Apple and IBM customize iPads to help the elderly in Japan

Apple and IBM customize iPads to help the elderly in Japan:

The partnership between tech giants Apple and IBM, which began last year, isn't just about working together on enterprise products. In Japan, the two companies just announced an initiative that will deliver up to 5 million iPads to Japanese senior ci...

Microsoft Surface 3 hands-on

Microsoft Surface 3 hands-on:

The Surface 3 was announced by Microsoft about a month before Build 2015. The tablet is all-new and is currently available for pre-order on Microsoft’s web-site. The Surface 3 rings a formal end to Windows RT as a platform, and instead, the new tablet will run the full version of Windows, opting to run slightly lighter weight hardware on the inside to manage the workload.



Of course, the Surface 3 is more than what is on the inside, what is on the outside matters too, and the 3:2 aspect ratio makes the Surface 3 a lot more “tablet-y” (read as: square-ish). That is a good thing. As nice as ...

India market: Huawei aims to ship 2 million smartphones in 2015

India market: Huawei aims to ship 2 million smartphones in 2015: Huawei aims to ramp up its smartphone shipments to India to two million units in 2015, according to Zhao Ming, president of Huawei's Honor Business Unit. Huawei held a 4% share of the smartphone market in India in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Samsung reports decreased profits for 1Q15

Samsung reports decreased profits for 1Q15: Samsung Electronics has reported net profits of KRW4.63 trillion (US$4.35 billion) for the first quarter of 2015, down 38.2% from the KRW7.49 trillion of a year earlier. Meanwhile, revenues for the first quarter reached KRW47.12 trillion, down 11% on quarter.

Digitimes Research: Global tablet shipments to stay flat on quarter and reach 49.31 million units in 2Q15

Digitimes Research: Global tablet shipments to stay flat on quarter and reach 49.31 million units in 2Q15: Global tablet shipments are expected to stay flat from a quarter ago and reach 49.31 million units in the second quarter of 2015, but compared to the same quarter a year ago, the volume will drop close to 10%. Apple's iPad shipments are expected to decline to 9.8 million units, down 30% on year, according to Digitimes Research's latest report about global tablets.

Grim outlook: Sony's mobile division continues to bleed red ink, 7.1% slip in profits expected by 2016

Grim outlook: Sony's mobile division continues to bleed red ink, 7.1% slip in profits expected by 2016:

Sony just released its financial report for the quarter that ended a month ago, on March 31. According to the report, Sony is doing quite well as a whole, being able to bring home a operating profits of $571 million for the accountable period, on top of a total revenue of $68.5 billion. These are, in fact, the financial results for the whole company, but what's the current state of Sony's mobile division, the one that interests us the most?



Well, Sony just revealed that it has scored an 11% increase in terms of device sales in comparison with the same period a year ago. The cited reasons ...

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumored to be codenamed as Project Noble internally

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumored to be codenamed as Project Noble internally:

According to a new report from Samsung-focused tech blog Sammobile, the manufacturer is working on two new flagship smartphone models. The first is said to be a new version of the Samsung Galaxy S6, said to be codenamed Project Zen internally. The second is the Galaxy Note 5, a smartphone rumored to bear the Project Noble codename.

At the moment, it's unclear what the new Samsung Galaxy S6 variation will bring to the table. The new Galaxy S6 variation will allegedly bear the model number SM-G928, which is highly similar to the SM-G920 model number used by the ...

The Dell Venue 10 7000 is now available for purchase from Dell.com

The Dell Venue 10 7000 is now available for purchase from Dell.com:

The Dell Venue 10 7000, the productivity-oriented tablet that Dell officially unveiled earlier this month, is now available for purchase from Dell.com. The manufacturer initially announced that the tablet will land in the United States at some point in May, and it looks like this estimate was accurate.

There are three versions of the Dell Venue 10 7000 you can choose from. The standalone tablet with 16GB of integrated storage space is priced at $499, the 16GB tablet with an included magnetically attachable keyboard dock is available for $529, while a package containing a 32GB ...

