aren't important to your day-to-day work. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Google%20Chrome-420-90.jpg One of the best freeware apps for this job is the excellent CCleaner. It analyses a number of different desktop applications, including your web browsers, and erases any files and data that can be safely removed. You get the option to review all of CCleaner's findings before the relevant files are deleted, so you don't have to remove anything you're unsure about. The web browser part of the program covers your browsing history, file cache, cookies, download history and current session information. Restore and resetSince the arrival of Windows 8, cleaning up Microsoft's operating system has become a lot more straightforward. Reinstalling your OS is often one of the best ways to blow away all of the clutter that has accumulated, but nowadays this process can be launched in a couple of clicks, and you don't have to waste hours hunting for your original Windows discs. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/software/Spring%20clean%20your%20PC/Update%20and%20recovery-420-90.jpg From the Change PC settings link on the Settings charm, choose Update and recovery. Under the Recovery heading you'll see two options: Refresh your PC, which essentially resets Windows without touching your files, and Restore everything, which cleans out your hard drive and puts everything back in its original state (which is handy if you're flogging your machine on eBay). If you want the cleanest results in the quickest time, then these two options are your best bets. By the time you've finished, you should be left with a tidy, optimised PC that's breathing more easily. What's more, just as a regular motor service reduces the risk of a catastrophe on the M6, so a regular tidy up of your computer's nooks and crannies can limit your chances of running into bigger issues further down the line. Now why not check out Best free antivirus software 2014http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/388e2880/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.pnghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ypvPMDtsw9s

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Abstract/CRM/iStock_000013899741Small-MacXever-470-75.jpgWhen seeking to understand their customers, companies are increasingly taking to cloud-based technology. They are looking for insights that will aid them in establishing long-term relationships that incorporate their customers' needs and expectations. The cloud promises an integrated, streamlined and on-demand approach that's designed to be delivered in a scalable, cost-effective fashion. These developments have placed both IT and marketing departments with a greater need to collaboratively approach their cloud-based investments. To better understand the new environment, we spoke with Paige O'Neill, CMO at SDL, a global customer experience management provider. TechRadar Pro: Why is the marketing and CRM industry moving towards cloud-based solutions? Paige O'Neill: Both the cloud and the marketing industry are all about speed. There is no other technology that can provide the computing power and agility to get campaigns moving not only quickly but cost-effectively as well. During the first few years of cloud adoption, these solutions became increasingly easier for marketers to use and understand. We're now in a place where cloud solutions are not only accepted, but other solutions are thought of as "plan B." It's the obvious direction for the industry – and at SDL, we're very committed to moving our products to the cloud—many are there already. TRP: Is this industry ahead or behind of others when it comes to cloud adoption? PO: I think marketing is often one of the last departments to "automate" -- we've been managing the department by spreadsheet really until the last few years as Marketing Automation has finally taken hold. However, when it comes to accessing software via the cloud, the ease of use and implementation has really gotten marketing's attention and I also think the marketing department tends to be less risk averse. It seems like cloud first gained a foothold at small and mid-sized companies who initially had less internal process barriers to overcome, and now marketing departments of all sizes are looking at cloud first. TRP: Why has the marketing tech space been so volatile lately, in terms of M&A? PO: Marketing has received not only a positive shift in budget, but in power within organizations as well. As a result, recent moves from the big-name players validate the increased demand for a more relevant customer experience. Given the number of cloud offerings in play, these acquisitions also reiterate the increasing demand for a cloud-based marketing software platform that spans all phases of the customer's buying journey—from pre- to post- purchase. Customers require relevancy, and the ability to provide engaging, timely and contextually aware content to consumers. The market is moving to fill that need. TRP: What are the biggest benefits the cloud can bring to a marketer? PO: Cloud is easy to deploy, easy to use, and easy to buy, which enables marketing departments to be extremely agile and speed time to market. The ability to turn on campaigns in real time, to get up and running in minutes, rather than months—this can significantly impact productivity and revenue. Marketers also like the ability to reduce their up-front expenses and flexibly navigate their ever-changing budgets with technology that turns on and off. TRP: How can IT best work to implement and manage these solutions? PO: Many believe that the cloud takes IT completely out of the picture, but that's simply not true. As long as technology is at the forefront of a business's operations, there will always be a need for those who deeply understand technology to improve. Especially with customer data residing in silos – both organizationally and technologically – it's especially important to have the technological capability necessary to integrate data effectively for more informed campaigns. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3889ef54/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801581851/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3889ef54/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801581851/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3889ef54/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801581851/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3889ef54/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801581851/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3889ef54/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801581851/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3889ef54/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/BB0j7RfDDec

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/LG/LG_Smart_Bulb-470-75.jpgLG has announced its first ever Smart Bulb, a household light bulb that is connectable to iOS and Android devices. The Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-powered Smart Bulb will blink when users get a phone call, will last for over a decade if on for five hours a day and result in 80 per cent energy savings, according to LG. The company has baked in a crafty security mode, to make it look like residents are at home, when they're actually away. It's not quite a Kevin McCallister one-man house party, but it'll do. Users can also set timers and brightness for the bulbs to ensure that morning light is easier on the eyes which "may feel good at daybreak," according to LG's translated press release. Party modeThere's also a party mode, which will set the brightness to the music emanating from the smartphone and will even blink to the beat, giving users their very own strobe effect. This is an Android-only feature at launch. The Smart Bulb is out in the coming days, priced at 35,000 won (around $32, £19, AU$33) and is compatible with Android 4.3+ and Apple iOS 6.0+. International launch plans are unknown, but this is definitely the most excited we've been about a light bulb since Christmas. It's also the most excited we've been about an LG home product since it announced that Blast Chiller refrigerator compartment that can cool a beer in ten minutes. Samsung's Smart Home platform brings the connected home under the roof of one app!http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3881f4c0/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801547942/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881f4c0/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801547942/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881f4c0/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801547942/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881f4c0/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801547942/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881f4c0/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801547942/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881f4c0/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/hiRcC2tRn5I

