Cynthia Harvey

Microsoft has made two significant announcements related to its office productivity products. First, it is adding Power BI to Office 365, and second, it is expand the Sharepoint and Office stores to 22 new markets. Computerworld’s Joab Jackson reported, “Microsoft is adding a set of BI (business intelligence) tools to its hosted Office 365 service, […]

For some time, industry watchers have been expecting a reorganization at Microsoft. Now, multiple sources are telling All Things D that the new company structure could be announced this Thursday. All Things D’s Kara Swisher reported, “According to numerous sources close to the situation, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is poised to unveil his plan to […]

Security researchers have issued a warning about a critical vulnerability in the U.S.’s Emergency Alert System, which is used to break into broadcasts with important public safety information. The company that manufactures the equipment says it has released a patch which should address the problem. PCWorld’s Jeremy Kirk reported, “Hardware appliances used by broadcasters to […]

The IRS has admitted that it accidentally posted thousands of social security numbers to a publicly available website. It took down the information about 24 hours later, when it was informed of the problem. FOXNews reported, “The IRS mistakenly posted the Social Security numbers of tens of thousands of Americans on a government website, the […]

Facebook has announced that all English-speaking U.S. users will soon have access to the Graph Search feature announced earlier this year. It allows more advanced searches, but could have some embarrassing results for people who haven’t paid much attention to their privacy settings. PCMag’s Angela Moscaritolo reported, “The social network on Monday will begin rolling […]

Microsoft has announced that this week’s “Patch Tuesday” release of security updates will include seven bulletins, six of which are considered “critical.” The fixes cover a wide array of software, meaning that nearly everyone who uses Microsoft products will likely be affected. Infosecurity reported, “Microsoft will issue seven security bulletins in this month’s Patch Tuesday […]

A new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech has good news for Apple. While Android is still the most popular mobile operating system in the U.S., iOS is slowing closing the gap. AppleInsider’s Kevin Bostic reported, “Kantar Worldpanel on Monday released its latest analysis of the U.S. smartphone market for the three month period ending May […]

Is Samsung’s momentum slowing? The smartphone maker has released its financial estimate for the second quarter, and the numbers are worse than many analysts had feared. Miyoung Kim with Reuters reported, “Samsung Electronics Co Ltd missed already modest expectations for its quarterly earnings guidance on Friday, deepening worries that its smartphone business may have peaked, […]

Boston University is wading into the mobile patent wars. It filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming that the iPhone 5, iPad and MacBook Air infringe on a patent obtained by a BU professor in 1997. The Mac Observer’s Jeff Gamet reported, “Apple is facing another patent infringement lawsuit, although this time it’s from Boston University […]

Privacy regulators in three more European countries—the UK, Germany and Italy—have joined Spain and France in asking Google to modify its privacy policies. They say that Google’s new policy, introduced more than a year ago, is too vague. The Guardian’s Charles Arthur reported, “Privacy watchdogs in the UK, Germany and Italy have told Google to […]