No more muffled conversations with the MaskFone
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic mask wearing has become the norm in many public situations. While this might be good to prevent infection spreading it does have some downsides including muffled phone calls.
Consumer electronics company Binatone is using this week’s CES to launch a clever solution, a wireless headphone and facemask combined.
Parler goes offline after being dropped from AWS servers
Parler, the social platform launched in 2018 that brands itself as a 'free speech network' has gone offline following a decision by AWS to ban the service from its servers.
This follows hard on the heels of Twitter's decision to impose a life ban on Donald Trump. As we reported last year Parler had become a popular destination for those of a more right-wing persuasion worried about Twitter's censorship policies.
Businesses need to take Teams security seriously
Microsoft Teams has been one of the winners of the pandemic, with usage in December 2020 estimated at 115 million daily users, growing from 32 million in early March.
But this success has also made Teams a tempting target for hackers. Cloud security specialist Avanan has released a new report, based on analysis of nearly 200 enterprise customers, looking at the risks of using teams and how to combat them.
65 percent of companies say cloud migration is a top priority
A new survey finds that 85 percent of IT decision makers are planning to up their budgets for 2021, with 65 percent of companies indicating that cloud migration is a top priority.
The study by automated cloud migration company Next Pathway shows most companies are in the early stages of moving to the cloud and 94 percent say application migrations will be performed over multiple months or years.
Lenovo announces new hardware to improve connected experiences
With many people working from home and relying on the internet more than ever to run their personal lives, there's greater focus on the quality of online experience.
In the run up to next week’s virtual CES, Lenovo has announced a range of new devices aimed at providing better and more personalized connectivity. Among the highlights is a 5G-enabled laptop for those with out access to fast home broadband.
Why Salesforce is no Microsoft competitor [Q&A]
Late last year Salesforce acquired Slack for $27.7 billion, a deal that has caused major waves within the enterprise software market as pundits try to forecast how the chat app fits under the Salesforce umbrella and whether this is an attempt to challenge Microsoft for the enterprise.
We spoke with CoreView CEO Shawn Lankton, whose company is not only a Microsoft Gold partner but whose SaaS management platform supports enterprises that operate cloud and hybrid environments. He gave us his thoughts on Salesforce's motivation behind the sale and how it will shape the enterprise software world.
Poor quality software costs businesses over $2 trillion
The cost of poor software quality in the US in 2020 was approximately $2.08 trillion according to a report released today produced by the Consortium for Information and Software Quality (CISQ) and sponsored by Synopsys.
The figure includes poor software quality resulting from software failures, unsuccessful development projects, legacy system problems, technical debt and cybercrime enabled by exploitable weaknesses and vulnerabilities in software.
Exium launches secure 5G network as a service
As noted in our 5G predictions roundup at the end of last year, one of the concerns about the rollout is that it introduces extra risks.
In order to provide a safer option Exium is launching its Secure 5G network as a service, based on emerging clean network standards being promoted by the US Department of State, the EU and others.
Encryption, zero trust and the quantum threat -- security predictions for 2021
We've already looked at the possible cybercrime landscape for 2021, but what about the other side of the coin? How are businesses going to set about ensuring they are properly protected next year?
Josh Bregman, COO of CyGlass thinks security needs to put people first, "2020 has been incredibly stressful. Organizations should therefore look to put people first in 2021. Cybersecurity teams are especially stressed. They've been tasked with securing a changing environment where more people than ever before are working remotely. They've also faced new threats as cyber criminals have looked to take advantage of the pandemic: whether through phishing attacks or exploiting weaknesses in corporate infrastructure. Being proactive, encouraging good cyber hygiene and executing a well thought out cyber program will go a long way towards promoting a peaceful and productive 2021, not least because it will build resiliency."
More automation, earlier security and 'Switzerland platforms' -- development predictions for 2021
The switch to remote working and the surge in online shopping during 2020 has seen a greater focus on the experience that software provides.
There have of course been other pressures on developers too, but what can we expect to happen in the next year?
Firmware attacks, sophisticated ransomware and ID fraud -- cybercrime predictions for 2021
2020 has seen cybercriminals step up their efforts to exploit the surge of people working from home, as well as seeking to exploit news and information about the pandemic.
This is a notoriously difficult area to predict, but what do experts think we’ll see happening in 2021?
Cryptocurrency becomes mainstream and new digital standards arrive -- fintech predictions for 2021
In recent years we've seen some significant shifts in the financial sector, with newer businesses using technology to challenge more established players.
Much of this has centered around the use of blockchain, although cryptocurrency still hasn't entered the mainstream. What do experts think we'll see in the fintech space next year?
Enabling the edge, more IoT devices and more risks -- 5G predictions for 2021
As the worldwide roll out of 5G networks gathers pace, what do industry experts believe will be the opportunities and threats that they will bring?
Verizon Media's chief business officer Iván Markman expects 5G to push more computing to the edge, "As 5G deployment grows across networks, offering much faster data speeds and low-latency, and computing is increasingly done at the edge of the cloud instead of inside a device, it will in turn lead to new form factors for devices as they don't need such huge computing power as they require right now to deliver XR experiences. We have already seen great strides forward in 2020 with live events across music, sports and beyond with new immersive XR experiences for audiences both at home and within venues."
Tighter integration, collaboration and 'cloudjacking' -- cloud predictions for 2021
We've seen a general move to the cloud over the last few years, while 2020's pandemic has forced more organizations to turn to the cloud in order to support their remote workers.
Can we expect this trend to continue into next year and what other factors might come into play?
Democratization, ethics and data poisoning -- AI and ML predictions for 2021
In the second of our series of pieces looking at technology predictions for 2021 we look at the field of AI and machine learning.
This has the potential to impact on many areas of commerce, science and digital transformation, but what do industry experts think?
Ian's Bio
Ian spent almost 20 years working with computers before he discovered that writing about them was easier than fixing them. Since then he's written for a number of computer magazines and is a former editor of PC Utilities. Follow him on Mastodon
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