BlackBerry, Apple, Windows 8 and government IT disasters: Top 10 IT news stories of the week
Computing's new weekly summary of the most significant and most-read IT news from the past seven days
BlackBerry lost another high-profile customer, the government has potentially lost £700m in a legal battle over a failed NHS IT project and it was revealed Apple can snoop on iPhones without the user even knowing in what's been another big week for IT industry news.
Here's Computing's weekly summary of the most significant and most-read IT news to occur over the last seven days.
10. PernixData FVP virtualization software takes SEGA's storage to the next level
Computing discovered how SEGA, the multinational video game developer and publisher behind Sonic the Hedgehog and other iconic titles, has deployed PernixData's FVP storage acceleration software platform to improve performance of its mobile gaming service platform.
Kyosuke Watanabe, general manager for SEGA's IT management department, explained how the database solution has benefited the games developer.
"By combining PernixData FVP and low-end storage, we achieved performance that was three to four times better than low-end storage, and better than middle range storage," he said.
9. Free Windows
There's increasing speculation that Microsoft may eventually make its Windows operating system a free resource. But what are the chances of Microsoft giving away its operating system - and even some of its most popular applications - for free? Computing asked some Redmond-watchers for their thoughts.
According to Gartner, the OS will become free for consumers while enterprise users still get charged to use the product.
"By 2017, Windows will be free for consumers, but likely there will still be a charge for enterprise users, and organisations will be faced with various bundles of extra features," said Gartner research VP Michael Silver.
8. Hardware market 'does remain a focus' says BlackBerry enterprise chief
BlackBerry will continue to focus on hardware, despite its ongoing reinvention as a dedicated enterprise mobile security company, the firm's president of enterprise services has told Computing.
Speaking at the company's BlackBerry Security event in New York this week, John Sims dismissed rumours that the upcoming BlackBerry Classic and BlackBerry Passport devices may be the company's last.
"I think [company CEO] John Chen said very clearly in the strategy that the hardware market does remain a focus within BlackBerry," said Sims.
"In the enterprise space, one of the things I always heard from our customers was that they loved their old BlackBerry device with the keyboard," he added.
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BlackBerry, Apple, Windows 8 and government IT disasters: Top 10 IT news stories of the week
Computing's new weekly summary of the most significant and most-read IT news from the past seven days
7. 'My ambition is to be the first team to have all trackside systems in the cloud,' says Caterham F1 IT head
Caterham wants to be the first team on the Formula 1 grid to host its whole trackside IT infrastructure in the cloud, its head of IT told Computing.
Initially founded as Team Lotus in 2010, the new outfit had to prepare for the globetrotting nature of Formula 1 - which this season has Grand Prix events taking place in 19 countries - and for Bill Peters, head of group IT at Caterham Group, the best way to do this was by deploying cloud-based solutions.
But that isn't where it ends: he told Computing that he believes all their trackside kit will eventually be cloud-based.
"My ambition is to be the first team to have our trackside systems in the cloud, so we're planning progression towards that," said Peters.
6. Windows 8 is ‘too much, too quickly and too different', says KPMG CIO
"Big four" professional services firm KPMG will not move its whole business over to Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system because it is "too much, too quickly and too different", according to the firm's CIO, Edel McGrath.
"We need to ensure we are disrupting the business as little as possible. Bringing in Windows 8 and mandating that as an operating system is too much. So we've decided to put it into the app store, and it wil be ready soon for those employees who want to take it," McGrath said, going on to add: "It looks too different, although you can get used to it."
5. Campaigners angered by reports that Oracle's in-memory database feature is switched on by default
The latest version of Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 reportedly has its new in-memory technology switched on by default, angering campaigners who are concerned that the expensive feature is automatically turned on.
"This is exactly why the CCL exists, to ensure that software buyers are fully informed of the impact that changes to their licensing terms could mean for their bottom line," said Mark Flynn, CEO of the Campaign for Clear Licensing.
"We do not condone the practice of auto-enrollment in more costly features. The customer should always be given the opportunity to enroll in new features on their terms once they are fully informed of the cost implications. Auto-enrollment is a trend in the industry that needs to stop," he added.
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BlackBerry, Apple, Windows 8 and government IT disasters: Top 10 IT news stories of the week
Computing's new weekly summary of the most significant and most-read IT news from the past seven days
4. Government ‘loses £700m legal battle with Fujitsu' over failed NHS IT project
Taxpayers may have to foot a £700m bill after the government reportedly failed in its legal battle with Fujitsu over the firing of the Japanese IT company from the NHS's disastrous National Programme for IT (NPfIT).
The NPfIT was a £12.7bn catastrophe that was abandoned at a cost of at least £2.7bn to the taxpayer, according to the National Audit Office.
Fujitsu was one of three key suppliers for the project, and was responsible for digitising patient records in the southern area of the scheme - but it was fired by the NHS in 2008 after 10 months of contract re-negotiations broke down. Fujitsu subsequently sued and despite Whitehall efforts, the government lost the case.
"Regrettably and despite best efforts by all parties, it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the core Fujitsu contract that is acceptable to all parties," a spokesperson told Computing.
3. Cyber espionage by Google Glass is the next major threat to enterprise security
Security experts offered Computing their views on Google Glass and they all agreed that businesses need to be wary of the wearable technology because it poses the next big threat to enterprise security.
"I think many of the main concerns you'd see with carrying your mobile into a site and leaving it on so you could record what's happening, you're having the same situation with Google Glass, it's just the form factor makes it easier to actually get away with doing that," Earl Perkins, research vice president in systems security and risk at Gartner, told Computing.
2. Now Ford dumps BlackBerry for Apple
Ford has become the latest major company to ditch BlackBerry devices, this time in favour of Apple iPhones. The move is being made in response to staff demand.
"It meets the overall needs of the employees because it is able to serve both our business needs in a secure way and the needs we have in our personal lives with a single device," said Ford spokesperson Sara Tatchio.
The car maker intends to replace more than 3,300 BlackBerry devices with Apple iPhones by the end of the year, while a further 6,000 will be migrated from BlackBerry to Apple in the next two years.
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BlackBerry, Apple, Windows 8 and government IT disasters: Top 10 IT news stories of the week
Computing's new weekly summary of the most significant and most-read IT news from the past seven days
1. Apple can extract personal data from iPhones without user's knowledge
Apple can extract personal information including text messages, photos and contact lists from iPhone users, without the smartphone owner even being aware that their data is being mined, researchers have revealed.
The security loopholes, which until now hadn't been publicised by Apple, allow the firm's employees to access data stored on the device, circumventing even encrypted information. Apple hadn't previously spoken of its ability to extract personal data from iPhones, but has since insisted the practice is made available in an effort to help engineers.
Personal information about an iPhone user can be drawn from computers to which the device has previously been connected, security researcher Jonathan Zdziarski revealed during a recent presentation. In theory, it means the practice creates a back door for law enforcement to mine personal information from an iPhone, without the knowledge of the person of interest.
And that wraps up Computing's summary of the week's top IT news stories. Stay tuned for more next week.