Cloud computing helps power strong Microsoft quarter

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Microsoft on Tuesday reported strong quarterly earnings, powered by demand for cloud computing.

The tech titan said it made a profit of $16.7 billion on revenue of $49.4 billion in the first three months of this year, eight percent and 18 percent, respectively, more than in the period a year earlier.

"Going forward, digital technology will be the key input that powers the world's economic output," said Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella.

"Across the tech stack, we are expanding our opportunity and taking share as we help customers differentiate, build resilience, and do more with less."

Microsoft shares rose more than four percent to $282.44 on the earnings figures, which came with an optimistic outlook for the current financial quarter.

Revenue in the company's "intelligent cloud" unit that meshes datacenter-hosted software with artificial intelligence surged from the same period a year earlier, Microsoft reported.

"Continued customer commitment to our cloud platform and strong sales execution drove better-than-expected commercial bookings growth" along with cloud computing revenue, Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood said in the earnings release.

The pandemic accelerated a shift to relying on the internet for work, education, shopping, socializing and entertainment, with Microsoft seemingly positioned to benefit from lifestyle changes that will remain even as people return to being out and about.

A business and productivity unit at Microsoft that includes its online suite of Office 365 software saw revenue grow with the help of a 34 percent increase in money taken in by career-focused online social network LinkedIn, the earnings report showed.

"Growth for LinkedIn was the most surprising," CFRA equity research vice president John Freeman told AFP.

"LinkedIn continued to be Microsoft's lower profile success story. That acquisition is looking better and better every year and every quarter."

Microsoft bought LinkedIn for slightly more than $26 billion in 2016.

Money taken in for content and services at Microsoft's Xbox video game division rose four percent in the recently ended quarter as the company works to beef up its cloud-based games subscription offering.

Microsoft is seeking regulatory approval for its $69 billion deal to buy video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard.

Merging with troubled Activision will make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony, it said, a major shift in the booming world of games.

Activision, the California-based maker of "Candy Crush," has been hit by employee protests, departures, and a state lawsuit alleging it enabled toxic workplace conditions and sexual harassment. 

"Acquiring Activision will help jump start Microsoft's broader gaming endeavors and ultimately its move into the metaverse with gaming the first monetization piece of the metaverse in our opinion," Wedbush analysts said after the news broke.

Agence France-Presse

Apple issues fix for flaw linked to Pegasus spyware

Apple released a fix Monday for a weakness that can let the spyware at the heart of the Pegasus scandal infect devices without users even clicking on a malicious message or link.

The Pegasus software from Israeli firm NSO Group has been under intense scrutiny since an international media investigation claimed it was used to spy on the phones of human rights activists, journalists and even heads of state.

Researchers at Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog organization in Canada, found the problem while analyzing a Saudi activist's phone that had been compromised with the code.

"We determined that the mercenary spyware company NSO Group used the vulnerability to remotely exploit and infect the latest Apple devices with the Pegasus spyware," Citizen Lab wrote in a post.

In March Citizen Lab examined the activist's phone and determined it was hacked with Pegasus spyware introduced via iMessage texting and that it didn't even require the phone's user to so much as click.

Hours after releasing the fix, Apple said it had "rapidly" developed the update following Citizen Lab's discovery of the problem.

"Attacks like the ones described are highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, often have a short shelf life, and are used to target specific individuals," the company said.

NSO did not dispute Pegasus had prompted the urgent software upgrade, and said in a statement that it would "continue to provide intelligence and law enforcement agencies around the world with life saving technologies to fight terror and crime."

- No click needed -

Pegasus has evolved to become more effective since it was uncovered by Citizen Lab and cyber security firm Lookout five years ago.

Pegasus can be deployed as a "zero-click exploit," meaning that the spyware can install itself without the victim even clicking a booby-trapped link or file, according to Lookout senior manager Hank Schless.

"Many apps will automatically create a preview or cache of links in order to improve the user experience," Schless said.

"Pegasus takes advantage of this functionality to silently infect the device."

UN experts recently called for an international moratorium on the sale of surveillance technology until regulations are implemented to protect human rights following an Israeli spyware scandal.

An international media investigation reported in July that several governments used the Pegasus malware, created by NSO Group, to spy on activists, journalists and politicians. 

Pegasus can switch on a phone's camera or microphone and harvest its data.

"It is highly dangerous and irresponsible to allow the surveillance technology and trade sector to operate as a human rights-free zone," the United Nations human rights experts said in a statement at the time.

The statement was signed by three special rapporteurs on rights and a working group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other businesses.

Israel's defense establishment has set up a committee to review NSO's business, including the process through which export licences are granted.

NSO insists its software is intended for use only in fighting terrorism and other crimes, and says it exports to 45 countries.

