More Networking In Depth

Smartphones take center stage in two-factor authentication schemes

We all know that relying on a simple user ID and password combination is fraught with peril. One alternative is to use one of the single sign-on solutions we reviewed last year, but there are less expensive options that could also be easier to install.

Why a Blackberry Is Better Than an iPhone

The BlackBerry has always been a business phone. The iPhone wowed us all--and it nearly put BlackBerry out of business--but it emphasizes entertainment and not productivity. If you're an IT executive, it's finally time to put function before form, CIO.com columnist Rob Enderle writes.

Tech Titans Talk: The IDG Enterprise Interview Series

In the IDG Enterprise Interview Series, you'll hear from technology CIOs and CEOs on today's burgeoning trends, ongoing headaches and upcoming product plans. Check out this informative series from IDG Enterprise Chief Content Officer John Gallant and his team of editors.

How to keep your network in tip-top health

Using any one of the six netword management suites in this review will help diagnose and cure network ills

What I learned living abroad as a digital nomad

Digital nomad Mike Elgan returns to the U.S. after 10 months of travel and shares these tips for working and living abroad.

Clarifying the role of software-defined networking northbound APIs

With software-defined networking the control of the network is pried out of the data handling devices and centralized on a controller that uses a common protocol, OpenFlow, to direct the switches on the southbound side. That much has been established. But what of the oft-mentioned northbound APIs that will let applications tell the controller what they need from the network? What kind of progress is the Open Networking Foundation making on that front? Network World Editor in Chief John Dix put the question to Robert Sherwood, CTO of Big Switch Networks and head of the ONF's Architecture and Framework Working Group, which is responsible for multiple things, including the creation of these northbound APIs.

Google Fiber divides users into 'the fast' and 'the furious'

Google's Fiber project in in Kanas City, Austin and Provo shows that very high Internet speeds are possible in the U.S., but nobody except Google is working to make it happen.

IoT development needs context and leadership

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept first suggested in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, the co-founder of Auto-ID Center at MIT. And it's popular again--thanks to mobility and the maturing of tracking technologies like RFID, NFC, and QR codes, according to Claus Mortensen, principal of emerging technologies at IDC Asia Pacific.

Directly connected to the Internet of Things

Last week here in Backspin I discussed how real-world "things" that aren't easily augmented with digital instrumentation, such as bicycles, cars and even dogs, can be indirectly connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) using physical ID tags and online proxies. This is, as I pointed out, a powerful concept.

Mobile data and messaging exceeds voice revenues for the first time on mobiles: Telsyte

The value of mobile data and messaging revenues has exceeded voice call revenues for the first time in Australia, according to new research from technology analyst firm, Telsyte.

Gauging BYOD acceptance

The debate about the bring-your-own-device movement (BYOD) has quieted down, mostly because, it seems, while IT has been over in the corner arguing the pros and cons, employees have been streaming into office with their shiny new toys and using them to get work done.

BlackBerry fans should like the Z10; not sure about other smartphone fans

Shaw reviews BlackBerry's Z10 smartphone.

Beacon Audio Phoenix is an unimpressive portable Bluetooth speaker

Beacon Audio's $100 Phoenix is a (very) portable Bluetooth speaker: It weighs less than half a pound, and is roughly equivalent in size to a three-inch cube. It's available in pink, yellow, red, blue, and black; my review unit was blue.

BYOL: Bring your own liabilities

What are the legal ramifications of allowing staff to bring their own mobile devices to work and where is the dividing line between organisational and employee risk?

Big Blue Media Tower mostly disappoints

Brookstone's $300 Big Blue Media Tower is an unusual entrant into the world of speaker bars. It's powerful, it offers pretty good audio quality, and it includes Bluetooth connectivity, but the speaker's design seems odd. It's meant to serve as both a music speaker and an entertainment-center audio hub, but it uses a tower design that presents a placement predicament: You don't want to put the Tower smack-dab in front of your TV, but if you place it off to the side instead, won't you be listening to off-center audio?

Zooka wireless speaker bar mostly disappoints

The Carbon Audio's $100 Zooka is a Bluetooth speaker available in black, green, gray, blue, pink, purple, red, or teal. My review unit is a color the company calls black, but it's a decidedly non-black dark gray.

Globalgig Hotspot: Taking the pain out of data roaming

Business travel is, under the best of circumstances, a royal pain in the butt, and when you're roaming internationally with a smartphone and need to make some calls and keep up with email, you face a zonking great bill when you get home.

Muted excitement for latest Toshiba Android tablet

Shaw reviews Toshiba's Excite 10 SE tablet and HP's EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook.

Muted excitement for latest Toshiba Android tablet

Shaw reviews Toshiba's Excite 10 SE tablet and HP's EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook.

I Have the Best Job in Cisco: John Manville

John Manville, Sr. VP-Global Infrastructure for IT, Cisco, talks about the unique position he enjoys by heading the infrastructure team of the networking leader, and some of the new initiatives being undertaken by them.