DELL INSPIRON ONE 23 REVIEW By Matt Smith — October 4, 2013

The best all-in-one currently available is Dell’s XPS One 27. Big, beautiful, powerful and packing a high-res display, the XPS One 27 has twice received four and a half stars from us, and earned an Editor’s Choice in its most recent review. Few computers come closer to perfection.

Yet, in spite of all it offers, Dell’s biggest all-in-one has a problem: the price. The base model goes for $1,599, and more powerful variants with discrete graphics start at $2,099. You get what you pay for, but also pay for what you get.

Walking this tightrope between affordability and quality is difficult, and like so many others, the Inspiron 23 trips and tumbles off.

Now Dell is trying to take the XPS experience down-market with its new Inspiron 23. Though its name is similar to the older Inspiron 23 One, this new model is completely re-designed, boasting both new hardware and an entirely new chassis.

Pricing starts at a more affordable $999, which buys a Core i3-4000M processor, 6GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Our review unit, the top-shelf variant, boasts a Core i7-4700MQ and Radeon HD 8690M graphics, upgrades that bump the price to $1,399.

That’s not exactly budget-friendly, but it’s a good $200 less than the entry-level XPS 27, and those without a need for discrete graphics should not feel ashamed for buying the $999 version. The question, however, is whether lowering the price has also lowered quality.

An Inspiring Inspiron

The Inspiron brand has always felt a bit odd: The name hints at inspiration and innovation, but Dell applies it to only the most basic laptops and desktops. The new Inspiron 23 is, for once, an exception to this rule. Clad in thick plastic and supported by a beefy metallic stand, this all-in-one feels very much like the XPS 27’s little brother. Indeed, it in some ways feels even sturdier, as the more compact frame allows for a tighter, more secure feel.

This impression carries over to build quality. Panel gaps are almost non-existent when the system is viewed from the front, and while they’re more easily located from the rear, consumers will rarely see the system from that angle. Unfortunately, the attractive design doesn’t allow for much ergonomic adjustment; height and tilt are the only options, and height adjustment is very limited.

Unlike the XPS 27, which follows traditional all-in-one construction by placing the hardware behind the display, the Inspiron 23 crams everything into the stand. This means the ports are located there, too, which has pros and cons. The right-side connections, which include two USB 3.0 ports and a card reader, are a bit more convenient and less awkward than they would be along the side of the display. Yet the rear connections, which include two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and audio, are more difficult to access than they would be on the rear panel.

There are two other connectivity features to note. First, the bundled mouse takes up one USB port, effectively leaving the user with only three to choose from. And second, there are two HDMI ports; one for video-out, one for video-in. This means the Inspiron 23 can be a monitor for an external source, such as a cable box or a game console.

Display compromises

Dell makes some of the world’s best monitors, and that technology often trickles over to the XPS line of laptops and all-in-ones, most of which have amazing displays. The Inspiron 23, however, is not an XPS, and this unfortunately means it has to make do with an unimpressive touchscreen.

The problem is not color gamut, which in our tests proved strong, rendering 95 percent of sRGB. Nor is it brightness, which at about 240 lux, is more than adequate. Instead the trouble is depth of black, which led to a disappointing overall contrast score of 200:1 with the screen at maximum brightness.

Subjectively, the lack of deep blacks leads to a washed-out look which doesn’t show media or games in the best light. Areas which should be dark are bright gray and shadow detail is often obscured, a problem particularly noticeable in movies. While the 1080p screen offers a sharp picture, it’s not the best choice for entertainment.

The Inspiron 23’s speakers are found in the base and provide decent volume but, like the display, are otherwise unexceptional. Sound staging is a problem, as with most all-in-ones, and distortion starts to become noticeable as the volume exceeds 75 percent of maximum. Mid-range sounds, including spoken dialogue, can sometimes be lost in the attempt to reproduce base. Once again, this is a flaw most noticeable when enjoying movies.

Solid peripherals

Though not branded with the XPS label, the Inspiron 23 ships with a pair of quality peripherals commonly found alongside Dell’s most expensive desktops. While the keyboard only has basic multimedia function keys, and the mouse has just three buttons, both have a solid feel and are pleasing to use for hours at a time. The mouse also uses a laser sensor from Logitech, which means it is more precise than most of its bundled brethren.