 Agence France-Presse

Facebook to expand AI to help prevent suicide

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook Inc. will expand its pattern recognition software to other countries after successful tests in the U.S. to detect users with suicidal intent, the world’s largest social media network said on Monday.

Facebook began testing the software in the United States in March, when the company started scanning the text of Facebook posts and comments for phrases that could be signals of an impending suicide.

Facebook has not disclosed many technical details of the program, but the company said its software searches for certain phrases that could be clues, such as the questions “Are you ok?” and “Can I help?”

If the software detects a potential suicide, it alerts a team of Facebook workers who specialize in handling such reports. The system suggests resources to the user or to friends of the person such as a telephone help line. Facebook workers sometimes call local authorities to intervene.

Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president for product management, said the company was beginning to roll out the software outside the United States because the tests have been successful. During the past month, he said, first responders checked on people more than 100 times after Facebook software detected suicidal intent.

Facebook said it tries to have specialist employees available at any hour to call authorities in local languages.

“Speed really matters. We have to get help to people in real time,” Rosen said.

Last year, when Facebook launched live video broadcasting, videos proliferated of violent acts including suicides and murders, presenting a threat to the company’s image. In May Facebook said it would hire 3,000 more people to monitor videos and other content.

Rosen did not name the countries where Facebook was deploying the software, but he said it would eventually be used worldwide except in the European Union due to sensitivities, which he declined to discuss.

Other tech firms also try to prevent suicides. Google’s search engine displays the phone number for a suicide hot line in response to certain searches.

Facebook knows lots about its 2.1 billion users – data that it uses for targeted advertising – but in general the company has not been known previously to systematically scan conversations for patterns of harmful behavior.

One exception is its efforts to spot suspicious conversations between children and adult sexual predators. Facebook sometimes contacts authorities when its automated screens pick up inappropriate language.

But it may be more difficult for tech firms to justify scanning conversations in other situations, said Ryan Calo, a University of Washington law professor who writes about tech.

“Once you open the door, you might wonder what other kinds of things we would be looking for,” Calo said.

Rosen declined to say if Facebook was considering pattern recognition software in other areas, such as non-sex crimes.

source: interaksyon.com

NetSuite aims for the next billion dollar revenue

SAN JOSE, California — The biggest announcement in this year’s SuiteWorld is probably the statement of NetSuite Chief Executive Zach Nelson saying that after 18 years, the company he leads is set to become a Billion-dollar company in 2016.

With a vision to deliver enterprise-grade services via the cloud, Nelson attributes most of company’s success to the efforts of its employees worldwide, together with the companies, subsidiaries, and organizations that use its products as expressed in his keynote to delegates on the first day.

“Every type of company in the world is using Netsuite…and we’re very excited about that,” said Nelson. “The cloud has completely won. And my argument is, that is has won in every industry and will continue to win in every industry.”

Early this year, Netsuite was ranked as the No. 1 Cloud ERP vendor by research firm Gartner, and with a market share growing 45% in 2015, compared to its closest competitors having only single digit growth, except for Microsoft with 10.6 percent. Still, far from what the San Mateo-based ERP company achieved.

“Clearly (NetSuite) is the most widely used business system in the cloud in the world today.” said Nelson as he continue his keynote. “We will hit a billion dollar revenue this year.”

New products

At this year’s SuiteWorld, which happened at the San Jose Convention Center, one of the major announcements was SuiteBilling, a new product that recognizes the complex processes from order to billing to revenue recognition all within one system since it’s built natively into NetSuite’s core ERP system.

Another announcement was the release of a host of new product enhancements to NetSuite OneWorld, a cloud-based ERP system designed for enterprises to meet complex industry, regulatory and tax requirements at global scale. With OneWorld 16, the new release “further helps global companies increase operational efficiency, streamline financial reporting, deepen local and global compliance, localize business processes and deliver peace of mind for CFOs, controllers and finance users”.

“The robust functionality and flexibility of NetSuite OneWorld makes it the last ERP system you’ll ever need,” said Zach Nelson, NetSuite chief executive. “Whether they’re a fast-growing start-up or a multinational enterprise, NetSuite continues to meet customer demands with features that enable them to confidently expand into new markets, launch new products or services and adapt to customer and market demands with a unified and agile cloud-based platform.”

Further, Netsuite added new capabilities on the company’s Order Management application, which they said is one of the most widely used cloud-based, order management solutions in the world. With Intelligent Order Management, Netsuite provided intelligent omnichannel order allocation so merchants can automate how to best fulfill orders based on their inventory availability and the configurable business rules they establish inside the ERP system.

