Why Britain's unicorns don't live up to Silicon Valley hype
The United States may well be starting to lose its dominance on the global stage, but it’s hard to deny that its native Silicon Valley has been the envy of global governments for decades. Even China, which generally looks upon American culture with disdain, has been stealthily building clusters of Silicon somethings, if not valleys.
Here, research and development funding has swelled by an average of 64 percent year on year for the past half-decade – all with the hope of creating the same west-coast sweet spot somewhere to the east. Yet, so far, no country can claim to have replicated the prized unicorn farm of the US.
Paper use in the office is declining
Our offices are still not entirely paper-free, but we're slowly getting there. This optimistic prediction has been published in a new report by AIIM, entitled Paper-Free in 2016, Are we there yet?. According to it, the amount of paper going into offices is declining, while digital inbound documents are increasing, for two thirds of business executives.
The report launches as part of the run up to World Paper Free Day (WPFD) 2016, AIIM says, taking place on November 4. "The once elusive concept of paper-free business operations is today a real possibility and real progress has been made over the past 12 months", says Bob Larrivee, chief analyst at AIIM. "It remains unrealistic to think that all business processes and transactions will be paper-free in the near future, but there are definitely certain processes where paper can be removed".
Some UK businesses don't know what ransomware is
More than one in ten (11 percent) of all UK organizations have never even heard of ransomware, Trend Micro claims. Another 20 percent don't know how the malware works. Yet, more than four fifths, or 82 percent to be exact, consider malware a threat.
This general lack of knowledge about ransomware best reflects in how the organizations in question think ransomware originates. A third (33 percent) of them know it comes from malicious email attachments. However, a quarter (24 percent) believe ransomware infections come from clicking a link in an email, and 14 percent think it happens if you simply browse the web.
Salesforce integrates Quip in its core products
Salesforce has released new updates for its core products that allow users to use the work collaboration app Quip right from within its own service.
The company purchased Quip for $750 million in August for its collaborative word processing and spreadsheet apps that also include messaging features similar to those offered by Slack.
Microsoft's bot platform has 45,000 developers -- more than Facebook's, less than Google's
Facebook, Google and Microsoft are currently locked in a battle over which bot platform will have more developers, and currently it's Google that's winning -- but it's not that simple.
Just before releasing its chat app Allo, Google acquired API.ai, a bot-building platform through which developers can make bots for various platforms. API.ai is currently being used by 60,000 developers, according to VentureBeat, putting Google at the top of the pack. Considering that it has just only acquired the start-up, it’s easy to argue that the company didn’t really do much to hit that milestone.
Big Data and IoT leave businesses more vulnerable to cyber attacks
In the next three years, there will be more cyberattacks than there were in the past five, a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) claims -- it points the finger at the growth of IoT.
The report says that out of 200 operators of critical infrastructure worldwide, 80 percent say the proliferation of IoT and Big Data is making them more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Apple loses patent cases to VirnetX again -- will have to pay $302.4 million
"Third time's the charm", VirnetX is probably now thinking, as a US court has, for the third time, ruled that Apple has infringed the company’s patents. A federal judge in Tyler, Texas ruled on Sunday that Apple must pay $302.4 million (£235.10m) for infringing VirnetX’s patents in services like FaceTime and iMessage.
Back in 2010, VirnetX was awarded $368.2 (£286.25m), but the ruling was partially overturned because it wasn’t exactly clear how the jury calculated the damages. The second time, earlier this year, the court ruled Apple should pay, setting the figure at $625.6 million (£486.37), but that ruling too was voided because the "repeated references to the earlier case could have confused jurors and were unfair to Apple".
Three areas every business can apply analytics to in order to avoid regulatory trouble
Every business leader understands the importance of regulatory compliance and is aware of how dire the consequences can be if an organization is found to be out of compliance. With stringent regulations enforcing compliance, such as HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley, it’s imperative that companies maintain strict procedures to avoid facing potential fines or lawsuits, and risking consumer distrust. Any one of these factors can seriously threaten the long-term viability of the brand.
