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Post by Admin on Jan 16, 2014 7:19:52 GMT -9
Starbucks App Saves Usernames, Passwords in Plain Text
Stephanie MlotBy Stephanie Mlot January 16, 2014 10:38am EST
The Starbucks mobile app offers a certain convenience when paying for your venti non-fat, no-foam, six-pump extra-hot chai tea latte. But turns out, it could also compromise your security. According to a report by Computerworld, the massively popular international coffee chain has been storing user names, email addresses, and passwords in clear text. Connecting a smartphone with the Starbucks app installed to a PC, the password is easily accessible, the site said. A spokeswoman today told PCMag that its customers' security is "of the utmost importance to us," and that the company actively monitors for risks and vulnerabilities. "While we are aware of this report, there is no known impact to our customers," she said in a statement. "To further mitigate our customers' potential risk from these theoretical vulnerabilities, Starbucks has taken additional steps to safeguard any sensitive information that might have been transmitted in this way." Available for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry since 2011, the application boasts the title of most used mobile payment app in the U.S., and provides Starbucks fans with a sort of digital gift card that can be reloaded and used at any of the chain's American locations. Conveniently, customers must enter their password only once—when activating the app's payment options, and again when adding money to the saved card. Every transaction can then be made with a simple smartphone scan at the register, eliminating the hassle of searching for change or swiping of a credit card. But that convenience also has security risks, apparently. According to Computerworld, security researcher Daniel Wood first discovered the password visibility late last year. After failed attempts at contacting Starbucks, Wood on Monday published his findings, along with a list of iOS-specific best practices for storing user data. The Starbucks app version 2.6.1 launched in May for iOS, but has earned a measly 2.5-star rating, ironically gathering complaints about how the app fails to remember passwords or erases card and account information.
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Post by Admin on Jan 17, 2014 18:16:17 GMT -9
Google Testing a Smart Contact Lens for Diabetics
Tiffany Kaiser - January 17, 2014 11:37 AM
It's a glucose monitoring contact lens that draws readings from tears
Calling all fellow diabetics: You may be able to give your poor, punctured fingers a rest, because Google is creating a new way to test blood sugar levels through tears from the eyes. According to Google's Brian Otis and Babak Parviz -- the project's co-founders -- the tech giant is devising a way for diabetics to check their glucose levels by wearing a contact lens, which detects high and low blood sugar readings via tears. Otis and Parviz said that the lens contains a tiny wireless chip and a mini glucose sensor, which sit between two layers of soft contact lens material. Here's some great news for those who can't find enough time in the day to prick their fingers and check: the new contact lens prototypes generate readings once per second. In addition to readings, the lens could also warn its wearer of extremely high or low blood sugar levels with tiny LED lights that glow when thresholds have been crossed into the danger zone.
Google's glucose monitoring contact lens [SOURCE: Google]
If levels fall too low, diabetics experience symptoms like shaking, sweating, blurred vision, confusion, and can even pass out. Uncontrolled blood sugar can result in damage to the eyes, kidneys and heart, meaning that diabetics must check their glucose levels often to make sure they're right in the comfortable middle of high and low. "It’s still early days for this technology, but we’ve completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype," said Otis and Parviz. "We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease." Google is talking with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about it, and is also looking to partner up with companies that can bring it to market. In other non-needle related news, the TED Blog recently posted seven ways scientists are moving beyond needles, including inhalable insulin. Such devices like insulin inhalers and a glucose monitoring contact lens seem like moon shots, but they're great starts -- and great hopes for diabetics tired of the daily (and painful) grind. Source: Official Google Blog
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Post by Admin on Jan 20, 2014 8:33:19 GMT -9
Hackers use refrigerator in cyber attack
Published January 20, 2014SkyNews
cyberattack ap 1.jpg AP GRAPHICSBANK
Hackers have used a refrigerator to send spam emails in the first proven cyber attack of its kind.
Internet-connected home appliances were infected by a large "botnet" over a two-week period from December 23, according to California security firm Proofpoint.
It said hackers managed to penetrate home-networking routers, connected multimedia centers, televisions and at least one refrigerator to create a platform to deliver malicious spam or phishing emails. The firm said the case "has significant security implications for device owners and enterprise targets" because of massive growth expected in the use of smart and connected devices, from clothing to appliances.
It said these appliances may become attractive targets for hackers because they often have less security than PCs or tablets.
Incidents were documented between December 23 and January 6 featuring "waves of malicious email, typically sent in bursts of 100,000, three times per day, targeting enterprises and individuals worldwide." More than a quarter of the emails were sent by things that were not conventional laptops, desktop computers or mobile devices.