‘Most widely used business system’

When Nelson proclaimed that “every type of company in the world is using Netsuite…(and it’s the) most widely used business system in the cloud today”, the company co-founder’s pronouncement holds water.

Companies such as Boston Globe Media Partners, the parent company of Boston Globe; Specialty Bakery, a leading supplier of frozen bakery goods; Sanitary Care Products Asia (Sanicare), a manufacturer of home and facial paper products in the Philippines; that URBAN626, manufacturer of the URB-E compact electric vehicle; Lingerie Company of Australia, a leading luxury lingerie wholesaler and retailer who represents Simone Pérèle and Implicite brands; specialist professional recruitment company PageGroup; finance company SoFi, and Blue Yonder, a leading predictive applications company based in Germany, to name a few, are all NetSuite customers. A variety of companies catering to different markets, globally.

 And there seems to be no stopping in terms of diversity.

Only recently, the Japanese subsidiary, NetSuite Co., Ltd., added HobbyLink Japan Inc. to the company’s growing roster. HobbyLink is a distributor of Japanese toys and hobby products to consumers and retail businesses across the globe. The popular online source for anything anime has selected NetSuite OneWorld to support its global expansion plans.

Since its establishment in 1995, HobbyLink Japan, supplies some of the world’s finest hobby kits, figures and toys, to the delight of anime fans all over the world. The online e-commerce website includes a comprehensive selection of Gundam, Sci-Fi, anime and military models, books and supplies from a 4,000-square-meter facility in Tochigi.

For 20 years the toy distributor enjoyed business growth but experienced challenges with its existing on-premise accounting system and numerous spreadsheets that created extensive manual work and were prone to error. The company said that the old system required heavy customization and could only offer basic reporting capabilities. It added that employees had to hand code most of the customer queries and responses, which eventually hampered the company’s ability to manage growth.

“With NetSuite OneWorld, we expect to have clear insights into the business and business performance and I believe that there will be significant productivity improvements as the system will allow us to get near-instant access to business critical information,” said HobbyLink Chief Executive Scott Hards. We believe with NetSuite, we will be able to effectively manage our inventory to keep our stock levels and types at a point where we can execute well on demand and our customer service department can give the most up-to-date information to our customers. HobbyLink’s aim is to continue to supply the world’s finest hobby products and toys to its customers and provide an exceptional customer experience. “

HobbyLink Japan has a catalogue of 125,000 SKUs and actual inventory of 60,000 items that can be ordered online and shipped to customers and collectors around the world with large markets in the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia and the Philippines. Currently, 30 percent of its sales go through hobby shops and the other 70 percent through the ecommerce site.

“HobbyLink joins the growing number of businesses that see the value of bringing their mission-critical data together in NetSuite,” said Tomoyuki Nakanishi, vice president and general manager Japan for NetSuite. “With the flexibility, agility and scalability of NetSuite’s cloud ERP, these businesses can continue to grow and profit.”

source: interaksyon.com

US govt worse than all major industries on cyber security: report

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WASHINGTON — U.S. federal, state and local government agencies rank in last place in cyber security when compared against 17 major private industries, including transportation, retail and healthcare, according to a new report released Thursday.

The analysis, from venture-backed security risk benchmarking startup SecurityScorecard, measured the relative security health of government and industries across 10 categories, including vulnerability to malware infections, exposure rates of passwords and susceptibility to social engineering, such as an employee using corporate account information on a public social network.

Educations, telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries also ranked low, the report found. Information services, construction, food and technology were among the top performers.

Government agencies have struggled for years to keep pace with malicious hackers and insider threats, a challenge that came into focus after it was disclosed last year that more than 21 million individuals had their sensitive data pilfered during a breach at the Office of Personnel Management.

SecurityScorecard said it tracked 35 major data breaches across government from April 2015 to April 2016.

President Barack Obama has made improving cyber defenses a top priority of his remaining year in office. His administration asked Congress to dedicate $19 billion to cyber security in its fiscal 2017 budget proposal, which would include $3.1 billion for technology modernization at various federal agencies.

Federal agencies scored most poorly on network security, software patching flaws and malware, according to SecurityScorecard, which said they may be more vulnerable to risk due to their large size.

Of the 600 government entities tracked, NASA performed the worst, the report found. The space exploration agency was vulnerable to email spoofing and malware intrusions, among other weaknesses, according to SecurityScorecard’s analysis.

Other low-performing government organizations included the U.S. Department of State and the information technology systems used by Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington and Maricopa County, Arizona.

Government organizations with the strongest security postures included Clark County, Nevada, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Hennepin County Library in Minnesota.

source: interaksyon.com

IBM launches Linux-only mainframe system LinuxONE

International Business Machines Corp said on Monday it launched Linux-only mainframe servers called LinuxONE.