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/onenote-ipad-470-75.jpgMicrosoft Office on iPad: too little too late?Well, it's happening: Microsoft is bringing elements of its Office suite, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, to iPad in a bid to win over the ever expanding tablet user base, which has largely been neglected by Redmond. Aside from its Office suites on the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, which operate predominately within the 'Desktop' mode of Windows 8 rather than being bespoke apps design for tablets, Microsoft has done very little to appease iPads users. It did hint repeatedly that Office would "one day" be coming to iOS, but never actually delivered a final version, until now. Whether Office on iPad is a success or not remains to be seen, but will rely heavily on the way Microsoft chooses to implement the app(s). We can't know the implementation that Microsoft will choose to use for Office on iPad, but we know the options. One option is to use Office 365, Microsoft's subscription service for Office. Microsoft's Surface devices require Office 365 to run the Office suite hinting at the path Microsoft may choose to take for Office on iPad. For £79.99 (US$99.99, AU$119) a year, or £7.99 (US$9.99, AU$12) a month, Microsoft 365 gives you OneDrive (née SkyDrive) storage, international Skype minutes, all of the Office suite and syncing between devices. It would stand to reason that the iPad version would require this to work, but is it necessarily the best way for Microsoft to go about it? The answer to that question is likely no. Microsoft will know this because the iPad is still not seen as a "creation" device, mainly due to the lack of keyboard. Ways to payMany users will balk at having to pay a monthly fee in order to use a programme they will most likely use infrequently. It will be used to edit a few documents they have been sent via email or to change a document while travelling without a laptop. Of course some users will sign up, but not as many as Microsoft would want considering the effort that has gone into porting Office to iOS. A far better alternative would be the more Apple-esque route of charging a small fee per app (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and offering an in-app purchase of Office 365 if the customer wishes to sync documents seamlessly across devices. While this would mean sending 30% of all sales to Apple, the consumer would receive a more cohesive experience that would rival Apple's own productivity suite. According to data from App Annie, Pages, the Apple equivalent of Word, has been in the top 40 apps all time, despite charging £6.99 (US $9.99, AU$10.49) up until September 2013. Microsoft will likely want to replicate this success to make their foray into iOS worthwhile. According to a tweet sent to MacRumors Microsoft could choose to bundle the suite into a single app, allowing users limited functionality but offering the app for free. This strategy lends itself to the casual user who wishes to edit very simple files, but falls far short of beating Apple's offerings on the platform which are also free, offer near-desktop levels of editing ability and can export to both Microsoft and Apple's productivity suites. Users may download the app on a whim but decide that Apple's apps are superior in both value and function. Whatever Microsoft chooses to announce at its event later this month will be compared directly to Apple's iWork suite by both technology critics and the general public, a fact Microsoft should be wary of. Before September 2013 Apple's offerings came at the cost of £21 (about US$30, AU$32) for all three available apps, a bar too high for many. Now, however, the apps are free, meaning that anyone can download and compare them to Microsoft's offerings and users could well decide that Microsoft has delivered too little too late. Deciding whether to buy an iPad Air?http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3881aeaa/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801850005/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3881aeaa/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/0R0mdwrHa88

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Apps/android/Play_Music_Feeling_Lucky-470-75.jpgAs much as we love the big hardware announcements, ground-breaking innovations and big product launches, sometimes it's the little things that bring the biggest smile to tech fans' faces. One of those aforementioned small pleasures is Google's latest addition to its Search app for Android. Users can now hit the microphone and utter the words 'play some music,' and the app will oblige by launching the 'I'm feeling lucky' Radio service, which plays songs at random based on previous habits. You'll need Google Play Music app installed for this to be a goer, but still... More blips!Ask and you shall receive. Here's some further blippage. From Gotham to the big Apple? Is Christian Bale going to play Steve?Ashton Kutcher is the new face of LenovoFunny or Die is making a Steve Jobs bio-pic as wellhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/387e1167/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801531481/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/387e1167/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801531481/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/387e1167/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801531481/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/387e1167/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801531481/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/387e1167/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801531481/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/387e1167/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ZsN0AHSMrdc

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/internet/Google/Gmail/Gmail_icon-470-75.jpgGmail is about to become more secure than ever, Google says, as it introduces its most comprehensive encryption yet. All Gmail emails will now be encrypted with HTTPS as they move between you and Gmail's servers, as well as when they move among Gmail's data centers internally, the search company wrote in a blog post. Google said that internal security became especially important "after last summer's revelations," presumably referring to the Gmail privacy concerns that cropped up in August 2013. Google says it's supported HTTPS since day one, and in 2010 it made it the default encryption option. But now 100 percent of Gmail messages will be encrypted with HTTPS. Speaking of percentagesGoogle also reported that Gmail was available to users for 99.978% of 2013, amounting to less than two hours of downtime for each individual user. And as always the company is working to improve reliability and security whenever possible, it said. "Your email is important to you, and making sure it stays safe and always available is important to us," Gmail Security Engineering Lead Nicolas Lidzborski wrote in the blog post. He continued, "As you go about your day reading, writing, and checking messages, there are tons of security measures running behind the scenes to keep your email safe, secure, and there whenever you need it." Security had better be a priority when it comes to Google Glasshttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/386c25d8/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801556115/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/386c25d8/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801556115/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/386c25d8/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801556115/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/386c25d8/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801556115/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/386c25d8/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801556115/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/386c25d8/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/u720Ijy17NQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Buildings/Microsoft/microsoft-hq-redmond-470-75.JPGSoftware giant Microsoft has packed up its latest version of its SQL Server database, SQL Server 2014 and sent it to manufacturers. This version's most important new feature is its built-in in-memory online transaction processing (OLTP) capability, which Microsoft has said can improve database performance up to 30 times. According to ZDNet the new software should be in the shops on April 1. It is based around in-memory OLTP engine codenamed "Hekaton" is supposed to complement the in-memory data-warehousing and business-intelligence capabilities that are already under the bonnet of SQL. In a normal database the assumption is that data lives on disk and is stored on disk pages but this creates a lot of overhead in accessing records. However when data lives totally in memory, it is possible to use much simpler data structures. HekatronHekaton's index data structures and storage structures are optimized on the basis that when a table is declared memory-optimized, all of its records live in memory, Microsoft said. Hekaton has new concurrency-control mechanisms that mean it can be scaled, and it moves away from a partitioned approach via a multicore processor that's treated as a distributed system. What replaces it is a latch-free/lock-free design which avoids data corruption caused when multiple users try to modify a data structure concurrently. SQL Server 2014 also was designed to back up to Windows Azure, enabling users to back up their on-premises data to the cloud at an instance-level for disaster-recovery purposes. Backups can be automatic or manual, and a backup can be restored to a Windows Azure Virtual Machine, if need be. Now learn about the dangers of cloud sprawl.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/385c4e24/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801493677/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/385c4e24/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/BriKEFoF-IU

Dropbox has acquired startup Zulip, a chat service aimed at hte workplace that has yet to come out of beta. As reported by TechCrunch, the deal came to light via an email from the firm to its customers that was published to Pastebin on Monday. Neither Dropbox or Zulip have officially confirmed the news, but the the deal came to light via an email from the firm to its customers that was published to Pastebin on Monday. The email states, "Here's the deal: Dropbox is acquiring Zulip. We're incredibly excited about working with an awesome group of people on a problem with huge scale, at a company that's as passionate as we are about helping people work together efficiently." ReassuranceIt goes on to thank its customers for their support and provides a reassurance that business will continue as usual, at least for the time being. It also asks its customers to keep the news to themselves. "Again, please don't share this news," it reads. "We intend to announce this publicly in a few weeks, but wanted to give you folks a heads-up since you've supported us from the beginning." According to Techcrunch, Zulip was founded by team comprised largely of former Oracle emplyees, including Jeff Arnold (CEO), Waseem Daher, Jessica McKellar (VP of Engineering) and Tim Abbott (Chief Architect). It has reportedly received seed investment, although the amount of which is undisclosed. The purchase is likely part of a move by Dropbox to keep pace with other cloud storage providers. Despite having been an early entrant to the market, Dropbox does not have the financial clout of providers like Google and Microsoft. Microsoft's recent launch of OneDrive, followed by the reduction in Google Drive paid storage costs have ratcheted up competition within the market. Store your stuff for free: how to make the most of free cloud storage    

