Enterprise
Latest
Google and Dell team up on the first Chromebooks made for business
The next time you get a laptop from your company's IT department, you might be getting a Chromebook. Not that you couldn't already get a Chromebook from your office, but these offer extra security and organizational features that might leave IT professionals more reassured. The Dell Latitude 5400 Chromebook Enterprise and Dell Latitude 5300 2-in-1 Chromebook Enterprise were born from a partnership between Dell and Google, though the latter also has some updates around Chrome OS enterprise to share today. Unwieldy names aside, these new machines are based on existing models of Dell's Latitude laptops, except they run Chrome OS. So don't be surprised if you find them familiar.
Facebook's Workplace redesign looks nothing like Slack
For the longest time, Facebook and its various technological tendrils, including WhatsApp and Instagram, have been a popular time killer at work. They're the sites and apps you flip to on your lunch break or when you can't stand looking at another Excel spreadsheet. Facebook, predictably, isn't content with filling these gaps in productivity. For the last few years, it's been pushing a version of Facebook called Workplace, which helps employees chat, collaborate and generally get stuff done.
Slack tightens security to stop people from stealing data
Slack is integral to the way many businesses operate, but the messaging service has had problems in the past with security issues. Today, Slack is adding features which the company says will help admins lock down their workspaces to prevent people from accessing information they shouldn't and reduce the leaking of sensitive company data.
BlackBerry Messenger shuts down for good today
Today, Emtek pulls the plug on BlackBerry Messenger. The company announced last month that it would shut down the consumer service, which has been steadily losing users and failing to attract new ones. As a consolation for diehard fans, BlackBerry opened BBM Enterprise, its enterprise-grade encrypted Messenger (BBMe), for personal use. That's available on Android, iOS, Windows and Mac.
Microsoft buys chatbot company to juice its AI projects
Research company Gartner believes that by 2020, conversational AI -- or chat bots -- will be the predominant go-to for customer support in large organizations. So if you've got a question or a problem, chances are you'll be talking to a computer about it. Tech companies will need to make sure their capabilities are on point, then, which is likely why Microsoft has just acquired software design and development studio XOXCO.
IBM buys Linux giant Red Hat to thrive in the cloud
IBM isn't a stranger to Linux by any stretch, but it might just become one of the platform's strongest supporters in the near future -- and shake up the cloud landscape, for that matter. IBM has announced a deal to buy Linux giant and open source enterprise software developer Red Hat for the equivalent value of $34 billion. Provided it clears regulatory hurdles, the acquisition should close in the second half of 2019.
Microsoft lets companies pay for Windows 7 support until 2023
Microsoft must still be scarred by having to support Windows XP well past its expiry date, as it's drawing a line in the sand for Windows 7 users. Corporate and institutional customers can only pay for extended security update support through January 2023, or about three years after Microsoft stops providing regular patches. On top of this, the price will increase every year between 2020 and 2023 -- the longer a company clings to the past, the costlier it gets.
StarVR's latest enterprise headset features built-in eye tracking
StarVR has a new virtual reality headset, dubbed the "One." We haven't heard from the company -- a collaboration between Swedish game developer Starbreeze and Acer -- since it was demoing its own The Walking Dead game back in 2015. Back then, what made its headset stand out from the crowd was its 210-degree field of view. If you're keeping track at home, that's over double what the Oculus Rift offers. The new headset promises the same impressive FOV, but with Tobii's eye-tracking technology baked in.
World's largest SSD capacity now stands at 100TB
That didn't take long -- just a month after Samsung released a record-setting 30TB SSD, a rival has claimed the throne. Nimbus Data has unveiled the ExaDrive DC100, which crams 100TB of 3D flash memory into a standard 3.5-inch SATA form factor. For context, that's 20 million songs (if you assume 5MB each) in a device small enough to fit into your home PC. Not that you're about to buy one, unfortunately.
BlackBerry and Microsoft team up to make work phones more secure
BlackBerry and Microsoft may have been bitter foes before their smartphone dreams came crashing down, but they're becoming close allies now that they're focused on services. The two have unveiled a partnership that helps you seamlessly use Microsoft's Office 365-capable mobile apps from inside BlackBerry's more secure, contained Dynamics space. Ideally, this gives you the best of both worlds: you can work on that Excel file across devices without making your IT manager break into a cold sweat.
Samsung's work-focused Note 8 has better support than your phone
Wish your Android phone maker of choice would offer software updates for longer than the usual couple of years? You might want to ask your company's IT manager. Samsung has released an Enterprise Edition of the Galaxy Note 8 whose centerpiece is its "PC-class" support. It's the same hardware you can buy at the local store, but Samsung is promising up to 3 years of monthly security updates -- why can't all its Android devices get that kind of backing, regardless of who's buying? We could see that extended update timeline helping personal users worried that their phones will be vulnerable to exploits that pop up after the usual support period is over.
