Spotlight Features

WiFi features are as standard on today's portable computers as built-in modems used to be. Laptop users have become accustomed to the ability to connect to the Internet from practically anywhere to reach e-mail, Web sites and music download portals. Consumers even use wireless routers to connect to ...

The potential to increase server utilization is the primary reason virtualization has been gaining traction in the enterprise. Cost reductions -- through greater data center efficiency, flexibility, lower energy usage and space needs -- are others. Though it does not directly impact the functional ...

The concept of virtualization is so relatively new that there's a lot of uncertainty as to just how and where to implement security. "The debate goes back and forth; like any technology, you can argue that virtualization makes things more secure or less secure," Kevin Epstein, vice president of prod...

As our reliance on smartphones continues to grow, so does the fear of losing all the information they contain -- and for good reason. Fierce competition among handset manufacturers and carriers has resulted in a chaotic, seemingly impenetrable jungle of incompatible makes and models with backup and ...

The word "footprint" has gained a lot of currency of late, particularly when talking about carbon consumption and emissions, but also within the IT world. Seen in its original and primary form, a footprint contains lots of information about the identity and nature of the beast that made it. Looking ...

In the 1980s, auto manufacturers began using simple computers called the "engine control unit," or ECU, to monitor and regulate such things as fuel mixture and spark plug timing. Since then, a cottage industry has developed around hardware and software to bypass, tinker with or replace this system.

Open source software is making its way into the systems that touch our everyday lives, from our banks to the stores where we shop. Open source is also found in some of the IT systems that manage traffic flow on city streets, state highways and in the skies. In fact, throughout the overlapping transp...

What is the biggest difference between shopping online and shopping in a store? In a store, customers can wander from place to place until they find something that appeals to them. Online, they usually need to have a good idea of what they are looking for in order to locate it. A small but growing n...

Everywhere you look today, you're hit right between the eyes with an URL. They pop up in TV ads, in ads on the big screen, on billboards, posters, soup cans, cereal boxes, on the sides of buses -- just about anywhere. If you see one that's interesting, and have pen and paper to hand, you may jot it ...

Information technology managers are facing a massive rollout of new demands and computing models that could potentially make inroads in enterprise computing in 2008. As the technology continues to evolve and the landscape continues to change, IT managers have to pick and choose carefully in deciding...