News

Black Friday Tips and Deals for Tech Shoppers

From laptops to iPhone accessories, online and brick and mortar retail stores will be chasing your dollars with tempting discounts. Here are some ways to come out ahead on the biggest shopping day of the year.

Facebook Wants to Build Dissolving Data Centers

Are cardboard computers in our future? Facebook and Purdue University are partnering to take green IT a step further by developing the first biodegradable server chassis.

Is IT Outsourcing a Dying Concept?

Has the concept of IT outsourcing outlived its effectiveness? KPMG's Cliff Justice says the process that the term was invented to describe has evolved considerably and finding value in IT service providers is taking on new meaning.

Microsoft’s Cloud Services Mix Leaves Many Vendors in the Dust

IBM became 'Big Blue' because it leased hardware and provided free software, but its collapse divorced the two. The growth of the cloud has caused another marriage, one that brings together software and services. Vendors such as Amazon, Goo

The Browser Speed Wars Are Over

Browser speed matters more on mobile devices, where Opera Mini rules, writes CIO.com blogger Bill Snyder. On the Windows desktop, Internet Explorer 10 has the edge over the competition, though not by enough to affect day-to-day browsing.

When Nerds Strike Back: Geeks Vote Out SOPA Supporters

Three members of Congress who supported the much-maligned privacy act lost in the last election, while a candidate attacked for playing World of Warcraft won — likely because of that attack. Also a roundup of other IT security stories from the past

Microsoft Gets Demoted by Dilbert

Iconic comic strip Dilbert bashes Microsoft for "irrelevancy" and producing a "tablet computer that no one buys." Redmond better hope real-life corporate dweebs aren't so harsh.

Customer obsession: The right kind of mania for CIOs

Windows Store for Tablet Apps: What to Expect

CIO.com blogger James A. Martin took his first stroll through Microsoft's Windows Store on his new Surface RT tablet. He wasn't surprised that some of his favorite tablet apps are missing, but was still pleasantly surprised by the experienc

Why Microsoft Office on iOS and Android May Not Be Worth the Wait

Rumors suggest that native Office apps for iOS and Android devices may require a subscription fee to be useful — and even then, they will only offer basic editing functions.

Diversity in IT Is About Business Objectives

Tech insiders stress the value of broadening the IT talent pool for tech startups, starting with amplifying the message that IT is universal and 'tech is in everything.'

How to Secure Big Data in Hadoop

The promise of big data is enormous, but it can also become an albatross around your neck if you don't make security of both your data and your infrastructure a key part of your big data project from the beginning. Here are some steps you can ta

iPad Tips and Tricks for Creating Content

The iPad is known for consuming content, not creating it. But there are hidden features and short-cuts for the keyboard, within email and in Safari that make creating content on an iPad faster and easier than you think.

Dell XPS 12 a Classy, Convertible Windows 8 Ultrabook

The Dell XPS 12 Ultrabook transforms from a 12.5-inch Windows 8 tablet to a full-fledged ultrabook with a touchscreen within seconds. But is it more than just a flashy toy? CIO.com looks at whether the Dell XPS 12 is suitable for business users.

Anonymous Attacks Lady Gaga Fan Site: Have Hacktivists Lost Their Mojo?

Hackers ain't what they used to be. The latest hacktivist offensive went after an Aussie hippie festival, a group that helps people with disabilities and other symbols of oppressive authoritarianism. They couldn't even take down Zynga, the

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Stats Soar on Election Day 2012

From what was trending on Facebook to the most retweeted post ever on Twitter, social media sites are posting some impressive stats and milestones from yesterday's events.

Can Windows 8 Give Developers What iOS and Android Lack?

Microsoft's future hinges on attracting developers to build Windows 8 apps. But by offering financial incentives, supporting a range of programming languages and allowing developers to write code once for multiple devices, those developers may s

12 Ways to (Not) Screw Up Your Website

Wondering why your website is not attracting more visitors or why your conversion rates are so low? Web developers, designers and customer experience experts explain what you might be doing wrong.

10 Ways Telemedicine Is Changing Healthcare IT

Telemedicine mixes teleconferencing, document-sharing and mobile technology in order to improve healthcare quality, largely for those who lack access to care. Here are 10 ways that telemedicine implementations are changing the delivery of healthcare

7 Things to Consider When Hiring an IT Consultant

Are you considering hiring an IT consultant for that challenging project or new piece of equipment? These tips will help you know the questions to ask regarding legal issues and how to avoid common mistakes that companies make when bringing in outsid

How to Deal With Panda, Penguin and Other Google Algorithm Changes

In an effort to improve search result quality and punish black-hat SEO, Google has been making big changes to its algorithms, and more updates are likely on the way soon. Here's how to prepare.

DHS Wants Businesses to Share Threat Data, Not So Keen on Sharing Its Own

CIO.com blogger Constantine von Hoffman says DHS's call for private-sector competitors to share resources with each other and the government proves two things: 1) The agency doesn't know jack about business; and 2) it doesn't practice

British PM Throws BlackBerry During Q&A Session, Recovers with Bad Cricket Joke

British Prime Minister David Cameron demonstrates what not to do if your BlackBerry unexpectedly starts ringing during an important meeting, event or speaking engagement.

Android Tablets: Nice House, Not Much Furniture

There's no shortage of Android tablet hardware to choose from this upcoming holiday season. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for quality, tablet-optimized Android apps.

How IT Leaders Can Best Plan for Disaster

As recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy continue, it's time to think about how your IT organization will prepare for the next disaster.

Is D.C. the Next Great Tech Startup Hub?

City officials and local entrepreneurs weigh efforts to transform the nation's capital into a haven for angel-backed, emerging tech ventures by pointing out the shifting dynamics for funding startups as cloud computing, open source software and

Can BYOD Bury the Hatchet Between IT and Business?

