CTOvision.com » Google http://ctovision.com News, analysis and context on enterprise technology for the CTO Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:03:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Anup Ghosh on Cybersecurity in 2012: Let’s break the security insanity cycle http://ctovision.com/2012/01/anup-ghosh-on-cybersecurity-in-2012-lets-break-the-security-insanity-cycle/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/anup-ghosh-on-cybersecurity-in-2012-lets-break-the-security-insanity-cycle/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:24:02 +0000 BobGourley http://ctovision.com/?p=15853

Editor’s note: the post below by Anup Ghosh first appeared on the Invincea blog and is republished here with the author’s permission. bg

Prediction 2012: Hackers Will Find New Fertile Ground to Pharm

Posted by Anup Ghosh on November 29, 2011

Invincea is on record that the year 2011 will go down as the year the fundamental underpinnings of Internet security fell. In fact, it is the bloodiest year on record for Internet security. Not only did we witness compromises of Certificate Authorities to forge digital certificates, the compromise of the market-leading two-factor authentication product, and SSL, but also the rise of the Hacktivist in taking down major corporations publicly.

Once again, it’s that time of year where we not only reflect on the year behind us, but also contemplate what the future holds.

The 2011 List
In thinking about 2012, it’s worth a look-back to what we predicted for 2011:

1. Malware: The explosive growth trend of Malware will continue on an exponential growth trend from 2010 levels. Current signature-based approaches will continue to encourage the production of massive amounts of new malware variants. Web-based exploits will continue to be the primary attack vector, focusing on trust-based exploits to get users to infect themselves on the one hand, while drive-by exploits on the other will focus on Java and plug-ins/extensions.

Ok, admittedly this was a lay-up. McAfee reports over 80,000 new variants of malware generated each day – a 400% increase in the rate of malware production since 2007. While the number of Java-based browser exploits did rise significantly, one interesting trend we saw was an increase in thread-injection attacks from browser exploits against operating system services. This tactic evades most anti-virus and application white-listing techniques by never hitting disk on the one hand and compromising existing white-listed programs on the other.

2. Blame the User: The “blame the user” mentality will continue to grip the Security industry as users continue to be infected by trust-exploiting malware that leverage social networks. Many will call for enhanced user training; many will draw the conclusion that the endpoint cannot be protected. These parties will find themselves the victims of continuous intrusions. A new breed of security company will emerge as the answer to the malware scourge.

Security Ops teams continue to blame the user for infections. Users are the target of cyber adversaries because they are improperly put in the position of making security decisions – decisions they are not equipped to make. As long as we continue to design systems that depend on users to make correct security decisions, we will continue to blame users and wonder why our networks get compromised. Making matters worse, these companies tend to adopt a victim mentality, refusing to disclose breaches publicly unless forced to do so, and then refusing to disclose the methods of the attacks. The truth is we’re all victims of cyber exploits. It’s time to remove the stigma and disclose what’s going on if we are to ever going to force change in the industry.

3. Reactive Approaches to Security Will Continue to Fail:  Complaints about the ineffectiveness of anti-virus solutions will continue…yet organizations will continue to renew their subscriptions and anti-virus companies will continue to report how the problem is getting worse without mentioning how ineffective they are against addressing the threat.

 No doubt – reactive approaches still dominate security technology. The security industry won’t change as long as customers still re-up their security subscription even when it isn’t working for them.

 4. Major Breaches in Sectors with Intellectual Property:  Another large scale Google-esque breach will occur – millions more will occur but never be disclosed or publicized. Nation state actors will continue to evolve their focus towards America’s corporations and the intellectual property that drives their success. Pharmaceutical will be a big target for Nation state attacks.

Operation ShadyRAT, Nitro, NASDAQ…need we say more?

5. Hacktivists Will Bask in Their New Found Glory: More hacktivist attacks and counter-attacks in 2011 – including DDoS and website defacing against corporations and government agencies as a response to globalization, political unrest, and perceived unfair corporate practices.

Anon, LulzSec, Anti-Sec found their sea legs – buoyed by a perceived greater cause the ease with which large corporations could be brought to their knees. Meanwhile, the industry trembled before them.

6. Critical Infrastructure Attacks: Critical infrastructures have been given adequate notice. Attacks against critical infrastructure systems will become more common since the methods of StuxNet have become publicly available. Expect electric grid outages, chemical, gas, oil and energy plant infections to be on the rise.

Duqu, public utility hacks, SCADA control systems…it is fashionable to go after an easy target – and preps the battlefield for cyberwarfare.

7. Hello Android: The emergence of Android-based attacks will become bigger news as Android begins to take larger market share from iPhone and users rush to download new apps that are not vetted by Google – some of which will be malicious, others just vulnerable to attack. Attacks against the Google browser on Android will become more common.

DroidDream compromised over 250,000 phones with a rootkit. With no vetting of the apps published to the Android marketplace, users are forced to decide on their own which apps are malicious or may infringe on their privacy.

8. Windows Kernel Exploits: More attacks against the Windows operating system kernel will emerge to exploit application sandboxes in desktop software applications running Firefox, Chrome, IE or Adobe Reader X.

While numerous critical vulnerabilities were discovered in browsers in 2011, significantly enough, Duqu leveraged a previously unknown Windows kernel exploit.

