Blog Archive

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Open source software: pros and cons for business

Many IT experts recommend small and medium sized businesses use open source software as a key part of their IT strategy. So, what is open source, and is it really the best way to build out the technology needs of your business? This article explains what open source software is, how it differs from “free” software and outlines the main advantages and disadvantages of using open source software to meet business IT needs.

What is open source software?

Open source software (OSS) refers to computer software which is released and distributed with its source code open for modification by other users. The source code is released under a license where the copyright holder has granted the rights to use, study, change or distribute the software for any purpose. Often developed in a collaborative, public manner, many developers are able to add, change and manipulate the source code to suit their

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Software
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How to tell if computer vision can transform your business

During my career as an automotive engineer at Ford Motor Company in the early 2000s, world-class vision system technology was already routinely being used for various applications on programs and production. However, the automation around the analysis had not yet come full circle. Today, it has. And with the latest iterations of smartphones for facial recognition and other functionality, most anyone with a smartphone already has a device using computer vision. Machine and computer vision are also being used in applications such as satellite geo-analytics, food safety and processing, agriculture operations, augmented reality, human emotion analysis, medical diagnostics, robotic guidance, quality control, transportation coordination, utilities, security surveillance, and more.

As the technology proliferates across new sectors, it will be critical for business leaders to assess how computer vision could impact the trajectory of their organization. So let’s take a deeper look at the real-world use cases emerging today. (For the

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Computer
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Technology growing increasingly fast in modern world, says Putin – Business & Economy

NOVO-OGARYOVO, September 1. /TASS/. The pace of technological development is accelerating in today’s world, influencing a lot of various spheres, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at the all-Russian open lesson.

“You are growing and maturing, and it all happens in the rapidly changing word where technologies are developing at a rampant pace, influencing all spheres of life, and where new scientific achievements make is possible today to do what just yesterday seemed impossible. It is important that the pace of these changes are measured in leaps and bounds, and it will only increase,” Putin told schoolchildren.

According to him, the world in not easy now and is becoming more and more complicated now. The leader added, “nobody can be 100% sure what subjects will be studied in high school by the current first graders and what skills and professions will be in demand in the 2030s.”

“Just like the

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Technology
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Russians tend to insure Chinese, Korean smartphones more often this year – Business & Economy

MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Russians tend to insure their smartphones by Chinese and Korean producers more often this year, according to a study by Sberbank Insurance, a subsidiary of Sberbank, obtained by TASS. The price of most often insured phones varies from 12,000 ($164) to 14,000 rubles ($191).

This year, Honor became the “most insured” smartphone brand: 35% of the total amount of insurance purchased for this gadget. Most often users insured their Honor 9X model (6.7%).

Korea’s Samsung is the second most popular brand (22%) on the list. The Samsung A10 model is the most dear to their owners: it accounted for 6.6% of purchased insurance contracts.

One fifth (21%) of insurance contracts are concluded for Chinese smartphones under the Xiaomi brand. The most popular model is Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T (6% of purchased insurances), according to the study.

If in 2019, Russian phone owners insured mainly Apple and

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Programming
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Microsoft back in the smartphone business with its new Duo

by: MATT O’BRIEN, Associated Press

Posted: / Updated:

FILE – In this Oct. 2, 2019, file photo, a Microsoft Surface Duo is displayed in New York. Microsoft is back to selling smartphones for the first time since it abandoned its mobile business more than four years ago.
The company began taking orders Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, for the Surface Duo, a new dual-screen Android device that costs $1,399 and begins shipping in September. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Microsoft is back to selling smartphones for the first time since it abandoned its mobile business more than four years ago.

The company began taking orders Wednesday for the Surface Duo, a new dual-screen Android device that costs $1,399 and begins shipping in September.

The high-priced gadget is designed to impress, but is also arriving during the worst economic

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Programming
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How to Choose the Best Cell Phone Plan for Your Small Business in 2020

Just as one shoe size can’t fit all, there’s no single cell phone plan that will suit every small company. But there are numerous high-quality plans that are worth considering as they strive to meet the needs of different types of businesses. To settle on the best cell phone plan for your business, you first want to figure out what kind of plan best fits your company.

