Xpertfeed

Amazon unveils delivery by drone: Prime Air. No, seriously Summary:  The retail giant is taking delivery to the next level by using unmanned drones. But don't hold your breath for the service to launch any time soon. Not content with next-day delivery service through its Prime program, Amazon wants orders to land on people's front porches in as little as half an hour. Just when you thought the technology industry couldn't get any stranger, the latest idea from the retail giant is to offer an audacious delivery-by-drone service. The company has been working on the "octocopter" project in a secret research and development lab at its Seattle, Wash.-based headquarters for months in efforts to ramp up its competition against its rivals. According to the program, the octocopter drones will pick up packages in small buckets at Amazon's fulfillment centers and fly directly to customers' nearby in as little as 30 minutes after they hit the "...

SSH key mismanagement potentially worse in Asia, says founder Summary:  Secure shell key management could be a bigger mess in Asia because cultural barriers in the workplace can lead to less communication, according to CEO and founder of SSH Communications Security. Unmanaged Secure Shell (SSH) keys can leave a door open for authorized access by both malicious insiders and external threats, and these can be left undiscovered for years if ever. Over the past decade, very little attention has been paid over to the worsening situation because it is technical and deep within systems, said Tatu Ylonen, CEO and founder of SSH Communications Security, in an interview. Ylonen was also the author behind the Secure Shell protocol back in 1995, which is now used widely in the industry for business critical functions, automating administrative scripts, day to day file transfer, server authentication and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. The problem ...

Google launches physical debit card for Google Wallet Summary:  Users can use the card at stores accepting Mastercard, or withdraw cash from ATMs. For now, it's available only in the U.S. and is free with no monthly or annual charges. Google has rolled out a physical debit card linked to its digital wallet service that will allow users to buy goods at stores or withdraw cash from ATMs. "Your roommate finally paid you back for dinner through Google Wallet, and you want to use that money right away to pay for groceries this week. Now, you can use the new Google Wallet Card to spend the money instantly," explained Sandra Mariano, product manager of Google Wallet, in a blog post . Google launches physical debit card for Google Wallet. The Google Wallet Card will be accepted at millions of MasterCard locations. "Choose either credit or debit at checkout, and if you're prompted for a PIN, enter your Google Wallet PIN," said Mariano. Users can also w...

Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook Summary:  Some people are still in denial about the rise of the Linux operating system with the Chrome Web browser interface, Chrome OS, and its hardware: the Chromebooks. The experts say, however, it's the one segment of the PC market that's growing while everything else shrinks. Some Windows experts, such as  Paul Thurrott, call Chromebooks a joke . Some industry groups, such as NetMarketShare, claim that they still see essentially no use of Chrome OS. Both need to wake up and smell the Chrome OS coffee. Chromebooks have been selling like hotcakes on a cold morning for  a year now. Market analysts agree: Chromebooks have taken off in the low-end laptop market while Windows 8.x PCs continue to decline. Chrome OS, a version of Linux that uses the Chrome Web browser for its main interface, and its main hardware platform, Chromebooks, are actually the one segment of the dying PC market that have actu...

New DoS attack directed at Healthcare.gov Summary:  Healthcare.gov can't catch a break. Security software provider   Arbor Networks   pinpointed a new denial-of-service attack on the federal online healthcare exchange site. Healthcare.gov  has been plagued with problems since launching on October 1, and given how widely reported its vulnerabilities are, it's should come as no surprise that hackers are tapping into them. But before things get out of control (more so than they already are), it should be immediately noted that Arbor researchers  posited in a blog post  on Thursday that this particular attack is "unlikely to succeed in affecting the availability of the healthcare.gov site." Regardless, the report suggests that the DoS attack could be making the site inaccessible to some visitors trying to access "https://www.healthcare.gov" and "https://www.healthcare.gov/contact-us." Of course, that could also be attributed to the inf...