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/AU%20News/Tenplay%20Android-470-75.jpgNetwork Ten has finally released it's catch-up TV app Tenplay for Android, though the company had initially planned for a late 2013 availability for Google's OS. Launched Septmeber last year, Tenplay was initially available for iOS, Sony Bravia TVs, Windows 8, Xbox 360, and was also accessible through browsers. Currently, however, it's Android presence is limited to smartphones, with Network Ten saying that a tablet app will be available later this month. Ten catches upAs well as a catch-up service, the app is also able to live stream content and offers a "continuous play feature", allowing you to move between devices without losing your spot in the middle of a show. You can also create personalised playlists, set up reminders for shows, and access a complete TV guide. While the move to Android should make watching The Simpsons easier for a lot of users, Network Ten is also currently developing an Windows Phone app The Android Tenplay app for smartphones is now available free from the Google Play store. If you want more catch-up TV options, here's our review of the ABC's iview apphttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3841fa87/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801647667/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3841fa87/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/9SXKc_p7tJ8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/internet/Popcorn_Time-470-75.jpgThe creators of free movie streaming app Popcorn Time have announced they're shuttering the project, but the open source app is set to make a quick return via the torrent site YTS. Popcorn Time emerged a week ago with the makers of the slick app insisting it was legal, despite appearing to be a veritable Netflix for illegal movie streams. In a blog post this weekend, the makers said they planned was move on, but weren't ducking out due to legal pressures or lack of support. "Popcorn Time as a project is legal. We checked. Four Times," wrote the company. Shady machinery"Popcorn Time is shutting down today. Not because we ran out of energy, commitment, focus or allies. But because we need to move on with our lives. "Our experiment has put us at the doors of endless debates about piracy and copyright, legal threats and the shady machinery that makes us feel in danger for doing what we love. And that's not a battle we want a place in." That battle will now be fought by the torrent site YTS who have vowed to take on the mantle and resurrect the Popcorn Time app. YTS developer Jduncanator told TorrentFreak: "We are in a better position copyright wise as for us, because it's build on our API, it's as if we have built another interface to our website. "We are no worse off managing the project than we would be just supplying the movies." Netflix: We're already thinking beyond 4Khttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/383ea7b3/sc/21/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801633389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383ea7b3/sc/21/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801633389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383ea7b3/sc/21/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801633389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383ea7b3/sc/21/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801633389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383ea7b3/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801633389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383ea7b3/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/yrD0OhXv5QQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Windows/windows_81_rtm/win81%20startscreen-470-75.jpg Getting under the skin of the software giant is not always easy. But there is clearly something in Microsoft's DNA that has created a good-bad-good gene when it comes to developing its operating systems. In essence, every time it skips a generation, it's significantly enhanced. Remember Windows 95? It was a great product for its time. Innovative, intuitive – an OS that really moved the world of personal, and more importantly business, computing forward. Sure, it had some bugs, but software development on that scale is bound to have early teething problems and they were quickly resolved. New millenniumThen came Windows ME, a product supposedly fit for the new Millennium. Except, no-one appeared to have told the development team that a move into the 21st Century was supposed to engender improvement, not retrograde steps. While ME showed some ingenuity, much of it was regressive particularly for business users, who were not a happy bunch of campers. Skip a generation from 95 and welcome Windows XP. A giant leap for computer-kind, XP was a significant springboard for Microsoft to build a whole new suite of products and really enhance existing business applications such as its Office suite. It was stable, reliable and incorporated enough innovation to keep customers loyal. In fact, there are still organisations using XP and are very happy with it, despite the rest of the world having moved on. Vista was next. Clearly the rogue gene had found its way back into the code and its launch was greeted to the sound of one hand clapping. Enough said - and swiftly on to Windows 7. Again, genuine innovation and a drive towards integration with mobile technologies. Great for businesses that were starting to get to grips with an 'always-on' world. By now, the trend was pretty clear and, apparently, not just an anomaly. Windows 8: yes, a rock- solid system which works well, but an OS that was half-baked when it came to business. The interface was a radical departure from day-to-day working environments and, although 8.1 has been an improvement, the concept of partial control via tiles and partial control through traditional menu layouts just does not work – particularly when most of the workforce is highly unlikely to have touch screens. In my view, this was a personal consumer OS that should have stayed that way and been clearly separated from business users. It's the reason why most businesses have held-off from full Windows 8 implementation. Who cares?So, given Microsoft's genetic record, Windows 9 should be a real humdinger for business and, if the rumours are correct, there will be an element of consumer and enterprise separation. But before us geeks get too carried away, there is a fundamental question to be asked: "does business really care that much?" The reality is that, for many business users, the interest in PCs has waned and they are simply seen as a 'must have' tool to do their job, rather than engendering the kind of excitement that used to occur every time new innovations, applications or hardware appeared. The focus is now on mobile tech and that means Windows 9 has a very specific job to do: it needs to be a reliable workhorse not a sparkly, whizz-bang package. Compare an OS to the office photocopier. Unless you are running a print shop or the design department of a major corporate, how many buttons, features and gizmos do you actually need to make a few copies? Speed, yes. Reliability, most definitely. Collation, probably. As for the rest – who even understands what that button with the strange reverse arrow icon means, let alone how to use it? The same can be said for an OS. It needs to do the bog-standard stuff totally reliably and be robust enough to withstand the lowest common denominator user. It must be easy to support and fully backwards-compatible with both software and hardware. It certainly has to be fast and run software glitch-free and efficiently. Most importantly, Windows 9 has to be totally cloud future-proofed, regardless of the system or service. Until it's launched, we won't know for certain, but my hope is that Windows 9 will also include a 'killer' feature similar to Apple's Siri personal assistant, along with 'smart' coding that can rationalise password storage, predict usage patterns and reporting requirements. We'll have to wait and see but, if Microsoft's genetic code is true to form, we're in for another step forward. Dr Peter Chadha is CEO of DrPete Inc and Chair of Steegle.com. With more than 20 years of independent consulting, his company now provides strategic IT reviews and implementation to global enterprise. He takes a pragmatic approach to business solutions, but is a technology evangelist.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/383cd2a7/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801626395/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/383cd2a7/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/AL-jciuiT2k