Microsoft's all-in-one 365 subscription is available for schools
Microsoft just launched its latest bid to bring its services into every aspect of schools and the workforce. To begin with, it's offering its all-encompassing Microsoft 365 subscription to education. Schools can pay a single per-person rate to get Windows 10, Office 365, the Enterprise Mobility and Security Suite and even Minecraft: Education Edition. Office 365 for Education is already free, but Microsoft is betting that all the other perks will be worth it for faculty that wants a one-stop shop for the software they need. It'll be available on October 1st -- too late for the return to school, so don't be surprised if you don't see this used in earnest until the winter semester or next fall.
Microsoft and Intel want Bitcoin tech in your workplace
Blockchain is practically tailor-made for business, and not just because it's a cornerstone of Bitcoin. Its decentralized, speedy approach to secure transactions is more convenient for tracking cargo around the world or providing digital IDs to those who'd otherwise have nothing. And Microsoft knows it -- it's partnering with Intel to introduce a framework, Coco, that promises to make blockchain accessible to virtually any large business where it might help. It draws on Intel's Software Guard Extensions to provide blockchain's distributed tech with speed (up to 1,600 transactions per second) and security that scales to just about any kind of business with relative ease. You don't need to spend as much time crafting a custom blockchain system, or pay through the nose for computing power as your demands grow.
Google Glass is officially back with a clearer vision
If you thought that Google Glass was killed by a lack of practicality and privacy concerns, think again. Alphabet X, Google's "moonshot" branch, has unveiled a reboot of the original eyeglass-like wearable called Glass Enterprise Edition. As the name suggests, it's not aimed at the public at all. Despite its many foibles, Glass turned out to be very useful for workers, so the new version targets businesses to help workers do their jobs better.
Expect to see BlackBerry's name (and tech) on more devices
A few years ago we had all the jokes about BlackBerry and licensing, but yesterday the company reported a higher profit than analysts were expecting and says that its licensing program will expand soon. Right now, BlackBerry licenses its name and Android-based software for devices made by other companies. In December TCL announced it would be the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of BlackBerry phones in most countries, but now BlackBerry says it's pursuing "additional endpoints." That could include "tablets, wearables, medical devices, appliances, point-of-sale terminals and other smartphones."
HTC targets the classroom with 10-headset Vive bundle
The folks over at HTC Vive have been talking up the potential of VR in education since day one, and this year, they're hoping to make a bigger push into this space by focusing on multi-user scenarios. At this week's Vive Ecosystem Conference in Shenzhen, the company announced the Vive Group Edition bundle for China, which includes ten Business Edition headsets plus two Business Edition base stations for 49,999 yuan or about $7,260, and it's due to ship in May. This offers a much lower entry barrier for commercial users, as it's almost a 40-percent saving when compared to buying ten full Business Edition kits, meaning schools and small businesses are more likely to afford the system.
Google insists Hangouts for consumers isn't going away
After announcing their new AI-powered chat platforms Allo and Duo last September, Google seems to be sunsetting the old and busted Hangouts in favor of their new hotness. Several other announcements seemed to confirm that strategy, including a Hangouts app specially tooled for enterprise the search giant introduced yesterday. What that means for the consumer version in the long run is unclear, but head of product for Allo and Duo Amit Fulay assured that it's not going anywhere, at least for now.
Google is ready to take over your office chat with Hangouts
Google's work of transitioning Hangouts from being its default chat app to a more business focus is nearly complete. First up is the formally announced Hangouts Meet. Sound familiar? That's because it semi-officially arrived at the first of the month. Now Google is ready to take it wide. At its core, Meet is all about making video conferencing faster and easier. That comes down to not needing any special software or logins for video chat -- just a shared link. No WiFi? No problem because people can dial in with a dedicated phone number too. So long as their organization is a G Suite Enterprise customer, of course. Meet will support video calls with up to 30 people.
Google refines Drive for large businesses
Google today unveiled a suite of new tools designed to help big businesses communicate and coordinate in Drive. The first improvement is Drive File Stream, which allows users to access their entire Drive without going through the file-syncing process. It essentially creates an "intelligent cache" of all the data, Google Cloud VP of apps Prabhakar Raghavan tells VentureBeat.
BlackBerry Messenger Enterprise promises secure comms for business
Faulting BlackBerry for its lack of apps or antiquated design ideas was fair, but the firm's dedication to security spoke for itself. The company is going to take that reputation and use it to retool BlackBerry Messenger as an enterprise-level communications platform. Appropriately dubbed BBM Enterprise, the app offers end-to-end encryption for all communication methods; voice, video and text-based comms will all be secure.
