News

Microsoft at CES: In-Car Tech, Windows Phones, Zune, Bing and Lots of PCs

Microsoft's booth at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of if not the largest exhibit on the Las Vegas Convention Center show floor this week. CIO.com's Al Sacco brings the action to you without the hassle of CES crowds via thi

By Al Sacco

Jan 8, 2010

Laptops Small and Medium Business Smartphones

BlackBerry at CES 2010: RIM Booth Tour in Images

Are you a "CrackBerry" addict or gadget fiend who couldn't make it to Las Vegas for the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show this year? Fret not. CIO.com's Al Sacco is on the scene, where he snapped piles of photos from RIM's Black

By Al Sacco

Jan 7, 2010

Data Center Small and Medium Business Smartphones

The Apple Leak: A Marketer’s Magic Bullet

Was Apple behind a controlled leak about its rumored tablet? A controlled leak lets you decide where and when the information will appear and fires up the buzz machine.

By Tom Kaneshige

Jan 7, 2010

Consumer Electronics Small and Medium Business Tablets

BMW Calls Windows 7 Rollout Smooth Driving So Far

German car giant BMW is racing to the next phase of its company-wide Windows 7 migration faster than expected, having won over internal skeptics. Here's a look inside their rollout to date.

By Shane O'Neill

Jan 6, 2010

IT Leadership Small and Medium Business Windows

RIM Unveils New “BlackBerry Presenter” for PowerPoint Presos

BlackBerry-maker RIM this morning announced its latest smartphone accessory, the BlackBerry Presenter. The new gadget lets users project PowerPoint presentations stored on their BlackBerry smartphones to projectors or monitors, eliminating the need f

By Al Sacco

Jan 6, 2010

Data Center Small and Medium Business Smartphones

Apple Tablet: Screen Cost is The Price Hurdle Apple Can’t Jump

As reports surfaced Monday that Apple's upcoming tablet may cost right around $1000, industry critics began debating the not-so-appetizing price. CIO.com talked to a touchscreen maker to get the inside scoop on one big factor keeping the tablet&

By Tom Kaneshige

Jan 5, 2010

Tablets

Microsoft’s Latest Plan to Win SMBs: Windows 7 Pro

Microsoft says small businesses didn't get enough attention with Windows Vista. So it baked new features into Windows 7 Professional just for SMBs. Will this effort, plus new hardware bundles, be enough to woo SMBs to upgrade?

By Shane O'Neill

Jan 4, 2010

IT Strategy Laptops Small and Medium Business

ATTN BlackBerry Bold 9700 Users: All OS Code Not Created Equally…

New BlackBerry Bold 9700 owners should be particularly cautious about installing new operating-system code on their smartphones. That's true whether the OS was released "officially" by a wireless carrier other than your own–or leaked

By Al Sacco

Jan 4, 2010

Carriers Small and Medium Business Smartphones

Ballmer in 2010: Should He Stay or Should He Go Now?

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's leadership has come under fire in the last few years, and Newsweek predicts he will be ousted in 2010. But there are pros and cons to Ballmer, and he should have just enough clout to stay the head honcho at Microsof

By Shane O'Neill

Dec 23, 2009

IT Leadership Small and Medium Business Windows

RIM Blames Service Outage on Bum BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Updates

BlackBerry-maker RIM says it believes a major North American BlackBerry service outage that started yesterday and lasted into early this morning can be attributed to two recent flawed updates to its popular BlackBerry IM application, BlackBerry Messe

By Al Sacco

Dec 23, 2009

Data Center Small and Medium Business Smartphones

Analyst Firm Tells Asia’S CIOs to Adopt an IT Recovery

The new year is quickly approaching and IDC has provided Asia/Pacific chief information officers (CIOs) with the top ten insights that they need to be aware of in 2010.

By Anuradha Shukla

Dec 21, 2009

CIO IT Strategy

Verizon Forcing Microsoft Bing Search on BlackBerry Users

U.S. wireless carrier Verizon wants its BlackBerry customers to employ Microsoft's Bing search engine, and it's not-so-subtly pushing some of its users in the Bing-direction by removing all other default search-engine options from their Bla

By Al Sacco

Dec 21, 2009

Carriers Small and Medium Business Smartphones

Security Heavyweights Predict 2010 Threats

Upcoming security threats for 2010, as predicted by CA, Cisco, Symantec, Websense and a group of experts at Independent Security Evaluators. Plus, Info-Tech on security trends.

