Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Technology in 2015: transformation and transition – Computerworld Portugal

Adapt or fail: technology providers have had to re-invent when users discovered how to manage this connected world

 2015 - IDGNS

The cloud and mobile computing have created an imperative for the world of technology: change or fail. This year, all legacy vendors such as Dell, EMC and Microsoft have taken important steps to reinvent themselves, which generated some of the largest technology news of the year. And there are omens of great change at the intersection of technology and culture: autonomous cars, technology “wearable”, the use of drones for Fun and Profit

This led to an increased focus on security, privacy and. public policy concerns, as consumers and businesses to find out how to manage this connected world. Not necessarily in order of importance, here are some of the great stories of the 2015 technology.

EU launches anti-competitive charges to Google
The European Commission accused April Google of abusing its dominant position in search services on the Internet, promoting its own shopping comparison product, Google Shopping. The decision against Google could include a fine of up to 10% of the annual revenue of the company. The Commission also opened an antitrust investigation to Android, suspecting abuse of a dominant position by Google, among other things, require device manufacturers to aggregate their own services and applications with the Google mobile operating system. For Google, the cases reach the heart of how the company controls access to services and generates profits. For some Europeans, it is a righteous blow against the hegemony of one of the giants of American technology.

Microsoft releases Windows 10
Only a year ago or so, seemed Microsoft was stagnant in the Windows OS, moving towards irrelevance in a post-PC era. But with the release of Windows 10 for PCs in July, along with subsequent versions for mobile devices, the company has a new lease on life. Microsoft is offering a truly unified platform of Windows, in which universal applications can be implemented through a wide range of devices – even in the Xbox and HoloLens system. The operating system was complemented in October for the well-received Surface Pro tablet 4 and the first company laptop, the Surface Book, a notebook equipped with keyboard. The company can now say you have mobile devices with specifications to suit everyone and a unified software platform to run on these devices.

Dell buying EMC
planned acquisition for 67 billion dollars EMC Dell, announced in October, is the largest incorporation of technology, a union titans aged whose domain has been eroded by the cloud. Dell, along with EMC and its VMware subsidiary, will be able to provide private and hybrid cloud systems as alternatives to Amazon or Microsoft, and Google public clouds. The agreement occurs when the digital transformation of the business via cloud and mobile technology vendors are struggling to keep bringing the registration of mergers and acquisitions of the .com era, set in 2000. HP’s division this year at HP Inc. for PCs and printers and HP Enterprise software provider is another reaction to the digital transformation:. alienation as a way for legacy suppliers remain agile

server room - Google - IDGNS

Safe Harbor dies
European Union Court of Justice has rocked the business world with a decision in October that shook the Safe Harbor agreement, with thousands companies – including Google, Facebook, and Apple – counted for the transatlantic transfer of personal data. The court said the pact, which allowed companies to transfer EU personal data to the United States since adhere to the so called Safe Harbor principles, protecting inappropriately information about EU citizens. The US and the EU are negotiating a new agreement, but the case triggered by a complaint lodged by Austrian law student Maximilian Schrems against Facebook, highlights how privacy issues are changing the rules on how personal data are processed in the cloud.

FCC Net Neutrality Rules rekindle cool storm
Facing fierce opposition from major service providers and its own Republican members, the Federal Commission Communications (FCC) voted in February to approve net neutrality rules, changing the broadband classification as a public regulated service, which prohibits companies from blocking or selectively delaying web traffic and provide prioritization services paid traffic. Supporters say the rules away from the major suppliers to act as guardians of the Web. But the decision has to withstand a barrage of lawsuits. While network neutrality proponents are hopeful, there are no guarantees: last year, an appeals court overturned the rules of net neutrality that the agency approved in 2010, saying the FCC put them in the wrong section of the Telecommunications Act <. /> p>

Apple Watch attracts admiration but little passion
Apple Watch, released in April, was the most anticipated gadget of the year and notable both for what it has not achieved as the who has. Apple’s entry in the market “wearables” has been a success by the standards of other companies, but your clock failed to get success as the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Apple debuted as number two suppliers of “wearables” worldwide, after the Fitbit. But Xiaomi ended the third quarter as a strong candidate for the post, after Apple revealed a small growth quarter-on-quarter, according to IDC. The price of the watch is high and its wide range of features requires a learning curve. However, even if you have not had the huge success of Apple’s other products, it stimulated competition and drew attention to a product category that will only grow over the next few years.

Apple Watch - IDGNS

Tesla allows Autopilot
more futuristic consumer technology that appeared in commercially available products this year emerged as an upgrade “over-the-air” software to vehicles from Tesla Model S: autopilot functions that allow cars stay away from each other, changing lanes and vouchers. A few weeks after the October update, a million cars had installed features and Tesla ran to limit some of the controls after conductors disclose what the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, called “crazy” videos showing drivers to take the hands off the wheel. While Teslas are not fully autonomous, they enter a market dogged by Google and Apple as well as other car manufacturers, to introduce a technology that will fundamentally change the transport sector.

Attack on OPM highlights security holes
After the reports that first appeared in June on a data breach in the Office of Personnel Management Systems (OPM) US, the news kept getting worse. The first figure was revised and it is now estimated that the hackers fled with information, including Social Security numbers, 21.5 million people – almost all of which have undergone a safety investigation for a job in government through the OPM since 2000. The hackers are also likely to be involved in the violation of at least 10 other companies systems, including United Airlines and Anthem insurance. A politician said the attack was a much more serious blow to national security than the 9/11 attacks. The Chinese government, accused of complicity, denied involvement, but the fiasco of poor security practices continues to explode in the most sensitive systems.

Lenovo Superfish and the dangers of “bloatware”
Lenovo unnerved users worldwide in February, when they discovered that the company had pre-installed adware on PCs selling in order to inject ads in browsers. It turns out that the software, Superfish Visual Discovery, settled a root certificate auto-generated in the Windows certificate store, which could allow the so-called “man-in-the-middle” attacks, with traffic interception against any user had the application installed. This could help steal confidential data such as bank details. Although Lenovo receive the prize of worst decision of the year, Dell was also close: November it was discovered that the manufacturer had preloaded their systems with a management pack, including a self-signed digital root certificate that allowed the attackers spy on traffic to any secure website. Manufacturers said their intentions were to be útieis but their actions reveal the real dangers of this so-called “bloatware.”

 drones - Martyn Williams - IDGNS

Government to citizens: register drones
drones interfere with fire operations in California, moving uncomfortably close to airports and aircraft, carrying contraband to a prison and fall at the US Open tennis tournament. And this holiday season, should be one of the main present, with the total units sold in the US to reach hundreds of thousands of units. Faced with the potential problems that arise with the growing popularity of these unmanned aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced in October that would require the registration of drones consumers. The FAA has begun to loosen the restrictions on commercial use of drones but these registration rules are the clearest sign that the unmanned aircraft are spread on a large scale.

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