"Botnets are already a major security concern -- and the emergence of thingbots may make the situation much worse," Proofpoint's David Knight said.
"Many of these devices are poorly protected at best and consumers have virtually no way to detect or fix infections when they do occur. Enterprises may find distributed attacks increasing as more and more of these devices come online and attackers find additional ways to exploit them."
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Post by Admin on Jan 20, 2014 8:50:14 GMT -9
6 things you didn’t know your tablet could do
Apps range from incredibly useful to impressively useless
By Nick Clunn - Tech Page One November 04 2013 Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on email tablet
The Trapster app aggregates info on police speed traps and other tactics that can result in traffic tickets. Credit: Pictofigo Pity the person who only uses their tablet for mindless games of Candy Crush or checking work emails from outside the office. Sure, there’s something to be said for taking care of the day’s to-do list with the swipe of a finger, but tablets offer so many prime opportunities to get, well, weird. Whether it’s an outside-the-box app that offers up something useful (avoiding a speeding ticket) or just an unapologetically bizarre one (chatting with a ghost), there is something for everyone — and then some.
Here are some apps that range from incredibly useful to impressively useless, with a few fun stops in the middle.
1. Ghost Radar Classic – Scared of things that go bump in the night? Just in time for Halloween, this app scans the energy fields around you, picking up the words being blurted out by your neighbors in the afterlife and speaking them to you to in a creepy effect. The Ghost Radar guys may “offer no guarantees of accuracy,” but, unlike your paranormal targets, the app’s 13,000 five-star ratings in the Android store speak for themselves.
2. Action Movie Creator FX – Real life is just so boring. Thankfully, visionary J.J. Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, has unleashed this app that lets any user superimpose studio-style special effects on your run-of-the-mill videos. And with FX names like Photon Torpedoes, Car Smash, Robo Attack, Avalanche, Fire Fight, Chopper Down and Alien Burst, you’re about to be dropped into the middle of a Hollywood blockbuster. Hopefully it’s not “John Carter.”
3. SleepCycles – Most people blindly set an alarm only to go trudging through the rest of the day like an extra on The Walking Dead. It doesn’t have to be this way. Just leave your tablet at your bedside and this smart alarm clock will analyze your subtlest sleep movements, waking you up during the lightest sleep phase that falls within a 30-minute window of your wake-up time to leave you as refreshed as possible. The dorkiest can even analyze their sleep statistics. In 2013, counting sheep is for amateurs.
4. RunPee – You’re halfway through the 134-minute runtime of “Captain Phillips” and three quarters of the way through a 64-ounce Cherry Coke when nature begins to call. But when’s a good time to duck out? The dedicated RunPee team has watched nearly every movie imaginable to pick out those 3-5 minute spans without crucial plot twists or action scenes, ensuring you only miss the dullest moments. Cross-referenced with scores from Rotten Tomatoes and details from IMDB, this tongue-in-cheek movie app may be the most useful on the market.
5. Trapster – “The easiest way to fight a speeding ticket is…not to get one in the first place.” The folks at Trapster couldn’t be more right, and now nearly 20.5 million drivers have turned to this app to be warned of red-light cameras and known enforcement points. And all the info is coming straight from the source: ticked off, ticketed drivers who’ve been foiled by speed traps and other police tactics. They now want to save you the same hassle. Apparently, revenge is a dish best served on a tablet.
6. Easy Metal Detector – If loose nickels and dimes hiding beneath the cushions of your couch is your idea of hidden treasure, Easy Metal Detector is your ticket to a payday. It uses the admittedly not-so-strong magnetometer already built into your tablet to find ferrous metals. Priced at just 99 cents, this app will pay for itself in a matter of months. Hopefully.
These apps and others, including games like Candy Crush, are available for download through the Windows Store and Google Play — two places that can truly enhance Dell’s new line of Venue tablets, available in Windows 8.1 and Android. Visit Dell.com/tablets for details.
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Post by Admin on Jan 21, 2014 9:14:51 GMT -9
Worst password of 2013 was '123456' according to new research
The most common password of the past year was 123456 according to a new survey.