Star of track and field

The Core i7-4700QM in our review unit, though technically a mobile processor, scored very well in our benchmarks even when compared to other all-in-ones. SiSoft Sandra’s Processor Arithmetic benchmark turned in a result of 108.3 GOPS while 7-Zip reached a combined score of 19,504. These numbers almost tie the last XPS 27 we reviewed and virtually double the scores we received from Acer’s Aspire Z3.

PCMark 8’s Creative benchmark, which simulates a stressful workload, also looked favorably on the Inspiron 23 with a score of 3,597. That’s the highest we’ve seen so far, though to be fair, all the systems we’ve run the benchmark on thus far have been laptops. The PCMark storage test came to a result of 4,682; good, but not above average.

While most versions of this all-in-one use Intel HD 4600 graphics, our review unit arrived with a Radeon HD 8690M that turned in a 3DMark Cloud Gate score of 7,091 and a 3DMark Fire Strike score of 1,092. These numbers are about 40 percent better than Intel’s integrated solution, and that means the Inspiron 23 can play most any game, though detail settings will have to be kept low to achieve an enjoyable framerate in the most demanding titles.

Efficient, but loud

Power testing showed this all-in-one returning average results. Consumption at idle was up to 32 watts, while consumption at load reached as high as 77 watts. The idle result is close to other all-in-ones we’ve recently reviewed, like the Acer Aspire Z3 and Vizio CA24T, but the load number is high. This is obviously a result of the hardware, as the Inspiron 23 blows both those systems away in benchmarks. We expect that the entry-level version of this system, which has a dual-core processor and lacks discrete graphics, will consume far less power at load.

Unfortunately, the added performance and power draw also leads to excess heat, which keeps the system fan busy. A subtle whirr can be heard at all times, even at idle, and the noise rises to a racket during load. While our decibel meter indicated a moderate 44.7 decibels, the fan has a high-pitched tone that is unusually annoying. Buyers with sensitive ears might want to spring for the Dell XPS One 27 which, unlike its little brother, is almost silent in most situations.

Conclusion

Dell’s Inspiron 23 is a confused product. On the one hand it’s an Inspiron, and in the company’s brand mythology that means affordable. Yet on the other, this clearly isn’t an entry-level product. Pricing starts at $999, already more than most consumers want to spend, and stops just south of the bigger, more powerful Dell XPS One 27.

Walking this tightrope between affordability and quality is difficult, and like so many others, the Inspiron 23 trips and tumbles off. The problem is value. At $1,399, our review unit is only $200 less than the Dell XPS One 27 and Lenovo IdeaCentre A730, a pair that offers better displays and, in the case of the XPS 27, even faster performance. We have a hard time seeing why a buyer shouldn’t spend the extra money for those bigger, better alternatives.

The $999 model is priced more competitively with other 23-inch systems like the Lenovo A520, HP Pavilion 23 and Acer Aspire Z3. Yet this version is still at the high end of the category and, in the process of reaching the sub-$1,000 market, completely loses its performance advantage. This makes the Inspiron 23 yet another unremarkable mid-range computer.

One fact saves this Dell from irrelevance: The mid-range AIO market is a bit of a mess. Most systems in the category suffer from poor performance and sub-par display quality, making them hard to recommend. Still, if you really must buy an AIO, and you can’t spend more than $1,000, give the Inspiron 23 a look.

Highs

• Attractive design
• Supports HDMI-out and HDMI-in
• Fast, well-rounded performance

Lows

• Low-contrast display
• Poor audio quality
• System fan is annoying at load
• Expensive for a 23-inch AIO
• Affordable models lose performance advantage 

http://www.digitaltrends.com/desktop-computer-reviews/dell-inspiron-one-23-review/

submitted by: bs info 2-a

krishielle mae balboa

rowelyn bardago

rachel arsenio

Measuring the power of Networks

• Finland leads world in embracing information technology according to index
• Business-friendly environment, top education system key to success