Samsung 'hungry' for acquisitions, R&D for new growth Google+ Summary:  The electronics giant wants to invest more of its huge war chest in new technology and marketing, and is looking to reward investors more by at least doubling its dividend yield. Samsung Electronics wants to invest more money for new growth technologies, and part of that will come from being more aggressive in mergers and acquisitions as well as R&D. M&A will aim to reinforce current businesses, secure talent and find new opportunities, said Lee Sang-hoon, president and CFO of Samsung Electronics. The company has already spent about US$1 billion investing in 14 companies since 2010, which has been "somewhat conservative". Lee was kicking off Samsung's first Analyst Day since 2005 in Seoul which was streamed live. The event is seen as a platform for the company to better communicate with investors and analysts, amid sagging share prices and returns. Samsung currently has a cash...

Microsoft's holiday goal: Sell 16 million Windows tablets Summary:  According to a new report, Microsoft is aiming to sell 16 million Windows tablets this holiday season. Maybe its alleged $405 million retail Windows marketing budget for FY'14 will help. One of Microsoft's  biggest retail goals for holiday 2014 is to sell 16 million Windows tablets , according to alleged Microsoft strategy documents obtained by Paul Thurrott, editor of the Windows SuperSite. To achieve this goal, the Softies are going to be increasing retail spending, according to Thurrott's report. Last fiscal year (ending June 30, 2013), Microsoft spent $241 million on its retail Windows efforts.  This year, that amount will jump to $405 million , according to Thurrott's information. Of that $405 million, $131 million will be spent on incentives and offers, with the remaining $274 million going toward direct marketing and operating expenses. Microsoft also is going to try to move th...

Microsoft enables developers to add speech recognition to Windows 8 apps Summary:  Microsoft is continuing to flesh out its Bing developer platform with a new speech-recognition control, allowing coders to add speech input to their Windows 8 apps. In July of this year, Microsoft made it official that Bing is more than just a search engine. It also is a dev platform, providing coders with controls, development kits and the back-end services powering these elements. Microsoft execs also announced updates to the existing Bing Optical Character Recognition Control and Bing Translator Controls so that they support Windows 8.1. On October 21, Microsoft added a long-awaited piece to the Bing developer toolbox: A  speech recognition control . This new control allows developers to build Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows RT Metro-Style/Windows Store apps that include speech-recognition as one of their inputs. "If you are a Windows Phone developer, you may already be...

Microsoft adds more e-mail, SharePoint integration to Yammer Summary:  Microsoft is continuing to flesh out its Yammer roadmap by adding more e-mail and SharePoint integration to its Yammer enterprise social-networking product. Microsoft is making good on its commitment to add more e-mail and SharePoint integration to its Yammer enterprise social-networking product. Here's what's new/next, according to the Softies: On October 15, as part of its "Working Social Tour" event in San Francisco, Microsoft execs shared more on how the Yammer roadmap is evolving. (This is the update to the Yammer roadmap that Microsoft execs discussed in June 2013.) Redesign of the Yammer iPad app, with a focus on helping users get through messages easily Improvements to the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Yammer apps, with features such as improved live tiles, toast notifications and better inbox functionality The ability for e-mail users to participate in group discussions th...

Microsoft enables CodePlex projects to use GPLv3 license Summary:  Microsoft is now allowing developers hosting open-source projects on its CodePlex site to use the once-dreaded GPLv3 open source license. With little fanfare, Microsoft — or at least one part of it — has gone from considering the GNU General Public License v.3 (GPLv3) "evil" to "acceptable." On October 3, Microsoft announced that, for the first time, it would  allow open-source projects hosted on its CodePlex site to specify use of the GPLv3 license .  CodePlex  is a Microsoft-run site for hosting open-source projects. GPLv3 is now one of the license choices that CodePlex developers see in a drop-down list offering them licensing choices. Other options in the drop-down include Apache 2.0, Simplified BSD, GPLv2, Mozilla Public License 2, and a handful of Microsoft open-source licenses. Individuals interested in hosting an open source project on CodePlex need to select a license at the t...