By Lucy Kinder5:17PM GMT 21 Jan 2014
The worst password of 2013 is '123456' according to new research. The 25 most common passwords have been released by Splashdata which makes password management applications. "password" had held the top spot in the rankings since the annual list began to be compiled. In 2013 it slipped to number two on the list The swap is due largely to the major security breach at software company Adobe in October which affected tens of millions of users. Related Articles Microsoft blog hacked by Syrian Electronic Army 21 Jan 2014 Toys of the future 21 Jan 2014 WeChat growth surges as Facebook plateaus 21 Jan 2014 Computing curriculum: Digital skills versus computer science 21 Jan 2014 Toy Fair 2014: the technological toys of the future 21 Jan 2014 Samsung to partner with Illy coffee makers 21 Jan 2014 Are drones the future of the business world? Brother A large number of personal details and passwords were posted online. Splashdata's list shows that many people use easily guessable passwords. Some other passwords in the Top Ten include "qwerty," "abc123," "111111," and "iloveyou." Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData said: "Seeing passwords like 'adobe123' and 'photoshop' on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing. "Another interesting aspect of this year's list is that more short numerical passwords showed up even though websites are starting to enforce stronger password policies." Passwords such as 1234" at number 16, "12345" at number 20, and "000000" at number 25 are all new to this year's list. The data was released to encourage the adoption of stronger passwords. Mr Slain added: "As always, we hope that with more publicity about how risky it is to use weak passwords, more people will start taking simple steps to protect themselves by using stronger passwords and using different passwords for different websites." SplashData's top 25 list was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online during the previous year. The company advises consumers or businesses using any of the passwords on the list to change them immediately. Splashdata warned that even passwords with common substitutions like "dr4mat1c" can be vulnerable to attackers' increasingly sophisticated technology. They also suggest that random words should be used for passwords rather than common phrases, and using the same the same username and password combination for multiple websites should be avoided. They say that it is especially risky to use the same password for entertainment sites as for email and social networking accounts. Most common passwords of 2013
1. 123456 2. password 3. 12345678 4. qwerty 5. abc123 6. 123456789 7. 111111 8. 1234567 9. iloveyou 10. adobe123 11. 123123 12. admin 13. 1234567890 14. letmein 15. photoshop 16. 1234 17. monkey 18. shadow 19. sunshine 20. 12345 21. password1 22. princess 23. azerty 24. trustno1 25. 000000
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Post by Admin on Jan 22, 2014 15:29:38 GMT -9
Web mystery: China Internet traffic winds up in Wyoming Keith Wagstaff NBC News
2 hours ago
2710 Thomes Avenue in Cheyenne, Wyo. Daniel Wallis / Reuters
2710 Thomes Avenue, the former home of Wyoming Corporate Services, in Cheyenne, Wy. China has an estimated 591 million Internet users, the most of any country. On Tuesday, much of its Web traffic was redirected to IP addresses that belonged to a company that, as of last year, was located in a single, 1,700-square foot home located in a quiet neighborhood in Cheyenne, Wyo., according to The New York Times.
The company, Sophidea Inc., was one of thousands that Wyoming Corporate Services helped set up in the single-story home. They included, according to a 2011 article in Reuters, a number of shell companies, including one that handled money for the jailed former prime minister of Ukraine. (Wyoming Corporate Services, the registered agent for Sophidea, moved last year to a different building in Cheyenne, reports the Times.)
How did Chinese Internet traffic end up all the way in Wyoming?
The Great Firewall First, it's important to understand how China's Internet is monitored.
Most Web traffic never leaves the country. When it does, it travels through six physical gateways or, perhaps more cynically, chokepoints.
"That is how they essentially are able to set up the Great Firewall," Sarah Cook, senior research analyst at human rights organization Freedom House, told NBC News.
This kind of centralized system makes it easier for the governments of countries like China, Iran and Vietnam to censor Web traffic, but also makes them more vulnerable to both natural disasters and man-made disruptions like glitches and hacks.
It's not entirely clear what happened in this instance. China's official Xinhua news agency cast suspicion on hackers, but some experts think the harm could have been self-inflected.
"This isn't the first time there have been these kind of glitches," Cook said. "These kind of things tend to happen when they are trying to upgrade the capabilities of the Great Firewall."
Why Wyoming? Not much is known about Sophidea. But hundreds of millions of Chinese Internet users were also redirected to Internet addresses registered to Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT), a company that produces an anti-censorship tool called FreeGate meant to help people evade barriers like the Great Firewall or Iran's "Filternet."
The Chinese government is not too fond of the people who create this software, according to Cook.
"These guys keep a pretty low profile," she said. "Some of them are engineers who work at big Internet companies and volunteer their spare time to help in this cat-and-mouse game against the Chinese censorship system."
DIT has ties to Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been banned by the Chinese government. The irony, according to Cook, is that China might have inadvertently sent traffic to the activists they were trying to stop.