9. Organized Crime Rises: The glory days of hacking for fun are over. Organized cyber crime will grow in strength and sophistication, especially in recruiting human mules to pull money out of the system from illegal bank transfers from banking malware. Banks will begin to take serious losses to make consumers whole and as business win court cases against banks for negligence in banking system security – including the business systems of customers.

Organized crime dominates most cyber exploits today because of the sheer economics of cyber crime. In Operation Ghost Click, the FBI disclosed that over 4 million users were compromised and the Estonian crime ring, which consisted of six individuals, netted over $14m.

10. Congress Will Rear Its Head: Major Cyber legislation will be passed by Congress that increases security costs substantially for regulated industries (e.g. public companies. govt contractors, critical infrastructure providers, ISPs, etc.) without a commensurate reduction in security breaches.

Fortunately, this hasn’t come to pass yet – but it hasn’t stopped Congress from threating cyber security legislation to be imposed on industry or the White House from putting out policy positions on cyberwarfare.

The 2012 List
Our predictions for 2011 weren’t too far off the mark and with 20/20 hindsight, it all seems obvious. In thinking about 2012, there isn’t much we’d take off the list – largely because there isn’t much we changed as an industry. We are stuck in a cycle of penetrate, remediate, patch – or as we call it – wash, rinse, repeat security. We should expect to see more of the same. However, repeating 2011′s list is not interesting. So here is our list of predictions for the coming year. We believe that 2012 will be the year that hackers grow bored of tilling the same old fields that are largely compromised anyway.  As a result, they will go in search of interesting targets and high-value/high-consequence targets.

1. Toxic Clouds: Perhaps the most significant move in 2011 was the adoption of cloud computing in a meaningful scale. The adversarial side of security is as much of a business (and perhaps more profitable) than the defense side of security. As corporations and government migrate their data from their desktops and internal servers to the cloud, the adversary will follow suit. How perfect is that? Now all of the data is gathered in one place – ready to hack – and not scattered across various machines on a network that requires time and effort to find and more machines to compromise along the way. Much as corporations have moved to the cloud, we should expect hackers/Hacktivists to use the cloud for their own take-down efforts and command and control networks.

2. Critical Infrastructure Attacks: Up until now, attacks against critical infrastructures have been both few and far between and hard to confirm. The lesson learned from StuxNet by the adversarial community is critical infrastructures are now in play – fair game if you will. The bad news for critical infrastructure providers is they can no longer hide from the threat and pretend they aren’t aware of what’s happening. 2012 will see concerted attacks against power and utility plants, among other critical infrastructures.

3. Cyber Physical Systems Compromise: In the search of more interesting devices to hack, the adversary is going to transition from traditional IT networks to embedded systems – which we normally think of as physical systems. Things like your car, TVs, your house, your office building and mass transit systems. In other words, systems that are networked and run a lot of software will be fertile ground for hackers. Give a hacker a network interface with software listening behind it and he’ll own it.

4. Smartphones, Tablets…Hand-held Exploits: Exploit development for handhelds is still in its nascent stages. Even hackers have to learn skills when it comes to Android and Objective C. However, cyber crime and exploit development are driven by economics. The growth of Android and other handhelds will create a surge in demand for exploits against Android and the Apple iOS operating systems. The device manufacturers, operating system vendors, and the mobile-device management industry segments are not prepared to address vulnerabilities in software on these platforms, nor the malicious apps written to compromise them.

5. Cyberwarfare: For a long time, the use of the term “cyberwarfare” was verboten among the cyber literati as it was playing into the war machine hyperbole. With StuxNet breaking previously unwritten rules in targeting critical infrastructures and Duqu – “The Son of StuxNet” – collecting information from SCADA vendor systems, the groundwork is being laid for cyberwarfare operations. Expect more sabre rattling from the major cyber powers and non-attributable offensive operations against strategic targets.

If 2011 was a watershed year in cyber security, how will 2012 be remembered?

Perhaps as the year the Digital Pearl Harbor comes to pass? We hope not, but let’s not wait for it. The equivalent of death by a thousand cuts is what we face every week. One side effect of the dramatic headlines in cyber nearly every week is desensitization. At what point will we become numb to what is going on in the network?

One of the risks that may become apparent in 2012 is that dramatic attacks like compromising 4 million users will be passé – another day in the life on the network. Hacking a power company, an act which results in brown-outs, will become part of the routine. Let’s hope that instead, 2012 is the year we commit to changing the way we approach security. We must adopt security architectures that proactively prevent intrusions rather than reacting to the breach after the fact, spending time, effort and countless dollars to assess how bad the damage is.

Let’s break the security insanity cycle in 2012.

]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/anup-ghosh-on-cybersecurity-in-2012-lets-break-the-security-insanity-cycle/feed/ 1 One Month Later, the Galaxy Nexus is still the phone to beat http://ctovision.com/2012/01/one-month-later-the-galaxy-nexus-is-still-the-phone-to-beat/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/one-month-later-the-galaxy-nexus-is-still-the-phone-to-beat/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:49:46 +0000 RyanKamauff http://ctovision.com/?p=15764

The Galaxy Nexus has raised the bar for all mobile devices

While Apple recorded their best quarter ever, Samsung and Google released the most impressive smartphone to date. Appearing on the Verizon network with LTE radios in the US, as well GSM w/ HSDPA+ radios internationally, the Galaxy Nexus is the most groundbreaking phone available.