The severs include LinuxONE Emperor for large enterprises and Rockhopper for mid-size businesses.

IBM said LinuxONE Emperor can scale up to 8,000 virtual machines or thousands of containers, which would be the most for any single Linux system.


The Linux One Emperor system will be based on IBM’s z13 mainframe computer, which had been designed for high-volume mobile transactions.

IBM said the LinuxOne system will work with open software such as Apache Spark, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and Chef.

The company also said it partnered with UK-based Canonical Ltd to distribute its Ubuntu open source software on LinuxONE and z systems.

source: interaksyon.com

Microsoft plans celebratory debut of Windows 10

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft on Monday announced plans for a celebratory debut this month of Windows 10 operating software designed to spread the US software titan’s offerings across a broad range of devices.

Word that Windows 10 would be welcomed in grand style came less than a week after Microsoft said it will cut 7,800 jobs and write down the value of its struggling mobile phone division acquired last year from Nokia by some $7.6 billion.

The announcement represented the second major round of layoffs in a year for the US tech giant, which cut some 18,000 jobs a year ago as part of its effort to integrate the Finnish-based phone group.

Microsoft said in a statement that it would “restructure the company’s phone hardware business to better focus and align resources.”

Microsoft will make the latest version of its Windows operating system will available July 29 for computer and tablet users.

Insider events

Special events are planned in 13 cities around the world in tribute to those who took part in a Windows software test period, Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post.

“We will celebrate the unprecedented role our biggest fans – more than five million Windows Insiders,” Mehdi said.

“These celebrations will offer hands-on opportunities, experiential demos, entertainment and opportunities to meet the Windows team.”

The list of cities where Windows 10 launch events will take place includes Beijing, Sydney, Tokyo, London, New Delhi, Sao Paolo, and New York.

The new Windows 10 software will come as a free upgrade to people who already use Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and will be available in 190 countries.

Windows 10 will come pre-installed on Microsoft-compatible computers and tablets from July 29 and will be available for purchase later in the year.

The move marks a major launch for Microsoft, after the relative failure of Windows 8, which was rolled out in 2013.

High hopes

Microsoft has high hopes for Windows 10, which it wants to see installed in a billion devices around the world by 2018.

Windows 10 boasts a common base on which developers will be able to build apps that work on smartphones, tablets, PCs and desktops, and even Xbox.

As part of the launch celebration, Microsoft will invest $10 million to support missions of nonprofit groups including Malala Fund, CARE, Code.org, Special Olympics, and The Nature Conservancy.

While it still dominates the market for personal computers, Microsoft has struggled in the market for mobile devices, the majority of which are powered by the Google Android system or Apple’s iOS.

Satya Nadella, who became CEO in 2014, is seeking to reinvigorate a company that had been the world’s largest but which has lagged in recent years as Google and Apple have taken leadership of the tech sector.

source: interaksyon.com

Cybercrime ring steals up to $1 billion from banks — Kaspersky

A multinational gang of cyber criminals has stolen as much as $1 billion from as many as 100 financial institutions around the world in about two years, Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said on Saturday.

The company said it was working with Interpol, Europol and authorities from different countries to try to uncover more details on what it being called an unprecedented robbery.

The gang, which Kaspersky dubbed Carbanak, takes the unusual approach of stealing directly from banks, rather than posing as customers to withdraw money from companies’ or individuals’ accounts. It said the gang included cyber criminals from Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as China.

Carbanak used carefully crafted emails to trick pre-selected employees into opening malicious software files, a common technique known as spear phishing. They were then able to get into the internal network and track down administrators’ computers for video surveillance.

In this way, Kaspersky said, the criminals learned how the bank clerks worked and could mimic their activity when transferring the money.

In some cases, Carbanak inflated account balances before pocketing the extra funds through a fraudulent transaction. Because the legitimate funds were still there, the account holder would not suspect a problem.

Kaspersky said Carbanak also remotely seized control of ATMs and ordered them to dispense cash at a predetermined time, when a gang member would be waiting to collect the money.

“These attacks again underline the fact that criminals will exploit any vulnerability in any system,” Sanjay Virmani, director of Interpol Digital Crime Center, said in a statement prepared by Kaspersky. “It also highlights the fact that no sector can consider itself immune to attack and must constantly address their security procedures.”

source: interaksyon.com

SAP launches biggest software product overhaul in two decades

FRANKFURT — SAP has launched the most high-stakes overhaul of its core software line in more than two decades, aiming to convince multinational corporate customers that its software can now run their most critical business applications much faster.

Europe’s biggest software company said on Tuesday its widely used suite of corporate planning applications and newer cloud-based Internet software would work together using a single, modern user interface. Forrester Research estimates that could lead to exponential improvements in SAP data-crunching times.