"One of the government's main focuses, especially when they're upgrading the Great Firewall, is try to block these circumvention tools," Cook said. "I could see a situation where the firewall was trying to block traffic, and it backfires and accidentally sends traffic to those locations instead."
Regardless of whether the glitch was caused by hackers or a mistake on China's part, the fact remains that many of the companies and individuals responsible for this software don't want to be found. Hence why they would register an IP address at a small Wyoming house, described by Reuters as "a little Cayman Island on the Great Plains."
The situation isn't likely to change anytime soon, Cook said: "I do think that this kind of incident or other glitches are likely to happen at some point in the future so long as the policies stay the same."
Keith Wagstaff writes about technology for NBC News. He previously covered the tech beat for TIME's Techland and wrote about politics as a staff writer at TheWeek.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @kwagstaff and reach him by email at: Keith.Wagstaff@nbcuni.com
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Post by Admin on Jan 23, 2014 11:25:35 GMT -9
Random Crashes and ‘White Screen of Death’ for iOS7? Apple Promises a Fix Thursday, January 23, 2014 - by Paul Lilly
When Apple released iOS 7, it caught some users off guard due to its flattened aesthetic and several design changes, which go well beneath the surface. Nevertheless, users have been quick to download the update, which at last count was installed on 74 percent of Apple devices. That's great as far as market penetration goes, but unfortunately for some iPhone users, there's a glitch that's been causing their handset to reboot at random intervals.
That's the bad news. The good news is that Apple is readying a patch that will address the issue.
"We have a fix in an upcoming software update for a bug that can occasionally cause a home screen crash," an Apple spokesperson told Mashable.
Some users on Apple's forum have reported seeing a white screen of death, while others noted the display would randomly turn black. Reports of the bug date all the back to September and seem to affect any iPhone model running iOS 7. While it's been a mostly random occurrence, some iPhone owners have observed their handsets shutting off when the battery dips below 30 percent.
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Post by Admin on Jan 24, 2014 8:45:28 GMT -9
Microsoft's Q2 strong: Surface revenue hits $893 million Summary: Microsoft has had out-of-stock issues with the two new Surface devices and demand appeared to be strong. Larry Dignan By Larry Dignan for Between the Lines | January 23, 2014 -- 21:17 GMT (13:17 PST) Microsoft's fiscal second quarter results were better-than-expected and the company provided a more details about Surface sales, which came in at $893 million, double from the first quarter. The results, largely powered by Xbox sales and strong enterprise sales, topped Wall Street expectations. The company reported second quarter earnings of $6.56 billion, or 78 cents a share, on revenue of $24.52 billion. Non-GAAP earnings for the second quarter excluding various revenue deferrals were 81 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 68 cents a share on revenue of $24.68 billion. Also: Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium: 3.5 million subscribers Microsoft has had out-of-stock issues with the two new Surface devices and demand appeared to be strong. Devices and consumer revenue was up 13 percent in the second quarter compared to a year ago. Microsoft noted that its overall cost of revenue surged $2.6 billion, or 46 percent, due to "to higher volumes of Xbox and Surface sold, as well as higher datacenter expenses." In Microsoft's quarterly filing with the SEC, the company noted that cost of revenue for the Surface was $932 million, pointing to a $39 million shortfall. The specific passage is: Cost of revenue increased during the three months ended December 31, 2013, primarily due to a $1.6 billion increase in Xbox Platform cost of revenue. Surface cost of revenue was $932 million. Datacenter costs increased $145 million or 37%, reflecting investment in online operations infrastructure. As for operating income by unit, Microsoft's devices and consumer unit delivered second quarter operating income of $2.64 billion, down from $3.55 billion a year ago, on revenue of $11.9 billion, up from $10.5 billion a year ago. The commercial division reported second quarter operating income of $6.3 billion, up from $5.7 billion a year ago, on revenue of $12.67 billion, up from $11.52 billion a year ago. Microsoft said it spent $2.75 billion on research and development in the second quarter, up 9 percent from a year ago. For the six months ended Dec. 31, research and development spending was $5.5 billion, up 11 percent from a year ago. When you break down the results, you come away with the following: Commercial revenue continues to carry the company as second quarter sales were $12.67 billion, up 10 percent from a year ago. Products like System Center, SQL Server and Office 365 continue to sell well. Windows revenue fell 3 percent as enterprise licensing offset weak consumer sales. Microsoft moved 7.4 million Xbox units---3.9 million Xbox One consoles and 3.5 million Xbox 360 units. Office consumer revenue fell 16 percent in the second quarter, but customers transitioned to Office 365 in the cloud. Microsoft has 3.5 million Office 365 Home Premium subscribers. Search advertising revenue was up 34 percent in the second quarter from a year ago. Microsoft is working the enterprise cloud subscriptions as Office 365, Azure and Dynamics CRM seats all posted growth of 100 percent or more in the second quarter. Microsoft Earnings q2.docx (900.91 KB)
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Post by Admin on Jan 27, 2014 8:52:01 GMT -9
Google's Android Continues To Lead Apple's iOS In Terms Of Market Share
BY BRYAN M. WOLFE on Mon January 27th, 2014
Google's Android Continues To Lead Apple's iOS In Terms Of Market Share
Google’s Android was the big winner in terms of market share in 2013 as it easily topped competitors in key markets to end the year. A new survey from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, however, did have some good news for Apple’s iOS.