Corning reports strong profit for 1Q15

Corning reports strong profit for 1Q15: Corning has reported first-quarter 2015 net sales reached US$2.27 billion, down 1% on a year-over-year basis, while net income rose 35% to UST407 million.

HTC reports first quarter 2015 earnings; "robust" sales lead to its best U.S. quarter since 2011

HTC reports first quarter 2015 earnings; "robust" sales lead to its best U.S. quarter since 2011:

HTC reported its first quarter earnings on Tuesday and the company continues to be on the recovery path. In the U.S., the first quarter of 2015 was the best three month period that HTC has experienced in the country since 2011. HTC characterizes sales in the U.S. as being robust. The HTC One and HTC Desire are leading the way in Europe and Asia and market share gains have come in Taiwan.



For the first quarter, which ended on March 31st 2015, HTC reported revenue of $1.36 billion USD up 25% year-over-year. Net profit came in at $11.8 million USD or 1.4 cents a share.



For the current ...

New flagships help Samsung report its largest quaterly profit in the last nine months

New flagships help Samsung report its largest quaterly profit in the last nine months:

Starting from scratch and redesigning its flagship phones has led Samsung today to report its best quarter in the last 9 months. Samsung has reaped the benefits of strong sales for its metal clad Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 edge. The company reported profits of $5.64 billion USD for the quarter that ended last month. The mobile division reported operating profits of $2.6 billion USD in the same time period. That is the largest operating profit for the mobile division in three quarters.



Thanks to orders from smartphone companies, Sammy's chip business is in the chips, producing ...

Touch embedded solutions expected to hold 15% penetration for China vendors in 2015

Touch embedded solutions expected to hold 15% penetration for China vendors in 2015: The top-10 major handset vendors in China are all expected to release smartphones with in-cell and on-cell touch technologies in 2015, with the technology reaching over a 15% penetration rate.

Global LCD TV panel shipments grow 11% on year in March, says IHS

Global LCD TV panel shipments grow 11% on year in March, says IHS: LCD TV panel shipments from global panel makers reached 23.9 million in March 2015, growing 20% on month and 11% on year, according to IHS.

LG optimistic about the LG G4 as North American and South Korean sales prosper

LG optimistic about the LG G4 as North American and South Korean sales prosper:

Life is good for LG! After announcing its new flagship smartphone to much excitement and debate, the Korean company posted its earnings report for the first quarter of 2015. Between January and March, LG's mobile business recorded its highest first-quarter revenues to date. The reported sales revenue of $3.27 billion (KRW 3.6 trillion) is up 5% from last year.



LG Mobile shipped 15.4 million smartphones, enjoying an increase of 26% from Q1 2014. North American sales grew by a good 66% over one year, while Korean sales grew by 57%. LG points at the LG G Flex 2 as its Korean success story, ...

IDG Contributor Network: Identity as an attack surface

IDG Contributor Network: Identity as an attack surface:

Thanks to mobile computing, cloud apps and tele-working, the de-perimeterization of IT security is a “fait accompli”.  This has created new challenges for CSOs and new opportunities for attackers.  One of the leading threats emerging from the post-perimeter IT landscape involves using Identity as an attack vector.  Here’s why.

Historically, information security professionals have focused on mitigating vulnerabilities across traditional attack vectors, namely networks, software or physical plants within their computing environments. Despite the large investments made in preventive and detective security technologies, protecting these traditional attack surfaces continues to be a challenge.  As Ponemon states in their 2014 report on Mega Breaches, many companies have failed to prevent breaches with the technology they currently have, where 65% responded that attacks evaded existing preventive security controls.