The unified database platform, called S4 HANA, promises to cut the time it takes to compile business accounts and forecasts to minutes, instead of hours and days, by analysing vast amounts of data in local memory. This provides instant-access retrieval instead of the slower call-and-response method of pulling data from hard disks, CDs and tapes.

Established software makers such as SAP are battling to boost Internet software sales and fend off pure cloud-based rivals Salesforce.com, Workday and Amazon.com’s Web unit.

According to some analysts, SAP has staked out a big, early lead in the market for real-time business planning software by signing up a chunk of its biggest customers to S4 HANA.

For most companies, accounting for sales performance, inventory levels and other key financial measures still requires an elaborate scheduling effort known as the quarterly closing process to synchronise relevant data, a snapshot in time that is often days or weeks old by the time it is ready.

SAP’s newer approach, in development for four years and used in parts already by thousands of customers, is to combine its super-fast “in-memory” database with business analysis functions. This lets company planners drill down into actual financial transactions and draw on a range of both internal and external data instead of relying on statistical assumptions.

“It’s about managing a business in detail rather than in the aggregate,” Forrester analyst George Lawrie said. “That means looking through the windshield rather than the rear-view mirror.”

At a product launch in New York, followed afterward by a capital markets day for financial analysts and investors, SAP executives will face questions over moves to deliver more of its software as cloud-based Internet services instead of packaged software running on customers’ in-house computers.

Most analysts accept the industry shift to cloud software delivery. But they want SAP to disclose more financial metrics that can allow investors to track how the cloud business is performing relative to its classic packaged software business.

SAP has acknowledged the move to the cloud will force it to backtrack on long-promised profit margin gains that have been a big investor draw, in favour of potentially faster revenue growth.

All major database vendors including Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, Pivotal and Teradata now offer “in-memory” versions and dozens of rivals supply predictive analytics software in the cloud.

With the introduction of S4 HANA, SAP is looking to eventually bring all of its customers under one roof, a process that will entail further software development by SAP and complex decisions by customers about when it makes financial sense to convert organisational information from existing data formats.

source: interaksyon.com

Microsoft profit falls on sluggish Windows, currency pressure

SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp on Monday reported a fall in its quarterly profit that was in line with Wall Street forecasts, as sluggish personal computer sales dampened demand for Windows software and the company struggled with the impact of the strong U.S. dollar.

Shares of the world’s largest software company, which have surged to 14 year highs in the past few months, fell 3 percent in after-hours trading, to $45.63.

“While currency is a headwind for Microsoft and other large international companies, we would characterize the headline numbers as good enough, although some bulls may have been hoping for a bigger beat,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.

Microsoft’s flagship Windows business has been under pressure for three years as PC sales have declined, although the market appears to be stabilizing in recent months.

Currency shifts against the strong U.S. dollar also crimped profit in the fiscal second quarter, ended Dec. 31, although Microsoft did not specify by how much. Microsoft gets almost three-quarters of its revenue from overseas, but a significant amount of that is still in U.S. dollars.

“Overall, the only surprise I think was in commercial licensing, where we had a little bit of a headwind from foreign exchange as well as macro conditions in China and Japan,” the company’s chief financial officer, Amy Hood, said in a phone interview with Reuters.

Commercial licensing is chiefly sales of Windows and Office to business customers, which is Microsoft’s biggest revenue generator.

Microsoft reported profit of $5.86 billion, or 71 cents per share for the latest quarter, compared with $6.56 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Sales rose 8 percent to $26.47 billion, largely due to the acquisition of Nokia’s phone handset business last year.

Analysts had expected revenue of $26.3 billion and earnings of 71 cents per share, on average, including some restructuring costs.

source: interaksyon.com

Microsoft to spotlight new Windows software September 30

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft on Monday sent out invitations to a September 30 event at which it is expected to provide a glimpse at the next version of its Windows operating system.

The US software titan revealed little with invitations that read: “Join us to hear what’s next for Windows and the enterprise.”

The event slated to take place in San Francisco will be aimed at developers behind programs designed for computers powered by Windows software, and at businesses that depend on Microsoft programs in their networks.

Microsoft was said to be working on a separate version of Windows for smartphones and tablets, as it works to adapt to lifestyles centered increasingly on Internet-linked mobile devices.

source: interaksyon.com

Steve Ballmer steps down from Microsoft board

SAN FRANCISCO — Former Microsoft chief Steven Ballmer on Tuesday said he is stepping down as a member of the software giant’s board of directors.

Ballmer made his decision public a month after his successor, Satya Nadella, announced unprecedented job cuts at the US technology firm as it worked to adapt to a “mobile first, cloud first” world.