From October through December, Android topped iOS in Europe, 68.6 percent to 18.5 percent. Windows Phone accounted for 10.3 percent. The largest markets in Europe are the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
In the United States, Android’s lead over iOS was much smaller, 50.6 percent to 43.9 percent. In China, Apple’s share was 19 percent versus 78.6 percent for Android.
In total, Android saw year-over-year share growth across 12 major global markets. Apple lost market share in most countries. Kantar notes, however, that Apple “held strong shares in key markets” including the U.S., Great Britain, and China.
One place where iOS continues to lead is in Japan, with 68.7 percent. It also was No. 1 at all three of Japan’s major wireless carriers, including NTT DoCoMo, SoftBank, and AU’s KDDI.
Apple’s iOS has traditionally trailed Google’s Android in terms of market share. Profit-wise, Apple typically makes more than Android-based competitors. Cupertino will announce its first quarter financials later today, Jan. 27.
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2014 12:37:47 GMT -9
Lego online? Lego goes hi-tech If you have kids and computers you may already be current on everything and anything Lego. Still, for those who aren’t familiar with the little plastic building bricks-cum-carpet landmines, travel back through the mists of toy time to the year 2012. Google had just introduced the world to an interesting, fun experiment they called Build with Chrome. The WebGL tool Build with Chrome was essentially a virtual Lego program that allowed select in-the-know users to play with the plastic building bricks in their browsers. Today, two years later, Google has officially released this virtual toy tool making it available to anyone anywhere in the world. When first created, users were limited to staking out property in Australia and were limited to publishing their creations there as well. Today users may build their structures anywhere across the globe. In fact it now includes a geographic feature that allows players to browse what their Google+ pals have built and to browse original creations by geographical location. It’s even possible to filter by certain types of creations such as buildings. Spokespeople for Google state that users can even play with virtual Lego bricks using the Android version of Chrome providing they use a device that has “high-end graphics capabilities.” Currently, Build with Chrome also has a promotional angle to it as the tutorial series includes scenes and characters from the yet to be released Lego Movie. Not only has Lego gone hi-tech but they have also made it much easier on your bare feet in the middle of the night. Read more at americanlivewire.com/2014-01-28-lego-online-lego-goes-hi-tech/
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Post by Admin on Jan 29, 2014 8:17:48 GMT -9
Angry anti-NSA activists hack Angry Birds website after GCHQ data-slurp revelations Developers Rovio blame third-party ad networks for leak By John Leyden, 29th January 2014
Spying Birds: Angry Birds defaced by irritated hackers.
Angrybirds.com became "Spying Birds" as a result of the defacement (Zone-h mirror here). Rovio has confirmed the defacement, the International Business Times reports.
The Angrybirds.com website was back to normal by Wednesday morning. The defacement, which Zone-h has yet to confirm is genuine, must have been brief. Defacing a website is an act more akin to scrawling graffiti on a billboard put up by a company than breaking into its premises and ransacking its files.
It's unclear how the defacement was pulled off by a previously unknown hacker or defacement crew using the moniker “Anti-NSA hacker”.
"It’s not clear if Rovio’s web servers were compromised or if the hacker managed to hijack the firm’s DNS records and send visiting computers to a third party site carrying the image instead," writes security industry veteran Graham Cluley.
"Whatever the details of how the hack was perpetrated, it appears to have only been present for a few minutes and the company made its website unavailable for 90 minutes while it confirmed that its systems were now secured," he added.
Files leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden showed the NSA and GCHQ were slurping data from smartphone apps to harvest all manner of personal information from world+dog. This information includes users' locations, their political beliefs and even their sexual preferences.
