Apple has recently purchased PowerbyProxi, a New Zealand firm that designs wireless power products for consumers and enterprises. An Apple spokesman confirmed the accession, which was earlier reported in New Zealand media. Both companies declined to provide any details of the purchase other than to confirm its happened.

Apple has included wireless charging in its latest iPhone 8 smartphone, as well as its forthcoming iPhone X, aligning it with the future of wireless charging which allows users to recharge devices by placing them on a pad or other surface rather than inserting them in a cradle or attaching a cable. Apple has been slow to adopt the technology, lagging behind its biggest rival Samsung and other mobile phone companies that have offered wireless charging in some of their devices for several years.

“Apple’s interest in PowerbyProxi may be driven by their other products, some of which can support transferring up to 150 watts through any non-metallic material, for wirelessly charging industrial machinery and medical equipment”, said Jake Saunders, Asia Pacific vice president of ABI Research.

This could allow Apple to offer much larger pads that could quickly charge multiple consumer devices, including laptops and even electric scooters, he added. For consumers, charging a single device on one pad may not be that appealing, “but when you get into multiple device charging it starts to get attractive”, Saunders said.

Apple recently announced its own AirPower accessory, which it said would simultaneously charge up to three devices, including new versions of the Apple Watch, iPhone and AirPod charging case.

Malware is a term used to describe a broad category of damaging software that includes viruses, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, spyware, and adware. The effects of malware range from brief annoyance to computer crashes and identity theft. Malware is easier to avoid than it is to remove. Avoiding malware involves a two-part strategy.

Prevent Malware With Smart Online Behavior

The single biggest factor in preventing a malware infection on your PC is you. You don’t need expert knowledge or special training. You just need vigilance to avoid downloading and installing anything you do not understand or trust, no matter how tempting, from the following sources:

From a website: If you are unsure, leave the site and research the software you are being asked to install. If it is OK, you can always come back to site and install it.

From e-mail: Do not trust anything associated with a spam e-mail. Approach e-mail from people you know with caution when the message contains links or attachments. If you are suspicious of what you are being asked to view or install, don’t do it.

From physical media: Your friends, family, and associates may unknowingly give you a disc or flash drive with an infected file on it. Don’t blindly accept these files; scan them with security software.

From a pop-up window: Some pop-up windows or boxes will attempt to corner you into downloading software or accepting a free “system scan” of some type. Often these pop-ups will employ scare tactics to make you believe you need what they are offering in order to be safe. Close the pop-up without clicking anything inside it (including the X in the corner). Close the window via Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

From another piece of software: Some programs attempt to install malware as a part of their own installation process. When installing software, pay close attention to the message boxes before clicking Next, OK, or I Agree. Scan the user agreement for anything that suggests malware may be a part of the installation. If you are unsure, cancel the installation, check up on the program, and run the installation again if you determine it is safe.

Remove Malware With the Right Software

Chances are that no matter how careful you are, you will be infected some day. That’s because malware is designed to sneak onto your computer in ways you can’t possibly foresee.

An updated operating system: Use Windows Update. Take advantage of its ability to automatically notify you of updates, or better yet, to automatically download and install updates.

An updated browser: No matter which browser you use, keeping it current is vital to preventing infection. Take advantage of your browser’s pop-up blocking, download screening, and automatic update features.

Antivirus software: You must run an antivirus program to be safe. Keep it updated, turned on, and schedule a scan to run at least once a month. (Don’t run two antivirus programs; they will interfere with one another.)

Anti-malware: Also called anti-spyware, many antivirus applications include an anti-malware component. If yours does not, install and use a standalone anti-malware program that does not conflict with your antivirus program. Keep it updated.

Firewall: If you aren’t running a third-party firewall, use Windows Firewall. (Don’t run two firewalls at once; they will interfere with one another.)

Spam filter: If your e-mail program is not adequately filtering spam from your in-box, consider additional spam filtering software. If your security software is a security suite, spam filtering may be a feature that you need to switch on.

eStorm has added Cisco’s Spark integrated collaboration platform to its list of quality products, with availability from mid-October.

Cisco Spark is an enterprise communications suite that combines voice, messaging and conferencing for all businesses, of all sizes.

Start free with the app. Invite people and add your tools. Then go pro, buy a plan that
integrates your calendar and directory. Build your conference room capability with the Cisco Spark Board for sharing, touch-screen drawing, and video conferencing, no cables, no compatibility stuff, simply cloud.. Or perhaps tailor a kit to your specific requirements.

