Apple’s secret outsource: ‘Even more software to be made in India’
A visit by Apple's CIO to India in January has resulted in some hefty software deals for two Bangalore-based firms, according to The Times of India.
Apple's top internal software guy, Niall O'Connor, met with executives from India-based Infosys and Wipro on a visit to Bangalore from 29 to 31 January – and apparently some juicy contracts have resulted, the English-language daily reports.
The Times reckons Apple currently outsources $100m worth of back-end software to India, but over the next few years will increase the investment to $400m. Read more...
Microsoft India web store ‘hacked by Chinese group’
Microsoft appears to have had its Indian web store broken into and user login credentials stolen by Chinese hackers.
Tech site WP Sauce reported on Sunday that the group, which goes by the name Evil Shadow Team, managed to deface the web site, posting an image of a V for Vendetta mask and the message: “Unsafe system will be baptized.”
At the time of writing the site had been taken offline, presumably while Quasar Media, the third-party digital media firm Microsoft employed to run it, figures out what went wrong. Read more...
Virgin Media turns to social tools for its enterprise
U.K. telecom provider Virgin Media is reducing travel time, increasing team work and decreasing email dependence by deploying social enterprise collaboration tools.
Executives at Virgin Media, which provides Internet, television, and mobile and fixed phone services in the U.K., had been looking for a way to help employees reduce the time they spend on the road so they can spend more time at work or at home with their families. They also wanted to encourage employees to engage more with their colleagues, while cutting down on the barrage of email flooding in many inboxes.
Colin Miles, head of technical services at Virgin Media, said social collaboration tools would be the best way to take care of these issues.
"It's not just centered around the cost of travel, but the amount of time people spend traveling," Miles said. Employees are often working on trains or using hands-free devices while driving their cars, he added. "They're not as free as doing the work at their desks. We wanted more of a choice in how people conduct themselves. The introduction of these tools enabled people to spend more time at their base location. It was positive for the organization, but they were more productive and spent more time dealing with what's important." Read more...
Nimbula adds support for VMware hypervisor
Nimbula is hoping to better serve enterprises with version 2.0 of its operating system, which adds compatibility with VMware's hypervisor and other new features.
Nimbula Director 2.0, like its predecessor, is software used by businesses and service providers to build cloud infrastructure.
Now, enterprises using VMware's ESXi hypervisor can build clouds with Nimbula Director 2.0. Many businesses use VMware's hypervisor and other software products for running traditional enterprise applications. And some companies want to continue using the VMware hypervisor but they also want some of the standard functionality of cloud platforms like self-service that they aren't getting using VMware's cloud products. Read more...
Red-hot valentines for the guys, gals, and geeks we love
Chocolates that you picked up from the grocery store on the way home from work a few minutes before the big V-Day date are not sexy. In the world of fine taste, they rate somewhere around squirt cheese, Spam, and tuna casserole — which is to say they're great for kids who don't really care what candy tastes like just as long as it's candy or for people you don't like that much. But for loved ones? Your best bet this year is to go cute, kitschy, connected, or totally cutting edge.
Here are several ideas that say "I love you" in their own own special way.
ASUS Zenbook UX21 UltrabookCutting-Edge Splurge: The sexiest new gadget around
ASUS Zenbook UX21 Ultrabook
Price: Starts at $999
Nothing says "I love you" like a gadget that "turns on instantly, is incredibly responsive and stays charged for up to eight hours." Now that's just plain PC porn. Ultrabooks are the hottest new tech gadget on the block, and this sleek little Asus Zenbook with Intel Core i7 processing technology simply oozes 007-style sex appeal. It comes in rose gold for her, polished metallic for him. Read more...
Google offering to pay web users to track their every move
Less than a month after announcing a controversial new privacy policy that shares user data across all its sites with no opt-out option, Google is introducing a system to monitor all online activity of those who participate in a program called Screenwise. In exchange for unrestricted access to information on your every online move, the search and software giant is offering financial compensation.
By signing up for Screenwise and installing a browser plugin (only Google Chrome is supported at present), you'll be given $5 in store credit on Amazon. For every three months you continue to provide Google with browsing data, you'll earn an addition $5 gift card, up to a total of $25. Only those over 13 can participate and, perhaps not surprisingly, signups are currently on hold due to overwhelming interest.
For those willing to make their online lives a completely open book, Google plans to offer a more elaborate tracking system that utilizes special hardware. The device, which connects to your broadband router, will monitor the online activity of all computers in your home. This program, which isn't available yet, will compensate participants $100 for signing up and $20 a month for up to a year.
While the idea of getting paid to browse the web might sound win-win, it's important to note that Screenwise will track private browsing data in its Chrome extension (though supposedly won't link it to you directly) and will share data with third-parties should you opt for the hardware-based option.
(Source: news.yahoo.com)
Android, Windows and Linux Getting Huge Makeovers
Apple's flagship computer operating system, Mac OS X, has seen a long series of incremental improvements since it was first released in 2001. With its latest release, though, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, Apple has started to incorporate concepts from its iOS operating system (for iPads and iPhones) into its Mac computers.
That's the trend that's sweeping the computer and mobile worlds right now: Turning desktop OSes into mobile ones, by bringing the concepts from simplified mobile OSes up to the desktop and making computers into iPad-style "app consoles," to use the phrase coined by John Gruber of Daring Fireball. Meanwhile, Google's open-source Android operating system is developing a style of its own, beyond just being a bare-bones smartphone OS. Read more...
Sony hikes Whitney Houston album prices online
It's easy to get so emotional about a singer after they've passed prematurely, as Whitney Houston did Saturday at the age of 48. But fans seeking to buy her albums in remembrance weren't too happy at sudden price hikes so soon after her death.
The Brits picked up on it quickly, with London-based Next Web writer Matt Brian and The Guardian's Josh Halliday both finding the price increases, which raised Houston's "The Ultimate Collection" 2007 album from £5 (about $7.89) to £8 (about $12.63). In the United States, the cost is even steeper: $15 for the "Greatest Hits" collection at both Amazon and iTunes. Read more...
Facebook singles check on exes’ Valentine’s Day plans
Maybe you haven't spoken to your ex in awhile, but you may be checking on their Facebook page, especially as Valentine's Day rolls around. A new survey finds that one third of singles admit to looking up the status of an ex to see if he or she has plans for the Big Romantic (and made-up by card sellers, florists and jewelers) Day.
The survey, by AreYouInterested.com, which makes a dating app used on Facebook and on mobile phones, surveyed 515 singles (54.4 percent were men, 45.7 percent women) on its Facebook fan page this week. Other results included these: Read more...
Windows on ARM will include Office 15 preinstalled
Perhaps you’ve been holding off on a tablet purchase until Windows 8 arrived. And perhaps you’re keen on having a go at Windows on ARM — what with the greatly improved battery life it’ll likely deliver compared to Intel or AMD tablets. If both those things are true, you’re in for a treat: Windows 8 on ARM will include Office 15 apps.
In Steven Sinofsky’s recent, 8,000-plus word blog post detailing Windows on ARM (WOA) he made several interesting revelations. For one, he stated that the Windows desktop is still a vital component of WOA, and that ARM users will still have access to the desktop and desktop apps. The apps, of course, will have to be ported to the ARM architecture, but it’s good to get additional confirmation that WOA isn’t limited to Metro-style apps. Read more...