IDC - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• 5 things CIOs need to know about data lakes

  1.The concept is still quite new. The term data lake, credited to Pentaho CTO James Dixon, has been bandied about for several years. But the idea of data lakes as corporate resources is still in its infancy, according to IDC analyst Ashish Nadkarni. A data lake is defined as a massive--and relatively cheap--storage repository, such as Hadoop, that can hold all types of data until it is needed for business analytics or data mining. A data lake holds data in its rawest form, unprocessed and ungoverned.

• Why Apple rules UX, its native iOS apps suck, and that's OK

  Every iPhone Apple sells today ships with 32 native applications but few, if any, are considered best in class. It may seem like Apple has lost its edge on mobile apps and software design, but the company's primary mission to sell hardware certainly hasn't suffered as a result. Indeed, the Apple experience -- a polished user interface married with premium hardware -- is as much about looks as functionality, and the technology ecosystem Apple has built continues to grow and mature.

• Can Windows 10 save Windows Phone?

  The future of Windows Phone is hanging in the balance: If the launch of Windows 10 doesn't improve the struggling mobile operating system's fortunes significantly then Microsoft may have no choice but to abandon it.

• 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.

• Does the Apple Watch Sports go the distance for runners?

  Whenever Apple puts out a new product, it's going to draw headlines. There's no better example than the Apple Watch -- its first offering into the fitness market, which has a potential to be a 22 million unit market in the U.S., according to Market Strategies International.

• 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?

• 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. 

• 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.

• 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.