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The Galaxy S6 edge is a bigger hit than Samsung ever dreamed

The Galaxy S6 edge is a bigger hit than Samsung ever dreamed:

Samsung once shocked the world when its Galaxy Note phablet became a surprise hit and forced rivals such as Apple to adapt by releasing phones with giant displays. Has Samsung now pulled off yet another surprise hit with the Galaxy S6 edge? Bloomberg reports that Samsung has started producing curved Galaxy S6 edge displays at a third factory much sooner than it had anticipated, as the company has been caught off guard by high early demand for the new device.

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Over 60 million iPhone 6s to be shipped in 2Q15, say Taiwan makers

Over 60 million iPhone 6s to be shipped in 2Q15, say Taiwan makers: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus shipments in the second quarter of 2015 are expected to exceed 60 million units, more than the originally expected 50 million units, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

Acer will compete in PC market to the last, says CEO

Acer will compete in PC market to the last, says CEO: While the PC industry has matured and is saturated with 4-5 vendors competing in the global PC market, Acer says it will compete to the last through the continued improvement of its product lines to maintain competitiveness, according to company CEO Jason Chen.

Taiwan market: Samsung unveils entry-level tablet Galaxy Tab A

Taiwan market: Samsung unveils entry-level tablet Galaxy Tab A: Samsung Electronics has unveiled Galaxy Tab A, an entry-level tablet with an S Pen touch pen, for launch in the Taiwan market in early May.

Worldwide small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panel shipment volume to show steady growth through 2016, says MIC

Worldwide small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panel shipment volume to show steady growth through 2016, says MIC: Although the worldwide tablet market is expected to decline for the first time in 2015, strong growth momentum in the smartphone and automotive panel markets will maintain worldwide small- to medium-size TFT-LCD panel shipments. Panel shipment volume will reach 3.1 billion units in 2015 and 2016, inching up 0.1% and 0.3% respectively on year, according to MIC.

Apple marching east - China becomes the company's second largest market

Apple marching east - China becomes the company's second largest market:

Apple CEO Tim Cook has more than once referred to China as one of the company's key markets. He spent years in talks with China Mobile, trying to solidify a deal that would have the operator support and sell iPhones. Apple had a small presence in China before, through carriers China Unicom and China Telecom, but seeing as China Mobile is considered the largest mobile provider in the world, one could easily guess why Apple was so interested in being in business with it.



So, it looks like all the strides have paid off – from the record sales of iPhone 5s and 5c early last year, to ...

Nokia is ready to sell its N1 Android tablet outside of China (starting in Taiwan)

Nokia is ready to sell its N1 Android tablet outside of China (starting in Taiwan):

Nokia released its N1 Android slate in January, but only in China, where the device is wildly successful. Now, Nokia is finally ready to launch the tablet in other markets. The company today introduced the N1 in Taiwan, during an event full of music and dance performances (you can watch that below).



Taiwanese customers will be able to buy the Nokia N1 starting May, for around $268 (8,190 TWD in local currency). It's not clear exactly when the N1 will be available in other regions, but it should happen in the near future. However, Nokia may not plan to launch the tablet all over the world ...

LG G4: all the new features

LG G4: all the new features:

Some may argue that the LG G4 is not such a big departure from the LG G3, but they will certainly be wrong, as LG's new flagship has a host of new features that make it way more compelling than its predecessor.

For the uninitiated eye, both devices are pretty similar to one another; for tech heads, however, the new South Korean warrior is a much more appealing handset that bears improvements in a host of key areas, making it a worthy successor to the G3.

During the announcement of the flagship, LG naturally made sure to stress ...

IDG Contributor Network: Security BSides San Francisco, 2015 conference review

IDG Contributor Network: Security BSides San Francisco, 2015 conference review:

Have you ever wanted to get in a time machine and go back to when security industry visionaries were just starting out? Imagine meeting Martin Roesch when he was writing the first version of Snort or Bruce Schneier as he was just putting his ideas down for Applied Cryptography. I don’t have a DeLorean, but I can do the next best thing. I can take you to a place where tomorrow’s thinkers are forming their ideas and honing presentation skills, today.