Talk to eStorm for your specific solution.

Sponsorship Grants for Student Science Engagement and International Competitions is an element of the Inspiring Australia – Science Engagement Programme, that provides grants to organisations to sponsor eligible students to participate in conferences, competitions and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related events.

Applicants must have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be one of the following:

a primary or secondary school, registered with a state or territory authority
an incorporated not for profit organisation
an entity incorporated in Australia

To be eligible your project must involve:

the participation of a student or a group of students under the age of 18 at an eligible event
a minimum of $1,000 in eligible expenditure.
An eligible event must:

be related to the pursuit of a field of STEM and one that promotes student engagement in STEM-related disciplines, or participation in STEM-based competitions both in Australia and overseas
take place within one year of the application being submitted. The Programme Delegate may allow exceptions to this requirement if satisfied that a longer lead-time is needed (for example, for the student to register for an early bird rate at a major conference)

https://www.business.gov.au/assistance/inspiring-australia-science-engagement/student-sponsorship

VMware have just made 3 big announcements to their cloud and data centre’s.

VMware HCX Technologies: Any Cloud to Any Cloud

Offered through VMware Cloud Providers and initially available from IBM and OVH, VMware’s HCX technologies help customers modernize their data centers by ensuring workload migration between legacy systems and the cloud is as simple and effective as possible.

“Thanks to VMware HCX technologies, customers experiences secure, seamless migration for apps with no downtime, across a consistent VMware infrastructure. We have now a state of the art way of helping customers switch from legacy environments to a flexible and fully dedicated cloud infrastructure.”

HCX technologies provides operational support to enable efficient cloud migration and protect the integrity of applications at the origination and destination cloud.

Data synchronization, network extension, traffic engineering, automated VPN and WAN optimizations and built in security all provide the critical operational capabilities to ensure efficient and effective cloud migration. With a focus on enabling infrastructure hybridity, HCX customers can extend data centers to the cloud while maintaining the same governance and control. To do this, the technology creates a hybrid fabric that interconnects multiple sites. This fabric provides the flexibility to deploy workloads on the cloud for regional and cyclical capacity, supporting bi-directional mobility and disaster recovery.

VMware Cloud Provider Platform

In addition, VMware also debuted the VMware Cloud Provider Platform, an initiative aiming to address the strategic business imperatives of cloud providers.

With these imperatives in mind, outlined as driving operational efficiency, quickly monetizing new services, and competing more effectively, VMware aims to empower its cloud providers with:

• Flexible, tenant-specific metering for subscription and on demand services
• Self-service multi-tenant compute, network, storage, and other infrastructure services
• Granular, role-based access per tenant to VMware NSX-based networking services
• Valuable ecosystem services through key vendors
• Lower OPEX and accelerated time to revenue

The VMware Cloud Providers ecosystem will represent more than 4,000 partners building services using VMware Cloud Infrastructure technologies that operate in more than 110 countries. Delivering flexible tenancy and self-service options at scale across multi-tenant and single-tenant cloud-hosted environments, VMware says its Cloud Provider Platform enables partners to rapidly deploy and scale up an environment upon which they can build their own value-added differentiated cloud services.

VMware Cloud Verified Trust Mark

VMware has introduced a trust mark for its Cloud Verified partners which helps customers identify providers that can deliver services with VMware Cloud Infrastructure technology. VMware says this trust mark represents providers that have made deep investments in VMware Cloud Infrastructure technologies and are committed to offering key services and support on top of a common infrastructure. In addition to OVH, the other initial VMware Cloud Verified partners are CenturyLink, Fujitsu, IBM Cloud and Rackspace.

Apple and Accenture are partnering to help businesses transform how their people engage with customers through business solutions for iOS. The partnership will take advantage of the simplicity and security of iOS and Accenture’s capabilities as a leader in the industry and digital transformation to help companies unlock new revenue streams, increase productivity, improve customer experience and reduce costs.

Accenture will create a dedicated iOS practice within Accenture Digital Studios in select locations around the world. Experts from Apple will be co-located with this team. Working together, the two companies will launch a new set of tools and services that help enterprise clients transform how they engage with customers using iPhones and iPads. The experts will include visual and experience designers, programmers, data architects and scientists, and hardware and software designers.

The new iOS tools and services will take advantage of the latest Apple technologies and tap into Accenture’s digital and analytics capabilities. Accenture is a global professional services company providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining experience and specialised skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions, Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders.