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Category: SmallBusinessNews

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  • Cybersecurity Firm Firedome Raises $10 Million to Secure IoT Devices

    Cybersecurity Firm Firedome Raises $10 Million to Secure IoT Devices

    VentureBeat is reporting that Tel Aviv and New York-based cybersecurity firm Firedome has raised an additional $10 million in funding, bringing their total to $14.5 million.

    The new round of investment will help the company continue development of its cybersecurity suite aimed at protecting Internet of Things (IoT) devices from hackers, malware, ransomware, denial of service attacks and other threats. A lightweight software agent is installed on IoT devices and continuously monitors them using heuristic, reputation and signature-based methods. In addition, the software uses a cloud-based AI to monitor network traffic and quickly respond to attacks.

    CEO and cofounder Moti Shkolnik—who also served as head of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office cyber business unit—said: “We were pleased to find out that IoT device companies, across industries, are not willing to compromise the security of their products and are aware of the vulnerabilities that cannot be fully eliminated by static security by design processes. We were happy to witness the rapid progress of closing partnerships with tier 1 companies, about which we will be able to divulge soon. We strongly believe that real-time endpoint cybersecurity is the inevitable future of the IoT security landscape.”

    With some projections putting the number of IoT devices at 64 billion by 2025, companies like Firedome will play an increasingly important role in keeping those devices secure.

  • Citing National Security, FCC Blocks Huawei and ZTE From Federal Subsidies

    Citing National Security, FCC Blocks Huawei and ZTE From Federal Subsidies

    The Verge is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted unanimously to block telecom companies from using federal funds to purchase equipment from Huawei or ZTE.

    The Universal Service Fund (USF) provides $8.5 billion a year in subsidies for carriers to provide wireless services throughout the United States, especially in rural areas. Under the new ruling, carriers would not be able to use money from the USF to purchase equipment from the two companies, both whom have been deemed a threat to national security.

    Huawei and ZTE have both been blacklisted by the U.S. government. In ZTE’s case, the company ran afoul by selling to North Korea and Iran, in violation of sanctions. The restrictions on ZTE were eventually eased in exchange for a $1 billion fine. Huawei, on the other hand, has been accused of being a possible conduit for spying by the Chinese government. Under Chinese law, all companies are required to help the government when prompted. Huawei, however, has been accused of much closer ties to the government and intelligence agencies than the average Chinese corporation.

    Rural carriers may be hit especially hard by the FCC’s decision, as Huawei is widely considered to be one of the most cost-effective solutions, saving companies millions of dollars. The FCC may go even further, however, having voted to consider requiring rural carriers to remove installed Huawei equipment for alternatives.

    At the hearing, FCC commissioner Brendan Carr said: “After all, if equipment poses a threat, it is not enough to stop subsidizing it. It must come out of the network.”

    Huawei continues to deny it is a threat and has denounced the FCC’s ruling.

    “Huawei believes this order is unlawful as the FCC has singled out Huawei based on national security, but it provides no evidence that Huawei poses a security risk,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

  • An Unlikely Casualty of the 5G Revolution: Weather Forecasting

    An Unlikely Casualty of the 5G Revolution: Weather Forecasting

    Science journal Nature is reporting that accurate weather forecasting may be an unintentional casualty of 5G deployment.

    At the heart of the issue is the frequencies that have been approved for use in 5G networks, specifically frequencies around 23.8 GHz. Evidently, “water vapour in the atmosphere naturally produces a weak signal at this frequency, which satellites use to measure humidity. Those data feed into weather forecasts. But if a 5G station is transmitting a signal near the 23.8-gigahertz frequency, a weather satellite might pick it up and interpret it as water vapour. And that bad data could degrade forecasts.

    “Meteorologists say that the problem is manageable, but only if there is enough of a noise buffer between the 5G transmissions and water-vapour signal. The buffer is measured in units of decibel watts, and is akin to a measure of how much you might turn down your stereo volume so as not to bother your neighbours.”

    Currently, there is debate about how much buffer is required. Understandably, the World Meteorological Organization is calling for the largest buffer at -55 decibel watts. On the other end of the spectrum, the United States is calling for just -20 decibel watts. The European Union is in the middle, having settled on a buffer of -42 decibel watts, 150 times less noise than the U.S. is allowing.