The mix of 32GB internal storage, a dual-core TI OMAP processor, Android 4.0, a beautiful 720p 4.65″ screen and high-speed 4G networks make it the phone to measure to. Running the un-distilled version of Google’s Android OS, the Galaxy Nexus has all the first-party support you’d expect from Samsung, and unrivaled support from the Android development community.

The Galaxy Nexus offers great battery life (for a LTE device) and the best user experience Android has had to date. While there is a bit of a learning curve coming from Gingerbread (2.3.x) or Honeycomb (3.x), Android 4.0.x is ready to play. With the right ROM, you can force the “menu” buttons back into play. Android 4.0.x was created to be easier on the average user – but with all the developer support, it can still be a geek powerhouse.

Developer support is part of what makes the Galaxy Nexus the phone to beat. A quick search of XDA Devlopers or Rootzwikiwill show the preponderance of developers out there supporting the Galaxy Nexus (in both GSM and CDMA/LTE forms).

Application support is coming. Google has been rolling out 2 or 3 updates to their core applications ever week, and the top 3rd party developers are joining the party as well. Many of the best Android applications are already updated with ICS versions in mind – so that they take full advantage of the huge screen and capabilities of the Nexus.

Trust in Team Kang for all your GNex ROM needs

I’ve been using the Android Open Kang Project ROM for over a month now. It’s my favorite ROM available, and gives you a great deal of flexibility and customization. Additionally, the creator, Roman, added some key performance options which increase battery life (and thus the usability of the device).

While Cyanogen Mod 9 is not out yet (the one based on Android 4.0.x), installing it on your device is something every user should consider. Part of the fun of Android is Rooting/ROMing/Theming your phone – getting it to exactly the specifications that make you work and play best. The Rooting process can be intimidating, and there will be some issues, but you’ll learn a lot about your device in the process. While you may lose of your data (most of it is backed up to the cloud), the capabilities gained (battery life, Wi-Fi Tether, full Nandroid backups, etc) will more than outweigh that in the future.

Do you have an Android device, if so, is it rooted, if not, what are you waiting for?

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]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/one-month-later-the-galaxy-nexus-is-still-the-phone-to-beat/feed/ 1 CTOvision Monthly Summary for January http://ctovision.com/2012/01/ctovision-monthly-summary-for-january/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/ctovision-monthly-summary-for-january/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:57:37 +0000 AlexOlesker http://ctovision.com/?p=15917

In January, the CTOvision team covered many exciting developments in disruptive technology. As always, we focused on the most important trends for CTOs and the federal government such as Big Data, cloud computing, and mobile. We also looked at success stories and predicted future technology developments. For the first time this month provided a way to consume CTOvision on your mobile device through Google Currents by clicking this link in your mobile browser.

On Big Data, we covered some of the best solutions available commercially or open source. Splunk, which captures, indexes, and analyzes machine data so even non-IT staff can explore it, announced that they were going public this month and are looking to raise $125 million in IPO. Another analysis tool we examined, Synthesys, uses Digital Reasoning’s patented entity extraction software to identify the people, places, things, and whatever other categories interest users from data too massive to analyze by hand. Synthesys maps relationships and the nature of connections then presents the results to analysts who can drill down into linkages. Through a partnership, Digital Reasoning is able to incorporate Cloudera’s enterprise distribution of Apache Hadoop, the leading open source distributed computing platform, into its solution. This month, Apache announced Hadoop v 1.0, meaning that the revolutionary technology has reached a landmark level of stability and enterprise-readiness. Hadoop has been revolutionizing information technology for six years and we can’t wait to see what Hadoop 1.0 will bring.

To show users how to make the most of the Hadoop ecosystem, in January we launched a series of posts on implementing a Hadoop cluster in the cloud. We began by providing quick start guides to standing up a cloud servers in Amazon’s EC2 and Rackspace, then showed you how to build a Hadoop cluster in the cloud in 20 minutes or less. We also provided instructions on using Whirr, a member of the Hadoop ecosystem, to automate stand up of your distributed cluster in the Rackspace cloud. While Hadoop and cloud computing are great solutions, we also explored their current limits as discovered by the finding of the Magellan project where the Department of Energy’s national labs experimented with replacing their traditional high-performance computing solutions with cloud computing and open source software stacks like Hadoop. Though the cloud held promise as a highly customizable and collaborative space, on very specific, massive, and highly computationally demanding scientific applications the researchers found reliability, security, scalability, and cost problems in the cloud, showing where current cloud computing capabilities have room for improvement.

January was an important month for disruptive technology and gadgets as it marked this year’s Consumer Electronics Showcase. We covered the highlights of CES, including Asus announcing a 7 inch Tegra 3 tablet for under $250, Intel releasing an Android smartphone, and the promising Windows 8. We also recapped the mobile and gadget developments of the past year, such as the dominance of Apple and Google and the rise of tablets, trends which we expect to continue. Apple’s dominance led to its first over $40 billion quarter, $46 billion to be exact, which it may use to vertically integrate and take better control of its supply chain. Google, in turn, launched Google TV, which is exciting now but has much more to offer in the near future, and, through Android, powers the dominant smartphone on the market, the Galaxy Nexus.