Finland has toppled Sweden from the top spot in a ranking of economies that are best placed to benefit from new information and communication technologies (ICTs). Singapore came in second and Sweden third in the 2013 Networked Readiness Index, compiled by the World Economic Forum for its Global Information Technology Report.
The Forum's report also shows that digitization has a measurable effect on economic growth and job creation. In emerging markets, a comprehensive digital boost could help lift over half a billion people out of poverty over the next decade. New technologies have already transformed sectors from healthcare to farming, case studies in the report show.
The Networked Readiness Index, calculated by the World Economic Forum, and INSEAD, ranks 144 economies based on their capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by the digital age. This capacity is determined by the quality of the regulatory, business and innovation environments, the degree of preparedness, the actual usage of ICTs, as well as the societal and economic impacts of ICTs. The assessment is based on a broad range of indicators from Internet access and adult literacy to mobile phone subscriptions and the availability of venture capital. In addition, indicators such as patent applications and e-government services gauge the social and economic impact of digitization.
The Nordic countries and the so-called Asian Tigers – Singapore; Taiwan (China); South Korea; and Hong Kong SAR – dominate this year's index thanks to their business-friendly approach, highly skilled populations and investments in infrastructure, among other strengths. Finland, which arguably has one of the best educational systems in the world, stands out as a digital innovation hub. It boasts the world’s highest number of patent applications per capita in the domain of ICTs), which are ubiquitous in Finland. Ninety per cent of Finnish households have Internet access, compared to about 70% in the United States and 85% in the United Kingdom.
Among the top 10, the United Kingdom posts the biggest rank improvement to 7th place, above the United States, which slips to 9th place despite a performance essentially unchanged from the previous year.
The BRICS economies, led by Russia (55th) continue to lag behind in the rankings. The report suggests that their rapid economic growth may be in jeopardy unless the right investments are made in ICT, skills and innovation. Down seven, China ranks 58th, followed by Brazil (60th), India (68th), and South Africa (70th).



justinamaefeliciano
markjosephmontelibano
queenianyanson
impo2a

New Apple iMacs Offer Haswell CPUs, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, PCI-e SSDs, 32GB RAM

By J.R. Nelson, NotebookReview Editor |  Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Today Apple quietly unveiled a new line of iMac all-in-ones, with only an updated online store and whisper of a press release to let people know that something was different. With a rumored Mac and iPad event a few short weeks away, it seems like the team in Cupertino wasn't willing to wait for the public release of its Mavericks next-gen OS (which recently seeded its 8th developer preview).

On the outside, the machines don't seem to have changed. They keep the amazingly thin shape with tapered edges and a rounded back; all of these upgrades come on the inside. The main improvements come in the form of CPU upgrades - Intel's 4th generation Core CPUs, also known as Haswell, faster Wi-Fi, with support for 802.11ac, and faster storage, with the new PCIe-based flash storage options first found in Apple's new MacBook Air computers.

As always, there are two main models to choose from - a 21.5-inch model (which is, like, crazy light - admittedly it is largely a 13-inch MacBook Pro in desktop form) and a much larger 27-inch unit. Each comes with two starter configurations:

21.5-inch iMac Specifications:

• 2.7GHz quad-core i5 CPU with 3.2GHz Turbo Boost
• 8GB RAM (non user accessible)
• 1TB Hard drive
• Intel Iris Pro GPU
• $1,299

• 2.9GHz quad-core i5 CPU with 3.6GHz Turbo Boost
• 8GB RAM (non user accessible)
• 1TB Hard drive
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M GPU with 1GB video memory
• $1,499

27-inch iMac Specifications:

• 3.2GHz quad-core i5 CPU with 3.6GHz Turbo Boost
• 8GB RAM (user accessible)
• 1TB Hard drive
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M with 1GB video memory
• $1,799

• 3.4GHz quad-core i5 wiht 3.8GHz Turbo Boost
• 8GB RAM
• 1TB Hard drive
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M with 2GB video memory
• $1,999

Of course, the company allows a few configurations outside of those packages, mostly by adding or subtracting one component or another from them. On the 21-inch model, you can upgrade the CPU or RAM for $200, or use that cash to move up to Apple's Fusion Drive, which partners a 1TB hard drive with (usually) a 128GB solid state drive. It's also cheaper, this generation, to move to an SSD-only solution, with a 256GB model coming in at $200 more (not too shabby for a PCIe-based drive).

If you want to go all out, however, the new 27-inch iMacs offer support for 32GB of RAM out of the box, and on this model that's an upgrade you can do yourself with four 8GB DIMMs, up to 3TB Fusion Drives (or 1TB SSDs), or a GPU upgrade to NVIDIA's impressive GTX 780M module with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. The company doesn't say how much flash is used for the 3TB Fusion Drive models.

Like the previous models, these computers no longer come with optical drives, though Apple still sells a USB SuperDrive if you can't give up your beloved CDs and DVDs.

Apple claims that the new packages offer up to 40 percent faster performance than the previous generation; while they don't say which tests they run, they do note that the standard  configurations were used to run them. A couple of Thunderbolt ports and four USB 3.0 ports round the new iMacs out - it seems like Thunderbolt 2 ports just weren't ready in time to hit the mainstream iMacs.

While the Macs ship with Mountain Lion, we're likely near enough to the release of Mavericks that users who pick up a new iMac today will be able to upgrade to the new OS without charge - something both Apple and Microsoft have offered in the past.

The new machines are available starting today at Apple.com and in retail stores.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6964&News=Apple+iMac+Haswell+PCIe+802.11ac

Submitted by:(bs info 2-a)
krishielle mae balboa
rachel arsenio
rowelyn bardago 

Mobile Device BattlesGartner predicts that by 2013 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide and that by 2015 over 80 percent of the handsets sold in mature markets will be smartphones. However, only 20 percent of those handsets are likely to be Windows phones. By 2015 media tablet shipments will reach around 50 percent of laptop shipments and Windows 8 will likely be in third place behind Google’s Android and Apple iOS operating systems. Windows 8 is Microsoft’s big bet and Windows 8 platform styles should be evaluated to get a better idea of how they might perform in real-world environments as well as how users will respond. Consumerization will mean enterprises won't be able to force users to give up their iPads or prevent the use of Windows 8 to the extent consumers adopt consumer targeted Windows 8 devices. Enterprises will need to support a greater variety of form factors reducing the ability to standardize PC and tablet hardware. The implications for IT is that the era of PC dominance with Windows as the single platform will be replaced with a post-PC era where Windows is just one of a variety of environments IT will need to support.


justina mae feliciano
mark joseph montelibano
queenian yanson
2-a

Cisco's NCS line aims to address the growth in Internet traffic brought about by cloud, mobile, video, and machine-to-machine communications

Cisco Tuesday unveiled its Internet of Everything router, a device intended to address the growth in Internet traffic brought about by cloud, mobile, video and machine-to-machine communications.

The Network Convergence System (NCS), which was expected, is the culmination of three years of work by 450 engineers and $250 million in funding, Cisco says.

[ Also on InfoWorld: Teach your router new tricks with DD-WRT. | Get expert networking how-to advice from InfoWorld's Networking Deep Dive PDF special report and Technology: Networking newsletter. ]

NCS includes a new network processor Cisco introduced two weeks ago: the nPower X1.

The system is not a core router like the Cisco CRS, or a successor to the CRS, the company says. Rather, it is a network fabric designed to scale CRS cores and ASR 9000 edge routers in service provider networks from centralized systems to distributed architectures able to accommodate the growth of Internet connected "things," like cars, homes and machines.

[BUT DIDN'T THEY JUST ANNOUNCE...New Cisco core router boasts 10X capacity of original]

Cisco expects trillions of these device-driven events to come online in the next decade, a situation the company refers to as the Internet of Everything.

Cisco says it plans to equip the CRS systems with the nPower chip as well to improve scale and introduce programmability into the platform for core routing requirements.

Cisco says the NCS can transport the entire NetFlix library in less than one second in a full multi-chassis deployment. It converges IP and optical networks in the service provider realm with Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) server and Dynamic Fabric Automation networking in the data center to serve as a "central nervous system" for a programmable infrastructure founded on the nPower chip and onePK APIs in Cisco operating systems.

This "central nervous system" is designed to shift and redirect data center, core, edge and optical resources in real-time to speed service rollouts and reduce operational cost and complexity, Cisco says. This is enhanced through virtualization capabilities in system software that elastically scale up and down network and compute resources, and manage multi-chassis configurations as a single system.  

If system scale is exceeded in one part of the network, NCS moves control plane functions onto UCS servers in the data center, Cisco says. NCS can also harness distributed Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and other Cisco virtualization mechanisms to enable cross domain function orchestration and service placement where required, the company says.

Analysts say the fabric and programmability of NCS will turn up the competitive heat with Juniper's PTX and Alcatel-Lucent's 7950 XRS routers.

"All of the benefits and advantages on why customers wanted a fabric in their data center, the next logical step is to extend those to the WAN -- a WAN fabric that is capable of virtualizing with a platform, with southbound and northbound API's that allows programmability of the network ," says Ray Mota, founder of ACG Research.

NCS consists of three platforms -- NCS 6000, NCS 4000 and NCS 2000 -- that can be managed as one.

NCS 6000, which is shipping now, is capable of 5Tbps per slot and 1.2Pbps per system capabilities, Cisco says. It supports IP/MPLS routing, as well as single, back-to-back, and multi-chassis configurations.

NCS 4000, which will ship in the first half of 2014, supports 400Gbps per slot and 6.4Terabits per system and is available in single, back-to-back, and multi-chassis configurations. It also supports optical transport network, wavelength division multiplexing, SONET and Ethernet applications, and multi-chassis configurations.

NCS 2000, shipping now, connects DWDM transport networks at rates of 100Gbps and beyond and supports dynamic network configurability with 96-channel next-generation intelligent ROADM capabilities.

Service providers BSkyB, KDDI and Telstra are deploying the NCS now.  

Source: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=32749124#editor/target=post;postID=4979904353044705222

     

     BS INFO TECH 2-A (advanced post for next week)

Marissa Solina

Mylene Caballero

Queenie Genoguin

Five Trends That Will Dominate Software Spending in 2013

1. The connected, empowered customer will be the single greatest consideration in software spending. Today's customers are bouncing between online and offline channels with increasing speed—and that is true for B2B companies as well. There are shrinking opportunities for companies to survive, let alone succeed, without a truly seamless multi-channel strategy. New, viable communication and commerce channels are emerging every year, so software spending will focus on solutions which can quickly expand to embrace any number of new channels not yet known.
2. Connecting with customers means extending more data beyond the firewall, so software spending will focus on solutions which provide appropriate transparency both to employees and to customers. Customer centricity is impossible without transparency, interactivity, speed and precision which you cannot get with on-premise systems that are built to hide data rather than sharing it.
3. Companies will continue to seek out solutions that support the growing interest in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) architecture. IT departments have been fighting a losing battle to keep "unapproved" devices out of the workplace since the emergence of the PDA in the mid-1990s. Business is recognizing that the challenges of maintaining security is worth the increased productivity that comes with the smartphones, tablets and a host of other connected devices that people want to use for work, particularly while away from the office.
4. Large enterprises will continue to disentangle from their long-term capital expenditures. That is becoming increasingly obvious with the emergence of two-tier ERP, which freezes the expansion of costly on-premise ERP systems in favor of deploying flexible cloud solutions at subsidiaries and regional offices. The hybrid approach delivers global consolidation and real-time visibility in a matter of months with the added benefit of holding the line on capital expenditures.
5. Cloud computing will continue to grow in importance. Gartner projects that from 2011 to 2015, spending on Software as a Service (SaaS) will nearly double to $22.1 billion.
Mainstream businesses want the same thing ambitious startups are after—an edge that increases their reach to customers while minimizing expense and disruption. These accessible, extensible and cloud-architected solutions will be winning RFPs this year because of their business benefits, and because they break the cycle of outdated software and expensive upgrades. That's an investment that continues to pay dividends long after the initial deal is signed.
-Kimberly Odom, Director of Vertical Marketing, Software
Reference: 

http://www.netsuiteblogs.com/blog/2013/07/five-trends-that-will-dominate-software-spending-in-2013.html

Contributors:

Ma.Sandra Mojaya BS INFO II-B

Andrea Sultan BS INFO II-B

Keziah Marie Pico BS INFO II-B

ALL ABOUT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY


Information technology (IT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data,^[1] often in the context of a business or other enterprise.^[2] The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, such as computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services.^[3][a]
In a business context, the Information Technology Association of America has defined information technology as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems".^[5] The responsibilities of those working in the field include network administration, software development and installation, and the planning and management of an organization's technology life cycle, by which hardware and software is maintained, upgraded and replaced.
Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC,^[6] but the term information technology in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)."^[7] Based on the storage and processing technologies employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), mechanical (1450–1840), electromechanical (1840–1940) and electronic (1940–present).^[6] This article focuses on the most recent period (electronic), which began in about 1940.