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Nokia/Lumia_Refocus-470-75.jpgThe impressive Nokia Refocus app is now up for grabs for anyone rocking one of the company's Lumia handsets, running Windows Phone 8. The app allows users to alter the focus of photos after taking them, much like the Lytro Light Field camera, and was previously only available on the company's PureView handsets like the 41-megapixel Lumia 1020. Refocus has wowed users by allowing them to completely change the depth of field in a snap by tapping on the touchscreen after taking the photo. The shoot-now-focus-later app, enables photographers to emphasise the foreground or background items in any picture and there's also an "all in focus" option to keep everything in the frame looking sharper. DefinedThe app's creator Jens Eggert, Nokia's Lead Program Manager for Refocus, told the Nokia Conversations blog the roll out was an example of existing Lumia phones continuing to improve as time goes on. In terms of creating the perfect Refocus image, he added: "Move as close as possible to the object nearest you, get that in focus – between five and ten centimetres – and ensure you've got something defined in the background. The best advice, however, is experimentation. Just play, it's fun." The company has placed some interactive pictures on the blog enabling potential Lumia fanciers to have a play and refocus photos for themselves. Take a look, it's definitely worth a try. Find out why the Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet enters the market with one hand tied behind its backhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38399354/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801545692/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/38399354/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/kE2E2DQWnq8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/televisions/Google/Chromecast/chromecast-470-75.jpgAfter months of waiting and procrastinating, the long-awaited Google Chromecast streaming dongle will finally go on sale in the UK this coming Wednesday 19 March, according to leaked retail inventory. Hours after a retail source told TechRadar the HDMI stick would be going on sale "very soon," a leaked screenshot, purportedly from Dixons' internal systems, emerged showing the actual launch date. The screenshot obtained by Android Police explains how stock of the device is showing up at retail locations, but "must not go on sale before 9am on Wednesday." Just yesterday, a Twitter user posted an NDA-smashing photo of "a box of Chromecasts," apparently from a Curry's or PC World store. Unsurprisingly, the picture has since been deleted. Google recently updated the Chromecast Android app with support for over 50 languages, seemingly signalling that the international roll-out is imminent. Worth the wait?The update comes after the retail source strongly hinted the device would be on sale for £30. It costs $35 (around £21) in the United States. Brits will seemingly have to pay a little more for the privilege of owning a Chromecast dongle. Will you be snapping up Google's streaming stick this week? Is it worth the wait? Let us know in the comments section below? To tide you over, check out TechRadar's Chromecast reviewhttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/383e7b59/sc/21/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.pnghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/gImSfPO7xoM

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/other/LondonSkyline-470-75.jpg CurrencyTransfer.com aims to make business foreign exchange as simple and easy as searching for a plane ticket online. The company has built a marketplace that matches businesses with multiple foreign exchange quotes and offers instant trade execution ability. Think Expedia for business payments. TechRadar Pro talks to CurrencyTransfer.com co-founders Daniel Abrahams and Stevan Litobac to find out more. TechRadar Pro: Why did you set up your business – what problem were you trying to solve? Daniel Abrahams: Over the past three years, my co-founder Stevan and I have witnessed the way our $21 trillion per annum cross-border payment industry is broken. As expats living in Australia and Europe and further yet as business owners, we've felt the pain of making cross-border payments firsthand. Whether you need to import goods, pay overseas offices or trade internationally for whatever reason, we think it's a scandal that most customers don't truly know the cost of a simple currency conversion. As for our background, we actually met in a funny way. We both wanted to start an online business and met online. No kidding! It was on a 'Find your Co-Founder' style website, matching tech and commercial talent. TRP: Why isn't the current system working? DA: Sadly, most businesses are losing out with their existing suppliers. Banks, who have nearly a 90% market share, apply hidden of up to 4% on the amount you are transferring. If you're smart, you may ring up a couple of currency brokers for quotes. However, this takes a LONG time and provides inefficient rate comparison, given the markets are moving each second. Not to mention, you're also at the mercy of currency salesman who may offer you a great rate on day one, only to widen and widen the spreads offered over time. In our industry, we call this ''honeymoon rates''. Too often, implicit fees built into the rate and explicit transaction charges bundled together strike panic, confusion and inefficiency. Stevan Litobac: Our goal with CurrencyTransfer is to focus on three core areas to solve this issue. We aim to give control to the SME, improve transparency when understanding the costs of international payments, and create a competitive marketplace where businesses don't have to jump through hoops to get the best rate, when they need it. TRP: Who are your target customers? DA: On the CurrencyTransfer marketplace, we're targeting SMEs and large corporates who make cross-border international payments. Over the past few months, we've spoken daily to finance directors and owners building fantastic businesses in a range of industries, including manufacturing, clothing, shipping, removals and professional services. One customer I spoke to the other day told me upfront, ''I know I'm getting screwed by the bank, but I have no choice!'' Educating and empowering our target customers will be key. We want to let SMEs worldwide know that they absolutely DO have a choice over who their firm makes a currency payment with and place the power in their hands. Via our own 'Expedia for Business Payments,' we truly want to be at the forefront of a very powerful paradigm shift of control back in the customer's hands. TRP: What has been your biggest success to date? DA: Stevan and I have taken great pride in helping individuals transact over $650 million via our sister private client comparison websites, MyCurrencyTransfer.com and MyTravelMoney.co.uk. Over the past three years, the reputation, trust and relationships built with regulated currency brokers globally have given us the confidence to build our latest and very disruptive business foreign exchange marketplace and booking platform, CurrencyTransfer.com. We've also taken great joy in opening our first international office in the heart of Tel Aviv, Israel. The 'Start-up Nation' boasts more start-ups per capita than anywhere in the world. Over the past few months, my co-founder Stevan has worked closely with our Israeli-based development team to launch our first version for CurrencyTransfer. The talent in Israel is staggering and I'm not surprised in the slightest it boasts so many tech achievements. TRP: What have been the key milestones in financing your company? DA: The business has been totally self funded over the past three years, which has worked superbly well for us, thankfully. We were profitable from the third month of being in business, back in December 2010. Since then transaction volume has grown year on year and since last year has allowed us to scale our team across two offices internationally, namely London and Tel Aviv. SL: Yes, and with CurrencyTransfer, our B2B offering, we understand that there is only so much that you can achieve with your own resources. So we will be engaging in discussions with relevant VCs who we believe are a good fit and could help us along on this journey in securing every business a fairer and cheaper deal on currency. TRP: Where do you see your company in five years' time? DA: We'd love to be known as the trusted friend of SMEs and large corporates internationally. As an independent marketplace streaming live rates from multiple currency suppliers, we're truly on the side of the customer. On a product level, we want to continually build new features beyond just rate comparison, making CurrencyTransfer.com your de facto dashboard for your FX. The benefits of being a marketplace will let us grow internationally quickly. We've identified the US, Australia, Canada and Germany as core targets over the next 24 months. The US will be a little tricky, as currency brokers need to be licensed on a state by state basis. Looking further afield, there's an enormous opportunity for us in Latin America and Asia. SL: There's a lot of room for integration and collaboration in the FinTech products space, and the start-up space in general. We think interoperability will be a key for future new products and their ability to play nicely with the tools people are already used to. So we're working hard at keeping ourselves aligned to opportunities in this area. TRP: Where would you like to see your industry in five years' time? DA: Great question, and for me, it totally centres around price transparency. If you go to a market, there is a clear and explicit price for apples, pears and a bunch of grapes. You know what it's costing your bottom line. Unfortunately, international payments are one of the last areas of financial services where customers really don't know what a transaction is costing them. I truly believe it's important that customers see the ''real rate'' and the ''sell rate'' side by side, a core feature of the CurrencyTransfer.com marketplace. Linked to this point, I'd love to see a total ban of those gimmicky marketing slogans, boasting how ''we offer 0% commission.'' The team at CurrencyTransfer ran a survey a while back and shockingly found that over 68% of respondents felt 0% commission actually meant free currency exchange! Many businesses believe that this offer actually means free money transfers, but there are in fact a number of hidden fees and mark-ups. The industry needs to move from one of total opaqueness to full price transparency. In 2014, individuals and businesses deserve to know the true cost of simple currency transfers. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3839e6e1/sc/25/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.pnghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/rLFHuqUh1EY