“Given my confidence and the multitude of new commitments I am taking on now, I think it would be impractical for me to continue to serve on the board, and it is best for me to move off,” Ballmer said in a publicly posted letter to Nadella.

“I bleed Microsoft – have for 34 years and I always will.”

Nadella, in a responding letter posted online, thanked Ballmer for his contributions to Microsoft and said he supported the decision to leave the board.

Ballmer said he would be devoting time to new endeavors that include teaching and the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team he acquired earlier this month.

Ballmer paid a record $2 billion for the Clippers.

Microsoft last month announced its biggest job cuts ever as new chief executive Nadella called for a new focus at the US tech giant while integrating the Nokia phone division.

The company said it would slash 18,000 jobs from its global workforce over the next year, the majority from the Nokia handset unit acquired this year.

Nadella, who became CEO earlier this year, seeks to reinvigorate a company that had been the world’s largest but which has lagged in recent years as Google and Apple have taken leadership of the tech sector.

source: interaksyon.com

NetSuite launches new user interface

MANILA, Philippines — Enterprise cloud vendor NetSuite Inc. has launched a new user interface for its entire range of products applications.

In a press briefing, NetSuite Philippines general manager James Cameron Dantow said the redesign was made in response to client needs to have a more user-friendly experience.

“It’s part of our strategy to broaden NetSuite to meet the demands of our clients,” Dantow said.

The revamped interface, which was originally introduced last May at SUITEWORLD 2014, applies to the company’s entire suite of cloud-based services such as enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, professional sales automation, as well as point of sale commerce and e-commerce applications.

Jan Alvin Pabellon, NetSuite principal product manager for Asia Pacific and Japan, said that the facelift is “a major upgrade for our product”.

The new interface, which uses HTML 5, is also optimized for different screen sizes such as tablets and smartphones. It also does away with skeumorphic design toward a much flatter design orientation.

“The new design makes it modern, less cluttered, and engages our customers more,” Pabellon said. “This incorporates trends in the consumerization of IT where there is a variety of platforms so this is device agnostic.”

The redesign also has a new business-to-business functionality for clients.

Pabellon said they are already launching the new interface, at no cost to their customers.

“We are already rolling it out in phases,” Pabellon said.

source: interaksyon.com

Spotify to ask users to re-enter passwords after cyberattack

SAN FRANCISCO — Music streaming service Spotify AB will ask some of its 40 million users to re-enter their passwords and upgrade their software in coming days after detecting unauthorized access to its internal systems and data.

Chief Technology Officer Oskar Stal said in a blogpost on Tuesday that it has found evidence of attackers accessing just one user’s data, which did not include payment or password information. But as a precaution, it intends to ask “certain Spotify users” to re-enter their log-in credentials, and upgrade their Google (GOOGL.O) Android app.

Spotify said it is not recommending any action yet for users of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhones or devices based on Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) Windows.

The intrusion was the latest to hit a major tech company. In past months, cyberattackers have infiltrated databases and systems at eBay Inc and Adobe, though no financial information has so far been taken, according to the companies. Spotify, which is expected to seek an IPO soon, has more than 40 million active users scattered across more than 50 markets.

“We have taken steps to strengthen our security systems in general and help protect you and your data – and we will continue to do so. We will be taking further actions in the coming days to increase security for our users,” Stal said in his blogpost.

source: interaksyon.com

Aspect launches new software solution for BPOs

MANILA, Philippines — US-based company Aspect Software, Inc. has launched a new product that reportedly provides an end-to-end operational management system for business process outsourcing companies.

According to the company, the Workforce Optimization 8.0 software includes workforce management, quality management, and performance management capabilities.

“Aspect’s technology solutions are designed to work on an intuitive level providing companies the flexibility of operations and integrated customer service operations,” Jim Freeze, Aspect senior vice president and chief marketing officer, said. “Our products provide solutions that coordinate workforce processes while seamlessly elevating the level of service that is delivered… while developing a tighter integration between the front and the back office,”

Aspect said that they have also revamped the user interface of the new product to make it simpler and easier to navigate.

“Overall, the user friendly interface will lead to a broader use of the system with agents not shying away from using the more powerful but erstwhile complex work for optimization features,” Edwin Ong, Aspect director of marketing and channels, said.

Company officials said that they are hoping to tap the still huge growth potential of the BPO market in the Philippines.

source: interaksyon.com

Microsoft’s CEO may unveil Office for iPad on March 27: source

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Satya Nadella may unveil an iPad version of the company’s Office software suite on March 27, a source familiar with the event told Reuters, and use his first big press appearance to launch the company’s most profitable product in a version compatible with Apple Inc’s popular tablet.

Nadella, who replaced longtime CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this year, will address the media and industry executives in San Francisco on March 27.