    The agreement reached by the various entities stipulates a -33 decibel watt buffer till September 1, 2027. After that, it increases to -39 decibel watts. The goal with the two-stage regulation is to give companies time and opportunity to roll out 5G without burdening them unnecessarily. Once 5G is established and more widespread, then regulation will become stricter to make sure the denser 5G transmissions don’t cause more interference.

    Some experts are not convinced that will be enough, however.

    “The race for 5G is going to go fast,” says Renee Leduc, Founder and Principal of Narayan Strategy in Washington DC. “In the early to mid-2020s we’re going to see a very quick uptick.” Despite the stricter regulations in 2027, Leduc says: “I’m still really concerned about the time period between now and then.”

    Nature says increased cooperation between meteorologists and the wireless industry may be necessary. Turning off or redirecting 5G transmissions while a satellite is taking measurements may be a compromise solution.

    Whatever the case, whatever solutions and regulations are put in place, only time will tell how much 5G interferes with accurate weather forecasting.

  • AT&T Launching 5G Network In Conjunction With Galaxy S10 Plus 5G

    AT&T Launching 5G Network In Conjunction With Galaxy S10 Plus 5G

    The Verge is reporting that AT&T is finally ready to launch its 5G network next month. Coinciding with the launch, the company will start selling the Galaxy S10 Plus 5G for $1,300.

    The service will initially only be available in five cities: Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rochester and San Diego. Soon after, 10 more cities are slated to be added, including Boston, New York and San Francisco.

    According to The Verge, AT&T’s 5G network will not be the ultra-fast, millimeter wave (mmWave) variety. Instead, AT&T will be using existing, low-band spectrum to deliver 5G at approximately the same speed as LTE-Advanced. The company only says that speeds will be “rapidly evolving from there.” The company is working on fast mmWave 5G, although it is currently only available in parts of 21 cities, with plans to have it in 30 by early 2020.

    The Verge reports that “customers will need to subscribe to either AT&T’s Unlimited Extra or Unlimited Elite plans ($75 or $85 per month for a single line) in order to get 5G. AT&T says it will be offered at no additional charge. 5G data will count toward the unlimited plans’ throttling caps (50GB and 100GB of total data usage) the same way all other data does.”

    With AT&T being the fourth carrier to roll out 5G to customers, it will need to do better than rehashed LTE speeds to remain competitive.

  • Vocational Training: The New Success Track?

    Vocational Training: The New Success Track?

    Success is an important reward for our hard work, and many people feel that it is part of their identities as a person. But recent generations are having to redefine what it means to be successful, and even what it means to be an adult. The economy and the job market are changing and with it our definition of growing and building a successful career and life. 

    Gen Z is starting to define themselves by their achievements in school and their work, as compared to most adults who say it is their family and upbringing that defines who they are. Today’s young adults also don’t think that growing up is just about how old they have become, or about getting married, having children, or owning a home as-is thought traditionally. Young adults today are saying that adulthood is marked by financial independence from those who raised them, full-time employment, and some are simply saying moving out of their parents’ home and being able to maintain living on their own makes them an adult.

    Success is another thing that is being redefined by the younger generations. Gen Zers say that by the age of 30, they want to finish all of their education, start a career, gain financial independence, and to follow their dreams. But 58% of young adults can’t afford the lifestyle they are used to without parental support or some other external help.

    Many are looking at the education and student loan debt trap and reconsidering things. 41% of young Americans would choose a trade school over college because learning a specific trade leads to a better chance at career opportunities and higher earning potential among other reasons. Compared to a Bachelor’s degree, trade school can be better in many ways. The average annual salary for trade school graduates is $65,000 a year and trade school graduates experience a lower unemployment rate than college graduates. While lifetime earnings for those with college degrees are still higher, those gains are often offset by crippling student loan debt.

    Jobs that you can get from trade school have higher job security and trade school graduates have less than half of the unemployment that regular college graduates experience. This is caused by the fact that the cost of trade school is significantly less and even after paying off nearly 3 times the debt, most college grads are still making the same as their trade school counterparts. 

    Trade school graduates are also getting jobs after school more quickly as Baby Boomers are retiring and leaving job openings that need filling. 80% of contractors are struggling to find skilled enough workers to do the jobs that Baby Boomers used to fill such as plumbing, roofing, HVAC, electrical, and many more. 60% of metal workers say labor shortages are their biggest concern. Other manufacturing shortages include CNC operators, industrial maintenance techs, and most general skilled workers. And 30% of hospitals are having trouble finding suitable workers for important jobs such as lab techs, LPNs, CNAs, and more. 

    Find out how today’s young adults are becoming tomorrow’s successful and how they are changing how we think about the path to success here.

     

  • T-Mobile Suffers Breach, Sensitive Prepaid Data Exposed

    T-Mobile Suffers Breach, Sensitive Prepaid Data Exposed

    T-Mobile announced it has suffered a data breach, exposing prepaid customers’ sensitive information to hackers.

    T-Mobile has not said when the attack occurred, but they have confirmed that financial data was not compromised. That means that credit card and back account information, as well as social security numbers, were not impacted. The company also stated that no passwords were compromised.

    “The data accessed was information associated with your prepaid service account, including name and billing address (if you provided one when you established your account), phone number, account number, rate plan and features, such as whether you added an international calling feature. Rate plan and features of your voice calling service are ‘customer proprietary network information’ (‘CPNI’) under FCC rules, which require we provide you notice of this incident.”

    The company has not said how many customer accounts were exposed, although a spokesman did tell CNET that the number was a “very small single digit percentage of customers.”

    T-Mobile says all affected customers have been, or shortly will be, notified. If customers have not received notification, it likely means they were not impacted.

  • Nokia Defends Its 5G Position: ‘We Don’t Have a 5G Problem’

    Nokia Defends Its 5G Position: ‘We Don’t Have a 5G Problem’

    Nokia has faced criticism that it is falling behind competitors Huawei and Ericsson in the 5G market. In an interview with Reuters, Nokia’s software business head Bhaskar Gorti, defended the Finnish company.

    “I don’t think we have a 5G problem,” Gorti told Reuters in the interview. In spite of that optimism, Nokia does indeed appear to have a problem. The company recently cut its outlook for this year and next due to its need to invest more heavily in 5G.

    As Reuters reports, Nokia’s current situation is in part due to a miscalculation by the company in its choice to wait on 5G standards rather than adopting early and modifying on-the-go, as Ericsson and Huawei have chosen to do.

    According to Reuters, Amit Hirchandani, sector analyst at Citi in London, says Nokia is a “show me” story. In other words, the company must prove it has the ability to deliver on the 5G front. This is especially necessary given high-profile delays that have impacted partners. Sprint recently missed its 5G rollout goals due to Nokia.

    While Gorti may be trying to reassure investors, customers and partners that Nokia doesn’t have a ‘5G problem,’ it will take more than words for Nokia to regain the standing it once had.

  • PayPal Acquires Price Comparison Tool Honey For $4 Billion

    PayPal Acquires Price Comparison Tool Honey For $4 Billion

    PayPal has announced its acquisition of Honey Science Corporation, a price comparison platform that helps shoppers save money.

    Honey was founded in 2012 and provides promo codes, discounts and online coupons to customers. Customers can even add items to their list and be notified if the price drops. The company’s addition will help PayPal further simplify the online shopping experience and be a valuable tool for PayPal’s network of merchants.

    “The acquisition supports PayPal and Honey’s shared mission to simplify and personalize shopping experiences for consumers while driving conversion and increasing consumer engagement and sales for merchants. The combination will help accelerate growth across both companies. Honey will accelerate its growth by driving adoption among PayPal and Venmo’s more than 275 million active consumer accounts and sourcing exclusive offers from PayPal’s extensive network of 24 million merchant accounts. Honey will enable PayPal to reach consumers at the beginning of their shopping journeys and will enhance PayPal’s ability to help merchants acquire and convert consumers by delivering offers that are personalized, timely, and optimized across channels.”

    Amid increasing competition from Apple Pay, Google Pay and other digital wallet systems, PayPal also hopes the acquisition will help it drive user engagement.

    “Honey is amongst the most transformative acquisitions in PayPal’s history. It provides a broad portfolio of services to simplify the consumer shopping experience, while at the same time making it more affordable and rewarding,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal. “The combination of Honey’s complementary consumer products with our platform will significantly enhance our ability to drive engagement and play a more meaningful role in the daily lives of our consumers. As a partner of choice for our merchants, this is another way that we can help them build and strengthen their customer relationships, provide personalized offers, and drive incremental sales. The combination of Honey and PayPal adds another significant and meaningful dimension to our two-sided platform.”

  • Google Bringing AI-Powered Smart Compose to Docs

    Google Bringing AI-Powered Smart Compose to Docs

    Smart Compose, one of Google’s more controversial features is making the jump from Gmail to Docs.

    Smart Compose is an AI-driven feature that Google unveiled last year. The feature was built on Smart Reply and uses machine learning to suggest words while composing an email. Many language generation models suggest words based on the preceding word. Smart Compose goes beyond that, looking at the email subject line and the preceding email, if you’re replying to one.

    Google is now beginning the process of integrating Smart Compose into Docs. Smart Compose for Docs will analyze your past writing to make suggestions that match your style.

    At the moment, the feature is only available in beta, only for business users and requires an administrator to sign up. Google has not yet said whether the feature will eventually be available for all consumers, or only G Suite users.

    Smart Compose in Gmail has been extremely popular among some users, with notable individuals like Mark Cuban swearing by it. There’s just as many, however, who hate the feature. It will be interesting to see how well it is received as it is integrated into other applications.

  • NVIDIA and Microsoft Join Forces to Accelerate AI Startups

    NVIDIA and Microsoft Join Forces to Accelerate AI Startups

    NVIDIA Inception and Microsoft for Startups have partnered to help accelerate AI startups, according to a press release.

    The two companies unveiled their joint focus in Helsinki, at the startup event Slush. The partnership will aid companies in the AI market, working to address the unique challenges they face.

    As part of the program, “members of NVIDIA Inception and Microsoft for Startups can now receive all the benefits of both programs — including technology, training, go-to-market support and NVIDIA GPU credits in the Azure cloud — to continue growing and solving some of the world’s most complex problems.”

    The two companies will work closely to evaluate what startups in the program need, and address those needs using available resources.

    “NVIDIA Inception members are eligible for the following benefits from Microsoft for Startups:

    • Free access to specific Microsoft technologies suited to every startup’s needs, including up to $120,000 in free credits in the Azure cloud
    • Go-to-market resources to help startups sell alongside Microsoft’s global sales channels

    “Microsoft for Startups members can access the following benefits from NVIDIA Inception:

    • Technology expertise on implementing GPU applications and hardware
    • Free access to NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute online courses, such as “Fundamentals of Deep Learning for Computer Vision” and “Accelerating Data Science”
    • Unlimited access to DevTalk, a forum for technical inquiries and community engagement
    • Go-to-market assistance and hardware discounts across the NVIDIA portfolio, from NVIDIA DGX AI systems to NVIDIA Jetson embedded computing platforms”

    With NVIDIA and Microsoft’s focus on the AI market, the two companies will bring valuable expertise and resources to burgeoning startups.

  • Bill Gates Backing Tech That Could Replace Fossil Fuel For Manufacturing

    Bill Gates Backing Tech That Could Replace Fossil Fuel For Manufacturing

    Despite the many alternatives to fossil fuel, one segment of the market that has struggled to embrace them is manufacturing. Thanks to a company Bill Gates is backing, that may be about to change.

    Heliogen is a solar-energy company that is looking to revolutionize manufacturing, thanks to an innovative way of implementing solar panels. By angling the solar mirrors so as to focus all of them on a single point of a tower, they act like a giant magnifying glass, generating ultra-high heat.

    According to a press release, the company has achieved a breakthrough: for the first time commercially, a temperature of at least 1,000 degrees Celsius has been reached with solar energy. Previous solar technology had only been able to reach 565 degrees Celsius. The company plans to ultimately reach 1,500 degrees.

    As a byproduct of the process, Heliogen can thermo-chemically split water, creating green hydrogen. The company sees it as an additional opportunity for manufacturing companies, as the byproducts can be used for transportation, heavy equipment or resold to a variety of industries.

    Until now, fossil fuel alternatives have been more expensive, making it a tough sell for manufacturing to switch over. If Heliogen’s plans are successful, its tech could be the first viable fossil fuel alternative for the industry, not only helping it go green, but saving companies money in the process.