As always, we covered successes and challenges in government IT. During the Stop Online Piracy Act debate, we reminded readers of a statement by some of the biggest names and founders of the Internet against SOPA.  We analyzed some important recently announcements from the federal government, such as the White House’s IT R&D priorities meant to guide government-wide investment. The research goals were inducing change, developing scientific foundations, maximizing research impact, and accelerating transition into practice, and the research themes were designed-in security, tailored trustworthy spaces, presenting a moving target, and providing cyber economic incentives. We also summarized the controls recently released for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), a government-wide program to speed the adoption of cloud computing that establishes requirements for federal cloud computing as well as universal procedures for approving services and providers to work with the government.

For the military, we posted SOCOM’s technology wish list, which asks for research, development, and acquisition of technologies such as tags, sensors, biometrics, and forensics. We explained the role of VMware, a leader in virtualization solutions, on the Navy and Marine Corps Intranet, the largest individual network in the world and the second largest network following the Internet. We also discussed the slow rise of mobile in the military, with Dell Android 2.2 approved for DoD networks and iPads issued to Air Force Special Operations Command, which, while encouraging, requires better mobile risk management solutions. The leader in this field, Fixmo, announced its advisory board this month, which includes Bill Livingood, 33 year Secret Service veteran and recently retired Sargent at Arms for the House of Representatives, RADM Arthur Lawrence, former Assistant Surgeon General and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services, and our own Bob Gourley, former DIA CTO.

In the spirit of the new year, we also explored developing and future technologies in January. We kicked the year off with tech predictions for 2012 by Ryan Kamauff and Alex Olesker. Ryan’s predictions included Android expanding its mobile market share, Apple releasing a 7 inch iPad, and the federal government experiencing some challenges adopting cloud computing. Alex’s predictions were that the reality of cybersecurity threats would finally reach the mainstream, the shift from PC to mobile and from mobile to thin clients would accelerate, and that the debate over cloud computing in government would be definitively settled in cloud’s favor due to budgetary concerns. Anup Ghosh, from the Invincea blog, added some predictions of his own, looking at the biggest hacking trends of 2011 to extrapolate future trends. Adam provided a look into the issue of trust as enterprise security grows increasingly autonomous and human beings can no longer monitor all aspects of their network, and Dillon updated us on recent developments at Liquid Robotics, which has created maritime robots powered by waves that can travel long distances and transmit massive amounts of information from sensors in real time.

Lastly, we hosted and covered some great events in January. Carahsoft and FedCyber hosted a webinar featuring Omer Trajman of Cloudera and Bob Gourley on Big Data successes in government, summarizing some of the best federal solutions and the technology behind them. Building off that, Cloudera and Carahsoft hosted Cloudera Day in DC where they discussed Hadoop for national and business intelligence featuring Cloudera CEO Mike Olson, CTO Amr Awadallah, VP of Product Charles Zedlewski, VP of Customer Solutions Omer Trajman, and Cloudera’s Architect Doug Cutting, the founder of many successful open source projects including Lucene, Nutch, and Hadoop. We began a series of recaps on the day by explaining the tweaks and improvements that Omer Trajman mentioned users can implement in Cloudera’s Distribution Including Hadoop (CDH) and that are included in the newly released CDH3, update 3, and the upcoming CDH4. Carahsoft also hosted a webinar on the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative with Bob Gourley and Doug Norton of Virtual Instruments.

]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/ctovision-monthly-summary-for-january/feed/ 0 Dear Google, I am not buying Plus http://ctovision.com/2012/01/dear-google-i-am-not-buying-plus/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/dear-google-i-am-not-buying-plus/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:48:05 +0000 RyanKamauff http://ctovision.com/?p=15650

Google+ might be a decent alternative to Twitter, but it does not play well with others

Okay Google, we get it. You make some really great products. But what’s the deal with Google+? The service is seems to aspire to be mix between Facebook and Twitter, yet is lacking the critical differentiators that both of Facebook and Twitter offer.

Facebook and Twitter have become huge for a few reasons. The first, is a low low barrier to entry. The second, is the ease of integration for Facebook/Twitter with each other – and the number of ways to access. Android and iPhone both offer deep Facebook and Twitter integration. I doubt iOS will ever integrate Google+ too deeply – simply because of the competition. All said, the real question is what is Google’s intent with Google+?

It seems that Google has done this before (with Wave and Buzz just to name a couple). They release a capability to market – that is not necessarily ready to go (nor fully thought out). Google+ is trying to take the spot of both Facebook and Twitter – and to be your go to for your entire social media consumption.