Angrybirds.com was used as a "case study" in the leaked files, hence the hackers' focus on Rovio – even though a great number of smartphone apps from other developers are involved in the dragnet surveillance program.
Rovio issued a statement in the wake of the revelations stating that it "does not share data, collaborate or collude with any government spy agencies such as NSA or GCHQ anywhere in the world," stating that third-party ad networks may be to blame for the leak.
The alleged surveillance may be conducted through third party advertising networks used by millions of commercial web sites and mobile applications across all industries. If advertising networks are indeed targeted, it would appear that no internet-enabled device that visits ad-enabled web sites or uses ad-enabled applications is immune to such surveillance. Rovio does not allow any third party network to use or hand over personal end-user data from Rovio’s apps. These arguments cut little ice with privacy activists who pointed out that whether the data leaked from Rovio or ad networks was immaterial: how the companies make their money and deliver their technology makes little difference in practice for users of their popular games because the end result is the same.
"The online advertising industry weakens Internet security, and has created pathways for hackers and gov agencies to exploit," said Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist of the speech, privacy & technology project at the American Civil Liberties Union, in an update to his personal Twitter account.
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Post by Admin on Jan 31, 2014 9:43:16 GMT -9
INDIA HAS WON THE TECH WAR:
Microsoft Investors Say Nadella Safe Pick, Glad Search Ends (2) By Nick Taborek and Whitney Kisling January 31, 2014 Microsoft Enterprise and Cloud Chief Satya Nadella Microsoft’s board is preparing to make Satya Nadella, the company’s enterprise and cloud chief, its CEO, and is discussing replacing Gates as chairman, according to people briefed on the process who asked not to be identified because the process is private. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg The most exciting part of elevating Satya Nadella to chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT:US) may be that it would end the search to replace Steve Ballmer, investors in the world’s biggest software maker said.
The 46-year-old native of Hyderabad, India, is a cloud computing whiz with the potential to reverse Microsoft’s image as a company stranded in the past, said Chad Morganlander, a fund manager at Washington Crossing Advisors. At the same time, he spent two decades working for Ballmer and Bill Gates and shareholders may be disappointed no outside candidate was found, said Donald Selkin of National Securities Corp.
Microsoft’s board is preparing to make Nadella, the company’s enterprise and cloud chief, its CEO, and is discussing replacing Gates as chairman, according to people briefed on the process who asked not to be identified because the process is private. Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw declined to comment.
VIDEO: Microsoft Turning to Nadella to Resume Growth: Doll “It’s a safe choice,” said Kevin Walkush, a business analyst at Jensen Investment Management in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The firm oversees $7.2 billion and has 6.7 million Microsoft shares. “There’s a large faction that wants a disruptive tech visionary to take over Microsoft and that group will probably be disappointed. Another group of people think we need a person like Satya who knows the business because it’s so complex and needs someone that has the inside knowledge.”
Relief Rally
The stock (MSFT:US) climbed 2.3 percent to $37.72 at 12:49 p.m. New York time today, after rallying 1.1 percent to $37.25 in after-hours trading as Bloomberg News reported the discussions yesterday. The shares are up 0.8 percent this year.
Nadella, president of Microsoft’s server business, had emerged in late November as the leading internal candidate. In the last month outsiders such as Ericsson AB CEO Hans Vestberg and Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally publicly took themselves out of the running. Mulally’s chances has faded amid concerns about his age and lack of technology experience, people familiar with the matter have said.
VIDEO: Microsoft Needs `Major Transformation,' George Says “Shares might get a relief rally simply on closure of the issue even if the outcome is less than ideal,” Todd Lowenstein, a Los Angeles-based fund manager at HighMark Capital Management Inc., which oversees about $17 billion including Microsoft shares, wrote in an e-mail. “Shareholders were hoping for an outsider with a fresh perspective.”
Company Insider
For investors, Nadella’s challenge is to ignite shares that have been left behind by Google Inc. and Apple Inc. Microsoft has generated a total return of 74 percent since January 2004 compared with a 93 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
“That’s why the stock has sagged a little bit lately,” said Selkin, who helps manage $3 billion including Microsoft as chief market strategist at National Securities in New York. “He’s a company insider and I guess people are worried it’s more of the same.”
Moving Gates from the chairmanship would lessen the skepticism about promoting from within, said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which oversees $63 billion including Microsoft shares.
“It will allow for this internal candidate to be viewed more favorably by the market that he won’t feel the heavy hand of one of the founders and the big shareholder and the previous CEO all collectively perched above him,” Luschini said in a phone interview from Philadelphia. “Maybe that was part of the negotiation.”