    “The world has a limited window to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Bill Gross, CEO and Founder, Heliogen, and Founder and Chairman, Idealab. “We’ve made great strides in deploying clean energy in our electricity system. But electricity accounts for less than a quarter of global energy demand. Heliogen represents a technological leap forward in addressing the other 75 percent of energy demand: the use of fossil fuels for industrial processes and transportation. With low-cost, ultra-high temperature process heat, we have an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to solving the climate crisis.”

    “Today, industrial processes like those used to make cement, steel, and other materials are responsible for more than a fifth of all emissions,” said Bill Gates. “These materials are everywhere in our lives but we don’t have any proven breakthroughs that will give us affordable, zero-carbon versions of them. If we’re going to get to zero-carbon emissions overall, we have a lot of inventing to do. I’m pleased to have been an early backer of Bill Gross’s novel solar concentration technology. Its capacity to achieve the high temperatures required for these processes is a promising development in the quest to one day replace fossil fuel.”

  • Microsoft Announces Changes to Cloud Contract Terms Amid EU Probe

    Microsoft Announces Changes to Cloud Contract Terms Amid EU Probe

    Microsoft has announced an update to its cloud contract terms, one that brings it into greater compliance with EU privacy laws.

    In October, Reuters reported that an EU probe voiced serious concerns that Microsoft’s contract terms violated the GDPR, the comprehensive privacy laws the EU adopted last year.

    “Though the investigation is still ongoing, preliminary results reveal serious concerns over compliance of the relevant contractual terms with data protection rules and the role of Microsoft as a processor for EU institutions using its products and services,” said the EU watchdog EDPS in a statement.

    To address those concerns, as well as respond to customer feedback, Microsoft has updated its terms, bringing them inline with the GDPR.

    “At Microsoft, we listen to our customers and strive to address their questions and feedback, because one of our foundational principles is to help our customers succeed. Today Microsoft is announcing an update to the privacy provisions in the Microsoft Online Services Terms (OST) in our commercial cloud contracts that stems from additional feedback we’ve heard from our customers.

    “Our updated OST will reflect contractual changes we have developed with one of our public sector customers, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security (Dutch MoJ). The changes we are making will provide more transparency for our customers over data processing in the Microsoft cloud.

    “Microsoft is currently the only major cloud provider to offer such terms in the European Economic Area (EEA) and beyond.

    “We are also announcing that we will offer the new contractual terms to all our commercial customers – public sector and private sector, large enterprises and small and medium businesses – globally. At Microsoft we consider privacy a fundamental right, and we believe stronger privacy protections through greater transparency and accountability should benefit our customers everywhere.

    “Before and after GDPR became law in the EU, Microsoft has taken steps to ensure that we protect the privacy of all who use our products and services. We continue to work on behalf of customers to remain aligned with the evolving legal interpretations of GDPR.”

  • Microsoft Teams Reaches 20 Million Daily Users, Double Slack’s User Base

    Microsoft Teams Reaches 20 Million Daily Users, Double Slack’s User Base

    Just four months after Microsoft Teams reached 13 million daily users, the company is reporting that number has reached 20 million.

    Microsoft Teams is a unified communication platform that competes with Slack, Google Hangouts and Cisco Webex Teams. Not surprisingly, since it’s part of Office 365, Teams integrates with Microsoft’s other applications.

    Slack, in contrast, reported last month that it had 12 million daily users. While that is substantially less than Microsoft’s 20 million, Slack claims that its users are far more engaged than those of Teams and other platforms. Even so, that hasn’t prevented Slack’s stock from taking a hit in the wake of Microsoft’s announcement.

    CNBC reports that Wedbush analysts Daniel Ives and Strecker Backe told clients:

    “Our checks in the field indicate Slack will have significant difficulty further penetrating the enterprise given the significant competitive offering from Microsoft’s Teams product that could slow growth going forward quicker than the Street is anticipating.”

    According to CNBC, “Ives and Backe initiated coverage of Slack with the equivalent of a sell rating.”

    Slack has estimated the workplace collaboration market to be worth some $28 billion, leaving plenty of room for multiple companies. However, to survive the competitive edge larger players bring, Slack will need to continue to evolve build on its strengths.

  • Infineon and Klika Tech Partner to Develop Innovative Smart Building Solutions

    Infineon and Klika Tech Partner to Develop Innovative Smart Building Solutions

    Infineon and Klika Tech have announced a partnership to accelerate development of smart building solutions, based on Infineon’s semiconductor portfolio and Klika Tech’s IoT Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS) experience.