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Abstract/Keyhole%20binary%20code/Keyhole%20binary%20code%20abstract-470-75.jpgBilly Bosworth, CEO at Datastax, explains why the NoSQL database will continue to grow in popularity in 2014. TechRadar Pro: Why should people be paying attention to NoSQL in 2014? Billy Bosworth: First, it's already infiltrated your world and you probably don't even know it. Whether you are shopping, gaming, reading news sites, watching movies online, or getting a prescription filled, you're likely using our technology. We're past theory and into reality. Second, The "always on" world cannot be serviced by databases with 25-year-old technology. They weren't built for the kind of architectures that can avoid disasters and deliver performance that was unheard of just a few years ago Third, no matter your business, data is the new currency. I'm pretty sure Google did not buy Nest for over $3B because they wanted a pretty thermostat. We're seeing new industries born and old industries radically changed by changing how we perceive the value of data. Before any of that vast amount of data can be analyzed, it must first be created. We are the engine that allows all that data to be created. TRP: Why will the team be able to take on Oracle this time around? What's different? BB: MySQL was brilliant for its time because the team understood something that is very difficult for software developers, and that is reductionism. Relational databases were bloated with too much bolt-on technology, so MySQL went after an audience that needed one thing (web transactions) above all else, and they blew away all the other chaff. They made it simple, and they made it free in the open-source world. That was a massive disruption to the relational market, but make no mistake about it, it was a cost disruption more than anything else. It was still a relational database. Today, we get incredible value out of my leadership team members who come from MySQL because they know the open source software model (no trivial thing) and because they learned how to disrupt a huge incumbent. But the reason they are here is because they know that this time, the primary market driver is not cost -- it is technology. The real disruption is that our technology is built for an "always on" world where data is massively distributed. The fact that we're typically 1/10th the cost of something like Oracle is fantastic, but incidental. Spending more money, or using clever marketing, cannot fix a bad architecture. That is not only true for relational databases, but also applies to NoSQL databases that suffer from architectural limitations not sufficient for a fully distributed world. TRP: What will be the key areas for NoSQL in 2014? BB: This year will see NoSQL become a lot more mainstream and get adopted by companies who you wouldn't think of as modern innovators - like the Post Office or manufacturers. Well, they've already begun making the transition, and many others will soon follow. So it's not just for web and "cloud native" businesses any longer. Undoubtedly, the demand for skills around NoSQL will go up this year as well – we are helping the community here with access to free training around Cassandra, expanding the number of people with skills and making it easier to support these innovative new apps. If you are well versed in NoSQL, and can write applications at global scale, then you can pretty much write your own ticket because you are the most in-demand employee a tech company can find. So we see a lot of growth happening in the community because the top engineers really want to learn these new skills and also have fun with a really exciting technology. TRP: How do you see areas like telecoms taking on NoSQL? BB: I see the telcos absolutely needing the power of NoSQL for a variety of reasons: Always-On: The amount of data points that the telco's need to consume is astounding. They're one of the top data generation industries in the market because of all the data points they need to capture. If the system is down or slow -- even for milliseconds -- it creates a backlog such that the system cannot catch up. They *must* start embracing fully distributed ways of dealing with ever increasing data flows. Messaging: The backbones for messaging architectures are some of the most demanding in the world. Openwave Messaging, a DataStax customer, provides messaging services for half of the top tier telcos. A few years ago while using a relational database, they experienced a critical failure that left 800,000 subscribers without email access. They activated their experimental Cassandra cluster and regained operations within 20 minutes and have migrated over to DataStax Enterprise full time. They haven't experienced downtime since. New business opportunities will emerge as our personal devices become a bigger and bigger part of our daily lives. The telcos must have the internal database infrastructure ready to handle the launch of massively successful new services to customers. If the infrastructure isn't there, massive market share will be squandered. TRP: Databases are a dry subject – will corporate IT teams look at NoSQL this year, or will they stick with Oracle? BB: Let me give you an analogy… when I played football in college, I was an offensive lineman. That position doesn't have the flash of, say, a wide receiver. That is, not until your $80M quarterback gets injured because a lineman didn't do his job -- then nobody wants to talk about anything else! Our job at DataStax is to deliver the Cassandra database in a way that does amazing things with mind-bending performance, and yet have the database remain a "dry" topic. When we do that, it means we're doing our job because there are no crises to talk about and applications are humming along! To answer your question specifically, IT departments are the ones who will ultimately take these technologies used by the various application teams and make them standard inside their organizations. That is a very useful thing for numerous reasons, so IT has an important role to play going forward as databases like Cassandra propagate within companies. TRP: Where do you think the next big challenge for IT will come from? BB: Everyone faces a challenge of scale because data is growing so quickly. Whether you are a startup looking to grow or an established company that is reacting to market forces, IT is critical to your success. Being able to keep pace with huge growth in consumer demand and application traffic is essential. Alongside this, there has to be an appetite for working in closer partnership with business around their needs. This is that age-old problem of how to get past IT being seen as a straight cost center; it needs to be a valuable partner in a business' success. TRP: What do you think will be the biggest success opportunity for IT this year, and what will flatter to deceive? BB: If IT can proactively approach the business with the infrastructure required to handle the demands and SLA's of the business application teams, they will be nothing short of rock stars within the company. Most application teams do not want to own the infrastructure of their application, but often they see IT as slowing them down. It is a tough problem for myriad reasons, but it is a huge opportunity for IT to be seen as truly a catalyst to the business. Apart from NoSQL, the cloud is revolutionizing IT as you can see from the emphasis coming out of Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services. Deploying applications into the cloud and providing a reliable, performant cloud infrastructure will revolutionize how companies do business and which applications they provide their customers. IT will have to figure out how to balance the demand for cloud infrastructures with standardization and governance that they deliver with on-premise solutions. TRP: Do you think the Internet of Things will take on the mantle of cloud or big data as the biggest hype term? Or will it actually start to prove its worth? BB: The Internet of Things has received strong interest in Europe for some time, but is now also gaining strong traction in the U.S. The IOT is very real and already proving it's worth. Google recently acquired the smart-thermostat provider, Nest, for $3.2B. They didn't do that because they want to be in the thermostat business - they did it for the data. Everything is going "live" and it's actually frustrating to the younger generations when things they have are not "connected." IOT is just a nice umbrella term for describing what is already happening. TRP: Cassandra is based on the support of its community, like most open source products. How do you plan to support this community going forward? BB: Cassandra forms the core of our business, and the Cassandra community is the lifeblood of this technology. We are 100 percent committed to fostering the community, adding value to all of its members, and providing them with the tools and knowledge they need, even if they aren't DataStax customers. Any open source company worth its salt knows that they will have far more open source users than paying customers, so you know going in that the real success for your company will be a thriving community. We offer a website called PlanetCassandra.org that is packed with resources. We also offer free online training for anyone who wants to build their skills with Cassandra, and we recently announced a startup program that allows small companies to deploy DataStax Enterprise for free, thus investing in their growth at an early stage. Last year, our first European Cassandra summit held in the UK sold out so quickly that we added a whole extra day to meet demand. Our US Cassandra Summit 2013 was the largest gathering of Cassandra community members ever. We are planning to run the same style events this year and we expect even more success when we hold our U.S. Cassandra Summit in September and our EU Summit in December 2014. TRP: There are so many NoSQL companies hitting the market now. Do you think the market risks getting confused, and how do you plan to set yourself apart? BB: Sure the market risks getting confused. The market is confused already. NoSQL databases are revolutionary and the opportunity is as large as they come. Here's the first step to sorting out the real players… look for documented customer information. DataStax for example serves 20+ of the Fortune 100 and more than 400 customers - and more than 1,500 companies form the basis of the open source Cassandra community. Today you can visit our site and read through 40+ case studies and interviews conducted with our customers, and more than 200 interviews on the open source page, www.planetcassandra.org. Now, many of the largest and most recognizable brands aren't the most forthright about their deployments - but that's generally because they are hesitant to share the "secret sauce" of their success. But if you are