Technology Landscape
Microsoft is in the middle of implementing a reorganization and is working to close the acquisition of Nokia Oyj’s handset unit. It introduced the new Xbox One game machine in the holiday quarter and boosted sales of Web-based software such as Azure and Office 365, even as its traditional programs continue to languish along with personal-computer shipments, which posted a record drop in 2013.
Rivals such as Apple have shifted the technology landscape away from Microsoft’s mainstay of personal computers to mobile devices. Ballmer, who said he would retire by August, last year revamped Microsoft’s organizational structure and agreed to buy the Nokia operations for $7.2 billion.
“There needs to be a clean break,” according to Pat Becker Jr., a fund manager at Becker Capital Management, who said that of all the internal candidates, Nadella makes the most sense. His firm, based in Portland, Oregon, oversees about $2.8 billion and owns Microsoft shares.
Ballmer’s Tenure
“It wasn’t that Ballmer was bad,” Becker said. “He didn’t do anything wrong, financial results were good under his tenure. But I also think Microsoft is hindered by perception and the CEO and the chairman have to be somebody that people listen to in the tech world.”
External candidates have included former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, Ford’s Mulally, Qualcomm Inc. CEO-elect Steve Mollenkopf and Ericsson’s Vestberg, people familiar with the search have said. The company also considered internal candidates including Executive Vice President Tony Bates and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner.
Microsoft has struggled to keep pace (MSFT:US) with the bull market that began in 2009, returning 175 percent with dividends compared with 194 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 203 percent for technology companies in the gauge. The shares gained 40 percent in 2013 and its market value of $306 billion makes it the fourth-biggest company in the world behind Apple (AAPL:US), Exxon Mobil Corp. and Google.
Stock Valuation
Concern about how the software maker will keep growing has limited the stock’s valuation (MSFT:US). Microsoft trades for 13 times annual earnings, 25 percent below the average valuation of companies in the S&P 500 Information Technology Index. It bottomed out at 8 times profits in the aftermath of the bank crisis of 2008 and sits more than 80 percent below its multiple of 81 in 1999, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“Microsoft is looked upon as a backward-looking technology company,” said Morganlander, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based fund manager for Washington Crossing, a division of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. “I believe, on the other hand, that there’s a deep future for the company and that they will, over a period of time, gain traction not only on the device side and the mobile side, but also compete on the cloud side.”
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Post by Admin on Feb 3, 2014 10:44:46 GMT -9
February 3, 2014 Alaska Communications Announces Purchase of TekMate ANCHORAGE, Alaska--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Alaska Communications (NASDAQ:ALSK) today announced the purchase of 51 percent of TekMate, one of Alaska's leading managed information technology (IT) services firms, expanding on its 2010 acquisition of 49 percent interest in TekMate. The acquisition means Alaska Communications will continue to expand its portfolio of managed network and IT solutions for its business customers in addition to its existing broadband product offerings. Being able to provide customers with end-to-end, 24X7 support for their broadband networks and IT infrastructure needs further solidifies Alaska Communications' partnership with its customers. "We know our customers prefer focusing on their business and leveraging a local, reliable, trustworthy partner to solve their communications and IT challenges and opportunities. With this step, we advance the level of service our customers and all Alaska businesses need and deserve," said Randy Ritter, senior vice president, managed services for Alaska Communications. Today's purchase will result in offering seamless integrated systems and personalized technology solutions. TekMate's 60 employees will join Alaska Communications' managed services group, resulting in one of the largest managed services organizations in Alaska. TekMate generated $6.8 million revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2013. Alaska Communications expects to incur certain integration costs in 2014 associated with the transaction, which will offset TekMate financial performance. The acquisition, therefore, is not expected to materially increase Alaska Communications' EBITDA or free cash flow in 2014. To learn more about the company's managed services, visit www.AlaskaCommunications.com. About Alaska Communications Alaska Communications is a leading provider of advanced broadband and managed service solutions for businesses and consumers in Alaska. The company operates a highly reliable, advanced statewide data and voice network with the latest technology and the most diverse undersea fiber optic system connecting Alaska to the contiguous United States. For more information, visit www.alaskacommunications.com or www.alsk.com. Alaska Communications Heather Cavanaugh, 907-564-7722 Source: Alaska Communications News Provided by Acquire Media
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Post by Admin on Feb 4, 2014 11:21:41 GMT -9