justinamaefeliciano
markjosephmontelibano
queenianyanson
2-a

Security researchers create undetectable hardware trojans

A team of security researchers from the U.S. and Europe has released a paper showing how integrated circuits used in computers, military equipment and other critical systems can be maliciously compromised during the manufacturing process through virtually undetectable changes at the transistor level.As proof of the effectiveness of the approach, the paper describes how the method could be used to modify and weaken the hardware random number generator on Intel's Ivy Bridge processors and the encryption protections on a smartcard without anyone detecting the changes.[ Build and deploy an effective line of defense against corporate intruders with InfoWorld'sEncryption Deep Dive PDF expert guide. Download it today! | Learn how to protect your systems with Roger Grimes' Security Adviser blog and Security Central newsletter, both from InfoWorld. ]The research paper is important because it is the first to describe how someone can insert a hardware trojan into a microchip without any additional circuitry, transistors or other logic resources, said Christof Paar, chairman for embedded security, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at Ruhr University in Germany.

Hardware trojans have been the subject of considerable research since at least 2005 when the U.S. Department of Defense publicly expressed concerns over the military's reliance on integrated circuits manufactured abroad, Paar said.Often, the individual circuit blocks in a single microchip are designed by different parties, manufactured by an offshore foundry, packaged by a separate company and distributed by yet another vendor. This kind of outsourcing and globalization of chip manufacturing has led to trust and security issues, the paper noted.Over the years, more attention has been paid on finding ways to detect and defeat hardware trojans deliberately introduced during the manufacturing process, especially in the case of chips used for military and other critical applications.Somewhat surprisingly, less attention has been paid to how someone might build and implement such hardware trojans in the first place, he said.

Previous research papers have described hardware trojans consisting of small to medium-sized integrated circuits added to a chip during what is known as the hardware description language layer of the manufacturing process.In contrast, the latest research shows how a hardware trojan can be introduced at a later stage of the design process by changing the "doping" on a few transistors on the chip.Doping is a process for modifying the electrical properties of silicon by introducing tiny impurities like phosphorous, boron and gallium, into the crystal. By switching the doping on a few transistors, parts of the integrated circuit no longer work as they should. Because the changes happen at the atomic level, "the stuff is hard to detect," Paatr said. "If you look at it optically there is nothing different," so the trojan is resistant to most detection techniques.

Security researcher and cryptographer Bruce Schneier on Monday called the sabotage the researchers describe "undetectable by function testing and optical inspection.The most "devastating" use of the technique is to modify a chip's random number generator, Schneier noted in a blog post. "This technique could, for example, reduce the amount of entropy inIntel's hardware random number generator from 128 bits to 32 bits," Schneier said."This could be done without triggering any of the built-in self-tests, without disabling any of the built-in self-tests, and without failing any randomness tests."So while users assume that the random number generator is producing strong 128-bit encryption keys, in reality, it is generating 32-bit keys that can be easily broken, Parr noted.There are several other scenarios where an integrated circuit can be modified to make it function in an unexpected fashion, he said. Detecting the modifications would require an additional level of testing of circuits, he added.

Reference:http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/security-researchers-create-undetectable-hardware-trojans-227062?page=0,0

Contributors:

Ma.Sandra E.Mojaya Bs info II-B

Andrea M.  Sultan Bs info II-B

Keziah Marie P. Pico Bs info II-B

Latest Trends In Networking Technology

"Photonic networks" is a latest computer network technology

Technology is constantly improving, often without us even noticing. We are forever finding a new feature on our phones or computers which makes life easier, more manageable and generally quicker. These improvements are often hard to follow, especially when you are running a business, but even a small development can have a huge impact on your productivity. Here are some of the best efficiency improving advances which you should know about.

Terminal Emulation

Getting a Windows terminal emulator could make a huge difference to your business. It will allow you to easily run demanding software on older machines without the need to replace it or install different software. This makes the upgrading of systems far easier, whilst enabling cross-compatibility within your company. Another huge benefit of terminal emulation can be experienced with a 3270 emulation. This will enable access to all of your business phones and imbedded devices through your computer so that you are better able to manage your business systems.