However, implementing the right infrastructure and policies to adhere to these requirements is a challenge that every company faces. With the hundreds, if not thousands, of customer interactions and exchanges of data that happen every day, it only takes one slip or lapse in protocol to put the entire organization at risk. Now, business leaders are turning to analytics solutions to mitigate risk and remove uncertainty. Whether it’s the contact center, data center, or online social communities, analytics are proving a powerful tool to help keep businesses out of regulatory hot water.
Microsoft will build a data center in France
Microsoft has announced that its investments in cloud computing in Europe exceeded $3 billion, as it plans to open a new data center in the country next year. Besides making this announcement, Microsoft has also released a new book, entitled A Cloud for Global Good, containing policy recommendations for things like data protection.
The company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, says the investment comes as a result of a "growing demand" from both European customers and partners. "Building a global, trusted, intelligent cloud platform is core to our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. There’s never been a better time for organizations across Europe to seize new growth and opportunity with the Microsoft Cloud".
Oracle loses appeal against Google in Java API case
Oracle has once again been unsuccessful in its latest effort to obtain a new trial in its Java API copyright claim against Google. Judge William Alsup of the San Francisco District Court has denied Oracle's latest motion to have its case reheard on the grounds of misconduct on the part of Google's lawyers.
Since 2010, the two companies have been in an ongoing legal war that was ruled in Google's favor. However, in the six years that have passed Oracle has repeatedly appealed the ruling multiple times.
IBM buys Promontory Financial Group
In an attempt to improve its financial capabilities, IBM will acquire the Promontory Financial Group which will be integrated with its global business and will aid in training its Watson artificial intelligence (AI) platform. The company announced the acquisition on Thursday but it did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
Promontory was founded by Eugene A. Ludwig, who is a former top banking regulator and a friend of of former President Bill Clinton from law school. The Washington firm became one of the leading financial organizations following the 2008 financial crisis. Promontory's current employees include many former financial regulators from across the globe, and it has advised numerous banks on regulatory matters.
Same hacker collective may be behind the biggest data breaches
You know that Yahoo breach that just happened recently? The one where 500 million credentials were stolen? Well, a highly respected security researcher claims the hack was done by the same group that breached MySpace, LinkedIn, Badoo, VK.com, and a few others.
The researcher in question is Andrew Komarov, and he told The Register that not only did the same group do all these things, but the number of breached Yahoo accounts is probably a billion. Double what was reported. Komarov says the group, referred to as "Group E", is a "small Eastern European hacking outfit" that makes money by hacking big companies and selling their data to whoever is willing to pay.
Microsoft Surface Book: Not the ultimate laptop, but close [Review]
The developing digital landscape has changed the way people interact with hardware. We are now more device-agnostic than ever -- both in our personal and professional lives -- meaning we are often carrying around two, sometimes three, devices to complete different tasks.
The 2-in-1 (or hybrid) market has looked to address this by merging the power and performance of a laptop with the flexibility and mobility of a tablet. For the most part, Microsoft has led the way in this area with its Surface and Surface Pro devices, but is now being pushed hard by the likes of Apple and Huawei.
Apple doubles down on the enterprise market
In order to help boost sales of its mobile device amongst enterprises, Apple has announced a partnership with the consulting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP.
On Wednesday, the two companies said that they had formed a new service called Enterprise Next, which would entail 5,000 consultants from Deloitte advising clients in a range of enterprises as to how they could put Apple devices to the best use within their organization.
Spotify wants to buy SoundCloud
In an effort to better compete against Apple Music and other music streaming services, Spotify may be considering purchasing SoundCloud. Apparently the two companies are in "advanced talks", that could result in Spotify acquiring its rival that has been valued at $700 million.
Recently, Spotify has faced a great deal of competition from other subscription-based music streaming services, including Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Prime and Deezer.
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