Trends

Cloud service users are becoming more vocal about what they want from cloud providers and how they want to pay for it -- and cloud providers may be listening. Cloud firms are beginning to offer more flexible options and are gradually shifting to utility-style pricing models. There is no single facto...

The TV industry has been quick to move into the app market, and these offerings may foster a new era for television services. The term "app" was initially coined for small applications that run on mobile devices and fulfill a particular purpose, but apps are now common to several platforms, notably ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to jump into a software patent case that could resolve the muddled situation that has been vexing IT companies, legal experts and federal judges for years. Specifically, the Supreme Court said earlier this month that it would rule on Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank In...

As most security and compliance pros already know, PCI 3.0 is now officially out. The specific changes it includes have already been covered in quite a bit of detail elsewhere in the industry press, so I won't cover them all again here. However, one area that is often less discussed is how to use th...

As the 2013 International CES approached a year ago, it was clear that a showdown between OLED and 4K -- or UltraHD -- was brewing in the TV display market. A year later, that showdown is fully under way, but with a notable twist. Specifically, Panasonic's announcement in late October that it would ...

Delta Air Lines this week announced that it will ban in-flight cellphone calls amid growing opposition to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's proposal to allow them. Delta employees, particularly flight crews, are opposed to on-board cellphone calls, CEO Richard Anderson said in a memo to t...

Amazon is charting a new course as it prepares to expand its Amazon Web Services cloud computing platform to China. The company will start inviting select businesses there to take advantage of the platform as part of a limited preview. Amazon will extend invitations to both China-based and multinati...

It looks like 2014 will be a very exciting year as the wireless industry continues to transform not only itself but other industries as well. Have you noticed how things are changing, thanks to the wireless industry, smartphones and all those apps? We will see wave after wave of change. Over the nex...

China has delivered Bitcoin the second half of a one-two punch that could be the beginning of the end for the virtual currency. BTC China, China's largest Bitcoin exchange, on Wednesday said it could no longer accept deposits of renminbi -- the local currency -- to purchase bitcoin. BTC China's anno...

The Obama administration has reached into Microsoft's ranks for the tech talent it needs to fix the Affordable Care Act cock-up. The White House on Tuesday named Kurt DelBene, who started at Microsoft in 1992 and most recently served as president of its lucrative Office Division, to oversee HealthCa...

For IT industry analysts, autumn is a migratory time filled with trips to vendor conferences and summits. While their forms and locations tend to differ, most vendors use the time to delineate how their strategies, solutions and sales have progressed during the past calendar year and to discuss wher...

Facebook has announced a new feature that allows users to donate money to nonprofit organizations through the site, a move designed to help raise both funds and global awareness for the charitable causes. Facebook was inspired to launch the donation feature following last month's successful partners...

Corporate America has been quaking in its boots since Microsoft announced in August that CEO Steve Ballmer would retire within 12 months and launched its search for a replacement. Given the enormous task Microsoft's next CEO will face, the compensation is likely to be substantial, and the lure of al...

Amazon on Wednesday announced the expansion of its experimental grocery delivery service to San Francisco. It launched AmazonFresh in 2007 as a test in one Seattle neighborhood, gradually expanding in that area. This summer, it made its debut in Los Angeles. With the addition of San Francisco, it ap...

Despite recent revelations regarding the NSA's extensive surveillance of email messages, Internet traffic and mobile communications, no one expects people or businesses to discard these essential habits and tools. In fact, I believe cloud-based alternatives to traditional, on-premises software and s...