While I’m always open to a new service (especially one from Google which COULD better integrate into my workflow), Google+ is not that service and here is why:

  • Google+ has terrible integration with other services
    • It will easily let you add Facebook or Twitter (and publish there), but will not (easily) allow you to publish from Facebook/Twitter to Google+
  • The Google+ app is just not very good
  • Circles? A good idea at first, but how many circles do I need – how long will this take?
  • Google+ integration into Google search results (very unlikely I care about Google+ results in any searches, as in, likelihood = zero)
  • Nobody I really care about uses Google+ (and not other media sources (If you’re going to get me to migrate to a new service, you better have some high-speed differentiation)
  • I haven’t yet figured out the Google+ notification system (I can’t seem to get them out of my inbox, let alone my GMail screen. THIS IS ANNOYING.)
So yes, I will be disseminating this using Google+, but I won’t ingest anything there (or pay much attention there) until I can access it from many different platforms – with easily integrated access into my favorite social media capabilities.
Also, Twitter user/developer @Khanov has this relatively simple tutorial for posting from Twitter to Google+ here.
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]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/dear-google-i-am-not-buying-plus/feed/ 0 Consume CTOVision on your Apple iPhone or iPad or Android Phone or Tablet with Google Currents http://ctovision.com/2012/01/consume-ctovision-on-your-apple-iphone-or-ipad-or-android-phone-or-tablet-with-google-currents/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/consume-ctovision-on-your-apple-iphone-or-ipad-or-android-phone-or-tablet-with-google-currents/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:12:27 +0000 BobGourley http://ctovision.com/?p=15600

Ryan Kamauff introduced Google Currents to our readers, calling it “one of the best designed apps I have ever seen.”  I have to agree, they have done a good job with this, producing something that works on Android and iOS and works well for both those communities.

Currents also works well for producers of content. Producers can easily configure the backend of the app to distribute content in ways that are easy for readers to find what interests them.

We would like to draw your attention to the CTOvision.com edition for Google Currents. To find us, load the currents app on your Android or Apple iOS device. Then open this link on your mobile device:

http://j.mp/ctocurrents

We would appreciate you evaluating our feed there. We pull in the best content from our blog plus searched across Google+ on terms like “Technology” and the result is an interesting/dynamic feed of content for modern life.

]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/consume-ctovision-on-your-apple-iphone-or-ipad-or-android-phone-or-tablet-with-google-currents/feed/ 0 What you’re missing at CES 2012 http://ctovision.com/2012/01/what-youre-missing-at-ces-2012/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/what-youre-missing-at-ces-2012/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:48:34 +0000 RyanKamauff http://ctovision.com/?p=15534

CES is the place to be this week...or is it?

Since @BobGourley won’t send me to CES, I have to constantly monitor my Twitter feed and all of the technology sites. But, we have curated what we believe are the top stories (and will keep updating) to provide you with what you need to know about CES 2012.

CES is getting smaller and less important – but that does not mean I’m going to ignore it. The absence of Apple’s real presence is (not their 250 skulking ninja scouts) means that Android devices undoubtedly are the headliners. Smartphones and tablets are the real money devices, with connected TVs as a back up story. PC manufacturers are trying to get the public excited about ultrabooks, but I don’t buy into the hype myself.

Top Stories thus far:

Asus to release 7″ Tegra 3 Android 4.0 tablet for $249

The 7" MeMO will be a big success!

The Tegra 3 chip is really an awesome performer. It makes Android in all forms run snappy, and is a great 3D game performer. The original Transformer was great, and the Prime was a huge upgrade (even Gizmodo liked it, here). The Kindle Fire has proven demand for 7″ tablets, and at $249 it will crush the Fire in capabilities and function. This will be the best small tablet, and a great starter Android device.

Asus releases ICS for Transformer Prime

The release of ICS was promised months ago by Asus, and it’s great to see them follow through. the Transformer Prime is keying up to be the iPad competitor that Google has always needed. ICS has a refined UX that is easier to use than Honeycomb or Gingerbread, and flattens the Android learning curve.

Windows 8 is around – and people like it!

Microsoft hit the ball out of the park with Windows 7. It sold better than any OS ever, and is widely acclaimed. Windows 8 is Microsoft’s attempt to bring touch to the mainstream OS – and if it is successful will be a huge benefit to the company. Despite the iPad’s dominance, I believe there is room for new devices in the tablet market – and if Microsoft can make a killer enterprise tablet, people will be scrambling to pick it up.

Windows 8 is a big step forward for Microsoft and will dictate their future in the mobile game

Intel releasing Android Smartphone

Android now supports x86 architecture, and Intel has finally released the first x86 Android device. It will be released first in China, but should follow shortly over in the US. The key will be finding the appropriate carrier. As Android is adapted for new uses, the strengths of the platform really shine.

Roku Streaming Stick

I’ve already talked about the Roku boxes in previous posts, but think the streaming stick is an even cooler capability. All you do is plug it into your MHL compatible HDMI port (which might be hard to find) and it will deliver Roku capabilities without the box at all.

So what did we miss? If you were at CES let us know – or if there’s something you think I missed please comment below.

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]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/what-youre-missing-at-ces-2012/feed/ 0 Google TV – You should buy it, just not yet… http://ctovision.com/2012/01/google-tv-you-should-buy-it-just-not-yet/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/google-tv-you-should-buy-it-just-not-yet/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:05:47 +0000 RyanKamauff http://ctovision.com/?p=15469

Google TV is headed to your living room, whether you like it or not

I recently purchased the Logitech Revue with Google TV. I absolutely love it. It’s one of the coolest ways to interact with TV to date, and offers the best overall interface for digesting internet streams as well. It is not as simple and intuitive as the Roku boxes, nor as pretty as the Apple TV, yet it is more powerful and capable than both. The Google TV comes with a crazy remote – it’s a full sized wireless keyboard with touchpad, yet that’s not the only way to control it. Android apps allow for easy control, using the device most likely to be in your hand. Google TV is coming, and coming fast.