By Jennifer Kavur

Dec 18, 2009

Data Breach Malware Viruses

Microsoft and Consumers: Friends or Foes?

Windows Mobile's failure to compete has put a spotlight Microsoft's struggles to win over consumers in general, whose Web-based needs and habits will soon spill over into the corporate world, say industry analysts.

By Shane O'Neill

Dec 17, 2009

Small and Medium Business Smartphones Windows

Seven Features in Windows 7 You Probably Don’t Know About

From streaming Netflix movies in Windows Media Center to eye candy desktop Themes to a calculator that does a lot more than arithmetic, here's a slideshow of cool but unappreciated Windows 7 features.

By Shane O'Neill

Dec 16, 2009

Small and Medium Business Windows

5 Google Labs Projects That Should Be On Your Radar

From a cure for your e-mail addiction to the new Google Goggles, get up to speed on five cool tools that Google has to offer.

By Kristin Burnham

Dec 16, 2009

Enterprise Applications Internet Social Networking Apps

Amazon: Kindle for BlackBerry App “Coming Soon”

BlackBerry owners will soon be able to download a free Amazon.com Kindle BlackBerry app for smartphone-based access to their Kindle digital-book library. Apple's iPhone is currently the only major smartphone platform with an official Kindle mobi

By Al Sacco

Dec 16, 2009 3 mins

Data Center Small and Medium Business Smartphones

The Next Decade in Mobile: Mobclix’s Outrageous (Yet Possible) Predictions

Android overtakes the iPhone? Nearly all phones support video chat? Mobile commerce hits $100 billion? These are some of Mobclix's wild mobile predictions for the next decade. CIO.com takes a closer look.

By Tom Kaneshige

Dec 15, 2009

Small and Medium Business Social Networking Apps Twitter

BlackBerry Gets Free UPS App for Shipping, Tracking Packages

UPS customers can tomorrow download a free mobile application for BlackBerry smartphones that offers UPS package shipping and tracking features, as well as a UPS store locator. The new UPS for BlackBerry app will be available for download from RIM&#0

By Al Sacco

Dec 15, 2009

Data Center Small and Medium Business Smartphones

AT&T iPhone Users Irate at Idea of Usage-Based Pricing

AT&T has hinted it will move from an all you can eat data plan to usage-based pricing to solve its continuing bandwidth woes – and users don't like it one little bit.

By Tom Kaneshige

Dec 14, 2009

Carriers Consumer Electronics Smartphones

Google Phone: Why I Couldn’t Care Less…For Now

CIO.com mobile guru Al Sacco explains why he's not getting excited about the recently revealed Google Phone, or Nexus One, which will apparently be produced for Google by Taiwanese handset maker HTC…at least not yet.

By Al Sacco

Dec 14, 2009

Data Center Small and Medium Business Smartphones

BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 5.0 Now Supports Microsoft Exchange 2010

BlackBerry administrators can now update their organizations' BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software for Microsoft Exchange to BES 5.0 service pack 1 (SP1) maintenance release 1 (MR1). The update brings support for Exchange Server 2010 to B

By Al Sacco

Dec 14, 2009

Enterprise Architecture Small and Medium Business Smartphones

Goldman Sachs: Windows 7 Upgrades to Fuel IT Spending in 2010

A Goldman Sachs report on IT spending for the next year and beyond indicates industry growth, with help from storage gear, server and PC refreshes as well as Windows 7 upgrades.

By Shane O'Neill

Dec 11, 2009

Data Center Small and Medium Business Windows

Microsoft in 2010: Four Challenges That Lie Ahead

For Microsoft, 2010 will be a critical rebuilding year where the software giant must maintain Windows 7 and Bing momentum, resuscitate Windows Mobile and prevent businesses from "Going Google."

By Shane O'Neill

Dec 10, 2009

Data Center Small and Medium Business Windows

VeriSign Ensures Security in the Cloud

VeriSign has been chosen to provide cloud-based security and authentication for the Windows Azure platform.