evaluating a technology and they can't provide 10 really well documented use cases, don't bother. I can tell you with absolute confidence, and with no marketing hype, that we offer the very best database for online applications -- period. Cassandra is an always-on, fully distributed database, that is built specifically for the world of online, dynamic applications where data is absolutely king. At DataStax, we deliver Cassandra to the enterprise, helping our customers overcome serious obstacles to innovation that they need to revolutionize the way they do business, and that they can't get done with old, relational technology. There is nothing else out there that delivers our performance in the face of ridiculously challenging environments. With Cassandra, you can lose an entire datacenter and never miss an SLA for a transaction. Think about that for a minute… that is a concept so radically different from anything we've ever done with databases that it's easy to pass over. That kind of power is rare, and we deliver it in real life -- not just on whiteboards and in marketing speak. We need to do a much better job at communicating those benefits to the market. There is a trend in technology to rest simply on the strength of your solution and expect the market to understand it organically. In a sense this is true, given the strength of our community - but you also need to educate people, and that is a huge focus for DataStax in 2014. But we are looking forward to an absolutely phenomenal year and are expecting massive growth in Europe and globally. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3833f96c/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223254/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96c/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223254/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96c/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223254/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96c/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223254/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96c/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801223254/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96c/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/22-cnL5gUmI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Windows/Firefox%20Windows%208-470-75.jpgDon't expect Firefox to surface on your Surface 2 or Windows 8.1 start screen, as the open-source software developer behind the browser has abandoned its Metro-styled app. Mozilla realized launching the 1.0 version of its Microsoft Modern UI app "would be a mistake," wrote Johnathan Nightingale, vice president of Firefox, in a blog post. "It looked like the next battleground for the web," noted Nightingale. Now he says, "we've been watching Metro's adoption. From what we can see, it's pretty flat." While pre-release versions of Firefox's desktop browser are beta tested by millions of people, the company never saw more than 1,000 active daily users taking advantage of Metro. If a bug exists in a Metro app, does anyone hear it?The problem with Microsoft's new design language isn't just that it's unpopular; it's also hard for app developers to properly bug test their software. Nightingale theorized that Mozilla could have eventually shipped the Firefox Metro app, but without real-world testing, a lot of glitches would have been discovered by end users. This decision to pull the plug on this Mozilla app ends its arduous two-year development cycle. It was first announced in February 2012 and slated to finally release in December of last year. It was even previewed just before the end of last year, but delayed as recently as January of this year and now won't come out any time soon. Instead, Mozilla will focus on its development efforts on existing Firefox platforms, including Mac, Linux, Android and straight-up Windows. Maybe when Windows 9 rolls around, it can consider giving Metro another go, but for now it says the real costs of investment in a platform its users have shown little sign of adopting isn't worth it. Firefox is still available on Androids like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3833f96d/sc/4/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/sc/4/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/sc/4/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/sc/4/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801223253/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3833f96d/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/gV2LXw6Bvew

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Abstract/Infrastructure%20network/iStock_000019928004Small-Spectral-Design-470-75.jpg Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) has had a slow start over the past few years. Many enterprises tried and failed to implement VDI or didn't see the utility, cost savings or productivity they hoped for. Problems with latency issues and performance proved major setbacks. However, as cloud technologies improve, customers are giving hosted desktops a second look, but this time turning to third-party hosted desktop service providers to help them access their documents, apps, and programs virtually, from any device, anytime, anywhere via the cloud. Even several industry giants have jumped on the Desktop as a Service (DaaS) bandwagon due to a growing demand for cloud services. These new efforts and significant investments in research and development are heating up the DaaS market. dinCloud is a cloud service provider that helps organizations migrate to the cloud through the hosting of servers, desktops, storage, and other cloud services via its channel base of VARs and MSPs. The company's DaaS offerings are subscription-based and tailored to fit a range of business models resulting in reduced cost, enhanced security, control, and productivity. TechRadar Pro speaks to Mike Chase, EVP & CTO at dinCloud, to find out more. TechRadar Pro: Tell us a little bit about dinCloud – what do you do? Mike Chase: dinCloud is a cloud service provider and transformation company that helps businesses and organizations rapidly migrate to the cloud through the hosting of servers, desktops, storage, and other cloud services via its strong channel base of VARs and MSPs. We are distributed by Ingram Micro and Arrow distribution, while resold by CDW, Insight Enterprises, En Pointe Technologies and other VARs nationally and worldwide. TRP: Can you explain the difference between VDI and DaaS? MC: DaaS is a highly optimized hardware infrastructure, which exploits a superior software solution for virtual desktops at a cost model unattainable by enterprise customers. Technologies like ultra-dense servers (8cpu, 128cores, 2TB memory), ultralow latency networking (40g infiniband or trident+ 10g Ethernet chips), hybrid (SSD/SAS/SATA) hyper-scalable object oriented storage with erasure coding, as well as virtualized security, and encryption and defense systems are brought together to create a turnkey made-for-virtual-desktop environment where every click requires a lightning fast response to deliver a true windows desktop replacement with high user experience expectations. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (or VDI) is costly, built on slower enterprise class infrastructure, upgrades poorly, scales slowly, and is failing to keep pace with security, regulatory and user experience expectations. As such, VDI is often a novelty or augmentation in an enterprise environment and rarely a full windows desktop replacement. In contrast, I can walk into numerous clients and see an entire floor of 300 or more dinCloud hosted virtual desktops in use as the sole platform. TRP: Do you think VDI had a slow start? MC: VDI had a lot of hype and huge start (VMware had 20,000 POCs running at the peak of the hype), but it never ultimately got off the ground because it couldn't deliver. Many of the technologies which create the perfect Desktop as a Service (DAAS) solution aren't even available to, or on the radar of, most enterprise architects. Cloud architects tend to pioneer their own solutions, which don't make it to the open market. Nonetheless, as customers became cloud-wise instead of cloud-wary, the need for a tenable virtual desktop solution grew, since it's hard if not impossible to divorce desktops from servers and other resources which commonly form symbiotic environments. So, as the servers moved en-masse to the cloud, virtual desktops (DAAS) became ripe in late 2013/early 2014 such that even the largest cloud infrastructure providers like Amazon announced they were diving into this (virtual desktops) market. TRP: There have been new efforts and significant investments in research and in the DaaS market – can you talk about some of these? MC: I think storage is the most significant revolution in DAAS. All clouds now run hybrid (SSD/SAS/SATA) hyper-scalable object oriented storage with erasure coding. This reduced the cost of storage for most cloud providers from around 24.6 cents to 4.6 cents, per GB, per month when compared to traditional enterprise storage vendors like NetApp, EMC, HP, Hitachi and others. It also increased the number of live copies from 2 to 3, added encryption, and eliminated RAID entirely. Eliminating RAID as the key underlying data protection mechanism was a quantum leap forward because it exponentially reduced the chance of data loss on highly scalable multi-petabyte/Exabyte systems. For example, with RAID6+2, you can lose two hard drives maximum before ALL data is lost. A failed 1TB hard disk once replaced could take 2-4 days to rebuild in the system. During this time you are vulnerable to additional disk losses. In object storage, that 1TB drive is rebuilt in 20 minutes! Also, I foresee a future that finally defies physics (our ability to move data beyond the speed of light over glass) by using object storage to create copies of everything we store worldwide so that no matter where we travel to, we are always accessing the local copy of our servers, desktops, files and more. How does DaaS pick up where VDI failed? DAAS combines hardware, software, security, and a cost model that is undeniable. This is why even the largest distributors and VARs team up with cloud service providers like dinCloud vs. building their own. Cloud-wise customers are encouraged to do the same. DAAS in a day is better than VDI in never-never land. TRP: Why do you think there has been a growing demand for cloud services? MC: It's the only place to get the latest technologies at the lowest prices. Much of what is being invented and pioneered is either being done by the cloud internally or by vendors who are increasingly cloud-centric themselves. As such, cloud has killed the enterprise - only the enterprise's most loyal remain. TRP: What's your prediction for the DaaS industry in 2014? MC: Because of the prior hype and angst over VDI, 2014 will see DAAS become the dominant player simply because you can't divorce your desktops from servers that have already made the jump to the cloud. 2016 and beyond will be about cloning those virtual environments so that they can existing in multiple geographic datacenters worldwide in real-time so that the most local copy may be used from anywhere. Fortunately, the technologies required to make this nirvana happen are now in existence; they are maturing rapidly so I expect to see them in 2016/2017 as common best practices. http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/382d2c8a/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801196198/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382d2c8a/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/72sl-UX1tyo