Investors for years have urged Microsoft to adapt Office for mobile devices from Apple and Google Inc, rather than shackling it to Windows as PC sales decline. But the Redmond, Washington-based software giant has been reluctant to undermine its other lucrative franchise, its PC operating software.

Microsoft gives up some $2.5 billion a year in revenue by keeping Office off the iPad, which has now sold almost 200 million units, analysts estimate.

Tech blog Re/code first reported news of Nadella’s event. Microsoft said in an invitation to reporters that Nadella will discuss “news related to the intersection of cloud and mobile” but declined to comment on the specifics of the CEO’s appearance.

Microsoft has had iPad and iPhone versions of Office primed for several months now, sources told Reuters, but the company has dallied on their release due to internal divisions, among other things.

Although Nadella is expected to discuss his thinking in depth next week, the company has already signaled that it will adopt a more liberal attitude toward putting its software on different platforms.

Microsoft said earlier on Monday that it would make OneNote, its note-taking software, available on Mac, a move interpreted by observers as a shot against Evernote, the popular note-taking application that has both Mac and Android compatibility.

Aside from Evernote, Microsoft also faces budding challenges from startups that have released mobile-friendly alternatives to Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

source: interaksyon.com

Google removes privacy feature from Android mobile software

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc has removed an experimental privacy feature from its Android mobile software that had allowed users to block apps from collecting personal information such as address book data and a user’s location.

The change means that owners of smartphones using Android 4.4.2, the latest version of the world’s most popular operating system for mobile devices released this week, must provide access to their personal data in order to use certain apps.

A company spokesman said the feature had been included by accident in Android 4.3, the version released last summer.

“We are suspicious of this explanation, and do not think that it in any way justifies removing the feature rather than improving it,” said Peter Eckersley, technology projects director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The digital rights website first publicized the change in a blog post on Friday.

Android users who wish to retain the privacy controls by not upgrading to Android 4.4.2 could be vulnerable to security risks, Eckersley said. “For the time being, users will need to chose between either privacy or security on the Android devices, but not both.”

Many third-party apps for Android devices, such as music-identifying service Shazam and popular smartphone flashlight apps, require access to personal information that does not always have an obvious connection to the app’s functionality, such as phone call information and location data.

The privacy feature allowed users to pick and choose which personal data a third-party app can collect, Eckersley said. Users had to install a special Apps Ops Launcher software, which was created by another company, in order to access the hidden privacy controls.

Android software was loaded on 81 percent of all smartphones shipped worldwide in the third quarter, according to industry research firm IDC. Apple Inc’s iOS, the software used on the iPhone, had 12.9 percent market share.

Privacy has become an increasingly important issue as smartphones, which are loaded with consumers’ personal information, become the primary computing device for many consumers. In November Google agreed to pay a $17 million fine to settle allegations that it secretly tracked Web users by placing special digital files on the Web browsers of their smartphones.

source: interaksyon.com

Autodesk to buy Britain’s Delcam for $277 million

Autodesk Inc, a maker of computer-aided design (CAD) software, said it would buy Britain’s Delcam Plc for 172.5 million pounds ($277 million), in a deal to expand the U.S. company’s software offerings in the manufacturing sector.

Autodesk offered 20.75 pounds per share, a premium of 21 percent to Delcam’s Wednesday close on the London Stock Exchange.

Autodesk said it expects to use non-U.S.-based cash for the deal.

“Together Autodesk and Delcam will help further the development and implementation of technology for digital manufacturing,” Autodesk Chief Executive Carl Bass said in a statement.

Birmingham-based Delcam is a supplier of advanced CADCAM and industrial measurement solutions for the manufacturing industry.

Autodesk expects the deal to be dilutive to its non-GAAP earnings in fiscal 2015, while adding to its non-GAAP earnings in fiscal 2016. ($1 = 0.6219 British pounds)

source: interaksyon.com

3D modeling for architecture, construction pushed

MANILA, Philippines — A group of architects on Wednesday, October 2 pushed for the local adoption of three-dimensional modeling tools in architecture and design to help make the country in lockstep with emerging global standards.

Gianluca Nicholas Lange, regional industry manager of design software company Autodesk, said that compared to the current two-dimensional drawing tools currently used in the local field, the Building Information Modeling (BIM) will bring greater work efficiency, improve collaboration, reduce errors, and boost global competitiveness.

“BIM makes more things possible beyond what can be done in 2D. Inefficient and error prone 2D workflows are replaced with integrated BIM workflows yielding greater efficiencies, improved accuracy and predictability,” Lange said in a forum at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City.

Worldwide, overall adoption of BIM has increased from 17 percent in 2007 to 71 percent in 2012 according to data cited by Lange. Other countries such as the U.S.A., UK, and Singapore among others have helped usher in the technology by adopting BIM as an industry standard.

