Articles by John P. Mello Jr

Running a US$300 billion company is challenging for anyone, but it can be even more challenging when you have a tech titan looking over your shoulder That's the situation facing new CEO Satya Nadella, because just as he assumes Microsoft's helm, Bill Gates has decided to take on a new role in the affairs of the company he founded....

A new version of Google Maps for the iPhone and iPad hit the App Store Tuesday. Added to the app's repertoire is the ability to notify a driver when a faster alternative route is available When Google Maps' navigation feature is running, traffic conditions will be monitored by the app. When it determines that an alternative route can get you to you...

Unlike in 1984, when the Macintosh was introduced, there weren't any Apple ads at the Super Bowl this year. Instead, on the day after the Massacre in the Meadowlands, the company raised the curtain on a 127-second video celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Mac -- on YouTube Video for the project was shot entirely with iPhones over a 36-hour peri...

The holiday data breach at Target was opened up with stolen credentials from a vendor in the company's supply chain, according to reports that surfaced last week. That kind of attack is getting more and more common these days "About 80 percent of data breaches originate in the supply chain," Torsten George, vice president of marketing for Agiliance...

Facebook on Thursday announced next week's launch of Paper, a free app for iOS that combines user and curated content into a personalized news medium Users can create stories as well as receive stories based on their interests and organized into sections. Section stories are chosen by both human and machine curators....

Smartphones have been steadily stealing shutterbugs from digital camera makers, but most of those converts are coming from the point-and-shoot snapper crowd. The next step for phone makers is to target more sophisticated photographers who use cameras with interchangeable lenses. Apple appears to be getting ready for that battle The United States Pa...

Samsung and Google on Monday solidified their business relationship, announcing a far-reaching, global cross-licensing agreement that will cover not only existing patents, but also intellectual property developed by the sprawling companies over the next 10 years Under the agreement, the companies will give each other access to their patent portfoli...

With breaking news about data breaches a common occurrence, you'd think security threats to an organization's data would be something CEOs and their management teams were kept in the know about. Apparently not Some 80 percent of IT pros in the United States and United Kingdom said they did not frequently communicate with executive management about ...

The Internet went dark in China on Tuesday. For some eight hours, more than 618 million Chinese couldn't access cyberspace. The outage occurred when two-thirds of all Web traffic in the country was redirected to a single IP address located in the United States The address belongs to Dynamic Internet Technology, a company with ties to Falun Gong, a ...

LogMeIn on Tuesday announced that it will be shutting down its free service and unifying its existing portfolio of paid products in a single offering Existing users of LogMeIn Free will be given seven days from the next time they log on to the service to upgrade to the premium service at a discounted price of US$49....

While most folks know the value of money, few know the latest value of a Bitcoin, a virtual currency prone to wide price swings. Those swings haven't deterred those on the digital leading edge from speculating in the currency -- or bad app writers from cooking up ways to steal it "Bitcoins -- and indeed any digital property of any value -- will be ...

Following reports of adware being distributed through extensions for Google's Web browser Chrome, the search giant has removed two applets from it its online store Pulled from the Chrome Web Store were "Add to Feedly" and "Tweet This Page." Both extensions were mentioned in an Ars Technica report Friday about adware vendors buying popular Chrome ex...

For the second time in less than a year, Apple has agreed to reimburse its customers for purchases within applications made by children without their parents' consent In a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday, Apple agreed to pay at least US$32.5 million in refunds to consumers who incurred charges on their iTunes accoun...

Net Neutrality received a body slam from a federal appeals court Tuesday, but the door was left open for resuscitating the policy In a case brought by Verizon against the Federal Communications Commission, the judges on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found the agency lacked the authority to impose antidiscrimination ...

The raft of problems connected to the launch of HealthCare.gov appears to have sunk the fortunes of the private contractor paid for running the site The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, charged with overseeing the health insurance marketplace, announced Saturday that it had awarded Accenture Federal Services a one-year contract for US$45...

Up to now, the malware program CryptoLocker has been king of the ransomware roost, but PowerLocker (formerly PrisonLocker) may present a new challenge. "It has some interesting countermeasures to thwart researchers," Harry Sverdlove, CTO of Bit9, told TechNewsWorld....

Apple and Samsung have set a date on which they'll attempt to iron out their differences in a patent dispute that's headed to trial in March The companies have agreed to meet before a mediator on Feb. 19, according to a document filed with a federal district court in California, to discuss a settlement of their differences over some smartphone pate...

"A more robust entertainment delivery system will be a hallmark of Sony as we move into the future," Sony CEO Kaz Hirai said Tuesday in a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas."We will be offering customers a single source of entertainment that is less complicated, more cost-effective and more accessible than ever before." ...

Managing a household's expenses isn't the sexiest task in our lives. Nevertheless, it has to be done -- so why not add a dash of fun to it? That's what a program by Raj Kumar Shaw of iLifeTouch does for the chore. Called simply "Daily Expenses," the software -- available from the Mac App Store for US$19.99 -- offers a streamlined and colorful way t...

If you're inclined to make resolutions this time of year and you're concerned about your online and offline security, here are some suggestions that can keep you safer in the days ahead At the top of the list: You should vow to change the passwords to your important accounts on a frequent basis....