    Klika Tech has vast experience with IoT Cloud, offering end-to-end solutions. The company is also an Amazon Partner Network (APN) Advanced Consulting Partner. Infineon is a world leader in the semiconductor business.

    Together the companies hope to accelerate development of smart building solutions. Smart buildings use sensors, automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to automate many of the tasks involved in running a building. As a result, a smart building can be greener, cheaper, more secure and easier to maintain than its counterparts. As the building is used, the system learns when people are coming and going, optimizing the HVAC systems to match. Components can be monitored and maintained before a problem occurs.

    With more and more regulations designed to address climate change, the demand for smart buildings will continue to grow—creating an opportunity for the Infineon and Klika Tech partnership.

    “Klika Tech is a strong addition to Infineon’s partner network, offering complementary capabilities to develop innovative solutions for smart building applications,” said Oliver Henning, Head of Partnership Management & Emerging Application Business at Infineon’s Power Management & Multimarket division. “

    “Collaborations among hardware, software and services providers are the genesis of the custom IoT and Cloud solutions that are enabling companies to reduce their development efforts and expedite time to market. This holds especially true for smart building and smart home applications.” said Gennadiy M. Borisov, President and Co-CEO at Klika Tech, Inc. “We look forward to building on our relationship with Infineon and the integration of their outstanding sensor portfolio with AWS services.”

  • Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 13.2.3 Update

    Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 13.2.3 Update

    Just eleven days after the last one, Apple has released another iOS and iPadOS update.

    According to Apple’s release notes:

    iOS 13.2.3 includes bug fixes and improvements for your iPhone. This update:

- Fixes an issue where system search and search within Mail, Files, and Notes might not work
- Addresses an issue where photos, links, and other attachments might not display in the Messages details view
- Fixes an issue that could prevent apps from downloading content in the background
- Resolves issues that may prevent Mail from fetching new messages, and fail to include and quote original message content in Exchange accounts

    iOS and iPadOS 13 brought a slew of welcome features and improvements to the mobile operating systems. With those changes, however, came an unusually high number of bugs and issues.

    While frequent updates can be somewhat annoying, at least Apple is working quickly to smooth out the issues.

  • Google Acquires CloudSimple, A Company Once Crucial to Microsoft

    Google Acquires CloudSimple, A Company Once Crucial to Microsoft

    Google announced in a blog post today that it has acquired CloudSimple, a company once central to Microsoft’s cloud ambitions.

    CloudSimple is a “secure, high performance, dedicated environment in Public Clouds to run VMware workloads.” Google struck a partnership with CloudSimple in August, following a convoluted series of events.

    Microsoft, in an effort to catch up with AWS, needed to bring on as many VMware customers as possible to its cloud solutions. CloudSimple was created by Guru Pangal, an entrepreneur who spent four years working for Microsoft on Azure. Microsoft and VMware had been rivals for some time. As a result, Microsoft’s plan was to use the newly created CloudSimple—also a VMware partner—as a conduit to migrate VMware workloads to Azure.

    Michael Dell, CEO of the company bearing his name, stepped in to help smooth things out between the two companies, helping Microsoft secure formal permission to run VMware on Azure. As part of the deal, however, Dell-owned Virtustream became the recommended method of migrating VMware to Azure, leaving CloudSimple out in the cold.

    Google saw an opportunity and formed a partnership with CloudSimple in August with the aim of helping companies migrate onsite VMware workloads to Google Cloud VMware Solution by CloudSimple.

    “Through our existing partnership with CloudSimple, our customers can migrate their VMware workloads from on-premises datacenters directly into Google Cloud VMware Solution by CloudSimple, while also creating new VMware workloads as needed. Their apps can run exactly the same as they have been on-premises, but with all the benefits of the cloud, like performance, elasticity, and integration with key cloud services and technologies. And best of all, customers can do all this without having to re-architect existing VMware-based applications and workloads, which helps them operate more efficiently and reduce costs, while also allowing IT staff to maintain consistency and use their existing VMware tools, workflows and support. To that end, we believe in a multi-cloud world and will continue to provide choice for our customers to use the best technology in their journey to the cloud.”

    Now that Google has acquired CloudSimple, it will be interesting to see if it can makeup lost ground against rivals Microsoft and Amazon.