The Google TV platform got a much needed refresh earlier this year when it was upgraded to “2.0″ or “Android 3.x.” The refresh offers much needed better user experience and a fuller Android Market experience. But the exciting thing about Google TV is not where it is now, but rather the huge potential of the platform. Google TV has been one of the stars of the Consumer Electronics Show this year.

Google TV is coming to living rooms everywhere, in 3 form factors;

  • integrated directly into your HDTV. Sony already does this, LG, Vizio and others are going to as well. I am opposed to this if it costs money, however, because updates will hit with less regularity (and might cost you valuable ports on your TV!)
  • integrated into your set-top box. AWESOME. Everyone knows the user experience of your FiOS/Cable/Satellite box stinks, but Google TV is coming to fix this. Motorola Mobility (owned by Google) also makes set-top boxes, and we should see some really great implementations in the near future.
  • stand alone device. This is what I have (Logitech Revue) and while it is not for everyone (I’d say early adopters only) it is very cool. These will receive the most rapid updates and will be the most standardized devices.

Another big update this week is ARM processor support for Google TV. Since most Android applications are optimized for ARM processors, this represents a big jump forward for the platform. It is far easier to accommodate a small board with the ARM system on a chip design than it is a full ION or Atom instance.

Google TV is definitely going mainstream – and it might well be more a reaction to Apple TV than on any individual merits of the platform. I think the major manufacturers fear getting in bed with Apple and thus are hopping on the Google TV train. Get ready for Google TV, because like it or not, it’s coming to you.

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]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/google-tv-you-should-buy-it-just-not-yet/feed/ 2 Ryan’s 2012 Tech Predictions http://ctovision.com/2012/01/ryans-2012-tech-predictions/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/ryans-2012-tech-predictions/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:37 +0000 RyanKamauff http://ctovision.com/?p=15374

Hopefully these predictions will turn out better than Nic Cage's cinematic masterpiece (Knowing in the US)

Editor’s note: We have asked each of our researchers to pull together considerations meant to help in your planning for 2012. We solicit your feedback on all these predictive posts. bg 

In 2011, we had some really great technology advances – many were mobile-centric, but did not end there. The mobile world continued to explode in 2011 – with exponential smartphone, app and tablet growth. However, this world continues to fracture as every provider tries to carve out their piece of the ecosystem. Cloud computing has become part of our daily lives, as well the IT force multiplier du jour for enterprises. Social capabilities are omnipresent, and continue to grow in importance.

The next year will likely be filled with even more technological leaps and bounds, and here are some of my predictions on them.

My 2012 Technology Predictions:

Mobile

  • Android increases market share of mobile smartphone OS’s – especially in budget arena, there are over 700k Android activations each day, a number which shows no sign of slowing down.
    • A vast divide opens up between the Android “haves” and “have nots” – that is, the devices that have Android 4.0 and those stuck in Android 2.X
  • 720p becomes the de facto standard for all smartphones – 720p looks good on smartphones, and soon Apple will have to adapt/adopt the idea of HD in your hand
  • iPhone 5 update brings LTE radio + multiple handset sizes to iOS – iOS/Apple is getting hurt due to the fact that they offer primarily 1 phone, in 1 form factor. While you can get the 3GS for free on contract, that phone is no longer competitive against today’s budget Android devices.
  • Apple releases 7″ iPad – while Steve Jobs thought this space held nothing of value, the Kindle Fire and Nook Color have proved him wrong. Apple needs a device that is more reading friendly than the larger iPad, and will roll something out to avoid missing this market share.
  • iPad maintains 55+% share of tablet space – despite tablets made by everyone out there, the iPad will maintain the lion’s share of the tablet market – at least for 2012.
  • Sprint or T-Mobile releases “family data plans” – in which every device you own shares pool of data. T-Mobile tried to remain viable by selling out to AT&T, Sprint gambled on WiMax (and lost). Both of these networks need SOMETHING to keep them viable in the mobile business.
  • RIM is out, and Microsoft will do anything to be more than an afterthought – BlackBerry is hemorrhaging mobile share, they offer no differentiators for consumers and are starting to lose corporate accounts as well. Microsoft tore through the videogame world with the Xbox/Xbox360 through a commitment to development and massive use of cash. However, lack of quality devices and carrier commitment have left Windows Phone lagging far behind Android/iOS.

Consumer Technology:

  • Apple releases iTVs (to compete with Google TV) – These will have Apple TVs built into real monitors – will most likely run iOS 5/6 (depending on release) and will likely integrate DVD (maybe even Blu-Ray)
  • Google TV reaches ICS – the Google TV platform is really neat – and offers some cool things to do with your TV. However, it is like 3D – not quite enough content to be ready to roll, but the integration of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu Plus make it viable
  • 3D TV remains on the fringes – Rolling out a new standard is all about content. 3D in the home is not ready, because there is not enough content.
  • Streaming to the living room becomes a bigger deal – as “cable cutters” proliferate, devices like Roku, Boxee, Apple TV and Google TV become more widespread. It used to be that cable was a necessity, and internet a luxury, it is now becoming quite the opposite.

