Software : iOS 7.1 reveals evidence future iPads will have Touch ID |
- iOS 7.1 reveals evidence future iPads will have Touch ID
- Microsoft profits fall despite consumer, business line sales increases
- Revamped dialer leak suggests Android 4.4.3 may bring new features after all
- Cisco's 'Managed Threat Defense' solution is designed to detect and prevent attacks
| iOS 7.1 reveals evidence future iPads will have Touch ID Posted:  Fingerprint recognition is fast becoming ubiquitous on smartphones, but there are indications that Apple might be planning to introduce the same technology into its line of tablet products as well. GforGames.com turned up clues today that look promising for iPad owners hoping to see Apple's Touch ID fingerprint recognition sensor make the leap from iPhone 5S to their favorite tablets. According to the Twitter account of iOS developer @bp_unicorn, fragments of code from the Biometric Kit included with iOS 7.1 appear to reveal several references to the iPad. "I've just found a reference to the iPad family in Touch ID's resources... #TouchID on the new #iPad?" the Thursday tweet reads.
Nothing new?Rumors have circulated about the addition of Touch ID to the iPad lineup, with many expecting Cupertino to offer just such a feature with the latest iPad Air and iPad mini 2 with Retina Display models introduced late last year. That speculation didn't quite pan out, but the UIDeviceFamily references in iOS 7.1 clearly define two families: The first covers iPhone and iPod touch devices, while the second, which is clearly noted in the screenshot above, covers the iPad family. But not so fast: 9to5Mac scribe Benjamin Mayo tweeted earlier today that iPad-related biometric code has "been around for several iOS updates," potentially throwing cold water on the idea of Touch ID's imminent arrival on an iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3. Be that as it may, if Apple history tells us anything, it's that features new to one device more often that not do eventually make their way to others - so it may just be a matter of waiting until Cupertino is good and ready.
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| Microsoft profits fall despite consumer, business line sales increases Posted:  Microsoft's Q3 2014 revenue remained flat at $20.4 billion (about £12.1b, AU$22b), compared with $20.49 billion (about £12.4b, AU$22.5b), in revenue during the same quarter last year. Operating income during the quarter decreased 9% to $6.9 billion (about £4.1b, AU$7.45b), during Q3, despite a decrease in operating expenses of $500 million (about £297m, AU$540m). Microsoft's net income during Q3 2014 decreased 8% from $6.1 billion (about £3.6b, AU$6.6b) to $5.6 billion (about £3.3b, AU$6.05b), compared with last year. The declines were partly the result of a $1.66 billion (about £9.8b, AU$17.9b) lift from deferred revenue in the comparable quarter last year, according to The New York Times. The deferred revenue was related to promotional offers Microsoft extended to customers buying new versions of Windows, Office and other products. Without that money, Microsoft's revenue grew 8% and net income grew 5%. "This quarter's results demonstrate the strength of our business, as well as the opportunities we see in a mobile-first, cloud-first world," said Satya Nadella, in his first earnings statement as Microsoft CEO. "The past two and a half months have been a period of significant change. In the months ahead we will be focused on two things: rock solid execution and moving the company forward," he added during an investors call. Consumer productsMicrosoft sold in 2 million Xbox console units, including 1.2 million Xbox One consoles, during the quarter. Surface revenue increased more than 50% during the quarter to approximately $500 million (about £297m, AU$540m). Bing US search share grew to 18.6% of the market, while search advertising revenue grew 38%. The company's devices and consumer revenue increased 12% to $8.3 billion (about £4.9b, AU$8.9b) overall, compared with Q3 last year, due in large part to Windows OEM revenue, which increased 4%. Office 365 Home reached 4.4 million subscribers during Q3, an increase of nearly 1 million subscribers from Q2. Business-to-businessMicrosoft's business-to-business revenue grew 7% to $12.23 billion (about £7.2b, AU$13.3b) during the quarter, with Office 365 revenue doubling compared with Q2. Azure revenue increased 150% while Windows volume licensing revenue increased 11%. "Our SQL Server business grew double-digits again this quarter, and with the announcements of SQL 2014 and Power BI for Office 365, we offer a unique, comprehensive, end-to-end data