By Anuradha Shukla

Dec 9, 2009

Risk Management Small and Medium Business Virtualization

Forrester Report Names Four Leading Vendors in ECM Space

Independent Forrester Research recently identified four leading vendors in the enterprise content management (ECM) space which are responsive to the requirements of today's enterprises."

By Veronica C. Silva

Dec 9, 2009

Data Center Enterprise Applications

Optus Inks Three-Year Outsourcing Deal with HP

In a bid to improve the performance and quality levels of its key application and support services, Australian telecoms company Optus signed a three-year outsourcing contract with HP Enterprise Services.

By Veronica C. Silva

Dec 9, 2009

Outsourcing

Forrester: CIOs Should Embrace Consumer Tools

The consumerization of IT, the rise of agile software development and the explosion of cloud computing technologiesare three big trends that today's CIOs must embrace, a group of analysts at Forrester Research Inc. said Tuesday.

By Rafael Ruffolo

Dec 9, 2009

CIO Careers IT Strategy

BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac Gets Maintenance Update; Still No Photo Sync

Just two weeks after releasing a new version of its BlackBerry Desktop Manager software for Windows PC users, RIM has updated its BlackBerry Desktop Software for Macintosh computers to v1.0.2. The update is a maintenance release, and it does not add

By Al Sacco

Dec 9, 2009 2 mins

Computers and Peripherals Data Center Small and Medium Business

5 Twitter Features I Want Most in 2010

Sure, 2009 was a banner year for Web 2.0 darling Twitter. But here are five changes that I want to see Twitter implement to make its service even better in 2010.

By Kristin Burnham

Dec 9, 2009 3 mins

Consumer Electronics Enterprise Applications Social Networking Apps

8 More PowerPoint Train Wrecks

We thought we had seen presentation disaster at its worst with the last set of PowerPoint slides. We were wrong. These train wrecks, captured in all their not-so-fiery infamy, show what truly terrible PPT slides can do to burn innocent audiences ever

By Thomas Wailgum

Dec 7, 2009

Enterprise Applications

Five Moves I Wish Apple Would Make in 2010

Will Apple deliver its much-rumored tablet next year? Can IT staffs expect some help managing iPhones? Some of the things we hope to see next year just might come to pass, while others are wishful thinking.

By Tom Kaneshige

Dec 7, 2009

Outsourcing Social Networking Apps iPhone

BlackBerry App World Now Offering Themes (Free and Commercial)

BlackBerry-maker RIM's mobile software store BlackBerry App World today started offering "themes," or software skins that help users customize and optimize their smartphones. The themes, which include Disney- and Harley-Davidson-brande

By Al Sacco

Dec 7, 2009

Computers and Peripherals Developer Small and Medium Business

20 Mobile Trends and Future Technologies

Spokespeople from Info-Tech Research Group Ltd., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sony Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. provided food for thought on upcoming uses for mobile devices at a Technology Town Hall meeting in Toronto Tuesday.

By Jennifer Kavur

Dec 4, 2009

Computers and Peripherals Laptops Small and Medium Business

Tech Vendors Behaving Badly: Support Just Gets Worse

There's been a lot of well-deserved rage directed at Wall Street this year; maybe Silicon Valley should get a dose of the same. The technology industry does too little to help or support buyers once they've opened their wallets.

By Bill Snyder

Dec 4, 2009

Operating Systems

BlackBerry-Maker RIM Hit With Another Patent Complaint in U.S.

RIM, maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphone, has been served yet another patent-related complaint, and the motion could potentially lead to the barring of sales of certain BlackBerry products and/or services in the United States–though that outc

By Al Sacco

Dec 3, 2009

Computers and Peripherals Data Center Small and Medium Business

Fraud from organized criminal groups hurts financial institutions the most, the best way to fight a criminal network is to take it down as an organization and analytics software helps institutions do this by providing insight into the big picture, ac

By Jennifer Kavur

Dec 2, 2009

Data Center Enterprise Applications Internet

Falling PC Prices Pit Microsoft Against PC Makers

Plummeting prices of PCs are great news for consumers, but are a disaster for hardware makers. Microsoft isn't cutting them any slack with Windows pricing. Will PC price drops catch up with Microsoft in other ways?