Remote Desktop

The remote desktop is a fantastic tool which remains underutilized by many businesses. A remote desktop has numerous benefits for a company, because it increases the efficiency of employees. Instead of working on a laptop whilst travelling between jobs and suffering from the lack of access to important files, remote desktops will allow this access wherever you are. Having an internet connection will allow your staff to work on their company computer at all times, so they will always be able to work at full productivity.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is probably the biggest innovation of recent years, which will begin to become more available to businesses and personal users soon, particularly with the upcoming release of the new Windows 8 software. The particular benefit of the Microsoft SkyDrive is that it will allow people to run Apps within the cloud so that they will always be able to ensure compatibility with whatever technology they are provided. In terms of business meetings, this will be incredibly important because it will make meetings and presentations far easier to manage.

Social Networking

Social networking is a great way to communicate within a business, as well as outside of it. Internal social networks can be created which are either independent or which piggyback off another network. These social spaces enable fast and effective communication of ideas and developments to a large group of people within your company. It will allow you to ensure that your staff are always up to date with the latest developments and it will provide some opportunities for light-hearted fun, too.

4G

4G in itself will do nothing to improve the networking of home and office, but what it will enable is huge. The faster transfer of data wirelessly is the next step in making computing completely mobile and the increase in speed will enable a far greater range of network capabilities.




http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130615052311AAki7Ra

week 11:)

naira navarro, charlotte sucgang, en hanna monton.

INFO 2-A. 

Top five networking trends for 2013: Sridhar Sarathy

They are software defined networking, bring your own device to work, web security/anti-virus, cloud computing and bandwidth of networks and Wi-Fi offloads

Features | by CIOL Bureau

BANGALORE, INDIA: Sridhar Sarathy, vice pesident, operations, India Excellence Center, Juniper India lists out his top five networking trends for 2013.

1. Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Although still in the nascent stage, SDN will slowly gain traction. Cloud computing and mobile Internet will place greater demands on the network infrastructure and SDN will go a long way in providing the agile service delivery that people will expect from the networks. Established networking vendors will ramp up on their SDN strategy/execution or look to acquire start-ups to get a leg-up on the competition.

2. Bring your own Device (BYOD) to work
Companies will have get onto the BYOD bandwagon. Younger employees who are part of the digital generation and who are used to their own devices will increasingly demand that they use the same devices at work. This will provide increased savings and productivity but companies will need to figure out their network infrastructure to support the plethora of devices and also need to pay more attention to security.

3. Web Security/Anti-Virus
One of the best kept secrets is that the anti-virus products are often not very good at stopping viruses. According to AV-Test, a German research institute that tests antivirus products, there were 49 million new strains of virus in 2010. On an average, it takes almost a month for antivirus products to update their signatures to detect new viruses. By the time, an AV product hits the market to block a new virus, the damage has been done. In another study by Imperva, a data security firm in Redwood City, CA, 40 antivirus products made by top companies was tested against 82 new computer viruses.

The initial detection rate was less than 5 per cent. Companies will now try new approaches - intrusion deception, behavior based blocking etc. The new approach could involve looking at suspicious activity wrt to servers, databases and files and use the behavior, patterns etc. to stop future attacks. It could also involve purposely leaving some holes in the firewall through which a hacker could enter but then is diverted to a part of the network that contains non-critical data. This kind of deception based approach will become mainstream web security.

4. Cloud Computing and Bandwidth of Networks
The data migration from PC to cloud will continue to grow exponentially. The need to store vast volumes of data will drive more innovation in computing and storage architectures. We will also see changes in virtualization, parallel computing, distributed storage and automation.
Low-bandwidth networks are a bottleneck in this path of progress. We will see a push towards 10G as the router interface and 100G as the trunk interface.

5. Wi-Fi Offloads
With spectrum being a scarce commodity, service providers will figure out a way for large-scale adoption of Wi-Fi offloading to increase the efficiency of the wireless network. They will need to do this to meet the increasing demands of smartphone users to access high bandwidth content.

http://www.ciol.com/ciol/features/155211/top-networking-trends-2013-sridhar-sarathy

week 10:)

naira navarro, charlotte sucgang, en hanna monton.

INFO 2-A. 