and analytics solution," said Kevin Turner, COO at Microsoft. Microsoft expects to close the acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business on April 25, the company said in its earnings statement. Recent newsLast week, Microsoft made Office 365 available for $69.99 per year (about £41, AU$74) and previewed an application that offers users in-depth analytics and interactive capabilities for PowerPoint. The company also revealed three services designed to ease data capture, storage and usage: the SQL Server 2014, Microsoft Azure Intelligent Systems Service and Analytics Platform Systems. Plans for a $1.1 billion (about £65m, AU$1.18b) Microsoft data center in Iowa went public. In March, the company introduced Microsoft Office for iPad and Microsoft's new Enterprise Mobility Suite, which includes a series of tools designed to make it easier for IT departments to manage mobile devices and protect sensitive data. In February, Nadella was named the third CEO of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. |
| Revamped dialer leak suggests Android 4.4.3 may bring new features after all Posted:  A leaked screenshot purportedly showing a revamped Android dialer has emerged online, suggesting the feature may be included in a forthcoming KitKat update. The picture, unearthed by the XDA developers forum, showcases a colourful card-based UI complete with contact photos or, in the absence of a photo, the contact's first initial. The new UI mirrors that of the Gmail app, but it appears Google is bringing the cleaner, less cluttered experience to Android KitKat calls. Within the screenshot, the contact search bar remains at the top of the screen, while the blue action bar still sits at the bottom. Bye-bye bugsIf the redesign is deployed within Android 4.4.3, it's likely to be one of few aesthetic changes brought by the update. The forthcoming KitKat boost is largely expected to tackle bugs such as random rebooting of devices along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity issues. Just last weekend Google issued an update for one of its education-friendly apps bringing support for Android 4.4.3, suggesting the rollout could be imminent. |
| Cisco's 'Managed Threat Defense' solution is designed to detect and prevent attacks Posted:  Cisco introduced a security solution geared toward attack detection and prevention, the company said in a statement. "Managed Threat Defense" is designed to leverage real-time, predictive analytics to ensure attacks that aren't detected by antivirus solutions are caught in real time. The new tool is an on-premise combination of hardware and software. Cisco's team will be responsible for monitoring activity that occurs within the service network in order to attempt to detect incidents, provide response analysis, monitor incident escalation, and provide remediation recommendations. Incident tracking and reporting is available via a subscription. Managed Threat Defense will be integrated with Hadoop 2.0 in order to attempt to apply predictive analytics to identify anomalous patterns in order to detect oncoming attacks. The solution is also designed to find vulnerabilities using pattern analysis and community threat intelligence data. DDoS attacksCisco recently released patches for six flaws in its Internetwork Operating System. At the time Cisco said that the vulnerabilities were serious and could have been used to mount DDoS attacks on customers. A recent Akamai survey reported DDoS attacks were 47% more frequent in Q1 2014 than they were during the same quarter last year. The Internet of ThingsIn addition to investments in security solutions, Cisco has recently focused on helping clients construct an Internet of Things. In March, Cisco said it would invest $1 billion (£605 million, AU$1.1 billion) to build what it says will be the world's largest Intercloud network to tackle the Internet of Everything. The two-year investment will see Cisco and its partners develop an open network of clouds with APIs for rapid application development to serve the enterprise market. In February at Mobile World Congress, Cisco hosted a number of demonstrations on how to transform user experiences with heterogeneous access, how to capture new markets with elastic mobile networks, and how to monetize and optimize with experience-aware networks. Cisco also unveiled plans to connect the Internet of Things to cloud data centers using "fog computing" solutions, which the company says will be a "highly virtualized platform that provides compute, storage and networking services between devices and cloud computing data centers." |
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