By Shane O'Neill

Dec 2, 2009

Data Center Small and Medium Business Windows

Smartphone Stocking Stuffers: 15 Hot Accessories and Add-Ons

CIO.com's mobile guru Al Sacco scoured the Web for the best and most affordable stocking stuffers sure to bring joy to the hearts of smartphone-lovers this holiday season – iPhone, BlackBerry, Window Mobile, Palm and Android users alike. With ou

By Al Sacco

Dec 2, 2009

Small and Medium Business Smartphones iPhone

RIM to BlackBerry Admins: Beware New BES Security Flaw

RIM has identified another critical security flaw in its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software, and the BlackBerry-maker is suggesting all organizations running BES 4.1.3 or higher update their software immediately or at least disable the probl

By Al Sacco

Dec 2, 2009

Computers and Peripherals Data Center Small and Medium Business

Five Great iPhone Photography Apps for the Holidays

To get the most from your iPhone 3GS camera, consider these five apps for the amateur shutterbug working overtime during the holidays.

By Tom Kaneshige

Dec 1, 2009

Consumer Electronics iPhone

Safer Online Shopping: Eight Tips

Black Friday sales results show holiday shoppers flocking to the Web this year in unprecedented numbers. To avoid this season's crop of security threats to your browser and computer, check out these eight suggestions from Microsoft.

By Shane O'Neill

Dec 1, 2009

Data Center Enterprise Applications

Navigation apps ring up some of the highest sales of all the apps in Apple's app store.

By Tom Kaneshige

Nov 30, 2009

Consumer Electronics Social Networking Apps iPhone

BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 5.0 SP1 for Exchange, Lotus Domino Now Available

BlackBerry administrators can now download the latest version of RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server, BES 5.0 SP1, for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino deployments. The update includes a number of valuable fixes and improvements, including

By Al Sacco

Nov 30, 2009

Computers and Peripherals Data Center Small and Medium Business

RIM Wants You! (to Make eBay for BlackBerry the Best It Can Be)

BlackBerry-maker RIM today released a beta, or test, version of its brand new, free eBay for BlackBerry app, and the company's looking for feedback from early users to help improve and shape future builds of the software. eBay for BlackBerry cur

By Al Sacco

Nov 25, 2009

Computers and Peripherals Data Center Small and Medium Business

Three Reasons Microsoft Should Be Thankful

Those darn Apple ads just get funnier. Still, as Thanksgiving approaches, the folks at Microsoft have plenty to be thankful for, particularly on the Windows 7 and Bing fronts.

By Shane O'Neill

Nov 24, 2009

Internet Small and Medium Business Windows

BlackBerry Media Sync 3.0 Brings Photo-Sync Features to PC; Mac Users Get Cold Shoulder

A new version of RIM's free multimedia-oriented desktop software, BlackBerry Media Sync 3.0, helps CrackBerry addicts sync and manage their iTunes and Windows Media Player music libraries, as well as personal photos collections, between desktop

By Al Sacco

Nov 24, 2009

Apple Small and Medium Business Technology Industry

Top 10 Non-Tech Gadgets IT Pros Can’t Live Without

IT professionals need a lot more than a computer and a smartphone to get their jobs done. Here are 10 mostly non-tech tools they can't function without.

By Meridith Levinson

Nov 23, 2009

IT Leadership

BlackBerry Bold 9700: Why It’s RIM’s Best BlackBerry Ever

RIM's latest smartphone, the BlackBerry Bold 9700, is now available in the United States from both T-Mobile and AT&T. CIO.com's BlackBerry guru Al Sacco explains why the Bold 9700 is the best RIM smartphone ever (think: battery life) de

By Al Sacco

Nov 23, 2009 11 mins

Computers and Peripherals Data Center Small and Medium Business

LinkedIn Opens APIs, Clearing Way for New Apps

LinkedIn today opened a set of APIs to software developers who want to build apps to interact with the social networking service. With this move, LinkedIn jumps into a growing battle between Google, Facebook and others that want to be the center of y

By Kristin Burnham

Nov 23, 2009

Enterprise Applications