That place is Security BSides San Francisco. BSides is a community-driven phenomenon that occurs across the globe. In fact, there is probably a BSides event occurring each week, somewhere. The BSides events range from small, one-day events to very large, multi-day, multi-track events such as San Francisco and Las Vegas.

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Microsoft's Surface sales are on the upswing once again

Microsoft's Surface sales are on the upswing once again:

After a very slow start, Microsoft's Surface finally seems to be hitting its stride. The company made $713 million from Surface sales last quarter, a 44 percent jump over last year, according to its latest earnings report. And yes, it's attributing m...

Huawei to introduce three new models on April 28th?

Huawei to introduce three new models on April 28th?:

Huawei is apparently planning to introduce three new handsets on April 28th instead of the lone mid-range model originally expected. A teaser posted on Chinese social media shows a stack of three phones that are allegedly the Huawei Honor 4C Play, the Huawei Honor 4C Note and the Huawei Honor 4C Max. The Honor 4C Play features a 5-inch screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280. It will be powered by the home grown octa-core Kirin 620 CPU. 2GB of RAM is inside along with 8GB of expandable storage. A 13MP camera is on back and a 5MP front-facing snapper is available for selfies and video chats. A 2550mAh ...

Digitimes Research: Global notebook shipments to grow 11% sequentially in 2Q15

Digitimes Research: Global notebook shipments to grow 11% sequentially in 2Q15: Global notebook shipments are expected to stage a rebound in the second quarter of 2015, reaching a sequential growth rate of 11%, while narrowing the on-year decline rate to 1.2% compared to a 4.7% recorded in a quarter earlier, according to Digitimes Research.

Is a 5.5-inch phone too large for you: poll results

Is a 5.5-inch phone too large for you: poll results:

Last week, we asked you one hugely important question in regards to smartphones: is a phone with a 5.5-inch display (or larger) too big for you?

Phones these days seems to come in two conventional sizes: the regular size for a flagship display hovers from around 4.7 inches to 5.2 inches, while the other big category is that of phablets where screens are commonly between 5.5 inches and... likely, infinity (Huawei's P8 Max claims it's a phone, yet it packs an enormously huge 6.8-inch screen!). It's true that there is a big difference between 5.5-inch phones ...

Car headlights of the future won't blind other drivers

Car headlights of the future won't blind other drivers:

Carnegie Mellon's work on headlights has made an appearance here before, where it's near-future smart headlights would parse raindrops and 'cancel' them out, projecting light around the rain drops, substantially improving visibility. But that's just ...

Nokia just crushed our dreams

Nokia just crushed our dreams:

One of the biggest dreams of many Android fans has been the mythical high-end Nokia Android phone the company never got to make. However, the Nokia Android rumor keeps coming back time and again, building brief excitement before returning to a dormant state.

A few days ago, a report said that what’s left of the Finnish company will soon get back into the smartphone business. But now, the company denied the new rumor, although it’s not entirely bad news for Android fans.

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RSAC 2015: RSA Conference (Day 4)

RSAC 2015: RSA Conference (Day 4):

Today's the final day for a majority of the action at RSAC. There's plenty happening tomorrow, but the expo halls close today, so most of the crowd will be heading home soon.

Over the last few days, as I walked from meeting to meeting, I noticed the same thing repeatedly – people using a device to access information of some kind. In order to do this, all of them required authentication of some sort, and that means there were passwords involved.

Passwords are a necessary evil in the workplace. True, there's 2FA and biometrics, but the majority of the world protects their data with a single password. The problem is, technology has rendered most passwords useless.

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Acer's Got a Crazy New Gaming Tablet

Acer's Got a Crazy New Gaming Tablet:

Acer just released a kraken. Forty different gadgets—laptops, desktops, tablets, wearables, fitness trackers, mini PCs, monitors—for the upcoming back to school season. But the most intriguing was Acer’s mysterious new gaming tablet. The Predator.