“Locally, the industry as a whole is still in a learning process right now,” Lange said.

“Majority is still moving away from the 2D workflow and still learning about the advantages of 3D,” Lange added.

Architect Felino Palafox, Jr., founder of Palafox Associates, said that the BIM has helped their design process.

“It improves our coordination and avoids repeat work. This technology has helped us a lot,” Palafox said. “We’d rather see our mistakes in drawing than in concrete. Otherwise, it would be a monument to our errors.”

Architect Christopher dela Cruz, CEO of Phil Greenbuilding Council, likewise stressed the inherent advantages of using 3D modeling.

“Simply put, with new ideas like green building, we need newer tools,” dela Cruz said. “Moving forward, everything gets done easier with the right tools.”

For the technology to widely adopted, dela Cruz said that the challenge will be for firms to see the advantages in investing on the technology and for advocates to help public awareness on its benefits.

“The challenge is to make city councils understand the benefits of acquiring BIM and allot time in investing in public awareness,” dela Cruz said.

“It should not just be an aspirational goal. This has to be the new business as usual,” dela Cruz added.

source: interaksyon.com

Even with the iPhone launch, the bigger news is iOS 7

WASHINGTON — With consumers eagerly awaiting the release of two new iPhones this week, the more dramatic change may be in the software, not the hardware.

The new mobile operating system called iOS 7 became available Wednesday, providing users of iPhones and iPads a bolder look, which may be a shock for some, but which Apple hopes will keep its fans happy and draw new customers.

“It is a major upgrade,” said Gerry Purdy, analyst and consultant with Compass Intelligence who follows mobile technology.

“This is the first big thing that (Apple chief executive) Tim Cook has implemented, which puts all the software and hardware design under one roof, to have a unified experience across products.”

While the new iPhone 5S and 5C, set to be released Friday, have received a lukewarm response, some analysts say the bolder statement from Apple comes in the new operating system, designed to keep people in the Apple “ecosystem.”

The new operating system “has a different look, a different feel,” said Ramon Llamas, analyst with the research firm IDC.

“People are going to have to rethink how they do things with their phone, and Apple is asking people to make a leap of faith.”

With Apple seeking to regain traction in a mobile market dominated by the Google Android system, Llamas said iOS 7 will be a key test for Apple, because the new iPhones have failed to wow consumers.

“The feedback I’m getting is that people say (the new iPhones) are nice but they will wait for next year’s model.”

A small number of journalists who were allowed to review the new iPhone and iOS 7 underscored the dramatic change in the operating system.

“If you’re coming brand new to iOS 7 and have been ignoring the Internet for the past three months, you’re going to be in for a visual shock,” wrote Darrell Etherington of the tech news site TechCrunch.

“The look is bound to be controversial; Apple has opted for bright, bold colors with more clean lines and far fewer textures, shadows and gradients. There is still some depth to the OS, however, with transparency effects giving a sense of background and foreground elements.”

David Pogue of The New York Times said even with the iPhone launch, “the bigger news is iOS 7.”

“The look of iOS 7 is sparse, white — almost plain in spots. No more fake leather, fake woodgrain, fake green felt, fake yellow note paper,” Pogue writes.

“The complete absence of graphic embellishments makes it especially utilitarian — in both senses of the word. That’s good, because whatever button or function you need is easier to find; it’s bad, because, well, it can look a little boring.”

Walt Mossberg at AllThingsD called the new operating system “a big improvement,” adding: “The icons have been redesigned to be flatter and simpler, but they appear to float over your wallpaper, giving the effect of depth.”

Apple says the new system has more than 200 new features, including improved multitasking, sharing, new camera apps, male and female voices for its Siri software, and the much-anticipated iTunes Radio.

The new software has drawn considerable attention even as the iPhone launch appears to be less spectacular than those in the past: Apple has said little about sellouts or delivery delays, and few expect the kinds of queues typical of iPhone debuts.

Purdy said that Apple may inadvertently hurt new iPhone sales by releasing the software upgrade for older models.

“It allows people with the iPhone 4 or 5 to get all the benefits of the Apple environment from a software standpoint, and therefore reduces the absolute need to upgrade the physical device,” he told AFP.

The free upgrade helps Apple solidify its user base, the analyst said, even for those unwilling to buy a new device.

“It makes it attractive to stay in the walled garden of Apple,” Purdy said, even without a revolutionary hardware change.

“This allows Apple to keep its users, though it may not change the direction of the Android ecosystem,” Purdy added.

“But Apple isn’t out to win market share. They want to produce the best products in the market and they’re doing a good job at that.”

source: interaksyon.com