  • FBI Recruits Interpol to Condemn End-to-End Encryption

    FBI Recruits Interpol to Condemn End-to-End Encryption

    Attorney General William Barr and his Australian and British counterparts made headlines recently when they wrote an open letter urging Facebook to create backdoors in its encryption. Not content with open letters, the FBI has drafted a resolution for Interpol to release urging companies to create methods that would allow access to encrypted data.

    Sources told Reuters the resolution “would be released without a formal vote by representatives of the roughly 60 countries in attendance.” A draft of the resolution seen by Reuters uses the threat of child exploitation as the reason behind the need for weakened encryption.

    “Service providers, application developers and device manufacturers are developing and deploying products and services with encryption which effectively conceals sexual exploitation of children occurring on their platforms.

    “Tech companies should include mechanisms in the design of their encrypted products and services whereby governments, acting with appropriate legal authority, can obtain access to data in a readable and useable format.”

    According to Nicole Perloth at the New York Times, however Interpol is denying the resolution was ever considered:

     

    There is no doubt the resolution was drafted, with both Reuters and Ars Technica having seen a copy of it. The only question is whether Reuters’ sources about Interpol’s intentions were incorrect, or whether Interpol is attempting to backpedal after the news broke.

    Either way, it’s another disturbing escalation of attempts to weaken end-to-end encryption. The draft resolution itself is misleading in nature. Ars reports the resolution claims “technologists agree” that creating systems that “\[allow] for lawful access to data, while maintaining customer privacy…can be implemented in a way that would enhance privacy while maintaining strong cyber security.”

    In point of fact, nothing could be further from the truth. As previously highlighted, mathematicians, cryptologist and privacy experts all agree there is no silver bullet. It is simple math—there is no way for encryption to be strong and protect its users, while simultaneously having backdoors or other means for companies or governments to access the encrypted data.

    If Interpol could be persuaded to condemn strong encryption, it would make it easier for countries around the world to pass laws requiring companies to create backdoors. Such a result would be disastrous for journalists, whistleblowers, political dissidents, refugees and anyone else who values their privacy.

  • T-Mobile CEO John Legere Stepping Down In 2020

    T-Mobile CEO John Legere Stepping Down In 2020

    Few executives have had such an impact on their companies as T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere. During his time with the company, T-Mobile more than doubled its subscriber base, went from fourth to third place in the country and negotiated the pending acquisition of Sprint.

    Now, according to a company press release, Legere will step down as CEO when his contract expires on April 30, 2020, handing the reins to current COO Mike Sievert.

    “John Legere has had an enormously successful run as CEO. As the architect of the Un-carrier strategy and the company’s complete transformation, John has put T-Mobile US in an incredibly strong position. I have the highest respect for his performance as a manager and as a friend, I am very grateful to him for the time together,” said Tim Höttges, Deutsche Telekom CEO, and Chairman of the Board of T-Mobile US.

    Legere will remain on T-Mobile’s Board after stepping down. In the meantime, his focus will be on concluding the Sprint acquisition.

    “I hired Mike in 2012 and I have great confidence in him. I have mentored him as he took on increasingly broad responsibilities, and he is absolutely the right choice as T-Mobile’s next CEO,” said Legere. “Mike is well prepared to lead T-Mobile into the future. He has a deep understanding of where T-Mobile has been and where it needs to go to remain the most innovative company in the industry. I am extremely proud of the culture and enthusiasm we have built around challenging the status quo and our ongoing commitment to putting customers first. Together, these attributes have distinguished T-Mobile in the marketplace and on Wall Street, giving us a powerful business advantage that is instilled throughout every level of T-Mobile. I am confident it will thrive under Mike’s leadership.

    “In the months ahead, my focus will be on ensuring a smooth leadership transition and continuing to work closely with the Board and Mike to complete the Sprint transaction. This merger will create the New T-Mobile – a company that is uniquely positioned to continue disrupting the wireless category – and beyond. This marks the beginning of a dynamic new chapter for T-Mobile.”

  • Apple Predicted To Take 5G Crown With iPhone In 2020

    Apple Predicted To Take 5G Crown With iPhone In 2020

    Strategy Analytics is predicting that Apple will take the top spot among 5G smartphone manufacturers in 2020.