DAILYTECH- IDF WRAPUP: CATHING UP WITH GIGABYTE AND OCZ

HardwareIDF Wrapup: Catching Up With Gigabyte and OCZ
Jason Mick (Blog) - September 16, 2013 12:17 PM


We catch up with some our favorite IT and enthusiast component hardware makers at IDF

While much of the juicy material at the 2013 Intel Developer Forum (2013 IDF) was soaked in at Intel's keynotes and technical sessions, many hardware partners were showing their upcoming wares on the show floor.  We caught up with some top enthusiast brands and checked out what's in the pipeline.

I. OCZ

OCZ Technology Group Inc. (OCZ) has consistently vied for the title of fastest solid state drives, with a broad product line spanning from budget SSDs to the high-end.  Fresh off a recent power supply family rollout, OCZ at IDF was primarily focused on its SSD product.

While a refresh of the premium Vector SSD family is expected late this year, for now the product mix was mostly the same as the lineup we saw at the 2013 CES in January.

An exception was AEON, a rare 3.5-inch form factor SSD.  We've seen hybrid hard disk and NAND drives in the past, but AEON offers a new twist, featuring a mixture of embedded NAND and DRAM for dramatically reduced latencies.  OCZ refers to the drive as "nonvolatile memory" (NVM), a kind of all-encompassing term for this hybrid drive.

While OCZ did not reveal pricing or the specific DRAM/NAND quantities onboard, it did show that the drive consists of four internally linked circuit boards with attached NAND/DRAM chips.

OCZ is targeting the drives at High Frequency Transaction (HFT) applications.  HTF applications -- such as time critical data mining or stock trading/analysis -- typically require sub-100 microsecond (µs) response times.  OCZ's drive should be more than capable of that.  At past presentations it promised 10 µs responses and 140K IOPS [source].  Expect this drive to pack a high price tag, but given that time critical data mining is essentially like printing money if correctly applied to the aforementioned problems, we're guessing many will happily pay for this aggressive low-latency performance.

II. Gigabyte

Gigabyte Technology Comp., Ltd. (TPE:2376) showed off a mixture of chic mini-ITX PCs and its latest motherboards.

My personal favorite among its product lineup was the appropriately named "Iris" mini-PC, which fits in the palm of your hand and features gorgeous supercar-esque styling, with red and yellow trim colors.  The box supports various Haswell chips up to an Intel Corp. (INTC) Core i7 4770R (3.2 GHz (3.9 GHz turbo), quad-core, Iris Pro graphics).  There's support for up to two monitors, a single 2.5-inch internal hard drive/SSD, a pair of mini-PCI express slots, and external USB 3.0 ports galore.

It's pretty incredible what Haswell is allowing in terms of design factors, given its cool operation and drastically improved onboard graphics.

Gigabyte also highlighted its use of the Killer NIC chip from Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) (see the little "K" lettered chip near center below).  You may recall that originally this startup debuted in PCI-express Ethernet card form factors and was met with much skepticism.

Fortunately Qualcomm took over via an acquisition and transformed Killer NIC's promising, but bulky/expensive technology into a tiny die, which can be attached to motherboards.  It's a pretty impressive transformation, to be certain.

Rather than lock you in to the Killer NIC, though, Gigabyte generously offers an onboard Intel ethernet chip as well.  Enthusiasts can switch which ethernet chip is active, based on their preferences/personal needs.

Many of Gigabyte’s new and upcoming boards also feature Thunderbolt II ports.  Backwards compatible with first-generation Thunderbolt cables, this new communication technology improves data throughput by merging the input and output channels into a bidirectional channel.  

While that won't necessarily be game changing when you're pushing a full load both directions, in the more common instance where you're pushing a load in one direction (e.g. pushing a large file to a Thunderbolt drive), this may nearly double your data throughput.

Last, but not least, Gigabyte showed us a cute mini-projector, which is also a fully function mini-ITX PC.  Dubbed "Brix", this design requires an external mini-SATA drive as it has no internal hard drive, but it does preserve the pair of mini-PCI express slots from the Iris design.  It packs a lighter Haswell chip -- the Core i3 4010U (1.7 GHz, dual-core, Intel HD 4400 graphics).  In addition to its 75-lumen DLP projector, it features dual monitor outputs.

Brix will ship in Q4 2013 and be priced around $699 USD.  A price was not announced for the Iris boxes, which are also expected for Q4.

_{[All Images (c) Jason Mick/DailyTech LLC]}

Reference: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=33386

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