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/your_mobile_life/yourmobilelifeemail-470-75.jpgOn April 8, Microsoft will end its extended support for Exchange 2003 mail server and a fifth of businesses that still run Exchange 2003 will need to make a move, or face the obvious security risks that come with having out-of-date software. Using its expertise as a Google Enterprise Partner, Ancoris aims to help its clients innovate in business, provide better employee engagement and improve customer experience as the software's end-of-life nears. TechRadar Pro speaks to Ancoris Managing Director David McLeman to find out how it plans to do so. TechRadar Pro: A fifth of businesses are still using Exchange 2003. Why do you think businesses have failed to upgrade? David McLeman: For many businesses upgrading from Exchange 2003 has not been seen as a priority because, as an email server, it just did the job and through the recession companies have been focussed on "sweating" their IT assets beyond the normal replacement cycle. Many have delayed their migration decision as the upgrade has been seen to be complicated and expensive; due to the need to upgrade servers and operating systems to provide a 64-bit architecture to run Exchange 2010 if staying "on-premise". With the end of support from Microsoft, companies are now being forced to make this investment or consider switching to the cloud. TRP: Will businesses see this as an opportunity to review their IT strategy? DM: Given the complexity and cost of the upgrade, many businesses are using this forced move from Exchange 2003 as the springboard to adopt cloud computing as a whole new approach to IT. Although Exchange 2010 offers new features, easier administration, improved security and support for larger mailboxes compared with Exchange 2003, there's no single compelling financial or business benefit in staying with an on-premise implementation. By contrast, moving to cloud-based email and office applications offers a wide range of benefits that will have a significant impact on both the cost of operation but also potentially changes the ability of businesses to innovate, collaborate and become more efficient. In fact, according to a survey carried out by specialist technology market researchers Vanson Bourne, 94% of CFOs believe cloud computing is crucial to the ongoing success of their businesses. TRP: Can cloud-based office applications really help companies to innovate? DM: A study by the Future Foundation found an 81% correlation between innovation and collaboration and that employees who are given the opportunity to collaborate at work are more than twice as likely to have contributed new ideas to their company. TRP: Much of the rhetoric around cloud computing is about 'changing the way we work'...do people really want to change the way they work? DM: The personal productivity tools of the last twenty years - such as word processors and spreadsheets – dramatically changed the way individuals worked. But today, the way we work has changed again and the old personal productivity tools no longer meet the requirements of the modern office. For some businesses the choice may be to move the servers to the cloud and replace like with like, selecting Microsoft's cloud offering Office 365. For other businesses, the fast-paced, global environment requires us to collaborate in real-time with colleagues based in other companies and other countries, outside traditional working hours, whether we're in the office or on the road. Young people, the internet natives, are now coming into the workplace and expecting to use "social" tools — such as chat, video conferencing and concurrent editing — to carry out this kind of collaborative work, wherever they are. The new generation of cloud enterprise communication and collaboration tools such as Google Apps for Business enable us to work in this new way and collaborate effortlessly. There is a short-term impact in terms of user change but the benefits of real collaboration and ability to use any device outweigh this. TRP: You mention devices. Have they been a driver in the adoption of cloud-based office productivity tools? DM: Research company Gartner reported that 4Q13 global PC shipments suffered a 6.9% decline from the fourth quarter of 2012 - this is the worst decline in PC market history. At the same time, it reported strong growth in tablets such as iPads being used to access company IT systems and at Christmas the Google Chromebook was the best selling device on Amazon. From our experience of working with companies who've moved to Google Apps, we know that users want to have freedom of device choice, whether that be PC or Mac, smartphone or tablet. The mobile workforce of today wants to be able to use instant-on devices to access docs and email an doesn't want to be tied to the traditional PC. Google Apps, for example, was designed from the outset to be device-independent and work with any browser. This gives users access to the full range of collaboration and innovation tools from any device, making it easy for them to switch between devices as they work. This allows the IT department to keep control of who has access while giving users the freedom they need. TRP: What about security? Is the cloud as secure as on-premise? DM: Major, high profile regulated institutions like London Borough of Hillingdon, Spanish banking giant BBVA and global pharmaceutical company, Roche, have all moved to Google Apps. It's clear that the cloud is passing due diligence exercises for even the most security-minded organisations. Data stored in the cloud is subject to the strict security and backup regulations and the cloud vendors security expertise and resource exceeds the vast majority of normal businesses. With cloud computing data loss is minimised if a user's computer crashes, is stolen or is damaged in a fire or flood as there is little or no data held on local PCs. TRP: What do you think is the most compelling argument for moving to the Cloud today? DM: In the early days of cloud computing, companies made the move for technical reasons. It offers reduced IT cost and improved security whilst being highly available, scalable, and mobile. However, whilst it does indeed provide a low maintenance platform that is secure and cost effective, it has also been a massive game changer for businesses particularly in terms of improved efficiency, productivity and collaboration. With 80 percent of users found to use only 20 percent of an application's features in Microsoft Office, innovative businesses are already questioning the functionality and efficiency of their traditional IT desktop. The cloud offers organisations the opportunity to rethink the way the work; true cloud platforms encourage innovation and can help transform organisations and even culture through automation of business processes by combining mobile apps and devices, collaborative tools and shared data in the cloud. Our Google Apps for Business customers all agree that today it is not about the technology, but how to best use it for commercial and competitive advantage. Isn't it what IT should all be about? http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/382c5db8/sc/21/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801301446/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c5db8/sc/21/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801301446/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c5db8/sc/21/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801301446/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c5db8/sc/21/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801301446/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c5db8/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801301446/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c5db8/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/iqXS6ycesnE