Business owners generally buy and pay for employee cell phones or plans or both when workers spend at least some part of their time off-site. With employees, you may want to track hours and data. In that case, to streamline operation and collaboration, a specialized business cell phone plan might be optimal. Today, more American businesses are accommodating work-at-home schedules that avoid meetings and travel, but note that quarantines and shelter-in-place orders will not last forever, so it’s a good idea to take

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Programming
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Tech adapts to fit new business needs

When employees at the 3D bioprinting company Cellink went back to the office Monday after nearly five months, they were required to clip a small piece of Bluetooth technology onto their clothes before walking through the office’s front doors.

The devices, made by the Austrian company Safedi, are intended to make sure people are socially distancing in the office. A green light shines when people are at least six feet apart.

A red light flashes and the device emits a noise when people get too close.

“Safedi has already shown its value in just one day, especially when it’s time for those coffee breaks,” Cellink CEO Erik Gatenholm said.

The devices are one example of the varied and sometimes bizarre tech-infused solutions businesses are using in an effort to get their employees back to work and offer their customers a safe environment amid the ongoing outbreaks of the coronavirus in

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Computer
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Kayak CEO Hints Company May Get Into the Hotel Business

There’s been speculation over the years about online travel companies getting into the hotel business, and Kayak CEO Steve Hafner teased as much during an interview on Thursday.

Hafner, who heads Booking Holdings brands Kayak and OpenTable, dropped the hint during a pre-recorded interview for Travel’s Path Forward: Online Travel, when discussing the company’s product roadmap during the Covid-19 hiatus.

Without providing much detail, Hafner teased an announcement about Kayak getting into the hotel business in some form beyond its traditional hotel referral and booking services.

“Soon we are going to announce our first forays into the hotel business,” Hafner said.

Asked whether we would see Kayak-branded hotels, Hafner said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. Put it that way.”

He added another tidbit when discussing OpenTable and loyalty programs.

Later in the interview, Hafner discussed the integration of OpenTable’s dining services with sister company Booking.com, and he said

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Technology
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Flipkart buys parent Walmart’s Indian wholesale business

BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Flipkart said on Thursday it had acquired parent Walmart Inc’s <WMT.N> local cash-and-carry business, as the e-commerce firm strengthens its wholesale offerings to compete better with Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>.

The deal will allow Flipkart to launch a digital marketplace called Flipkart Wholesale next month, the Bengaluru-headquartered firm said, without disclosing any financial details of the deal.

Walmart, which has been running Best Price wholesale cash-and-carry stores in India since 2009, bought a controlling stake in Flipkart in 2018 for $16 billion.

The brand has 28 wholesale stores, two fulfilment centers and more than 1.5 million members, largely comprising mom-and-pop stores, but Walmart has not been able to make money from this business.

The Flipkart deal, which local daily Economic Times had said https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/walmarts-cash-and-carry-biz-may-go-to-flipkart/73570755 was in the offing in January, comes as e-commerce players including Amazon look to woo India’s mom-and-pop stores that are considered the backbone

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Internet
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Fall 2020 Reopening Plans At The Top 100 U.S. Business Schools

They’ll be following all the rules this fall at the University of Michigan: masks, social distancing, smaller class sizes, frequent hand and surface washing, and more — much more. They’ll also be pioneering new rules for a new reality, particularly in the realm of remote instruction, as befits one of the country’s leading centers of social and cultural innovation. Put it all together and Scott DeRue, dean of the Ross School of Business, expects a memorable term.

“As with every year, I’m looking forward to welcoming students back to campus safely for a very successful fall term,” DeRue says. “Of course, I also recognize the profound difficulties that many of our students face in this moment, and that much uncertainty remains for all of us. We will get through this, and we will do it together.”

Five months after it shut down business school campuses and curtailed spring instruction and … Read More

Technology