BYOD can wreak havoc on the tenuous relationship between IT and the business. But networking giant Cisco, which has a sophisticated BYOD plan for employees, is hoping more reasonable BYOD policies that permit personal cloud services will help bridge

5 Facebook Pages and Apps for Election Day

Still undecided about who to vote for? Want the latest information and results from the campaign trail? Here's a look at five Facebook apps and pages dedicated to the 2012 presidential election.

How Big Data Will Separate Haves From Have-Nots

Walt Hauck, the former straight-talking CIO of Dun & Bradstreet, says big data represents a corporate turning point this decade no less disruptive and revolutionary than the Internet in the 1990s. Find out why Hauck thinks the big data 'have

Google Map App on iPhone and iPad Is a Certainty

Ignore the rumors that Apple has said no to Google’s map app. CEO Tim Cook, who apologized for Apple's own dismal map app, would be crazy to anger his customers … and crazy he is not.

It’s an Android World—iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone Just Live in It

IDC's latest global mobile market share numbers paint a picture of a smartphone world completely dominated by Android, despite the popularity of Apple's iPhone.

RIP, Google Nexus Q (UPDATED)

Google removed all mention of the Nexus Q streaming-media device from its Nexus webpage, and the sphere-shaped device is no longer for sale in the Google Play Store.

IT Job Market Bounces Back in October

The IT sector saw in an increase of 12,500 jobs for October, well above the 2012 average and a strong turnaround from a 1,700 job loss in September.

Enterprise Architecture Is the Steak to Cloud’s Sizzle for Feds

The U.S. Agency for International Development is the only federal agency among 27 recently surveyed by the Government Accountability Office to map out an enterprise architecture strategy, define metrics to measure its progress and actually go back to

Smartphone ‘Subconscious’ Mode: The Key to Longer Battery Life?

Even when your iPhone or Android phone is on standby it is still using power searching for communications channels and listening for messages. Now researchers have found a "subconscious" mode that keeps your phone aware of incoming message

Free Onavo Count App for iOS, Android Tracks Cellular Data Usage

It’s way too easy to blow the roof off of your cellular data ceiling these days, thanks to Siri, Pandora, Hulu and other apps. Onavo Count helps you track data usage, app by app, on iPhones and Android smartphones—but the Android ap

Android Director Talks Nexus, Apple and Microsoft Price Gouging

Google's Android business development director spoke to The New York Times about the company's recently unveiled Nexus smartphone and tablets, but he didn't address the new Nexus lineup's Achilles heel: the lack of 4G LTE.

DHS Compares Cyber Threat to Hurricane Sandy Devastation (and More Security News)

This week's IT security news roundup has stories on DHS's comparison of the current cyber threat in the United States to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy; a data breach that's affecting hundreds of thousands of South Carolina

How the Presidential Election Will Impact IT Outsourcing

What will be the impact of the presidential election be on outsourcing IT services? We compare Obama's and Romney's positions on offshore outsourcing, domestic sourcing, skilled worker visas and public sector outsourcing.

How to Ensure Facebook Posts You Want to See Aren’t Hidden

A change to Facebook's algorithm means you're probably not seeing posts from businesses and brand pages you've liked. Here are step-by-step instructions for changing these settings.

BMC’s MyIT May Be the Future of IT Services

This week BMC Software unveiled MyIT, which wraps a friendly user interface over internal IT systems. The release capitalizes on the reason why BYOD is big: Today's consumer applications are easier to use than corporate apps. Other vendors shoul

Google Pulls a Siri, Introduces Voice Search for iPhone

Don't want to type or scribble? Google Voice search let's you find what you're looking for by simply talking to your iPhone.

8 Real-World Big Data Deployments

The amount of data in the world doubles every 18 months. Here's a look at eight real-world big data deployments in a variety of industries.

BlackBerry 10 Roundup: Carrier Testing; ‘L Series’ and ‘N Series’ Smartphone Images

This week RIM's CEO announced that the company's first BlackBerry 10 devices are currently being tested by 50 wireless carriers; a new image of the touch-screen BlackBerry 10 "L Series" device leaked; and the Harvard Business Revi

How to Use Facebook’s Open Sourced Data Center Design to Cut Costs

When Facebook open sourced its data center and server specifications it paved the way for enterprises of all sizes to save money by following the social network's radical hardware designs. The Open Compute Project Foundation has formalized Faceb

The Amazon Outage in Perspective: Failure Is Inevitable, So Manage Risk

The most recent Amazon Web Services outage left customers (and rival cloud providers) blaming Amazon. Instead, CIO.com columnist Bernard Golden says, everyone needs to accept that cloud computing is not immune to failure. Fortunately, a key advantage

New Pandora iOS App Proves It’s a Service Worth Saving

Rumors of a new streaming-music service from Apple ramped up last week, and such a service could deal a significant blow to popular music-service Pandora. CIO.com blogger James A. Martin explains why he loves Pandora and details some cool new feature

How to Spot Fake Disaster Photos (and Other Lessons from Hurricane Sandy)

CIO.com blogger Constantine von Hoffman shares lessons he learned from Hurricane Sandy, including tips on how to spot a fake disaster picture; why media outlets shouldn't report on information posted to random message boards; and why intentional

StarTech Hard Drive Enclosure Password Protects Encrypted Data

The StarTech Encrypted Hard Drive Enclosure offers top-notch performance and secure data encryption, and it has a touch pad for typing passwords to protect sensitive data.

Apple Management Shakeup: The End of Virtual Wooden Bookshelves?

Will the skeuomorphic design of flipping pages and green felt casino tables on iPads and iPhones become collateral damage in the latest Apple management shakeup?