Enterprise Technology

  • As the Bring Your Own Device (or Bring Your Device To Work) phenomenon continues, IT administrators scramble to provide virtualized environments on devices to employees – these efforts will be supported by  security professionals – but the proliferation of personal devices on enterprise networks will lead to a few major security issues – yet will result in stronger security capabilities for distributed devices.
  • Enterprises will be making concerted efforts to outsource (to the cloud!) – Outsourcing desktops, infrastructures and platforms to the cloud will provide great flexibility and agility to IT administrators. This outsourcing will bring down the costs of IT labor and divisions as a whole. There are many concerns associated with cloud – but these will be swept under the rug as monetary savings and business process benefits take the spot light.
  • As the Federal Government moves to cloud based services, there will be growing pains – enormous growing pains. NIST is working hard to create frameworks and standards for governmental cloud capabilities. This will change the way IT services are rolled out and offered to both govvies and citizens.

Social Media

  • The big 3 of 2011 were Facebook, Stumbleupon and Twitter - they defined the way we interact with friends, find and curate content, and share.
  • Facebook will continue to define our online social interactions - as much as everyone complains about Facebook/Chat/Timeline, they are on it, and on it to stay.
  • Stumbleupon will continue to outperform Reddit/Pinterest/etc - it has the best mobile experience, and great sharing options, if you don’t use it, get on it now, and follow me (Kamauff).
  • Twitter is the news sources of choice, as well the disseminator of links - we all use Twitter, it’s likely you found this site on Twitter, and that won’t go away. People will keep using Twitter for snarky comments, news and sharing links – but the character limit will create issues in the future.

So what did I miss? I welcome all comments/thoughts/complaints disagreements!

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]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/ryans-2012-tech-predictions/feed/ 6 A look at the Tech of 2011 – Mobile and Gadgets http://ctovision.com/2012/01/a-look-at-the-tech-of-2011-mobile-and-gadgets/ http://ctovision.com/2012/01/a-look-at-the-tech-of-2011-mobile-and-gadgets/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:00:12 +0000 RyanKamauff http://ctovision.com/?p=15394

The two biggest stories of the year were the iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus

2011 Was definitely the year of mobile and gadget explosion. Our favorite devices became more capable, widespread and cheaper than ever. WiMax fell by the wayside as LTE and HSPDA+ protocols replaced them – the latter just a placeholder until LTE networks could be rolled out. We got some awesome new tablets, some great updates to our favorite mobile OS’s and killer new smartphones. We found that cable cutting is possible — just not if you’re a sports junkie (yet). Keep reading for our summation of 2011 in Mobile and Gadgets.

The Year in Short:

  • Apple released their iPad 2, iPhone 4S and iOS 5.
  • Google/Android released versions 3.x (for tablets) 4.x for all and the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus smartphones.
  • Microsoft released Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) yet still does not have a flagship device in NA.
  • HP/Palm drops WebOS development, TouchPad firesale creates more development than anything HP every did
  • RIM BlackBerry PlayBook released, is horribly crippled and costs RIM upward of $300M (might even cost the jobs of the Co-CEOs).

Apple and Google Win 2011 – to no one’s surprise

The Mobile/Gadget World was utterly dominated by Android and iOS in 2011. At the end of the day, the two operating systems captured over 70% of the US smartphone marketshare. They have marginalized the once great RIM, while Microsoft is struggling just to stay even remotely relevant. The battle between Android and iOS is one of differing approaches to the same problem. Apple has integrated fully in the supply chain, controlling and curating the entire platform. Apple makes large profits on handsets, service, as well as app sales (30% share of every sale).  Google is making their money through ad sales and services, as well a portion of application sales. At the end of the day, Apple is making more money off of smartphones and tablets – while Google has greater influence. Microsoft needs a huge 2012 to remain relevant – and they have the capabilities to do that.

Android and iOS are the only mobile operating systems that mattered in 2012

Both Apple and Google have had some stumbles in the past year. However, these stumbles have created stronger offerings. Android’s Tablet offerings – the 3.x (Honeycomb version) of the operating system was not well received. However, the recently released Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.x) and the Galaxy Nexus have given Android the true flagship device they have always needed. Apple’s iPhone 4S was not what the pundits (nor the consumers) desired. It was just another incremental upgrade – but their iOS 5 brought many features (just look at @dbehr24’s post) that were necessary and improved the experience. With Android 4.x and iOS 5, we have two mature, developed operating systems for mobile devices and tablets, and should provide excellent competition in the near future. I do believe that there is room for another contender – if it is done right.

Tablets had a strong showing in 2011, which will continue in 2012

The iPad 2 was the tablet winner, but the Kindle Fire surprised everyone

Tablets have been a secondary story in 2011. The iPad 2 sold like gangbusters, around 12M units a quarter. Apple is still selling some original iPads as well. Android was released for tablets early this year – but still has yet to be widely adopted. The Amazon Kindle Fire has outperformed any and all expectations, with over 4M in sales since it was released (around Thanksgiving). The success of the Kindle Fire has been attributed to both the cost ($199) and the Amazon ecosystem. But in my opinion it is more than just one or the other – but a mix of both, plus the great form factor that is a 7” tablet. The rush for bargain touchpads underscores the consumer demand for a tablet – yet the price points have not met with consumer expectations. India is rolling out their $50 budget tablet now – and I imagine we’ll continue to see the $200-$300 price point to continue to be the sweet spot.