Read more...

Study: Firms not ready to respond to complex threats

Study: Firms not ready to respond to complex threats:

Only 46 percent of organizations have confidence that their security teams can respond to complex threats, according to a new study by ISACA.

Another 41 percent said they're only confident in their ability to respond to simple issues, and 13 percent said that they're not confident at all.

One reason? Significant hiring shortages in the information security space.

Only 16 percent of respondents said that at least half of their applicants were qualified, while 53 percent said it can take three to six months to find a qualified candidate. And 35 percent of companies said that they have job openings that they cannot fill.

MORE ON CSO: 10 ways to prep for – and ace – a security job interview

"You're getting these resumes, but you have to reject most of them," said Eddie Schwartz, president and COO at White Ops, who is also chair of ISACA's Cybersecurity Task Force. "That's a very difficult position to be in if you're an employer."

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Insider threats force balance between security and access

Insider threats force balance between security and access:

WASHINGTON -- There may be no single solution to the complex challenge of protecting against insider threats within the enterprise, but IT leaders can help their cause with prudent policies that put limits on who can access what kinds of data, and working to boost awareness of security issues throughout the organization.

[ Revamping your insider threat program ]

So argues Michael Dent, CISO of Fairfax County, Va., who spoke at a panel discussion on insider threats along with other security experts at a recent government IT conference hosted by Symantec.

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New E Ink Whiteboards Work Like Grownup Magna Doodles

New E Ink Whiteboards Work Like Grownup Magna Doodles:

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have dusted off some E Ink technology originally developed back in the 1970s to create a new kind of easily erasable whiteboard technology that can be written on using magnetic pens instead of dry-erase markers.

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FEATURED -- Jony Ive is the new Steve Jobs

FEATURED -- Jony Ive is the new Steve Jobs:

Steve Jobs was well-known for instilling his own design tastes into Apple's products. From the skeuomorphic aesthetic that used to define iOS to the company's general aversion to superfluous buttons, Jobs was much more involved in product design than your average CEO. By all accounts, Jobs was Apple's supreme taste maker.

Now, three years after Jobs' passing, it's apparent that Apple designer Jony Ive is Apple's new tastemaker. While not an overtly controversial statement in itself, the point was driven home during an excellent Wired piece detailing the secretive development of the Apple Watch.

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Apple patents a touchscreen that emulates different materials thanks to vibrations, temperature

Apple patents a touchscreen that emulates different materials thanks to vibrations, temperature:

Due to various reasons, Apple is one of the tech players that has a great many patents and patent applications up its sleeve. The latest addition to their invention portfolio is a touchscreen display that can simulate the feel of various materials.

The patent has been granted by the USPTO today, April 23, and explains that the display makes use of an actuator to vibrate the surface of the screen and change its temperature in order to fool users that they are not touching a plastic display, but a material of other origin.

The actuator that causes ...

First Xiaomi Mi 4i hands-on pictures surface

First Xiaomi Mi 4i hands-on pictures surface:

The Mi 4i is the new affordable phone by skyrocketing Chinese phone maker Xiaomi that has quickly entered the world's top 5 largest phone makers and has climbed to become China's number one phone maker.

The Xiaomi Mi 4i is a beautiful and colorful phone (unfortunately, it will initially be available only in India, where it is announced) running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core (eight Cortex A53 CPU cores) system chip, powered by the latest MIUI 6 on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop, and featuring a 13-megapixel camera on the back and a 5-megapixel selfie shooter.

It's ...

Major new LG G4 details: Stunning camera quality and display secrets revealed

Major new LG G4 details: Stunning camera quality and display secrets revealed:

After a massive LG G4 leak revealed almost everything there is to know about the device, new details about the upcoming Android flagship smartphone have been unearthed, including a collection of stunning pictures that were taken with the new phone, as well as some unexpected tidbits about the phone’s gorgeous 2K display.