www.businessweek.com/news/2014-02-04/microsoft-buys-15-million-stake-in-foursquare-for-mobile-dataMicrosoft Buys $15 Million Stake in Foursquare for Mobile Data By Sarah Frier and Dina Bass February 04, 2014 Microsoft Corp. (MSFT:US) invested $15 million in Foursquare Labs Inc., forging a partnership that will help Windows-powered phones offer restaurant and entertainment suggestions to consumers on the move. The investment, confirmed in an interview by Foursquare Chief Executive Officer Dennis Crowley, is part of a funding round from late last year that valued New York-based Foursquare at more than $600 million, people with knowledge of the terms said in December. Microsoft is adding features to its Windows Phone software in an effort to compete with Apple Inc. (AAPL:US)’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android software, which together dominate the smartphone market. Location data from Foursquare will appear in a voice-activated assistant, code-named Cortana, that has yet to be released and will go up against Apple’s Siri technology, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. “This is huge validation for the stuff we’ve been working so hard on,” Crowley said. “It’s one of the leaders in the space we work in looking at us and saying we can really help power the next generation of devices.” Foursquare, which has struggled to generate sales in almost five years on the market, will get a new stream of data licensing revenue from the partnership, Crowley said. Foursquare’s valuation has been stagnant since 2011. Bloomberg News reported in August that Microsoft and American Express Co. were both vying for a stake in Foursquare. Microsoft has been courting startups to add features to its phones and tablets, which lag behind Apple and Android products in the number of applications available to users. Cortana Coming Cortana, named for the artificially intelligent character in Microsoft’s popular “Halo” video game series, is scheduled to be part of the Windows Phone 8.1 release, to be shown within several months, according to a person familiar with the project and Foursquare agreement, who asked not to be identified because details haven’t been made public. As part of the deal, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft will gain access to more of Foursquare’s data than the company makes available publicly and to other partners. That data would allow Microsoft, with a user’s permission, to push out tips, suggestions and discounts tied to a person’s location, said Zig Serafin, a vice president in Microsoft’s Bing search unit. “We’re building some contextually aware experiences to power some upcoming products in Windows Phone,” Serafin said. “This will be for anywhere you get a Bing-powered experience.” Crowley and Serafin, along with other employees from the two companies, began working on a deal last year to collaborate on products, which eventually led to an investment, said the person familiar with the agreement. The companies did not discuss an acquisition, the person said. Uphill Struggle Brendan Lewis, a spokesman for Foursquare, declined to comment on negotiations with Microsoft or plans for Cortana. Adam Sohn, a Microsoft spokesman, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment and the company hasn’t publicly commented on Cortana. In December, Foursquare raised $35 million led by venture fund DFJ Growth. The company spent the year adding products for businesses to advertise to its users as well as ways to send instant and relevant recommendations to people. Foursquare has 45 million users, compared with more than 230 million for Twitter Inc. and 1.2 billion for Facebook Inc. To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net; Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net
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Post by Admin on Feb 5, 2014 8:07:19 GMT -9
Google's big concessions end EU antitrust probe Alistair Barr, USA TODAY 11:41 a.m. EST February 5, 2014 Google will display results from competitors, distinguish its promoted results from others
AP Europe Antitrust Google (Photo: Walter Bieri, AP) SAN FRANCISCO - Google made "far-reaching" concessions to settle a three year-old European antitrust investigation into alleged abuses of its dominant position in the Internet search business, authorities said on Wednesday.
Google agreed to significantly change the way it displays some search results in Europe in favor of its competitors.
Google will guarantee that whenever it promotes its own services on its web page, the services of three rivals, selected through an objective method, will also be displayed in a way that is clearly visible to users and comparable to the way in which Google displays its own services, the European Commission said.
This will apply to future search services in addition to existing ones, the Commission added in a statement.
Google also agreed to label more clearly search results stemming from its own services to allow users to distinguish between natural search results and those promoted by the company.
"We will be making significant changes to the way Google operates in Europe," Kent Walker, senior vice president and general counsel of Google, said in a statement. "We have been working with the European Commission to address issues they raised and look forward to resolving this matter."
Europe's investigation into Google has cast a shadow over the company, even as many of its businesses thrive and the company expands into new areas such as robotics, wearable gadgets and home automation. A longer antitrust probe could have produced fines of up to 10% of the Google's annual revenue, or about $5 billion.
"News of a settlement removes an important risk for Google, at least in the near- or medium-term," said Carlos Kirjner, an analyst at Bernstein Research. "Structural antitrust regulation, while unlikely, is one of the few, and perhaps the only, truly fundamental, near-existential risk Google faces in the next 10 or 15 years."
Google shares slipped 0.5% to $1,132.68 in morning trading on Wednesday.
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