This year, gadgets and mobile were undeniably inextricably entwined. I do not believe that this will necessarily stop. The Android OS is widely available for installation on a vast amount of gadgets, from set top boxes to PMPs. It is used on the majority of smartphones and tablets worldwide (just not the best-selling). Apple made a big move by releasing the iPhone 4S on every single carrier at the same time – Google needs to follow in their footsteps with further Google Experience Devices. While the Galaxy Nexus launch was a success, it was mitigated by infighting and other issues with Verizon. Google has to fight to keep their gadgets in stock – and allow OEMs to ship launchers that can be easily ignored (or changed). So long as OEMs insist that their “special sauce” increases the usability, Android (Google) will lag behind Apple.

The "Beta" gives me a warm and fuzzy for old Google products

Disruptive Actors of 2011

2011 did have some disruptive actors. Most notably is Republic Wireless, (blog here). They offer unlimited mobile data, text and voice with a commitment to using Wi-Fi for only $20 a month. The service piggybacks Sprint’s network, which cannot be the only network they use. Cable cutting is another disruptive capability; one that removes the monopoly of cable and satellite providers. Apple, Roku, Boxee, and Google TV are among the products that enable cable cutting. As Android is better adopted for the big screen (it already looks great), cable cutting will become more widespread.

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]]> http://ctovision.com/2012/01/a-look-at-the-tech-of-2011-mobile-and-gadgets/feed/ 3 A look at the Google Ecosystem http://ctovision.com/2011/12/a-look-at-the-google-ecosystem/ http://ctovision.com/2011/12/a-look-at-the-google-ecosystem/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:00:47 +0000 RyanKamauff http://ctovision.com/?p=14670

Please +1 this article...I'll be your very best Google+ friend!!!

Recently, Dillon Behr (@dbehr24) wrote a great piece about how the consumer technology ecosystem has almost completely fractured – breaking into walled gardens. Those of Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and the rest are all creating ecosystems with low barriers to entry, but even higher barriers to exit. This post is the first in a series where we will examine each ecosystem in depth.

What does Google Have?

Google is one of the largest email providers out there. They have been growing immensely, and now are the de facto provider for the 17-25 age group. They offer cloud storage (of sorts) and obviously own the search market (just “google it”). YouTube is the only true distributor of online video content (and it’s own verb as well). Along with Facebook, they have the most used chat function (Talk). They have started in on Google Voice (which is great, so long as your cell provider supports it). Google offers their Apps domain, which offers desktop publishing (and collaboration), in the cloud. Google offers its own browser, Chrome, not to mention an operating system, Chrome OS. Google has recently launched their Music offering, enabling cloud storage of your tunes (no questions as to where you found them), and purchase in the Google Market. There is Google+, which appears to be a strange mix of Twitter and Facebook (but has recently picked up a HUGE amount of traction). As well Google Maps is undeniably the best map solution (desktop and mobile). Google has GoogleTV, which I’m still not sure what it really does, but they have it. Last, but not least, there is Android, the most common smartphone operating system in the world.

These are just a few of the Google Offerings

What does Google’s Ecosystem look like?

Google’s ecosystem is (in my mind) the most open of all that we will examine. They openly publish APIs so you can use their services without ever visiting their sites. Google has applications for most of their services on iOS and other operating systems. While Google has their own OS, it really still seems like a toy (and has yet to be proven anything else). Google’s ecosystem is open, yet defined, and accessible as long as you are connected. That is part of the hit on Google – you must be connected to access their services. While this was (and still is true) in part, they are moving to support both online and offline services.

Strengths of Google’s Ecosystem

Everyone's favorite robot headlines some of Google's offerings

As previously mentioned, Google’s smartphone operating system is number one in the world. Over 600,000 devices are activated DAILY. They are the low-cost OS of choice, with flexibility across a range of devices and specifications. Google also possesses the number search engine in the US. It is so popular as to become a verb. Additionally, their Apps capability is starting to gain traction in the Federal Government, and as it is free to Non-Profit agencies, it is doing well there. Google offers low barriers to entry, and maintains few barriers to exit. Anything created in their Apps domain is exportable to Microsoft Office formats and PDF. Google has their hands in a bit of everything, and does most of them well. I don’t think that their Chrome OS will ever take off, primarily because Android/iOS own much more attractive stories. Google’s key strength is their willingness to try new things, to debut products that might not have a market (or be 100% polished) but that could grow into something new.

Weaknesses of Google’s Ecosystem

Due to their openness, Google is one of the ecosystems of choice for smartphones. However, the user experience has often been decried. Thus, hardware manufacturers have been “skinning” the Android experience, and in the process, creating a tougher atmosphere for patching and updates. This has led to Android being fractured. By fractured I mean that there are hundreds of Android devices out there, and they are not all on the same version of the operating system. This fractured ecosystem means that not all users get the latest and greatest Google additions, and even if they do get them, they definitely do not get timely updates. This has led to some security issues (which our very own @Crypt0s wrote about here).  Additionally, the reliance on network connectivity (which brings all the Google goodness) will have to move to some more client based computing or capabilities.

Summary of Google’s Position

Google occupies an unique position in the market. They are the biggest name in search, in Mobile OS, yet they do not sell physical products. Most of their income is from services, which differentiates them from others in the market. At the end of the day, Google’s Android is taking over in the Mobile arena, and will be the defining operating system for the next few years. The true test will be how well Google can continue to leverage their free services to make money, and provide these services to users.

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