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/car%20tech/F1%20tech%202014/01-470-75.jpgThe secret networking tech of F1"The first races are going to be test events … no team is taking it lightly," says Alan Peasland, Head of Technical Partnerships at F1 world champions Infinity Red Bull Racing. He squirms in his seat as he considers what promises to be some tentative opening races as the new Formula 1 season kicks-off in uncertain circumstances. "Reliability is crucial." So is global data exchange and communication, both of which have been overhauled for the new season by Red Bull's new innovation partner, AT&T. The new networks are in place in Australia to help the team battle new technical challenges created by a set of radical new regulations being introduced this season by the FIA, the sport's governing body. So what's going on? Rule changesThis year will see fuel limited for the first time - 100kg for each car per race, while the 2.4-litre V8 engines have been replaced by 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines. One consequence is the birth of a new hybrid tech called ERS, an energy recovery system that – like its kinetic forbear KERS – consists of an electric motor that charges-up from energy in a car's rear axle that would otherwise be wasted. This energy is then fed back into the drivetrain to add more speed to the car, a technology that is being developed for road cars as well as racers. And, while KERS gave a boost for just under seven seconds, ERS is more like 30 seconds. It could be a lap changer. Despite worries that F1 cars will be slower in 2014, recent testing in Bahrain suggested otherwise, with lap times in Bahrain only a second slower than in last year's actual race. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/car%20tech/F1%20tech%202014/02-420-90.jpg Moveable feastThat gap is bound to come down largely because the cars that will race in Australia are nothing more than early prototypes – and not one will make it through to the second race without undergoing a lot of adjustments. F1 teams never stand still. "Three years ago we were making 22,000 design changes to the car each season, involving about 7,000 new parts," says Peasland of the massive, constant task of keeping up with competitors. It's an upwards trend, too; 32,000 design changes were made last season, and more are expected in 2014. "If we didn't make design changes we'd end up at the back of the grid by the end of the season," says Peasland. The changes comes as a result of Red Bull and others relying more and more on data, on how they manage the data within the factory, how its communicated internally, and how it's kept totally secure. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/car%20tech/F1%20tech%202014/04-420-90.jpg Data explosion"We're creating exponentially more data each year, and as you measure more data from the car it has to be stored somewhere and reused quickly," says Peasland. "We've got about 100 sensors on each car, each measuring more than one thing – from stress, strain, airflow, temperatures – and each sending data back to the factory in Milton Keynes. "We're sending 100GB of data back to our factory so we need to be confident of the network's security," he says. "AT&T arrive at the track before we do to set-up the point of presence, so for us it's a very simple plug and play." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/car%20tech/F1%20tech%202014/telemetry2-420-90.jpg New technologyThe ante has been upped for the new season by AT&T, which has created a network 2.5 times bigger and faster than last season, while extending it to Red Bull's engine manufacturer Renault's Viry Operations Room in France, and also to Red Bull's remote wind tunnel in Bedford. "It means we can reliably send more data at a faster speed to engineers in the UK, and it goes the other way too," says Peasland, who insists that FIA restrictions on wind tunnel use means that the team now has to get more from the bursts of data during the permitted sessions. "We need to bet more for less, and AT&T helps us do that," he says. Remarkably, the entire structured cabling and infrastructure provided by AT&T – in the last few miles at least – is created almost from scratch at each race track, then torn down and completely removed after the race. It's a hectic weekend. "Friday is about optimising, and this is where we use real-time telemetry off the car, send it back to our factory in Milton Keynes so they can perform a lot of simulations to hopefully improve the performance of the car without it being on track," says Peasland. "We then relay that information to the engineers at the race track." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/car%20tech/F1%20tech%202014/03%20Al%20Peasland,%20Red%20Bull%20-420-90.jpg Track-side LANThe track-side LAN is managing the data, which comes off-car and into the racks in the garage and then to all other areas of the track – the pit wall, inside the garage and to Red Bull's technical office (nicknamed the treehouse). AT&T transfer the same data both to Red Bull's factory and to Renault. However, F1 is not just about collecting data on your own cars. "Saturday is when we start to analyse the competition," says Peasland, who shows us reams of scary-looking charts and graphs. "On Sunday we manage the health of the car and look at data as it comes off the car, but it's mostly about strategy – and that's where the Operations Room back in the UK comes into it." Red Bull looks in great depth at data about its competitors' lap times, when they've pitted, and how it's affected their race. "It's a live document we monitor and it's these hundreds of charts that our race strategists work from." To the layman it all looks baffling, but within it are one-second gaps that a driver can exploit to pit and return to the track in clean air - and thus gain a massive advantage over a rival. That's how races are won – and Red Bull is famous for it. With reliability in question and uncertainty about how the new regulations are going to play out, the collecting and analysis of data is set to play a bigger role than ever before. And the next step for AT&T? Put it all on iPads, obviously. Now read: Why driverless technology will be the best thing that's ever happened to cars http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/382c0178/sc/18/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801190224/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c0178/sc/18/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801190224/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c0178/sc/18/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801190224/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c0178/sc/18/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801190224/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c0178/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801190224/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/382c0178/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/AJo4MtYfrDg

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Software/Microsoft/Office%20365/office%20365%20interface-470-75.jpgMicrosoft has unveiled Office 365 Personal, a new option for accessing the company's cloud-based productivity service. As the name implies, Office 365 Personal is designed for a single user. Detailing it in a blog post, Microsoft describes it as a more affordable option than its existing multi-user Home Premium offering, which grants access to the suite for five people. The subscription includes the usual Office 365 suite of products, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook and OneNote. It comes with additional benefits in the form of 60 minutes of Skype call time per month and 20GB of extra OneDrive storage. Home runMicrosoft will also be changing the name of Office 365 Home Premium to just Office 365 Home. This name change will come into effect with the launch of Office 365 Personal. Office 365 already has 3.5 million subscribers, and this latest move is sure to bump that number up considerably as people look for cheaper ways to write and edit documents. Google recently upped competition by bulking up its free Docs and Sheets products with free Add-Ons that people can download to snag extra functionality. The service is set to launch in the next few months and will cost US$69.99 (about AU$77) per year or US$6.99 (about AU$8) per month. Note that the Aussie conversions don't factor in tax, so they're likely to cost slightly more. As such, you'll save a small wad of cash compared to shelling out for Office 365 Home Premium, which is priced at AU$119 per year or $12 per month. How to move to Office 365http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/38297b64/sc/5/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.pnghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/1uydJI5GsTU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/magazines/Linux/Issue%20174/LXF174.feat_rpijam.rjamboree_9-470-75.jpgThe UK government thinks it is wise to train 11-14 year old cyber security skills under its plans for new higher-level and advanced apprenticeships. According to the Cyber Security Skills: Business Perspectives and Government's Next Steps report, teachers will get training to enable them to teach pupils about cyber security. Support will also be available for universities that come up with new ideas to improve cyber security teaching. There will also be a new internship scheme will help provide students with the work experience employers are looking for. Competitive advantageUniversities and Science Minister David Willetts said that countries that can manage cyber security risks have a clear competitive advantage. He said: "By ensuring cyber security is integral to education at all ages, we will help equip the UK with the professional and technical skills we need for long-term economic growth." David Pepper, representing the professional institutions in the Cyber Security Skills Alliance, added that the national shortage of cyber skills is a key issue for businesses and government in the fight against the growing threat from cyber crime. The report calls for new e-skills UK employer-led cyber security Higher and Advanced level Apprenticeship schemes and new e-skills UK projects to develop Key Stage 3 learning materials and training for teachers. E-skills UK will roll-out its Secure Futures schools campaign in London, Greater Manchester and Sussex with the support of employers, following a successful pilot in Worcestershire. Now read how Wordpress can connect you to a botnet.http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/3821b4be/sc/7/mf.gifhttp://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801442622/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3821b4be/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801442622/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3821b4be/sc/7/rc/2/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801442622/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3821b4be/sc/7/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/191801442622/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3821b4be/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/191801442622/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/3821b4be/a2t.imghttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/NzoH-0yCl_I