IDC - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• Videoconferencing do's and don'ts (with video!)

  When it comes to videoconferencing, Daniel Post Senning would like to remind you the game is yours to win -- or lose. "Your ability to handle and manage [videoconferencing] tools says something about your professional brand and who you are," says Senning, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BNPI7FQ/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00BNPI7FQ&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=emilypostcom-20">Emily Post's Manners in a Digital World, Living Well Online</a> and spokesperson with The Emily Post Institute. And that includes not just your technical savvy, but your social skills as well, Senning says.

• An inside look into VMware's new hybrid Cloud strategy

  During the past week VMware has been making power play moves in the Cloud computing market to position its offering as the premier enterprise hybrid Cloud computing platform. As it does so, however, analysts question how well the grand plan VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger has put together stacks up with heavyweights of the cloud computing market, most specifically Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

• 10 lessons U.S. tech managers can learn from their counterparts in China

  China is on a technological roll these days -- one that American companies ignore at their own peril. Contrary to outdated Western perceptions, 680 million Chinese have access to either a laptop or a mobile phone, and some 95% of homes in every city in China are now wired for the Internet, according to figures from the Chinese government.

• The rise of China's smartphone makers

  After Apple and Samsung, which companies are selling the most smartphones around the globe?

• 2015 to test Microsoft's resolve and execution

  Microsoft faces not only its 40th anniversary in 2015, but a host of challenges that will define it for years to come, analysts said today.

• Finding critical business data -- fast

  A lot of security processes failed during the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2486959/cybercrime-hacking/target-says-hackers-likely-accessed-40-million-cards.html">breach of Target's systems</a> during last year's holiday season, but one surprising revelation was that the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2488641/malware-vulnerabilities/major-companies--like-target--often-fail-to-act-on-malware-alerts.html">retailer actually did receive</a> security alerts about the malware in its system. Yet because the security team was bombarded with alerts -- estimated at hundreds per day -- it couldn't adequately prioritize them.

• When it comes to mobile, IT is out of touch

  "I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it and what's it seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you!" warned Abraham Simpson - of the Springfield Simpsons - way back in 1996. 

• Long replacement cycle drags down iPad sales

  Apple announced it sold 13.3 million iPads in the second quarter, a year-over-year drop of 9%, the second straight quarter of declining numbers, and blamed a slowdown in developed markets.

• A closer look at the new technologies in Amazon's Fire smartphone

  Using the new technologies in its Fire smartphone, Amazon may eventually merge Google's new imaging technology with the Fire's Firefly and Dynamic Perception innovations to empower consumer buying further than before, an IDC analyst predicted.

• Predictive data, the real workhorse behind the Internet of Things

  Companies are having to be pickier about which data sets they collect, process and use. It's all about having the right architecture in place.

• LG's new G3 smartphone: Simpler is better

  LG Electronics emphasized a simpler user experience during its unveiling of the new G3 smartphone that could prove to be a lot more than marketing noise.

• Smartphone innovation is slowing, so what's next?

  In the last year or so, there has been a noticeable slowdown in innovations in new smartphones -- with both hardware and software. The next direction seems to be making the smartphone the hub for connecting technologies int eh Internet of Things scenario.

• What if Microsoft threw an iPad Office party, and no one came?

  Microsoft will make a killing when it launches Office apps for Apple's iPad and tablets powered by Android. Or will it?

• Sony seeks mobile rebirth, starting with Core sensor used in wearable tech

  Now that Sony plans to sell off its Vaio laptop business and convert its TV business into a subsidiary, the Japanese electronics giant appears poised to beef up its line of mobile products, including smartphones and tablets -- but especially wearable tech.

• Everyone bets on bigger iPhone for '14

  Virtually every analyst who follows Apple has jumped on the bigger iPhone bandwagon, asserting that the company will step into the quickly-growing large-screen market this year.