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Butterfly wings are the key to glare-free phone displays

Butterfly wings are the key to glare-free phone displays:

Butterflies have proven to be a surprising source of inspiration for technology, and that trend isn't about to slow down any time soon. German researchers have discovered that irregular, nanoscopic structures on the glasswing butterfly's namesake tra...

Most accurate Apple analyst explains why there won’t be a new 4-inch iPhone this year

Most accurate Apple analyst explains why there won’t be a new 4-inch iPhone this year:

Despite rumors that Apple has plans to release a 4-inch iPhone 7 later this year, Ming-Chi Kuo, largely regarded as the most accurate Apple analyst on the planet, recently issued a research note explaining why such rumors may ultimately fall flat.

In a research note obtained by AppleInsider, Kuo relays that with the iPhone 5s currently poised to become Apple's "free with subscription" model, the Cupertino-based company has opted not to engineer an entirely new 4-inch iPhone 7 or 7c model, as had previously been rumored.

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LG Display reports 26% on-year increase in revenues for 1Q15

LG Display reports 26% on-year increase in revenues for 1Q15: LG Display has reported that its revenues in the first quarter of 2015 decreased by 16% to KRW7.022 trillion (US$650 million) from KRW8.342 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2014 and increased 26% from KRW5.588 trillion in the first quarter of 2014.

Samsung talks up new flexible AMOLED technology

Samsung talks up new flexible AMOLED technology: In light of growing demand for Samsung Display's flexible AMOLED technology, the company has recently released reports regarding some of its latest flexible display technology used in new Galaxy S6 Edge models and has also announced it will continue to evolve from curved, to bended, foldable and even rollable designs.

Report: LG G4 to be priced higher than Samsung Galaxy S6, lower than Galaxy S6 edge

Report: LG G4 to be priced higher than Samsung Galaxy S6, lower than Galaxy S6 edge:

As we get closer to the April 28th media event at which LG will unveil its new flagship model, we are still in the dark when it comes to pricing of the handset. But some light has now been placed on the subject. A report published on Thursday suggests that in South Korea, LG will price the LG G4 at a range in between the Korean retail price of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 edge. This would mean that the handset will be priced in the country somewhere in between $795 USD and $910 USD.



In South Korea, where the LG G4 can be pre-ordered from SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ for $825, ...

How scratch resistant is the Apple Watch Sport?

How scratch resistant is the Apple Watch Sport?:

As the entry level model, the Apple Watch Sport collection lacks the exceedingly scratch resistant sapphire display that graces the Watch and Edition models. Instead, the Sport models feature an Ion-X glass display which, while durable, is not quite as scratch resistant as sapphire.

But just what, exactly, is the qualitative difference between Ion-X glass and sapphire?

To answer that question, Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy uploaded a video where the Apple Watch Sport display is put through a series of rigorous scratch testing.

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RSAC 2015: RSA Conference (Day 3)

RSAC 2015: RSA Conference (Day 3):

For me – today is part two of running the gauntlet with back-to-back meetings; for everyone else today is day three, easily described as the show’s apex. In other words, there's a lot going on today at the conference, so we'll start the day with a bit of news.

Hyatt resets Gold Passport passwords

On Tuesday, Hyatt alerted some 200 customers that their Gold Passport account had been flagged for suspicious activity, while the other 18 million members have had their account passwords reset out of an abundance of caution.

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Huawei is gearing up to tackle the US smartphone market

Huawei is gearing up to tackle the US smartphone market:

According to Zhiqiang Xu, Huawei's president of USA devices, Huawei is currently gearing up to tackle the US smartphone market, with plans to eventually become one of the three largest brands in the country. After expanding to the European market over the past couple of years, it looks like Huawei is now aiming to increase its footprint in the United States, the second largest smartphone market after Huawei's home market of China. According to some estimates, Huawei is the fourth largest smartphone marker in the world, with roughly 75 million units shipped in 2014.



Xu said that Huawei is ...