    Despite being late to the 5G field, Strategy Analytics believes Apple will leap-frog the competition, chiefly in the form of Samsung and Huawei. Apple is widely believed to be releasing multiple 5G iPhones in 2020 and Strategy Analytics believes that, as long as Apple maintains the current upgrade price, those new iPhones will quickly take the lead.

    “Currently Samsung is the undisputed market leader in 5G smartphones,” said Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics. “But with the two largest 5G markets in 2020, China and the USA, dominated by Huawei and Apple respectively, these two vendors are set to lead in 5G next year.”

    Ultimately, as 5G matures and becomes more widespread, Samsung is expected to retake the crown.

    “Despite the strong showing that is expected for Apple in 5G in 2020,” adds Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics. “In the longer term Samsung will regain the 5G crown. As more markets cut over to 5G, Samsung will capture the majority of that share by virtue of its dominance of the overall smartphone market and a broader portfolio of 5G devices across more price-bands.”

    Meanwhile, while Huawei will likely remain a dominant force in China, the bans and restrictions it faces in other parts of the world will limit its ability to compete effectively on the global market.

    As a result, in the short-term at least, “2020 will be Apple’s time to grab bragging rights in 5G.”

  • Oracle’s Copyright Case Against Google Goes to Supreme Court

    Oracle’s Copyright Case Against Google Goes to Supreme Court

    Google’s Android is by far the most popular mobile operating system (OS) on the plant. According to Oracle, however, it’s built at least in part on stolen code. Oracle filed a copyright suit nearly a decade ago, claiming Google stole code for its mobile OS.

    Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, the creator of the Java Virtual Machine (VM) in 2010. The Java VM is an environment that runs on a wide range of platforms, such as Windows, Linux, macOS and embedded devices. Java developers then create programs that run within the Java VM, rather than having to create them specifically for each platform. The VM gives developers the ability to “write once, run everywhere.”

    Oracle has accused Google of copying 11,500 lines of Java code in its creation of Android. Two lower courts sided with Google, until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed Oracle a victory. Now, according to TheStreet.com, the Supreme Court “will hear Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., granting the case a write of certiorari, or an order to review the decision of the lower court that originally ruled on the case.”

    While one might think software companies would be rooting for Oracle, Microsoft and Mozilla are just two of a number of companies who have filed friends of the court briefs in favor of Google. Both have argued that copyright law must allow a reasonable amount of reuse of software’s “functional aspects,” especially to insure compatibility and interoperability.

    Whatever the outcome, tech companies throughout the U.S. will be watching the case closely to see what precedent is set.

  • Microsoft Hires Attorney General Eric Holder To Audit AnyVision

    Microsoft Hires Attorney General Eric Holder To Audit AnyVision

    NBC News is reporting that Microsoft has hired Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate AnyVision, an Israeli-based facial recognition firm the company invested in.

    AnyVision creates facial recognition software in use by the Israeli military at border crossings. The software is used to log the faces of Palestinians entering Israel. However, according to NBC News, the software is also used to secretly surveil Palestinians throughout the West Bank.

    According to NBC News sources, AnyVision’s tech is at the heart of a secret military project, with one of those sources referring to it by the codename “Google Ayosh.” “Ayosh” refers to the West Bank and “Google” is a nod to the kind of powerful search capabilities Google is known for—although the search giant is not involved in the project. Google Ayosh was evidently so successful that it led to AnyVision winning Israel’s top defense prize in 2018.

    Microsoft invested $74 million Series A funding in AnyVision in June, through it’s venture capital arm, M12. In the wake of NBC News’ report, however, the company is concerned that AnyVision’s involvement in Google Ayosh may violate its ethical principles for the use of facial recognition: “fairness, transparency, accountability, nondiscrimination, notice and consent, and lawful surveillance.”

    Compliance with Microsoft’s facial recognition principles was included as part of the terms of the deal when Microsoft invested, giving them a right to perform the audit.

    When NBC News first reported on the surveillance allegations, a Microsoft spokesman said that, if true, “they would violate our facial recognition principles.”

    “If we discover any violation of our principles, we will end our relationship.”

    At the same time, AnyVision has denied the reports, stating: “All of our installations have been examined and confirmed against not only Microsoft’s ethical principles, but also our own internal rigorous approval process.”

    Whatever the case, Holder and a team of former federal prosecutors—currently working at law firm Covington & Burling—will investigate the allegations.